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MATTHYSSE VS. PROVODNIKOV FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE
MATTHYSSE VS. PROVODNIKOV FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Photo Credit: Golden Boy Promotions
VERONA, NEW YORK (April 16) – Members of the media and fans got a preview of what to expect in the ring on Saturday with former World Champions Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse and “The Siberian Rocky” Ruslan Provodnikov during today’s final press conference for Matthysse vs. Provodnikov at the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY.
In what is sure to be an all-action fight to remember and a treat all fight fans are excited for, Argentina’s Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (36-3, 34 KOs) will look to reign over a new division at 147 pounds and has picked Ruslan Provodnikov “The Siberian Rocky” (24-3, 17 KOs), the toughest available foe, for the ultimate test. Due to unprecedented demand, tickets are now sold-out but fans can catch all the action live on HBO Boxing After Dark beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
Below is what the fighters, promoters and trainers had to say today at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY.
LUCAS MATTHYSSE, Former Interim WBC Super Lightweight World Champion:
“I want to thank Oscar and Mario for making this fight happen. I want to thank Ruslan for accepting the fight. I am very happy.
“We did a great job in training camp, and I am prepared and ready for Ruslan. I am going to give a great performance on Saturday.”
RUSLAN PROVODNIKOV, Former WBO Super Lightweight World Champion:
“I want thank everyone for being here and supporting this event, and I want to thank all who made this fight happen, Golden Boy Promotions, Banner Promotions and HBO.
“I am glad Lucas and team are so sure of themselves because I am positive that once I am in the ring my actions will speak for themselves. I am here to win and I will do everything to win this fight.
“No one can stop my will, my will, will not be broken.
“I fight for an idea, for myself, for the people and to make history. I am fighting one of the best fighters, and I feel like this will make history. I don’t do it for the fame or the money.
“I met Bernard a long time ago and he told me: ‘make your own history,’ and I feel like I have been doing that.
“This is going to make a great fight, the fans have waited long for, and let the best man win.”
OSCAR DE LA HOYA, President and Founder of Golden Boy Promotions:
“It’s a pleasure to be working side by side with Banner Promotions and HBO, making this great fight, the fight that the fans want to watch.
“When I was here at Turning Stone Resort Casino last year for the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction, I stood up and preached on how we should put aside our egos to make fights for the fans. This is the perfect example of what boxing can be when you have two great fighters face each other in the ring. Putting on the great fight is what Banner Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions is all about.
“HBO is one of the best partners in the business, they are committed to putting on the best fights on television. When you watch HBO, you know it’s the best.
“Mario is the top promoter in Argentina, a partner who understands our philosophy, and he trusts us. They have been instrumental to put on the best boxing in the last 10 years. We have to thank partners like him for our success.
“Lucas is one of the best fighters to come out of Argentina. He has a great fighting spirit. He has the best combination of being a brawler and can also box and move when he wants to. This great combination makes him a boxer-puncher, which makes him fun to watch.
“Lucas’ record speaks for himself, with one of the best percentages of knockouts in the sport.”
ARTIE PELULO, President of Banner Promotions:
“This is going to be the best fight of the year.
“I have to thank my partners at Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya and Eric Gomez. It’s very rare and great that two fighters in their prime have decided to face each other in the ring.
“I want to thank Turning Stone Resort Casino, they are a first class operation.
“Both these fighters have gotten here fighting tough, top fighters. They want to fight the best just like Oscar and Bernard who are here today. Ruslan and Lucas believe that they are the best, they are fighting each other in their prime, something that is very rare in the sport.”
BERNARD HOPKINS, Future Hall of Famer and Golden Boy Promotions Partner:
“We are here to make the best fights. The kinds of fights the fans want to see.
“I want to address the media: you all get a chance to write about good fights, you follow them and you know who the fighters need to fight to be on the highest level. To be able to continue to put on the best fights, we need you to put pressure on us to continue to do strive to put on the fights the fans want to see.
“Here, you have two great warriors in Lucas and Ruslan. The fight was talked about and then it was done, and that is what boxing is all about. We want to start a good vibe in the boxing world.”
MARIO ARANO, Manager to Lucas Matthysse:
“We are very happy and thankful to be here. I want to thank HBO, Golden Boy Promotions and Banner Promotions for making this fight happen. I want to personally thank Artie Pelullo and Ruslan for accepting the fight.
“Team Matthysse has done a great job in getting Lucas in the best shape for this fight. Lucas has worked really hard and is prepared to bring the best possible fight against Ruslan on Saturday.
“Lucas belongs in the major leagues, and on Saturday he will show the world why.”
VADIM KORNILOV, Manager for Ruslan Provodnilkov:
“I want to thank the whole team for making this fight happen.
“Ruslan is ready for this fight, this is something he has been waiting for to show that be is the best in his weight class.
“I also want to thank Oscar De La Hoya for saying that the winner of Matthysse – Provodnikov should fight the winner of Mayweather -Pacaquio, Oscar that fighter will be Ruslan.”
ANDREI NAPOLSKIKH, Co-manager for Ruslan Provodnikov:
“This is one of the fights Ruslan has been waiting for, and we are looking forward to a good fight on Saturday, April 18.”
LUIS “CUTY” BARRERA, Trainer for Lucas Matthysse:
“On Saturday, Lucas will prove he belongs with all the greats in the sport.”
MARVIN SOMODIO, Trainer for Ruslan Provodnikov:
“I would like to thank Oscar, Golden Boy Promotions and Banner Promotions for the opportunity. I also want to thank Freddie Roach for having us be part of his team.
“This is my third time at Turning Stone Resort Casino. The first two times we were victorious, and this time I know it will be the same.”
RAY HALBRITTER, Oneida Nation Representative and Nation Enterprises CEO:
“We are honored to be hosting these two great fighters, and we are happy they chose Turning Stone Resort Casino.
“This is Turning Stone’s 50th nationally broadcast fight in two years.
“The build up for this fight is warranted, and we look forward to an exciting night on Saturday, April 18.”
Due to the unprecedented demand to see this surefire “Fight of the Year,” tickets are completely sold out.
Doors on Saturday, April 18 open at 7:00 p.m. with the first bout scheduled for 8:00 p.m. and the HBO Boxing After Dark telecast at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
Matthysse vs. Provodnikov is a 12-round junior welterweight bout presented by Banner Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions in association with Arano Box Promotions and is sponsored by Corona Extra, Mexico, Live it To Believe It! and Khortytsa Vodka. Doors are currently scheduled to open at 6:00 p.m. ET with the first bout scheduled for 6:50 p.m. ET and the HBO Boxing After Dark telecast will being at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
Professional media requesting credentials for the April 18 fight must contact Kelly Abdo, Turning Stone Resort Casino Public Relations Manager at 315.366.9291 orkelly.abdo@turningstone.com.
For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.banner-promotions.com, www.hbo.com/boxing and www.turningstone.com follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @BannerBoxing, @HBOBoxing, @RuslanProvod,@ TurningStone and become a fan on Facebook at Golden Boy FacebookPage, www.facebook.com/BannerPromotions, www.facebook.com/HBOBoxingorwww.facebook.com/TurningStoneResort and visit us on Instagram@GoldenBoyBoxing, @ bannerboxing, @ turningstone and @ruslanprovod.
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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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.
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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