Demetrius Andrade Gets Step Up Test in Grady Brewer

Art Pelullo/Banner Promotions, Bobby Hitz/Hitz Boxing, Joe DeGuardia/Star Boxing, and Prizefight Promotions will present a sensational fight card on Friday, August 19, 2011, at the Horseshoe Casino, located at 777 Casino Center Drive in Hammond, Indiana. The main event, co-featured bout, and other selected fights will be televised live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes – ESPN’s Spanish-language network – and ESPN3.com, the network’s broadband platform service. It is the final fight card of ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” 2011 season.

In the main event, scheduled for 10 rounds in the junior middleweight division, former two-time world amateur champion and 2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrius Andrade, 13-0 with 9 knockouts, of Providence, Rhode Island, will step up in class against his most accomplished and dangerous opponent yet as a pro – veteran Grady Brewer, 28-12 with 16 knockouts, of Lawton, Oklahoma.

Promoter Art Pelullo said, “Demetrius has practically grown up as a pro on ESPN. We think he’s the top young prospect in boxing and a future world champion, and it’s fitting that his first big test as a pro and in his first 10 rounder be on ESPN Friday Night Fights finally for 2011. Grady Brewer is a very dangerous fighter who has real ability as a puncher and the tenacity that is needed to win big fights. He proved that in his last fight when he knocked out undefeated prospect Fernando Guerrero.”

Doug Loughrey, Director for Programming & Acquisitions at ESPN said, “We are proud to have this bout as the 2011 FNF season finale main event. It will be an interesting contest as Demetrius is stepping up with Grady Brewer as an opponent. We have seen both fighters this year on our network of platforms and we are confident this televised card will continue to deliver excitement for our boxing audiences.”

Andrade, 23 years old, finished his impressive amateur career representing the United States in the 2008 Olympics. He was also a gold medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago, the 2005 and 2006 U.S. National Championships, and the 2006 and 2007 National Golden Gloves Championships, among many others. A pro now for over two and a half years, he has stayed active in the ring and made good progress, and feels that he’s ready for the next level of competition.

Brewer, an 11-year pro, won the 2006 season of the reality series, “The Contender.” He has derailed the progress of up-and-coming prospects more than once – Brewer is coming off a fourth-round TKO win against previously unbeaten prospect Fernando Guerrero (21-0 at the time) in his last fight on June 17, and he TKO’d previously undefeated Anthony Thompson (15-0 at the time) in February, 2004. Brewer also has to his credit wins against current IBF junior middleweight world champion Cornelius “K9” Bundrage (W10, Nov. 2008), and former IBF junior lightweight world champion Steve Forbes (W10, Sept. 2006),

The co-featured bout, scheduled for 10 rounds in the lightweight division, could stand as a main event on its own – former WBC lightweight world champion David Diaz, 36-3-1 with 17 knockouts, of Chicago, will battle rising contender “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy, 20-1-1 with 10 knockouts, of Philadelphia.

Diaz was born and raised in Chicago, and is a local hero. A 1996 U.S. Olympian, he won the WBC title in August, 2006, and made a successful title defense against Mexican legend Erik Morales at the Allstate Arena a year later. Lundy is coming off an exciting 10-round decision win against former two-time Venezuelan Olympian Patrick Lopez in his last fight on April 1.

More exciting fights will be announced. All bouts subject to change without notice.

Doors open at: 6:00 P.M. (all times Central time)

First fight at: 7:00 P.M.

Tickets prices: $90 Ringside, $40 Orchestra (main level), $30 Mezzanine (balcony).

Tickets available at: www.fanfueled.com and www.thevenue-chicago.com.

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