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Quotes From Final Rios-Antillon Press Conference

Published

13 years ago

July 7, 2011

The four fighters who'll fight on SHOWTIME (left-to-right) — Cintron, Rios, Antillon and Molina. (Chris Farina-Top Rank)

WBA LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION BRANDON RIOS,
CHALLENGER URBANO ANTILLON, KERMIT CINTRON,

CARLOS MOLINA, PROMOTER BOB ARUM AND MORE

FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Wednesday, July 6,

Wilshire Grand Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Doubleheader This Saturday, July 9,

At The Home Depot Center, Carson, California,

Live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT

LOS ANGELES (July 6, 2011) – Aside from some one-on-one, in-your-face jawing during a face-off for photographers, both Brandon “Bam Bam’’ Rios and Urbano Antillon were well-behaved and civil to each other during Wednesday’s final press conference for their highly anticipated world title fight this Saturday, July 9, live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).

Rios and Antillon had spent weeks jawing, and at one point the heated verbal exchanges nearly caused them to come to blows, but Wednesday at Wilshire Grand Los Angeles their focus solo was on Saturday when Rios (27-0-1, 19 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., defends his World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight championship against Antillon (28-2, 20 KOs), of Maywood, Calif., in the main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

In the Top Rank-promoted co-feature at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs), of Carolina, Puerto Rico, makes his first start in more than a year against Mexico’s Carlos Molina (18-4-2, 6 KOs), of Chicago, in a 10-round junior middleweight match.

The SHOWTIME telecast also will include highlights from overseas as IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (28-0, 23 KOs) defends his title for an eighth time – but first in his home country of Romania – against mandatory challenger Jean-Paul Mendy (29-0-1, 16 KOs) of France.

In top undercard, non-televised fights at The Home Depot Center, unbeaten, No, 2-ranked World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight contender Mercito Gesta (21-0-1, 11 KOs), of Cebu, Philippines, meets had-hitting Jorge “El Tigre” Pimental (23-11, 17 KOs) of Sonora, Mex., undefeated former Notre Dame champion Mike Lee (5-0, 3 KOs) of Chicago takes on Michael Birthmark (2-5, 0 KOs) of Billings, Montana, in a light heavyweight bout and promising super bantamweight Gabino Saenz (3-0, 3 KOs), of Indio, Calif., will try to maintain his unblemished record against Quinice Wesby (1-1, 0 KOs) of Dallas.

Tickets, priced at $125, $75, $50 and $25, are available at all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.Ticketmaster.com as well as The Home Depot Center Box Office (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Suites are available by calling (877) 604-8777. The first live, non-televised fight Saturday starts at 4:05 p.m. PT. Doors open at 4.

What they said Wednesday:

PROMOTER BOB ARUM

“This is the fight that the fans want to see. A very limited number of tickets are still available and we are expecting a sellout. So get your tickets now.

“This is a fight that the casual fan will see and want to get back into boxing as real fans. This is the kind of fight that makes the casual fan a real fan of boxing. This is the kind of fight where they see that there is no other sport in the world as exciting as boxing.

“Kermit Cintron got a bad rap for what happened against Paul Williams. It was another typical media assassination. He was on his way to beating Williams and then somehow it gets written up that he gets tripped up and flies out of the ring like Superman and didn’t come back. That’s not what happened.

“There’s nothing in boxing like the passion involved in a neighborhood war. Unlike what I was used to in New York where we had distinct neighborhoods, here we have areas in Southern California which really have replaced neighborhoods. We have Maywood against Oxnard and people have been talking about this fight for a long, long time.”

BRANDON RIOS:

“I am 100 percent and they say they are a 100 percent so that equals a big force that’s going to be in the ring.

“It’s not just SHOWTIME now, it is war time. There will be no boxing on Saturday night. We are both brawlers who will try to beat the crap out of each other. Our skills are pretty much the same, no skill … just your typical street fight.

