Articles

Victor Ortiz: “I’m Here For the Victory”

Published

7 years ago

January 28, 2014

VICTOR ORTIZ VS. LUIS COLLAZO & UNDERCARD MEDIA WORKOUT/PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (January 27) – Fighters for the Victor Ortiz vs. Luis Collazo card gathered at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, N.Y. to workout for the media and hold a press conference before their respective Thursday, Jan. 30 fights at Barclays Center airing live on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes.

VICTOR ORTIZ, Former WBC Welterweight World Champion

“We’re so ready, we’ve had the best sparring partners and we’re ready to get in the ring. Training camp was really good.

[On experiencing “ring rust”] “Absolutely not, I’m completely 100 percent confident. I have no ring rust whatsoever.

“I’m not at all concerned about my jaw, I feel great and I can’t wait to get in the ring.

“This is my first time fighting in Brooklyn and I’m excited. I don’t have any words to say, nothing bad, nothing good. I’m here for the victory.”

LUIS COLLAZO, Former WBA Welterweight World Champion

“I’m really excited and humbled by the opportunity. I just want to give the boxing fans a great fight and a great outing. I’ve been waiting a long time for a fight of this caliber.

[On Ortiz’s strategy] “He can do what he wants, but I know on fight night I will be ready. If he wants to dance, I’ll be the bull.

“This fight is for my future. I’m trying not to look past it, but this victory here means everything to me. It means I have a future. If not, I have to start all over again from scratch.

“Preparation has been great. I’ve got a great team. We’re just getting stronger and feeling great.

“I’ve been counting down for weeks waiting patiently for this. I was motivated before getting this fight, but this has escalated my motivation.

[On supporting the Nephcure Foundation] “As a fighter, we fight to give the fans entertainment. To be a champion fighting for your life, you have to be champion in your heart.”

EDDIE GOMEZ, Undefeated Super Welterweight Prospect

“We’ve had six or seven hard weeks of training camp, doing everything we have to do to prepare for the fight.

“We [Gomez and Arnett] fought in the amateurs. I beat him and knocked him down three times. So now we’re going back at it again. He’s improved a lot but somebody’s ‘0’ has to go.

“We’ve grown and developed a lot both power-wise and ability-wise.

[On fighting at Barclays Center] “It’s a short drive from my house. I love fighting there. I have a lot of people coming to see me.

[On what to expect Thursday] “You can expect fireworks. I have everything, speed, power and whatever it takes to get the ‘W,’ I’ll be doing it.”

DAQUAN ARNETT, Undefeated Super Welterweight Prospect

“This fight is a great opportunity and a great stage to be on during Super Bowl week.

“I feel like I’m an all-around fighter. I can box, I can punch, I can sit in the pocket and fight inside and outside. The main thing is I can adjust and adapt to anything.

“I think these are some great, fan-friendly fights. I like to give the fans what they want to see.

[On fighting Gomez as amateurs] “It keeps coming up, but all I can say is we’re men now. We keep growing up and we’ll see what happens on Thursday. We were kids then, running around the ring throwing punches.

“I expect a good entertaining fight, something the fans will love to see. This will get both of us back on TV again. It will definitely be a win on my end.

“We are going to have a great show Thursday night so everyone get your tickets.”

GARY RUSSELL JR., Undefeated Super Featherweight Prospect

“I had a fun training camp. A lot of people approach this as a job, I understand that but for me, training camp was fun because I’m fighting a southpaw and I’m a southpaw.

“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m the oldest of six boys and all of us our southpaws.

“We’re animals, soldiers and warriors and I’m looking forward to bouncing around six, seven, eight rounds.”

MARCUS BROWNE, 2012 U.S. Olympian & Light Heavyweight Rising Star

“This is my sixth time fighting at Barclays Center and I’m ready to go out and take another step forward in my pro career.

“I just have to do what I have to do and keep carrying on with my career.”

ZACHARY OCHOA, Undefeated Super Lightweight Rising Star & Newly Signed GBP Fighter

“Fighting at Barclays Center is a good experience for me because it’s the best arena in the world. It’s a great thing that’s convenient for people and people from Brooklyn love to fight.

“Signing with Golden Boy was a beautiful thing for me. I couldn’t really get fights. For someone with my work ethic who trains all year it was disappointing not to get fights. But Golden Boy saw something in me and I’m excited they decided to sign me.

“Teachers in school used to say I wasn’t going to graduate, but I graduated high school, got accepted to college and I chose a different path.

“I am blessed with talent and I am so hungry to be the best, that’s why I call myself Zungry.”

EMMANUEL GONZALEZ, Undefeated Featherweight Prospect

“We have a great main event, great co-main event and I just hope everyone up here is ready. I know I’m ready and I hope everyone comes out and supports a great show.”

PAULIE MALIGNAGGI, Former Two-Division World Champion & FOX Sports 1 Color Commentator

“This is such a stacked card for it being in the middle of Super Bowl week here in New York. The whole city is buzzing.

“I am excited looking at this whole line up, it’s really a great card we have here.

“Everything in New York City is electric. It is a perfect time for a card like this. Tickets start at 25 dollars, which you just can’t beat.

Brett Yormark, CEO of Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets

“Our venue has become a place where the local fighting community aspires to become future champions.

“I am looking forward to seeing one of Brooklyn’s stars, Luis Collazo, in action.

“We really want Brooklyn to be a destination for fans that are coming to the New York metropolitan area as part of their plans before the big game on Sunday night.”

# # #

Ortiz vs. Collazo is a 12-round fight for the WBA International Welterweight title on Thursday, Jan. 30 presented by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and Casamigos Tequila. Barclays Center doors open at 6:00 p.m. ET with the first bell sounding at 6:30 p.m. ET. The FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes broadcast airs live at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets priced at $25, $43, $80 and $160 plus applicable taxes and service charges are on sale now available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-745-3000 and at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK. A limited number of suites are available for the event. For more information on how to reserve one, please call 718-BK-SUITE (718-257-8483).

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 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

5 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

5 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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