Hard Rock Casino Rockford to host its first professional boxing event — CDC Gaming

Since opening last year, Hard Rock Casino Rockford has hosted events ranging from concerts to banquets. But now, it’s preparing for the arrival of professional boxing this weekend.

“This is our first live sporting event that we’re gonna host here at Hard Rock Live,” President Geno Iafrate said at a press conference on Monday.

Heavyweight fighters Deonte Pettigrew and Richard Lartey will take to the ring in the first World Boxing Association event in Rockford history, going head to head for the WBA Continental Championship.

“I put a lot of work in,” Pettigrew said. “Like my promoter said, this guy (Lartey) is not to be taken lightly.”