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GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN – WILLIE MONROE JR. International Media Conference Call Transcript

Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Bernie Bahrmasel: Hello, and welcome to the International Media Conference Call for the Middleweight Championship of the World as boxing superstar Gennady “GGG” Golovkin defends his WBA, IBO and Interim WBC Title against number two ranked challenger Willie “The Mongoose” Monroe Jr., set for next Saturday night, May 16th at The “Fabulous” Forum in Los Angeles, and telecast live in the United States on HBO World Championship Boxing at 10 p.m. Eastern.

We are seeing an overwhelming amount of interest in this event, which also features the HBO debut of fast-rising star Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez defending his WBC junior flyweight title against number two ranked challenger, Edgar Sosa.

This week, we will be distributing an extensive fight week media schedule of Los Angeles area events. For the media, if you have not yet done so, please apply for credentials at MagnaMedia.com.

Joining us first on this call from his training camp in Big Bear Lake, California will be Gennady, his world-renowned trainer, Abel Sanchez, and the managing director of K2 Promotions, Tom Loeffler. Later in the call, we will be joined by Willie Monroe Jr., from his training camp in Winter Haven, Florida, and his promoter, the head of Banner Promotions, Artie Pelullo along with his trainer Tony Morgan.

It’s now my pleasure to turn the call over to Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, who will introduce Gennady Golovkin and Abel Sanchez for their opening comments. Go ahead, Tom.

Tom Loeffler: Thanks, Bernie. We’re excited at bringing Gennady back to the Los Angeles area. We’ve gotten a great response from the fans with the ticket sales. Gennady has a 19-fight knockout streak going right now, and provides a lot of excitement in the ring and there have been a lot of calls for him getting back into the ring. We saw the fight on Saturday night and people seem to be yearning for some excitement, and that’s what Gennady guarantees in the ring, and we have a great co-feature with “Chocolatito” Gonzales against Edgar Sosa. Chocolatito’s making his HBO debut, as well, and I know a lot of fans in the L.A. area are also excited to see Chocolatito in the ring.

And Willie Monroe is the number two-rated contender and poses a very unconventional style with his southpaw stance and his movement in the ring, so I think this’ll be a great contrast to styles.

With that, I want to introduce Abel Sanchez from his Summit Training Camp in Big Bear Lake.

Abel Sanchez: Hi. Good morning, guys. We’re looking forward to-what is it ten days from now eleven days from now, putting on another fantastic show. We’re fortunate to have a young man in Willie Monroe who I know is going to come to fight and provide us with that exciting fight that we haven’t had. Well, actually last week was not as exciting as this one’s going to be, so hopefully Willie’s in great shape. I know that Tony’s getting him ready, so we’re looking forward to this Saturday night.

Tom Loeffler: And then I also want to introduce the WBA, the WBC Interim Champion, IBO Middleweight Champion, 32-0 with 29 knockouts, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.

Gennady Golovkin: Good morning. A couple of weeks before the fight and I’m ready, I feel good. Hopefully, Willie will be ready to fight because we’ll have a strong fight and a good performance for the fans. I promise a big drama show. I hope he is ready also. Thank you to my team, the fans and media for all their support and to HBO.

Q. Hi, guys. Thanks for taking the time to do the call. My question is for Gennady. Your May 16th fight comes at an interesting time, right on the heels of Mayweather/Pacquiao, a fight in which a lot of people-I dare say most people said it didn’t feature enough action for their liking. Did you watch the fight? And, what did you think of Mayweather/Pacquiao?

Gennady Golovkin: Yes. Everybody wanted the fight for the last five years. I think Floyd’s too smart. This is Floyd’s style; he doesn’t take too many shots. Floyd’s too smart, he’s a great boxer, he’s number one in the world.

Q. And what about Pacquiao? What did you think of his performance?

Gennady Golovkin: Pacquiao, I think he loses control of the fight. He could not do anything against Floyd. Pacquiao is very good, but it was a very smart fight for Floyd.

Q. Listen, I’m not looking past Willie Monroe, that wouldn’t be wise. I expect you’re too talented for him, though. So, what about next fight, you against Floyd Mayweather at 154 pounds? I believe you, maybe, are the next logical opponent to test Floyd Mayweather.

