Williams barely escaped the first round after Klitschko had him down and hurt early.

Williams said: "He was a lot more awkward than I thought and it was harder than I thought it was going to be. I got cut in the first round and it became harder and harder to see his punches.  I kept fighting because it was the heavyweight championship of the world but he was just too good."

Nady took a close look at Williams in a seventh round, but it was finally all over in the eighth when Williams hit the canvas for the fourth time and was wisely prevented from continuing by Nady despite rising again.

Vitali Klitschko claimed it was his finest performance to date.

"This was the best fight of my career and I was surprised Danny was able to take so many punches. He has a strong chin and he caught me good a couple of times.”

"My strategy was to use my reach because I knew he would try to get close to me, so I stayed outside. I thought the fight would have been stopped a little earlier.”

Undercard Action

Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto set the stage for a showdown with Kostya Tszyu next year when he demolished American Randall Bailey with another devastating performance on Saturday. In a fight fought at the 140 lb. limit, Cotto came in weighing a reported 155 lbs.

Cotto knocked Bailey down 3 times in total. The fight was stopped after the last knockdown, which took place in the 6th round.

Here's what boxing's WBC heavwyweight champion, Vitali Klitschko had to say:

“I went to the hospital as a precaution because both my hands were swollen, They are taped now but the doctor said I will be fine and could fight in a couple of months. Nothing is broken. This is no big deal."

“I cannot say exactly when I hurt them, or with what punch, but I first started to feel pain in the hands in the second round, and felt more and more pain in each round thereafter."

“I feel good. I did not take a lot of punches in the fight. Danny Williams did never hurt me."

“I tried to finish him in the first round, but Danny Williams showed a lot of heart and came back. I was very surprised at how many punches he took."

“I am happy with my performance, but fights, like life, are all about learning and gaining experience. I hope the fans enjoyed our fight tonight. I fight for the audience. They are the ones who pay to watch me fight and I hope they will want to watch me again."

“The best is yet to come."

“I am not prepared to say who I will fight next, or when the fight will be, or where.  There are several possibilities, lots of big names. We will see."

“This victory was important not just for me, but for my country. This is the first time a Ukrainian sportsman is a boxing world champion. I hope I made the people there happy."

“My brother, Wladimir, and I leave for Germany early in the morning (Sunday) and will spend one day there before heading to Ukraine.’’

Chazz Witherspoon started boxing a little over two years ago when he faced the fact that the NBA wasn't going to come knocking. A standout power forward at Paulsboro High School in New Jersey, Witherspoon looked at his options after high school and decided he wanted to stay close to home.

"The NBA wasn't in my future," said Witherspoon, 23, the second cousin of "Terrible" Tim. "I could have probably played basketball overseas, but I didn't want to go that far from home."

Besides, a 3.8 GPA can open as many college doors as a sweet jump shot. So Witherspoon accepted a full academic scholarship to attend St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where he's majoring in pharmaceutical marketing. He'll graduate this spring.

But before that, he'd like to get a handful of wins under his belt. He's scheduled to make his pro debut Sunday at the D.C. Convention Center in Washington D.C., against a guy by the name of James Daniels of Laurel, MD, who has a record of 1-2.

"That means he'll have been through the ropes as a pro three more times than I have," said Chazz, an Olympic alternate at heavyweight and a 2004 national Golden Gloves champion, who cruised to the title with five knockouts.

Witherspoon's late start in the sport can be attributed to basketball. That's where his focus was through high school. But when his basketball days were over, he decided he needed to try something else.

"I decided to try boxing because that's what Tim did," said Witherspoon, who talks to his famous cousin about once a week. "Tim got me ready mentally for boxing. I think the sport requires more mental toughness than physical toughness, and I think it separates the men from the boys. Boxing is not for everybody.

There is nothing you can do to prepare for it (your first time), and people don't realize how much goes on in the ring. I used to run track in high school and I would run four miles every other day. But when I tried boxing for the first time, I got tired after the first round."

That was 32 amateur fights ago.

Against Daniels, Witherspoon will be facing a guy about his own height (6-foot-3) and about 10 or 15 pounds heavier then the 220 Witherspoon expects to weigh.

"I'd like to make a good career in boxing so I can market myself to pharmaceutical companies for endorsements," said Witherspoon, who has a brother, 21 and a baby sister, 19. "Hopefully, that will lead to a full-time position once I retire from boxing."

