DiBella Signs 31-0 Erdei

DiBella Entertainment Signs Unbeaten Two Time World Champion Zsolt Erdei to a Promotional Contract

(October 19, 2010 – New York, NY) Zsolt Erdei, the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion, who is yet to lose a fight as a professional, has signed a promotional deal with DiBella Entertainment. Born and residing in Hungary, Erdei (31-0, 17 KOs), who has fought his entire professional career in Europe thus far, is looking to make a big splash in America his grand finale.

Erdei’s return to the ring is already scheduled. He will do battle with Samson Onyango (20-6, 13 KOs) on November 20 in Atlantic City in an off-tv bout on the undercard of Sergio Martinez’s middleweight title defense against Paul Williams.

“What’s coming up next for me is in America, said Erdei. “To be successful there is the next step after having achieved mostly everything in Europe. The big names in my weight class, I want to challenge and defeat them. That’s my goal.

For Erdei, 36, that weight class will be light heavyweight. Erdei won the WBO light heavyweight title in 2004 and defended it 11 times before moving up in weight for his last fight and winning a 12-round decision over Giacobbe Fragomeni for the WBC cruiserweight title last November. After defeating Fragomeni, Erdei took some time away from the ring, and even contemplated calling it a career after such a successful run, which included the amateurs where Erdei won 212 fights and Bronze Medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

However, with the light heavyweight division heating up, and the chance to conquer North American stars such as Jean Pasqual, Chad Dawson, Tavoris Cloud and Bernard Hopkins looming, Erdei began weighing his options to take his talents abroad.

“We had a few options, especially from US promoters, said Erdei. “After a lot of discussions and negotiations, we had met with Lou DiBella and DiBella Entertainment in New York. These meetings were always very positive. He made the best offer, and what was very important to me was that he believes in me and displayed this clearly to myself.

The deal to bring Erdei to America was brokered by his advisor Greg Leon, who brought the fighter and manager Christof Hawerkamp to America to meet with DiBella Entertainment.

“Zsolt is a Hungarian megastar and one of the best European fighters of the past decade, said DiBella Entertainment President Lou DiBella. “With his return, he becomes one of the big five in the light heavyweight division, and provides a champion’s challenge to Pascal, Cloud, Dawson, and Hopkins. DiBella Entertainment is thrilled to be able to introduce him to the American audience.