ROCKFORD — Julian Lugo was expected to make his pro boxing debut at Hard Rock Casino Rockford a year ago, but promoter Hitz Boxing ran into an unexpected problem: They couldn’t find anyone willing to fight him.
Bobby Hitz, a former heavyweight boxer who runs Hitz Boxing, said he had fighters with winning records that “ran for the hills, scared to death.”
“Everybody hears a pro debut and they’re like OK, yeah, no problem. Then all the sudden they look him up — oh no, we’re going to pass,” Hitz said. “You keep throwing money at it and that doesn’t help. So that just means one thing: they’re afraid.”…