PENSACOLA, FL—April 15, 2008—Roy “Superman” Jones, Jr. and his boxing promotional company, Square Ring, Inc., today announced a significant restructuring to position Square Ring to become a leading promoter of world class boxing events with the appointment of former Don King Productions attorney John Wirt as Square Ring’s new Chief Executive Officer.. Mr. Jones will continue as the controlling shareholder, President and Chairman of the Board of Square Ring. Prior to joining Square Ring, Mr. Wirt served as attorney for Don King Productions, Inc. from March 1996 to March 2008 where he was primarily responsible for the legal affairs of its boxing business and from September 1989 to February 1996 as a tax attorney with legal powerhouses Sidley & Austin and Jenner & Block in Chicago. In addition to being a lawyer, Mr. Wirt is also a CPA.
“We want all free-agent fighters and their managers and advisors to know that we are here and are actively recruiting their business,” Jones said. “Having been a fighter all my life, I am looking forward to advancing our new business strategy and maximizing the full potential of Square Ring and, just as important, ensuring that we remain a trusted partner to our fighters, with a promotional company built on honesty, ethical values, transparency, diversity and hard work. With his reputation for integrity and fairness in the boxing and legal worlds, his extensive experience and depth of knowledge, I am confident John’s addition to Square Ring will take us to even greater heights. I am truly honored to have John on our team.”
In accepting his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wirt said, “I am both humbled and motivated by my appointment as Chief Executive Officer, at a time when Square Ring is poised to revolutionize the boxing industry and solidify its presence as a world-class boxing promotional company. It is a great privilege for me to partner with Roy and to assist him in carrying out the vision that he has established and spent his entire career realizing. We are looking forward to showcasing a wide variety of established and promising fighters and providing our global fans with high quality programming. Roy and I are both committed to working with our fighters to deliver on our undertakings and create a level playing field for all participants in this industry. All of us at Square Ring will be enthusiastically working to reenergize and grow the company and to accomplish our mission to change the sport for the better.”
About Square Ring, Inc.:
Pensacola-based Square Ring, Inc. is a global promotional company founded in 1989 that is majority-owned by boxing legend Roy Jones, Jr., an eight-time world champion in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions in addition to being the first former middleweight champion to win a world heavyweight crown in over 100 years. So far this year, Square Ring has co-promoted the largest pay per view boxing event in the world and over the past decade has promoted or co-promoted boxing events in major arenas throughout the United States and on pay per view, premium, cable, satellite and terrestrial television networks throughout the world. Square Ring is an entrepreneurial company with a culture that invites new ideas and presents opportunities for both established as well as promising young fighters.
About Roy Jones, Jr.:
In addition to being an eight-time world champion boxer in four different weight classes, the multitalented Roy Jones Jr. is a boxing promoter, a hit music performer and manager, and a television and motion picture actor. After winning the light middleweight Silver Medal for the United States at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea by way of a controversial decision and being named the 1988 Olympic Games’ most outstanding fighter, Jones embarked on an extraordinary boxing career that resulted in him being voted “Fighter of the Decade” for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America. In his January 19, 2008 bout against Felix Trinidad Jr. at Madison Square Garden, Mr. Jones displayed his prowess in the ring in an awesome combination of speed and power that has earned him recognition as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.