Mike Luzbet, manager of former Cuban amateur star and now undefeated professional Yunieski Gonzalez (8-0, 5 KOs) of Havana, Cuba, says it’s no use wasting time when your fighter is the real thing.
And that’s why Gonzalez will take a big step up in class when he takes on Nassau, Bahamas veteran Jermaine Mackey (18-5, 14 KOs) on the undercard of Warriors Boxing Promotions’ Saturday, August 18, boxing event entitled “Miami Warfare II” at the MACC at the Doubletree Hotel in Miami, Florida.
The explosive night of professional boxing will also feature a junior-welterweight main event between Miami, Florida’s (via Colombia) Breidis Prescott (25-4, 18 KOs) and Francisco “Gato” Figueroa (20-4-1, 13 KOs) of Bronx, New York and a super featherweight co-main event between Miami (via Cuba) power puncher Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy (16-0, 11 KOs) and Guadalajara, Mexico’s Alejandro “Soma” Rodriguez (14-6, 7 KOs).
Prescott vs. Figueroa and Barthelemy vs. Rodriguez will be broadcast live on Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo Tecate.
Luzbet, an MMA fighter and Karate world champion himself, says he’s well aware of what his fighter is up against after just eight fights.
“This guy fought Jean Pascal for 12 rounds and lost by decision. He fought Adonis Stevenson. He’s got a lot more fights. It’s a huge step up for Yunieski.”
So why now?
“We don’t want to play games with Yunieski. Why have 20 fights against nobody? We’re looking to make a difference in this business. I don’t think that makes sense to take too much time to fight somebody with experience. Yunieski had a good amateur background on the Cuban team. He had more than 270 amateur fights. He’s happy to fight a guy like this. That’s why we’re taking this after eight fights.”
Should things work out as hoped, Luzbet says the next step will be to start collecting some pro hardware.
“Next we’ll be looking to fight for a regional belt like an Intercontinental or Latin title, a North American title – any light heavyweight title by the end of the year or beginning of next year. And by the end of 2013, we’re looking for world champions. Yunieski doesn’t want to waste time.”