Gennady Golovkin: Of course, it is my dream fight. Obviously, Floyd, he is a great champion, and a little bit different style. Floyd, he’s a smart guy. He does a lot of moving. For my style, a little bit different, I like drama show, I like real fight, like close fight. I want show, big show; big drama show!

Q. And you would bring that big drama show if you were to get a fight with Floyd Mayweather?

Gennady Golovkin: Absolutely.

Q. Excellent. Great answer. I appreciate it. Good luck.

Q. Question is for Abel. Abel, how do you deal with all these questions about who is next? We just had one-who is next for Gennady when he is to fight on May 16, the guy who is probably one of the fastest guys you have ever fought. How do you deal with this? And, how do you keep GGG concentrated on the task on hand? Not to talk about Canelo, and not to talk about Floyd and everything else, May 16th is first.

Abel Sanchez: Well, fortunately we have a real professional in Gennady Golovkin in the gym, so the questions about anybody else are only on these types of calls. In the gym, he’s solely focused on Willie Monroe. Willie Monroe’s going to be a tough challenge, and we’re not overlooking him by any means because if we take a stumble here, all those other names are mute.

So, Golovkin is concentrating on Willie Monroe, unless of course they ask questions like this in a media call, but there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be ready for, mentally and physically, for May 16th.

Q. One more question, if I may. The combined records of the last five opponents for Gennady is 165 wins, only 15 losses. Where would you put Willie Monroe in-between those fighters? How would you rate him among the last five Gennady fought?

Abel Sanchez: I think as far as skills and as far as ability in the ring, he’s got to be in the top three, and maybe the top two. Experience, maybe not quite as experienced as the other guys, but Willie has proven in bigger fights, the Boxcino Tournament for instance, that he can handle himself in the ring, so he’s up there, like I said, one, two, or three. A very, very, very good fighter.

Q: Good morning, gentlemen. I just have two quick questions. Gennady, we know your reputation and your resume and your desire to fight, but you continue to get criticism for not taking proper fights without people really putting the blame on people who have to agree to fight you. How does that make you feel when people say that about you?

Gennady Golovkin: I feel great. I feel good now. This fight is really important for my career, and for everybody, for my people, for my team. Thank you very much for my people. It’s very important for me, this fight with Willie, right now my focus is on Willie Monroe because he’s a great champion, he’s a great challenger for me and he may be next champion. Every fight is important for me.

Q. With fighting against Willie Monroe, he’s a southpaw, and we’ve seen a lot said that you wanted to face that type of opponent, who is a southpaw. What do you hope that this performance will show to people watching you about your style, and the way you fight?

Gennady Golovkin: I want to fight a southpaw because I want to show everybody that I can beat any style, it doesn’t matter. Anybody, strong guy, tall guy, short guy, just anybody. I’m very anxious. This is a big test for me. I remember a lot of fighters, like Canelo, Cotto, and a lot of great champions have have problems with southpaws. So why not test myself.

Q. Abel, Gennady kind of answered the question I was about to ask, but what I guess from a trainer’s standpoint, what do you see Willie Monroe bringing to the table that Gennady hasn’t yet seen on his way up?

Abel Sanchez: A lot of movement and slickness and if Gennady fights a southpaw in the future were better prepared for the style.

Willie is a proven and good fighter in, like I said in the Boxcino Tournament, so it’s not like we’re fighting a guy that’s on-that has never been in a situation like this. The difference is he’s going to go in against Golovkin and Golovkin seems to bring these guys down to the level that they’re not much for him, but if Willie brings his A game, I think we’re looking at five or six tough rounds, and then the stretch will be who’s got more in the tank.

Q. Gennady, I know you can’t force the other middleweights to get in the ring with you; all you can do is just entertain. Do you feel kind of obligated though to carry the middleweight division right now? Like, you’re the guy that everyone’s going to look to as the one middleweight that will fight everyone.

Gennady Golovkin: Yes. I want to fight to unify the titles. For me, it’s very important who’s number one; who’s best in the world in the middleweight division.

Q. Yes. This is a question for Tom. You said in your intro that you thought fans were yearning for some excitement after what had happened Saturday. As a promoter, is there any fear of a backlash in the business? And what I guess would serve as a follow-up as Gennady is poised to be maybe the next face of boxing, maybe he can capture some of the crossover fans. Will that be harder to do now?

