ESPN Breezes Into Chicago For Some Boxing

Andrzej Fonfara has a chance to elevate his career this Friday (photo by ME!)

Boxers don’t start their careers in glory. Most debut at a small, hometown arena and spend the next few years fighting a collection of stiffs as they learn and improve. Even Floyd Mayweather’s first fight was at the nondescript Texas Station Casino in Nevada against someone named Roberto Apodaca whose career lasted all of four fights. It would be two years before “Money” fought for a title and he had an advantage coming from a prominent boxing family.

At some point in every talented boxer’s career there is chance for them to make the jump from back-bar hero to nationally recognized fighter. Local favorite Andrzej Fonfara has a chance to make that leap. This Friday, at the UIC Pavilion, he will take on former IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Glen Johnson in the headline match for ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. A night of fighting that 8 Count Productions is rightfully calling “Crossroads”.

Fonfara has built a loyal following in Chicago over his six-year career. The 24-year-old Warsaw native has lived and fought in the Windy City since he was 18 and has racked up a 21-2 record during that time.  His last nine fights have all ended with him battering his opponents into submission which explains the boisterous following he has in this city.

However, this isn’t the lanky fighter’s first brush with national exposure. After winning 10 of his first 11 professional fights he appeared on Friday Night Fights in 2008 and suffered a brutal second round TKO at the hands of Derrick Findley.  Despite the knockout it appeared his career was backon track as he won his next two fights to set up a match against Skyler Thompson for the vacant WBF United States super middle weight title.  Fonfara won the fight, but had the title stripped when he tested positive for a banned substance.

Since then, “The Polish Prince” has moved up in weight (from 160 to about 175) and steadily put his career back together with a string of dominant victories over increasingly better opponents. His opponent on Friday, Glen Johnson, presents a significant step up in competition. Johnson has fought everyone and everywhere truly earning his “Road Warrior” nickname. At 43 he might not be the same fighter who beat Roy Jones, Jr. (back in 2004 when beating Jones actually meant something) Johnson is still in a better class than anyone Fonfara has fought since Findley.

The Jamaican native proved that last June when he took one of the best super middleweights in the business, Carl Froch, the distance. An old boxing adage is that “styles make fights” and Johnson’s style is to be aggressive and try to outwork his opponents. Fonfara would be smart to move around the ring and work the body of his much older foe, but that’s not what he does. Like Johnson, he prefers to attack and trade shots in the middle of the ring.  While it might not be the smartest plan of attack it will at least make for an entertaining fight.

Fonfara at 6’2” is a tall fighter with long arms and a long midsection. He’ll present an inviting target for Johnson who is at his best when he is able to land his jab to the chest and follow it up with a powerful overhand right.  It was a combination that he was able to employ with success against Froch, who like Fonfara, likes to keep his hands low.

It will be in Fonfara’s best interest to keep Johnson at a distance by using his jab and trying to extend the bout as long as possible and hope that the older fighter tires in the late round. The “Polish Prince” does have deceptive power for a boxer as lean as he is and that could play a factor in the fight as well. If he lands some big shots early, it might dissuade Johnson from pressing forward.  If the fight is fought at a distance, Fonfara should have the advantage.

Should the local boy do well and beat his older opponent it could be a springboard for launching into the national scene at the light heavyweight/super middleweight level. Boxers who are successful on Friday Night Fights tend to find themselves on undercards for cable network fights which could then lead to undercards on Pay-Per-View fights and then onto true notoriety and title fights.  It has been a long time since a Chicago-based fighter has achieved national prominence in the boxing world. With a victory on Friday, Andrzej Fonfara could begin a journey to end that drought.

Also appearing on the card will be Jose Luis Castillo who will be taking on Ivan Popoca. Other matches will feature Elijah McCall (son of former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall), local favorite Jamie Herrera, as well as up-and-coming prospect Paul Littleton. Tickets are available at the UIC Pavalion box office as well as through TicketMaster. The night of boxing is brought on by 8 Count Productions, Warriors Boxing, Round 3 and Blue Wave Boxing.

