Miranda: I Will Knock Ward Out!

EDISON MIRANDA: ‘Andre Ward has zero chance to win this fight. I will knock him out!”

Six Questions with the Colombian Knockout Artist who faces

ShoBox: The New Generation  Live on SHOWTIME®, 9 p.m. ET/PT

NEW YORK (May 13, 2009) — Edison Miranda has not been shy about how he feels about Andre Ward, his opponent in Saturday’s colossal super middleweight battle in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, Calif.

“I can’t wait to get in the ring and to get into his face because I have no respect for Ward,” said Miranda (32-3, 28 KOs). “No, I wasn’t surprised when he called and wanted to fight me. I’ll fight anybody. I can’t wait for Saturday night to show the world who Edison Miranda is and that I’m going to be the champion.”

The 12-round fight at the Oracle Arena for Ward’s North American Boxing Organization (NABO) and North American Boxing Federation (NABF) super middleweight titles will be the featured bout on a special Saturday primetime edition of ShoBox: The New Generation, live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).

Miranda, who’s promoted by Seminole Warriors Boxing, answered six questions posed by SHOWTIME earlier this week about his thoughts on the unbeaten Ward (18-0, 12 KOs).

SHOWTIME: What is your prediction for Saturday night?

MIRANDA: “I have said it before: I have no respect for Andre Ward. Andre Ward has zero chance to win this fight. I will knock him out in the 10th round. In the 10th round, he will go down.”

SHOWTIME: You say you have no respect for Andre Ward? Do you respect any of your opponents?

MIRANDA: “I respect Ward as a person and as a man but the second we enter that ring that’s all gone. I respect no one in the ring. That’s how I feel for whoever I fight. Actually, the second they tell me I’m going to fight someone I lose all respect for them. Ward hasn’t accomplished anything besides a gold medal, and I’m very surprised he even got that. When you look at my career you see that in my first 21 fights I knocked every one of them out. So I don’t think Andre has what it takes to win. On Saturday he’s going to see what it’s like to be in the ring with a real man and what it’s like to get hit by a real man.”

SHOWTIME: Does constant questions about your early childhood—how you were raised on the streets of Colombia—bother you?

MIRANDA: “No, it doesn’t bother me at all. They can talk about it all they want but for me I don’t want to think about that. I want to think about the present and the future. The only thing I’m thinking about right now is Andre Ward.”

SHOWTIME: Is there anything that people would be shocked to know or do not know about you?

MIRANDA: “No, there is nothing that the public doesn’t know about me. I’ve never hidden anything and I don’t have any secrets. There are no surprises with me.”

SHOWTIME: You invited to fly Carl Froch from England to Oakland to watch Saturday’s fight. Has he responded to that?

MIRANDA: “I haven’t really thought about that. I’ve been so focused on training. Although I put the invitation out there I haven’t really followed up on it. I was serious to invite him and I really wanted him there but looking back maybe it was a mistake to invite him. Let’s just say he took me up on the invitation. Once he sees what I’m going to do to Ward he would never think of getting into the ring with me.”

SHOWTIME: Is there a sense of urgency with this fight? Do you feel like you have to win this fight to be recognized as one of the best in the 168-pound division?

MIRANDA: “I have no anticipation for this fight or urgency because if I did feel that I had something to prove then I would think I was going to lose. I’m not in that mentality. The fact is that I’m going to win.”

Saturday’s event will be being promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions in association with  Leonard Productions. The Ward-Miranda bout will be presented in association with Seminole Warriors Boxing. Tickets, starting at $25 are on sale at the Oracle Box Office and through Ticketmaster. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. PT. The first non-televised fight is at 5 p.m. PT.