Zab Judah vs. Vernon Paris set for March 24th on NBC

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Quote :: Main Events, which promotes Zab Judah, won a purse bid this week to promote a junior welterweight title eliminator between former titleholder Judah and Vernon Paris. The winner would become the mandatory challenger for one of the belts held by Lamont Peterson.

Main Events' winning bid was $70,110, which topped the only other bid, which was a $51,000 offer made by Don King, who promotes Paris.

As the higher-rated fighter in the IBF's rankings, Judah is entitled to 60 percent of the winning bid ($42,066), while Paris is entitled to 40 percent ($28,044).

Main Events promoter Kathy Duva told ESPN.com that she intends to make the bout the main event of her NBC Sports Net card on March 24.

"I really like the story of the young, undefeated fighter [Paris] facing the charismatic veteran in what is truly a crossroads fight for NBCSN," Duva said.

The 34-year-old Judah (41-7, 28 KOs), a former undisputed welterweight champion from New York, is also a former three-time junior welterweight titleholder. He lost his belt in July, getting knocked out in July by a body shot from Amir Khan in their unification bout. Khan then lost the belts to Peterson in December on a controversial decision.

Paris (26-0, 15 KOs), 24, of Detroit, scored the biggest win of his career in August when he knocked out Tim Coleman in the seventh round on "Friday Night Fights" in an exciting fight.