Edner Cherry Highlights an Entertaining Night of Boxing in Cicero

Alas, Big Curtis Tate wasn't on the card

Last Saturday saw professional boxing return to Chicago, well to Cicero that is.  Located west of Downtown, take a Pink Line El train as far as it goes, and you will find venerable Cicero Stadium.  The aging complex hosted 8 Count Productions Solo Boxeo, presented by Tecate, a night of boxing featuring Edner Cherry and Adrian Granados.

Inside, there was a much more intimate feel than the spacious UIC Pavaillian.  The ring was set up in the middle of the basketball court with only 4 or 5 rows of chairs surrounding the squared circle.  Two sections of bleachers that ran the length of the building held most of the fans and provided them with an up-close view of the action in the ring..

As a few of the fights were being broadcast by Telafutra (with analysis by legendary Israel Vazquez) an impressive lighting rig hovered a few feet above the ring while cameramen and techs scurried about the arena all night.  While the presence of the TV crew added a festive atmosphere to the night, it also slowed things down a bit as some fights were held to make sure the broadcast crews were ready.

The delays didn’t take away from the action in the ring as 8 Count put together a fairly competitive card for the night. A raucous cheering section supported local fighters Dimar Ortuz, Adan Ortiz and Granados all night long while Marlon Smith learned that the easiest way to get heat from the crowd is to wear a St. Louis Cardinals hat into the ring.

Dimar Ortuz (3-0-0, 3 KOs) vs. Rayshan Myers (4-12-0, 3 KOs)

The first match of the night featured the undefeated Ortuz matching up against his most experienced opponent to date. Myers, whose white trunks trimmed in black and penchant for shuffling his feet in the ring had the hecklers ringside calling him “Ali”, confounded the aggressive Ortuz early in the fight.

Myers’ southpaw stance had Ortuz stumped for the first round.  His attempts at landing big punches were in vain as his slick opponent was able to duck out of the way for most of them.  In the second, Dimar “The Strongman” adjusted and started to find his range.  A big right from the Chicago-based fighter seemed to sap some of Myers confidence.  That punch altered the dynamic of the match as for the next three rounds Myers was content to hold and run from the more aggressive Ortuz. He would offer little offense the rest of the fight while Ortuz landed a few shots here and there.

The fight ended up going to the scorecards after the bell sounded at the end of the fourth and final round.  The judges awarded Ortuz the unanimous decision which had to ring a little empty for the hometown fighter as he wasn’t able to secure the knockout for his local supporters.

Adan Ortiz (1-0-0, 1 KO) vs. Joseph Santos (0-1-0)

Adan Ortiz wouldn’t have that problem.  His fan base had barely settled into their seats after the introductions before he had them standing again in appreciation of an overwhelming performance.  Both fighters were game as the opening bell sounded as they came out throwing punches. 

Unfortunately for Santos is was quickly apparent that his handspeed wasn’t in the same league as the impressive Ortiz. Mere seconds into the fight, a solid left hook to the body hurt Santos and Ortiz was quick to press his advantage as he followed up with a left to the jaw and then a flurry of punches from both hands.

Santos was on his knees after a straight right/left hook combo dropped him.  His trainer leaped to the  apron waiving the towel before referee Celestino Ruiz finished his count and Ortiz had his TKO victory at just the 1:13 mark of the first round.

Adrian Granados (9-2-1, 5 KO’s) vs. Ramon Guevara (9-21-2, 6 KOs)

Granados played up his ties to Cicero as he sported what appeared to be his American Legion baseball jersey into the ring for his matchup against his Dominican opponent (who sported the always classic look of shiny brown trunks with black tassels running down the legs).

The first round started a little tentative as both fighters were cautious in feeling out each other.  Granados gained a little momentum when he found success by doubling up his straight lefts while Guevara was able to land several solid shots to the body.

