Salita Promotions proudly announces the signing of undefeated heavyweight Gunnar Kolbeinn Kristinsson to a promotional contract.
Kristinsson (11-0, 5 KOs) from Gardabaer, Iceland, is the only active male fighter in his homeland and just the third in the country’s history. As an amateur, the 31-year-old was Icelandic champ and fought at the Amateur World Championships and Olympic Qualifier Tournaments.
Currently training in Detroit under Javan SugarHill Steward at the Kronk Gym, Kristinsson will have his debut fight under the Salita Promotions banner on Friday, January 17 at WinnaVegas Casino & Resort in Sloan, Iowa on the un-televised undercard of the 250th edition of ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT).
“I feel very excited about signing with Salita,” said Kristinsson. “It’s a big opportunity and I know we are going to do big things together. I came to Detroit to train with SugarHill because I was at a point in my career where I needed more experienced, world-class coaching. My goal in boxing has always been to be undisputed world champion, this signing brings me closer to that goal.”
Moving forward, Kristinsson will travel back and forth from Iceland to Detroit. In his homeland, he will work with trainers Vilhjalmur Hernandez, Dađi Ástþórsson and Arnór Már Grímsson at Hnefaleikastöđin ÆSIR gym in the capital city of Reykjavik. The training team in Iceland will stick to SugarHill Steward’s training program so that there is “only one chef in the kitchen,” no matter where he is working.
“The Heavyweight division is buzzing again,” said excited promoter Dmitriy Salita. “Koli is a big, skilled, undefeated fighter from a unique place for boxing. I’ve been watching him train with SugarHill at the Kronk Gym and I see consistent improvement. With continued training and a busy fight schedule, I see Koli progressing to world-class levels in the heavyweight division.”
In the 10-round main event on January 17, WBC #12 super middleweight Vladimir Shishkin (9-0, 6 KOs) will take on unbeaten Ulises Sierra (15-0-2, 9 KOs). WBA and IBF #6 super lightweight Shohjahon Ergashev (17-0, 15 KOs) will face Adrian Estrella (29-4, 24 KOs) in the 10-round super lightweight co-feature and in the opener, Detroit native Ja’Rico O’Quinn (13-0-1, 8 KOs) faces Nevada’s Oscar Vasquez (15-2-1, 3 KOs) in an eight-round super flyweight contest.
