Press Release: Silverhawk Boxing will kick off the New Year with an evening of pay-per-view boxing, "Collision Course, A Night of Champions," featuring two world title fights and two other matches, on January 27, 2006 at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  The stars of Silverhawk Boxing's stable, two-time world lightweight champion Stevie "Lil' But Bad" Johnston (37-3-1, 17 KOs) and light heavyweight contender Prince "The Boxing Prince" Badi Ajamu (24-2-1, 13 KOs), will be in action on the card against opponents to be announced. Also, world titles will be on the line: appearing on the card is former three-time world champion Virgil "Quicksilver" Hill (49-5, 23 KOs) against Russia’s Valery Brudov (20-0, 23 KOs) for the vacant WBA cruiserweight belt in the 12-round main event (Jean Mark Mormeck is the WBA super champion); IBF minimumweight title-holder Muhammad "Rock Breaker" Rachman (50-7-7-4, 22 KOs) defends his belt against IBF #1 contender Omar "Lobito" Soto (14-2-1, 10 KOs), while "Mighty" Mike Aranoutis (14-0-2, 6 KOs) is also scheduled to appear, versus TBA. The event is co-promoted by Guilty Boxing and Star Boxing and will be available at a suggested retail price of only $24.95 in the United States, Canada, France, Russia, Indonesia and Greece.

"We're excited to be involved in our first major championship pay-per-view show," Silverhawk Boxing chief executive officer Tim Doyle said. "We believe there is a need to get back to the roots of traditional boxing. Reasonably priced, highly competitive pay-per-view events like this represent the future of boxing. Our goal is to bring legitimacy back to the term 'champion.' The way to do that is by putting the best fighters in the world against each other. Boxing is entertainment. On a pay-per-view show like this so many more fans will get the opportunity to appreciate the special skills of Stevie and Prince, who are the undisputed leaders of Silverhawk's growing stable of world-class boxers. Victories on this grand stage will only better position them for major world title fights."
 
Johnston has moved up to 140 pounds, and will fight for the vacant IBO belt.He captured the WBC lightweight championship twice between 1997 and 2000, including seven successful defenses, and he's beaten the likes of Jean Baptiste Mendy, Saul Duran, Cesar Bazan and Angel Manfredy, to name some of the more notables. In 2000, Johnston lost the WBC belt to Jose Luis Castillo and three months later they fought to a draw (Johnston was declared the winner by majority decision, but there was a scoring error resulting in the draw). The smooth southpaw, originally from Denver, has won two in a row, seven of his last eight. He'd like nothing better than a 2006 showdown against any of the high-profile light welterweights in the world such as Floyd Mayweather, Ricky Hatton, or Miguel Cotto.
 
Prince Badi Ajamu will defend one of his four regional titles. This past October, he defeated via ninth-round TKO five-time world kickboxing champion Olando "The Warrior" Rivera, who at the time was rated No. 9 by the WBC. Earlier this month Badi won a unanimous 12-round decision against Thomas Reid. The 33-year-old Camden, New Jersey wants to challenge WBC light heavyweight champion Tomasz Adamek.
 
"The Boxing Prince" has won five in a row, nine of his last 10, and he plans on staying busy. "I want to do something in boxing that hasn't been done in a long time," Badi explained. "I want to defend my title more often, at least three or four times a year, for the next three or four years. I want to give people something to look forward to." Johnston and Prince Badi (Jan. 27 opponents soon to be announced) are now both trained by Hall of Famer Buddy McGirt, whose stable of warriors also include Antonio Tarver and Arturo Gatti, and fight out of St. Petersburg (FL).
 
Tickets, priced at $200, $150, $100, $75, $50 and $35, may be purchased at the Tropicana box office (800.526.2935, 609.340.4020) or by calling Ticketmaster (800.736.1420).