Mary McGee, Charles Conwell, Christina Linardatou Featured on Hammond, IN Card on Feb. 8
A night of world-class boxing is headed to the Midwest as part of a homecoming event for Gary, Indiana’s IBF Super Lightweight champion Mary McGee
Newly-crowned IBF Super Lightweight champion Mary McGee is having an awesome winter.
On December 5 McGee stopped Ana Laura Esteche during the 10th round of their bout to win her first world title at New York City’s Terminal 5, as part of a DiBella Entertainment Broadway Boxing card. On December 20 DiBella Entertainment announced the addition of McGee to its burgeoning roster of women fighters. Along with that development, DiBella also revealed McGee’s first defense was scheduled for Saturday, February 8 at the Civic Center in Hammond, Indiana. The 33-year old resides less than 30 miles away in Gary.
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Now, it appears that some impressive Midwest talent will be helping McGee entertain her hometown fans. According to a couple of Instagram posts from their personal accounts, world-ranked Super Welterweight Charles Conwell (11-0, 8 KOs) and undefeated Middleweight prospect Isaiah Steen (13-0, 10 KOs) will appear on the undercard. Both fighters hail from Cleveland, Ohio but train in Toledo at the Soul City Boxing Gym.
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Conwell’s opponent is unknown at this time, but this will be the 2016 Olympian’s first fight since he faced Patrick Day in Chicago back in October. Day sustained a serious brain injury when he was knocked down in the final round, and passed away a few days later at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital. In the wake of Day’s passing, Conwell spent some time away from the sport to reflect on the ordeal, but eventually shared a heartfelt Instagram post to announce his decision to continue fighting.
Steen last fought in Columbus last August at 168 pounds, defeating unbeaten Gorjan Slaveski by a majority decision after eight tough rounds. Steen’s opponent is also to be determined. Fortunately, both fighters are guided by the capable staff at Split-T Management, so the two aren’t likely to encounter an unexpected missteps to start off their 2020 campaigns.
While the hometown star defends her title against Australia’s Deanha Hobbs (8-1, 5 KOs), Greece’s Christina Linardatou (12-2, 6 KOs) will attempt to regain her now vacant WBO Super Lightweight title versus France’s Prisca Vicot (11-6, 2 KOs). Hobbs’ lone loss was against Linardatou in her first defense. Linardatou lost the title to undisputed Lightweight champion Katie Taylor in her subsequent fight back in November.
ESPN’s Dan Rafael recently ranked Conwell as his 10th-ranked prospect. More importantly, the 22-year old’s two wins in 2019 propelled him to No. 11 in the IBF’s latest rankings. Steen continues to improve and traveled to Japan during the summer of 2019 to serve as one of WBA Middleweight champion Ryota Murata’s chief sparring partners during his preparation for his rematch versus Rob Brant.
A Great Night of World-Class Boxing Feb. 8 in Hammond, Indiana
Indiana-based 4 Champs Promotions is bringing a real treat to Midwest fight fans with McGee vs Hobbs and Linardatou vs Vicot. These match-ups are legit world championship fights. Boxing fans will also see former world champion Melissa “Lil Miss Tyson” St. Vil (12-4-4, 1 KO) in action. St. Vil, the WBC Silver Super Featherweight champ, maintains her high-energy style and enthusiasm despite questionable losses, while abroad, to WBC Super Featherweight Champion Eva Wahlström and then-WBC Lightweight Champion Delfine Persoon. Her opponent is to be determined.
DiBella Entertainment and Team Empire Management are heavily involved with 4 Champs to aid with delivering this type of attraction to fans in Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland area. In fact Team Empire’s Brian Cohen stated that the choice of location is twofold, “We have two of the four titles at 140-lbs up for grabs on one night. We have seats reserved ringside for the WBC and WBA champion, Jessica McCaskill, who only lives, work, trains miles away. This is the future of the division!”
Featured image taken from McGee’s Instagram account
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