“Che” decided to up the pressure in the second round as he came out quickly and snuck a few punches in on the hometown fighter. His advantage wouldn’t last.  “El Tigre” showed why his fan base is growing in The Windy City as a right/left combo dropped his opponent.  Seconds later another big left would earn him the knock out a Referee Ruiz reached the 10 count at the 58 second mark of the round.

In picking up his second win of the year, the 22-year-old fighter looks to have recovered from his 2011 loss to Frankie Gomez and could be on his way to headlining some more exciting bouts in the near future.

Lamar Russ (9-0-0, 5 KO’s) vs. Jose Alonza (13-0-0, 7 KO’s)

Jose Alonza brought an interesting story into this match-up of two undefeated boxers.  At 35, Alonza seemed a little old for only having 13 pro fights under his belt.  The skimpy fight record was a result of the 8 years he took off after “losing his desire to fight” despite having won his first 11 fights and earning the WBA Fedcentro super middleweight belt.

Having regained interest in the sport in 2011 he was fighting outside of his native Florida for the first time in more than a decade.  His opponent, Lamar Russ sporting the odd nickname “The Boxing Que”, was more than ready to give him a challenge.

The early rounds were a muddled affair as Russ used his reach to keep Alonza at distance.  Alonza, tried to close the distance by launching lunging right-handed attacks that were only marginally effective.  He did land enough punches to have blood streaming from Russ’ nose by the third round, but wasn’t able to sustain enough offensive to truly hurt his opponent.

Russ, who I had winning the first three rounds, would dominate the fourth. A tired Alonza had begun holding on at the close of the previous round and would last only a minute into the fourth.  A right hook to the top of his head would be the punch responsible for ending the fight, but it followed a straight right to the head and a left to the body that set up the climatic blow.  Alonza was able to beat the count, but the referee decided he had enough and stopped the fight at the 1:08 mark of the round.

Highlights here (Sorry about the commercials) (highlights are in Spanish, but that high school Spanish I to work!)

Edner Cherry (29-6-2, 16 KOs) vs. Juan Carlos Martinez (19-13-1, 7 KOs)

The headline bout of the night featured former title-challenger Cherry matching up against the experienced Martinez. The 29-year-old Cherry was looking to build on his February victory over Guillermo Sanchez at the UIC Pavilion as he continues to rebuild his title chances after his 2008 loss to Timothy Bradley.

The first four rounds would see-saw between the two fighters.  Neither was able to dominate as Martinez was content to work the body, while Cherry worked his left jab trying to set up his big “Cherry Bomb” right.  However, Martinez didn’t give him a chance to land it early.

As the fight progressed, it became apparent that Cherry was the better fighter. He was able to repeatedly tag Martinez with both straight rights and lefts to the head. By the fifth, Martinez was bleeding freely from the nose and Cherry managed to land 5 power rights in the round.  “El Pez” displayed a granite chin as the big shots never came close to knocking him down.

Martinez would find some success in the 8^th when Cherry relaxed a bit.  It appeared that the fighter from Wauchula, Florida was trying to bait Martinez into opening himself up to a knockout blow, but the Mexican fighter was cagey enough not to fall for the trap, instead landing a round-winning haymaker that staggered but didn’t drop Cherry.

The ninth and tenth round featured more big punches from Cherry and by the end of the fight Martinez was doing his best just to survive the fight.  He would make it to the final bell, but lose when the judges awarded a majority decision to Cherry by scores of 95-95 (odd), 99-91 (almost as odd) and 97-93 (more in line).

Highlites here

Luis Santiago (4-0-0, 1 KO) vs. Marlon Smith (2-1-0, 1 KO)

The final fight of the night had the feeling of a wrestling “dark match”.  With the TV cameras turned off and about half of the crowd having left after the Cherry/Martinez bout it felt a bit anti-climatic.  This was a shame because the fans that left missed one of the best fights of the night.

