Boxing News Boxing News
Former amateur standout Junior Wright continues his rise as a light heavyweight prospect to watch on Friday, February 24th as he returns to action at Windy City Fight Night 21 at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion.
Windy City Fight Night 21 is presented by Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions, celebrating 14 years in business.
The 25-year-old Wright, 2-0-0 (2KO’s) was a three-time Chicago Golden Gloves Champion prior to turning professional last year.
The Evanston, Illinois native burst onto the paid ranks as a light heavyweight on October 7, 2011, with a brutal first round knockout of Darrion Fletcher in Burbank, Illinois. He stayed perfect with another first round knockout of Brandon Bennett on January 13th at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, Indiana.
“I’m much more comfortable as a pro without the headgear. Everything in the pros is faster and I have much better vision,” said Wright. “In the first two fights I didn’t go looking for the early knockout, but if I see an opportunity to finish the fight early I’ll do it.”
“I’ve studied a lot of pro boxers, my personal favorites are Bernard Hopkins and Andre Ward. They’re both very intelligent fighters and someone that I can learn from.”
Said Pesoli, “I’ve known Junior for many years following him as a amateur. I always thought his style was much better suited to the professional ranks and I’m very excited to see him fight on our upcoming card on February 24th.”
“Our fans always want to know who the next rising star is and Junior truly fits the bill. He’s got sensational knockout power but also has terrific boxing skills that he’s garnered having had so much success as an amateur.”
About his upcoming plans, Wright is highly motivated for 2012, “I want to keep learning and stay busy. Ideally I’d like to fight eight or nine times this year. I’ve done a lot of sparring with Carlos Molina in the last few weeks. He’s possesses terrific movement and is very hard to hit cleanly which has really taught me a great deal.”
Further details on Wright’s bout on February 24th will be announced shortly.
Also featured at Windy City Fight Night 21 are two outstanding clashes, a junior lightweight battle between former world title challenger Edner “Cherry Bomb” Cherry and hard punching Puerto Rican native Guillermo “The Vampire” Sanchez along with a Chicago cross-town showdown with welterweights Adrian ‘EL Tigre” Granados of Cicero, Illinois clashing with Franklin Parks’ Jaime “The Truth” Herrera.
Advance tickets, priced at $31, $51, $76 and $101 are available through Ticketmaster, (www.Ticketmaster.com), the UIC Pavilion Box Office (Phone 312-413-5740) and the 8 Count Productions Office (312-226-5800).
Doors on the night of the event will open at 7pm with the first bell at 8pm. The UIC Pavilion is located at 525 S. Racine, at the corner of Harrison and Racine, just one block south of the Eisenhower Expressway in the West Loop area of Chicago.
