Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno II official media press pack loaded with information on all fighters including Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Lipsey & Ricardo Lopez vs Ala Villamor plus Michael Carbajal vs Melchor Cob-Castro, 16th March 1996, MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

Press packs are information packages that are assembled by promoters for members of the media who are assigned to report on the fight. A pack usually contains statistics and bio's on all the fighters and various personnel of the fight. All put together in an attractive folder.

Condition excellent

Tyson W TKO 3
* Bruno was cut over his left eye in the first round.
* Referee Lane stopped the fight as Bruno went down against the ropes, unable to defend himself.
* Tyson was paid a reported $30 million and Bruno a reported $6 million.

Hopkins W KO 4

Lopez W KO 8

Carbajal W unanimous decision over 12 rounds.

Price: £35

Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966). He won two world heavyweight boxing championships during his career and remains the youngest man ever to win a world heavyweight title.
Nicknamed "Iron Mike Tyson", "Kid Dynamite" and "The Baddest Man on the Planet" Tyson adopted the Muslim name Malik Abdul Aziz, after his conversion to the Nation of Islam while in prison for his rape conviction (a similar step was taken by his hero Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., when he became Muhammad Ali 20 years before it) during the Vietnam War. For his behaviour both in and out of the ring, ESPN has ranked Tyson as the number1 “Most Outrageous Character” in modern sports history as determined by a panel of experts and an Internet poll.
He was trained by Cus D'Amato in the early part of his career, Tyson unified the belts in the splintered heavyweight division in the late 1980s and won many of his fights by knockout. He knocked out his first 19 professional opponents no later than the sixth round, and 13 of them in the first. He was the undisputed heavyweight champion for over two years before losing to Buster Douglas in 1990.
In 1992 he was convicted of raping a beauty pageant contestant, and after being released from prison in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. In 1997, he bit off a portion of Evander Holyfield's ear. He fought for a championship again at 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis in 2002. Tyson retired from competitive boxing in 2005.
Since retiring he has engaged in a series of exhibition bouts in a tour across the U.S to pay his numerous debts. He declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite receiving over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million over his career.










Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins (born January 15, 1965, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). He is best known for his ten year reign as Middleweight World Champion in which he defended his title a record 20 times. He is the oldest man to ever hold the Middleweight Championship in professional boxing. Now he lives in Delaware

Born to Bernard Hopkins Sr. and his wife Shirley. Bernard grew up in the Raymond Rosen projects in North Philadelphia, then moved to the Germantown neighborhood as a kid. Hopkins turned to crime early in his life, by the age of thirteen he was mugging people and had been stabbed three times. At seventeen Hopkins was sentenced to 18 years in Graterford Prison for nine felonies. While in prison he witnessed rapes and the murder of another inmate in an argument over a pack of cigarettes, but also discovered his passion for boxing. After serving almost five years, Hopkins was released from prison and decided to use boxing as an escape from his previous life. While leaving the prison for the final time, the warden told Hopkins that he'll "see [Hopkins] again when you wind up back here," to which Hopkins replied "I ain't ever coming back here." Since then, Hopkins has proudly boasted that he's stayed completely out of trouble, never even receiving a speeding ticket.

Professional career
He immediately joined the professional boxing ranks as a light heavyweight, losing his debut on October 11, 1988, in Atlantic City, New Jersey to Clinton Mitchell. After a sixteen-month layoff, he resumed his career as a middleweight, winning a unanimous decision over Greg Paige on February 22, 1990. Between February 1990 and September 1992, Hopkins scored 20 wins without a loss. He won 15 of those fights by knockout, 11 coming in the first round.

