The Push for SB 3836!  E-mail All   List of Lawmaker's 
Legislation faces More steps to legalize MMA in Tennessee.
JD Meredith, Memphisboxing.com

The state of Tennessee is now one step closer to legalizing mixed martial arts events for the state after bill HB 3836 passed the House on Tuesday (5/6/08) by a 95-2 vote.

The legislation still has two crucial votes. One with the Senate finance committee on Monday followed by a Senate floor vote.

Not only is this bill vital to MMA in Tennessee, which will greatly impact state and local economies by bringing in projected state-wide revenues nearing one-hundred million dollars, but it will also provide better regulation of other sports like Boxing and Kickboxing via the establishment of a new athletic commission.

Be a part of bringing revenue to the Volunteer State. Tennessee law markers are standing by to take your calls and e-mails supporting bill SB 3836. If you live out of state but do business in Tennessee your support may be voiced as well.

Contact lawmakers by phone or e-mail Friday (5/9), Saturday (5/10), Sunday (5/11) & Monday (5/12) to express your interest in SB 3836.

Lt. Governor Ramsey 615-741-4524
Senator Dwayne Bunch 615-741-3730
Senator Bo Watson 615-741-3227

Senate finance members
Senator Randy McNally 615-741-6806
Senator Jim Kyle 615-741-4167
Senator Joe Haynes 615-741-6679
Senator Mark Norris 615-741-1967
Senator Rosalind Kurita 615-741-2374
Senator Douglas Henry 615-741-3291
Senator Raymond Finney 615-741-2427
Senator Diane Black 615-741-1999
Senator Tim Burchett 615-741-1766
Senator John Wilder 615-741-2638

Others
Senator Mae Beavers 615-741-2421
Senator Andy Berke 615-741-6682
Senator Charlotte Burks 615-741-3978
Senator Rusty Crowe 615-741-2468
Senator Thelma Harper 615-741-2453
Senator Roy Herron 615-741-4576
Senator Jack Johnson 615-741-2495
Senator Tommy Kilby 615-741-1449
Senator Steve Roller 615-741-6694
Senator Steve Southerland 615-741-3851
Senator Paul Stanley 615-741-3036
Senator Jim Tracy 615-741-1066
Senator Mike Williams 615-741-2061
Senator Jamie Woodson 615-741-1648

Earmarked legislation could box Nashville
out of millions! – 5/5/08
Mixed martial arts bill could bring in millions of dollars, but the hold-up involves the UT Chattanooga wrestling team
By Ken Whitehouse, Nashville Post

A bill is before the state legislature that would replace the commissioner of commerce and insurance as the regulator of boxing and kickboxing with a new athletic commission to regulate those sports as well as mixed martial arts.

So what's the hold up? It's not that legislators are squeamish about holding the events in Tennessee. Nope, many want to bring in one of the country's fastest-growing sports, whose pay-per-view events are among the highest-grossing in the nation. [full story]

Vote For Your Favorite Fighter in "M Awards"! – 5/5/08

They're back – The M Awards. The only local/regional awards that recognizes the local flavor, personality and uniqueness of the Memphis area sports community. Results will appear in the July/Aug issue of Memphis Sport. So call all your friends and IM your buddies and text everyone else you know, because the voting ends June 10. [VOTE NOW!]

Johnson Sweeps Logan! – 5/5/08
From Fight News [5/2/08]

Junior welter Earnest Johnson moved to 18-2-1 with 7 KOs after sweeping the cards (60-54, three times) against journeyman Marteze Logan (26-33-2, 6 KOs) over six on Friday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Like the new Look? You decide! Let us know! [E-mail MB]

Marteze Logan faces Earnest Johnson Tonight! – 5/2/08
MemphisBoxing.com

Covington, Tn, Journeyman, Marteze "Too Sweet" Logan is scheduled to face 17-2-1 (7 KO's) Earnest Johnson tonight at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. Their bout is scheduled for six rounds in the lightwelterweight division.

