NEW YORK (Aug. 28, 2007) – In less than seven months, ProElite's respected live fight division, EliteXC, has gained the reputation for delivering consistently competitive, thrilling and memorable live Mixed Martial Arts events that showcase the world's top fighters.

Under the watchful eye of Live Events President, Gary Shaw, EliteXC and SHOWTIME already have produced many significant accomplishments and has made MMA history on a couple of occasions; the most noteworthy of which: EliteXC is the first and only MMA organization on premium television.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. (Wednesday,
Aug. 29) to see the highly anticipated lightweight world championship
unification match pitting undefeated World Boxing Association and World
Boxing Organization lightweight champion Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz against
International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Julio "The Kidd" Diaz
in the first major boxing event ever staged at the new Sears Centre in
Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Saturday, Oct. 13.

Tickets priced at $300, $150, $100, $75 and $35 can be purchased beginning
at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at the Sears Centre Box Office, select AMCORE Bank
Outlets, by phone at 1-888-SEARSTIX, or on-line at www.searscentre.com.

LOS ANGELES— Fans that have already purchased nearly $1 million worth of tickets to see a boxing match destined to be sold out featuring “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas vs. Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 8 will have to wait for the bout to be rescheduled after a routine blood test by Vargas on Friday revealed a severe iron deficiency.

Vargas’s doctor ordered him to not participate in the highly anticipated match and to take the necessary weeks of treatment to correct the problem.

Promoters of the event Don King Productions and Main Events in association with STAPLES Center will notify the public as soon as a rescheduled date can be confirmed.

Vargas (26-4, 22 KOs) is a two-time world champion and Mayorga (27-6-1, 22 KOs) is a three-time world champion. Their upcoming bout had been aptly dubbed “The Brawl” after a highly contentious confrontation between the fighters erupted at the initial press conference announcing the event in Los Angeles and again at a subsequent press conference in New York.

Further information on the rescheduled date and refund policy will be made available in the coming days.

NEW YORK (Aug. 23, 2007) — SHOWTIME will premiere “Vargas vs. Mayorga: Countdown To The Brawl”—profiling two of boxing’s most colorful and explosive personalities—on Saturday night, Aug. 25, at 1 a.m. ET/PT (immediately following the ShoXC, live MMA event). The 30-minute documentary program will air at various times on the premium network until Sept. 8, when “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas and Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga will meet in the ring to settle a personal score for machismo and pride. (Full Schedule Enclosed)

STAMFORD, Conn. (August 23, 2007) – A night of lightweight action headlined by a 12-round showdown between Miguel Huerta (24-8, 17 Kos) and Efren Hinojosa (29-3-1, 17 KOs) for the vacant NABF Lightweight title will be featured on the next edition of Fight Night on VERSUS in collaboration with Top Rank Boxing, Thursday, August 30 at 9 p.m. ET from the Grand Plaza in Houston, Texas.

San Jose, CA; August 20, 2007 The Strikeforce world lightweight (155 pound limit) championship showdown between former junior collegiate wrestling standout Clay Guida and undefeated, world-ranked Gilbert Melendez, which took place on June 9, 2006, is available for viewing on Strikeforce’s official website, www.strikeforceusa.net.

NEW YORK, August 21, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, goes behind the scenes at the training camps of each of the semifinal teams in the next episode of “IFL Battleground” on Monday, August 27, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). MyNetworkTV cameras follow Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls, Ken Yasuda’s Tokyo Sabres, Pat Miletich’s Quad Cities Silverbacks and Shawn Tompkins’ Los Angeles Anacondas as they prepare for their IFL World Championship playoff competition. “IFL Battleground” airs every Monday night, with a replay on Saturday, on MyNetworkTV.

HOLLYWOOD, FL, August 20 – The call came into the Seminole Warriors Boxing offices this week, and there was no mistaking who was on the other end of the line.

“I’m back,” said Edison “Pantera” Miranda, who has rebounded from his May loss to Kelly Pavlik and is back in the gym in San Juan, Puerto Rico, preparing for a late-October return at the Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena in Hollywood.

Los Angeles, CA (August 15th) - This week it was announced that legendary Puerto Rican Superstar Felix "Tito" Trinidad will be coming out of retirement, again, to face former undisputed pound-for-pound king Roy Jones Jr. Although no date or location has been named yet, the fighters will be meeting at a catch weight of 170 pounds, sometime in the winter.

