NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (February 6, 2023)–Weight’s for Tuesday Night Fights at The Texas Troubadour in Nashville.

Eddie Chambers 226.8 – Corey Williams 305.6

Evan Gubera 199.4 – Demetrius Banks 197.4

Eduardo Aguilar 140.8 – John Hale 140.8

Erick Arellano 209 – Raquan Ashby (will weigh on tomorrow)

Ricardo Wallers (will weigh in tomorrow) vs Jerrell Nettles (will weigh in tomorrow)

*Iegor Plevako will particiapte in an exhibition

Promoter: Lion Heart Promotions

1st Bell 8 PM ET / 7 PM CT

Stream: FITE.TV

July 28, 2021, Fort Smith, Arkansas—American Heavyweight Contender JD “The Natural” Chapman (30-0, 26 KO’s) continues his surprise comeback on July 31, 2021 when he takes on veteran gatekeeper Terrell Jamal Woods (24-49-9) at home, in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Woods recently had a draw with Russian heavyweight contender Alexander Ustinov (36-4) and is renown for testing top fighters, having taken to the distance former world champion Dominick Quinn, and top prospects such as Michael Hunter (21-1) any Nicholas Musterek (9-0).

JD “The Natural” Chapman (30-0), returned to Boxing on June 5, 2021, after a thirteen year layoff. At the time of his retirement, Chapman was ranked by just about every rating organizing and was considered one of America’s best chance at reclaiming the Heavyweight title. With his return, Chapman immediately became one of the most talked about heavyweight contenders.

Asked whether it is not too soon to fight such a dangerous opponent as Terrell Jamal Woods so early in his comeback, Chapman said with his usual humility, “Jamal Woods is tough and will be a good test for me as I’m rusty and nowhere close to where I used to be. However, if I can’t go through guys like Jamal, I might as well hang up my gloves and retire for good this time.”

Says his promoter Edward Mendy, “JD Chapman is the ‘Next Great American Hope.’ No offense to Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz, but no American heavyweight today has a better shot at the world title than Chapman Period. JD has the size, the power, the skills and the experience to take on any of the top five heavyweights today. I’m so pleased with his progress, I would gladly to put him up against any other top ten heavyweight today. But first, he has to pass the Wood test.”

Chapman’s next fight, July 31, 2021 fight Terrell Jamal Woods, will take place at the River Valley Combat Academy in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

About JD Chapman
Born John David Chapman in March of 1983, JD Chapman did not fight as an amateur. Instead, he started fighting in Toughman Contest competitions before he turned pro in 2002. Chapman chose the name “The Natural” as he hails from Arkansas, “The Natural State”.

After fighting mostly guys with losing records his first fourteen fights, JD Chapman stepped it up and never fought another opponent with a losing record. In the process he has accumulated 30 wins with 26 of the wins by way of knockout (knockout ratio greater than 90%). Also, Chapman has beaten several known contenders and gatekeepers. His most notable opponents were Chicago-based Edward Gutierrez who was 15-0-1 coming into the bout, New York veteran John Carlo who then possessed a 14-1 record, and fellow undefeated Mid-West prospect Matt Hicks then 7-0.

Chapman further captured several regional heavyweight titles including the IBF Southern Regional title, the North American Boxing Council title, the WBC Latino title and the Arkansas State title. Just when it seemed that Chapman was at the cusp of stardom, he hung it all up and rode into the sunset.
At the time of his retirement in 2008, Chapman was considered a major heavyweight contender and was the darling of the boxing press. He received tremendous coverage and exposure in the boxing press and was featured repeatedly on television. More importantly, Chapman was rated Top Ten by every major sanctioning body except the WBC, which gave him a World Rating of 14.

He is being trained by former MMA Champion Brian Foster. Chapman’s return is being guided by Edward Mendy of Lion Heart Boxing Productions.

