Talk about hitting close to home.
Eric “Danger” Fields of Ardmore has signed with Oklahoma City promotion company catBOX Entertainment and has a fight scheduled for Nov. 19 at Oklahoma City’s Remington Park, the company announced Tuesday. The non-title fight will be the first for the two-time Golden Gloves national heavyweight champion since Jan. 10, when he defeated Francisco Mireles by technical knockout in Tacoma, Wash.
An opponent is yet to be determined.
“Eric is an exceptional fighter,” catBOX president Darla Zuhdi said. “I fully expect him to be a world champion. We’ve had trouble getting opponents for him because he’s so tough.”
Fields, 27, was to fight Aug. 29 in Tacoma, but that was cancelled when he dropped Brian Halquist as his promoter. Halquist would not say why he and Fields no longer have ties.
Neither Fields nor his trainer and uncle Carl Fields could be reached Tuesday.
Ardmore resident Jimmy Schaffer, who manages Fields, said he’s had an association with catBOX for 25 years.
“I really believe Eric is ecstatic that he can perform close to his home,” Schaffer said. “For him to bring first-class boxers to the area will only escalate (his contender status) that much sooner.Eric is very good, and the reason he’s very good is because he has the will and the heart. If any one of those things are missing, you’ll have a difficult time in your career.”
Eric Fields (12-1, 10 KOs), now a cruiserweight, hasn’t fought in Oklahoma since a January 2008 win over Eric Pippin in Tulsa. He’s ranked 57th in the world and 11th in the U.S. at his division.
Fields recently turned down an opportunity to train with Russian heavyweight Nikolay Valuev in Germany to prepare for the November fight, Schaffer said. Valuev will fight David Haye on Nov. 7 for the WBA world championship on Nov. 7.
Fields is currently training in Oklahoma City, Schaffer said.
“As Eric progresses, he will hold one or two of these (world) belts in the cruiserweight division,” Schaffer said.
A press conference will be held at 6 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Remington Park with Oklahoma lightweight champion Noah Zuhdi, Darla’s stepson who will fight before Fields on the card. The fighters will be available for autographs.
I.C. Murrell
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