SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING to Feature Two World Title Fights.

Sports Editors/Boxing Writers & Columnists

NEW YORK--(BW SportsWire)--Sept. 8, 2000

WBO Junior Lightweight Champion Acelino Freitas

vs.

South American Featherweight Champion Carlos Rios

WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Harry Simon

vs.

WBO Junior Middleweight No. 5 Contender Rodney Jones

Saturday, September 23, At 10 PM ET/PT

From Casino Rama, Ontario, Canada

Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) champions Acelino Freitas and Harry Simon will make their highly anticipated SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING debuts on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada. Freitas will defend his junior lightweight title against South American featherweight champion Carlos Rios, while Simon, the junior middleweight champion, will make his third defense when he takes on WBO No. 5 contender Rodney Jones. The fight card, co-promoted by Sports Network Europe and Banner Promotions, will be shown on SHOWTIME at 10 PM ET/PT.

Freitas (26-0, 26 KOs), of Brachia, Brazil, will be making the fifth defense of the WBO 130-pound title he won on a first-round knockout over Anatoly Alexandrov on Aug. 7, 1999. The promising, hard-hitting Freitas has successfully defended his titles three times in 2000, the last coming on a second-round knockout over Lamuel Nelson on June 10. The average length of a Freitas fight is less than three rounds, and he has never had to go more than eight.

Rios (49-4-2, 30 KOs), of Santa Fe, Argentina, will be appearing in his third world title fight. The South American featherweight champion dropped a 12-round decision to Floyd Mayweather in a World Boxing Council 130-pound title fight on Feb. 17, 1999. Rios is 5-1-1 with one no contest since the bout with Mayweather. Rios won his last start on a 10-round decision over Victor Paz on Sept. 2, 2000.

Simon (19-0, 16 KOs), of Walvis Bay, Namibia, will be making the third defense of the WBO 154-pound title he won on a 12-round decision over Ronald "Winky" Wright on Aug. 22, 1998. Simon, whose average fight lasts less than five rounds, retained his title in his last bout on a 10th-round TKO over Enrique Areco on Feb. 19, 2000. Simon's first successful defense came on a third-round TKO over Kevin Lueshing on May 1, 1999.

Jones (24-2, 13 KOs), of Stockton, Calif., has won 19 consecutive bouts since suffering consecutive defeats in 1993. He captured the North American Boxing Organization 154-pound title in November 1996 and has made five successful title defenses. Jones scored an eight-round win over Eric Holland in his last outing on May 6, 2000, in Las Cruces, N.M.

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING's Steve Albert and former world champion Bobby Czyz will call the action from ringside, with Larry Michael serving as roving reporter. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast is Jay Larkin, with Richard Gaughan producing and Bob Dunphy directing.