By Mark Dodge
FightBeat.com Staff Writer

Saturday’s blazing sun and stifling humidity couldn’t dampen the spirits of thousands of Mexican residents who gathered in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood for Fiesta del Sol, an annual cultural celebration for immigrants who’ve made this west side enclave their home for several generations.  

But the longest lines didn’t wind around the dozens of booths selling tacos, fajitas or Dora the Explorer balloons.  Instead, teenage girls, grizzled old men and young children holding their parents’ hands all stood patiently in the dripping heat for their chance to meet three local boxers who’ll be featured on the undercard of the Fernando Vargas-Javier Castillejo fight at the Allstate Arena on August 20.  

David Diaz, the 29-year-old Chicago native and member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic boxing squad, welcomed the crowd like a seasoned politician. The junior welterweight has been participating in these meet-and-great events longer than some fans waiting in line have been alive, but he still appeared genuinely happy to pose for photos and sign autographs.   

Towering over Diaz and looking a little out of his element was former Illinois basketball star and 14-year NBA veteran Kendall Gill, who certainly never had to stand for two hours in the hot sun and shake hands with fans in order to sell tickets to one of his basketball games.  Gill, also born in Chicago, won his pro debut in June when he stopped Trevor Biley in one round. That night, he went from being a “smallish” NBA player (at 6 feet 5 inches) to one of the tallest cruiserweights on the planet.  

But it was light heavyweight prospect Dave Pareja, a finalist on Oscar De La Hoya’s Next Great Champ television series, who seemed to attract the most attention among young Mexican fans.  Pareja, who made his pro debut on the series and has since run his record to 5-1 (his lone loss coming against Otis Griffin in the show’s finale), flashed a toothy grin and seemed for all the world like a future “Golden Boy” himself.  

“This is a big opportunity for Pareja,” said David Loew, publisher of Chicago Fighting Arts Magazine, who was on hand surveying the event.  But when asked who Pareja was fighting, Loew said he didn’t know.   

“Who’s David fighting, Dom?” Loew asked Dominic Pesoli, the president of 8 Count Productions and the man in charge of putting together the undercard for the August 20 show.  

“We don’t know yet,” Pesoli said, as he arranged some autographed boxing gloves he planned to raffle off later in the afternoon.  In fact, no opponents had been signed to face Diaz or Gill, either.   

With exactly three weeks to go before Lampley, Merchant and the HBO cameras arrived in town, the only matchup on the card that could boast it had both fighters in camp preparing for battle was the main event.  

In Jin Chi, the WBC’s Featherweight champion, was supposed to defend his title against top contender Rocky Juarez in the opening bout on HBO’s Boxing After Dark telecast.  

Just 24 hours earlier, however, Chi injured his Achilles tendon and had to pull out.  Since then, Main Events had been scrambling hoping to find a replacement and save Juarez’s spot on the televised portion of the card. 

“As of this morning, I’ve heard it’s probably going to be Humberto Soto (the second-ranked WBC contender behind Juarez),” Pesoli said, wiping the sweat from his brow and shouting a few hellos to residents he recognized from his previous boxing shows.  “Whoever the opponent is has to be television quality, or HBO won’t air it.”  

“I heard Rocky’s very disappointed,” he added, sounding a little down himself. “But what can you do?” 

The Trickle-Down Effect 

Unfortunately, 2005 may be most remembered by boxing fans as the year of injuries, cancellations, failed drug tests and lawsuits.  Now, Chi-Juarez joins Klitschko-Rahman, Diaz-Elder and Judah-Mitchell on a long list of disappointments.  

What fans typically don’t see, however, is the chain reaction that results from a major postponement such as this, and how the livelihoods of dozens of boxers, managers, trainers and promoters are often affected … even those not directly involved in the lost promotion. 

Take heavyweight Serguei Lyakhovich, for example.  After scoring his biggest win as a pro last December over Dominick Guinn, his career has all but come to a standstill.  

This year alone, Lyakhovich saw a scheduled match on HBO with Wladimir Klitschko cancelled at the last minute due to visa problems.  Then he was reportedly offered an IBF title shot against Chris Byrd, after Byrd’s proposed heavyweight unification with James Toney fell apart when Toney was stripped of his WBA belt and suspended for failing a post-fight drug test.    

Unfortunately, Serguei’s title opportunity was snatched off the table nearly as fast as it was put there, and he found himself scheduled to fight Owen Beck on the Rahman-Barrett undercard in Chicago on Aug. 13.   

