8 Count Boxing: Montell Griffin Returns To Chicago June 20

“Nine years is a long time to be fighting out of town, I’m thrilled to be fighting at home on June 20th” said former world champion Montell “Ice” Griffin after a training session in his native Chicago .

‘I’ve been on the road for while and it’s nice that my kids and family can come see me fight in Chicago ,” continued Griffin who was tutored by the legendary Eddie Futch.

Griffin, 48-7 with 30 knockouts over his illustrious 15 year career, will battle Baltimore native Corey Cummings, 16-2 (12KO’s) in a ten round light heavyweight bout at “Fearless” , an evening of world class professional boxing presented by Dominic Pesoli’s Productions, 8 Count Productions on Friday, June 20th at the Aragon Ballroom.

About the current status of his career, Griffin was candid, “I know the deal at this point. I want to get to 50 wins and another shot at the world title. I’m training for Cummings like I would for a world title fight, there is absolutely no way I’m going into this fight at anything less than 100%. Hopefully a win here puts me in line for a bigger fight”, said the 1992 US Olympian.

In regards to the some of his biggest battles of his career including the DQ win over Roy Jones Jr., the wins over James Toney and controversial Rico Hoye decision loss Griffin said, “I never got the credit for the win over Roy because he got DQ’ed. The scores were close at the time of the stoppage and I believe I would have won if the fight had gone 12.

When I fought Toney in 1995 he was coming off the loss to Roy Jones. I beat him and folks said it was a fluke, so I beat him again the following year.

Against Rico Hoye everyone who watched that fight on Showtime saw what happened. It was a waste of time having to fight him and then not get the title shot against Clinton Woods.”

Said promoter Dominic Pesoli about Griffin , ‘I’m proud to have him on our card on June 20th. He’s been a great fighter for many years and Chicago fight fans are in for a real treat in seeing him fight.”

Headlining “Fearless” is an outstanding bantamweight clash as world ranked Alex Valdez, 20-2-1 (15KO’s), of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico battles Accra, Ghana native Anyetei Laryea, 17-4 (8KO’s) over ten rounds. Valdez is currently ranked # 4 by the WBC, #7 by the WBO, # 10 by the IBF and # 15 by WBA.

In the co-main event, Salinas , California super bantamweight Alejandro Perez, 12-0-1 (7KO’s) squares off against Mexico City ’s Adolfo Landeros, 17-10-1 (8KO’s) in a scheduled eight rounder.

On the outstanding under card, Chicago favorite Ivan Popoca, 6-0-1 (5KO’s) will face Khristian Geraci, 3-2-1 (2KO’s) in a six round welterweight bout. Also on the undercard, Michigan native Frederico Flores Jr. 4-2 (2KO’s) faces Chicagoan Gustavo Palacios, 2-3 (1KO’s) over four rounds.

Rounding out the card is a four round junior lightweight battle between Chicago native Juan Bailon, 2-0 (1KO) and Mexico ’s Gerardo Alarcon, 0-1.

Along with Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank Incorporated, “Fearless” is presented by TCF Bank, Tecate Beer and AeroMexico , Mexico ’s premier airline travel headquarters. The Solo Boxe Tecate broadcast will be viewed in 42 US markets and 70 foreign countries.

The Master of Ceremonies for the evening will be Lupe Contreras, the internationally recognized voice of Latino boxing.

Tickets for “Fearless” are on sale now through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster) and the 8 Count Production offices at 312-226-5800. The Aragon Ballroom is located at 1106 W. Lawrence Ave. Doors for this event will open at 5:30pm with the first bell at 6:30pm.