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Mayweather-Maidana 2 Presser Tour Kicks Off in NYC

Published

10 years ago

July 15, 2014

The Sweet Science

“MAYHEM: MAYWEATHER vs. MAIDANA 2” NEW YORK CITY ANNOUNCEMENT PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES & PHOTOS

HERE IS VIDEO FROM THE BOXING CHANNEL

“Is Maidana a better fighter than Canelo? No. Cotto? No. He’s just a dirtier fighter. I didn’t get a deep gash from a punch; I got it from a head butt”

– Floyd Mayweather

“I think he’s afraid, that’s why he won’t let me use my gloves” – Marcos Maidana

NEW YORK (July 14, 2014) – Eleven-time world champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather and former welterweight titlist Marcos “El Chino” Maidanaheld an announcement press conference in Times Square on Monday to formally announce their highly anticipated rematch taking place Saturday, Sept. 13 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME PPV^®.

Monday’s press conference kicked off a five-city, open-to-the-public promotional tour that will see the fighters visit the boxing hotbeds of Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Antonio and Los Angeles.

“I don’t need to change my style. The guy who got the loss needs to change his style,” said Mayweather.

“Although I recognize Mayweather is a great boxer, fighting him was easier than many people think. He has a good defense, but he has flaws and he showed them last May,” said Maidana. “If you want to see a real fight, watch us on September 13. I’m going to win this fight.”

Their first meeting this past May was an epic 12-round welterweight world championship showdown that was arguably the toughest and most exciting fight of Mayweather’s brilliant career. Maidana attacked Mayweather with ferocity and fearlessness, landing more punches on the pound-for-pound champ than anyone he has faced in his undefeated career.

Tickets for the live event go on sale tomorrow/Tuesday, July 15 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT and are priced at $1,600, $1,200, $850, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges and taxes. Tickets are limited to eight (8) per person with a limit of four (4) at the $350 price range. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available at www.mgmgrand.com orwww.ticketmaster.com.

Here’s what the participants had to say on Monday:

FLOYD MAYWEATHER, Eleven-Time, Five-Division World Champion

“My job is to win. Everyone remembers a winner. That’s my legacy.

“I don’t need to change my style. The guy who got the loss needs to change his style.

“Marcos Maidana came out and gave a tough effort, I mean he fought his heart out but it wasn’t clean.

“Was I ever hurt? Sure, the shots to the back of the head hurt. Whenever you’re in a heated battle you are going to be sore. It comes with the territory.

“Is Maidana a better fighter than Canelo? No. Cotto? No. He’s just a dirtier fighter. I didn’t get a deep gash from a punch; I got it from a head butt.”

“Cotto is a solid competitor but we saw what happened to him against Floyd Mayweather. When he fought me, they said he was washed up. Then, he fights again and wins, and apparently, he has been resurrected. Same with Marquez.

“There’s always testing. I’m the face of boxing and I want to clean the sport up.

“First they [Team Maidana] want to use gloves with no padding, and then they want to use knees, elbows and everything else. My back is always against the wall with Team Maidana.

MARCOS MAIDANA, Former WBA Welterweight World Champion

“Without a doubt we are going to prove who won the first fight with this fight; with this rematch.

“I fight dirty? He’s the king of the elbows.

“The rematch is a big deal in Argentina. The entire country watched the first fight. There’s going to be no exceptions in this one. Everybody is going to watch.

“Robert Garcia is very important presence in my career. I feel very comfortable training with him. I’ve been working with him since I faced [Jesus] Soto Karass and I think I’m going to retire with him.

“I’ve trained with many trainers and they all tried to change my style. That’s why I lost my way at some point in my career. But with Robert [Garcia], it is different. He added to my style and he brought me back on track.

“I keep getting better in each fight, with defense, head movement. What Robert has done is a fine tune. In the first Mayweather fight, I was a little too anxious, and that’s one of the things that Robert helped me fix.”

LEONARD ELLERBE, CEO of Mayweather Promotions

“The fight was so good the first time, he’s trying to claim victory in this fight.

“Every great fighter has a great team behind them. Maidana has Robert Garcia and Sebastian Contusi, his manager. They advise him and training him well.

“This is an anticipated rematch that will be more entertaining than the first fight was.

“The last fight produced a winner, MAYHEM will produce a champion.”

STEPHEN ESPINOZA, Executive Vice President & General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports

“They called it an ‘Epic fight’, ‘Electrifying,’ ‘A relentless assault,’ ‘Mayweather’s toughest fight in years.’ Those are some of the words writers used to describe the first fight between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana.

“Some people think that Mayweather won the first fight comfortably, some others think that he won by a slimmer margin. I’m expecting this rematch to pick up right where the last one left off.

“If you look at the judges’ scorecards, they basically split the last five rounds. That’s something we don’t see in Mayweather opponents; to be competitive to the very end and to provide that much action, let alone excitement. That’s why we want to do Mayweather vs. Maidana again.

“We are absolutely happy with the financial performance of the May event. If it wasn’t a success, we certainly would not be doing a direct rematch four months later.”

SEBASTIAN CONTURSI, Marcos Maidana’s Manager

“Maidana deserved a rematch and Mayweather gave it to him because deep down he feels he has to prove himself.

“The driving force behind Maidana is not only his team, it is also the Latino Power.

“Maidana’s empowerment comes from the Latino power that’s going to help him make history on September 13 and end Floyd’s reign.”

ERIC GOMEZ, Senior VP of Golden Boy Promotions

“Golden Boy Promotions is happy to work once again with Mayweather Promotions. We are committed to bringing the best fights to the public and that’s what we are doing with this rematch.

“I’m told this is the greatest city in the world and that’s why we bring the best fighter in the world to kick off the MAYHEM press tour.

“He’s a little bit like Superman [Floyd Mayweather]. He can do it all. He can box. He can punch. But guess what? Even Superman has a weakness and we saw a little bit of that weakness in that first fight. Some call him Chino, but we call him Mr. Kryptonite.”

ROBERT GARCIA, Maidana’s Trainer

“We are glad Maywweather is giving us the rematch. He’s a tremendous warrior and a tremendous fighter, but we know that we are going to go out and give everybody what they want to see: a great fight.”

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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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