The latest boxing interviews from boxers all over the world
Aaron Martinez, West Covina, California has a record of (19-3-1, 4 KOs). He made his bones on the southern California boxing circuit, and knows how valuable this opportunity to face Guerrero is on such a big platform. Martinez never takes a backward step, never tires, and that’s his primary weapon: incredible stamina. With the styles of Guerrero-Martinez, this main event has all the makings of another action-packed StubHub Center war to add to the venue’s history.
Up-and-coming Australian welterweight Jeff Horn, 9 (7)-0-1 takes on the WBA 11th ranked Ghanaian Richmond Djarbeng, 19(15)-2-1 in a fight that you sense both fighters are not just coming to win, but win in impressive fashion.
For those in the know Jeff Horn has been tabbed as the most talented Australian fighter to emerge in the last decade and with a year that has so far been slowed with hand surgery the likeable yet destructive fighter is keen to make up for lost time. We caught up with Jeff to talk about his upcoming fight with Djarbeng and to also hear his thoughts on where the welterweight division is heading over the next 12 months and his role in it.
“Robert Mitchum was a father figure to me.” “[Marlon] Brando was great.” “Christopher Reeve was a jerk and I was just about to kick the s**t out of him!” “Cleveland Williams hit me harder than any other human being.” “Muhammad Ali asked me to get his brother out of boxing.”
Most famous for his role as mute villain, ‘Non’ in the blockbuster ‘Superman’ films, 73-year-old Jack O’Halloran was also an accomplished pro boxer who met a number of big names in the 1960s and ’70s. In compiling a 34-21-2(17) ledger, the strapping 6’6” Philadelphia-born giant – who fought out of Boston – rumbled with, amongst others, George Foreman, Cleveland Williams, Joe Bugner and Ron Lyle.
Chris Algieri – Hello, everybody. I’d like to thank Lou DiBella Entertainment. It’s a pleasure to be back at Barclays Center. We fought a year ago last June, had a great fight, won my first world title. I’m also excited to be fighting on Spike. Thank you for hosting the event. It’s a whole new network to fight on. I’m very excited about it all.
Amir Khan Hello, everyone. I want to say hi to all the press and media. Brett Yormark is a friend of mine from Barclays Center. I’m very excited to fight at the Barclays Center. I’ve been there a few times. I always said that I want to come over here and give New York a huge fight, bring boxing there. I have a big fan base from New York. I’m sure Chris Algieri also has a big fan base. But we’re going to come and make some noise.
Danny O’Connor – I want to thank everyone for being here. I’m very excited about this opportunity to fight Paul and to come down to New York and showcase my skills at Barclays Center. I’ve worked my whole career for this. I put a lot of effort and sacrifice in my life to get here. I’m very excited and I’m ready for the task at hand.
Q – Danny, in a situation where you’re fighting a guy who in his last fight was TKO’d, does that make you think of coming in a different way than you ordinarily might, target him and be more aggressive than usual?
D. O’Connor – No, I don’t. Anything can happen on any given night in boxing. That’s what we do. Because of that, I’m not looking at anything differently.
Abel Sanchez: Hi. Good morning, guys. We’re looking forward to—what is it ten days from now eleven days from now, putting on another fantastic show. We’re fortunate to have a young man in Willie Monroe who I know is going to come to fight and provide us with that exciting fight that we haven’t had. Well, actually last week was not as exciting as this one’s going to be, so hopefully Willie’s in great shape. I know that Tony’s getting him ready, so we’re looking forward to this Saturday night.
Tom Loeffler: And then I also want to introduce the WBA, the WBC Interim Champion, IBO Middleweight Champion, 32-0 with 29 knockouts, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.
Artie Pelullo: Hi, guys. Hello. Good morning to everybody. I guess the opening statement that I would like to make is I would like to thank Gennady Golovkin and Tom Loeffler for giving Willie Monroe this opportunity. As we all know, Willie is number two in the world, and the reason why we’re here is because of how well he did in 2014 by winning four fights in a row, including the tournament that ESPN had the ability and the foresight to put on called Boxcino. And then Willie came back and then won a unanimous decision after winning the tournament against Bryan Vera, which now has put him in the status to challenge the best middleweight in the world, and it’s going to be a very interesting fight.
Canelo Alvarez – Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be here with you.
O. De La Hoya – Great. So, now we can open it up for questions. Thank you.
Q – Okay, great. First of all, I’d like you to ask Canelo, he’s coming back to another city in Texas in Houston when he was in San Antonio a couple years ago and he had that huge crowd for the Austin Trout fight. I want to know how pumped up is he because by all accounts, you’re going to have another crowd similar in size in a different city in Houston for this fight. How much does he feel that love from his fans, particularly the Mexicans and the Mexican-Americans and get him motivated, let’s say, for this kind of fight?
Oscar De La Hoya – Thank you very much to all the press. We are excited to be on this conference call. We are more than just a little over a couple weeks away with Canelo-Kirkland which will be a 12-round super welterweight showdown. It would be and it should be an explosive night, one to remember, live from Minute Maid Park in Houston. Tickets are going extremely well. Tickets are still available, so I urge you to get your tickets fast as we expect a sellout crowd.
I am extremely proud to be announcing that this event is being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Canelo Promotions and SMS Promotions and Leija Battah Promotions. I want to thank the sponsors as well: Corona Extra and Mexico-Live it to Believe it, Fred Loya Insurance and also O’Reilly Auto Parts. Thank you for your support.
Floyd Mayweather
Hey, how is everyone doing? I want to thank Leonard. I want to thank Kelly. I want to thank my team. I want to thank all the media from around the world that have been covering this fight. I want to thank everyone, I just want to say that you guys are doing a great job and I appreciate you.
Q
That thing on SportsCenter the other night, when you were talking about your place in boxing history and you said you thought you were greater than Muhammad Ali. Can you expand on your reasons why you feel that way?