News On: Seth Mitchell, Peter Quillin, Tommy Gun, More

Oct. 15, 2012 – HBO Sports® debuts an all-new installment of “2 Days” when the feature segment returns Saturday, Oct. 27 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) with a behind-the-scenes look at Maryland’s rising heavyweight sensation Seth Mitchell.

“2 Days” is a revealing and intimate look at a 48-hour span in the life of a boxer in the lead-up to one of his fights and the next edition will focus on fast-rising heavyweight prospect Seth Mitchell. HBO cameras followed the engaging and compelling 30-year-old fighter prior to his showdown last April with Chazz Witherspoon.

HBO air times include: Oct. 27 (10:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 28 (12:45 p.m.), and 29 (3:00 a.m.) and Nov. 1 (10:45 p.m.), 2 (2:00 p.m.), 3 (10:45 a.m.), 8 (11:50 p.m.), 14, (7:45 p.m.), and 16 (9:45 p.m.).

HBO 2 air times include: Oct. 31 (10:45 a.m., 9:45 p.m.) and Nov. 4 (3:15 p.m.), 5 (9:45 a.m.), and 13 (9:45 p.m.).

All times are ET/PT.

NEW YORK (October 16, 2012) – Undefeated challenger Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (27-0, 20 KOs) has returned home to change the face of the middleweight division, on a seek-and-destroy mission to defeat unbeaten World Boxing Organization (WBO) World Middleweight Champion Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (27-0, 17 KOs) this Saturday night on Showtime Championship Boxing, live from the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The 29-year-old Quillin, the WBO No. 1 contender, lived in Brooklyn for four years and he now resides in Manhattan. “I'm excited to be fighting at home,” Quillin said. “I know what I need to do to secure a victory. I know how far I've come, from sleeping on floors to fighting for the world title on the biggest stage, Showtime, at Barclays Arena. I've learned that, if you really want something in life, you can't be discouraged. No excuses Saturday night.”

Neither N'Jikam nor Quillin have defeated any top 10 middleweights, although Quillin sent four-time world champion Ronald “Winky” Wright into retirement with an impressive win by 10-round decision last June, and he had a solid knockout of Craig McEwan. N'Jikam's notable victims are hardly household names, even for diehard boxing fans: Max Bursak, Giovanni Lorenzo, Autandil Khurtsidze, Omar Weiss and Gennaddy Martirosyan.

“We've fought the same level of opponents but checkout my record and see how few rounds I've ever lost,” Quillin noted. “He does have the belt. When I step in the ring, though, I'll remember what I've been fighting for all these years. I'll be superbly prepared. He is world champion and for that he has my respect, but he's coming from France to fight me in my hometown.

“He is fighting for a reason, too. We're going to have two undefeated guys trying to give each other their first pro loss. I hope he's ready. He's a boxer with good movement who throws pity-pat punches; he doesn't sit-down on his punches. I'm going to take the fight to him and take his belt.”

Quillin prepared for N-Jikam at the famed Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles like he's done for the past two years, teaming with his head trainer, Eric Brown, who will be working Quillin's corner for his fifth straight fight.

“He has improved in a lot of ways – how he uses his tools, keeps his composure, places his shots better, enhance and improve his boxing skills,” Brown commented. “He doesn't waste a lot of punches and has learned how to breakdown different types of fighters. We've worked a lot on his conditioning, something that is very important, especially as he steps up the competition. He's eager and ready to do whatever is needed to be his best.

“N'Jikan is a very good boxer who relies on his movement to win on points. He's never fought anybody the quality level of Pete. It's going to be a big difference for him. Pete's a good boxer, too, and a great counter-puncher. Wait until he (N'Jikam) feels him (Quillin). His movement is his defense. Look at the quality of his opponents and it's worked. But this time he's fighting a different animal in Pete, who is also a very intelligent fighter. He's eager and willing to learn and each fight is a learning experience for him. Pete's a throwback fighter. He trains hard, never skimps. He always gives me everything I ask of him. After he wins the world title, he'll be an even more dangerous fighter, more confident and winning it (world title) will make him aware of what he's really capable of doing in the ring.”

For more information about Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin go online to www.TheKidChocolate.com, or follow him on Twitter @Kid Chocolate and Instagram@KidChocolate.

New York, NY/ Gauteng, SA (10/15/12) – On Saturday, November 10, the 24-year-old red-hot undefeated super middleweight contender Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen (20-0-1, 13KO's) will look to take yet another major step towards super stardom when he puts his IBO title on the line against the venerable four-time world title challenger Fulgencio Zuniga (25-5-1, 22KO's). The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds in the super middleweight division and will take place at the Emperor's Palace in Oosthuizen's native South Africa. The card is promoted by Rodney Berman's Golden Gloves Ltd. in association with DiBella Entertainment.

“I am privileged to be fighting for such a large, strong promotional team,” said Oosthuizen. “I'm looking forward to putting on another strong performance on the 10th and
then returning to the US to further show my skills to the American public. My goal is to be fighting on HBO in 2013 and there isn't anything that will prevent me from making that a reality.”

The bout against Zuniga will be Oosthuizen's sixth defense of the IBO belt that he won in March 2011 with a ninth-round TKO over Evert Bravo (15-1-1, 11KO's). In Oosthuizen's most recent outing, the South African made his New York debut and won a dominant 12-round unanimous decision over Rowland Bryant. Bryant (16-1 at the time) was coming off a TKO over former world title challenger Librado Andrade. The Zuniga bout will be Oosthuizen's fourth for 2012. His previous three opponents had a combined record of 51-3. Oosthuizen's is currently ranked number three by Ring Magazine, six by the IBF, eight by the WBC, and 11 by the WBA.

“Tommy Oosthuizen is the best fighter to come out of South Africa in many years,” said co-promoter Lou DiBella, who promotes Oosthuizen with Rodney Berman. “He is one of the best young 168 pounders in the world and is already a serious title contender. The future is limitless for Tommy Oosthuizen and, in 2013, I expect him to further solidify his championship credentials.”

“In one of the more vibrant, if not THE most vibrant divisions in world boxing today, the American public will see an exceptional talent out of Africa,” said Rodney Berman. “We already know that Tommy is destined to rule the division, but come next year, so will the entire world.”

Zuniga challenged for his first world title in 2003, dropping a 12-round decision to WBO junior middleweight champion Daniel Santos. In 2007, Zuniga stopped the 26-0 Victor Oganov to pick up the IBO super middleweight title. Two fights later, he challenged WBO super middleweight titlist Denis Inkin, dropping a 12-round decision. Zuniga would twice more challenge for the championship, getting stopped by Lucian Bute in 2009 and losing a decision to Tavoris Cloud in December 2010. In Zuniga's most recent outing, he knocked out former IBF super middleweight champion Alejandro Berrio.

New York, NY (October 15, 2012) – Captain Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson of New York City by way of Brooklyn, NY will challenge fellow New Yorker Jason Thompson in a six round junior middleweight contest Saturday, October 20 on the inaugural fight card at the Barclays Center.

The heavy-handed Thompson fought a number of quality fighters, including contenders Jonathan Gonzalez and Mike Jones, 2008 US Olympian Sadam Ali and junior middleweight prospect Steve Martinez. Although his official professional ledger is 5-6-1 with 4 knockouts, Thompson's anything but a safe opponent. Thompson owns two first round stoppages against previously unbeaten opponents and fought a total of six undefeated fighters.

“Thompson’s fought a lot of top guys and he’s not just coming for the paycheck,” said Melson, who is less than a month removed from an impressive victory over Yolexcy Leiva. “He’s also from New York and there’s a ton of pride involved when two guys from the same area face one another. I expect him to have a lot of people in the arena that will be rooting against me and that’s not something I’m accustomed to.”

Since turning pro in November 2010, the West Point graduate’s won 10 of his 11 bouts, displaying solid boxing skills along with good power in both hands. Although he’s won most of his fights handily, Melson recognizes that he’s got to keep improving with every performance.

“A lot of people told me my last fight was my best as a pro,” said Melson, who was selected as an alternate for the 2008 Olympics. “There are still things I’m working on and plan to showcase against Thompson. He’s a very tough opponent regardless of what his record is and I’m expecting a solid challenge on Saturday evening.”

Tickets to the first ever boxing card at the brand new Barclays Center are available on Teamfighttowalk.com. The website also has t-shirts and wristbands on sale, with 100% of the money (along with Melson’s entire fight purse) going to Justadollarplease.org to support bringing trials to the United States to cure Spinal Cord Injuries.

In association with the 501 (C) 3 nonprofit Justadollarplease.org, Melson and his best friend Christan Zaccagnino created Team Fight to Walk, whose mission is to raise awareness within the boxing community as well as the entire nation about the importance of bringing Clinical Trials to the United States to help cure Spinal Cord Injuries. Team Fight to Walk is comprised of Melson, Zaccagnino, former Rutgers football player/ESPY honoree Eric LeGrand, two-time cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, title contender DeAndre “The Bull” Latimore, Edgar “El Chamaco” Santana, Hector “Machito” Camacho Jr., 2008 US Olympians Demetrius “Boo” Andrade and Shawn Estrada along with prospects Sid “The Messenger” El Harrak, Jeff “TNT” Spencer, Denis “Da Momma’s Boy” Douglin, Will “Power” Rosinsky, Floriano “Italiano” Pagliara, Danny “Little Mac” McDermott, Vinny “The Lion” O’Brien, Ahmed “Prince of Egypt” Samir and Delen “Sniper” Parsley.