On Friday, February 7, 2014, another installment of Friday Night Fights will take place at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, and televised worldwide on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
In the night’s hard-hitting 10-round middleweight main event, Puerto Rico’s undefeated Jonathan “Mantequilla” Gonzalez (17-0-1, 14 KOs) will face Monterrey, Mexico’s Norberto “Demonio” Gonzalez (20-2, 13 KOs). In the 10-round, televised co-featured bout, red-hot undefeated featherweight prospect Kamil Laszczyk (15-0, 7 KOs) of Warsaw, Poland, takes on Managua, Nicaragua’s Daniel “El General” Diaz (20-5-1, 14 KOs).
Opening the telecast will be high-profile 18-year-old welterweight prospect Erickson “Hammer” Lubin (2-0, 2 KOs), the 2012 National Golden Gloves gold medal winner and former Team USA’s #1 overall prospect for the 2016 Olympics before recently turning professional under the Iron Mike Productions promotional banner.
24-year-old Jonathan Gonzalez is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is ranked IBF #9 and WBC #11 in the world. He is a former amateur boxing standout and a 2008 Olympic representative for Puerto Rico.
Norberto “Demonio” Gonzalez is a seven-year professional who got the biggest win of his career with a surprise upset over Michael “Brazilian Rocky” Oliveira last November at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Gonzalez was undefeated in his first 16 fights and his only 2 defeats were hotly contested decisions two top fighters. The dominant win over Oliveira has put his career back on track.
22-year-old Kamil Laszczyk is a native of Warsaw, Poland, currently living in North Bergen, New Jersey. He is the WBO #3-ranked featherweight in the world. Laszczyk was 110-7 as an amateur and won six Polish National Amateur Championships. As a professional, he has already won the WBO Youth Super Featherweight, WBO Inter-Continental Featherweight and WBC Baltic Silver featherweight titles.
Nicaraguan Daniel Diaz is a nine-year professional and a former NABA Champion. In 2011, Diaz unsuccessfully challenged Koki Kameda for the WBA World Bantamweight Championship in Osaka, Japan. Most recently, he won a decision against very highly regarded Mexican contender Robert Marroquin.
“I’m looking forward to my first appearance as a promoter in Chicago at the Gonzalez vs. Gonzalez fight on February 7,” said Mike Tyson. “We have a great fight card lined up with some exciting fighters. Chicago historically has a rich boxing history and I am proud to return and bring boxing entertainment to the city that has always been good to me.”
“I’m very happy to be returning to the great city of Chicago with another fantastic show,” said Leon Margules. “I wish to thank all my partners for their continued support in returning Chicago to its glory days of boxing. I also wish to extend many thanks to the great Mike Tyson for his promotional partnership. This will be another fantastic event I am proud to be a part of.”
“Leon and I are very excited to again be working with my dear friend and legend Mike Tyson and going back to Chicago with 8 Count,” said Luis DeCubas. “UIC Pavilion is one of the best venues for boxing in this country.”
“I’m very excited to bring another great show to the loyal boxing fans of Chicagoland,” said Dominic Pesoli. “What a great way to start off the New Year with an ESPN “Friday Night Fights” event. It will be a pleasure to work again with the good friends from Warriors Boxing and my new friends from Iron Mike Productions. Let’s start off the 2014 season with some serious HEAT, because Chicago can surely use it! Please come out and enjoy the fights with us and one of boxing’s greatest legends Mike Tyson.”
On fight night, doors will open at 6:00 pm CT with the first bout scheduled for 7:00 pm. The UIC Pavilion is located at 525 S. Racine, at the corner of Harrison and Racine on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Tickets for “Friday Night Fights” are priced at VIP $151, VIP Ringside $101, Ringside $76, Mezzanine $51 and General Admission $31 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.com, 1-800-745-3000), the 8 Count Productions Offices: 312-226-5800 or the UIC Pavilion Box Office: 312-413-5740.
