Articles

ADAMEK AT LAST PRESSER: “I'm Ready For a Big War with Vitali”

Published

13 years ago

September 6, 2011

177 In the middle of the town square, in front of a packed house at City Hall in Wroclaw, Tomasz Adamek and Vitali Klitschko attended the final press conference held prior to their upcoming WBC Championship fight.

Michael Brill, General Manager Wroclaw Stadium: “Yesterday we had the first test event at Wroclaw Stadium. It's a beautiful stadium, it's gorgeous. There is no better place in the world I think to hold such an amazing fight. We will have everything fine-tuned for this Saturday. The fight has already sold more than 40,000 tickets; it will be broadcast in more than 120 countries with more than 500 million people watching it. It will change the history of big sporting events in Poland.”

Tom Loeffler, K2 Promotions: “Tomasz Adamek is so well known in Poland. He's a warrior, he's shown his heart and he is very successful in the heavyweight division. In the last promotion that we did, when Vladimir unified the title against David Haye, the whole time on the K2 and Klitschko side we knew in our hearts that Tomasz was really more of a warrior than Haye. So I think that you'll see a great bout.”

“Vitali is the type of fighter who just dominates the fight. Not only does he win fights, he wins rounds. We're really looking forward to this fight between these two great warriors for the WBC championship.”

Kathy Duva, Main Events: “It is really a thrill to be back here in Wroclaw. I watched online, actually every day, and saw the stadium come up from the ground. We went there yesterday and saw it for ourselves. I just cannot wait to see what that place is going to look like and sound like with 42,000 people in there, because it hurt my ears last night when there were 8,000 people there. It's turned into a magnificent facility that people all over the world are going know about next week.”

“This is the first ever event to be shown on pay per view in Poland. If you have Canal+, Polsat, UPC, TOYA, INEA, or Vectra, you'll be able to see Pay Per View. It'll be 40 PLN, so everybody get together and have a party! It's going to be an great event both in the arena and for everybody watching it on pay per view. Also it will also be shown in some movie theaters around Poland; the Multikino System will be showing it and the tickets are on sale now.”

Vitali Klitschko: “Wroclaw is a great city. When I flew in I saw a great stadium, all ready, I saw it from the sky and it will be fine. Many have been worried, 'is the stadium going to be ready?' Don't worry, the main thing is the fighters and they are ready, the stadium is also. The preparation is done.”

“I know Tomasz Adamek is the most difficult fighter. He is very fast, very good condition. This fight will not be easy for me and this is why the preparation was special. Why special? Because I have a special opponent and I have special surprises. The surprises you can see in the ring.”

“I'm ready to fight Tomasz. Everybody watched the Vladimir – Haye fight. David Haye is the biggest talker; Tomasz Adamek is the strongest fighter. Behind my brother and me is Tomasz. Can Tomasz be #1 in the world? Let's see. I kind of like you Tomasz, maybe after this fight we can be friends, but on Saturday there will be no friendship between us. I am very proud have this belt, which many years ago Muhammad Ali, Lenox Lewis and many, many big fighters had and I never ever give this title to someone just for free. Tomasz, good luck trying to take this title away, I am ready to show my skills. This title is my title.”

Tomasz Adamek: “I'm really glad to be in Wroclaw. I was ten and a half weeks in training. That was a time for preparation, now is a time for the fight. I'm in great shape after training with Roger (Bloodworth). I thank God for those weeks, it's a long time and I was able to stay healthy.”

“I want to thank all my fans who purchased tickets & everyone that will purchase pay per view. We are showing not only Poland, but over 120 countries that this fight is a really big event.”

“I'm ready for a big war with Vitali. I'm really ready to win this belt. I know it's not going to be easybecause it's never easy in the ring, but my spirits are high and I'm ready for it. I will do everything to keep the WBC title in Poland.”

The WBC Heavyweight Championship battle featuring reigning WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, 42-2, 39 KO's and Tomasz Adamek, 44-1, 28 KO's, will be held Saturday, September 10th at the new Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland. Some exclusive VIP Tickets are still available at www.stadionwroclaw.pl

The fight will be shown live, Saturday, September 10, on HBO World Championship Boxing at 4:45pm ET, and will re-air on September 11, 12 and 13, check your local listings.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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