By Joe Harrison
On Friday night, welterweight contender “King” David Estrada will face Franklin Gonzalez in a scheduled eight-round contest at Windy City Fight Night 14 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Born and raised in Chicago, Estrada, 24-6-0 (15KO’s), has faced some of the best names in the sport such as Shane Mosley, Andre Berto, and Kermit Cintron among many others.
Estrada most recently earned an eight-round stoppage over Orlando Lora last April. The win over Lora, who was undefeated at the time, lit up the ESPN2 broadcast as each boxer fired away with quick and powerful punches. Estrada proved his dominance as he repeatedly connected with accurate punches until Lora chose not to continue.
Estrada now looks to entertain his hometown fans once more with his excellent skills and aggressive style when he makes his appearance this Friday against Gonzalez.
Gonzalez (13-6, 9 KOs) also has experience against tough opposition. He faced Dmitriy Salita and Atwone Smith in his last two bouts, and the bout against Salita was only three months ago. Although the majority of his victories came against inferior opposition, Gonzalez should be the fresher of the two boxers come this Friday.
Also, in the main event at Windy City Fight Night 14, another Chicago fan favorite, Angel “Toro” Hernandez (30-8-0, 17 KOs), will take on Ghanaian veteran Osumanu Adama (17-2-0, 13 KOs) in a twelve-round bout for the IBO International Middleweight Title.
Other fan favorites featured on the card in separate bouts include cruiserweight Carl Davis (14-3,11 KOs), junior middleweight prospect Donatas Bondoravas (10-1-1, 3 KOs), junior welterweight Antonio Canas (10-1-1, 3 KOs), junior lightweight prospect Evgeny Gradovich (6-0, 5 KOs) and middleweight prospect Lamar Russ (5-0, 5 KOs).
Starting at $31, tickets can be purchased in advance through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com) and the UIC Pavilion Box Office (312-413-5740) Tickets are also available at all Chicagoland Cermak Produce and Shop & Save stores.
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. The UIC Pavilion is now serving alcohol at all boxing events.