Logan (26-32-2, 6KO's) is coming off a February '08 win over Anthony Bowman at the New Daisy Theatre.

Johnson will fight for the first time in 2008 and is 2-2-1 in his last five fights.

David Hudson, JR, Critiques New Film! – 5/1/08
Film about A boxing match that changed two men's lives.
From Fight News [4/30/08]

On June 16, 1983, in front of a capacity crowd of 25,000 at Madison Square Garden, the lives of two young men were forever changed during a controversial boxing match. A tough club fighter from Puerto Rico named Luis Resto fought Nashville's Billy Collins Jr., an Irish golden boy, for ten grueling rounds. Resto was declared the winner, but within minutes was accused of tampering with the padding in his gloves - in effect brutalizing Collins Jr. with his bare fists for thirty minutes. More than two decades later, Luis Resto is a broken man shouldering the burden of his opponent's death, a prison sentence, and a lifetime ban from boxing.

Recently FightNews feature writer David Hudson was invited to see the screening of Cornered, a documentary that revisits the Collins-Resto scandal. As the 25-year-anniversary approaches of one of boxing’s darkest hours, Cornered exposes the truth behind what happened that June evening in the world’s most famous arena. Read the review of Cornered and then see the film . . .[more]

Bobby Bryant Receives 2008 Nunnally Award! – 4/30/08
Submitted by John Bryant

The Michael Nunnally award is the highest charter award given to a amatuer boxer who has made a commitment to make a difffenrence in and out of the ring and in his community and beyond. [more]

Decorated Marine, Army Soldier, 3 Policemen! – 4/30/08
Coming to Tunica to Become “ THE TOUGHEST MAN ALIVE!”
Press Release

The 2008 Toughman World Championships will be held at the beautiful Sam’s Town Casino-Tunica, inside the River Palace Entertainment Center over three incredible nights, Thursday, May 29th (LHW PRELIMINARIES), Friday, May 30th (HW PRELIMINARIES) and the FINALS in both divisions on Saturday, May 31st, 2008. 36 Light Heavyweight and 29 HW local Champions from around the United States have entered and are training to do battle for the title “Toughman World Champion!”. [more]

Above: Lightweight Chris "Hurricane" Howard (l) scored an impressive second round KO of opponent Ricky Alexander Saturday night at the Fitz Casino.

" The Hurricane" Causes Evacuation at the Fitz! – 4/28/08
Howard KO's Alexander in Two -- Davis Decisions Ruiz!
Memphisboxing.com

Prize Fight Boxing assembled a fantastic and entertaining card Saturday night for "Fights at the Fitz". The Grand Ballroom at the Fitz played host to this action packed event which featured many of Prize Fight's best up-and-comers.

Lightweight Chris "The Hurricane" Howard (6-0, 3 KO's – Crossville, TN - 127lbs.) squared off with Stillwater, OK's, Ricky Alexander (7-7, 5 KO's - 134lbs) in the main event.

Alexander come out strong and landed several firm consecutive jabs in round one but Howard found early openings of his own, landing crisp left hooks to the head. The right hand successfully followed for Howard, who cut down the ring. Towards the end of the round, Alexander found himself defending against the ropes.

The Hurrican began to whirl in round two and at 1:55 threw a straight right hand that dropped Alexander in the center of the ring where referee, Randy Phillips waived the fight off.

Mark Davis (7-0, 3 KO's - 137lbs.) was extended the distance by tough Jorge Ruiz (5-5, 1 KO - 133lbs.). Davis displayed lightening quick speed, agile footwork and some razzle dazzle.

Although largely the receipent of punches, Ruiz remained unfazed by Davis' repertoire through round four. He invited Davis in to brawl with a motion of the hand and talked all along the way. However in round five, not seening any change in Davis' speed or movement, appeared to be going through the motions.

Davis continues to shine bright and show promise in the ring.
Although young, he shows confidence, poise, defensive skill and precision punches.

