Bismarck, North Dakota - News

Virgil Hill's quest for one more world title will begin in North Dakota.

The former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion will return to action Aug. 23 at Four Bears Casino in New Town, his first fight in the state in more than three years. Hill's opponent has not been finalized yet.

"We should have somebody lined up in the next week," Bill Sorensen, Hill's manager said. "It's not going to be a stiff. It's going to be somebody with a winning record.

"We don't want to risk more than we have to," Sorensen added. "It won't be Virgil's easiest fight, but hopefully it won't be his toughest either.

Hill, 38, last fought Feb. 23 in France, where he lost the WBA belt to Jean-Marc Mormeck in his first title defense, getting stopped in nine rounds. Despite the loss, Hill (48-4) is still ranked fourth by the WBA and could put himself in line for another title shot with one more victory.

"The whole objective is to stay highly ranked, because two of the three fighters ranked ahead of Virgil are trying to fight for other (organizations), so we have a good chance at being the mandatory."

The last time Hill fought in North Dakota was May 9, 1999, when he defeated Glenn Thomas in a 10-round decision in Minot.

Hill has been much less active than he would have liked over the last five years. He has had just five fights since his second WBA light heavyweight title reign came to an end with a loss to Dariusz Michalczewski in 1997 and just twice since the Thomas fight -- beating Fabrice Tiozzo for the cruiserweight championship in December of 2000 and losing to Mormeck.

There will be no such lag time for Hill now, Sorensen said. Sorensen is still trying to line up a fight for Hill with Johnny Nelson. Earlier it was believed that that fight would have to take place in England, but the Hill camp is trying to line up a date at the new Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, perhaps as soon as October or November.

"The new Engelstad is being pretty aggressive in wanting the fight," Sorensen said. "There's a fairly good chance that it could happen there."

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