Polite and articulate, Witherspoon said when he's done with the fight game, he plans on stepping away and not looking back.

"When I'm done, I'll truly be done," he said. "I want to be able to speak to my grandchildren, and you have to look at both the upside and the downside of the sport. There is a lot of physical abuse."

Maybe the best thing going for Witherspoon is the knowledge that for him, boxing is a choice. With his degree, he has other ways to go if it doesn't work out the way he hopes it does.

"For me, boxing was one of my options," he said. "I was not forced to do this and I'm not forcing myself to do this. I'm very blessed and I recognize that."

Walid and Hani Darwish, relatively new to the promotional end of the boxing business, saw their one-time full fightcard whittled down to a measly four bouts.  While the fight cancellations and pullouts were through no fault of their own (Pittsburgh's Jay Holland had a bad reaction following a required blood test and local fighter Eric Graham cited last minute personal reasons for being unable to fight), the Darwish brothers dodged a public relations bullet as the first three fights were true crowd pleasers and had the capacity crowd reeling from all the excitement.  Even a lackluster main event couldn't deter from their exuberance.

Opening the show - in a battle on young Newark welterweights - Alex Perez began his professional career in dramatic fashion, winning via first round knockout.  Perez was battling undefeated Farrakhan Cuttino (now 2-1, with 2 KO's) before sending Cuttino to his knees midway through the round.  A picture-perfect left hook sent a hurt Cuttino to the canvas for good.

As this Knockout Promotions event was being televised (tape delayed) by CSI Sports, next up was the night's co-feature.  Highly touted Paterson native Kendall Holt was given all he could handle by rugged Juan Carlos Escobar and managed to come away with a hard fought and well earned six round unanimous decision victory.  Building up an early lead with an impressive display of power punching and boxing skills, Holt - obviously the more proficient and better skilled fighter - got caught early in round four by Escobar.  Facing danger for the first time in this bout Holt resorted to several fouls (low blows), first getting a warning, then a one-point deduction from referee David Fields.  Escobar fought the only way he knows how - by coming foward and never taking a step back.  A true Mexican fighter, Escobar fell to 12-8-2 (6 KO's), yet left the ring as a true winner.  Holt, now 16-1, looks ahead to a future nationally televised feature bout on the Showtime network's ShowBox series against former Olympian, the undefeated David Diaz (25-0).

Another highly entertaining bout followed as Yamin Mohammed, fighting out of Ohio, knocked out Terrance Thomas (now 2-3) at the bell, ending round three.  The gutsy Mohammed, knocked down in round one, stood toe-to-toe with Thomas - who wasn't as hurt as he was totally exhausted - before finally nailing Thomas, dropping him twice en route to his thrilling knockout win which improved the tough lightweight's record to 3-5-1 (3 KO's).

In the main event Camden's Prince Badi Ajamu took the vacant World Boxing Council's Continental Americas Light-heavyweight title belt in a listless twelve round match against veteran Greg Wright.  Wright (21-12-2), fighting out of Detroit's Kronk gym, was satisfied with spending most of his time on the ropes absorbing Ajamu's punches.  Never a threat, Wright didn't even win one round in the eyes of two of the three judges (120-108, 120-108 and 118-110) and appeared to exert more energy talking during the bout than actually fighting.  Badi, to his credit, took control of the contest literally from the opening bell and thoroughly outworked Wright.  The deserved champion, now 22-2-1 with 12 knnockouts, wants to move up in the ranks and has expressed his desire to take on the Johnsons and Tarvers of the light-heavyweight division.

The large crowd on this rain-soaked night proved that there is a market for boxing in North Jersey.  The Darwish brothers and their Knockout Promotions have steadily improved with each event they have put on and have stated their commitment to put on quality, "big-time" quality, boxing shows. 

Knockout Promotions next outing in their "North Jersey Boxing Series" is scheduled for Thursday January 14th, 2005.  For more information call Knockout Promotions at (973) 273-9898 or e-mail knockoutz@aol.com

At least until a 6’5” 250-pound long-distance runner wins a marathon you are going to have a hard time convincing me that bigger is better when it comes to anything long-distance, whether that distance is timed or linear. Professional championship fights are slated for twelve rounds and when you have the ‘new generation’ of super-sized heavyweights throwing arm punches at each other for 36-minutes, it can sometimes take the sweetness out of the science of boxing and leave fans sour.

