By Joe Harrison
On April 1, super middleweight contender Donovan “Da Bomb” George will face Maxell “The General” Taylor in the main event of Windy City Fight Night 16 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Now ranked #13 by the IBF, George’s battle with Taylor will be a twelve-round contest for the vacant USBA championship.
Born and raised in Chicago, 26 year-old George (21-1-1, 18 KOs) is coming off an impressive Showtime televised first-round knockout of Cornelius White on February 11th in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
In his last Chicago appearance on April 30, 2010, the former Chicago Gloves Champion George earned an eight-round unanimous decision over Osumanu Adama at the UIC Pavilion, a tough battle which was also televised on Showtime.
Now George is ready to make another splash in the windy city, and is more than confident of achieving victory as well as winning the USBA belt.
“I’m so motivated. I’m training harder than ever. I can’t wait for this title opportunity,” said George.
“Taylor is a southpaw, so I’ve been training with all the top southpaws I can get my hands on. I’ve been focusing on throwing straight punches, straight right hands, getting my work rate up, and facing top competition.”
“I’m confident and I’m in great shape. I’m running seven miles a day, I’ve sparred about 130 rounds so far for this fight, and I’ve had no injuries. I feel great and I can’t wait to get this big win.”
When George faces Taylor (15-2-1, 6 KOs) next week, he knows he will be facing a man who should not be taken lightly and has not lost since his return to the ring last year.
“Taylor is coming to fight, he’s got a lot to prove. I know he was inactive, two fights in the last four years, but I know he’s determined and coming back. It would catapult his career to look good against me, so he’ll be ready to fight. Unfortunately for him, I’m going to go out there and do what I do, and get the victory.”
Coming off of a victory by a first round stoppage, George mentioned that he is not looking to get opponents out quickly, and that the knockout could come at any time.
“My main focus is to go out there and look good and win,” said George. “Winning is the most important thing. If I get a knockout in the first round or the twelfth round, I’ll be ecstatic.”
When asked if he had any future plans following his upcoming bout, George and his manager Mike Michael expressed their intentions.
“I’m going to leave that up to my manager Mike Michael from Cestus Management,” said George. “I just got news the other day that I’m world-ranked, so that’s great. I look forward to advancing in that category, and obviously moving toward the ultimate goal of challenging for a world title.”
At this moment, Michael said, “We now have Donovan ranked number thirteen, we’re confident of winning next week. We’re very confident that Donovan will succeed and win the title, which will boost him into the rank of number five or number ten, in that space. We’re looking at the Brinkley versus Quillin fight and we’re also working on being on the Froch versus Johnson undercard. We’re going to see what transpires and what develops. We want to defend that belt as quickly as possible. It’s not about winning a belt and sitting on it. We want to defend, defend, defend, and the more that Donovan is in the ring defending the title, the higher he’s going to climb the rankings.
“Our main goal is to get Donovan as high up in the ranking, to become a mandatory or at least in the top five.”
As a confident fighter quickly climbing the rankings, George still feels the utmost gratitude for his fans and supporters along with Michael.
“I appreciate all the support I’ve been getting in Chicago and all across the U.S.” said George. “It’s been excellent. I’ve been getting so many supporters coming out from all over the place, it’s been great. I’m riding high right now, I’m training good, I’m excited, I’m enthusiastic, and I can’t wait to go out there and just get the title. I want to defend it, possibly move up in the world ranking, and hopefully challenge for a world title and win it. ”
Then Michael stated, “The fans truly gravitate to Donovan, and I think we’re going to see that next week in Chicago. I honestly truly believe that Donovan has the capability of becoming a world champion, and I believe that he’s going to be a very very popular champion.
The Donovan George/Maxell Taylor bout is presented in association with Warriors Boxing and Cestus Management (www.cestusboxing.com)
Tickets for WINDY CITY FIGHT NIGHT 16, priced at $100, $75, $50 and $30 are now on sale through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com, the UIC Pavilion Boxing Office (312-413-5740) and the 8 Count Productions’ Office (312-226-5800).
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.
8 Count Productions, HOME OF THE BEST IN CHICAGO BOXING, was started by Dominic Pesoli in 1998 and has consistently presented the highest quality professional boxing events in Chicagoland.
For more information on 8 Count Productions please visit www.8countproductions.com
