The highly anticipated light heavyweight clash between “Chicago’s Polish Prince” Andrzej Fonfara and former world champion Gabriel “El Chico Guapo” Campillo set for Friday, August 16 has now been declared an International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Title Eliminator. The winner will be ranked #1 by the sanctioning body.
The Fonfara/Campillo 12-round clash headlines “THE BIG FIGHT 2, ESPN FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS AT U.S. CELLULAR FIELD,” the first outdoor professional boxing card in over fifty years in the Windy City.
“We’re very happy the I.B.F. has declared the Fonfara/Campillo bout an official world title eliminator,” said Frank Mugnolo, President of Round 3 Productions.
“There has been a sensational amount of interest in this unique boxing event at U.S. Cellular Field and the declaration from the I.B.F. adds another layer of intrigue. Every fighter wants to compete for a world title.”
Continued Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions, “It’s been an honor to have promoted Andrzej since he turned professional and we’re thrilled to provide him with this opportunity towards a world title.”
The Fonfara/Campillo bout is presented in association with Sampson Boxing.
“THE BIG FIGHT 2, ESPN FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS AT U.S. CELLULAR FIELD” is presented by Round 3 Productions, 8 Count Productions, Warriors Boxing and Ulrich Knockout Promotions along with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.
The historic boxing event is headlined by a 12-round light heavyweight clash between “Chicago’s Polish Prince” Andrzej Fonfara and former world champion Gabriel “EL Chico Guapo” Campillo.
Also featured will be the “Can’t Miss” heavyweight rematch of Artur “The Pin” Szpilka of Wieliczka, Poland and Chicago’s “Merciless” Mike Mollo, scheduled for ten rounds.
In a special attraction televised bout, Chicago’s Adrian “EL Tigre” Granados will face off against undefeated Mansfield, Ohio’s Mark
Salser for the IBA Junior Welterweight Title over eight scheduled rounds.
Additional undercard bouts will be announced shortly.
The last professional outdoor boxing event held in Chicago took place over 50 years ago. “THE BIG FIGHT” was held at Comiskey Park on SEPTEMBER 25, 1962 and was headlined by the Heavyweight World Championship between Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson.
U.S. Cellular Field is located at 333 W. 35th Street, one block west of the Dan Ryan Expressway. For this memorable evening the ring will be set up just behind home plate with the grandstand serving as the backdrop. Doors on the night of the event will open at 6:00 p.m. CT with the first at 7:00 p.m. CT.
Advance tickets starting at $32 are on sale now through Ticketmaster (www.Ticketmaster.com, phone, 1-800-745-3000) and through The Chicago White Sox(www.whitesox.com)in addition to the U.S. Cellular Field Box Office.
8 COUNT PRODUCTIONS/ROUND 3 PRODUCTIONS
8 Count Productions, HOME OF THE BEST IN CHICAGO BOXING, was started by Dominic Pesoli in 1998 and has consistently presented the highest quality professional boxing events in Chicagoland.
Joining forces with Frank Mugnolo’s Round 3 Productions in 2011, their partnership is currently among the premier boxing promotional firms in the United States.
Fighters currently under the 8 Count Productions/Round 3 Productions banner include; IBO Light Heavyweight World Champion Andrzej Fonfara, top rated junior welterweight prospect Adrian Granados, former world title challenger Edner Cherry, undefeated middleweight prospects Paul Littleton and Viktor Polyakov in addition to welterweight prospect Jaime Herrera.
For more information on 8 Count Productions/Round 3 Productions please visit their new website, www.8CountProductions.com. Follow them on Twitter at 8 Count and Facebook at “8 Count Productions/Round 3 Productions”.
WARRIORS BOXING
Launched in 2003, Warriors Boxing operates under a simple philosophy-bring the best boxers in the world to fight fans, match them in competitive bouts, and in doing so help re-establish the sport of boxing for a new generation.
With a series of successful Pay-Per-View shows and packed houses to its credit, the Warriors business model is working wonders in a sport that was sorely in need of the innovation and energy that the company brings to the table.
When it comes down to it though, a promotional company is only as good as the fighters and fights it promotes. Warriors Boxing has delivered on all fronts, with outstanding bouts such as Lara-Molina, Cayo-Peterson, Abraham-Miranda I and II, Miranda-Pavlik, Miranda-Green, Ibragimov-Briggs, Ibragimov-Klitschko, Urango-Hatton, Urango-Bailey, Cayo-Maidana and Ibragimov-Holyfield.
For more information on Warriors Boxing, visit their website at www.WarriorsBoxing.com.
THE ILLINOIS SPORTS FACILITIES AUTHORITY
The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is the developer, owner and operator of U.S. Cellular Field, home of the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox. www.isfauthority.com.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
