HBO Championship Boxing

Kelly Pavlik vs. Gary Lockett

June 7, 2008

Boardwalk Hall

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Featured Bouts:

WBC \ WBO Middleweight Title Bout (12 Rds)

Champion Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) vs. WBO # 1 ranked Gary Lockett (30-1, 21 KOs)

WBO Jr. Featherweight Title Bout (12 Rds)

Champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (34-1, 30 KOs) vs. # 1 ranked Juan Manuel Lopez (21-0, 19 KOs)

__________________________________________________________________

ATLANTIC CITY – “Great Caesars Ghost!” Undefeated world middleweight champion KELLY “The Ghost”

PAVLIK returns to his old haunt -- Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall -- where he first captured the world title,

Saturday, June 7, in his first world title defense. Pavlik faces a mandatory sentence when he rumbles with

No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger GARY “The Rocket” LOCKETT, who will be making his U.S.

debut. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Frank Warren’s Sports Network and Caesars Atlantic

City, the Pavlik-Lockett world title fight will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing,

beginning at 9:35 p.m. EDT / 6:35 p.m. PDT.

Opening the broadcast will be World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion Daniel

Ponce De Leon defending his title against undefeated No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger Juan

Manuel Lopez.

Combined, this quartet of sluggers boasts an incredible record of 118-2 (99 KOs), a winning percentage of

over 98% and a victory by knockout ratio of 84%!

Tickets, priced at $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50, are on sale now! and can be purchased at the Boardwalk

Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster (800) 736-1420 or online at www.Ticketmaster.com.

“My world title reign is going to be no different than my world title climb. I’m going to keep fighting the best

men out there,” said Pavlik. “My last two victories over Jermain Taylor proved that I wasn’t just the world

middleweight champion, but the best man in the game, pound for pound. I promised the fans I would be an

active champion and that I wouldn’t duck anyone, and I intend to live up to that pledge. It wasn’t that long

ago that I was the number one contender. I know the hunger Lockett has for my title. It’s back to the

“factory” for me for heavy training. I will be 150% for this fight!”

“This fight has got all the ingredients for a good old-fashioned punch-up,” said Lockett. I know I’m going to be

a massive underdog because, worldwide, I’m very, very unknown. But I’m a lot tougher than people think. I’ve

got a good chin and I can pack a wallop myself. And I’ve got the best trainer in the business in Enzo

Calzaghe. Pavlik is among the best pound-for-pound but he looks beatable. He's no Superman, he has

plenty of flaws and we will put together an effective system to beat him.”

"Kelly Pavlik showed in his last fight he is on his road to becoming a superstar,” said Bob Arum, chairman

of Top Rank. “But now Kelly faces a tough test against the No. 1 mandatory challenger, Gary Lockett, who

has battled hard and has won 14 fights in a row. He has not lost a fight in over five years."

“He can punch and Pavlik doesn't have the best of defenses,” said Frank Warren, Lockett’s promoter. “But

it's a great opportunity for Lockett. Now it's up to him to do the rest.”

"'Kelly Pavlik is one of the premier prizefighters in the sport today" said Kery Davis, Senior VP of

Programming for HBO Sports. "It's great to present his first title defense live on our flagship series. Gary

Lockett has the opportunity to show his heart and skill in challenging for the one of the most coveted titles in

the sport."

“Caesars is very excited to welcome world champion Kelly Pavlik and his huge contingent of Youngstown,

Ohio fans back to Atlantic City,” said Harrah's Entertainment Sports & Entertainment Consultant Ken

Condon. “We are looking forward to what is sure to be another fabulous night of championship boxing at

Boardwalk Hall with these two great match-ups."

Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs), from Youngstown, Ohio, joins former lightweight champions Harry Arroyo and Ray

“Boom Boom” Mancini as hometown world champions. Pavlik Ghost wrote a career year in 2007 against

three of the best who boasted a combined record of 74-4-3 (55 KOs) when he faced them. The consensus

“Fighter of the Year” for 2007, Pavlik knocked out Jose Luis Zertuche (19-3-2, 14 KOs) and Edison Miranda

(28-1, 24 KOs), in world title elimination bouts, earning him the right to become Taylor’s mandatory

challenger. His year-end finale, a seventh-round stoppage of the previously undefeated Taylor, to claim the

world middleweight championship, was selected as the “Fight of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association

of America and extended Pavlik’s two-year victory by knockout streak to nine bouts. Pavlik defeated Taylor

handily in their rematch last February to solidify his claim as one of boxing’s top pound for pound fighters.

Lockett (30-1, 21 KOs), from Cwmbran, Wales, is riding a six-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak. His only loss,

a split-decision WBO Intercontinental junior middleweight title defense in 2002, was avenged one year later,

via a 10-round super middleweight unanimous decision. Trained by BWAA “2007 Trainer of the Year,” Enzo

Calzaghe, Lockett boasts dangerous punching power as 70% of his victims can attest to having lost to him

by knockout. Lockett captured the World Boxing Union middleweight title in 2006, knocking out Gilbert

Eastman in the first round, and successfully defended it twice, via a unanimous decision over Ryan Rhodes

and a third-round knockout of Lee Blundell in 2006 and 2007, respectively. A teenage prodigy as an amateur,

with a 90-8 record, Lockett captured 22 titles at the Welsh level or above, including four British junior crowns

and the inaugural 1992 European Under-16 gold medal in Italy.

De Leon (34-1, 30 KOs), from Huntington Park, California, by way of Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico, is

riding a three-year, 10-bout winning streak, including six defenses of the WBO junior featherweight title he

has held since 2005. A 2000 Mexican Olympian and five-time national champion, De Leon, a natural

southpaw, is known for his aggressive style, constant pressure, and strong punching power. His best world

title victories have been over previously undefeated contenders Rey Bautista and Sod Looknongyabtoy, and

two-division world champion Gerry Penalosa.

Lopez (21-0, 19 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, has held the WBO Latino junior featherweight title since

2006. A member of Puerto Rico’s 2004 Olympic team, Lopez has climbed to the top of the ratings in an

incredibly short amount of time. To say he is on a tear is no understatement inasmuch as he hasn’t gone

the distance since June 10, 2006, knocking out his last nine opponents while garnering rave reviews and

comparisons to Puerto Rico’s finest world champions, including Miguel Cotto, Felix Trinidad and Wilfredo

Gomez. A natural southpaw, like De Leon, Lopez’s arsenal features good punching power and an

aggressive, pressuring style of fighting.

For more information, log onto: www.toprank.com.

- Press Release issued by Top Rank with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

Subject to change

(5/21/08)