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GOLOVKIN,VILORIA AND MADIYEV LOS ANGELES MEDIA WORKOUTS AND QUOTES

Published

9 years ago

October 7, 2015

The Sweet Science

GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, BRIAN VILORIA AND RUSLAN MADIYEV

LOS ANGELES MEDIA WORKOUTS PHOTOS AND QUOTES

Photos by Chris Farina, K2 Promotions/Golden Boy Promotions

Footage by K2 Promotions/Golden Boy Promotions

LA Media Workout VIDEO

LA Media Workout PHOTOS

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 7, 2015) Boxing Superstar and WBA, IBO and WBC “Interim” Middleweight Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, (33-0, 30KOs),Four-Time World Champion in two weight divisions, Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria, (36-4 (22KOs) and top junior welterweight prospect Ruslan Madiyev, 5-1-0 (3KOs) held media workouts for a huge gathering of local press on Tuesday afternoon at the Wild Card West Boxing Gym in Santa Monica, California.

Golovkin, (33-0, 30KOs), will battle IBF Middleweight World Champion David Lemieux, (34-2, 31KOs) in a Middleweight World Championship Title Unification bout on Saturday, Oct. 17 at the “Mecca of Boxing”Madison Square Garden and LIVE on HBO Pay-Per-View. Golovkin has knocked out an astounding 20 opponents in a row and will be making his 15th world championship defense. His 91% knockout percentage is the highest in the history of the middleweight division.

In the highly anticipated televised co-feature, Viloria, (36-4, 22KOs), will challenge

Consensus #1 Pound-For-Pound Fighter and WBC Flyweight World Champion, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, (43-0, 37KOs). A duel citizen of the United States and the

Philippines, Viloria also represented the United States in the 2000 Olympics. He has previously held world titles in the junior flyweight and flyweight divisions.

Top junior welterweight prospect, Ruslan Madiyev, (5-1-0, 3KO’s) will also be fighting in a scheduled four round bout against an opponent to be announced. The 21-year-old Madiyev is trained by the renowned Abel Sanchez alongside Golovkin in Big Bear Lake, California.

Below are what the fighters and their teams had to say:

GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, WBA, IBO and WBC Interim Middleweight Champion:

“Training camp is a little bit new, a little bit different, not like any of the others. New ideas and new strategies and it’s very interesting. We have different sparring partners because of his style.”

“Lemieux is a champion and he feels like a champion and this is a unification fight. I think he is ready for a unification fight and he understands the situation. He is smarter now

because of his experience in his recent fights.”

“Right now he feels better because he has a stronger team. He gets to talk with Oscar and Bernard. Bernard tells him, I remember my fight at Madison Square Garden against Tito. Right now he is acting like a star – I see the videos – and of course he is a star.”

“Madison Square Garden is a beautiful place with a beautiful team and I have a lot of respect for that place. HBO Pay-per-view is the last step – it is the top.”

“This is going to be like a street fight. He has a good style – almost like amateur style. I will beat any style – amateur style or brawl style. He will be a good test for me.”

You have a strong chin?

“Yes, and I thank my parents for my strong chin. Lemieux will be a test for my chin. But it’s not just my chin. It is distance and discipline, timing and style.”

“I am a regular guy. I am a regular man. (The power) also comes from my parents. This is boxing. It’s not just because I have power. Power comes from every step, timing, it’s the style where every second is important and I give credit to Abel Sanchez and my team.”

“Every fight is different and every fight is difficult. This is a big step, but first it is a big test and everyone understands that this step is much bigger.”

(Cotto or Canelo next?)

“It doesn’t matter and I don’t think about it. For me? Whoever is number one. I want all of the belts in the middleweight division and I will fight whoever is number one and it doesn’t matter who it is. I don’t like business. I like old school – who is number one?”

“I think this fight is more technical for me, and maybe for him too.”

“It is very interesting for me because right now he is a star. With power alone, he could go maybe three or four rounds with me. If he boxes he could go twelve rounds. Every second is very important – every round – every step.”

(Does his knockout strength mean anything to you?)

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“He has his style. I like my style and my work.”

“I love my life. I am happy. My wife is happy. My son goes to school and he is happy. I have a car. Three or four Rolls Royce or Bentley? For what?”

BRIAN “HAWAIIAN PUNCH” VILORIA, Former Four-Time World Champion in Two Weight Divisions:

“I want it more. I have preparing myself for this type of event, I have been wanting this for this so long. I have so much more fire now.”

“The styles make the fights, a lot of people know that it is going to be an action packed fight and a lot of people gravitate towards that.”

“Finally, we have been wanting this fight for the past two years and to finally have it here, it is exciting.”

“I have never seen a guy to take it to him and I feel like I will be that fighter that will step up to him.”

“Can’t wait. I am prepared and I want time to move faster. I am mentally, physically ready for this fight and ready to show the world what can happen.”

“This is going to be the best Viloria that people have ever seen.”

ABEL SANCHEZ, Head Trainer to Gennady Golovkin:

“This preparation has been different. Finally, he has gotten someone who he considers as a threat. Someone that he feels will give him a fight for as long as it lasts.”

“All the great fighters have been hurt and if that happens how is he going to react? But I am confident that it won’t go twelve, he is going to go down as one of the best punchers and best middleweights ever.”

TOM LOEFFLER, Managing Director of K2 Promotions:

“It has been a great camp. Sparring has been going along well. This is the biggest fight and biggest puncher of his career and it’s two champions fighting each other, that is why people and the media are gravitating towards this fight.”

“He has been training hard with Abel and focused on sparring making sure he is ready for a power puncher like Lemieux. ”

RUSLAN MADIYEV, Welterweight Prospect:

“Training has been going well, I have been training with Gennady for the past year as part of my training camp.”

“There is a lot of intensity a whole different workout. I have grown a lot technically but also feel a lot stronger.”

“It is a dream come true to fight at Madison Square Garden and I am going to show all the fans an exciting fight.”

Golovkin vs. Lemieux is presented by K2 Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with GGG Promotions and Eye of the Tiger Management. The event will take place Saturday, October 17 from Madison Square Garden and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. ET and the first fight begins at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Tickets for GOLOVKIN vs. LEMIEUX are on sale now and priced at $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50 and can purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online atwww.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com.

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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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