New York, NY, March 20, 2014, Lion Heart Boxing Promotions, Ltd., a Boxing Promotion and Sports & Entertainment Company based in Kinnelon, New Jersey (USA), is pleased to announce the Dubai encore and follow up to its successful promotion of the first-ever live professional boxing event in Abu Dhabi history,
Thursday Night Fights @ Yas Island.

Lion Heart Boxing Production will bring world class live professional boxing to Dubai by producing a version of its acclaimed Thursday Night Fights series as Thursday Night Fights UAE. The Inaugural event for Thursday Night Fights UAE will be held on May Day (May 1st) hence the event subtitle “May Day Mayhem.”

Lion Heart has been involved as consultant in several Dubai boxing promotions but May Day Mayhem will be the first live professional boxing event promoted by Lion Heart Boxing Promotions as lead promoter in Dubai and will feature former IBF Heavyweight Champion Francois Botha (born 28 September 1968, in Witbank, Mpumalanga), also known as Frans Botha and nicknamed “The White Buffalo,” a South African and perennial Heavyweight Contender.

Botha has had a very distinguished career as a heavyweight boxer, having fought several of the top world heavyweight champions of his time, including Mike Tyson, Shannon Briggs, Axel Schulz, Michael Moorer, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. Botha had a victory in 1995 against Germany’s Axel Schulz to win the IBF heavyweight Championship, suffered a fifth round knockout to Mike Tyson, and had the famous fight with Shannon Briggs which ended in draw. In addition to beating Axel Shultz for the IBF Title, Botha is a four-time world title challenger. Botha also has competed in numerous kickboxing and mixed martial arts events. He will take on an opponent to be announced.

In the co-main Event, Brazilian Welterweight Champion, Former Number 2 ranked Contender and Floyd Mayweather, Sr. trained Antonio Mesquita will commence his comeback against Dubai based French fighter Nordine Arik (17-2). In addition to featuring top boxers from the international scene such as Frans ‘The White Buffalo’ Botha, Antonio Mesquita, Nordine Arik, and Heavyweight Prospect Martin Horak (3-1), May Day Mayhem also will feature regional and local stars such as 2012 Fighter of the Year Mohammed Ali Bayat (4-0), Syrian Brawler Abdul Kabanni (3-2), Lebanese Amateur standout Rabih Fayad (1-0) and Emirati Muhmmed Alshbli (Debut).

Tickets will be available online and at all Virgin MENA stores, go on sale March 26, 2014, and are reasonably priced: VIP Table of Ten with F&B, AED10,000; VIP Ringside, AED500; Ringside, AED400; Reserved Seating, AED300; General Admission Seated, AED200; and General Admission Standing AED150.

The event will be held at The Emirates Golf Club’s “The Lawns” venue and will be televised as part of the Thursday Night Fights UAE television series. The Lawns has a capacity of over 6,000 but will be configured to hold 2,000 seats for May Day Mayhem.

Emirates Golf Club, host of the European Tour sanctioned Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, was the first all grass championship golf course in the Middle East when it opened in 1988. Taking pride in its 36 holes of world-class golf, the club sports two of the city’s finest must-play courses, the Majlis and the Faldo Course, which is also the only 18 hole course in the region to offer night golf. Both courses combine the natural rolling desert terrain for a serious golfing test, while the signature clubhouse, remains the most eye-catching in the region. The Majlis Course has been presented with numerous accolades over its 25 year history, the most recent of which were its 2012 ranking by Golf World magazine as one of the ‘Top 100 Golf Courses in the World’ and its award for ‘Best Course Middle East’ in the Asian Golf Monthly Awards 2010 .

From the testing 18 hole Majlis and Faldo courses, to the equally challenging par 3, the Emirates Golf Club draws accomplished and casual golfers looking to improve their game.

‘The Emirates’ is so much more than a golf club, serving as the premier address for all things leisure. Its appeal is equally wide-ranging off course, with everything from fine dining to bar bites available alongside top-notch pool and gym facilities, tennis courts and a brand new spa.

