Rising light middleweight contender, Willie “The Great” Nelson (20-1-1, 12KOs) is a born fighter who knows how to battle adversity and come back stronger. As a young child, he survived on the tough streets of East Cleveland, Ohio without any parents, who were dealing with substance abuse issues, living with one family member after another, until his older sister, Raviele took custody of him, when she was only 17 years old. Even after Raviele became Nelson`s guardian, life was still extremely difficult, as they struggle daily to make ends meet.
“I owe a great deal of my success in life to Raviele who sacrificed her life, so that she could take care of me and my younger siblings and that is why every time I step into the ring, I’m not only boxing for myself but I’m also fighting for my four children and my siblings,” said Nelson. “God only know where I would be in life if Raviele didn’t take custody of me, but I know I wouldn’t be where I’m, if it was not for her.”
Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Middleweight Championship Boxing After Dark Triple Header Conference call. Today we have WBA and IBO defending middleweight champion, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin with a record of 26 and 0, 23 knockouts and his challenger, top rated middleweight contender and former World Title challenger, Matthew “Mac the Knife” Macklin with 29 and 4 and 20 knockouts.
Just over 25-years ago, Iran “The Blade” Barkley, he of the mean streets of The Bronx, met Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, he of the equally tough neighbourhoods of Detroit – and a sensational middleweight title fight was witnessed.
Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (21-1, 18 KOs) made a huge statement when he scored an explosive first round knockout against “Bad” Chad Dawson (33-3, 17 KOs) to become the new light heavyweight king. This dazzling display of sheer strength and power catapults Stevenson into the spotlight of an already interesting 168-175 pound landscape, which includes Andre Ward, Carl Froch, and living legend Bernard Hopkins to name a few. Stevenson suddenly finds himself in a unique position where a slew of lucrative opportunities are likely to surface. I was recently afforded the opportunity to speak to Stevenson about his championship winning performance, his future in boxing, and his opinions of some of the other big names who reside in and around his weight class. Here is what the new champ had to say. 
On Saturday, June 8th, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, top rated Junior Middleweight Erislandy Lara became the 154 pound interim WBA title holder when he retired the aggressive minded Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo in the tenth stanza of a scheduled twelve round contest. 
FRED STERNBURG: Welcome everyone. We have got two very hot fighters from a very hot division getting ready to take each other on in world championship fight on Saturday, June 15, at the American Airlines Center® in Dallas. It will be televised live on HBO® at 10:45 p.m. ET/PT. The HBO Boxing After Dark telecast will open with a ten-round bout between Top-10 contenders Terence Crawford and Alejandro Sanabria Jr. for the vacant NABO lightweight title. If it is two things Mikey Garcia and Juanma Lopez know, it is how to win and how to win by knockout.
BERNARD HOPKINS, IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion