Mike Lee Faces Chris Traietti, September 30 at UIC Forum
Aug 26, 2016 • 6:35 AM ET
By Francisco Salazar
Light heavyweight Mike Lee returns to the ring on Sept. 30 against Chris Traietti, it was announced Wednesday afternoon.
The 10 round bout will take place at the UIC Forum in Lee's hometown of Chicago, Ill. CBS Sports Network will air the fight, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT.
The vacant USBA light heavyweight title and a possible world ranking by the IBF will be in play.
Lee (17-0, 10 KOs) won a one-sided eight round decision over Mike Snider on June 3.
The 29-year-old Lee, who has a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the University of Notre Dame, has not fought past the eighth round.
"I'm very excited to be fighting against Chris Traietti on September 30 at the UIC Forum in Chicago for the IBF-USBA light heavyweight title," said Lee.
"This is an excellent opportunity to fight in my hometown in the biggest fight of my career and I can't wait to put on a great show for those in attendance and those watching live on CBS Sports Network."
Lee has recently provided color commentary on CBS Sports Network broadcasts, but he is best known for appearing in numerous Subway commercials.
The hard-hitting Traietti (21-3, 17 KOs) has won his last 11 bouts since his second round loss to Edwin Rodriguez in August of 2011. All of those victories, against less than average opposition, came by knockout.
"I'm excited about facing Lee in Chicago for this fight," said Traietti, who stopped Mike Sawyer in his last bout on June 11. "I've been wanting to fight him for a couple years now."
"The fight is scheduled for 10 rounds, but I don't think it's going the distance and I plan on being victorious and taking the title home."
Tickets will go on sale today (Friday).
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
