Professional heavyweight boxer Raphael Butler of Rochester will be part of a promotional event on Thursday at the Fourth Street Gym to promote his upcoming fight.

Butler (35-8, 28 knockouts) will fight Joey Abell (25-4) in a long awaited all-Minnesota heavyweight showdown on Dec. 4 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The bout is being touted as the Minnesota heavyweight championship.

"This fight's been in the making for a long time," Rochester promoter Dan O'Connor said.

Butler and Abell will hold a press conference in Minneapolis today to promote the fight. Scott LeDoux and Duane Bobick will be on hand at the press conference at Target Center. Back in 1977, LeDoux and Bobick, both of Minnesota, fought and drew more than 9,000 fans in the Twins Cities, the most ever to see a boxing match in the state.

"This fight, we're trying to break that record," O'Connor said. "That would be beautiful."

Butler is scheduled to spar Boris Shishporenok on Thursday at the Fourth Street Gym. The event is open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets for the Butler-Abell bout will be available at Fourth Street Gym, or fans can call O'Connor at 269-6928.

Brothers Dave and Ronny Peterson are also scheduled to be at the Fourth Street Gym on Thursday to spar some local boxers. They will be part of the fight card on Dec. 4. Shishporenok (6-1) is also on the card and will fight Travis Walker (33-3-1).

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Erica Restovich, the wife of professional baseball player Michael Restovich of Rochester, gave birth to a son earlier this month. The Restovichs reside in St. Louis in the offseason.

Michael played for the Charlotte Knights in 2009. The Knights are the AAA team of the Chicago White Sox. It is the second child for Michael and Erica.

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The Rochester Community and Technical College volleyball team had three players named to the Southern Division all-conference first team. RCTC players honored were Alyssa Franzen, Kylie Dykes and Courtney Lermon. A total of eight players were first-team all-conference.

RCTC's Jennifer Henke was named second-team all-conference.

The Yellowjackets finished second at the Minnesota College Athletic Conference state tournament this past weekend. RCTC lost to Ridgewater in five games in the championship match.

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Jenna Tammel of Spring Valley is a senior on the Southern Connecticut State University volleyball team. The 5-foot-11 Tammel has excelled as an outside hitter this season for the Owls.

Tammel leads the Owls in total kills (252) and kills per game (2.80). In 90 games, Tammel also has 320 digs and 31 blocks. Southern Connecticut State, located in New Haven, Conn., is 21-6 on the season.

Tammel is also blogging for the Owls on the school's website at www.southernctowls.com/sports/2009/8/28/GEN_0828095719.aspx?path=wvball.

As a junior Tammel helped the Owls win 24 matches and she was third-team all-conference in the Northeast 10.

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The site of tonight's first-round Class A, Section One playoff game between Bethlehem Academy and Rushford-Peterson has been changed. The game was scheduled to be played in Rushford, but will now be played in Winona at Winona State University. The game begins at 7 p.m.

R-P (5-3) is the No. 3 seed and Bethlehem Academy (3-5) is seeded sixth.

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Former Rochester Honkers outfielder Andre Either just missed getting to the World Series when the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series. When Either played with the Honkers in 2002, he lived with Daryl Odegarden and his family. Odegarden, a 1977 Mayo grad, recently passed away.

Guy N. Limbeck's Local Sports Notebook regularly runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

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