(FEB 2) Bayamon, Puerto Rico native, Mike Gonzalez continued his knockout streak as he moved to 5-0 with five early stoppages with a 5th round knockout of Edgar Pedraza last Friday night as part of the 8 Count Productions and Golden Boy Promotions “Ring of Fire” SOLO BOXEO event at Cicero Stadium, just outside of Chicago.
Dominating the tough veteran Pedraza from the start with body shots, Gonzalez dropped him twice in the fifth before the bout was stopped by referee John
O’Brien.
Said Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions, HOME OF THE BEST IN CHICAGO BOXING, “This was Mike’s third bout here in Chicago and our fans have really taken to him. He’s been great to work with since we signed him last year and we’ve got big plans for him in 2006. He was on first last Friday night and really set the tone for a great evening of boxing.”
Gonzalez, now living in Milwaukee, WI, said of the bout, “His record was meaningless, this was a very tough guy. He hit me with some very hard shots in the 3rd and 4th rounds. He had fought heavier than 138 and brought his power down with him.”
“When I had him hurt in the fifth I knew I had to finish him off,” stated Gonzalez who closed the show in style with a flurry of body shots as the bout was halted.
Continued Gonzalez, “I know the fights are only going to continue to get tougher, this was my first six rounder and I was fully prepared. My sparring is up to eight rounds per session and my running has increased. I want to fight often this year and I’m going to work at it in the gym consistently. We’ve been working on going to the body in the gym and it really paid off against Pedraza. Almost all of his fights had gone the distance so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.