The telecast kicks off with the exclusive replay of the Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux middleweight unification fight plus the flyweight showdown Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez vs. Brian Viloria. Both fights took place Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden.
Official Weights from Omaha:
Terence Crawford: 140 lbs.
Dierry Jean: 140 lbs.
Fight Week continues Today with the Final Press Conference which will be open to the public and streamed live from CenturyLink Center Omaha (455 North 10th St., Omaha, Neb. 68102), beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT via www.toprank.tv. Undefeated two-division world champion and the reigning Fighter of the Year, TERENCE “Bud” CRAWFORD (26-0, 18 KOs), Omaha’s favorite son, is two days away from his homecoming defense of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight title against one-time world title challenger and current No. 6 world-rated contender, DIERRY “Dougy Style” JEAN (29-1, 20 KOs), a native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who now fights out of Montréal, Québec, Canada. Crawford vs. Jean takes place This Saturday! October 24, at CenturyLink Center Omaha. The championship event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®, beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.
The two warriors boast a near-perfect combined record of 55-1 (38 KOs) — a winning ratio of 98% with nearly 70% of those victories coming by way of knockout.
Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Tecate, remaining reserved seat tickets to the Crawford vs. Jean world championship event, priced at $27, $52, $77 and $127, are available at the CenturyLink Center Omaha box office and all Ticketmaster outlets. To charge-by-phone call (800) 745-3000. To order online, visit ticketmaster.com.
TERENCE CRAWFORD
“Dierry Jean is a good fighter. I am not overlooking him. There is a lot at stake for both of us. One of the secrets to my success has been to never look past an opponent or train less than 110% for a fight. It’s all about focus and keeping the blinders on. If you don’t respect the talents of the man in the opposite corner then you’re asking for trouble.
“It was a great honor being the [2014] Fighter of the Year. It was so big. A lot of great fighters never won it and for me to win it at such an early age is quite humbling.
“This will be MY show on Saturday night. Jean will not dictate the fight to me.
“Who cares if Jean sparred with Manny Pacquiao? That’s sparring.
“Bodywise, I feel comfortable and much stronger at 140 than I did at 135.
“I feel great being home in Omaha. I can’t think of a better place to make the first defense of my junior welterweight world title. It’s going to be a great fight and a great event. I am so Omaha. I wear it on my trunks…on my sleeve…and in my heart.
DIERRY JEAN
”Terence Crawford is the HBO darling. But I will hurt him.
“Fighting in Omaha will have no effect on me. No pressure. I’m not here to win over Crawford’s hometown fans. I’m here to beat their champion.
“My training camp lasted eight weeks and I sparred with southpaw and orthodox fighters switching up every two rounds.
“I was a sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao in his last camp. He taught me how to fight a southpaw. I even used the shoulder roll on him. Manny was so quick and strong. He threw his whole body into every punch.
“I love being the underdog. I’m always the underdog. I’m used to it. I’m going to show everyone that I’m the top man in the junior welterweight division. I’m going to shock the world! Everything is in my favor.
“I’m dedicating this fight to my big brother who passed away two months ago. I plan to go to Haiti after the fight and visit his grave.
“I learned a lot from my loss to Lamont Peterson when we fought last year. It was my first world title fight. I went full out trying to get the early knockout and by the fourth round I was really gassed. I rallied in the later rounds but then I ran my tank empty.
“This time I’m going to box Crawford and if I catch him with a good punch I will finish him. It’s all about being first…first with the jab and first with the counter punch.”
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The 2014 BWAA Fighter of the Year returns to the ring before an admiring hometown crowd with a new junior welterweight crown to defend when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: TERENCE CRAWFORD VS. DIERRY JEAN is seen SATURDAY, OCT. 24 at 9:30 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Century Link Center in Omaha, Neb. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Other HBO playdates: Oct. 25 (9:00 a.m.) and 26 (11:30 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Oct. 25 (3:30 p.m.) and 27 (11:00 p.m.)
Omaha native Terence Crawford (26-0, 18 KOs), who turned 28 on Sept. 28, has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past two years, and was recently honored by the BWAA as 2014’s Fighter of the Year. He overwhelmed Thomas Dulorme in April to earn a new title belt at 140 pounds. Now, he returns to a venue that will be filled with supporters, striving to enhance his standing as one of the sport’s greatest talents.
Dierry Jean (29-1, 20 KOs), 33, a native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti and now based in Montreal, is riding a four-bout winning streak, three of them by knockout. He is looking to score one of the top upsets in a weight class filled with exciting fighters and matchups.
Scheduled for 12 rounds, the Crawford-Jean bout was originally part of a previously announced doubleheader that also included a heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury, which was postponed to Nov. 28 due to injury.
Leading off the telecast will be the exclusive replay of two sensational title bouts that took place last Saturday night at a sold out Madison Square Garden. Middleweight title-holder and 160-pound powerhouse Gennady Golovkin remained undefeated and registered his 21st consecutive ring KO with an eighth-round TKO victory over David Lemieux and flyweight champ Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez scored a thrilling ninth-round TKO against challenger Brian Viloria, reaffirming his standing as the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound attraction.
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The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Dave Harmon; director, Johnathan Evans.
® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.