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Mayweather Teases Retirement At Wednesday Presser

Published

10 years ago

May 1, 2014

LAS VEGAS (April 30, 2014) – A focused Floyd Mayweather stated Saturday’s SHOWTIME^®PPV showdown with Marcos Maidana could be the best performance of his storied career knowing that Marcos Maidana has knockout percentage of more than 80 percent.

“Everybody keeps asking who is going to crack the May-Vinci Code,” said Mayweather. “This guy has a good uppercut, this guy has a good jab. I still always fight a way to win. Saturday, I’m going to find a way to win.”

With Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer presiding, Mayweather urged the media and fans to tune into tonight’s premiere of Episode 3 of ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Maidana for a revealing look into the family life of the pound-for-pound champ.

But the presser wasn’t all about “Money,” as an animated and well-dressed Maidana riled up the Hispanic media in the crowd with a Spanish colloquialism. Loosely translated: “I don’t give a (expletive) about this guy.”

Mayweather also announced that – for the 46^th fight of his career – he’s invited 46 breast cancer survivors to attend Saturday’s fight and that he made a donation to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure that will provide the women with new wigs.

“So many females in my family had breast cancer,” Mayweather said. “My aunt was the first person in my family to die of breast cancer. This is my 46th fight so I decided to bring 46 women with breast cancer to my fight and buy them all new wigs.”

Below are quotes from Wednesday’s participants:

FLOYD MAYWEATHER:

“I may have three fights after this, I’m really not sure. I don’t know what I’m going to do. But I can promise you this: Saturday, I’m going to give you guys what you want to see. It’s not going to be the same fight that I fought with Canelo; it’s not going to be the same fight that I fought with Robert Guerrero. It’s going to be a totally different fight. No game plan at all. I’m going to be right there.

“I think styles make fights. I’m looking to win and I’m looking to win very impressively. I’m pretty sure he’s coming straight ahead and we’ll see how the fight plays out.

“If I feel like walking away I’ll walk away. I want to settle down and get married. Tonight you guys really, really need to watch ALL ACCESS. It’s going to be a good show tonight. Watch it.

“I’ve been here before and know what it takes to win a fight of this magnitude. When the best fight the best, it takes more than just power. It takes more than just a great heart. You have to dig deep. You have to be mentally strong, not just physically strong, to win a fight like this.

“As of late, Marcos Maidana has been making a lot of noise. Is he one of the best in the sport? Yes he is. But I am the best. And that’s the difference.

“He’s tough, he’s rugged, he’s a champion. I respect him as a man, but come Saturday you have to earn my respect as a fighter.

“I never go in a game with a game plan. My game plan is to win and be first.

“I can’t overlook this guy. He earned it. Argentina is a great country and you all have a true champion. He’s a true champion, he’s a warrior, and he got here somehow, someway. He represents his country real well. I’m a worldwide figure, but I bleed the red, white and blue first.

“Giving back to the breast cancer survivors is a great feeling. It’s a great feeling when you’re in a position to give back. I’ll give anything back to our women. Our women are our queens so we have to respect them. I want to commend you ladies and tell you that you’re beautiful.

“So many females in my family had breast cancer. My aunt was the first person in my family to die of breast cancer. This is my 46^th fight so I decided to bring 46 women with breast cancer to my fight and buy them all new wigs.

“I couldn’t ask for a better partner than SHOWTIME and MGM. Richard Sturm, you are a great guy, you are remarkable. Everything I asked of the MGM they have given me and more. I have a lifetime bond and a lifetime relationship with you guys. I respect this hotel.

“This is another champion of course, Bernard Hopkins. We don’t know what the future holds for us. He’s 49, I’m 37.” Bernard: “we’re almost 200 years old.” “Bernard’s another legendary champion that I take my hat off to. He’s done a lot to open the doors in boxing and I commend him for that.”

MARCOS MAIDANA:

“No one has given anything to me. The opportunity, I earned it myself.

“I know this is a very difficult fight. That’s why I trained like never before.

“Mayweather is a great fighter, but I don’t give a (expletive) about this guy.

“It’s very important to land the combos and keep at him.

“I’m prepared for whatever he brings. If he wants to trade blows, we’ll trade blows. If he wants to run, we can handle that, too. We’re prepared for everything.

“I’m relaxed. We’re good. I talk a little trash because it gets me mad, gets me ready.”

RICHARD SCHAEFER – CEO, Golden Boy Promotions

“Top to bottom, this the deepest card we have ever promoted. You saw it yesterday when we had the fighter arrivals with a lot of fans from Argentina, a lot of fans from the United Kingdom. This really is an event where the boxing and sports world will unite here at MGM Grand. I personally can’t wait for the bell to ring. This is champion versus champion, this is country versus country. It is the pound for pound best fighter in the world, the guy who talks the talk and walks the walk, against a young hungry fighter in Marcos Maidana who literally punched his way into this fight. He is not the guy that talks the talk, but he is a guy that walks the walk. On Saturday night he is going to go in there – against all odds – trying to make the impossible possible – beating the pound for pound king.

“Maidana is hungry, he is ready and he wants it. No one gave him a chance when he came here to the United States against ‘Vicious’ Victor Ortiz. He made a first impression that is still with us. Again, no one is giving him a chance and that’s the position he likes to be in.

