HITZ BOXING KICKS OFF 2018 AT THE BELVEDERE

CHICAGO – March 1, 2018 – Hitz Boxing Entertainment, the Midwest’s longest-running boxing promoter, begins the year with a bang with a stacked card at the Belvedere Events Center in Elk Grove Village tomorrow night. The card is co-headlined by popular Chicago super middleweight Tommy “White Lightning” Hughes (5-0, 3KO), and Olympian Tervel Pulev (7-0, 7KO).

Hughes, who won a decision over Emmanuel Sanchez in Hitz Boxing’s last event in October, lived up to his moniker, White Lightening, in his fifth fight, with his lightning fast, powerful bodywork. He traded with Sanchez over six rounds, keeping the sellout crowd on its feet throughout the fight.

Pulev, who is the younger brother of Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13KO), is fighting for the first time in the United States since making his professional debut in December, 2013. The younger Pulev won the bronze medal for his home country of Bulgaria in the 2012 Olympics. “I’m very impressed how the Bulgarian community has come out and responded to the Pulev brothers being here in Chicago,” said Bobby Hitz, the promotion’s owner and namesake. “To me they’ve reached rock star status. We’re close to selling out the venue.”

Local fighters Matt Cameron, Oscar Ortiz and Gorjan Slaveski round out the card.

“We’ve got a great night of fights to kick off the new year,” said Hitz. “We are looking forward to continuing to showcase Tommy – he draws a great crowd and has a ton of support from the local Irish community.”

2018 promises to be a busy year for the Illinois Hall of Fame Promoter. “We’re looking at going back to Rosemont five more times this year with the return of Mike “Hollywood” Jimenez, and his recently signed stablemates, middleweight Vitali Kopylenko (27-1, 15KO), Detroit’s Taylor Duerr (5-0-1, 5KO) and Milwaukee’s Andre Sherard (4-1, 3KO).” Hitz returned to its roots last year, promoting two events in the Village of Rosemont, where Hitz got his start as a promoter in 1991.

Tickets for Fight Night at the Belvedere are priced at $150 and $50, and are available at hitzboxing.com. Doors to the Belvedere open at 7:00, and the first fight is at 7:30.