Boxing News Boxing News
Fresh off a devastating third round knockout win on Friday, June 26th, two time world title challenger Fres Oquendo will now face former heavyweight world champion, Bruce Seldon for the NABA Heavyweight title in 8 Count Promotions’ ten round main event on Friday, July 24th at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion.
Oquendo was originally scheduled to face Argentinean Gonzalo Omar Basile last month.
Oquendo, now 30-5-0 with nineteen knockouts, was dominant from the opening bell in his long awaited Chicago return against the rugged New Jersey native Mark Brown last month, dropping Brown twice hard in the third round.
The bout was waived off by referee Geno Rodriguez at the 2:58 mark with a badly hurt Brown unable to defend himself.
Seldon, 40-7-0 (36KO’s), won the WBA Heavyweight title against Tony Tucker in 1995 and defended it once before losing to the Mike Tyson in September 1996. He has knocked out five of his last six opponents. Most recently he stopped Gabe Brown in the fifth round on May 15, 2009 in Atlantic City.
Said Oquendo about Seldon, “Bruce was always a very smart, technical fighter. I expect more of the same from him, he’s got a lot of pop and he knows all of the tricks of the game, so I’m going to have to be at my very best to beat him.”
About his quick return to fighting in Chicago, Oquendo said, “It was such a terrific night for my family and friends to be there, along with the support of the Chicago fight crowd. I really fed off their enthusiasm and look forward to fighting in front of them again on July 24th.”
The knockout win over Brown was Oquendo’s first bout in the Chicagoland area in nine years and his first as part of the Simmons Entertainment Marketing LLC management group, headed by NBA Star Bobby Simmons.
Said Pesoli, “There’s just too many complications bringing Basile in from Argentina , I’ve seen Seldon’s last two fights and he was in very good shape and looked sharp. With his power, experience and intelligence, this is going to make for a terrific heavyweight fight on July 24th.
The undercard is headlined by a terrific lightweight bout between Chicagoans Gadiel Andaluz and Oscar De La Cruz.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, the 26 year old Andaluz won his first three professional bouts in Chicago last year before suffering a setback against Dannie Williams in Tacoma , Washington late last year which moved his record to 3-1-0 (2KO’s).
A native of Mexico City , De La Cruz brings a competitive record of 5-6-0 (2KO’s) into the bout with Andaluz. His eleven pro bouts include battles against outstanding young prospects Matt Remillard, Mike Oliver and Argenis Mendez..
Other newcomers on the bill include super featherweight Noe Perez, 2-0-0 (2KO’s), super middleweight Mike Kurzeja, 1-0-0 (1KO) and the pro debuts of heavyweight David Latoria and junior middleweight Nate Mohr in separate bouts.
Additional information will be announced shortly.
Advance tickets, starting at $31, can be purchased through the 8 Count Productions office at 312-226-5800 and through Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.
Doors on the evening of the event will open at 7pm with the first bell at 8pm. The UIC Pavilion is located at 525 S. Racine , just one block south of the Eisenhower Expressway. For further information, please visit their website at www.uicpavilion..com.