Roy Jones Jr.
His first chance at a world title came on May 22, 1993 in Washington, DC, against American great Roy Jones Jr. for the vacant IBF middleweight belt. Hopkins lost by unanimous decision in a tactical bout. However he retained his world ranking and defended his USBA belt three more times. During a November 7, 2008 interview on XM/Sirius' Opie & Anthony Show, he said that he's been trying for another fight with Jones Jr. but Jones has been dodging him saying that he already defeated Hopkins. Hopkins argues he has floored two guys that beat Jones and that he thinks he's earned the right for another fight. Hopkins says that his first big payday was the Jones Jr. fight. Hopkins' purse was $700,000 but after everyone got their hands into it, he only received $80,000 and after taxes, it was less than $50,000. He said he didn't know to ask the questions "how and why" but that all changed when he learned the truth of his purses in federal court.

Winning the IBF middleweight championship
Jones abandoned the middleweight ranks in 1994, and the IBF came again knocking at Hopkins's door on December 17 of that year, matching him with Segundo Mercado in Mercado's hometown of Quito, Ecuador. Mercado knocked Hopkins down twice before Hopkins rallied late and earned a draw. This remains the only time Hopkins has ever been knocked down. The fight was also contested in a bull ring and in the midst of the civil war of Ecuador. Hopkins was also not properly acclimated to the altitude of nearly 10,000 feet. The IBF called for an immediate rematch, and on April 29, 1995, Hopkins became a world champion with a seventh-round technical knockout victory in Landover, Maryland.

In his first title defense he defeated Steve Frank, whom he stopped in twenty-four seconds. By the end of 2000, he had defended the IBF title 12 times without a loss, while beating such standouts as John David Jackson, Glen Johnson (undefeated at the time and later went on to knock out Roy Jones Jr), Simon Brown, and Antwun Echols.
2001 middleweight unification tournament
The arrival of multiple-division champion Félix Trinidad, a Welterweight into the middleweight ranks set off a series of unification fights between major titleholders. The fights involved in the tournament would be reigning IBF Middleweight Champion, Bernard Hopkins. WBC Middleweight Champion, Keith Holmes. WBA Middleweight Champion, William Joppy. The fourth contestant was former Welterweight & Light Middleweight World Champion and the undefeated Félix Trinidad.

Keith Holmes
On April 14, 2001, Hopkins won a unanimous decision over WBC champion Keith Holmes in New York City. Trinidad, however, knocked out Middleweight mainstay William Joppy in an impressive five rounds. This led to many to believe that Felix Trinidad was simply too much, too strong for Bernard Hopkins.

Felix Trinidad
Then, on September 29, WBA champion Trinidad challenged Hopkins for middleweight unification in Madison Square Garden. For the first time in many years, Hopkins was an underdog in the betting which led the confident Hopkins to place a $100,000 bet on himself to win the bout. During promotion for the bout, Bernard Hopkins caused huge controversy by throwing the Puerto Rico flag on the floor in press conferences in both New York and Puerto Rico, the latter conference leading to a riot in which Hopkins had to be run to safety from the angry mob. During the fight, Hopkins was on his way to a lopsided decision victory when in the 12th and final round he floored Trinidad and referee Steve Smoger called a halt to the fight after Trinidad's father entered the ring to stop the fight. It was the first loss of Trinidad's career, and made Hopkins the first undisputed world middleweight champion since Marvin Hagler in 1987. 'The Ring' magazine and the 'World Boxing Hall of Fame' named Hopkins as the 2001 Fighter of the Year.

Undisputed middleweight champion
He defended the undisputed title six times. Hopkins bested Carl Daniels on February 2, 2002, by tenth-round technical knockout; Morrade Hakkar on March 29, 2003, by eighth-round TKO; William Joppy on December 13, 2003, by unanimous decision; and Robert Allen on June 5, 2004, also by unanimous decision.

