On Thusday May 29th at Michael’s Eighth Avenue, local Super Middleweight peospect Mike “The Persecutor” Paschall steps up big, attempting to move from “prospect” to “contender.”

A win against Larry “laser” Marks (29-9) will do just that. An impressive victory virtually guanantees a move into the rankings bodies.

Larry was a contender for much of career and was frequently seen on ESPN2. His resume is quite impressive, including bout against Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis and former World Champion Cory Spinks.

This is just one of SEVEN scheduled Pro Bouts.

For more info and tickets, call 410-766-7474

  Thompson next for Klitschko!
IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (50-3, 44 KOs) will next defend his world titles against WBO mandatory challenger Tony Thompson. “The fight will take place this July in Germany,” Klitschko told BILD. The 6′5 Thompson is currently the top American hope in the heavyweight division with a record of 31-1 with 19 KOs. He has 27 straight wins and has been unbeaten for eight years. The winner of Klitschko-Thompson will have a mandatory due around the end of the year against IBF mandatory Alexander Povetkin (15-0, 11 KOs).

This is just fantastic. Tony started his career in the Ballroom and has fought here six times. Including three of his four. He has shown tremendous patience waiting for this opportunity. We wish him all the best, hoping he comes home with a title.

Tyrell Samuel (9-2) vs. Thomas Snow (10-0) for the Maryland State Featherweight Title, 10 rounds

All I can say is that I am excited. Ballroom has always been about quality match-ups, the best area talent and bringing in great prospects from around the country and even around the world. And every once in a while there will be a local match-up at four rounds or six rounds that is compelling. But what is so rare is a fight like this between two of the best young fighters in the area over ten rounds, The thing that I realized when Joppy retired is that for a while we had the best middleweights in the country with Keith Holmes and William Joppy, we never got to see them fight each other. And for a while we had some of the best junior welterweights with Reggie Green, Demarcus Corley, Daryl Tyson and Teddy Reid,and Sharmba Mitchell. And out of all their fights, and they each fought the best fighters in the world, when Reggie fought Tyson and Sharmba or when Tyson fought Corley late in his career, these were some of the most talked about, argued about and anticipated fights in the area, 

So I give real credit to both of these young fighters that they have agreed to fight each other. In many ways it is a crossroads fights for each of them, even though they have too few fights to be at a crossroads. But Tyrell lost on Showtime to Eric Hunter, took some time off and now is really ready to get his career back on track in a big way. And Thomas, who has been roundly criticized for fighting soft opposition, actually called me and asked me if I could make that fight. And even though he would prefer to be fighting at 122, and Tyrell is well on his way to fighting at junior lightweight, they both agreed to fight at 126 and then realized at that weight that we could make it for the Maryland State title at ten rounds, a distance neither one of them has gone.

April 3rd is shaping up to be one of the best Ballroom cards with this main event, and an exciting series of fights and fighters underneath: Mike Paschall will be fighting an 8 rounder which we will announce early next week and it will be his stiffest test yet against a fighter with world class experience. Also on the card will be the undefeated at 8-0, Carney Bowman from nearby York, who will have a very special guest supporting him. That announcement will be made as we get closer to the fight.

More announcements will follow in the next couple of days, but you can be assured that it will be a very good show. Tell us who you think have been the best local match-ups that have taken place, that we missed taking place and that they would like to see in the future.

We are all geared up for the fights this Thursday. And folks this looks like a really solid card top to bottom.

The main event features Ishmail “The Arsenal” Arvin (15-1-3)against solid vetern Jesse Orta. And the co-feature in “The Persecutor” Mike Paschall (15-0). Winky Wright protege Diferson Legrand (3-0) battles Ariel Espinal (6-2-1). And heavyweight sensation Askia Schneider (2-0) meets grizzled vet Jonathon Felton(8-11). Two other solid pro fights and inaddition FOUR amateur tussles to get us rolling. The featured amateur bout is for the 201 pound South Atlantic Champion between Glen Burnie’s Nick Kisner vs. Alex Guerrero.

Tickets for this event at MICHAEL’S EIGHTH AVENUE are available by calling 410-766-7474. For more info and tickets prices check out www.ballroomboxing.com. Hope to see you at the fights.

Mike “The Persecutor” Paschall has a new opponent for Thursday. He will face Tyrone Glover (11-9-3) of Philadelphia. Glover is a very tough guy. His last two losses were against two former “Contenders” - Max Alexander and Henry Buchanon. The co-feature remains “The Arsenal” Ishmail Arvin vs. Jessie Orta. All agree that this is a very interesting matchup. I have always thought that Arvin is one the best prospects to come out of the Baltimore area in a long time. When he’s focused, he wins, period.

 In another interesting match - just added. Undefeated prospect Diferson Legrand (3-0) will meet Ariel Espinal (6-2-1). Legrand is a highly touted prospect from New York. Espinal fought tough against Arvin, losing by knockout a few years back.

In a four round cruiserweight matchup that almost promises knockout, Harvey Jolley will face Gary Lavender. Both guys can punch, and both guys got starched in their last fight.

There are two more pro bouts and three amateur fights featuring Nick Kisner.

“The Persecutor” Mike Paschall (15-0-1) will be featured in an 8 round Super Middleweight battle against Andre “Da Heat” Hemphill (6-6-2). Don’t let the record deceive, “Da Heat” has only fought two opponents with losing records; both early in his career. His opponents have a combined record of 70-14.

 The co-feature matches “The Arsenal” Ishmail Arvin (14-1-3) against Jesse Orta (7-11-1). Jesse is another guy with an upside down record but who comes to fight.

 It’s important when looking at fights to look at the records to see how, when, and where the fights to place. There are plenty of fighters with pretty records against average opponents, while in the same, there are even more guys that can flat out fight that have less appealing records. When making fights these things must and are being taking into account.

One of the Beltway’s hottest prospects Bayan Jargal (5-0-1) will meet Eric Washington (2-1).

New to the scene heavyweight Askia Snyder (2-0) will really step up to meet Jonathon Felton (5-9). Anyone who has seen Jonathon knows he can flat out roll.

There will be another pro fight or two added soon as well and 3 amateur fights to kick off the evening.

Tickets are on sale at Michael’s by calling 410-766-7474.