About Us

For more than three decades, Bobby Hitz and Hitz Boxing have been an important part of the Chicago boxing scene, promoting professional boxing events, developing local fighters and helping keep the sport alive throughout Chicago, Rosemont and the greater Chicagoland area.

The story of Hitz Boxing took a major step forward in 1991, when former professional heavyweight boxer turned promoter Bobby Hitz helped bring big-time professional boxing back to his hometown. Hitz staged Chicago's first world championship boxing fight in 25 years and soon established what would become one of the area's most recognizable professional boxing series.

For 12 years, Hitz Boxing presented the popular "Ramada Rumble" at the Ramada Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. The bi-monthly boxing series gave Chicago boxing fans something they had been missing: regularly scheduled professional fights featuring a combination of rising prospects, hometown fighters, contenders and established names.

The very first Hitz Boxing show featured future boxing legend and multi-division world champion James Toney, setting the tone for the caliber of fighters who would appear on Bobby Hitz-promoted boxing cards in the years ahead.

Through the years, Bobby Hitz and Hitz Boxing have promoted professional boxing throughout Chicago and the Midwest at venues including the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Bismarck Hotel in downtown Chicago, The Horseshoe Casino Hammond IN., Hollywood Casino. Lumiere Casino in St. Louis and others including SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview IL., Hard Rock Live in the Hard Rock Casino, Rockford IL., and others.

Hitz Boxing has also co-promoted professional boxing events around the United States, working alongside some of the best-known names in the boxing business, including Oscar De La Hoya, Cedric Kushner and Art Pelullo.

But the foundation of Hitz Boxing has always been Chicago boxing.

Bobby Hitz has consistently believed in giving Chicago-area boxers an opportunity to compete in front of their hometown fans, develop their careers and take the next step toward national recognition and world championship opportunities.

Over the decades, Hitz Boxing events have featured an extraordinary collection of local, national and international boxing talent.

Fighters appearing on Hitz Boxing cards have included heavyweight champions Oleg Maskaev and Ruslan Chagaev; light heavyweight champions Antonio Tarver and Reggie Johnson; Detroit middleweight standouts Dwight Davidson and Anthony "Baby" Jones; Chicago's own Montell Griffin, who famously defeated Roy Jones Jr.; former heavyweight champion Greg Page; former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi; Frankie Randall, famous for defeating Julio César Chávez; exciting sluggers Teddy Reid and JC Candelo; Angel "El Diablo" Manfredy; former middleweight champion Iran Barkley; Chicago lightweight world champion David Diaz; heavyweight attraction Andrew "The Foul Pole" Golota; longtime Chicago heavyweight contender and world-title challenger "Fast" Fres Oquendo; future cruiserweight world champion O'Neil Bell and many more.

That combination of world champions, Chicago boxing legends, heavyweight contenders, rising prospects and local fighters has helped make Hitz Boxing one of the most recognizable names associated with professional boxing in the Chicago area.

For Bobby Hitz, promoting boxing has never been only about putting fighters into a ring. The Hitz Boxing philosophy is to consistently produce exciting, professional and high-quality boxing events while building lasting relationships with fighters, trainers, boxing gyms, sponsors, venues, businesses and fight fans throughout Chicago and the Midwest.

Hitz Boxing has made supporting local Chicago fighters a central part of that philosophy. Giving hometown boxers a platform allows fighters to develop their careers while giving Chicago boxing fans an opportunity to follow those fighters from their earliest professional bouts through championship contention.

It is a grassroots approach to professional boxing promotion that has helped build a loyal fan base over decades.

When Hitz Boxing enters a community or partners with a venue, the objective is bigger than producing a single night of fights. The goal is to build a sustainable boxing program that benefits the fighters, fans, sponsors, venue and surrounding community.

Quality, consistency and integrity have remained at the center of the Hitz Boxing brand.

In 2009, Hitz Boxing launched another successful chapter with "Fight Night at the Horseshoe Casino" in Hammond, Indiana, bringing professional boxing to Northwest Indiana while remaining closely connected to the enormous Chicago boxing fan base just across the state line.

The series continued the tradition Bobby Hitz had established years earlier: accessible professional boxing featuring competitive fights, recognizable names and promising local talent.

Today, Bobby Hitz and Hitz Boxing continue that tradition in Rosemont, Illinois — the community where so much of the Hitz Boxing story began.

From the legendary Ramada Rumble to major casino fight nights and professional boxing cards throughout Chicagoland, Hitz Boxing has spent decades helping write the history of boxing in Chicago.

For Chicago fight fans, the names Bobby Hitz, Hitz Boxing and Chicago boxing have been connected for more than 30 years — and the bell is still ringing.