Oscar De La Hoya
In the highest paying fight of his career, Hopkins fought six-division titleholder Oscar de la Hoya, another welterweight for the undisputed middleweight championship on September 18, 2004, in Las Vegas. The fight was fought at a catchweight of 158 lbs, two pounds below the middleweight limit of 160 lbs. Hopkins won the bout with a knockout in the ninth round with a left hook to the body and thus became the first boxer ever to unify the titles of all four major sanctioning bodies. At the time of the stoppage, Hopkins was ahead on two of the scorecards, while De La Hoya was ahead on the other scorecard.
In November 2004 de la Hoya invited Hopkins to join his boxing promotional firm, Golden Boy Promotions, as president of its new East Coast chapter.

Reaching Number 20 - Howard Eastman
Aged 40 years old, an age in which most boxers are retired. Bernard Hopkins reached the middleweight record of 20 title defenses on February 19, 2005, against ranked #1 WBC Middleweight contender Howard Eastman, the European middleweight champion. Hopkins dominated the fight from start to finish winning 119-110, 117-111 & 116-112.

Hopkins vs Taylor
In his next fight on July 16, 2005, Hopkins lost his undisputed middleweight championship to Jermain Taylor via a split decision. Hopkins started slowly but came on strong over the second half of the fight. Many press row writers scored the fight for Hopkins. . Compubox round-by-round punch stats showed Taylor outscoring Hopkins 6-5-1.
On December 3, 2005, Hopkins lost his rematch against Jermain Taylor by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 115-113 for Taylor. Compubox statistics indicated that Hopkins landed more overall punches and significantly more power shots over the course of the fight, however these statistics may not accurately reflect the judging as rounds are scored in isolation.

Moving Up To Light Heavyweight - Antonio Tarver
Following his two losses to Jermaine Taylor, Hopkins at 41 decided not to retire and made the decision to jump two weight divisions to face off against The Ring light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver on June 10, 2006. Going into the fight, Tarver was a 3-to-1 favorite and had been the first man ever to knock Roy Jones Jr. out, he also defeated Jones Jr. in the rematch with many now placing Tarver among the sports top competitors. He was constantly ranked in the P4P rankings. However, Bernard Hopkins picked up a lopsided unanimous decision, scoring 118-109 on all three judges scorecards.
Antonio Tarver also lost a $250,000 bet with Hopkins, after he failed to stop Hopkins in the first six rounds.

Return in 2007 - Winky Wright
On July 21, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Hopkins defended The Ring light heavyweight championship against former undisputed junior middleweight champion Winky Wright. During the weigh-in, Hopkins shoved Wright with an open-hand to the face, igniting a brawl between both fighters entourages. Hopkins was fined $200,000 for instigating the brawl. Hopkins struggled to figure out Wright in the early rounds, but began landing effective punches as the fight progressed. An accidental head butt opened a nasty cut by Wright's left eye in the third round. Referee Robert Byrd warned Hopkins repeatedly for using his head, but he never deducted a point. Hopkins looked fresh late in the bout, luring Wright in and snapping off combinations. In the final round, Hopkins wobbled Wright with a right hand as blood streaked down his cheek. Hopkins prevailed with a unanimous decision victory by scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112.

Joe Calzaghe
On April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Hopkins lost The Ring light heavyweight championship to Joe Calzaghe, who was seven years Hopkins' junior, by split decision. Hopkins got off to a great start by knocking Calzaghe down with a straight right hand in the first round. Hopkins mostly threw one punch at a time and often initiated clinches to prevent Calzaghe from punching in combinations. Hitting and holding was prevelant, but Calzaghe slowly began to land quick flurries of short punches. In the end, judges Chuck Giampa (116-111) and Ted Gimza (115-112) scored the fight for Calzaghe, while judge Adalaide Byrd (114-113) scored the fight for Hopkins. After the fight, Hopkins was upset with the official decision and said that he was robbed of a clear points win. Hopkins said, "I just really feel like I took the guy to school. I feel like I made him fight my fight, not his. I wanted him to run into my shots. I think I made him do that, and I think I made it look pretty easy. I think I controlled the pace, and I controlled the fight."

