Opponents Named for April 16 Showtime and ESPN Cards!

The opponents have been announced for the Beltway Boxers who will appear on two national TV cards on Friday, April 16.

Undefeated middleweight Fernando Guerrero will headline a card in his hometown of Salisbury, MD at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center that will be shown on Showtime's "ShoBox" series. Guerrero (17-0, 14 KO's, ranked #12 by the WBO) will take on "The Midnight Stalker" Michael Walker of Chicago, IL (19-3-2, 12 KO's) in a 10-round bout.

This is Guerrero's first bout since his fourth-round TKO of Jessie Nicklow on December 18 in Hinkley, MN. Walker was 18-0-2 in his first 20 bouts but has lost three of his last four as he has stepped up in competition, dropping decisions to Derrick Findley and Daniel Jacobs in his last two bouts.

DC welterweight Ty Barnett leads the non-televised portion of the undercard as he looks to bounce back from his first pro loss. Barnett (16-1-1, 11 KO's) was stopped in the first round of his bout with Juan Santiago on October 10 at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. Barnett will face Broderick Antoine of Troy, NY (10-8-1, five KO's) in an eight-round bout. Antoine has won five in a row.

Undefeated Largo, MD middleweight Dominic Wade (5-0, five KO's) will take on veteran Robert Kliewer of Maplewood, MN (10-9-2, five KO's) in a four-round encounter. Wade knocked out Bradley Thompson in Tunica, MS in the first round on November 21. Kliewer lost an eight-round unanimous decision to Michael Oliveira on September 11 in Pompano Beach, FL.

Also, Salisbury cruiserweight Alex Guerrero (3-0, one KO) will take on another undefeated boxer -- Jabir "The Bear" Abdul Basit of Cleveland, OH -- (3-0-1, three KO's) in a four-round bout. Guerrero, the older brother of Fernando, scored his first pro knockout in his last outing, stopping Johnny Fields in the first round on January 29 in Glen Burnie, MD. Basit fought to a four-round draw against Clinton Hester on July 3 in Atlanta, Ga.

Meanwhile, DC heavyweight Tony "The Tiger" Thompson headlines an ESPN2 card from the Omni New Daisy Theatre in Memphis, TN. Thompson's opponent will be former heavyweight contender Owen "What The Heck" Beck of Nashville, TN by way of Jamaica. Since his title loss to Wladimir Klitschko on December 5, Thompson (33-2, 21 KO's) has scored knockouts over Adnan Serin and Chazz Witherspoon in his last two bouts. Beck (29-4, 20 KO's) fought Nikolai Valuev for the WBA Heavyweight title in June of 2006, but was stopped in the third round. Since that bout, Beck won four in a row, but in his last outing, Beck was stopped in the 10th round on January 9 in Germany.