June will be a big month for local fights - KMSP-TV

It was a tough weekend for the sport of boxing. Johnny Tapia was found dead in his home on Sunday evening. The troubled 45 year old won five titles in three weight classes, winning the WBA bantamweight, the IBF and WBO junior bantamweight and the IBF featherweight titles during his professional career that spanned four decades.

Tapia's troubles out of the ring marred his career. For the better part of four years, Tapia was banned from boxing due to cocaine addiction. He last fought in June, winning a unanimous decision over Mauricio Pastrana finishing with a career record of 59-5-2.

Paul Williams paralyzed

Paul Williams, a two time welterweight champion was paralyzed Sunday after being involved in an accident in Atlanta. The crash that severed his spinal cord happened after Williams tried to avoid another vehicle leading to him falling on his back and head when he was thrown from his motorcycle.

Williams, 30, was scheduled to challenge WBC 154-pound champion Saul Alvarez on September 15 as the main event in Las Vegas.

Abell falls to Oquendo

Heavyweight Joey Abell (28-6-0) dropped his WBA Fedelatin heavyweight title bout over the weekend to Fres Oquendo. Oquendo won via TKO when the referee stopped the 10 round fight in the ninth round.

June will be a big month

June is setting up to be a fairly big month with two in-state cards. June 16th, Jason Litzau (28-3-0) makes his return to a Minnesota ring when he main events against Leon Bobo (18-9-1). It will mark nearly a year since Litzau's loss to Adrien Broner in Mexico. The event at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis also features undefeated heavyweight Aaron Green, and the highly anticipated professional debut of Rob Brant.

June 23, two undefeated streaks will be on the line when Cerresso Fort (12-0-1) battles Dave Peterson (13-0-0) in an eight round light middleweight fight at Black Bear Casino.

In addition, Wilton Hilario (12-2-1) returns to the ring June 9th against Ernie Sanchez (12-3-0) on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley fight in Las Vegas. If both Hilario and Litzau are both successful in their bouts, it will be interesting to see if we can get a Hilario v. Litzau match-up in the fall. The two have history from a press conferencein 2009.