CHICAGO, IL (July 26, 2008) Chicago fight fans were treated to an outstanding evening of professional boxing last night at The Aragon Ballroom as Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions, HOME OF THE BEST IN CHICAGO BOXING, presented a terrific evening of action packed fights..
In the main event, Chicago fan favorite Francisco “EL NINO AZTECA” Rodriguez gutted out a ten round decision over rugged veteran Alex “EL DIABLO” Becerra in the ten round bantamweight bout. Winning a unanimous decision by scores of 98-92 and 96-94 twice, Rodriguez fought through a nasty cut over his left eye to control the pace of the fight.
“He cut me in the first with an upper cut that opened the cut, but I was able to fight through it. We went to the hospital last night and they stitched it up”, said Rodriguez about the fight.
Continued Francisco, “Other than the cut, I’m fine. My hands are no problem, hopefully I can fight again in October or November.”
With the win, fast rising prospect Rodriguez has won six of his last seven and increased his record to 13-2 with eight knockouts. El Paso’s Becerra’s record moves to 19-7 (9KO’s).
Rodriguez will take a few weeks off as he weds his fiancé Sonia on August 16th in Chicago before honeymooning in South Florida.
In the co-main event, Chicago based featherweights Ivan, “THE BABY FACED ASSASSIN” Rodriguez and Barbaro Zepeda thrilled the Aragon Ballroom fight crowd with an outstanding action packed six round bout that featured non-stop punching from both combatants.
With the large contingents of Rodriguez and Zepeda fans sitting on opposite sides of the ring, fans were on their feet from the opening bell loudly cheering on their favorites.
Despite being cut and knocked down in the fourth round, Rodriguez truly showed the heart of a warrior as he willed himself to a majority decision win.
With the win, Rodriguez increased his record to 9-4-1 (2KO’s).
Said Pesoli, “This fight took on a similar feel to the Jimmy Gonzalez /Michael Walker fight from a few years back. It was also off-TV, also a six rounder and the large contingent of fans for each were on their feet from the opening bell. It was a very action packed fight that our fans loved.” The Rodriguez/Zepeda fight will be up on Youtube in the coming days.
Coming back after a year long layoff, Mike “THE HAMMER” Nevitt returned to the ring, with a sixth round knockout of Seattle’s Luis Lopez. Nevitt controlled the action from the opening bell and was able stay out of trouble against Lopez’s occasional burst of aggressiveness. With the win Nevitt ran his record to 15-1 (6KO’s) while Lopez moved to 14-15-1 (6KO’s).
Opening the evening was a terrific four round bout between welterweight prospects, Frederico Flores Jr. and Guadalupe Diaz. The 20 year old Flores, from Hart, Michigan, a former amateur standout, and Chicago’s Diaz, wearing almost identical trunks proudly displaying the colors of their native Mexico, fought at a very even pace over the four rounds, both displaying excellent boxing skills.
At the end of the very evenly matched bout that had both fighters winning the approval from the Chicago fight fans, Flores was awarded a split decision victory improving his record to 6-2 (2KO’s) while Diaz moved to 4-4-1 (1KO).
Tickets are now on sale for the next 8 Count Productions’ events, HARD EIGHT on August 8th and ON FIRE/EN FUEGO on August 15th both at The Aragon Ballroom. Tickets can be obtained through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com, 312-559-1212) or by calling the 8 Count Productions’ office at 312-226-5800.
8 Count Productions was started by Dominic Pesoli in 1998 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.
For more information on 8 Count Productions and JABB Boxing Gym, please visit www.8countproductions.com and www.jabbboxinggym.com