Articles

BJ Flores: “At 200 Lbs. I’ve Never Lost, I’m Not Going to Lose on Saturday Night”

Published

9 years ago

July 24, 2015

Michael Woods

PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS ON NBCSN

FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE

(Photo Credit: Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions)

LAS VEGAS (July 23, 2015) – Fighters competing in a pair of exciting cruiserweight matchups on Saturday’s Premier Boxing Champions on NBCSN event held a final press conference Thursday in advance of their July 25 bouts at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort.

Televised coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and is headlined by former world champion Beibut Shumenov (15-2, 10 KOs) taking on B.J. Flores (31-1-1, 20 KOs) in a 12-round showdown. A 10-round battle between undefeated fighters Jordan Shimmell (19-0, 16 KOs) and Isiah Thomas (14-0, 6 KOs) will also be featured on the telecast.

Rounding out the televised action is a 10-round featherweight battle between former world champion Rico Ramos (24-4, 12 KOs) and Claudio Marrero (18-1, 13 KOs) plus eight-round of cruiserweight action featuring undefeated knockout artist Andrew “The Beast” Tabiti (10-0, 10 KOs) taking on Roberto Santos (12-1, 5 KOs).

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and TGB Promotions, are priced at $100.50, $75.50, $50.50, and $20.50, plus applicable fees and are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling the Pearl Box Office at 702-994-3200 or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

Here is what the participants had to say Thursday:

BEIBUT SHUMENOV

“I’m very happy to be part of PBC. My training camp was excellent, my best because I wasn’t stressed about losing weight. I’m blessed to have a great coach, Ismael Salas, and assistant coaches Jeff Grmoja and Rodney Crisler.

“All the work has been done for Saturday night. I want to fight the best to prove that I’m the best cruiserweight in the world.

“I’m really happy for this opportunity. I feel reborn since I met my new trainer. I’ve changed and I feel like it’s a new beginning. I want to fight the best fighters in the world.

“Every day we work hard on fundamentals to improve my skills and conditioning. Each day I learn.

“I feel much better as a cruiserweight without stress on my body like I did when I had to make 175 pounds. Now, I just focus on getting better instead of making weight.

“Flores has been a cruiserweight for a long time. Fighting an opponent like him is a good opportunity for me.

“If I pass the test, I want to unify the titles.”

B.J. FLORES

“I want to thank everyone on my team for having faith in me and believing me. This is a great opportunity for my career.

“I’m very excited about this night and this whole event. We have a great night of cruiserweight boxing. I’ve kept an eye on all of these guys because you never know who you’ll fight and now we’re all up here on the dais.

“As I look back in my career there are a lot of things I would have changed and things I would have done differently. I’ve had different promoters and switched things around a lot. I feel like this Saturday, I have the chance to erase all the wrongs from my career.

“Something that is very motivating for me is my one loss, when I traveled over to Australia to fight Danny Green.

“At 200-pounds I’ve never lost and I’m not going to lose on Saturday night.

“I have a lot of confidence and a lot of motivation coming into this fight. Beibut is a good fighter and I’ve taken this challenge more seriously than any other fight in my entire life.

“I know the dangers that this man possesses and I’ll be ready for them on Saturday. I’m going to lay it all out on the line and cement my entire career on Saturday night.

“I’m looking forward to stepping into the ring with Beibut. He’s a very good fighter. They don’t give light heavyweight world titles for free or because they’re easy. He earned it. Everything he’s gotten in his career he’s earned and I’m looking to get mine on Saturday night.”

JORDAN SHIMMELL

“I feel ready. I’m prepared. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for quite a while now. I trained hard and feel healthy. I just have to perform well and show everything I have on Saturday.

“From a young age it was always a dream of mine to be on this stage. Making it here now, I just want to further my career and perform well so I can do that.

“Anytime you get to fight in Vegas it’s an exciting thing. This is the boxing headquarters of the world. Being on the main stage on television is very exciting.

“I know Isiah is a quick guy, so we’ve been working a lot of speed, quickness and movement. I pride myself on not getting hit often. I want to continue that and make it an easier fight on Saturday.

“Fighting on this PBC card is definitely a big motivation because it’s where I’ve wanted to be. I want to get another opportunity to fight on television and if I perform well I think that will do it.

“I’m a good well-rounded fighter that can do a bit of everything. That’s what makes my fights easier, because I’m able to switch up styles.

“I represent the whole state of Michigan in this fight. I want to rep the state and eventually the whole country.

“Quite possibly one of those guys who was up on stage with me could a future opponent. Those are the top guys in the division and they’re all great fighters so I would look forward to any fight my team puts together.”

ISIAH THOMAS

“I’m very excited, it’s great to be fighting in Las Vegas for the first time. I’ve said it before though, it doesn’t matter where I fight, my emotions are always in check and I’m just ready to go to work.

“Training camp was excellent. I was five weeks into training camp when I got this fight so everything is 100 percent.

“I’ve worked on staying busy, throwing a lot of punches and using angles. I’ll outwork him or outland him. I’m going to use my speed and my boxing skills.

“I’m a puncher-boxer with great ring generalship. I’m an all-around fighter. I want to get in the ring and look spectacular.

“I’m just going to work every night, if the knockout comes I’ll go for it. But it’s more about just looking impressive.

“To be a part of the PBC movement means a lot. They’re bringing back the history of boxing and to be a part of the movement is really important to me.”

ANDREW TABITI

“I’m ready to fight. I’ve worked hard to prepare myself to fight. Come Saturday it’s just going to be a regular day in the ring.

“Everything I do is setup, it’s like chess. I try to be smart and not take too much punishment. I want to catch guys when they make mistakes.

“I’m prepared for my opponent and the Mexican-style he’ll bring into the ring. I plan on him ending up like the rest of them.

“Being in the Mayweather gym is great because there’s so many different kinds of fighters in there. It feels like a fight every day. It gets your mind ready for the stage like this. There’s all kinds of people looking at you and it helps you get ready mentally.

“I’d like to fight any of the guys on the stage today. I want to make good fights and bring the cruiserweight division back.”

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Michael Woods

Articles

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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Articles

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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Articles

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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