CHICAGO – Fresh off an outstanding 3 GALLOS/SOLO BOXEO event in front of a packed Cicero Stadium, Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions,will team up with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions to return with LATIN THUNDER, another evening of world class professional boxing set for Friday, November 16th..
Tickets for LATIN THUNDER are available in advance by calling the 8 Count Productions offices at 312-226-5800. Cicero Stadium is located at 1909 S. Laramie, just minutes from the Eisenhower and Stevenson Expressways. Doors for this event will open at 5:30pm with the first bell at 6:30pm.
Headlining LATIN THUNDER is two time bantamweight world champion Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico City. Gonzalez, 36-6 (29KO’s) won the WBO bantamweight title for the first time on October 29, 2005 with a seventh round TKO over Ratanachai Son Veraphin in Tucson, Arizona, dropping the champion three times during the battle on his way to victory.
On September 16, 2006, Gonzalez moved up to super bantamweight to face WBC champion Israel Vazquez in Las Vegas. Gonzalez dropped the champion twice and was ahead on the scorecards prior to Vazquez mounting a tremendous rally which resulted in Gonzalez’s corner stopping the bout in the 11th round. The battle, which Gonzalez was leading on all three score cards at the time of the stoppage, appeared on many boxing writer’s lists for 2006 Fight of the Year.
On March 30, 2007, Gonzalez regained the WBO world title with a ninth round stoppage of Irene Pacheco in Tucson, a fight which was broadcast on SOLO BOXEO.
In his most recent bout televised on HBO on August 11, 2007, Gonzalez was out-boxing former world champion Gerry Penalosa, when he was caught with a body shot to the liver and unable to continue past the seventh round stoppage.
In the course of his outstanding eight year career, the 26 year old warrior Gonzalez also holds knockout victories over Roger Gonzalez, Gabriel Elizondo and Mark Johnson along with a world title defense over Fernando Montiel on May 27, 2006 which was broadcast on HBO.
Gonzalez is currently ranked #5 in the world by ESPN, #6 by Ring Magazine, #3 by the WBA, #5 by the IBF and #7 by the WBO.
Also featured on the LATIN THUNDER/SOLO BOXEO broadcast is middleweight contender David “THE DESTROYER” Lopez, 32-12 (21KO’s) of Nogales, Mexico. The 29 year old heavy handed middleweight has won his last eight in a row. His twelve year career includes wins over Fernando Zuniga, Lonnie Bradley, Jerson Ravelo, Danny Perez and Epifanio Mendoza. Most recently he won a SOLO BOXEO televised decision over Larry Marks on August 10th in Philadelphia.
Lopez is currently ranked #6 by the WBC.
The loaded under card of LATIN THUNDER includes Chicago fan favorites, undefeated female lightweight sensation Rita Figueroa, 9-0 (3KO’s), junior middleweight Polish prospect Andrezej Fonfara, 7-1 (2KO’s) and highly regarded newcomer, welterweight Ivan Popoca, 2-0-1 (2KO’s)
Much more information on this terrific evening of professional boxing will be announced shortly.
Along with Chicago ’s 8 Count Productions and Golden Boy Promotions, LATIN THUNDER is presented by TCF Bank, Tecate Beer and AeroMexico, Mexico ’s premier airline travel headquarters.
8 Count Productions was started by Dominic Pesoli in 1997 and has consistently presented the highest quality professional boxing events in Chicagoland. In 2003, Pesoli along with former featherweight contender Mike Garcia opened JABB Boxing Gym, a 6,000 square foot venue dedicated to the finest Chicagoland boxers of all talent levels.
To view the seating chart and poster for this event or for more information on 8 Count Productions and JABB Boxing Gym, please visit www.8countproductions.com and www.jabbboxinggym.com