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Quotes From Khan-Peterson Press Conference

Published

13 years ago

October 7, 2011

The Sweet Science

AMIR KHAN VS. LAMONT PETERSON

WASHINGTON DC PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Amir Khan, Unified Super Lightweight World Champion

“We never get two nice guys in a fight. We've got two nice guys fighting here, but I'm sure once we put the gloves on for the fight, it will be a different story.

“18 years since HBO has had a fight here. That's a long time.

“Hopefully we'll bring boxing back to Washington, and maybe this will be the first of many fights here.

“It's going to be a big fight. It's going to be an explosive fight. I hope we see you guys there and hope you can get some tickets before they all sell out.”

Lamont Peterson, #1 Rated IBF Contender

“It's a dream come true for me. I've dreamt about this day many, many times. Just attending the big fights, I would go home and go back to the gym and just wish that one day I would get my opportunity. Well, this is my chance right here to win two world titles here in my hometown.

“I'm sure Khan will be training hard to defend his titles, but I'll be training even harder to protect my home turf.

“It's a dream come true. Come December 10, I just have to go in there and take care of business.

“I'm here to win. At the end of the day, none of that [Khan's past achievements] matters to me. When we get in the ring, what he's done in the past does not matter. It matters what he's going do when we get in there for 12 rounds. I believe he's going lose.

“I don't think he chose to fight in DC because he's overlooking me or anything like that. I know that a lot of his people will be here, because I've fought on his cards in Vegas, and they come all the way to Vegas. So I know they have no problem taking a little quick plane ride over here.

“Hopefully, we buy the tickets before they [Khan fans] come over and buy them, and they can be all my people and none of his. So the crowd can be loud, live and hyping me up and hopefully getting on his nerves.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions

“This is the perfect city for this fight. We are happy and very excited to bring such a significant world championship bout to the District.

“We want Washington to come out in big numbers and support this great fight card so we don't have to wait another 18 years for HBO to come back here for another boxing match.

“We have great hopes in Seth Mitchell and it's very fitting for him to make his HBO debut here in Washington.

“There will not be an aisle at the fight, so the politicians will have to sit together [at the fight], so hopefully they can resolve some issues by then.

“We are very proud to have Amir Khan as part of our promotional stable.

“Let there be no doubt that Lamont Peterson is going in there to dethrone the champion. He is going to have hometown advantage.

“Lamont will have the opportunity to make all of his dreams come true with a win over Khan.

“Watch and see, this young man [Khan] will become, pound for pound, the best fighter in the world, no question about it. I really have zero question about that because he has the skills, tremendous power in his punch. He has the heart of a lion, and in the Maidana fight, he showed that he might have the best chin in the sport of boxing. He really is an all-round athlete and a first-class human being.”

Asif Vali, Khan Promotions

“It's an international competition. We all know professional boxing is all over the world.

“Thank you to HBO for giving us the opportunity to fight in America once again.

“Golden Boy Promotions has an unbelievable team; they have been instrumental in helping us get the fights we need to get.

“We estimate about four to five thousand U.K. fans will make the trip to DC, and with the support of worldwide fans and local boxing fans, I think Richard [Schaefer] will be very happy.

“I want to acknowledge two people that play a big part in the Khan team, Freddie [Roach] and Alex [Ariza] who we will meet when we start our training this weekend in Los Angeles.”

Barry Hunter, Lamont Peterson's Trainer and Manager

“It's been a journey that wasn't always easy. We made it through. That makes this event special to me.

“He's [Khan's] a very classy young man. He's got the heart of a lion and he fights like one.

“All the stuff we went through-through the highs and the lows, the good, the bad and the ugly-we stuck together, and they [the Peterson brothers] stuck with me. I give them all the praise and credit in the world.

“DC ain't going to be so nice to Khan as other places he has fought. We don't give up that easy. So definitely it's going to be a tremendous fight.”

Seth Mitchell, Undefeated Heavyweight Contender

“I'm extremely happy for the opportunity. I'm focused. Come December 10, I definitely will be ready. We want everybody to come out, and the fighters will do their part. We're going to put on a good show.

“I realize that the opportunity doesn't come around that often to be televised on HBO, and come December 10, I won't disappoint. You have Seth Mitchell now, and December 10, you will get Mayhem.”

Sharif Salim, Seth Mitchell's Manager

“We're very excited about this December 10 card and we do hope that we can get as many people in there as we possibly can.

“We know that the U.K. has had several recent heavyweight champions, but we need an American champion, and certainly I hope it will be that Seth Mitchell is that person that can bring it about.

“I can assure that the main event is going to be action-packed, and believe me, Seth Mitchell will also deliver.”

Greg O'Dell, President and CEO of Events DC

“We're so happy to have the fight at the Convention Center, which we think is the right place. We want everyone in the community to come and enjoy this fight.”

Rick Kay, Partner at Monumental Sports and Entertainment

“We look forward to supporting the Convention Center and opening up opportunities together where we can use our amazing marketing and sales force to create a sellout. Everybody is looking forward to a new opportunity. Boxing is a big deal here in DC, and we're going to do everything we can to make it the biggest deal that's ever happened in boxing in DC.”

Scottie Irving, Chairman of the District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission

“To come back and have a major title fight that includes local DC fighters-it's outstanding for us.

“We expect to see all you guys there. We look forward to this. This is major for us. This is an outstanding event for us, and we've been chasing this event for years.”

Philip Barton, Deputy British Ambassador to the United States

“Amir's had an incredible career already. He's a born boxer with a calm, measured aggression that marked him out from a very early age for greatness.

“I also wanted to pay tribute to your opponent, to Lamont Peterson, who's a true son of DC.

“He [Peterson] should know this, there's a lot of us Brits here in Washington, and we've had some noticeable victories over the years. In fact, we even managed to burn down the White House in 1814. So rest assured, come December 10, part of the noble support is going to be for you [Khan], and we'll all be cheering for another great British victory. “

“Capital Showdown: Khan vs. Peterson,” a 12-round Unified Super Lightweight World Title Fight for Khan's WBA World Super Championship and IBF World Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Khan Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T and DeWalt Tools. The HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 9:45 p.m. ET/ 6:45 p.m. PT.

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

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

Published

9 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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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 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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