Uncasville, CT – CES Boxing returns to Mohegan Sun Arena for the first time in nearly seven years Saturday, August 20 with Summer Heat, the latest installment of its 2022 Fight Series featuring two of the sport’s hardest-hitting heavyweight prospects.
CES’ newest acquisition, 6-foot-6 right-hander Cassius Chaney of New London, CT, and 6-4 Carini, Sicily, native Juiseppe Cusumano headline Summer Heat in separate bouts. The two CES stablemates have combined for 41 wins and 32 knockouts in nearly two decades as pros and find themselves firmly entrenched among the nation’s top 20 heavyweights with an opportunity to inch closer to the dream of competing for a world title.
Summer Heat kicks off at 7 pm ET. Tickets are available online at cesfights.com or through the Mohegan Sun box office. August 20 marks CES’ first show at Mohegan Sun Arena since October of 2015, renewing a long-standing partnership between the region’s top combat sports promotion and one of the world’s foremost entertainment venues.
In addition to the highly-anticipated heavyweight showcase, Summer Heat features the long-awaited return of New London female featherweight icon Shelly Vincent, undefeated Irish super middleweight Francis Hogan of Weymouth, MA; and fast-rising bantamweight prospect Angel Gonzalez of Hartford, CT.
Hogan (11-0, 10 KOs), another recent addition to the CES roster and a member of the Iron Workers Local 7 union, returns after cruising to a unanimous decision win over Rodrigo Lopes Rodrigues in June. The undefeated Gonzalez (10-0, 6 KOs) aims for his fourth win of the year in as many tries, which includes a hard-fought victory over Ira Terry at CES’ April 2 showcase in Connecticut. Stay tuned for additional fight announcements.
Chaney (21-1, 14 KOs) returns to his home state August 20 after signing a promotional agreement with New England’s top promotion, joining forces with promoter Jimmy Burchfield Sr. Born in Baltimore, Chaney relocated to Connecticut as a youth and initially put his talents to use on the basketball court at the University of New Haven.
Working with renowned trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, Chaney climbed the ladder quickly among heavyweights after making his pro debut at the age of 28, winning his first 21 fights. In 2019, he made headlines on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights with a sensational win over Joel Caudle, knocking his opponent out of the ring in the first round of their scheduled eight-round showdown. Later that year, he captured the vacant WBC USNBC Silver heavyweight title with a knockout win over Nick Jones.
With the burning desire to win a world title, Chaney kept busy during the pandemic, too, scoring two more knockouts in 2020 and opening 2021 with a knockout win over 18-fight veteran Shawndell Terell Winters in Worcester. In his most recent fight in December, Chaney fought 10 hard rounds with fellow unbeaten heavyweight George Arias in New York City.
His new teammate, Cusumano (20-4, 18 KOs), is on a similar path. The heavy-handed Sicilian bounced back in June with a first-round knockout win over Irineu Costa Junior in Rhode Island, earning career win No. 20 and his 10th overall under CES’ guidance since signing with Burchfield in 2017. Cusumano has stopped his opponent in each of his last 14 wins dating back to 2014 and remains on the sport’s hardest punchers in the heavyweight division.
Vincent’s return to the ring brings additional star power to Summer Heat. The 43-year-old trailblazer and former world-title contender boasts a 27-2 record, two nationally-televised showdowns against rival Heather Hardy, and a UBF world super bantamweight championship. A fixture on the regional circuit for more than a decade, Vincent is unbeaten with CES in 17 fights, including her most recent win in November over veteran Shelly Barnett.
Additional details for Summer Heat are available online. For more information, follow CES Boxing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @CESBOXING.
INFORMATION
CES Boxing is one of the top promotions in the northeast and one of the few to successfully promote both mixed martial arts and professional boxing. Launched in 1992 by longtime boxing judge Jimmy Burchfield Sr., the promotion is the only in professional boxing to boast two reigning WBC Youth world champions in lightweight Jamaine Ortiz and featherweight Irvin Gonzalez. CES Boxing recently teamed with UFC FIGHT PASS, the world’s No. 1 streaming platform for combat sports, to showcase its events to a worldwide audience, and worked as a promotional consultant for the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. pay-per-view event in November of 2020.
Mohegan Sun Arena is one of the busiest Arenas in the United States and is ranked consistently among the top venues in the world according to Billboard Magazine, Pollstar and VenuesNow. Mohegan Sun Arena finished 2021 with its first “#1 Indoor Arena” ranking for its capacity in the world according to Pollstar and VenuesNow, ranked among the top 10 venues in the United States regardless of size based on ticket sales, and was named “2021 Innovator of the Year” by Celebrity Access for its ViacomCBS residency. In recent years, the award-winning venue has also been the “#1 Casino Venue in the World,” “#1 Social Media Venue in the World” and a seven-time national award winner for “Casino of the Year – Arena” by the Academy of Country Music. For more information on concerts and other great events, visit MoheganSun.com. For information on this week’s schedule, call the Entertainment and Special Events hotline at 1.888.226.7711.
