Jimmy Lange Wins Comeback Victory Impressively over Grover Wiley at Patriot Center; “Tattoo” Tom Mitchell Loses Bout, But Earns Respect in Fight for Cancer; Promotion to Donate $6,000 to Growing Hope Organization
FAIRFAX, VA - In the fight of the night, popular Virginia middleweight contender Jimmy Lange (29-3-2, 20 KOs) scored an impressive, unanimous victory over Grover Wiley (30-12-1, 14 KOs) at the Patriot Center Saturday night in his first action since May 2007. A confident Lange displayed a strong jab and landed effective body shots throughout the ten-round battle, including a fourth-round knock down, to defeat the Midwest veteran who displayed toughness and a no-quit attitude.
Looking fully-recovered from a rotator cuff injury suffered during the first round of his WBC Continental America’s championship title bout held 17 months ago, Lange showed little ring ‘rust’ and provided his loyal and spirited hometown fans their money’s worth with the strong performance.
Even though he was penalized two points for holding, George Rivera (9-3, 3 KOs) avenged an earlier loss to the previously undefeated Jessie Nicklow (19-1-1, 7 KOs) by scoring a unanimous decision in the event’s co-feature. Rivera deftly boxed throughout the eight-round contest, avoiding the constantly-charging Nicklow and landing the more effective jabs.
Despite losing his professional debut to Yieta Johnson (1-2, 1 KO) via second-round TKO, “Tattoo” Tom Mitchell (0-1) earned the respect and admiration of the crowd for his gutsy performance and heartwarming story of fighting to raise awareness of childhood cancer. Mitchell entered the ring led by his 18-year old daughter, Shayla, who was diagnosed with cancer last summer, to thunderous applause. Later she joined her Dad and promoter Jackie Kallen in announcing that $6,000 was raised from the evening which would be donated to Growing Hope, a local non-profit organization that provides outreach and family support programs for children battling cancer. Mitchell donated his purse, while the promotion agreed to donate one-third all of the revenue generated from Mitchell’s personal ticket sales to the cause.
In the evening’s other bouts, Jimmy LeBlanc (12-15-4, 3 KOs) KO’d Luther Smith (22-8-2, 12 KOs) in the first round, Tracy Brewer (3-0, 1 KOs) defeated Calvin Aughty (0-3) in a competitive, four-round slugfest, and Curtis Smith (9-4, 4 KOs) outpointed Carlos Cisneros (9-16-1, 6 KOs) for a win.
Cestus Management’s new Junior-Welterweight enforcer Robert “NIGHTHAWK” Luna Jr. is in full preparation for his November 8th, 2008, professional debut against New Orleans veteran Dwayne Jones. The bout is slated to be on a fight card promoted by Jessie Ravelo of Class Act Promotions and will take place in Round Rock, Texas (contact 254 291 33 47 for tickets).
As the weeks have gone by, Robert “NIGHTHAWK” Luna Jr. is anxious to get in the “squared-circle” as his professional debut has been a longtime coming. Luna, from his training camp in San Antonio, Texas, said, “It feels like I have been training forever and now I’m ready to unleash myself on my opponent. I am now making my pro debut, which is a dream come true and have a company like Cestus behind me who are taking care of my career. Now I know i will make it.” Luna added, “I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be a professional fighter and show the discipline and hard work taught to me by the Air Force (U.S. Military). I served my country in Iraq and Afghanistan as a proud soldier; now i want to serve boxing as a proud fighter. I want to thank Cestus Management (Mike Michael and Gina Iacovou) for believing in me; they have helped me to be in a place where i want to be, so there is no excuses for faliure; I promise i will deliver".
Cestus CEO Gina Iacovou said, “Robert is a remarkebly, strong and talented fighter with a lot of potential and marketability. Once the other fighters in his weight division see his power punching style, Robert will be well on his way to making his mark as one of the premier prospects at 140-pounds". Iacovou added, "Cestus is so proud of Robert, he is an ex-active soldier who proudly volunteered to fight for the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan and continues to give to his community by starting and running a non-profit boxing gym for San Antonio's (Texas) youth who at risk. That really shows the kind of outstanding person that Robert is and I believe that he will also show his class in the boxing ring as his career progresses. We believe that there is no doubt that he will climb the ladder and bring home many championship titles in the not too distant future".
Mike Michael, who is Cestus Management’s founder and Exclusive Advisor, added, “On November 8, 'The NIGHTHAWK' will be D-Day; I know that Robert, who is always in phenomenal condition, will step into that ring in Round Rock (Texas) and take care of business. The fans will see power, speed and true boxing ability from this exceptionaly talented fighter. SO LOCK THE DOORS AND RUN FOR COVER because on November 8th the "NIGHTHAWK will invade Round Rock Texas, ready to rumble and make an electrifying professional debut!”
In closing, Michael said, “I would also like to give my gratitude to my good friend Anthony Velasquez of Gente Entertainment for his non-stop support and also a big thank you to Jessie Ravelo of Class Act Promotions for working with us".