Santiago put his undefeated record on the line against a very competitive Smith.  “Sito” wanted to keep the fight at a distance where he could effectively land his punches, but Smith wasn’t going to let him.  He kept bulling his way in close to the larger fighter and was able to do damage by working the body with short left hooks.

The crowd was on its feet in an exciting second round when “Sito” landed a huge right cross that stunned Smith.  Santiago pounced, landing lefts and rights to the head and body of his staggering opponent.  Despite his corner’s pleas to wrap up, Smith chose to weather the storm of punches and eventually began to land some of his own.  It was soon apparent that Santiago had punched himself out and quickly found his back on the ropes as Smith came on late in the round.

Smith would keep working the body in close throughout the fight to set up some punishing shots to the head.  By the third round Santiago was sporting a bad cut next to his left eye courtesy of short right hooks from Smith.

Despite displaying some tired legs, Santiago rallied in the fifth round, coming out strong and rocking the determined Smith.  The last two rounds would be as close as the rest of the fight and when the final bell rang the decision would be in the hands of the judges.

Judge John Epperson would rule it a 57-57 draw while judges Jerry Jacubco and William Lerch would score it 58-56 for Santiago.  A decision that met with cheers from the crowd, but disagreement from press row (I had it 58-56 for Smith).  In our eyes it was a questionable decision for an extremely close fight as Smith had been more active and done more damage throughout the fight.

That final decision didn’t detract from a good night of boxing.  The intimate setting of Cicero Stadium makes for a great boxing crowd as it feels like they are right on top of the action.  It was another solid card of action from 8 Count that featured knockouts, hometown heroes and a just a dash of controversy.

Recap Windy City Fight Night 22

The air outside the UIC Pavilion rumbled with thunder and lightning as the building on the outskirts of downtown Chicago played host to Windy City Fight Nights 22, an 8 Count Productions event cosponsored by ESP, INC. The big draw for the night’s fights was undoubtedly Andrezj Fonfara, the Polish titleholder with the large fan base.

Let’s take a look at how the fights went.

Raeese Aleem (1-0-0, 1 KO) vs. DeWayne Wisdom (2-2-0, 1 KO)

The opening match of the night featured a couple of featherweights who didn’t mind mixing it up a bit. Aleem, in his second pro fight, was the aggressor during the entire match often landing three punches to everyone that Wisdom did.  “The Beast” also dominated the ring, spending most of the match pushing Wisdom (who took the match on only two days notice) against the ropes and into the corner. 

It wasn’t close on the scorecards as Aleem won by unanimous decision with all three judges’ scorecards reading 40-36. Personally I had Wisdom winning the third round when Aleem seemed to take a break and Wisdom was able to land three lunging power rights.  In the end the decision went to the boxer who landed more punches rather than the one who landed bigger punches.

Clifford McPherson (2-7-1, 1 KO) vs. Chad McKinney (Debut)

McKinney, a Chicago-based fighter, was making his debut in this contest, and he made it a memorable one.  For four rounds he beguiled his opponent by switching from a southpaw to an orthodox stance. Throughout the four rounds, McPherson’s corner exhorted their fighter to use his right hook more to and to pressure the less-experienced fighter.  Even though the opening for the right hook was there (McKinney kept his left low no matter what style he was fighting in) McPherson never threw it and wasn’t really able to mount any offense at all.

Chad McKinney lands a jab on Clifford McPherson as Ref Dave Smith looks on

By the fourth round McKinney was landing punches at will and walked away with a unanimous decision in his debut by sweeping all founds on the judges’ scorecards.

Adan Ortiz (Debut) vs. Ricky Lacefield (0-3-0)

Another Chicago fighter fighting in his first professional fight, Ortiz didn’t need four rounds to pick up his first win. Lacefield had shook off a couple of big punches earlier in the round, indicating that Ortiz couldn’t hurt him, however the fighter out of Lincoln, Nebraska ended up taking a knee at the 2:44 mark of the first and wasn’t able to answer referee Dave Smith’s ten-count and Ortiz had his knockout.

