Colorful Chicago boxing promoter Bobby Hitz, former heavyweight boxer and founder of Hitz Boxing, has much to smile about these days.Hitz and close friend Artie Pellulo of Banner Promotions have teamed up to present an action-packed televised 10-round lightweight bout between Chicago’s former WBC Lightweight Champion David Diaz (36-3-1, 17 KOs) and Philadelphia’s Henry “Hank” Lundy (20-1-1 10 KOs) on Friday, August 19, in the luxurious “Venue” in the Horseshoe Casino, in Hammond, Indiana, that will also be televised live on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Also featured that night will be Chicago’s former world champion Montell “Ice” Griffin (49-8-1, 30 KOs) who will be looking for his landmark fiftieth professional victory and future light middleweight world champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (13-0, 9 KOs), who will be returning to Chicago for the first time since winning the 2007 amateur world championships at the UIC Pavilion.
With less than two weeks to go, and final preparations well underway, Hits sat down to answer a few questions in his unique old-school style.
Tell me about the event you have coming up in Hammond.
We have a super exciting ESPN2 fight coming up August 19, featuring a local kid and one of my favorites, David Diaz. He was born and raised in town. He was an Olympian and I’ve know the kid for most of his boxing life. I was fortunate to be able to promote him when he first came out of the Olympics. He went off and did his thing and now he’s back full circle. He’s in a great fight with Hank Lundy, it’s a definite pick-em fight and Don’t Miss TV.
Have you done Friday Night Fights telecasts before?
The last one we did was John Duddy and Pat Coleman and the late Agapito Sanchez. We’ve taken a little hiatus, but we had a good run with guys like Ben Tacky, Reggie Johnson and O’Neil Bell.
David Diaz seems to be in tough, is he ready?
David is the type of fighter who is always ready. I don’t expect anything but 110% out of him. And Lundy is also a tremendous fighter. You got the tough smart-talking, brash Lundy who wants to make his way up and the always eloquent and classy champion who is taking one last shot at the brass ring.
You’ve single-handedly brought this boxing program in Hammond to life, what were the biggest challenges in making it successful?
Getting the network to say ‘yes.’ Trying to line up a good show and pick dates that make sense for everyone. In Chicago there is so much going on entertainment-wise, so we have to strap ourselves in and pick the best dates and the best possible fights. There’s never a perfect scenario. I’d rather be promoting in Idaho sometimes, but we’ve been successful in this huge market.
Tell me about your relationship with your partners on this show, Banner Promotions.
I’ve had a long working relationship with Banner and Artie Pelullo is one of my closest friends in boxing. He’s like a mentor and all the shows we’ve done together have been successful. It’s an old-school deal where your handshake means something. I had the date and the show and had been talking with the network and, in one of my weekly conversations with Artie, he said he had a guy, so I said I have this date I’m trying to do, let’s do it together. So I brought him in with me and, besides, it gives us a chance to hang out in downtown Chicago, drink martinis, smoke cigars and eat good steaks.
Tell me about the best show you ever put on.
I think every show I do is pretty good. The best show… it could be Lenny LaPaglia vs. Toney LaRosa, two Italian guys, West side vs. South side of Chicago. That was pretty good. Angel Hernandez vs. José Rivera was great. Acelino Freitas vs. Rancho Ramirez on SHOWTIME.
What’s on the horizon for Hitz Boxing?
We’ll just keep working hard and doing what we’re doing. Hard work and good shows give our customer base something to sink their teeth into. We’re working hard and staying out of the daily boxing silliness.
Tickets for Diaz vs. Lundy are available at www.fanfueled.comor www.thevenue-chicago.com and are priced at $90 ringside, $40 Orchestra (main level), $30 Mezzanine (balcony). The Horseshoe Casino is located at 777 Casino Center Drive in Hammond, Indiana.
