Trial Ordered in Slaying of Sportswriter

A boxer who fights under the nickname “The Harlem Hammer” will stand trial on charges that he used a hammer to kill a freelance sportswriter last year and then torched his Hollywood apartment.

Superior Court Judge Kevin Brown ruled Friday that there was enough evidence to try 32-year-old James “The Harlem Hammer” Butler Jr. on charges of murder and arson.

Sam Kellerman, 29, was found dead in his apartment Oct. 17, and police said he had been killed about five days earlier. Kellerman’s car was missing and a hammer was found not far from his body, police said.

Kellerman was the younger brother of Max Kellerman, host of Fox Sports Net’s boxing program “I, Max,” and covered professional boxing, authorities said. Butler and the sportswriter were friends and Butler had been staying at his apartment since late September.

Butler is best known for sucker punching opponent Richard Grant in November 2001.