PRESS RELEASE: Light  heavyweight contender Shaun George is "excited" to announce that he has inked a promotional deal with DiBella Entertainment. George will retain his former promoter, Donna Duva-Brooks, as his advisor. George gained national notoriety by easily defeating Chris Byrd, a two-time heavyweight title holder. 

George, 17-2-2 with 8 KOs, is coming off his biggest win to date, a ninth-round TKO Byrd in May. "The Byrd fight was an eye-opener for what I'm capable of, but it's not everything I can do," says the Brooklyn native now training out of Northern New Jersey. "I want to prove that I'm the best in the world and to be the best, you have to beat the best. Signing to DiBella will bring me the opportunities to get the bigger fights I need.

"All I should be worrying about is fighting and with this great team, I can focus on working my way towards a world title."

"I'm thrilled to work with someone who I've not only known and respected for a long time," says Lou DiBella, "but someone who has his career on the fast track. He had a terrific victory over Chris Byrd, I think he has established himself as one of the best light-heavyweights in the world. This is his time and I'm glad to be a part of it."

"Working with DiBella Entertainment puts Shaun in the best possible position because this will help him land big network fights," says Donna Duva-Brooks. "He has a tremendous upside and now we're just working on raising his rankings with the sanctioning bodies."

George is aiming at a November return, possibly against Glen Johnson. If that match can't be made, DiBella says that George will fight a stay-busy fight geared towards landing a major bout in the early part of next year.

George has been calling Glen Johnson out for more than a year but it wasn't until recently that the fight became a realistic possibility.

"I want the fans to understand why I'm calling his name. I'm calling him out because no one wants to fight him. I respect the man as a fighter, he deserves to be ranked number one across the board. He has never ducked anyone but the champions and contenders are ducking him. That's why I want this fight. I want to do what Antonio Tarver, Chad Dawson and Roy Jones Jr. couldn't do, and that's knock him out. I'll fight the man toe-to-toe if I have to, it doesn't matter. The outcome will be the same, I will win."

Adds DiBella, "He's in the prime of his career and we anticipate a great ride over the next few years."