August 15, 2007 (New York) – On August 24th Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing is back with the 5th installment of its popular boxing series “Punchin’ at the Paradise” at the Utopia Paradise Theater in the Bronx. The main event features Dominican Dynamo Delvin Rodriguez (20-2-1, 12KO’s) making his first ring appearance since his March 23 thrill-a-minute slugfest with Jesse Feliciano when he takes on Keenan Collins (12-2-1, 8KO’s) of Reading, PA.

NEW YORK, August 14, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, analyzes the matchups for its season-ending World Grand Prix event, featuring the league’s top 20 stars, in the next episode of “IFL Battleground” on Monday, August 20, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). From undefeated heavyweight Ben Rothwell to teen sensation Chris Horodecki to bruising light heavyweight Vladimir Matyushenko, all 10 matchups are profiled. “IFL Battleground” airs every Monday night, with a replay on Saturday, on MyNetworkTV.

NEW YORK (Aug. 13, 2007) – Coming off a highly successful, well-received debut on July 27, Showtime Networks Inc. and Mixed Martial Arts organization EliteXC are proud to announce the second installment of ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series live on SHOWTIME Saturday, Aug. 25, at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) at Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Miss.

Daniel Ponce De Leon scored an impressive first round knockout victory over Ray “Boom Boom” Bautista to retain his WBO Junior featherweight title. De Leon (32-1, 29 KO's) came out aggressive early throwing right-left combinations at Bautista. Midway through the first, De Leon would connect with a straight left directly on Bautista’s chin sending the twenty-one year old wobbling to the ground. Bautista (23-1, 17 KO's) would make what seemed to be a fifteen second count, but was still obviously shaken up from the punch. De Leon would send Bautista to the ground ten seconds later forcing Jon Schorle to stop the fight.

The fight was part of Golden Boy Promotions "World Cup of Boxing". The event pit six Mexican boxers going up against six Filipino boxers. The Filipino fighters went 5-1 to win the World Cup.

Undefeated knockout sensation “Savage” Rick Cheek will put is 19-0 record on the line when he steps into the ring to battle in the K-1 North American Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament. The event is schedule for August 11th 2007 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. The K-1 grand prix is an eight-man single elimination tournament in which Cheek will have to face three opponents in one night if he is to be crowned champion. I had the opportunity to speak with Cheek before the K-1 event, and this is what he had to say.

NEW YORK, NY — World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev will make the second defense of his title against WBC No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Oct. 6 in a highly anticipated championship match scheduled for 12 rounds. Tickets priced at $400, $250, $150, $100 and $50 (more than 14,000 tickets will be $150 or less!) will go on sale soon at the Garden box office and all Ticketmaster locations or by calling Ticketmaster at 212-307-7171, 201-507-8900, 631-888-9000, or 914-454-3388. Ticketmaster purchases are subject to convenience charges.

NEW YORK, August 8, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, takes a look at the regular-season-ending matchup between the Nevada Lions, coached by Ken Shamrock, and the Tucson Scorpions, with spots in the IFL World Grand Prix on the line for several stars including unbeaten Scorpions light heavyweight Mike Whitehead and Lions standouts Roy Nelson and John Gunderson, in the next episode of “IFL Battleground” on Monday, August 13, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). “IFL Battleground” airs every Monday night, with a replay on Saturday, on MyNetworkTV.

LOS ANGELES, CA (August, 7 2007)
Dear Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield,

My name is Farz B. and I am a writer and photographer for touchgloves.com. For as long as I can remember I have bad mouthed you in front of my peers and fellow boxing fans. It was not always like this Evander, I actually use to cheer for you. Then one day everything changed. My hatred for you and your sharp head dates back to November 9th, 1996. If you forgot or you can’t think that far back, that is the day you beat my lifelong boxing hero, Mike Tyson. Months later in the rematch I watched you use your head as a weapon until Mike finally snapped and bit your ear…twice. And to tell you the truth, I’m glad that it happened.

August 6, 2007 (New York) – This past Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation, the STILL undefeated Kevin Johnson (16-0-1, 6 KOs) earned the moniker “The Great American Hope” by dismantling contender Damian “Bolo” Wills (22-2-1, 16 KO’s) in what has to be the most dominating performance displayed by any young American Heavyweight prospect.

