August, 2, 2020 – Angelo Leo is the new WBO Jr. Featherweight World Champion. The 26-year-old Mayweather Promotions fighter dominated Tramaine Williams en route to a unanimous decision live on SHOWTIME Saturday night from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. in the network’s first live boxing event since March 13. Leo won by scores of 117-111 and 118-110 twice.

Leo (20-0, 9 KOs), who was originally scheduled to face Stephen Fulton, Jr. in the main event of Saturday’s card presented by Premier Boxing Champions before Fulton tested positive for COVID-19, used a dominant body attack and consistent pressure to overwhelm Williams (19-1, 6 KOs), who stepped up from the co-main event to face Leo. Albuquerque’s Leo had a 248-196 edge in punches landed while landing 39 percent of his power punches. 102 of his 248 connects were body punches.

Leo, who was ranked WBO’s No. 2 junior featherweight going into the fight, is now expected to defend his title against Fulton, ranked No. 1 by the WBO, within the next 180 days.

“It still hasn’t sunk in yet, it just feels surreal,” said Leo. “The first few rounds I was just feeling him out, getting his timing, getting the feel of him. I felt him kind of loosening up and breaking down, and that’s when I started putting the pressure on him a little more.

“That was the key factor in this fight, the body work and the pressure. I’m pretty sure Albuquerque is celebrating tonight. I think they have four world champions, because you can’t exclude Holly Holm. You have Johnny [Tapia], Danny [Romero], Holly and now me. There’s four champions in that city and I think I’ve made history there.”

Fulton, who watched the fight on television while quarantining following his positive test, was interviewed following the fight by SHOWTIME host Brian Custer.

“Congratulations to Leo, he did it,” said the Philadelphia native. “But listen, I’m ready for him. I’ve been ready. Just be ready to face me when it’s time. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Photo by Amanda Westcott / Showtime

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on SHOWTIME

Weigh-In for vacant WBO Jr. Featherweight World Championship:

Angelo Leo (19-0, 9 KOs) 121 lbs and Tramaine “The Mighty Midget” Williams (19-0, 6 KOs) 121½ lbs for tomorrow night at at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. TV: Showtime (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m.) Premier Boxing Champions.

Referee: Harvey Dock (Union, N.J.); Judges: Don Ackerman (West Oneida, N.Y.), Glenn Feldman (Avon, Conn.), Don Trella (Noank, Conn.)

Photo by Amanda Westcott / Showtime Boxing

Uncasville, Conn. – July 30, 2020 – Fighters taking part in Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® main and co-main events participated in a virtual media availability ZOOM webinar on Thursday in advance of SHOWTIME®’s first live boxing event since March.

On Wednesday evening, it was announced previous main event fighter Stephen Fulton Jr. tested positive for COVID-19 and was removed from the 122-pound title fight versus Angelo Leo. Tramaine Williams will now step in to face fellow unbeaten Leo for the vacant WBO Jr. Featherweight World Championship in the main event. Ra’eese Aleem, who was previously scheduled to face Williams, will instead face 122-pound contender Marcus Bates in a rematch of their 2018 bout that saw Aleem walk away with a unanimous decision victory.

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast also features a light heavyweight rematch between Houston’s Joe George and Argentina’s Marcos Escudero that opens the telecast. The card is presented by Premier Boxing Champions and promoted by TGB and Mayweather Promotions in association with Kings Promotions. The main event is promoted in association with New World Sports and Warriors Boxing.

SHOWTIME Sports’ President of Sports & Event Programming Stephen Espinoza also spoke on Thursday’s conference call.

FLASH QUOTES:

ANGELO LEO

“These things happen in boxing, so you just have to stay focused and prepared for anything. Luckily, Tramaine isn’t too much of a different fighter from Fulton. He’s got similar styles, the only difference is he’s southpaw. We’ll make some small adjustments but I’m in shape for whoever. I’m in the best shape of my life and once I get in that ring, I’ll make the necessary adjustments.

“I definitely want to paint a Picasso-like painting for the fans on Saturday night. Something really nice. I want to leave the fans happy with a great performance and I want them to know who the real Angelo Leo is.”

TRAMAINE WILLIAMS

“When I got the news that I would be stepping up the main event, it was bittersweet. It was bitter because Stephen Fulton prepared eight weeks to fight for a world title. He’s been dreaming of that his whole life and he didn’t get that opportunity so my heart goes out to him. It was sweet on my end because I get to fight for a world title and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do my whole life.

