The next installment of Hitz Boxing’s wildly popular “Fight Night at the Horseshoe” series will be held on Saturday, February 18, 2012, at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, featuring heavyweight contender “Merciless” Mike Mollo (20-3-1, 12 KOs) of Oak Lawn, Illinois; NABA-US Champion Yakubu “Black Mamba” Amidu (20-2-1, 18 KOs) of Los Angeles via Ghana; Vladikavkaz, Russia’s undefeated welterweight prospect Alanbek Kozaev (19-0, 6 KOs); the unveiling of newly signed Cleveland-based junior welterweight prospect Prenice “Greatness” Brewer (16-1-1, 6 KOs); and a host of local favorites and warriors who have earned their spots through previous strong performances.
While the main and co-main and many of the opponents are yet to be determined, also scheduled to appear are unbeaten heavyweight slugger Dave Latoria (9-0, 5 KOs); popular local super middleweight Mike “Hollywood” Jimenez (5-0, 3 KOs) who will face Bruce “The Rage” Rumbolz (22-23-2, 15 KOs) of Sterling, Illinois; Lafayette, Louisiana, lightweight Chris Singleton (3-0, 2 KOs); the second four-round professional bout of Chesterton, Indiana, heavyweight Philip Triantafillo (1-0, 1 KO); Chicago junior welterweight Genaro Mendez (3-1-1, 2 KOs) will face Omaha’s debuting Eric Corrona; and the debut of Omaha, Nebraska-based former amateur heavyweight star (and newest member of the Hitz Boxing stable) Brian Houston in a surprisingly stern first test for his first time out against Chicago’s Felix Abner (3-2, 2 KOs).
“I’ve been doing shows here for quite some time,” said promoter Bobby Hitz, “and I am honored to continue providing the boxing to this beautiful casino. To maintain quality standards at our shows, what we’re going to do from now on is feature only fighters who want to fight. We’re not going to focus on getting wins for local kids like some other promotions do. In fact, I don’t care if you’re from the same gym as another guy. If you fight at the Horseshoe, you have to be willing to be in tough, maybe even against another local kid. Let’s call it a tournament of sorts to see who the best fighters in the area really are by fighting one another.”
The high-class atmosphere and luxurious surroundings the Horseshoe has to offer make their boxing shows a Las Vegas-style night of boxing that Chicago-area fans don’t have to get on a plane to enjoy.
The Horseshoe Casino has an intimate, comfortable venue with luxurious seats, a spectacular gaming area, free parking, exquisite food and all the amenities — and is just 20 minutes from Downtown Chicago.
Tickets for “Fight Night at the Horseshoe” are on sale now, starting at a fan appreciation price of $10, and are available atthe “Venue” box office, ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets, as well as at www.fanfueled.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.
