ADVISORY/Don King Productions: Championship Supporting Card Added to Trinidad vs. Joppy in The Garden May 12.

Sports Editors/Boxing Writers & Columnists

ADVISORY...for Saturday (May 12)

NEW YORK--(BW SportsWire)--May 2, 2001

A world championship, a heavyweight championship elimination, a regional featherweight championship elimination, and other all-star attractions will be showcased on the undercard of the Middleweight World Championship Series match that features Felix "Tito" Trinidad (39-0, 32 KOs) vs. William Joppy (32-1-1, 24 KOs) from Madison Square Garden live on TVKO pay per view and closed circuit.

Former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Chris Byrd will face Maurice Harris in a 12-round International Boxing Federation championship elimination bout, which will also determine the United States Boxing Association heavyweight championship.

"The winner of this heavyweight championship fight will be the No. 2 contender and ordered to meet No. 1 contender David Tua within 90 days to determine the mandatory challenger for the IBF championship," IBF Championship Chairman Joseph Dwyer said. "It's commendable that these two rated heavyweights would step up to fight for the position; that's what we need more of in our sport."

Byrd (32-2, 19 KOs), who hails from Flint, Mich., is a slick southpaw who won the WBO heavyweight championship on April 1, 2000, in Berlin, Germany, by technical knockout when champion Vitali Klitschko retired in round nine. Byrd lost the title to Vitali's brother, Wladimir Klitschko, in a 12-round decision on Oct. 14, 2000, in Cologne, Germany. Byrd rebounded with a unanimous decision over David Vedder in his last fight on Jan. 19.

Harris (18-10-2, 9 KOs), from Newark, N.J., has long been recognized as a "spoiler" in the heavyweight division with victories over highly regarded heavyweights David Izon, Jeremy Williams and Jimmy Thunder. Known as a fighter who will always take fights on short notice, Harris gave former world-heavyweight champion Larry Holmes a big scare, losing a controversial decision to him in 1997.

Raul Frank (23-3-1, 12 KOs) and undefeated Vernon Forrest (31-0-1, 25 KOs), both now fighting out of Brooklyn, will clash for the IBF welterweight title that Felix "Tito" Trinidad vacated when he moved up to 154 pounds. Frank is the USBA champion and No.1-ranked IBF contender. He moved to New York in 1995, from Guyana, and has not lost a fight since.

It's been a long, hard road to a title for Frank, who won his most memorable fight on Oct. 10, 1997, with a 12-round decision over previously undefeated Purcell Miller for the USBA welterweight championship. Frank finally got his first world-title shot on Aug. 26, 2000, when he fought Forrest in Las Vegas. The fight ended abruptly and was ruled no contest when Frank could not continue after an accidental head-butt at one minute and 45 seconds into the third round.

Forrest has never been beaten in 32 fights and is the No. 2-ranked IBF welterweight. He has stopped 13 out of his last 15 opponents, including five in the first round. His recent victories have come against respected contenders like Pedro Saiz, Jaime Lerma, Adrian Stone, and Steven Martinez. Like Frank, Forrest has waited many years for an opportunity to fight for a world championship.

Christy "The Coal Miner's Daughter" Martin (42-2-2, 31 KOs), long considered by many to be the best women's boxer, will face one of the toughest challenges in her career when she squares off against Kathy "The Wildcat" Collins (14-1-3, 3 KOs).

Once a two-pack-a-day smoker who weighed 240 pounds, Collins turned her life around in the gym and then became a women's world champion. She will be fulfilling one of her dreams by facing Martin, and she plans to make the most of the opportunity.

In a domestically non-televised match for the FEDELATIN featherweight championship, and a World Boxing Association elimination bout, undefeated Puerto Rican Olympic medalist Daniel Seda (16-0, 14 KOs) will face four-time world champion Nana Konadu (41-4-1, 32 KOs), from Ghana.

Also scheduled to appear on the undercard will be undefeated heavyweight Cedric Boswell (16-0, 9 KOs), from Atlanta; super lightweight Felix Flores (16-2, 12 KOs), from Puerto Rico; junior lightweight Shamir Reyes (12-1-1, 6 KOs), from Brooklyn; and lightweight Freddie Cadena (6-0, 5 KOs), from Paterson, N.J.

Trinidad vs. Joppy tickets are priced at $750, $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50 and are on sale at the Garden Box Office and all TicketMaster outlets and can be purchased by calling TicketMaster charge-by-phone, through TicketMaster Online or on the Internet at www.thegarden.com. All tickets purchased through the Madison Square Garden Box Office or TicketMaster are subject to a facility surcharge of $3.00. TicketMaster purchases are subject to a service charge. The telephone number for Madison Square Garden Event and Ticket Information is (212) 465-MSG1. The Garden Group Sales number is [phone]. TicketMaster information and TicketMaster charge-by-phone numbers are [phone], [phone], [phone], [phone] and [phone].

The Trinidad vs. Joppy pay-per-view telecast on May 12, 2001, is being produced and distributed domestically by TVKO and will be available to over 42 million pay-per-view homes beginning at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT and carries a suggested retail price of $44.95. Commercial establishments should contact KingVision for closed-circuit information while international broadcasters can contact DK International Sales, both at [phone].