“For the first time in my life I’m actually going to make weight days before the weigh-in. I can’t believe it. It’s because I’m working with my new strength and conditioning coach Henry Castro. He’s been working my butt off.”

ROBERT GARCIA (Rios’ Trainer):

“We are just days away and we can’t wait for Saturday night. All the work has been done. Brandon’s never been in better shape and has never worked as hard for a fight.

“We have a world title to defend here. This is serious business so there’s no more messing around.

“I can’t wait. I’m so excited, just like Brandon is for Saturday night.”

URBANO ANTILLON:

“The moment is almost here and it’s a day I’ve been waiting for for awhile. We are both tough fighters and we want to leave it all out in the ring and that’s what we’re going to do.

“We are two guys who come forward and that’s what we’re going to do on Saturday night. We will both impose our will and someone will get broken down.

“This is a pivotal fight for me, one of the biggest of my career. This is the goal I’ve always had for myself, to be fighting the best there is.”

ABEL SANCHEZ (Antillon’s Trainer):

“I think it’s time for all the talking to stop and to get these boys in the ring to settle this.

“We’ve had a great training camp and so has Robert’s guy. This is my fourth camp with Urbano and he’s finally gotten it – finally bought into the system. We totally changed his method of training. In the Soto fight he was tentative and not that confident. You could tell. And he was two pounds overweight at the weigh-in. Now there are no problems and we are ready to go.”

KERMIT CINTRON

“It’s a great opportunity for me to be fighting for Top Rank and I thank them, my team, SHOWTIME, and everyone involved for making this fight happen. I’ve been waiting for my moment to shine and this is it.

“This is my first fight in 14 months and I’m ready to go. I’ve trained very hard. I think the time off did me good. Spending time with my family and kids did wonders for me and it gave my body a break. I’m re-energized and feel like I did before I took the time off.

“There is no pressure on me, but I’m actually looking to win the fight impressively. I know Molina pretty well. He helped me get ready for the second fight with Antonio Margarito and he gave me good work. Carlos is a crafty fighter who comes to win. I expect him to give it his all, and I’ll be ready for anything he brings. This is going to be a great fight.

“If everything goes OK on Saturday, my next fight will be back down at 147 pounds.’’

RONNIE SHIELDS (Cintron’s Trainer)

“Molina is a good fighter and a tough opponent, which is what Kermit needs. But we had a great camp, Kermit trained hard and he is ready.

“I’ve been asked a lot why we’re fighting such a tough guy after a year-plus layoff and the reason is that Kermit is one of the best fighters in the world.

“He knows Molina and I’d rather have Kermit fight someone that he knows is going to be tough rather than fight some guy he doesn’t know and maybe won’t work and train so hard for. If Kermit respects you, he’ll work his butt off, which is what he’s done for Molina.

“We wanted someone who would bring out the best in Kermit.’’

CARLOS MOLINA

“Everyone who knows me knows that I come to fight and that I will always give my best in the ring. This is a good opportunity and I’m going to try to win all the way. I’ve been in some very close fights with some very good fighters so I have the experience to fight a guy with the experience of Cintron.

“I want to thank Top Rank and Bob Arum. I’m ready to go and put up a helluva fight.’’

GABINO SAENZ

“I’m very excited to be fighting for Top Rank and looking forward to a good fight on Saturday. I don’t know much about my opponent but I fought in enough tournaments during the amateurs to know how to deal with the unknown. I’ll just fight my fight and adapt when I have to.

“To be able to sign with Top Rank is as good as it gets. They are the biggest promoter out there and they know how to move a fighter and help us make a name for ourselves. I’m hoping for a good performance on Saturday and looking forward to fighting on a lot of their shows. I’ll fight anybody they tell me to.’’

MIKE LEE

“I want to thank Top Rank for this fight and I’m excited to be fighting on this card. I’m looking forward to showing the kinds of skills we’ve been working on in camp.

“I really want to thank my team. They are the reason I’m standing here at this press conference and they are the reason why I’m undefeated.’’

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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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