50 Cent cheers on Philly boxer

RAPPER 50 Cent spent Tuesday night in South Philly supporting his bud Bernard Hopkins, the local boxing great who just turned the big 5-0.

My source tells me that 50 Cent, a/k/a Curtis Jackson, hit up the 2300 Arena (2300 S. Swanson St.) and was particularly excited about seeing Philly's own Eric "Outlaw" Hunter take on Rene Alvarado. 50 Cent even hung backstage with Hunter and his crew, including fellow boxer-turned-fashion designer Simon "One Punch" Carr.

Hopkins and 50 Cent go way back. For years, Hopkins has eyed 50 as the man to bring him to the big screen in a movie adaptation of his life.

"I still hold that thought and that name because I believe that he's the perfect image when it comes to representing where we come from - no matter if you live in any five boroughs of New York City or Philadelphia, Detroit, D.C., wherever," Hopkins told BET before his fight against Sergey Kovalev last year.

50 is a former boxer himself. He competed in the Junior Olympics as a kid, but gave up dreams of boxing glory to sling drugs in his native Queens.

Fox 29 is bolstering its weekend schedule with two new faces.

Bill Anderson will replace Lauren Johnson on "#Fox29Weekend." Fans of WURD (900-AM) will recognize the Philly resident as the drive-time morning host of "Wake Up With Bill." Anderson also hosted the locally syndicated show "Chasing."

Anderson starts Feb. 14.

Sources say Johnson has been made a permanent fixture of the weekday morning broadcast with Chris Murphy. Johnson was put in the 4 to 6 a.m. slot after Kerry Barrett left the station earlier this month. I hear that higher-ups at the station are quite happy with Johnson, who was hired in July.

Also joining the team is weekend sports reporter Sean Bell, who comes to Philly from Charlotte, N.C. Bell, a Penn State grad, will join Howard Eskin on Feb. 2 on "Fox Sports Sunday." Keith Russell, who joined the sports desk after Philly fave Colleen Wolfe decamped for the NFL Network, will still freelance for the station.

Boom 107.9, the new throwback hip-hop station, is looking to staff up. Although it's all music, all the time now, Boom owner Radio-One is looking for a morning-show host and co-host to keep things happening at dawn's early light. While there isn't any on-air talent at Boom yet, a Radio-One rep told me that there are plans to get an afternoon host on the air as well.

Tennis great Billie Jean King hung with the Comcast-Spectacor gang yesterday at the Wells Fargo Center. Comcast-Spectacor will take over marketing, communications, event production and game presentation for King's Philadelphia Freedoms tennis team. The feminist icon and tennis legend took time to take a selfie with the C-S guys before hitting the road.

Want to get your little one in "Creed"? Heery Casting, which is staffing the new "Rocky" sequel, is looking for African-American boys and girls, ages 6 to 13. Email a pic and a contact number to creedcasting@gmail.com. Put "neighborhood kids" in the subject line. Shooting is set to occur the week of Feb. 9, but get ready to start seeing cameras. Shooting for the full movie is slated to start on Monday.

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