HOLLYWOOD, FL, December 22 – In a recent interview, Lou DiBella, promoter of middleweight champion Jermain Taylor had many derogatory statements to make about the people’s middleweight champion, Edison ‘Pantera’ Miranda, who was not pleased to hear of the insults. “I think Lou DiBella should stick to acting, because he plays a promoter in the make-believe world better than he does in real life,” said Miranda, referring to DiBella’s role in the film Rocky Balboa..
“The fans and media want to see this fight between Taylor and myself, and HBO definitely wants to see it, but Lou doesn’t want to put the jewel of his company anywhere near me because he knows he’ll get knocked out. I won’t be outweighed by 20 pounds on fight night and won’t need a walker to make it to the press conference like the other old men Taylor has fought, so he wants no part of me.”
Miranda, fresh off a first round blowout of Willie Gibbs on December 16th that lifted his stellar record to 27-1 with 24 knockouts, wasn’t done, as he insisted on addressing DiBella’s claim that he was one-dimensional.
“You call me one-dimensional, but no one has ever forced me to go to a Plan B in the ring,” said Miranda. “I knock people out and only someone who can deal with my power will force me to show the other parts of my game. That hasn’t happened yet. And let’s not talk one-dimensional when I can describe every Jermain Taylor fight the same way: Jab, right cross, clinch. Jab, right cross, clinch. Jab, right cross, clinch. And you wonder why he is afraid to fight me.”
“You say that ‘I stink’, ‘I have no clue how to box’, ‘no resume’, and you think ‘Jermain would slaughter me’. In the next breath you tell the world I should fight Pavlik ‘if he is man enough to take the fight’. You make absolutely no sense. Both you and Jermain say you want ‘real fights’ and are ‘not looking for a stooge’. If that’s the case, I challenge you to find another guy at 160 with a better resume than mine,” said Miranda. Pantera went on emphatically to say, “Don’t you even dare mention Sergio Mora or Felix Sturm! If you got such a great team with Jermain and Emanuel, why can’t you beat a guy like me who is ‘one dimensional and can only punch’?”
“Lets make this fight Lou,” concluded ‘Pantera’. “It’s the right thing for the fans and the right thing for a sport that needs the best in the world fighting each other. If I’m so easy to beat, let Taylor prove it!”