In bouts today it often seems as if fighters are doing what they can early and then saving themselves and their energy to survive until the late rounds by filling us with punch-and-hold dances for the middle 4-8 rounds of a fight. If there were fewer rounds and heavyweight boxers didn’t have to first concern themselves with having to maintain the staying power to go the distance, they surely would be more likely to let it all hang out for a greater portion of the bout.

Those who do try to give it all they have in every round are often gassed by the seventh round and hit survival mode to close the show. As they tire their punching power also diminishes and as that fades so does the excitement level of the entire fight. 6’ 6” Jameel ‘Big Time’ McCline lugged his massive 270-pound frame around the Madison Square Garden ring for 12 rounds recently against 6’ 0 214-pound Chris Byrd in a case that proves the point.

McCline dominated the November 13th fight in the early going and even had Byrd knocked down in the second round. By the sixth stanza the 6-furlong sprint had materialized into a 1.5-mile derby and Byrd ran away with the victory. Byrd had more energy in the second half of the fight and boxed his way to a split-decision win.

While I have a ton of respect for Chris Byrd and his boxing ability, it would be inappropriate not to mention that he is a fighter many people do not enjoy watching at the heavyweight level. He isn’t a big, strong, knockout puncher, but rather a slick, moving, aesthetically pleasing boxer. When guys go into the ring qualifying as a ‘heavyweight’, fans want to see big men hitting each other hard. What you get with Byrd is a smaller guy not hitting hard, but punching effectively, showing stylish footwork and tight defense. What you get with many heavyweights these days is a lot of clutching and grabbing after the first minute of each round.

Before the fight with McCline, Byrd was asked about how he was received in the heavyweight division. His response was that “Most boxing fans don’t understand the sport. They just want to see brawls and knockouts.” He was right, and suddenly this crazy notion of less being more may not be so off the mark after all.

As go the heavyweights so goes the popularity of boxing, or so “they” say. While I am not sure who “they” are, nor that they are correct, it is undeniable that exciting heavyweight bouts are not all that common.

On the same card as the aforementioned Byrd-McCline tilt, fans also had to sit through a jab-n-grab bout between John Ruiz and Andrew Golota and a retirement party of Larry Donald playing ‘patty cake’ on Evander Holyfield’s mug for twelve rounds. The most exciting fight that night was Hasim Rahman coming in lighter than he has in years and throwing more punches than he has in years as he stopped Kali Meehan after just four rounds. The fans were pleased.

As long as heavyweights continue to be sold and packaged in jumbo sizes the problem will persist, at least until fans of the big boys appreciate boxers such as Chris Byrd. Don’t hold your breath, that’s rather unlikely. Boxing fans are a beer swilling lot as opposed to wine sipping connoisseurs. Those who crack the cap of a can of lager aren’t likely to pull the cork off a finely aged cabernet sauvignon to savor its ‘nose’ or oak and tannin influences.

Generally speaking, fight fans of the heavyweight division would rather crack open a ‘Can of Klitschko’ than uncork a ‘Bottle of Byrd’.

The Economics theory, ‘The Law of Diminishing Returns’ - loosely translated - says that the more you have of one thing the less enjoyment you get from it after a certain point. My economics professor explained this to me in layman’s terms by demonstrating that the more beer you consume the better and happier one might feel (that ‘one’ being a college student in this case). However, after a certain amount of beer, the more lager you drink the less satisfaction you get out of each additional beer. Less can be more.

In heavyweight boxing the giant fighters we see today just aren’t designed to perform late in fights like the smaller men do—or how the smaller heavyweights of past generations did.

‘The Law of Diminishing Returns’ applied to heavyweight boxing says that after a certain point in a fight the more rounds we see, the less entertaining the bouts. As the big boys are the economic machine that drives the sport, it would make sense to maximize the entertainment value by minimizing the rounds down to eight, and maybe ten for a championship bout.

In the end I may be wrong, but my Economics professor would be proud. I did learn something.

Here are some of your recent quotes:

“I want to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”

"I'm the heavyweight champion of the world. And when you have this belt, you have to seek out the best."

"You put your name into the (history) books by going out there and fighting the toughest guys. What kind of champion would it be who would say, `No, I don't want to fight this man because he is too tough?' How could you have the respect for him? I want to be different."