“About a year ago, I started a top-five or top-ten fighters I had on notice. I always paid attention to all of the fighters in my weight class. I’ve been prepared for the chance to face Leo for a while. I’ve had my eye on all of these guys for a year and some change now. It’s not like he’s a random opponent for me, I’ve had my eye on him.”

STEPHEN ESPINOZA

“We are thrilled with the quality of the card, we are obviously disappointed for Stephen [Fulton], but it’s not a huge surprise to be completely honest. We have worked very hard to minimize the risk but we know we can’t eliminate the risk altogether. In some sense, this was inevitable. We were going to get some positive tests and we worked hard to be prepared. One of the things that we did notice in observing other combat sports and other sports generally, was that there really is no way to avoid positive tests. At this point, our focus was on being prepared and having backup fighters prepared, trained, COVID-tested, so that in the event of an unfortunate positive test we would be prepared and could move forward hopefully seamlessly as we have on this card.

“I think the key for this card is storylines. Even before the changes this was a card filled with up-and-coming young boxers, promising prospects and rising stars. With the loss of Stephen Fulton Jr., that has remained the same nonetheless. We have Angelo Leo, a Mayweather Promotions prospect from Albuquerque, N.M., who is a very good young boxer and excellent body puncher looking for the opportunity at his first world title. Tramaine Williams came here expecting to be on the undercard in the co-feature and instead he has found himself with the biggest opportunity of his career. We thank the WBO for working with us and maintaining the title fight. We have now instead of the No. 1 and No. 2 contenders in the WBO, we have the No. 2 and No. 6 so no real drop-off in quality of the fight.”

Undefeated contender Tramaine Williams will step in to face fellow unbeaten Angelo Leo for the vacant WBO Jr. Featherweight World Championship in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING this Saturday, August 1, (live on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions from Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Williams replaces Stephen Fulton Jr., who tested positive for COVID-19 on the test provided by the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation and was removed from the 122-pound title bout versus Leo.

Undefeated Ra’eese Aleem will now face 122-pound contender Marcus Bates in the co-main event in a 12-round WBA Super Bantamweight Title Eliminator. Aleem had previously been scheduled to fight Williams before Williams moved into the main event to fight Leo.

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The 26-year-old Leo (19-0, 9 KOs) fights out of the Mayweather Promotions stable and will look to become the first world champion from his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, since Johnny Tapia. He will now seek the title against another unbeaten opponent in the 27-year-old Williams (19-0, 6 KOs). Williams represents his native New Haven, Connecticut, and shot up the WBO rankings by defeating Yenifel Vicente in July 2019.

The 30-year-old Aleem (16-0, 10 KOs), who hails from Muskegon, Michigan, has continued his winning ways since beating Bates in 2018, adding five victories to his ledger. The 26-year-old Bates (11-1, 8 KOs) is currently ranked No. 7 by the WBA and hails from Washington, D.C. He will look to avenge his lone loss in this rematch against Aleem.

“Extensive protocols have been put in place to catch this very possibility, and they’ve proven so far to be effective,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “We are supporting Stephen and his team as they self-quarantine off the property, and we will help with any medical assistance if needed.

“Fortunately, Williams was ready to move into the spot in the main event, which remains a battle of unbeaten young super bantamweights. Also, Marcus Bates was in excellent shape and answered the call to face Aleem in a title eliminator. He is an aggressive super bantamweight who will make the most of this opportunity. I expect him to be on everyone’s radar after Saturday night.”

Fulton and his team never entered the closed system set up at Mohegan Sun for this week’s event. Upon arrival to the property, they and all fighters were tested and quarantined until their test results came back. There are no other positive tests to report at this time.

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Before arrival to Mohegan Sun, Team Fulton and all of this Saturday’s fight teams had been tested multiple times for weeks leading up to the event. Team Fulton was tested six times before arrival, from June 25 through the most recent test he took on July 23 before traveling to Connecticut. All of those tests came back negative. Today’s result was the first positive test for Team Fulton.

Saturday night’s triple-header on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING also features rising light heavyweight prospects Joe George (10-0, 6 KOs) and Marcos Escudero (10-1, 9 KOs) opening the telecast with a 10-round rematch of their November ShoBox showdown that saw George win a narrow-split decision.