Boxing

BRIGGS AND CASTRO MEET THE PRESS!

by Tony Nobbs

11.04 - WBC number seven Paul "Hurricane" Briggs and number five Jorge "Locomotora" Castro came face to face for the first time today at the official press conference to their Light Heavyweight Eliminator at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast on Sunday afternoon. With Roy Jones having until Monday to finally decide what weight division he wants to fight in, the winner has been guaranteed a number two ranking and will be in a box seat to fight Englishman Clinton Woods for the Vacant Title if Jones decides to stay with the big guys. And if rumors amount to truths, Roy is close to signing to fight Evander Holyfield.

Briggs' trainer-manager Rod Waterhouse, who is promoting the scheduled ten rounder in association with Craig Mordey got proceedings under way at the Quest Night Club by praising the qualifications of his man's opponent and promising the Australian fight public a first class show which he said is "long overdue".

"This promotion has had to happen. This bloke (Castro) is a real fighter, a real test for Paul Briggs. A former World Champion with unbelievable experience, 134 fights. His overall record is better than anyone going around today. We want to find out where we are and if we can get past Jorge Castro we can win the World Title. We could have done what a lot of these other characters are doing and taken an easier route but we feel fight fans in this country have been cheated enough. Not mentioning any names but some of the imports we've had here recently, really, how can I put it, have not been up to scratch.

But I want to tell everyone that Castro is a pro with runs on the board and he genuinely believes he can beat us and stop us from achieving our goal of staging World Titles in Australia and end hopefully the Gold Coast.

The undercard for this fight is, I believe the best we have in Queensland, if not Australia for a long time. It's also tremendous to have Craig Mordey, Brian Mils and Billy Laws on board helping out with the final preparations for the show. These guys are the most professional outfit in the business".

Castro's promoter, Mario Arano made it clear on arrival Monday that they wanted what was translated into a "fair go mate". Before Castro spoke Arano repeated his concern through interpreter Yolanda Mc Tavish. "Before we decided on this fight, this was a big worry. We have been informed by the WBC that Australia is an honest people and Brad Vocale, the referee is an honest man. We made our final commitment on the strength of this news. This is all we want, an even chance. If we win, we win".

Castro will have Mrs Mctavish, sister in law of World Title referee Bruce McTavish in the corner on Sunday in an effort to prevent any language problems. Yolanda and her husband Alistar have been with the Argentine camp since Monday. Castro blames his only inside the distance defeat to Juan Carlos Gomez, for the WBC Cruiserweight Title two years ago in Germany on the language barrier. "I was fine, but the referee thought I could not continue. I don't want to experience this disappointment in this fight".

Castro, for his part, looked mostly bored in the surroundings, having been in big fights before. He spent a lot of time leaning back on his chair, hands behind his head (though he did listen intetively). He almost broke into a yawn once or twice. He began each answer with a shrug of the shoulders and most replies were very short.

Q: Jorge, how has your preparation been?

A: Very good. I've had seven weeks.

Q: How is your weight, you have been training with sweat gear all week?

A: Fine. I train in heavy gear all the time.

Q Have you seen Paul Briggs fight?

A: No. Only on the TV adds.

Q: What is your opinion of Briggs now you have met each other?

A: Young. Nice. Inexperienced. I mean, who has he fought?

Q: How much interest is there in Argentina in this fight?

A: A lot of interest. People are waiting for the result. They know after this, I become World Champion again.

Q: Will you win by points or do you think you will knock him out?

A: (Shaking his head) All this talk of knockouts. I don't know. Maybe points, maybe five rounds, four rounds, maybe even one round.

Q: We recently had a South American fighter come to the Gold Coast to fight Anthony Mundine, by the name of Rogerio Cacciatore. Are you familiar with him?

A: No. I don't know him. He is from Brazil, not a good fighter.

Q: If you lose to Briggs, will you retire or continue?

A: I will continue because there are other opportunities for me. But I won't lose.

Q: You are very popular in Argentina. How does your popularity compare to Maradonna?

A: Maradonna is Maradonna. We are fiends, we don't compare.

For his part, Briggs was a lot more "media friendly".

Q: Paul, how has training gone? A: Awesome. I've real y put the hard yards in. I've never put in eleven weeks for anything in my life.

Q: You have seen him fight. You obviously expect a tough encounter?

A: Sure. The fights I have seen of him, looking at his record and everything, I've had to train for the toughest ten rounds of my life. He's gonna be in there for as long as it takes me to get him out. I know he can be knocked down with nothing left and crawl on his hands and knees to get at me. He has taken this fight seriously. He only wanted to come out four days before the fight, because he couldn't bring in his sparring partners. Only last year, he went twelve with Vasily Jirov but to be honest, Jirov was a guy we were chasing when I campaigned as a Cruiserweight and looked at as a good fight for us, not a problem. I'm training for the Jorge Castro I saw in his fight with Juan Carlos Gomez, which was a hard ten rounds. But I definitely think he has underestimated me. He is looking at me as only having twenty fights. This is my eightieth fight. I've fought guys who have tried to kill me with elbows and knees. Grown men, when I was just a kid. Guys who I've given my best to and just smiled. I want to become a World Champion in boxing like I was in Kickboxing.

Q: Were you tempted to take an easier opponent?

A: This is fighting. There are a lotta pretenders out there who act like fighters but go missing when they are challenged. They want to win this Title, that Title, sneak there way in the back door and fight (opponents) that can't stand up. All I know is this will be a fight. A war. You have two guys who are going to give there all. I know I'm going to hit Jorge Castro with my best punches and he will come back stronger and fight til the end.

Q: What about the future of Paul Briggs?

A: When I win this fight, the Title, I will look to dominate the division. I think my opponents will basically get the Roy Jones syndrome where they are beaten before they get in the ring. There were a lot of other contenders who demanded ridiculous money to fight me. Then when we came up with the money they came up with another excuse. When I get the Title they will have to fight me. I can't wait to get past this fight and look at finally getting Clinton Woods in the ring and knocking him out. And we want to bring the World Title back here we want to bring back World Title fights. It will be awesome to win and defend my Title here. Officials for the Briggs-Castro WBC Lt Heavyweight Eliminator are referee Brad Vocale with Judges being Annika Williams, Adrian Cairns and Chris Daley. Supervisor is WBC ratings chairman Frank Quill.

Sunday's six fight card gets underway at Noon with PPV station Main Event showing it live with expert commentary from Paul Upham, Grantlee Kieza and Troy Waters.

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