Emirates Golf Club is conveniently located in the heart of ‘New Dubai’, easily accessible off Sheikh Zayed Road and opposite Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City, and not far from Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah. The Metro’s Nakheel station is directly located outside the main entrance, making the club within walking distance for leisure and restaurant guests during the cooler winter months.

Says, Edward Mendy, Lion Heart Boxing Promotions CFO, “We see the potential of the UAE as the next Boxing Mecca and are excited to be early movers in the space. We are really encouraged by our continued development and incremental success in the promoting Boxing as a professional sport in UAE. With May Day Mayhem and Thursday Night Fights UAE, Lion Heart Boxing Productions not only plans to introduce the Thursday Night Fights series to Dubai, but also intends to develop the series into a major UAE sporting brand for worldwide television export. Further, we see Thursday Night Fights UAE as an additional platform to facilitate the growth and further development of Arab boxers in general and Emiratis in particular.”

Thursday Night Fights UAE will be broadcasted live on Dubai Sports in the UAE and MENA Region, as well streamed lived worldwide on ESPN3. Additionally, Thursday Night Fights UAE will be rebroadcast on a delayed basis by Fox Sports in the MENA Region and via regional sports channels in the USA, which reach over 150 Million American cable homes. Lastly, Thursday Night Fights UAE will be syndicated regionally and in other markets, worldwide as feasible.

About Lion Heart Boxing Promotions (the Promoter)
Lion Heart Boxing Productions is a global Boxing Promoter and Sports Entertainment Company based in the U.S. The company was set up in 2001 for the sole purpose of providing top quality events with highest entertainment value and has promoted boxing events on four continents. The Company quickly earned a reputation as a producer of high quality fights and is well respected for its fair treatment of fighters and commitment to fighters’ rights. Lion Heart Boxing Promotions is proud to be the first promoter to stage a live professional boxing event in Abu Dhabi history and the first and only non-UAE Company to successfully promote a professional boxing fight in the UAE to date.

About Thursday Night Fights
Thursday Night Fights is proven as the oldest continuous live professional boxing series with its genesis in the USA. The fight series was started in Anchorage in 1988 and Lion Heart Boxing Productions has been promoting its version of Thursday Night Fights since 2001. Each year, from October to April, Thursday Night Fights produces 24 to 26 boxing shows with the highest entertainment at the Egan Center in Anchorage, Alaska with sellout crowds. While Thursday Night Fights shows have been promoted in other cities, Thursday Night Fights’ long and uninterrupted production streak in Alaska dating to 1988 makes Thursday Night Fights the longest continuous boxing series in history. Part of Thursday Night Fights already can be seen on national TV in the USA as The Alaskan Brawlers Reality Show, which debut January 9, 2013 on US cable network TruTV.

Dubai, April 28, 2014, Syrian Brawler Abdul Kabbani (3-2) must be either completely insane or just about the bravest boxer on the face of the planet. Kabbani, a heavyweight boxer living in Dubai has decided to challenge and take on Fatih Ulusoy (Debut), the very man that mauled and TKO’ed in one round UAE Lion Heart Boxing Productions’ own and UAE 2012 Fighter of the Year Mohammad Ali Bayat (4-0). Bayat has beaten Kabbani twice. Despite this reality, Kabbani wants to fight Bayat’s conqueror Ulusoy as part of the May Day Mayhem boxing extravaganza scheduled for May 1, 2014 at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai by Lion Heart Boxing Productions.

Dubai resident and boxing debutante Fatih “The Ottoman” Ulusoy (Debut) is an accomplished MMA fighter and kickboxer as well as a two-time DIFC Champion. While Fatih Ulusoy has had one boxing fight in his career, it is the stuff of legend–the first round destruction of cruiserweight prospect Mohammad Ali Bayat on March 7, 2014. Ulusoy’s win over Bayat is not on Fatih’s official boxing record as the fight was not properly sanctioned by the organizer. However, everyone in the UAE was shocked by the result. Says Fatih, “The Bayat fight may not be on my record but everyone in Dubai knows that I beat him easily. I jumped on him and knocked him out in less than one minute. So I don’t understand why Kabbani wants to fight me since Bayat beat him twice.”