“I want to fight against the strongest challenger in the world.”

I agree. There’s only one place to settle this and that’s in the ring, not by what boxing commentators or writers say. You’re fighting tomorrow (Saturday) night, but this message is for Chris Byrd and Lamon Brewster, too. As you know I support a heavyweight tournament matching the four major world title-holders. Tournament or not, though, I intend to only fight so-called world champions.

If you really want to fight the best and the toughest in our business consider my accomplishments and compare them to anyone else (including yourself) in our division:

I’ve beaten three former world champions – Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman and Tony Tucker.

I’ve beaten five top 10 contenders in world title fights – Holyfield, Rahman, Andrew Golota, Fres Oquendo and Kirk Johnson.

I’ve had eight WBA title fights, fought 93 championship rounds, and been a world champion for more than three years, two months and counting.

Boxing is about winning and imposing your will on your opponent, not style points. I’ve fought and beaten the best heavyweights in the world other than you.

I hear that HBO is holding a date for you in March of 2005, so for boxing fans all over the world, let’s take the first step and unify our titles.

Good luck Saturday and Happy Holidays to you and your family.

John “The Quietman” Ruiz
WBA Heavyweight Champion

During the past week many stories have surfaced stating just how good a fighter Danny Williams really is, and if he beat Klitschko it wouldn't be a shock to some. It amazes me how much greater fighters all of the sudden become after stopping Mike Tyson. These are the same type of stories that emerged about Buster Douglas after he shocked the boxing world when he knocked out Tyson in February of 1990.

After Douglas stopped Tyson, stories were written about his size and reach and how they complimented his outstanding boxing skills. However, not a single word of those skills was mentioned before the fight. Now, looking back, everybody knew Tyson was out of shape. Which makes me wonder even more why none of those glowing reports about Douglas found their way into the media before his fight with Tyson? I think the reason is quite obvious: they didn't exist. In reality, Buster Douglas was a nice fighter, but wasn't viewed as a fighter who would one day become the undisputed heavyweight champion. Prior to the Tyson fight he didn't beat one upper-tier heavyweight and was stopped in his only title shot by Tony Tucker.

However his perception as a fighter changed dramatically based on only one fight, his knockout of Mike Tyson. By the time October rolled around and he was about to defend his undisputed title against Evander Holyfield, he was the favorite. Imagine Douglas being favored over Holyfield. I would be willing to bet that if Douglas fought Holyfield the night he fought Tyson, he would have been almost as big of an underdog as he was against Tyson. The fact that he beat Tyson led many to wrongly assume that Douglas was a better fighter and could beat Holyfield. When Douglas and Holyfield finally fought, Holyfield knocked Douglas out in the third round with one counter right hand to become the new undisputed heavyweight champion.

Today, in my opinion, too many analysts and fans place way too much stock in one fight or one game. This is not meant to take anything away from Danny Williams, but I think the burden of proof is still on him versus the world's top heavyweights. I need to see more than him beating a rusty 38 year old Mike Tyson - who had only fought 50 seconds in a year and a half - before I'm convinced that he is the next heavyweight champion.

Now we are hearing that Williams' has discovered self belief, and that he's always been a world-class heavyweight fighter. Again, based on one fight. Is the real Danny Williams the fighter who was dropped three times and stopped by Sinan Samil Sam, and lost his British Empire title to Michael Sprott 11 months ago? Or he is the fighter we saw once time in 35 fights, the one who beat Tyson?

I guess the Danny Williams who had to fight Michael Sprott twice just to beat him once and was dropped three times and stopped by Sinan Samil Sam isn't the real Danny Williams. The real Danny Williams is the fighter we saw one time in 35 fights, the one who beat Tyson.

Over the years I have learned two things. One, never use one great fight or game as a barometer to judge any fighter or team, ignoring their body of work up to that point. What they've done excluding that one great fight or game is a more realistic indication of who they are. And two, judging a fighter strictly off of beating Mike Tyson is the biggest mistake in the world.

Buster Douglas never beat one upper-tier heavyweight before or after fighting Mike Tyson. He just happened to have a career night against an overrated Tyson in his prime. Heading into his first fight with Tyson, Evander Holyfield was coming off the two worst fights of his career at the time (his third fight with Riddick Bowe and his last fight against Bobby Czyz) and hadn't scored a knockout since his fight against Bert Cooper in November of 1991. Yet he had Tyson down and won nine out of ten rounds before stopping him in the eleventh in November of 1996.

