LOS ANGELES. (April 11, 2012) – Undefeated former World Lightweight Champion BRANDON “Bam Bam” RIOS (29-0-1, 22 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., his opponent, World Boxing Association (WBA) interim lightweight champion and Cuban expatriate RICHARD ABRIL (17-2-1, 8 KOs), hosted the Final Las Vegas News Conference today in the Mizuya Lounge at Mandalay Bay. Joining Rios and Abril were Top 10 contenders “Mile High” MIKE ALVARADO (32-0, 23 KOs), of Denver, MERCITO and MAURICIO HERRERA (18-1, 7 KOs), of Riverside, Calif., who will take on each other in a 10-round junior welterweight fight. The participants discussed their upcoming career-defining fights on this Saturday’s world championship pay-per-view card originating from Las Vegas and México City.
BRANDON RIOS:
“He [Rios] is going to run. He is going to try and run away from me all night. He talks about how he’s going to punish me. If he wants to do that he’s going to have to fight me.
But I think he’s going to pull a Forrest Gum. ‘Run Richard. Run!’
“I’m a lion inside the ring and a lion outside the ring. What I say I’ll do, I do. I walk the walk.”
RICHARD ABRIL
“I feel very good and I am very prepared for this fight. You [Rios] have been talking a lot of smack. Well, I’m here and not afraid of you. I’m the one who wanted this fight. You are not 100% Mexican. You talk a lot of smack.”
“I ride horses, listen to Mexican music and speak the language. I am more Mexican than Rios. He doesn’t even understand me when I yell at him in Spanish!”
MIKE ALVARADO
“I trained hard for this fight. It’s my best camp ever. I hope Herrera can swim because I’m taking him into deep water. I’m taking him deep like Todd Helton.”
MAURICIO HERRERA
“This is it for me. I’m ready. A lot of hard work went into my preparation. I’ve waited a long time to finally face one of the best to prove myself. I’m ready and I will perform.”
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Three-division world champion and Méxican icon JUAN MANUEL MÁRQUEZ will be going for his fourth world title in as many different weight divisions when he rumbles with World Boxing Organization (WBO) European junior welterweight champion SERGEY FEDCHENKO for the vacant WBO interim 140-pound world title. Rios will attempt to reclaim his old title when he battles Abril for the vacant WBA lightweight championship belt. Márquez vs. Fedchenko and Rios vs. Abril headline a world championship pay-per-view event that’s so big its main events are originating from two different countries!
Márquez-Fedchenko will take place in México City’s brand new Arena México, while Rios-Abril, along with a 10-round junior welterweight collision between Top 10 contenders Alvarado and Herrera, and a 10-round lightweight bout featuring MERCITO “No Mercy” GESTA (24-0-1, 12 KOs), of Cebu, Philippines, against OSCAR CUERO (15-7, 12 KOs), of Cartagena, Colombia, Saturday, April 14, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Boxing fans at Mandalay Bay will also see the Márquez-Fedchenko world title fight live, via closed-circuit, on a jumbo screen. The Márquez/Rios world championship event will be produced by Top Rank and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zanfer Promotions, Tecate and AT&T, remaining tickets, priced at $250, $150, $100, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges, are available at all Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Mandalay Bay at (877) 632-7400 or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
WBC LATINO WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION ARTEMIO “KING” REYES FIGHTS THROUGH ADVERSITY THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 13 ON ESPN “FRIDAY NIGT
FIGHTS THROUGH ADVERSITY THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 13 FROM THE LAS VEGAS’ HARD ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO AND LIVE ON ESPN “FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS”!!!
Orange, CA (April 11) – Friday night will be bitter sweet for World Boxing Council (WBC) Latino welterweight champion Artemio “King” Reyes Jr. (15-1, 12 KOs) when he faces Alan Sanchez (9-2-1, 3 KOs) as the opening bout of ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” live from the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. His father, Artemio Reyes Sr., was in a coma since 2008 and was laid to rest on Tuesday, April 10, in Colton, CA.
People in the boxing community first heard of Reyes when he fought on national television for the first time and defeated Olympian and formerly undefeated Javier Molina. Some scribes were made aware of the incredible struggle and effort that Reyes went through on a daily basis as he took care of his mother and sisters, cared for his ailing father single-handedly, attended and graduated from California State University San Bernardino, managed the family owned restaurant and found time to train as a prize fighter.
His effort continues as he will honor the man who first took him to a boxing gym and would have liked to see his son move through the boxing ranks and become a force in the welterweight division.
Watch Thompson Boxing stable mates Jose Reynoso, Jonathan Arellano, Daniel Hernandez, Darley Perez and Mauricio Herrera, support their friend during this tough time and wish him luck on his upcoming fight.
Final Asian Quota Places revealed
Lausanne, Switzerland, 12 April 2012 – Following the conclusion of today’s finals at the AIBA Asian Olympic Qualifying Event Astana 2012 in Kazakhstan, a further 25 boxers from ten different weight categories qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Please note that each boxer’s participation needs to be confirmed by their NOC.
They are as follows:
Light Fly (46-49kg)
– Birzhan ZHAKIPOV from Kazakhstan
Fly (52kg)
– Ilays SULEIMENOV from Kazakhstan
– Tugstsogt NYAMBAYAR from Mongolia
– Pak Jong CHOL from the People’s Republic of Korea
– Katsuaki SUSA from Japan
Bantam (56kg)
– Shiva THAPA from India
– Wessam SALAMANA from Syria
– Satoshi SHIMIZU from Japan
Light (60kg)
– Qiang LIU from China
Light Welter (64kg)
– Daniyar YELEUSSINOV from Kazakhstan
– Serdar HUDAYBERDIYEV from Turkmenistan
– Uktamjon RAHMONOV from Uzbekistan
– Mehdi TOULOUTIBANDPI from Iran
Welter (69kg)
– Maimaititue Rsun QIONG from China
– Byamba TUVSHINBAT from Mongolia
– Amin GHASEMIPOUR from Iran
Middle (75kg)
– Abbos ATOEV from Uzbekistan
– Nursahat PAZZIYEV from Turkmenistan
– Sobirjon NAZAROV from Tajikistan
– Vijender KUMAR from India
Light Heavy (81kg)
– Sumit SANGWAN from India
– Dzhakon QURBANOV from Tajikistan
– Ihab ALMATDAULT from Jordan
Heavy (91kg)
– Ali MAZAHERI from Iran
Super Heavy (+91kg)
– Zholei ZHANG from China
Qualifications by country
– China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan: 3
– Japan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan: 2
– Jordan, People’s Republic of Korea, Syria: 1
Click HERE for full details on AIBA’s Olympic Games selection criteria and the road to Olympic medals.