– About seven years too late, Don King announced a fight between Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr, scheduled for sometime in early 2008. This is Trinidad’s second return from retirement. I wish I could be more excited about this matchup. Maybe a fight will break out at their press conference or something else from Don King’s Fight Promoting 101.
– Taping for the third season of The Contender is underway with the first episode slated to air on September 4th at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. The fighters, plucked from the super middleweight division, are a good mix of prospects and veterans. Dan Rafael from ESPN.com released this list of 16 boxers scheduled to appear on the third season of The Contender:
• Max Alexander (26, Camden, N.J., 14-1, 2 KOs).
• David Banks (24, Portland, Ore., 14-2-1, 2 KOs).
• Sakio Bika (28, Sydney, Australia, via Cameroon, 22-3-2, 14 KOs).
• Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan (28, Capital Heights, Md., 14-1, 11 KOs).
• La Farrell Bunting (27, Las Vegas, 16-3-1, 16 KOs).
• Jaidon Codrington (23, New York, 16-1, 12 KOs).
• Miguel Hernandez (32, Chicago, 20-5, 10 KOs).
• Wayne Johnson (29, Lyndhurst, N.J., 16-1, 9 KOs).
• Donny McCrary (24, St. Joseph, Mo., 23-5-2, 13 KOs).
• Les Ralston (25, Buffalo, N.Y., 16-2, 9 KOs).
• Danny Santiago (34, Ocala, Fla., 29-3-1, 19 KOs).
• Paul Smith (24, Liverpool, England, 20-0, 12 KOs).
• Sam Soliman (33, Melbourne, Australia, 33-9, 13 KOs).
• Brian Vera (26, Austin, Texas, 14-0, 9 KOs).
• Rhoshii Wells (30, Las Vegas, 18-2-2, 10 KOs).
• Rubin Williams (31, Detroit, 29-2-1, 16 KOs).
– Buddy McGirt will be one of the trainers for the third season of The Contender along with Pepe Correa. McGirt said he would return for a fourth season, which is rumored to focus on heavyweights.
– Evander Holyfield will get his shot at a record fifth world heavyweight title when he challenges Sultan Ibragimov on October 13th. Ibragimov was supposed to defend his WBO Heavyweight Title against Ruslan Chagaev but Chagaev had to withdraw due to what is being reported as hepatitis B. The fight wasn’t scheduled for TV in the United States but Holyfield’s involvement has ESPN wanting to be a part of it. The fight is rumored to air live on ESPN Classic, according to Dan Rafael’s latest Notebook.
