One of the most highly anticipated weekends of boxing in Las Vegas history just got bigger. On Friday, May 4, 2007, promoter Dan Goossen announced he will present the first-ever professional boxing event in “The Pearl” – the recently opened 2,500 capacity theater at Las Vegas' Palms Casino Resort. "Fast” Eddie Chambers (28-0, 16 KOs) will take on Dominick “The Southern Disaster” Guinn (28-4-1, 19 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round heavyweight battle. Chris Arreola (19-0, 17 KOs), will face 2004 U.S. Olympic heavyweight Devin Vargas (11-0, 5 KOs) in the co-feature. Both of these bouts will be shown on Showtime's ShoBox series.

“With the Cinco de Mayo bout between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar de la Hoya on Saturday,” Goossen observed, “we decided to kick off the weekend by bringing boxing fans a fantastic card featuring the hottest rising stars in the heavyweight division who will be fighting at what is arguably the hottest property in Las Vegas -- The Palms.”

In one bout, regional heavyweight titlist “Fast” Eddie Chambers (28-0, 16 KOs) will have a tall task in taking on Dominick “The Southern Disaster” Guinn (28-4-1, 19 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight battle – Chambers is on the fast track to superstardom, while Guinn is trying to regain his former status among the elite heavyweights.   
 
Another popular and unbeaten Goossen Tutor heavyweight, Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola (19-0, 17 KOs), will be facing undefeated 2004 U.S. Olympic heavyweight team Captain, Devin Vargas (11-0, 5 KOs) from Toledo, OH in the opening televised bout.

Opening up the show at The Palms on “The Next Great Heavyweight Contenders” event will be Goossen Tutor’s undefeated Malik Scott (27-0, 10 KOs) – who will be featured in a 10-round fight against tough veteran Charles Shufford (20-6-1, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chambers, who just turned 25, has shown heavyweight power in stopping his last three opponents.  In his most recent outing last month, the Philadelphia fighter stopped then unbeaten Derric Rossy via seventh-round TKO in an ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” main event.  

Reminiscent of another Philadelphia fighter, renowned former world heavyweight champion “Smokin” Joe Frazier -- who had great success against taller fighters, Chambers, at six-foot-one, has defeated the likes of 6’3” opponents Rossy, Ed Mahone and Ross Purrity.  In taking on the 6’4” Guinn, Chambers will be facing his tallest – and what the experts say, his most talented and dangerous opponent to date.

“I feel the taller they are, the bigger advantage I have,” quipped Chambers, who is trained by his father Eddie and promoted by Goossen Tutor in association with Score Promotions.  “Guinn has the edge in experience fighting guys like (James) Toney, (Audley) Harrison and (Tony) Thompson, but I feel my superior boxing skills and punching accuracy gives me the size advantage.”

For the 31-year-old Guinn, born in Arkansas and residing in Houston, Texas, the Chambers bout is his opportunity to fast forward his career back to where so many predicted it would be.  Following his decision loss to seven-time world champion James “Lights Out” Toney, Guinn rebounded to outpoint Olympic Heavyweight Gold medalist, Audley Harrison over ten rounds in April 2006.  Two months later, Tony “The Tiger” Thompson, the current #3 heavyweight contender, beat Guinn in a 12-round decision.  

Since the Thompson bout, Guinn has won his last two fights, the latest last month in an impressive second-round knockout of veteran Zuri Lawrence. “This is the biggest fight of my career,” Guinn acknowledged.  “Everybody who’s anybody in boxing will either be in Las Vegas or watching on Showtime and I need to not only win, but win impressively.  I have re-dedicated myself and am determined to give Chambers his first loss and put myself back in the heavyweight picture in a big way.”

Arreola, a 26-year-old Mexican knockout artist from Riverside, California, has stopped each of his last seven opponents.  Most recently, he took out once-beaten Zakeem Graham in three rounds on the same Chambers-Rossy ESPN2 event.  With the historic Hispanic celebration taking place the same weekend, Arreola is out to show why so many boxing insiders and fans believe he has the talent to become the first Mexican heavyweight world champion in the history of boxing.
 
Vargas understands the task ahead.  “Arreola is a big, strong heavyweight that will work to my strengths,” stated the confident Vargas.  “In his last fight against Graham, it was very competitive until Arreola caught him flush.  He won’t hit me with those shots.”   

The Joe Goossen-trained Scott is a 26-year-old Philadelphia native who continues to improve as he moves up the ranks of the world’s best heavyweights.

“The eyes of the boxing world will be on these talented young heavyweights and each is ready to fight for the right to be the next great heavyweight world contender,” Dan Goossen added.  “When you have this rare opportunity to showcase your skills with the throngs of media, industry and television executives and the sport’s greatest fans watching up close and personal, the juices will definitely be flowing with all the fighters.  The stage is set to prove where these heavyweights belong in the most glamorous division in all of sports.”
 
Doors for the bouts will open at 6:30 pm and the first bout is 7 pm (Scott-Shufford). Tickets for the event can be purchased at any Ticketmaster location, call 702-474-4000, or visit www.ticketmaster.com to purchase tickets.