16.01.05 – Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions was thrilled with the huge turnout this past Friday night at the Aragon Ballroom as “The Best in Chicago Boxing” boxing series kicked off 2005 in style. “Its was great to see the huge crowd, we started off the new year in style just the way we finished 2004. Its more than apparent that our growing audience expects great boxing and that’s exactly what we’re going to provide..
To see such a large crowd this past Friday as cold as it was, proves to me that we’re on the right track to stay with our growing loyal following. With the show being internationally broadcast on Telefutura’s SOLO BOXEO DE MILLER, the whole world can see our fantastic events. It was a tough night for Miguel but I was very encouraged by our newcomers, Frankie, Francisco, Rita and Ottu, they all were in tough and did very well. Molina fought hard and won a nice decision again an undefeated guy and the crowd loved Morua. Francisco coming into the ring for his pro debut with a live band was a great touch.”
Junior Welterweight Arturo “The Conqueror” Morua won a hard fought decision as he outboxed and outworked tough veteran James “Too Sweet” Crayton in the main event. Afterwards, Morua, who previously beat Omar Weis this past September on an 8 Count Productions card, stated that he would love to come back to fight Chicagoan Al “SPEEDY” Gonzales at the Aragon Ballroom. Judging by the loud, passionate crowd response at the Aragon Ballroom for “The Conqueror”, Chicago fight fans would love to see this fight in the near future.
“SPEEDY’s” next fight is Friday, February 4th against Oscar Diaz broadcast on Showtime’s popular boxing series SHOBOX from the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. On the same card, Chicago fan favorite David Diaz takes on Kendall Holt.
Although dropping a tough decision to Marvelous Shay Mobley in the co-main event, middleweight “MACHO” Miguel Hernandez was looking forward to his return to the ring and hopefully a quick rematch. Offering no excuses, the classy Hernandez said, “Shay was the better man tonight, he was at the top of his game and its a credit to him that he won the fight.” Speaking of his large loyal following, Miguel said “I’ll be back soon, the fans tonight were terrific as always and I’ll be back to put on a great show, I’m not going anywhere.”
Other winners on the card were pro debuter Francisco Rodriguez, Frankie Tafoya, Rita Figueroa, Ottu Holifield and Carlos Molina.
The full results are as follows;
Arturo Morua, 21-6-1 (13KO’s) MD James Crayton, 33-20-2 (20KO’s) 97-93, 97-93, 95-95
Shay Mobley, 8-4-1 (2KO’s) UD Miguel Hernandez, 14-2-0 (9KO’s) 78-74, 78-74, 79-73
Carlos Molina, 5-1-0 (2KO’s) UD Joe Lynch, 4-1-0 (KO’s) 58-56, 58-56, 59-55
Frankie Tafoya, 3-0-0 (3KO’s) TKO3 Clarence Bunkholt, 4-3-0 (2KO’s)
Rita Figueroa, 2-0-0 (1KO) SD Sarina Mae Hayden, 0-2-1, 39-37, 39-37, 37-39
Ottu Holifield, 2-0-0, UD Allen Medina, 0-4-0, 40-36, 40-36, 40-36
Francisco Rodriguez, 1-0-0 (1KO) TKO3 LeShaun Blair, 2-6-0
8 Count Productions along with Miller Beer will continue “The Best in Chicago Boxing” series with another huge event at the Aragon Ballroom on Friday, February 25th headlined by Chicagoan super middleweight, Oscar Bravo, 21-2 (18KO’s) in a ten round main event. Also announced on the undercard are the Gonzalez brothers Jorge and Jimmy, making his pro debut. More details on this terrific night of boxing will be available shortly.
Speaking of this card, Pesoli stated, “Oscar’s a true warrior and its great to have him back at an 8 Count Productions event. Jorge Gonzales, 1-0, made his pro debut in December and looked terrific and his brother Jimmy was an amateur standout and were looking to big things from him also. The fans want great fights and that’s our commitment to them. There’s no mismatches at our shows, just look at our last couple of shows, this card, Diaz vs. Rangel and SPEEDY vs. Ortega on our last card. Every fight this past Friday was highly competitive and that’s what the fans deserve.” Further speaking about this February 25th show, Pesoli continued, “I’ll have much more information later this week to be announced and fans should check the website on a regular basis for continuos updates.”
Tickets for this event, starting at $25 are on sale now by calling 312-226-5800. A seating chart is available at the 8 Count Productions newly expanded website, www.8countproductions.com .
The newly remodeled Aragon Ballroom is located at 1106 W. Lawrence Ave. near the corner of Lawrence and Broadway in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood and is easily accessible, just 4 blocks west of Lake Shore Drive and just 4 miles east of the Kennedy expressway. There are three large parking lots located within a 1/2 block of the Aragon Ballroom. Additionally, the Howard Street Red Line stops just across the street. Doors will open at 7pm with the first bout at
8pm.