The punch that did the damage was a left hand that staggered Lacefield who dropped to his knees after Ortiz followed up with a glancing right hand.

Paul Littleton (2-0-0, 2 KOs) vs. Guy Packer (4-35-2, 1KO)

Following a 10-minute intermission the boxing resumed with up-and-coming Paul Littleton faced off against the experienced Guy Packer.  Packer had more than 40 professional fights coming into Friday night. Unfortunately for his career he lost 35 of them.

Littleton, coming off a first-round knock out last month, is building a fan base in Chicago and was clearly the better fighter. He won the first round by patiently waiting for his chances and landing solid punches when they presented themselves.  In the second round he would land a solid left to Packer’s gut that would end the fight at the 1:17 mark.  With cheers of “Paulie, Paulie” reigning down from the crowd the ref stopped the it and Littleton had the third win of his career.

Andrzej Fonfara (20-2-1, 11 Kos) vs. Byron Mitchell (29-9-1, (22 KOs)

For the USBO Light Heavyweight Championship

This was the main event of the evening, even if it wasn’t the last fight of the night.  Fonfara has a tremendously vocal following in Chicago, especially among its Polish population.  Mitchell, although on the downside of his career at the age of 38 was no slouch as he could claim two WBA Super Middleweight titles on his resume.

The crowd was in full voice during the playing of the Polish national anthem and during the introductions.  Rhythmic cries of “An-DRE FON-FAR-A” reigned down as the fighters were announced.

Once the bell rang, Fonfara didn’t disappoint his faithful followers.  He overwhelmed his elder opponent early and often. After the first three minute were up Mitchell would find himself on the canvas twice courtesy of powerful combinations from The Polish Prince.

Fonfara lands one of the numerous powershots he threw against Byron Mitchell

The second round was more of the same as Fonfara proved to be the quicker and stronger fighter.  He was able to work the body and the head, landing his punches at will against Mitchell.  The former champ tried to mount a bit of a rally and was able to land a few shots against Fonfara, but it wasn’t enough. With two rounds finished the only question remaining was how quickly Fonfara could finish his business.

In the end it would be Mitchell’s corner that decided their fighter had had enough.  After Mitchell weathered a minute of Fonfara’s combinations to start the third round they would throw the towel in.  When referee Celestino Ruiz didn’t see it (he was watching Mitchell hit the canvas) the downed fighter’s trainer would actually step into the ring to make his intentions known.  At the 1:03 mark Ruiz called a halt to the fight and Fonfara had his ninth straight victory, all of them by TKO or KO.

It’s an important time in 24-year-old’s career. He has won those 9 fights since having to forfeit a TKO against Skyler Thompson in 2009. However, his competition hasn’t been the top of the class. Nor has he traveled to take on opponent as 8 of the 9 fight have been at the UIC Pavillan.

If he wants to contend against the top light heavyweights like Antonio Tarver, Chad Dawson or the ageless Bernard Hopkins he’s going to have leave the Windy City and fight in hostile territory.  Does he have the talent to complete on that level?  That’s to be determined, but he has displayed the hand-speed and the power to be competitive.

His defense is still a little shaky.  Despite being outclassed for the entire fight, Mitchell was still able to find holes in the Polish fighter’s armor.  He just couldn’t take advantage of it.  Fonfara does look a more comfortable fighting at 175lbs then he did at the 160lb. weight that he fought at earlier in his career.  The added weight does let him absorb big punches easier.

It’s no secret that the Mitchell fight was a test.  If Fonfara had struggled against the former champ his chances of finding the big paydays on ESPN or on HBO and Showtime undercards would have dried up. Now that he has done what he has had to do it will be interesting to see who his next opponent (and where the location) will be.