With that fight just two weeks away, Lyakhovich got word that Zab Judah suffered an injury in training which forced the cancellation of his September welterweight title defense against Sharmba Mitchell in Ohio.  To save that card, Don King decided to replace the Judah-Mitchell fight with Lyakhovich-Beck, which will now be televised by Showtime.

So, with the year quickly slipping away, the hopeful Lyakhovich has had to adjust his training yet again, this time for a September fight – not in Dortmund, Detroit or Chicago but Cleveland – and his chance to earn his first paycheck in 2005 gets pushed back another month as well.    

While plugging holes in cards is frustrating for major promoters like King, dealing with cancellations and finding suitable replacements can be a lot trickier for relative newcomers like Pesoli because the talent pool is smaller and the opportunities fewer.   

Though his company has yet to graduate to HBO or Showtime status, 8 Count Productions has worked with Main Events the last couple of years and consistently supplied them with solid undercard bouts for their Chicago fight cards.  

That said, the Vargas-Castillejo show at the Allstate Arena is an extremely important benchmark for Pesoli’s team.  It’s arguably the biggest promotion 8 Count has been a part of since the company was formed in the late 90s, and Pesoli wants to impress Main Events and HBO by generating a large turnout among the local boxing fans who regularly attend his Aragon Ballroom shows.   

The fact that King is holding his Rahman-Barrett card in Chicago a week earlier – one that includes no less than four “world” title fights – doesn’t help. So Pesoli counters the only way he can, loading the undercard with local Chicago favorites.  

This is why promotions like Fiesta del Sol are so important to him.  

Biggest Fight in 20 Years 

The autograph session nearly over, Kendall Gill grabs a bite to eat from one of the Mexican food stands while the beautiful woman sitting next to him in the back of the 8 Count booth looks ready to go.   

Already a millionaire, some local reporters have questioned why Gill – at age 37 – would choose to take up such a violent sport. The woman beside him, dabbing the perspiration from her forehead, appears to be wondering that, too.  In fact, rumors persist around town that Gill will leave boxing and attempt to resume his NBA career when the 2005-2006 season begins.  For the time being, though, he’s willing to lace them up.  

While Gill has the luxury of choosing which sport he wants to compete in, Diaz isn’t so lucky.  He’s a boxer, pure and simple – a boxer who came close and wants to get back to the top. 

Sporting an undefeated 26-0 record, Diaz had slowly risen to the number-two spot in the WBO rankings, only to fall out of the top 10 earlier this year when he was upset on ShoBox by Kendall Holt.  With HBO cameras coming to town, there’s no doubt David would love to get a crack at appearing on the cable giant’s Boxing After Dark show, especially if a Juarez fight falls out completely.  However, with no opponent secured and only three weeks to go, the chance of that happening is slim.  

Diaz and 8 Count simply don’t have the “juice” to force anyone’s hand … not yet, at least.  But that doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to “pick a fight” with a rival camp if need be.  

Last Wednesday, Pesoli and 8 Count’s publicist, Bernie Bahrmasel appeared on a Chicago radio show and both were asked about Bob Arum’s plans to bring Julio Cesar Chavez’s Adios tour to both Texas and Chicago.   

“Chavez is fighting Lou Bizzaro in September, who is a step up from Ivan Robinson,” Bahrmasel said.  “Julio needs to get past Lou first.  But it would be interesting to see who they pick for (Chavez) in Chicago.  Maybe Angel Manfredy gets the call?  Maybe it’s Courtney Burton?” 

When asked Saturday why he didn’t bring up Diaz’s name in the conversation about Chavez, Pesoli appeared to be a little insulted that someone would even consider his boxer as an opponent for the Mexican legend.  

“They’re going to fight guys who are older or on the downside,” he explained.  “Chavez has to win every fight.  That’s what the tour is all about.  Arum wouldn’t even consider him (David).  Chavez would lose.” 

Then, appearing not to want to close any doors, he added, “We’ll worry about Chavez in Chicago if it gets to that point.  Right now, we’re just looking to move David back up the rankings and position him for a title shot.  My matchmaker, Jerry Alfano, is working on that right now.” 

With that, it was time to raffle off some boxing gloves and a pair of tickets.  As the afternoon heat finally started to let up, a crowd of about 100 gathered around the booth as the winning numbers were shouted out in Spanish.  After a few groans, an elderly man with a grey beard stepped forward to claim his prize as several others patted him on the back and congratulated him. 

“Take care of those,” Pesoli told the winner as he handed him his tickets.  “I’m telling you, it’s going to be the biggest fight in Chicago in 20 years.”

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