01.02.07 – Undefeated southpaw James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (17-0, 15 KOs) and unbeaten Timothy “Desert Storm’’ Bradley (17-0, 10 KOs) meet Billy Lyell (14-3, 2 KOs) and Manuel Garnica (22-6, 12 KOs), respectively, in the co-featured bouts Friday, Feb. 2, on “ShoBox: The New Generation.” SHOWTIME will televise the action at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).
The well-regarded Kirkland and the upset-minded Lyell will collide in a 10-round junior middleweight match. The promising, world-ranked Bradley will box Garnica in an eight-round junior welterweight fight in the opening half of a doubleheader promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, at Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif.
NOTE: WEIGHTS — Kirkland and Lyell each weighed 155 pounds at Thursday’s weigh-in; both Bradley and Garnica tipped scales at 140.
JAMES KIRKLAND
“Lyell is known as a durable, good fighter who gives his best and I will never overlook anybody, but he has never felt the kind of pressure or power I am going to throw at him. I fight like a gorilla. I am hungrier than anyone will know. I train and spar hard, sometimes with two guys in the ring at the same time.
“If it looks like I am angry, it is because I am. But I never fight out of control. I am always watching the other guy, seeing what he is going to try next. I am sure Lyell thinks if he can take me into the later rounds I will tire, but I can fight 10, 12 rounds, whatever, the way I do.
“I am very grateful for SHOWTIME for giving me the chance to show what I can do.’’
BILLY LYELL
“I have fought three southpaws. Two of my biggest wins have been against southpaws. So fighting a lefty won’t bother me. He is an aggressive fighter, especially early on, but so am I. Somebody is going to have to take a backward step. I am not sure Kirkland’s power is cranked up to be what they say. I have fought better guys than he has. If I had fought the same guys, I’d have more knockouts on my record, too.
“This is a great opportunity. For me to defeat a highly regarded, undefeated prospect on national television would be huge. He has never gone past four rounds so the obvious plan is to take him into the later rounds and see how he does. But that doesn’t mean I am not going to be aggressive or just give away any of the early rounds. I want to win all the rounds.’’
TIMOTHY BRADLEY
“This is going to be a very good fight; Garnica has a lot of experience and he is a good fighter. He beat (Juan) Lazcano although they gave it to Lazcano. I experienced some criticism after my last fight on “ShoBox” but I watched the tapes from that fight and learned from them. I was right back in the gym working on defense and counter-punching more.
“I know a lot was asked of me going into that fight and expectations were high. I know I was too tight and there was a lot of pressure on me to do well, but I feel great going into this one and expect to be a lot more relaxed. I usually go in and try for a knockout, but that doesn’t always work. Expect me to be more patient and relaxed on Friday. But I am still going to let my hands go.’’
MANUEL GARNICA
“Bradley’s team thinks I am finished, but they do not know how dedicated I am. I still believe I can win a world title. Everybody knows I definitely beat Lazcano in his backyard. Even Juan said so. After the fight he came into my dressing room and said ‘if the fight would have been in Mexico, you would have won.’
“I am a slick boxer who loves to drive opponents crazy by making them miss and then taking advantage of their mistakes. Bradley is aggressive, but I do not think he has fought anybody like me before. This is a great opportunity for me and I plan to make the best of it.’’