Seven months later Holyfield beat Tyson again when Mike was disqualified for biting Evander's ears in their rematch. After winning the rematch with Tyson, many were saying Holyfield resurrected his career. However after beating Michael Moorer in their rematch five months after beating Tyson in their second fight, Holyfield never again looked like the great fighter he once was.

In June of 2002 Lennox Lewis finally escaped the shadow of Mike Tyson when he knocked him out in the eighth round of their highly anticipated fight. One year later Lewis defended his title against top ranked Vitali Klitschko. Against Klitschko, Lewis was rocked and almost knocked down. Lewis won the fight when Klitschko couldn't continue after the sixth round due to a severely cut eye. Lewis retired in February of 2004, eight months after fighting Klitschko.

Now we are counting down to Danny Williams’ FFABT, (first fight after beating Tyson). And just as Douglas became a better fighter than he really was, Danny Williams is becoming better than his pre-Tyson career indicates. So much in fact that Tyson's trainer Freddie Roach said Williams has the tools to cut down the giant Klitschko. Roach also said, "What he gained from beating Mike is a lot of confidence, which is what everybody says he lacked before he fought Mike."

Although I respect the wisdom of Freddie Roach, I think he left out something important. Tyson has never won a fight in which he was down or trailed. What separates Mike Tyson from the greatest of the greats is the fact that he has never shown the capacity to overcome resistance. He has never won a fight once he started losing it.

I think getting Klitschko's heart will be a little tougher than getting Tyson's. Klitschko is always in top shape and does have some ability. I don't think he is the next Lewis or Holmes, but I think he is probably the best heavyweight in the world at this time. Danny Williams may actually turn out to be the best heavyweight in the world in the future, but I need to see more of him before I believe it. And I definitely need more than just him beating Mike Tyson in his last fight to evaluate and deem him the fighter to beat in the heavyweight division.

And the questions about his heart began.

It's hard to believe the current WBC heavyweight king - and the man generally considered the best big-man in boxing - was once looked upon as an Andrew Golota-type enigma. The reasons for his decision to stop fighting against Byrd seemed legitimate enough: He had a badly injured shoulder. But the boxing press had heard that before. And it pounced on him.

In retrospect, the attacks on Klitschko's character seem almost silly. The older of the two Klitschko brothers is hard-nosed and stout, as evidenced by his 2003 TKO loss to then-heavyweight king Lennox Lewis. Klitschko, obviously inspired by the need to restore his name, walked through Lewis's biggest punches without flinching. Even as Lewis turned his face into hamburger, Klitschko pressed forward - hoping his pressure would wear down the Englishman.

But, before Klitschko had a chance to see the results of his toughness, the fight was stopped. The native of Ukraine was enraged - and rightfully so. Lewis had ended the previous round in bad shape, slumping onto his seat like a drunk on a bar stool. Klitschko was surging. It was his big chance.

The opportunity was cut short. But the great performance ensured that he would get another. And the word "quitter" would never be associated with Klitschko again.

Since then, Klitschko has fought like a man on a mission. He wasted no time in ridding the ring of the elephant-like Kirk Johnson in December 2003. He took an overmatched opponent out like a top heavyweight is supposed to - with an intense focus and a couple of iron fists.

When Lewis retired, the WBC and "The Ring" magazine settled on Klitschko-Corrie Sanders as the battle for the vacant heavyweight title. It was an interesting storyline: Sanders had almost decapitated Klitschko's younger brother, Wladimir, in March 2003 in that year's biggest upset. Some felt like Sanders' southpaw style and punching power would do the same to Vitali.

It almost did. Sanders caught Klitschko early, rocking him with his signature right-left combination - the same combination that stunned Wladimir. But Vitali called on the same courage that allowed him to weather the Lewis storm almost a year earlier.

It was a courage and determination that was spawned from the disappointment of the Byrd loss.

Klitschko went on to stop Sanders in the eighth round of a wild shootout in Los Angeles. And though Klitschko will never be a Larry Holmes - like boxer/puncher with top-of-the-line tools, he has ability. He is similar to rival Lewis - who also had awkward growing pains on the way up before establishing himself as the best fighter of his era.

