TICKET ALERT!!!! ESPN FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS MARCH 22, 2013 CHICAGO’S UIC PAVILION

TICKET ALERT!!!!

ADRIAN GRANADOS VS. KERMIT CINTRON

CHICAGO, IL – Chicago fan favorite and perennial contender Donovan “Da Bomb” George will battle world title challenger David “The Destroyer” Lopez of Nogales, Mexico in a ten round middleweight bout on FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2013 at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion.

The George/Lopez clash will be featured as the main event broadcast on ESPN Friday Night Fights complimented by an all-action ten round welterweight tilt between sensational prospect and hot Chicago attraction Adrian “EL Tigre” Granados and former world champion, The Fighting Pride of Carolina, Puerto Rico, Kermit “EL Asesino” Cintrón.

Presented by 8 Count Productions, Round 3 Productions, Warriors Boxing and Blue Wave Boxing, advance tickets to ESPN Friday Night Fights are priced at $150, $100, $50 and $30 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.

Doors will open on the night of the event at 7pm CT with the first bout scheduled for 8:00pm CT. 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.

“We’re thrilled at the tremendous success that our events at the UIC Pavilion have had. As I said at The Palmer House at our last press conference, Chicago used to be the best fight town in the country and our TEAM is putting it at the top of the pedestal once again” said Frank Mugnolo, President of Round 3 Productions. “The fan and media support has been tremendous and MARCH 22 will once again be a special evening for Chicago boxing fans”.

Said Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions, “Donovan has been a favorite in Chicago for many years, he’s had numerous terrific wins over his nine year career and has become a must-see attraction. He’s now campaigning at middleweight and this fight against Lopez presents the first step towards his ascent in the world rankings at 160″.

“A fight between Donovan George and David Lopez is exactly the type of main event our fans have come to expect at our shows. Lopez is a true Mexican warrior who has only lost once in eight years and that was against Austin Trout, one of the sports’ elite champions”.

“With the addition of the excellent co-main event between Adrian Granados and Kermit Cintron, we’re off to a terrific start of what will be an outstanding evening of world class boxing for the Chicago boxing fans and those watching the telecast across the country”.

Continued Pesoli, “This is also the second straight month that ESPN Friday Night Fights is broadcasting our event and their commitment to these events strongly validates our growing presence in Chicago. It’s always a pleasure working with their TEAM”.

The 28-year-old George, 24-3-1 (21KO’s), known as one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, makes a quick return to action following his body crunching first round knockout of James Cook on FEBRUARY 1 at the UIC Pavilion.

Widely recognized for his must see-TV aggressive style and winning back flips, George’s three fights in 2012 were broadcast across three separate networks.

On MARCH 17, 2012, George was featured in a ten round war against Edwin Rodriguez from The Theatre at Madison Square Garden in a battle broadcast on HBO’s Boxing After Dark. Rodriguez was declared the winner of the hard fought battle by a close unanimous decision.

Five months later on AUGUST 17, George brutally knocked out Dionisio Miranda in the sixth round from the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. Taking the fight on three days notice when original opponent Adonis Stevenson was injured, the brilliant performance by George was telecast on ESPN Friday Night Fights.

At the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, on October 12, George and Stevenson participated in a 2012 Fight of the Year candidate before a massive crowd and a Wealth TV national audience, the war being halted in the final stanza as Stevenson earned the stoppage.

A professional since 1995, Lopez sports a record of 41-13-0 (23KO’s) and has only lost once since 2005, a very close twelve round decision to WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin Trout on JUNE 11, 2011.

Prior to the Trout loss, Lopez had won sixteen fights in a row and followed up the world title challenge to Trout with a ten round unanimous decision over Julio Cesar Garcia on MAY 26, 2012.

A former amateur standout and member of the 2008 Mexican Olympic Team, the 23-year-old Granados has already proved himself against world-class competition and become one of the brightest prospects in the sport.

With numerous hard fought, memorable fights in Chicago, Granados has compiled a record of 11-2-1 (7KO’s) over his four-year career.

In his last start on December 12 in front of a packed house of loud and proud local boxing fans at Cicero Stadium, Granados dominated and out-classed the previously undefeated Antonio Canas winning every round prior to the bout being stopped in the fifth stanza.

The much more experienced and hard punching Cintron, 33-5-1 (28KO’s), first came to national attention in the boxing world winning the IBF Welterweight Championship by knocking out Mark Suarez on October 28, 2006.

Over the course of his twelve-year career, Cintron has fought many of the sports top names including Sergio Martinez, “Canelo” Alvarez, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Carlos Molina and Alfredo Angulo.

A full undercard featuring many of Chicago’s best prospects and fan favorites will be announced shortly for this event.

ABOUT 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 ChampionAndrzej Fonfara, middleweight contender Donovan George, world class junior welterweight prospect Adrian Granados, former world title challenger Edner Cherry, super middleweight prospect Paul Littleton, middleweight prospect Viktor Polyakov and welterweight prospect Jaime Herrera.

ABOUT 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 it’s 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.