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Quotes From Dudchenko-Mohammedi Conference Call

Published

10 years ago

May 29, 2014

The Sweet Science

Dudchenko-Mohammedi Conference Call Quotes, from Thursday, May 29, 2014

Kathy Duva, Main Events’ CEO:

We are thrilled and excited to be back on NBCSN Fight Night, it is the best boxing series on TV. This fight is another example of why. This is a significant fight because the winner is going to be the number one contender in the IBF. While there is potential that Bernard Hopkins will unify his title against Stevenson, the winner will fight Bernard Hopkins after he fights Stevenson. Bottom line the winner of this fight is going to get a shot at a very big fight.

There’s a whole lot of young talent out there like Anatoliy and Nadjib and they want to test themselves against the best. At end of the day there are two elderly guys holding things up in the light heavyweight division. In a few years all this will be forgotten because these two guys are the future of the division. Down the road these young men will challenge Sergey Kovalev for his title. We keep all of our fighters active.

The division is heating up. One way or another that title fight is coming soon. The IBF has indicated they will give Bernard Hopkins an exemption to fight Stevenson but if it doesn’t happen in a timely manner then he will fight the winner of this fight. Fight fans are going to be very familiar with both these guys when this fight is over.

This style matchup is perfect: a brawling puncher against a boxer. They are one fight away from their dream. They are getting what they want and what they have both been working towards. We are interested in building up the light heavyweight division. Anatoliy is willing to fight anyone that is put in front of him and that is the kind of fighter we want to work with. He has a great team around him now and all of the elements are in place. I think the winner of this fight will be ready to fight Hopkins. This is going to be a great show.

Anatoliy Dudchenko:

Nadjib is a good fighter and a smart boy. He’s tough. I respect each of my opponents but in my heart it doesn’t matter who is in front of me. I come back to Jesse because we did one fight before and it was a ten second fight. He likes my style. I fight for a better life. Let’s talk after I put him on the ground. Earlier in my career I didn’t have a manager or a promoter.

When I came to the United States I worked in construction. Now I am only focusing on boxing. It doesn’t matter who is in front of me. You have to use your chance or die and if you must die, die like a hero. Let’s meet in the ring and then we will see.

Jesse Reid Sr., Dudchenko’s Trainer:

Anatoliy looks at everybody as the toughest fight of his life. I have been in this business for a long time and with Anatoliy I see a great athlete. Age is not a factor for him. We are here to win not to talk about a bunch of other people. If we have to box we’ll box with Mohammedi. I have some real hungry fighters in my career but these European fighters are so much hungrier than the US fighters.

I am very excited about being a part of this. We will bring boxing back to the United States. I am very happy to be working with Anatoliy. I love his attitude and the way he works. He may be 35 but he is like a 20 year old; he is young and hungry.

Vince Caruso, Dudchenko’s Manager:

We all know the implications that this fight holds. We are happy to be fighting at a beautiful venue – the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. This is our first fight under the Main Events promotional banner. We hope this will be a longstanding relationship because we have every intention of winning every fight until Anatoliy retires.

I am very picky about who I work with. When I first met Anatoliy about a year ago I saw a guy who was very hungry. All he wanted was to win a world title. He is the definition of a throw-back boxer. There is no doubt in my mind that when Anatoliy’s career is done he will be regarded as one of the best light heavyweights in the game. If I said I wasn’t thinking about Bernard Hopkins, I would be lying. I absolutely think we are going to win this fight. The champion should fight the number one contender.

Adonis Stevenson is a fraud. Last week wasn’t even a competitive fight. It was two above average club fighters facing each other. Anatoliy will fight any guy anywhere. We don’t want to sit on our hands for ten months waiting for Bernard Hopkins. Anatoliy hits a hell of a lot harder and we are going to show that on NBCSN. Age is not a problem for “The Gladiator;” he is a machine. He knows what he has to do. We know we have a small time frame.

Anatoliy has never been covered by the media but come June 21 he won’t be ignored anymore. He will fight anyone, if it’s Hopkins it’s Hopkins. We want to fight the best so I want Andre Ward or Sergey Kovalev. I want Anatoliy to make history and he does that by knocking out the best.

Nadjib Mohammedi:

I want to thank everyone that gave me the possibility to come here and box. It’s the fruit of our labor that brought us here. We have been working towards this for years. We have no pressure at all. We have been boxing in many other places than the United States. I have no pressure at all because the ring is my home. When I get in the ring I don’t ask myself questions, I am there to win that belt.

We are ready for everything. That is what we trained for. After this fight we are ready to prove to all the American people that we are ready to be a world champion. I believe this fight will end in a KO. We are not here to play around. We came to fight. We are going to incorporate our own brand of fighting. I am sure I am going to win and I am ready to fight anyone after that. It was my plan to fight in 2014 for a title.

When they told me about this fight we just hopped on it because we really wanted to fight. We used to box against people that were bigger and stronger than us. We boxed with someone who is a little bigger than Anatoliy, height does not matter here. I am faster and smarter than Anatoliy. I think I have more experience than Dudchenko.

About June 21:

June 21 features Anatoliy “The Gladiator” Dudchenko and Nadjib Mohammedi in a twelve-round light heavyweight bout for the #1 position in the IBF live on NBCSN Fight Night from Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The co-feature includes a ten-round fight between Philly natives Karl “Dynamite” Dargan and Anthony Flores for the USBA Atlantic Coast Region Title. The Fight Night telecast will begin at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Doors will open at 5:00 PM. The card is presented by Main Events and Peltz Boxing, in association with Greg Cohen Promotions. The undercard will be announced shortly. Ticket are available at ticketmaster.com (Keyword: Main Events) or at the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs box office.

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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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