Hard hitting 160lb. southpaw, Fernando Guerrero (6-0, 6 KO's) continued his knockout run after KO'ing Jackson, TN's, Anthony Bowman in a scheduled six round middleweight fight.

Their fight was one of cat and mouse. In round two Bowman was deducted a point for a low blow in an appearant retaliation of an earlier boarder-line blow from Guerrero. After taking a moment to recover from the blow, Guerrero resumed the fight by coming straigh out of the corner to drop Bowman with a single left hand to the head.

Victory came for Guerrero at 2:14 of round three.

The opening bout of the evening showcased two debuting fighters in a heavyweight sluggfest.
Jesse Peterson (249lbs) managed to take three of the four rounds on all judges' cards to pull out the victory.

Ladies professional boxing made it's way back to the Fitz on this night!

In a scheduled four round female welterweight event, "Notorious" Nicole Woods outclassed Carrine Hamlett and won by unanimous decision. Scores were 40-35, 39-36, 39-36.

Alejandra Lopez dominated Brianna Hines over four rounds in a very entertaining bantamweight female bout. Lopez's successful jab was a huge factor in their fight. Scores were 40-36 around the ring.

Erdei Outclasses Abron – 4/28/08
#4 Rated Light Heavy Abron Falls short in hunt for World Title!
From Fight News [4/26/08]

In the fifth and final 175lb title fight of the "Month of Light Heavyweights," unbeaten WBO champion Zsolt Erdei (29-0, 17 KOs) made the tenth successful defense of his belt by schooling #4 rated DeAndrey Abron (15-2, 10 KOs) over twelve one-sided rounds on Saturday night at the Freiberger Arena in Dresden, Germany. Erdei pressed the action against the much taller Abron who tried to use his reach from the outside. From early on it was apparent that Edrei's speed and boxing skills put him at a much higher level than his outclassed challenger, who was unable to generate any kind of effective attack. Erdei rocked Abron in the last round, but was content to settle for a clear 119-109 win across the board.

Post Fight Comments

WBO light heavyweight champion Zsolt Erdei: "I saved my energy in this fight. In the twelfth round I stepped on the gas again because I wanted to finish the fight early but it didn't work out. I didn't take any risks because my opponent could hit really hard. This was Zsolt Erdei at 80 percent. I still could have done a little bit more, but I'm a careful person. I'm satisfied. This was a technically good performance."

Erdei's trainer Fritz Sdunek: "Zsolt didn't take many punches. This was decisive. All's well that ends well. Of course, a KO is more spectacular, but unfortunately we didn't see it. However, Zsolt also shouldn't take any unnecessary risks."

Challenger DeAndrey Abron: "Zsolt is a great champion. His jab is quick and effective. He imposed his tactics and fought intelligently. He did what a champion must do." Abron's Trainer Trevor Wittman: "Zsolt showed he's world class. He wouldn't fight our fight."

(03-20-08) DeAndrey Abron (r) willl face Zolt erdei for his WBO Light Heayweight World Title this Saturday night (4/26) in Dresden, Germany. Abron Has movedto Forth in the WBO Rankings. Photo by: Eroll Popova

Erdei-Abron Presser! – 4/21/08
#4 Rated Light Heavy DeAndrey Abron battles for World Title!
From Fight News [4/22/08]

The prefight press conference was held Monday in Dresden for Saturday's big "Universum Champions Night" world title twinbill at the Freiberger Arena featuring the WBO light heavyweight world title fight between champion Zsolt Erdei (28-0, 17 KOs) and #4 rated DeAndrey Abron (15-1, 10 KOs) and the WBO junior middleweight world title clash between champion Sergiy Dzinziruk (34-0, 22 KOs) and #2 rated Lukas Konecny (36-2, 18 KOs).