But it will take time for Klitschko to grow into the fighter Lewis eventually became. And fights against the likes of England's Danny Williams probably won't help. It's a no-win situation for the champion: If he wins, he's supposed to win.

If not, he's a disappointment.

But Lewis was faced with the same predicament through most of his career - a bizarre, inexplicable lack of respect despite a track record for knocking out his most dangerous opponents. It wasn't until Lewis did away with Tyson in 2002 that he finally earned some long-lasting regard.

Lewis eventually changed everybody's mind with his fists. Klitschko is on his way to doing the same.

Klitschko officially weighed in at 250 pounds Thursday to 270 pounds for Williams, breaking the record for combined weight in a heavyweight title fight.

Williams also tied the mark for heaviest title fighter ever, set in 1934 by Primo Carnera. Williams said afterwards that he is not worried about his weight as he is in shape and it is much what he expected when he stood on the scale.

Together, Klitschko and Williams weigh 520 pounds, breaking the old mark of 504½ set by Klitschko and Lennox Lewis when the two faced each other in June 2003.

In the main support bout to the championship matchup between Tarver and Johnson former WBO 175-pound champion Julio Gonzalez (36-2, 22 KOs) will square off against former title challenger

David Telesco (29-4-1, 24 KOs) in a hard-hitting ten round clash that may determine a future opponent for the winner of Tarver-Johnson. David Telesco, a knockout artist from Port Chester, New York, has compiled an impressive 6-1-1 (5 KOs) record since a hard fought decision loss to Roy Jones Jr. in 2000.  Fresh off a second round knockout of Manu Ntoh in July, Telesco’s focus and punching power spells a rough night for anyone at 175 pounds. Huntington Beach, California’s Julio Gonzalez is no stranger to tough fights and tough fighters in the light heavyweight division.  A young man who has been in the ring with Roy Jones Jr., Glen Johnson, and who handed German superstar Dariusz Michalczewski his first and only defeat in 2003, this former WBO world champion is itching to get back his crown in 2005.  But he needs to get by Telesco to do it.

A title shot may be at stake in another intriguing ten rounder on December 18, which features unbeaten up and comer Tarvis Simms (19-0, 11 KOs) against perennial contender Carlos Bojorquez (23-5-6, 19 KOs) in a middleweight bout. Norwalk, Connecticut’s Simms, a southpaw with impressive power in both hands, has not allowed his two previous opponents this year to reach the final bell. An impressive win over Bojorquez will place “Marvelous” in position to join his brother Travis as a world champion in 2005. Riverside, California’s Bojorquez has his sights on a world title as well, and the hard-nosed seven-year veteran feels that he is getting closer with each successive win.  Holder of a TKO victory over future hall of famer Pernell Whitaker, Bojorquez comes to fight from bell to bell, and he will be bringing his best on December 18.

In a featured attraction, all-action heavyweight Vinny Maddalone (21-2, 15 KOs), who many believe is a throwback to the heavyweights of boxing’s golden age in style and demeanor, makes his first trip out West in a ten round heavyweight bout against Honolulu's Ronnie Smith.

The Class of 2004 will also be prominently featured on December 18, as the lone United States Gold Medallist from the Athens games, Oakland’s Andre Ward, makes his professional debut in a light heavyweight bout against Christopher Molina (2-0, 1 KO), and Daniel Cervantes, a representative of Mexico in the 2004 Olympics who is managed in the pro ranks by former world champion Fernando Vargas, puts his 3-0 record on the line in a junior welterweight contest against Juan Alfonso Figueroa (2-0, 1 KO).

Rounding out this outstanding card will be a lightweight battle between female standouts Mia St. John (38-4-2, 15 KOs) and former Playboy Cover Girl of San Francisco, and Lisa Lewis (7-10, 3 KOs) of Fresno, who will fight for California bragging rights in their six rounder.

Doors open at 3:45pm, first bout 4:00pm.

Tickets for Tarver-Johnson, priced at $25, $50, $125, and $250 are available now at STAPLES Center Box Office (open 9am to 6pm Monday through Saturday) and Team LA at Universal City Walk or by calling Ticketmaster at 213-480-3232.  Tickets are also available online at www.ticketmaster.com.  For group sales, please call 1-866-LA-GROUP. Tarver-Johnson, which is presented by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, in association with Goossen Tutor Promotions, will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 6pm PT / 9pm ET.