Showtime Doubleheader to feature Mitchell-Phillips and unbeaten Jeff Lacy

25.10 – In a crossroads bout featuring two former 140-pound world champions, Sharmba Mitchell will take on Vince Phillips in the main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Saturday, Nov. 9, 2002 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. In the co-featured main event from the Coca-Cola Bricktown Event Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas Super Middleweight Champion Ross Thompson will make his first title defense when he battles unbeaten Jeff Lacy. SHOWTIME will air the two bouts in their entirety, as well as highlights of WBC No. 2 super featherweight contender Phillip “Time Bomb” N’dou against an opponent to be announced. Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, and Holden Productions, in association with The Sports Entertainment and Media Group PLC, Golden Lion Productions and Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing, will promote the fight card.

Mitchell (49-3, 29 KOs), of Takoma Park, Md., is a former World Boxing Association (WBA) super lightweight champion. After capturing the title with a 12-round decision over Khalid Rahilou on Oct. 10, 1998, the southpaw boxer-puncher made four successful defenses prior to losing to Kostya Tszyu in a unification fight Feb. 3, 2001, on SHOWTIME. The seventh-round TKO loss to Tszyu ended a six-and-one-half-year run in which Mitchell won 16 consecutive fights. Since the setback, the Maryland native has won each of his two 2002 starts, including a 10-round decision over Frank Houghtaling on July 2 in Washington, D.C. Prior to turning pro in September 1998, Mitchell compiled an outstanding amateur record of 153-7.

Phillips (44-6-1, 32 KOs), of Pensacola, Fla., is a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior welterweight champion. The hard-working, versatile veteran made three successful defenses of the title he won on May 31, 1997, with a 10th-round TKO over Tszyu. Following a 20-month reign as champion, Phillips lost his crown when Terronn Millett stopped the native Floridian in the fifth round on Feb. 20, 1999. Phillips, who went 90-10 in the amateurs and was the 1985 National Golden Gloves and 1985-86 All-Army champion, turned pro at age 25 in February 1989. In his last contest, the 14-year ring warrior registered an impressive 10-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Nick Acevedo on March 29, 2002, in Las Vegas, Nev.

Lacy (11-0, 10 KOs), of Tampa, Fla., registered his seventh first-round knockout in his last bout when he stopped Jason Collins on Aug. 17, 2002, in Cardiff, Wales. A feared puncher, the talented Lacy has fought a total of 26 rounds in a career that began on Feb. 2, 2001. In the one start that did not end inside of the distance, Lacy battered Bobby Jones and won every round en route to a unanimous 10-round decision March 30, 2002, on “ShoBox: The New Generation.” Lacy, who will make his sixth SHOWTIME appearance, went 209-12 in the amateurs, won numerous competitions and made it to the second round of the 2000 Olympics.

Thompson (25-6-1, 17 KOs) of Buffalo, N.Y., captured the WBC Continental Americas super middleweight crown by scoring a first-round knockout over Ron Johnson on March 29, 2002, in Las Vegas. After winning the WBA North American super welterweight crown in December 1999 (his first as a pro), Thompson made his world title debut on Aug. 26, 2000, and lost by fourth-round TKO to then-IBF 154-pound champion Fernando Vargas. Thompson, who was trailing by one point on two of the scorecards and two on the other entering the fourth round, went down twice before the bout was stopped at 2:34 of the round. Thompson, who was the 1991 Golden Gloves champion at 147 pounds, is coming off of a disputed 10-round majority decision loss to Aaron Davis on July 23, 2002, in New Rochelle, N.Y.

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING’s Steve Albert and former world champion Bobby Czyz will call the action from ringside with Jim Gray serving as roving reporter. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast is Jay Larkin, with Richard Gaughan producing and Bob Dunphy directing.

For information on upcoming SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecasts, including complete fighter bios and records, please go the SHOWTIME website at http:// SHO.com.