" Dresden is a wonderful town," commented Erdei. "It was a great experience to box here in November of last year. We like Dresden. I'm a little superstitious and because the town brought me luck with my last victory, I'm glad to be here again. The fight with Mendoza was a little bit boring because he only boxed in the reverse gear. Abron is 6'3, again a physically big opponent, but luckily for me he's an offensive fighter. I have no problem with bigger boxers. I'm the quickest boxer in my weight class and if, as they say, the better boxer wins, that's me! For the Dresden fans I promise a spectacular fight."

" This is my most important fight," countered Abron. "I earned this chance for the world title with with hard fights in the USA. I have a lot of respect for Zsolt Erdei, because he has already defended his title nine times as a world champion. This speaks for a great champion. With my coach Trevor Wittman, we had a hard training camp in the Rocky Mountains, preparing very intensely with long mountain runs and hard sparring. The size difference won't play a big role since we know the strengths of Erdei. I will with certainty provide the German boxing fans with a good fight and a good show. We will win!"

Art of War: Gi vs Pro Breakdown! – 4/21/08
Grand Hotel & Casino Tuncia, MS!
Submitted by Sun Sports Entertainment

SUN Sports & Entertainment Inc. (PINKSHEETS: SSPE) announced today the completion of their first event of the new MMA Series "GI vs. PRO" at the Harrah's Grand Hotel & Casino in Tunica, MS with the GIs beating the PROs 4-2.

On Saturday April 19th SUN, in association with FOX Sports Net, Show Partners and Harrah's completed the filming of production for the first television show which will be edited to create the start of nine weeks of programming for the flagship National Sports Channel.

The fast and furious events only had one bout go the distance while the loud boisterous fans were treated to an array of unpredictable finishes. In the main event, GI Army Ranger Damien Stelly dominated MMA PRO Ron Faircloth by starting off with an unprecedented flurry of blows, forcing the stunned MMA veteran to tap-out in 44 seconds. PRO Mike Wessel, the main event victor at Art of War 4 in October 2007, won his co-main event contest by split decision against GI Patrick Castillo. The fight of the night may have ended at 4:40 in the first round, but PRO Chris Hawk and GI Darrill Schoonover traded fight-ending positions until Schoonover caught Hawk with a rear naked choke. "It's one of the best fights I've ever seen given the fact that both men were so close to being finished at different points in the game before Darrill pulled out the victory," said Clyde Gentry III, Chief Operating Officer for SUN. "It's the kind of fight that audiences watching from home will remember." [more]

Prize Fight Inks Hard Hitting Undefeated Victor Proa! – 4/21/08
From Rachel Charles Media

Memphis-TN-April 17, 2008. Memphis based Prize Fight Promotions has inked a
multi-fight deal with UNDEFEATED WBO ranked #12, Jr., Bantamweight
Victor Proa (17-0, 13KO's).

Proa, hailing out of Monterrey, Mexico, will make his American debut on May 24th at the Fitzgerald Casino in Tunica, MS, as part of the highly successful fight series “Fights at the Fitz” presented by Prize Fight Promotions.

“ Prize Fight is extremely pleased that we were able to come to terms with Proa and his team, his skill level and KO ratio is outstanding,” stated Prize Fight's Russ Young. “He has all the makings of a champion, and we look forward to getting him a title shot in the near future”

The addition of Proa to the already world class caliber stable is another example of Prize Fights commitment to bringing the best fighters and fights that the fans want to see.

For further information on Prize Fight Promotions, visit http://www.prizefightpromoters.com

2008 Toughman World Championships! (4/8/08)
At Sam's Town Casino - Tunica on Fox Sports Net!

The 2008 Toughman World Championships will be held at the beautiful Sam’s Town Casino-Tunica, inside the River Palace Entertainment Center over three incredible nights, Thursday, May 29th (LHW PRELIMINARIES), Friday, May 30th (HW PRELIMINARIES) and the FINALS in both divisions on Saturday, May 31st, 2008. 36 Light Heavyweight and 29 HW local Champions from around the United States have entered and are training to do battle for the title “Toughman World Champion!”. [more]

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