The first professional boxing event at a Chicago baseball stadium in more than 50 years will be televised live on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra August 16 when the show visits U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Friday’s show, a special three-hour telecast (normally two hours), will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Check out a preview of the card here, including Campillo vs. Fonfara, and the Szpila vs. Mollo rematch.
The 12-round main event will feature former Light Heavyweight titlist Gabriel “Chico Guapo” Campillo (22-5-1, 8 KOs) and Andrzej “The Polish Prince” Fonfara (23-2, 13 KOs). The co-main feature will be a rematch between undefeated Heavyweight Artur “The Pin” Szpilka (15-0, 11 KOs) and Mike Mollo (20-4-1, 12 KOs). In between the co-main feature and the main event will be an 8-round bout between undefeated Jr. Welterweight Marc “The Ring Shark” Salser (15-0, 9 KOs) and Adrian “El Tigre” Granados (9-1-2, 5 KOs).
The last professional boxing event to take place in a Chicago baseball stadium occurred on September 25, 1962 at Comiskey Park when then Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson lost his belt in a first-round knockout to challenger Sonny Liston.
“I started following boxing years ago when Howard Cosell was doing all the big heavyweight bouts – Ali, Frazier, Foreman, and even Jerry Quarry,” said Kittle, who is looking forward to serving as the “sparring partner” in the weekly “Teddy Atlas Fight Plan” segment, “I’m just glad they didn’t ask me to fight!”
Main Event:
Spain’s Campillo is coming off a fourth-round TKO win over Ionut Ilie, while Chicago’s Fonfara scored a seventh–round TKO win over south paw Tommy Karpency in his last fight. Before that Fonfara won a 10–round unanimous decision over former Light Heavyweight titlist Glen Johnson.
“I’m prepared for this fight,” Fonfara said. “I want to win this fight and show people I’ll be the next world champion.”
Szpilka vs. Mollo II:
Poland’s Szpilka, a longtime fan favorite with Chicago’s Polish community, is looking to continue his winning ways after a 10-round unanimous decision win over Brian Minto. Chicago’s Mollo is looking to rebound from a sixth-round knockout loss to Szpilka in their first fight.
Friday’s show will open with a replay of their first fight leading up to their live rematch.