NEW YORK, August 6, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and Alfred Haber Distribution (AHDI) today announced the addition of Star TV as the IFL’s first television partner in Asia. Star will carry IFL programming on it’s Star Sports platform, available in over 50 countries to a viewership of over 300 million.

LOS ANGELES, CA (July, 2007) In the last few months, due to my affiliation with touchgloves.com , I have been provided the opportunity to attend a few press conferences. Aside from the press conferences I have been fortunate enough to witness in person, I have seen many pictures and videos of other press conferences.

NEW YORK (August 5, 2007) – La Venganza! It was vengeance, vindication and redemption for a jubilant Israel Vazquez Saturday night on SHOWTIME. Vazquez stopped Rafael Marquez in a rematch to regain the WBC Super Bantamweight world title that he lost to Marquez earlier this year at 1:16 of the sixth round in an old-school, classic and bloody slugfest.

Photos: TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME

In what was his last professional bout, Erik "El Terrible" Morales was outworked and bullied by David Diaz to lose a 12 round unanimous decision last night in Chicago. Morales (48-6, 34 KOs) announced after the bout that this was his last fight. Both fighters did well to press the action. Diaz (33-1-1, 17 KOs) jumped all over Morales from the opening bell. Morales landed a flush right that floored Diaz in the 1st, but Diaz was the clearly the aggresor. In the later round, Diaz kicked it in high gear, constantly pushing forward, punishing Morales to the head and body.
Judges at ringside scored the bout 114-11, 115-113, 115-112, all for Diaz.

Erik Morales goes his fourth title in a fourth different weight class when he takes on WBC Lightweight champion David Diaz live from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. HBO will televise the fight live on pay-per-view at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

Beverly Hills, CA; (August 3, 2007) Leading mixed martial arts federation, Strikeforce, will produce a historic, first-ever mixed martial arts event at the world-famous Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California on Saturday, September 29th. Amongst those slated for action at the home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner are undefeated Strikeforce world lightweight (155 lb. limit) champion “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez and UFC and Pride Fighting Championship veteran Josh “The Punk” Thomson.

August 3rd, 2007 (Doraville, GA) – Undefeated Heavyweight Contender Kevin “The Great American Hope” Johnson (15-0-1, 6KO’s) arrived in Doraville, GA yesterday in his usual peak condition, ready to put on the performance of his career against the hard hitting Damian “Bolo” Wills (22-1-1, 16KO’s) this Friday at the Far West Rodeo. Johnson’s registered his best weight ever at 229lbs. Wills dropped 5lbs since March officially weighing 259lbs.

Los Angeles, CA (August 2, 2007)- The Heavyweight unification bout pitting Sultan Ibragimov versus Ruslan Chagaev has been cancelled after Chagaev pulled out due to medical reasons. Stepping in to take his place will be former four-time champion Evander "the Real Deal" Holyfield. Holyfield has repeatedly said he will not retire until he has unified the Heavyweight division. The bout will still take place October 13th in Moscow.

PHOTO BY TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME
Edinberg, Texas (August 1, 2007) - In a rematch of a leading candidate for Fight of the Year, Rafael Marquez will defend his WBC super bantamweight title against former champion Israel Vazquez this Saturday, Aug. 4, on SHOWTIME at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Tex. Vazquez worked out for the media tuesday warning his opponent, “Marquez is one of the best fighters I have fought, but he is not the best. He got his hand raised in our first fight last March, but that doesn’t mean he won. My nose injury had as much to do with the result of that fight as anything he did."

Tickets, priced at $25, $35, $50, $75, $100, $200, are on sale through all Ticketmaster outlets and on-line at www.ticketmaster.comTickets also may be purchased at the Dodge Arena box office Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (central time) plus the day of the event, online at www.dodgearena.com, or by phone at 956-668-7740.

Los Angeles, CA (August 1, 2007) – While final details such as date, venue and telecast rights are still being ironed out, promoter Dan Goossen announced that one of the top young heavyweights from the Goossen Tutor Promotions boxing stable – “Fast” Eddie Chambers – has been designated by the IBF as one of four participants in an Elimination Tournament in which the winner will receive a mandatory title shot against IBF Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko.