Roman Karmazin will defend his IBF junior middleweight title against former undisputed world welterweight champion Cory Spinks on a special edition of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Saturday, July 8, LIVE on SHOWTIME from the Savvis Center in the challenger's hometown of St. Louis, Mo. The fight will be promoted by Don King Productions.

 

Karmazin (34-1-1, 1 ND, 21 KOs), of Russia, stamped himself as one of the junior middleweight division's best in his last start when he captured the IBF 154-pound title with a convincing, upset 12-round unanimous decision over highly regarded Kassim Ouma on July 14, 2005, in Las Vegas. Karmazin has won five consecutive starts (with one no-decision) since suffering his lone loss on a decision to Javier Castillejo in a bout for the WBC Interim 154-pound crown on July 12, 2002.

 

Spinks (34-3, 11 KOs) hopes to accomplish what Jose Antonio Rivera did earlier this month on SHOWTIME when he stepped up in weight on his home turf and stunned Alejando “Terra” Garcia to win the WBA 154-pound title. Spinks will  make his first appearance since losing  his undisputed world welterweight titles to Zab Judah via a ninth-round TKO on Feb. 5, 2005, also at the Savvis Center and on SHOWTIME. That exciting bout was witnessed by 22,370, one of the largest crowds in history to witness an in-door arena boxing match.  

 

On Saturday, July 1, a night normally reserved for the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING series, a special edition of "ShoBox: The New Generation" will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).  Details on the card will be announced soon.