Viktor Polyakov (11-0-0, 6 KOs) vs. Derrick Findley (18-7-0, 11 KO’s)

For the USBO Middleweight Championship

The final fight of the night (and billed as the co-main event) featured another fighter rebuilding his career in Polyakov and the last man to beat Fonfara in the ring in Findley.  After the raucous event that was the prior fight the Polyakov/Findley contest was a rather tame affair.

With the subdued crowd seemingly mildly interested in the outcome the two boxers traded punches for 10 rounds.  Polyakov was a hair faster on the exchanges allowing him to frustrate his more experienced opponent.  Findley, known for his power left hook never found the chance to land it and experienced his only success when he doubled up his right hook.

Unfortunately, Findley did not discover that combination until late in the 10^th round and by then Polyakov was well on his way to a unanimous decision. Both fighters were evenly matched and despite landing fairly solid punches throughout the match neither showed signs of being hurt. Two judges scored the fight 99-91 for Polyakov while the third had it a bit closer at 96-94. I had the Ukrainian winning 97-93 on my unofficial card.  According to Findley’s promoter there was a rematch clause in the fight contract and it will be interesting to see if Findley invokes it as he was visibly upset with the decision after the fight.

It was another entertaining night of fighting for Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions.  Check into their website to see when their next event will be held.

Friday Night Light - As in Light-Heavyweight

There are a few things left on my Sports Bucket list to accomplish, attend a Super Bowl, watch a football game at Notre Dame, play Scotland Yards, etc, but on Friday night I was able to check one off my list.  Attend a boxing match as a credentialed member of the press.  There is a part of me that wants to turn this lonely piece of internet real estate into something of a career, you know get paid to write about sports I like.  Boxing is one of those sports.

Last week I contacted Bernie Bahrmasel at 8 Count Productions to see if I could secure a media pass for Windy City Fight Night 21 which they were promoting.  I sent him a couple of links from this site and he said that I would be added to the list.  Awesome, my first press pass since my college days.

So last Friday, I braved the snowstorm (OK a few lonely flakes were falling), left the Duchess to her own devices, jumped on the Red Line, switched to the Blue Line downtown and an hour later I was standing outside the UIC Pavilion waiting for the doors to open. As usual I overestimated the time it would take me to get there and had a half-hour to kill.

It went by pretty quick as I started talking to another gentleman who was there to cover the fight. He had started a blog, got picked up by a boxing website and was looking at possibly working for Ring Magazine.  See dreams can come true!

Finally, the doors opened and I met Bernie to pick up my pass.  He looked busy so I didn't chat too long, just headed down to the ring where there was literally a seat with my name on it.  I was stationed at the end of the row of folding chairs ringside and directly behind the blue corner.  Not a bad place to watch a fight if you don't mind doing some ducking and weaving yourself.

I was pretty much alone in my section so I sat down and prepared some notes, got my fight cards lined up so I could score the fights as they progressed. Then I waited, and waited, and waited some more.  I got the distinct impression that I should have been somewhere else, but this being my first time I really had no idea where to go.

There was some action in the ring as one of the refs was testing the ropes and the floor to make sure there weren't any bad spots.  Oh, and the ring girls were practicing.  Holding a sign card and walking around the ring in 4-inch, spiked heels isn't the easiest thing in the world.  Especially getting in and out of the ring.  I'm glad I can say that there were no incidents and they performed their duties admirably.

Eventually the ringside personal showed up, judges, doctors, officials, a nattily-attired ring announcer and the photographers.  The crowd was slowly making its way in as well.  When the first fight started I would say that the blocked off seating was about half full and by the end of the night pretty much filled.  There was a security guard next to me that I chatted up throughout the fight and he said that they draw pretty well for most of their fights, especially when the "the Polish kid fights".  Alas, Andrezej Fonfara was not on the card for Friday's contest so I'll have to wait to see that in the future.

