
Brandon Rios / Robert Garcia Conf Call Transcript

Juan Carlos Gomez (51-3-0) is confident that he can “turn back time” and become cruiserweight champion again more than ten year after his last title reign. “Bernard Hopkins showed the whole world what old men are capable of”, said Gomez at a press conference today in Dachau, Germany. “And compared to Hopkins I am still a young guy! I’m not saying that I will still be world champion in eight or ten years but I know that I still have some great fights in me.”
“The Black Panther” returns to action this Friday (Nov. 1) in Dachau against journeyman Adnan Buharalija (29-18-2). The show will be broadcasted live on Eurosport. “With Hopkins beating up opponents at will and other guys like Vitali Klitschko and Guillermo Jones showing dominant performances at 40+ I feel like I’m part of a movement”, adds Gomez. “Maybe this is the age of the ageless fighter. I can only say that I hardly remember times when I felt better and stronger than right now.”
The Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios bout is fast-approaching, and boxing fans have focused their crosshairs on the topic at hand. While this fight is starting to gain more momentum in a snowball effect type of fashion, still there is much talk of the improbable bout between Mayweather Jr. vs. Bernard Hopkins.
It seems as though a shot at Mayweather Jr. is the only way to succeed in boxing, and every fighter that can see and feel the throne is aggressively attempting at securing that high profile fight.
Bernard Hopkins had suggested that he is the only one with enough ring experience and ring I.Q. to beat Mayweather Jr. His old school boxing knowledge would supposedly provide enough tricks and narrow down the learning curve to where Hopkins would be able to adjust and effectively deal with Floyd’s style.
LONDON (29 Oct) – Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao’s return to the ring against the unyielding Brandon Rios on November 23rd will be brought to UK fight fans live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch.437/Virgin Ch.546).
The eagerly anticipated matchup which sees Pacquiao make his first return to the ring since his devastating knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez will pit him against one of boxing’s most relentless warriors in the shape of Rios, in a bout certain to produce fireworks.
In the sport of boxing, the first shots of battle are often fired long before a single punch is ever thrown in the squared circle.
On November 16th, two genuine “good guys” of the sport will tangle to decide 168 pound supremacy when universally recognized Super Middleweight Champion Andre “S.O.G.” Ward steps in the ring with undefeated contender Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez.
Despite the positive and sportsmanlike reputation both combatants have garnered throughout their respective amateur and professional careers, an unexpected issue has worked its way into the pre-fight banter.
During the first official press conference, which took place in Manhattan Beach, California, on September 28th, announcing the big Super Middleweight showdown, Rodriguez declared that he would indeed be participating in the “24/7/365” drug testing program administered by VADA, Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, and publicly challenged the historically outspoken anti-drug advocate to get involved with the same program before the date of their highly anticipated championship contest.
Former WBA light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1 30 KO’s) said earlier today that he plans on fighting three times in 2014 with all three fights being on pay-per-view. Canelo will be fighting on on the following dates: March 8th, July 26th and November 22nd. His promoter Richard Schaefer says he plans on seeing if he can arrange a fight between Canelo and Miguel Cotto or Sergio Martinez. But if neither of those fights can be made, Schaefer will be looking at matching Canelo against IBF light middleweight champion Carlos Molina.
Canelo said on his twitter, “After my meeting with GBP these are the dates that will fight in 2014: March 8, 26 in July and 22 November. My three dates will be on PPV and the first opponent of March 8 will be announced in the coming weeks!”
After Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr.`s (45-0, 26KOs) twelve round domination against Saul “Canalo” Alvarez last month, garnering the World Boxing Association and the World Boxing Council`s Light Middleweight Belts, his claim of being the best pound for pound pugilist of all time, gained even more credence.
He demonstrated in his last fight that it appears that there is no one in the world that can defeat him. The last 45 opponents tried and failed and none of them besides Jose Castillo, in their first fight, even came close to conquering Mayweather. Mayweather beat him in the rematch, leaving no doubt as to who was the better boxer. Money doesn`t just win bouts, he dominates them and takes the fight to his opponents, which is made all the more impressive when considering that he`s 36 years old, has been fighting for the last 17 years and often times is facing a younger and stronger opponent, as was the case with Alvarez.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer expects WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko to vacate his WBC title at any moment now that he’s announced that he plans on running to become the president of Ukraine. Once Vitali’s title becomes vacant, Schaefer’s plans are to match Golden Boy fighter #3 WBC Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KO’s) to face #1 WBC Bermane Stiverne (23-1-1, 20 KO’s) for the vacant WBC heavyweight title in early 2014.
Schaefer said this at the post-fight press conference last Saturday following Deontay’s 4th round TKO win over Nicolai Firtha “Deontay is right there at the top 2 or 3 ratings with the WBC. With the news we got last week that Vitali Klitschko is going to be running for the president of the Ukraine, I anticipate that the [WBC] title will become vacant.
“The intensity and significance of the fight will be a great launching point for this all-new edition of ‘24/7’,” noted Bernstein. “We are eager to follow both teams, since there is so much new ground to cover, especially as both sides prepare for a fight taking place at an exciting international destination.”
Thomas W. (Conyers, GA): So many have buzzed about the legacy of Floyd Mayweather, but few in the sport give Hopkins the same respect. How would you compare the two legacies?
Vivek W. (ESB): Rather than comparing the legacies of these two men, I’d like to lay out the importance of why both legacies should be celebrated. In Floyd Mayweather, you have a man who managed to put together a level of dominance that remains unparalleled in nearly any sport. His bitter breakup with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum put him in an unfortunate situation where he wasn’t able to face certain fighters at the time; but there wasn’t a man outside of the Top Rank stable in his path who he didn’t face, and those he couldn’t face under Top Rank, he later faced away from Top Rank (Cotto & ODH). The only wildcard is Paul Williams, who decided to go north in weight when Mayweather took time off after facing Dela Hoya and Hatton. When you look at those he did face, you have a tally of close to 20 champions, and more than 10 bona fide Hall of Famer’s.