RAVENSWOOD — Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is bringing a Vegas-style night of boxing to the Ravenswood Event Center Wednesday to raise money for charity.
Guests who pony up $300 each will enjoy ringside seats alongside Cubs players during the amateur bouts, which will feature local youth and a "special main event" slugfest, according to press information.
The price of admission also includes cocktails, hand-rolled cigars, and dinner from Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse.
A portion of the proceeds will beneft Crushers Club's youth boxing program in Englewood.
Tickets for the event, set for 6 p.m., 4011 N. Ravenswood Ave., can be purchased online.
Maddon told WGN Channel 9 he has been working to establish a boxing club for at-risk youth back in his hometown of Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The Chicago effort is similar, he said.
["The Crushers Club] is anti gangs and who doesn't love that?" said Maddon. "They're also about the discipline and the respect it creates among their members. It was the perfect pitch."
He said boxing allows kids to "release some aggression" as well as inexpensively get some exercise.
Maddon's favorite boxer?
"Who doesn't like [Muhammad] Ali?," he said, adding that the champ used to "hang out in Hazleton" while training nearby.
Maddon also said he also likes Larry Holmes, the heavyweight champion between 1978 and 1985 and an eastern Pennsylvania native.
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