SHOBOX To Kick Off Holyfield-Toney Weekend With Special Friday Prime Time HW Showdown

22.08 - The popular boxing series “ShoBox: The New Generation” will kick off a weekend of heavyweights with a special Friday, Oct. 3, telecast in prime time from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. In the main event, World Boxing Organization (WBO) No. 6 contender Jameel McCline will take on undefeated heavyweight Cedric Boswell. SHOWTIME will televise the 10-round bout, presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The telecast represents the 35th in a series of “ShoBox” telecasts that began on July 21, 2001.

The following evening on Saturday, Oct. 4, legendary champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield will step into the ring against current International Boxing Federation (IBF) Cruiserweight Champion James “Lights Out” Toney in a 12-round heavyweight showdown live on pay per view, at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The HOLYFIELD - TONEY pay-per-view telecast begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Goossen Tutor Promotions will present the event, which will be distributed by SHOWTIME Pay Per View and carries a suggested retail price of $44.95.

Highlighting the Oct. 4 undercard will be a 12-round IBF title eliminator featuring two of boxing’s most talented fighters, former 130-pound world champions Diego “Chico” Corrales and Joel Casamayor. The once-beaten boxers currently sport a 66-2 combined record with 49 knockouts.

Tickets to Oct. 3 are $100, $50 and $25, while the Oct. 4 Holyfield-Toney event is priced at $650, $500, $300, $150 and $75. Tickets for Oct. 4 are on sale now at the Mandalay Bay Box Office and all TicketMaster outlets. To order tickets by phone, call (702) 632-7580. Tickets for Oct. 3 will go on sale Saturday, Aug. 23, at noon.

McCline (29-3-3, 17 KOs), of Port Jefferson, N.J., captured the World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas heavyweight crown by registering a 12-round unanimous decision over Lance Whitaker on Dec. 1, 2001, in Manhattan, N.Y. Following consecutive victories over Al “Ice” Cole, Michael Grant, Whitaker and Shannon Briggs, McCline lost his lone world title appearance on Dec. 7, 2002, when his corner stopped the bout against then-WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko following the 10th round. In his lone 2003 appearance, McCline scored a third-round TKO over Charles Shufford on May 9 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Boswell (21-0, 16 KOs) of Atlanta, by way of Detroit, was scheduled to face former WBO champion Vitali Klitschko on June 21, 2003, in Los Angeles, but the bout fell out after Kirk Johnson, scheduled to challenge Lennox Lewis on the same card, got hurt and was replaced by Klitschko. Boswell is 5-0 with four knockouts since returning to the ring following a two-and-one-half-year layoff due to promotional problems. He has won his past three outings inside of the distance, including a fifth-round knockout over Jim Strohl on Jan. 25, 2003, from Temecula, Calif. Boswell, who learned to box while in the Navy, went 18-4 in the amateurs.

“ShoBox: The New Generation” features up-and-coming prospects determined to make a mark and eventually fight for a chance at a world title. The best of the new generation of hungry, young boxers will have an opportunity to showcase their talent and heart as they battle each other in competitive fights in front of a national television audience. “ShoBox: The New Generation” is pure, basic boxing, reminiscent of the golden days of the sport.

Nick Charles will call the action from ringside, with Steve Farhood serving as expert analyst. The executive producers of the telecast are Jay Larkin and Gordon Hall, with Richard Gaughan producing.