03.01.06 – Mike Gonzalez, 4-0 with four knockouts, returns to the 8 Count Productions’ ring this Friday night, January 6th on the SHOBOX, The New Generation professional boxing card at Cicero Stadium as Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions, HOME OF THE BEST IN CHICAGO BOXING, Kathy Duva’s Main Events Inc., along with Miller Lite and TCF Bank present a terrific evening of action packed, world class boxing..
Tickets, for SHOBOX, The New Generation, starting at $30, are on sale in advance by calling 312-226-5800. Cicero Stadium is located at 1909 S. Laramie, at the corner of 19th and Laramie, just ten minutes south of the Eisenhower Expressway and ten minutes north of the Stevenson Expressway. Doors for this evening will open at at 6pm with the first bell at 7pm.
Headlining the evening is a ten round welterweight showdown between boxing’s hottest prospect, unbeaten Joel Julio of Monteria, Columbia and Ugandan native Roberto “The Doctor” Kamya. Julio, turning 21 years old the day before the fight, is 25-0 with 22 knockouts, twelve of which have come in the first two rounds. Kamya, now fighting out of West Palm Beach, Florida is 15-5 with four knockouts.
Gonzalez, born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, raised in the Bronx, New York and now fighting out of Milwaukee, WI, will be taking on Tony Kinney in a scheduled four round lightweight bout. His first Chicago appearance was a dominating fourth round TKO over previously undefeated Tommy Pyle on July 15, 2005 at the Aragon Ballroom. Most recently, he knocked out former Texas amateur standout Antoine Hicks in the second round on October 14th at Cicero Stadium in a bout televised internationally on Univision’s SOLO BOXEO Friday night boxing series.
Speaking of his pro career which began with a first round knockout of Hassan Wasswa last April, Gonzalez said, “It’s been going very well, the fans in Chicago seem to like my style. It’s basically “mano a mano”, I don’t like to stay on the outside, I get right up close and start swinging, so far it’s worked out well. I sort of pattern it a little off of Ricky Hatton, he’s a very physical all action fighter who gets right in there and doesn’t waste any time. It suits me well and it’s great that the fans in Chicago have been so supportive.”
Having been successful as an amateur the 26 year old described the transition, “For me, the pro game is better. At first the smaller gloves and absence of headgear threw me off, but now, it’s all system go as soon as the bell rings,” said the two time Milwaukee Golden Gloves Champion.
Said Gonzalez of the New Year, “I want to stay very busy. For me, I stay in the gym and put the work in, then when fight time comes I’m very confident going into the fight as I’m fully prepared. ‘You get out what you put in,’” said the father of two young boys’
Said Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions, “I was very impressed with the way he handled Pyle who’s a very tough guy to fight, we signed him shortly after that and look forward to working with him. Our fans seem to really enjoy his style and we’re looking forward to another exciting bout on Friday night. It’s a great night to kickoff our 2006 season, Joel Julio and Raul Martinez are two of the hottest prospects in the sport and we’re very happy to work with our friends at Main Events again and to bring SHOBOX to Chicago for the first time.”
“Macho’s back in action, Omar Reyes had a great win his last time out and Dave Pareja is returning to the ring. Throw Mike in the mix and another pro debut with local middleweight Reynaldo Reyes and we’ve got a terrific show.”
The full bout lineup for the evening is:
Joel Julio vs. Roberto Kamya, ten rounds, welterweights
Raul Martinez vs. Andres Ledesma, eight rounds, bantamweights
Miguel Hernandez vs. Butch Hajicek, eight rounds, middleweights
David Pareja vs. Derek Andrews, eight rounds, light heavyweights
Mike Gonzales vs. Tony Kinney, four rounds, lightweights
Omar Reyes vs. Luis Navarro, five rounds, featherweights
Reynaldo Reyes vs. Ricardo Swift, four rounds, middleweights
To view the poster for this evening and details on tickets, please visit the 8 Count Productions’ website at www.8countproductions.com Additionally, a gallery of pictures from the December 3rd “AZTECA AMERICA” event have been posted on the 8 Count Productions website.
The open to the public weigh-in will be held on Thursday, January 5th at 7pm at Aquarius Club, 2459 N. Pulaski, one block north of the intersection of Pulaski and Fullerton.
For information on “ShoBox: The New Generation” and SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecasts, including complete fighter bios, records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at www.sho.com . The televised portion of the evening will start at 11pm ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). Nick Charles will call the action from ringside, with Steve Farhood serving as expert analyst. This telecast represents the 70th in the popular “ShoBox” series, which debuted on SHOWTIME in July 2001.
In 2005, “ShoBox” became the premier boxing telecast for excellent bouts featuring “THE NEW GENERATION” of exciting boxers including Ebo Elder, Mike Arnaoutis, Courtney Burton, Sechew Powell, Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik and David Estrada amongst many others.