News: Mitchell Wants Spina/Del Valle Winner; Thurman returns home

Two-time world champion Byron "Gator" Mitchell (28-5-1, 21 KOs) says he'd like to face the winner of tonight's Joe Spina vs. Lou Del Valle bout at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Still riding high from his two-round annihilation of former world title challenger David Telesco at the Hilton Rye Town Hotel in Rye Brook, New York, Mitchell says he'd like to continue that momentum by turning his guns on the winner of tonight's match..

"Byron would like the winner of this fight to step up and face him. The winner of that fight will obviously be in a good position for obtaining a shot at a world championship, and that's our main goal," said Mitchell's promoter Nick Garone of X-Cel Worldwide.


Thurman returns home

2008 Olympic trials silver medalist and undefeated welterweight prospect Keith “One Time” Thurman will make his return home to the Bay area on Friday, November 6th, at the Hyatt at in Downtown Tampa, Florida. He is the headliner of a scheduled eight bout card promoted by One Punch Productions. “It’s wonderful to be back home”, states Clearwater’s Thurman. “I’m very grateful to One Punch Productions for this opportunity, and to fight again in front of friends and family means a lot to me.” Thurman, 10-0 with 10KO’s, will be fighting in a scheduled eight round affair against Edvan Dos Santos Barros. Barros recently took former world champion Luis Collazo the distance over 10 rounds. Thurman’s last three fights were out of state, with the most recent one being televised on ESPN. “To me it just meant more people were watching. I still had to do my thing, and make it as entertaining as possible,” explains Thurman. Thurman, who is trained by Dan Birmingham, has yet to see past the third round as a pro and he doesn’t see that statistic changing with this bout. “I don’t see this fight going past three, but hey if it does, he’s got my respect,” states Thurman. “I’ve been sparring with “Winky” Wright, the Willis Brothers, and “Slick” Willie Lee, so I’m prepared for whatever.” Also scheduled to appear that evening are undefeated middleweight prospects Quinton and Marcus Willis, as well as once defeated cruiserweight Nick Ianuzzi. Photo is courtesy of Cory Wilcox.