CHICAGO, IL - Former Notre Dame Boxing Captain Mike Lee will make his professional debut against St. Louis native Keith Debow on Saturday, May 29th at the UIC Pavilion as part of the first TOP RANK LIVE event in Chicago.
Since January of this year, the 22 year old Lee has been training in Houston, Texas, under the watchful eye of excellent trainer Ronnie Shields who has guided numerous world champions including Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor and Vernon Forrest and has most recently trained heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek.
Said Shields about Lee’s training, “Mike’s been working very hard here in Houston. He does everything my championship level guys do, six days a week. I also have him working with our strength and conditioning coach Brian Caldwell.”
The four round light heavyweight bout between Lee and Debow will be featured on Fox Sports Net as part of the TOP RANK LIVE broadcast.
“Mike looks great, come May 29th he will look much better than a typical pro debuter. He’s very excited to come home and show everyone that he’s ready for the pro ranks” continued Shields.
In his junior year at Notre Dame, Lee was named junior captain and received Notre Dame’s Boxer of the Year Award. Lee was also named captain his senior year, becoming a three-time Bengal Bouts Champion.
After receiving a degree in finance from Notre Dame and winning the 2009 Chicago Golden Gloves, the Wheaton, Illinois native signed a promotional contract with Top Rank Incorporated.
The main event at TOP RANK LIVE will feature an outstanding ten round welterweight showdown between Mexican veterans Jesus “Renuente” Soto-Karass and Gabriel “EL Rey” Martinez.
The undercard will feature Salvador Sanchez II, in addition to Chicago’s Omar Henry, Ivan Popoca, Antonio Avila and Polish heavyweight prospect Krzystof Zimnoch.
Advance tickets for TOP RANK LIVE, presented by Top Rank Incorporated and Chicago’s 8 Count Productions, priced at $101, $51 and $31 are now on sale through Ticketmaster ( www.ticketmaster.com ), the UIC Pavilion Box 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.
More information on Mike Lee can be viewed at his website www.mikeleeboxing.com
