PRESS RELEASE: SHOWTIME On Demand will replay two exciting SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecasts from 2005 featuring the undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah and WBC/WBA cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck as they prepare to do battle on the opening telecast of 2006 live on SHOWTIME Jan. 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.  Judah will defend against mandatory challenger and No. 1 WBC contender Carlos Baldomir while Mormeck will face IBF champion O’Neil Bell for the undisputed world cruiserweight championship.  

 

SHOWTIME subscribers can access Spinks-Judah II from Dec. 26 through Jan. 7 and Braithwaite-Mormeck from Dec. 21 through Jan. 7 in their entirety only at SHOWTIME On Demand.

 

On Feb. 5, 2005, Judah faced Cory Spinks in his hometown of St. Louis in the pair’s second match-up. Judah ruined Spinks’ homecoming before a record-setting crowd of more than 22,000 who turned up at the Savvis Center to support their local hero. The building was abuzz as Judah floored Spinks in the ninth, but he beat the count and Judah continued to land punishing blows that forced the stoppage at 2:49.

 

In the end, Judah won over the raucous crowd with an impressive and determined TKO to vindicate an earlier loss to Spinks and take the undisputed welterweight crown.  Now Judah prepares to defend for the second time.

 

Then-WBA champion Mormeck met Braithwaite, the WBC titleholder, on April 2, 2005 in Worcester, Mass., in a bout that proved to be the preamble to the upcoming undisputed cruiserweight championship fight with Bell. Mormeck made history when he became the first boxer from France in any division to become a unified world champion by scoring a unanimous 12-round decision over the previously unbeaten Braithwaite. In the seventh round, Mormeck dropped Braithwaite with a devastating overhand right to score the bout’s only knockdown. Throughout the bout, Mormeck continuously hurt the smaller, quicker Braithwaite.

 

Now, both Mormeck and Bell have a chance at history when they collide in only the second undisputed cruiserweight unification fight ever. The winner will be the first in the division to unify the titles since Evander Holyfield defeated Carlos DeLeon in 1988. Many are calling this a match-up that will put the cruiserweight division back on the map for boxing fans.

 

The Jan. 7 cruiserweight unification bout will be the division’s third enthralling match-up on SHOWTIME in nine months. The first was Mormeck’s win over Braithwaite and the other was Guillermo Jones’ upset TKO victory over Braithwaite on Sept. 2.