“It is always great to be back here in Las Vegas. This event is certainly one of the largest Las Vegas has ever seen. As a matter of fact, I pulled the record of the largest boxing gates in the history of Las Vegas and I’m proud to announce that this will be the fourth largest gate in the history of boxing here in Las Vegas — close to or maybe a little over $15 million. This is will be a great night for boxing once again.

“I truly believe in this fight Mayweather is playing with fire. It’s easy to underestimate someone like Maidana because he’s quiet. But once the first bell rings, it’s your fists doing the talking – that definition is Marcos Maidana. He has obviously done something right to be here today. This is not the end of his journey; this is the beginning of his journey. You have no idea what that means to him to be here and beat Mayweather. That’s all he wants.”

STEPHEN ESPINOZA – Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports

“This is the third SHOWTIME PPV Floyd Mayweather event, all three of which have been here at MGM Grand. Over his career, Floyd has fought at MGM Grand 12 times, which leaves no question that the MGM Grand is the home of the biggest and most important events in boxing and entertainment.

“As always, the staff here at MGM Grand has done a spectacular job marketing this event and setting the stage for what sure will be an exciting and entertaining show on May 3.

“I use the word ‘show’ intentionally. When it’s a Floyd Mayweather event, it is always a show. Floyd and Mayweather Promotions don’t do fights, they do events. Floyd puts on a show. And in addition to the thousands of fans, the biggest names in sports, entertainment and business come to watch: A-List actors, Fortune 500 CEOs, current stars from every sport – we’ve received ticket requests from all of them. And by my count, we’ll have at least 13 current world champions in attendance on Saturday night.

“This is boxing’s Academy Awards, Super Bowl and Grammys.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen on Saturday night and I don’t know who’s going to win or how. In fact, no one does. That unpredictability is one of the great things about boxing. But I can guarantee you one thing: Excitement. There is no other event like a Mayweather fight. There is no atmosphere that even comes close.”

RICHARD STURM – President of Entertainment, MGM Resorts International

“It’s a pleasure to welcome back Floyd Mayweather to his home at the MGM Grand. He looks to once again earn a win and run his record to 46-0. With a victory, Mayweather will put another stamp on the sports history books, and add another chapter in becoming the best fighter the world has ever seen.

“Marcos Maidana will make his return for the first time in nearly two years. It was Mexican Independence day in 2012 when he earned a decisive TKO in the MGM Grand Garden.

“The fight experience will not exist in only the MGM Grand Garden, as six of our 10 resort properties are offering closed circuit viewing in restaurants bars and lounges will provide guest with great food and beverage specials. We look forward to seeing you all Saturday night for this great event.

“We would like to give a special thanks to Golden Boy Promotions staff, Mayweather Promotions Team, Team Maidana and his camp and SHOWTIME. For the first time we would like to congratulate and welcome Bob Bennett, the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s recently selected executive director.

LEONARD ELLERBE – CEO, Mayweather Promotions

“We would like to thank everyone for coming out. This is going to be a fabulous event Saturday night, a terrific fight. The best fighter in the world versus a great, great fighter in Marcos Maidana.

“Floyd comes up with many creative ideas. He came to me about two weeks ago with this breast cancer idea. He has a tremendous heart. He doesn’t get a lot of credit for his philanthropy. We all see the flashy, flamboyant side of him, but that is all a part of entertaining. Deep down inside the true man, Floyd Mayweather is a giver at heart. He wanted to acknowledge and do something special for breast cancer survivors. He will be hosting breast cancer survivors [and a guest] to the fight on Saturday night. And he will be making a donation to Susan G. Komen for the survivors to purchase wigs.

“All this is history we are experiencing now. There may be other great fighters that come along, but I personally don’t feel there will ever be another Floyd Mayweather. We are all witnessing history. Floyd made an interesting comment yesterday that this very well could be his last fight. I was shocked – this was news to me. We have a long term deal with our partner, SHOWTIME. But we never know, come Saturday night this could be it. Any and everything we do is getting a glimpse of history. This will never be duplicated again – never.

“This is going to be a terrific fight come Saturday night. Maidana will bring the best out of Floyd. He will make Floyd bring out that ‘A’ game he talks about. We know Maidana comes to bring it. He will be coming at the opening bell trying to take Floyd’s head off. Floyd has prepared well, he has had an excellent training camp and he is ready to go.”

FLOYD MAYWEATHER SR., Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s trainer and father

“I am glad my son and I we are back together and that he came back to me the way he did. This has nothing to do with money. I truly respect that he’s my son. I’ve been training him since he was one-years-old.

“Camp went great. Each of us have our own ideas, but when we get together on a strategy he is really a force. He is definitely ready to go.

“Maidana is a puncher and a strong fighter, but Floyd is faster and has more knowledge. I saw Maidana against Broner and, to me, he was very predictable, but Broner did not know what to do.

“I see Floyd coming out early, moving some and feeling him out while walking him down for a few rounds and then picking him apart. I’ve stressed that every time Maidana throws a punch, Floyd should counter with a right or left hand. Once he start countering Maidana, then he’ll go to the body. Look for Maidana to get nailed with a lot of body shots.”

ROBERT GARCIA, Maidana’s Trainer and BWAA 2012 Trainer of the Year

“The MOMENT is two days away and we had a great camp. Chino responded and did everything we asked him to do; everyone on our team did a great job.

“Against Broner, Chino proved everybody wrong, and he’s ready to do it again on Saturday.

“We have tremendous respect for Mayweather but on the day of the fight, Maidana is coming to win.”

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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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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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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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