ACEI Joins SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and China Central Television in Televising April 22 Tripleheader.

Sports Editors/Boxing Writers & Columnists

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2000

World-Ranked Heavyweight Contender Andrew Golota

vs.

Heavyweight Marcus Rhode

Former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion/IBC No. 7 Contender

Montell Griffin

vs.

Former IBA Light Heavyweight Champion/IBC No. 10 Contender

Jose Luis Rivera

Women's Contender Laila Ali

vs.

Kristina King

Saturday, April 22, 2000, at 10 p.m. ET/PT

From Tian He Stadium in Quangzhou, China

American Champion Entertainment (Nasdaq:ACEI) today announced that SHOWTIME will be the first network to nationally televise a professional fight card from China for an American audience.

The exciting SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING tripleheader will take place at Tian He Stadium in Quangzhou, China, on April 22. In the main event, Andrew Golota faces Marcus Pierre Rhode in an important 10-round heavyweight matchup.

In the 12-round co-feature, two top-10-ranked International Boxing Council (IBC) contenders will vie for the vacant IBC light heavyweight championship as former World Boxing Council (WBC) Light Heavyweight Champion Montell "Ice" Griffin takes on Jose Luis Rivera.

In a women's special attraction featuring two unbeaten fighters, Laila Ali, daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, opposes Kristina King in a four-round bout.

The telecast will be shown via same-day tape delay at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Golota (34-4, 28 KOs), of Warsaw, Poland, needs a victory to re-establish himself in the heavyweight division. A talented fighter, Golota is coming off a 10th-round TKO loss to undefeated Michael Grant. Golota had the talented Grant in trouble early in the match, but could not finish him. Despite being ahead on points going into the 10th round, Golota was stopped after being caught by the rallying Grant. Two of his three other defeats came from disqualifications to former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe.

Rhode (24-15, 24 KOs), of St. Joseph's, Mo., has gone the distance in only two of his 39 starts. The hard-hitting Midwesterner, who has never won a decision, has fought some of the division's most promising prospects, including Shannon Briggs, Lamon Brewster, Vitaly Klitschko, Lance Whitaker, Jeremy Williams and Brian Nielsen.

Griffin (38-3, 27 KOs), of Chicago, is the only boxer to defeat Roy Jones. He won a ninth-round disqualification to take the WBC 175-pound title from Jones in March 1997. Griffin also owns two convincing points victories over James Toney. Rivera (18-2, 14 KOs), of Cleveland, has won seven of his last eight outings.

Rivera, a solid boxer-puncher who won the IBA (International Boxing Association) title in August 1997, is coming off a convincing eight-round decision over Ka-Dy King on Jan. 8, 2000.

Laila Ali (4-0, 4 KOs), of Los Angeles, hasn't come close to losing since turning pro in October 1999. The up-and-coming, charismatic 22-year-old daughter of Muhammad Ali has registered two first-round knockouts, one second-round knockout and one fourth-round TKO.

King (1-0, 1 KO), of Lansing, Mich., was very impressive in her pro debut. The 30-year-old scored a second-round TKO over Freddy Howard on Jan. 28, 2000.

George Chung, chairman of ACEI said, "Having Showtime televise our fights elevates our event to another level. Showtime is without a doubt the premier network for broadcasting boxing events in North America. ACEI is very excited to join with Showtime Networks in bringing this groundbreaking telecast to the North American audience."

Chinese Central Television (CCTV), the national television network in China, has been signed to broadcast the event live in China. CCTV reaches over 84% of the total population of China, with over 900 million regular viewers.

American Champion Entertainment is thrilled to have CCTV broadcast this event to the largest population in the world.

"Main Events and Andrew Golota are both very excited about partaking in the April 22 fight card," said Main Events Chief Operating Officer Gary Shaw. "This is Main Event's first appearance in China and we look forward to bringing future cards to this historic and proud country."

American Champion Entertainment is a NASDAQ company specializing in high quality entertainment content for all media applications, and ACEI recently began inroads into China as one of the first companies to bring sporting events to the Peoples Republic of China. For more information on ACEI, visit its Web site at: www.americanchamp.com.

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING's Steve Albert, "Fight Doctor" Ferdie Pacheco and former world champion Bobby Czyz will call the action form ringside. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast is Jay Larkin with David Dinkins producing and Bob Dunphy directing.