* The late Leavander Johnson will be honored in his hometown of Atlantic City, New Jersey with a bronze statue. The former lightweight world champion, who died from injuries sustained in a 2005 fight with Jesus Chavez, was an honored and respected member of the Atlantic City community, participating in a wide range of charitable organizations. The official unveiling of the statue will be held at Center City Park on June 4, with the festivities kicking off at 11 AM. For more information about the unveiling ceremony, contact the Leavander Johnson Foundation at (609) 816-4830. (The photo in this story is a clay model of what the bronze statue will look like.)
* 46-year old light heavyweight champ, Bernard Hopkins was honored in his hometown of Philadelphia on Wednesday. Mayor Michael Nutter presented the two-division champ a replica statuette of the Liberty Bell in a ceremony held under the city’s famous Rocky Balboa statue. Nutter praised the champ for his life turnaround, going from prison time in his teen years to a Hall of Fame career.
* Ishe Smith and Lou DiBella have agreed to terminate their promotional deal. The former cast member of The Contender reality series is hoping that free agent status will translate into easier-made big fights. Smith is also exploring a possible professional move to the UK.
* Promoter Lou DiBella also made headlines by signing five new prospects over the Memorial Day weekend. American prospects, J’Leon Love, Delen Parsley, Jr., and Luis Rosa were inked along with South African prospects, Thomas Oosthuizen and Issac Chilemba. The previous week, DiBella inked UK-based Nigerian jr. welterweight, Ajose Olusegun.
* The Epix premium cable outlet, not discouraged from two previous, disappointing shows, has picked up the rights to air the June 25th Felix Sturm-Matthew Macklin WBA middleweight bout from Germany (Start time: 5pm Eastern). Epix previously aired the Groves-Degale/Cleverly-Kuziemski card in May and the Vitali Klitschko-Odlanier Solis bout in March. As with the other events, Sturm-Macklin will also be broadcast on a jumbotron in Times Square (Broadway at 44th St.) in New York.
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