21.02.06 – Fresh off another terrific evening of professional boxing this past Friday night, Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions, HOME OF THE BEST IN CHICAGO BOXING, has announce details of their next action packed evening on St. Patrick’s Day, Friday, March 17th at the Aragon Ballroom. MARCH MADNESS, presented by 8 Count Productions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank Incorporated along with Miller Lite and TCF Bank will feature the return of Chicago’s most popular fighter, 1996 Olympian David Diaz, who will be appearing in the ten round main event..
Diaz, (29-1-1, 16 KO’s), now campaigning as a lightweight will be headlining for the first time in Chicago since his ninth round knockout over Jaime Rangel on December 10, 2004 at the Aragon Ballroom.
The Aragon Ballroom is located at 1106 W. Lawrence Avenue on the northside of Chicago. Doors for this event will open at 6pm, with the first bell scheduled for 7pm. Tickets starting at $25 are available in advance by calling 312-226-5800.
Said Pesoli, “David’s just coming off an outstanding performance against Ramazan Palyani two months ago at the Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Sun, Indiana. His last fight at the Aragon against Rangel was a battle. Diaz stopped him in the ninth.”
The co-main event features the return of Chicago welterweight Gilbert Venegas in an eight round bout. Venegas, (9-1-2, 6 KO’s) is looking to continue to rise in the rankings since his comeback bout, a draw with undefeated prospect Henry Crawford on the Fernando Vargas/Javier Castillejo event last August at the Allstate Arena.
Said Pesoli about the co-main event, “Gilbert is a real warrior. Not fighting for four years and then taking on Crawford in his first bout back showed he meant business. He looked great against Vincent on the LATIN FIRE card in October at Cicero Stadium.”
This exceptional undercard will feature Illinois State Light Heavyweight Champion Mike Nevitt, junior welterweight Jose Manuel Ortega, featherweight Barbaro Zepeda and Chicago’s favorite female fighter, undefeated Rita Figueroa. All will be featured in six round bouts.
A special heavyweight attraction will feature Chicago heavyweight prospect Carl “IRON FIST” Davis in a six round bout.
Pesoli also wants to express his thanks to the loyal 8 Count Productions’ crowd for their great support this past Friday night, “It was the coldest night of the year, but our fans know our reputation for great fights.”
“Jimmy Sandoval started it off with a terrific battle which he won over Reggie Nash, Luciano again displayed his warrior spirit by beating Carson Jones in the co-main. Jorge Gonzalez passed his toughest test by getting the win over Derrick Findley, Kevin Kelley looked great with his KO over Ramirez and the fans were thrilled to see Humberto Chavez beat Carlos Cisneros. Humberto hadn’t fought in Chicago in over two years and fans really enjoyed seeing him. It was a great night and we were thrilled to have such a large turnout on such a cold night.”
“We’ve gotten great responses locally and nationally by fans who can see our fights on TV or on the internet. The only fight not on the SOLO BOXEO broadcast was the Sandoval/Nash fight which Maxboxing.com will have on later this week. Fight fans everywhere want to see great fights and just this year in two months we’ve had some amazing bouts. There’s much more to come.”