27.05.04 – Chicagoan Al “Speedy” Gonzales, (14-0-1, 7KO’s) takes another step on the road to becoming a world champion as he takes on Demetrius Hopkins (14-0-1, KO’s) of Philadelphia on Friday, June 18th as Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions’ in association with Duva Boxing presents “UNDEFEATED”, a huge night of wall to wall action packed boxing broadcast on ESPN 2 live from the DePaul Athletic Center in Chicago. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance by calling 312-226-5800. The Gonzales/Hopkins ten round bout headlines the terrific card.
Gonzales is preparing for this bout with renowned trainer Jesse Reid at his Los Angeles area gym with former world champion Paul Spadafora. Speaking of training outside of Chicago for the first time, “Speedy” said “its a great experience, we’re working very hard on new things for offense and defense and I’m learning a lot of new things from Jesse. I’ve been running 4-5 miles in the morning and studying films of Hopkins while working on a game plan.”
Regarding the move to LA, Gonzales said “its perfect out here, no distractions in camp, just concentrating on Hopkins. We’ve got identical records and are at the same place in our careers, its perfect that we face each other at this time, the winner continues up the ladder, the loser takes a couple of steps down–that’s what boxing needs more of.”
Specifically speaking of Hopkins, the confident but typically modest Gonzales stated, “he’s a very sharp fighter and I’m sure he’s learned a great deal from his uncle (world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins), I’ll need to be at my best and moving camp, working with Jesse and getting better sparring out here works towards that.”
“UNDEFEATED” will also feature undefeated junior welterweight Kendall Holt, (15-0, 10KO’s) in a scheduled eight round bout as well as local favorites super middleweight Sammy Merza (13-0, 10KO’s), middleweight David Estrada (4-1, 2KO’s), lightweight Tommy Pyle (1-0) and lightweight Jermaine White (2-0, 1KO) in separate bouts.
The DePaul Athletic Center is located at 2323 N. Sheffield in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago, doors open at 6pm, first bell is at 7pm.