The first match got under way around the scheduled 8:00pm start time and steamrolled through right up until about 11:00pm.  I have a full review of the seven matches following this post if you want the details, but for now here are some observations of attending a live boxing match.

- TV does a decent job of mic'ing up the ring, but there is no way it can capture the sound of a perfect punch landing on the face or body of a person.  I was lucky enough to see examples of both types of punches and the collective gasps/screams from the audience when they landed.

- If there are more than two people working a fighter's corner, the time between rounds is complete chaos.  Only one member of the crew is allowed in the ring, but the rest still get up on the apron.  When it's time to leave the ring there's people leaping off, stools being dragged away, ice bags and water bottles getting knocked over and people streaming through the ropes and trying to navigate extremely steep stairs.  It's like a NASCAR pit crew without the air wrenches.

- Each corner seems to have one guy who shouts the same advice to the fighter through the whole match. It's usually something along the lines of "Don't get on the ropes!" or "Let your hands go!" or "Set the trap!". There was a lot of Spanish too, I can assume it's pretty much the same but can't be sure because the only words I understood were "mano derecha" and "la cabeza".

- Guillermo Sanchez has a very excitable trainer who talks with his hands a lot.  Which wouldn't be bad if he didn't have huge globs of Vaseline on them that went flying over his shoulder when his boxer was doing well. Remember that ducking and weaving I mentioned earlier?

- Watching a fight without having to listen to commentators or having access to replays definitely changes the way you feel about a fight.  You miss some of the insight, but also the subtle bias toward a particular fighter.

- Two things that will instantly get the crowd against you - entering to religious music and not being from Chicago. However, putting on a good show will win them back as Edner Cherry proved.

- That being said, the crowd was really pretty good.  It was extremely diverse and supported most of the boxers. They seemed to have a good time without getting out of control. The guard next to me said that the boxing crowd is generally well behaved and he would "rather work 12 boxing matches in a row than one rock concert".

- One thing they don't show a lot on TV is the aftermath of a knockout.  When Ryan Franklin (spoiler alert) was KO'd he was down on the canvas for a solid 10 minutes and when he did finally leave the ring it was on wobbly legs.  For a second I thought he was going to be tumbling down the ring steps even with assistance.  Yet, an hour later he was in the crowd, enjoying a beer and seemingly no worse for wear.

Franklin not doing so well at that moment.

- Junior Wright is a name to keep an eye on. As is Adrian Granados.  Wright had an extensive amateur career and was probably the most polished boxer on the card. He actually reminds me of a young Sugar Shane Moseley.  Granados is a bit more of a brawler, but definitely a crowd-pleaser. His night-closing bout with Jamie Herrera would have fit right in on any Pay-Per-View undercard.

- Taking pictures and trying to follow a round does not work.

It doesn't help when you don't bring the right lens, either.

- A crowd's reaction to a big punch is awesome live.  I'm not sure there is anything like it in sports.  There is a mix of yelling with some "oh man'ing" and some "damn that had to hurt" all thrown together in a two-second yelp.  And when a fighter is on the ropes, the word "frenzy" is the only one that can describe the crowd.

- The 10-bell count is one of the most spine-tingling traditions in all of sports.

- My favorite note that I took was "crazy-eyed son of a bitch".  Which was in reference to the look Dimar Ortiz had in the ring when he was looking to finish off Francois Russell.

- The poor ring girls didn't get much action early on as there were two 1st-round stoppages and two 2nd-round stoppages in the first four fights.  So there was a brief intermission where they got to do their thing in the ring (walking around in high heels and bikini's) while tossing t-shirts to the crowd.

For once - not a shirtless hockey player.

Overall it was a very entertaining night.  I would like to thank Bernie and promoter Dominic Pesoli of 8 Count Productions for allowing me to attend. I would also like to thank all of the fighters for putting on a good show.  If you're in town on March 16th I highly recommend picking up some tickets for Windy City Fight Night 22 - that Polish kid will be fighting so it should be a great night of fighting!