Kelly Pavlik
On July 17, 2008, ESPN.com reported that Pavlik promoter Bob Arum reached a deal with Golden Boy Promotions, securing an October 18, 2008 fight between Kelly Pavlik and Bernard Hopkins, the former undisputed Middleweight champion, Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight champion, and top ten pound-for-pound mainstay. The non-title fight took place at a catch-weight of 170 lbs, five pounds below the Light Heavyweight limit. The fight aired on HBO pay-per-view, with Hopkins defeating the then-undefeated Pavlik via unanimous decision. In what was seen as a shocker, Bernard Hopkins easily defeated Kelly Pavlik. Many critics and newspaper articles claimed that Hopkins "turned back the clock" and that he "schooled" Pavlik. At the end of the fight but before the results were read, Hopkins faced the critics area from the ring with an emotional tone. Hopkins did not fight a slow fight as he did with Calzaghe. Instead he later talked about how he was too careful in the past trying to avoid any knockdowns, which was not a feature of this fight. Hopkins was able to outbox, outwork and dominate the 26 year old Pavlik.










One of the most dominant champions in ring history, Ricardo Lopez was born July 25, 1966 in Tacubaya, Mexico.

A relentless boxer-puncher, the diminutive (5'4 ½ ”) Lopez turned professional in 1985 and would never taste defeat in a 52 bout career. “Finito” captured the WBC strawweight (105 pounds) championship on October 25, 1990 when he scored a 5th round TKO over Hideyuki Ohashi. An amazing string of 21 consecutive title defences followed. Lopez next added the WBO title to his collection in 1997, followed by the WBA title in 1998. On October 2, 1999 Lopez became a two-division world champion with a 12 round decision over Will Grigsby for the IBF light flyweight belt.

Following successful defences over Ratanapol Sor Vorapin (2000) and Zolani Pethelo (2001), Lopez retired from the sport after reigning as a world champion for over a decade and never suffering defeat (50-0-1, 37 KOs). The formal retirement announcement came on October 25, 2002 - the 12th anniversary of his first world title. The lone blemish on his ledger, an 8th round technical draw against Rosendo Alvarez on March 7, 1998, was avenged in the rematch eight months later.

Revered the world over as a master ring stylist, Lopez was a true world champion having defended his title in South Korea, Thailand, Japan, the United States and Mexico. A hero in his native country, “Finito” still resides in Mexico.











Born September 17, 1967 in Phoenix, AZ. Introduced to boxing by his father, Manuel, Carbajal began competing as a teenager. In 1988 he represented the United States in the Seoul Olympics and the 5'5 ½ ” boxer captured a silver medal at 106 pounds, however many observers believed he deserved the gold. Following the Olympics he turned professional in 1989 with his brother Danny serving as his manager / trainer. Carbajal defeated future junior flyweight champion Will Grigsby in his pro debut and would not lose for nearly five years. In only his 15th contest, he defeated Muangchai Kittikasem on July 29, 1990 for the IBF junior flyweight title. After six successful defenses, “Little Hands of Stone” put his undefeated record on the line against WBC champion Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez on March 13, 1993. In 1993's “Fight of the Year” Carbajal rose from two knockdowns to dramatically halt “Chiquita” in seven rounds and partially unify the belts. Two defenses of his titles came before losing a split decision in the 1994 rematch with Gonzalez. Despite losing his championship, Carbajal became the first junior flyweight to earn a $1 million purse. Next he gained the WBO junior flyweight title in 1994 before dropping a 12-round decision to “Chiquita” in the rubber match. Carbajal rebounded to reclaim the IBF title with a 12-round win over Melchor Cob Castro on March 16, 1996. He defended twice before losing the title to Mauricio Pastrano the next year. However, he had one more championship in him as he stopped Jorge Arce via 11th round TKO on July 31, 1999 for the WBO junior flyweight title. Following his title-winning performance, Carbajal retired from the ring with a 49-4 (33 KOs) record. Since leaving the ring, Carbajal has owned and operated the Ninth Street Gym in Phoenix.