Kabanni is supremely confident even though he has lost to Bayat. On December 19, 2013 and at another Lion Heart Boxing Productions Thursday Night Fights event, the Bayat-Kabbani rivalry reached what people all thought was its logical conclusion when Kabbani fought Bayat for UAE bragging rights on Thursday Night Fights @ Yas Island and came short again. The fight was exciting and did not disappoint. The brave warriors went at it for four grueling rounds and the fight could have gone wither way. However, just as it was in the first fight between Kabbani and Bayat (an unsanctioned fighter not on either fighter’s record), Kabbani came up short. Kabbani’s extant coach and corner, Anthony Chill, stopped the fight by throwing a towel at the end of the fourth round of a scheduled six rounder.

Kabbani does not dispute the outcome or offer an excuse for his second loss to Bayat. However, people, including Kabbani, could not help but wonder what would have happened if Kabbani was in better shape and went the whole distance in both Bayat losses. Kabbani sees a win against Ulusoy as the vindication he needs to both redeem himself and reestablish his reputation as the bad boy of UAE boxing. Most importantly, Kabbani hopes that a win against Ulusoy would earn him a third shot at Bayat. But first, Kabanni must take on and beat Ulusoy, a seemingly impossible task.

Boxing fans in the UAE are salivating at the matchup. Says, Lion Boxing Productions CFO, Edward Mendy, “This may very well be the fight of the night. At first blush, I didn’t think it was smart of Kabbani to take this fight considering the fact that Ulusoy handily beat Bayat, a fighter who has defeated Kabbani twice. Looking at it closer, however, I really like Kabbani’s chances. Ulusoy will not have the weight advantage that he had on Bayat. More importantly, Kabbani has a point to prove, is the more seasoned boxer and his style is dynamic. Kabbani’s head movement is one of the best I have seen. Thus, it should not be that easy for Ulusoy to jump him as he did Bayat. If Kabbani is in shape, Ulusoy may be in for a rude awakening event though Ulusoy handiliy beat our star fighter Bayat. I love watching Kabbani fight. He has amazing grit, an intoxicating style and the liveliest of personalities.”

Kabbani v. Ulusoy is one of eight or more exciting professional boxing bouts that will be featured at May Day Mayhem, a version of the acclaimed Thursday Night Fights series that will be held on Thursday, May 1, 2014 at the 5,000-capacity Emirates Golf Club Lawns, in Dubai. May Day Mayhem is promoted by Lion Heart Boxing Promotions, Ltd., and is the Dubai encore and follow-up to its successful promotion of the first-ever live professional boxing event in Abu Dhabi history, Thursday Night Fights @ Yas Island. May Day Mayhem will feature former IBF Heavyweight Champion and multiple-time Heavyweight Contender Francois “The White Buffalo” Botha (48-11) in the main event as well as an undercard with boxers from the international scene and local superstars.

Tickets are reasonably priced: VIP Table of Ten with F&B, AED10,000; VIP Ringside, AED500; Ringside, AED400; Premium Seating, AED300; General Admission Seated, AED150; and General Admission Standing, also AED150. Tickets are being sold by all major ticket sellers in the UAE: List Platinum, all Ticketmaster locations, Timeout Tickets, TixBox and all Virgin MENA Megastores.

The event will be televised live in the UAE and MENA Regions by Dubai Sports.

Thursday Night Fights-May Day Mayhem will be broadcasted live in the UAE and MENA Region by Dubai Sports and other Dubai Media properties. Additionally, Thursday Night Fights-May Day Mayhem will be rebroadcast on a delayed basis in the MENA Region and via regional sports channels in the USA, which reach over 150 Million American cable homes. Lastly, Thursday Night Fights-May Day Mayhem will be syndicated regionally and in other markets, worldwide as feasible.