Tom Loeffler: I don’t think there’ll be a backlash. I think it’ll make fans appreciate Gennady’s style more when they see what he actually brings into the ring with him. He always tries to-Abel trains him in a style to provide excitement, to provide value for the fans, and I think the fans will appreciate instead of having to buy this fight on pay-per-view, they’ll get to see it on HBO, and they’ll see an entertaining show with Chocolatito as the co-feature, with Gennady, and Willie Monroe Jr. in the main event. I think it’s a great matchup of styles, and I think it’ll be a challenge to see if Gennady keeps his knockout streak alive and that’s what fans have really come to appreciate.

They know every time they come to see Gennady fight live, every time he’s fought, whether it’s Danny Geale, or whether it’s Marco Antonio Rubio at the StubHub Center last year. I mean, they’ve seen an exciting fight, and I think you’ll see the same type of fight, and interesting matchup coming this Saturday on May 16th at The Forum.

Q. Alright. Abel, same question?

Abel Sanchez: I think that we owe it to the fans to provide entertainment. I’ve said from the beginning that I wanted Gennady to be the kind of guy that you look forward to leaving home/work early on Saturday night to be able to watch all the pre-stuff in the fight to see more about Gennady. I wanted him to be that kind of individual inside the ring, not so much outside the ring, but I think that we’re getting to that point now.

Willie presents the next test. Hopefully, after Willie, if everything goes well on the 16th, and Willie cooperates, we can have a bigger name, but right now it’s Willie in front of us, and we’re going to put on that show, or Gennady’s going to put on that show to make sure that the fans go away with a smile on their face and hoping to find out when he fights again.

Q. Andy Lee against Kid Chocolate turned into a draw. You’ve got Miguel Cotto, who’s just kind of out there looking for that big fight. Do you want to stay at middleweight because you’ve said that you would drop down, and obviously the big fight that I think if we could all snap our fingers and make it happen is you and Mayweather? Would you move down a little bit at a catch weight or will we see you moving up, perhaps, to go for the super middleweight title?

Gennady Golovkin: Yes. Right now, my focus is on 160. My goal is to hold all the belts. Absolutely, I hope for a big fight with Miguel because he has the WBC title, I have the WBC interim belt, and of course I want a unification fight with Andy Lee. I think he’s ready and, of course, my dream fight is against Floyd.

Q. Good morning on the West Coast, everybody. Tom, this question is for you, and it’s a bit of a follow-up about the promoter’s job in the wake of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. With casual fans, perhaps, grumbling about the lack of action, do you think that was a net-win or a net-plus overall for the sport of boxing with the enormous attention on that fight? And, does that change your approach two weeks in the wake of this enormous media onslaught and attention to boxing?

Tom Loeffler: I think the exposure to boxing was a net-win for it. I think fans might have been disappointed that paid a lot of money to actually see it live, or maybe on the pay-per-view; that’s where you really saw the disappointment of the fans. But, I think, again, when you see somebody that’s exposed to the sport of boxing and then they follow-up two weeks later or even one week later. You’ve got Canelo coming up this weekend, also on HBO, and then two weeks later you have Gennady coming back to the ring, it just creates more of an appreciation for those fans that are exposed to the sport for having an exciting fight in the ring.

Q. And on the follow-up, how do you exploit, for lack of a better word, that attention and make sure they’re still around two weeks later to see what we on the call all know would be a very different and highly entertaining contest?

Tom Loeffler: Well, we just try to put on the best shows. When Gennady fought last year at the StubHub, we had Nonito Donaire, and Nicholas Walters as the co-feature, and with this fight we have “Chocolatito” Gonzales against Edgar Sosa, also as a co-feature, so we just try to provide value for the fans. They’ve responded by buying tickets and Gennady had the biggest selling fight ever at the StubHub Center, and there have been many champions who have fought there before, and his ratings continue to reflect that.

So it’s just packaging value for the fans, and it’s just the more people that appreciate the sport of boxing that are exposed to it and then they all have a better sense of when you have an exciting fighter that gets into the ring, and at some point they’ll choose whether they buy a ticket or tune in to different styles.

And I think Gennady’s proven that he provides excitement and every time somebody tunes in or buys a ticket to his fight, they always come away with a sense of excitement, and he brings a lot of fans to the sport, new fans that have never actually been to a boxing match before that came to StubHub, or when he fought in New York in Madison Square Garden. They came specifically to see Gennady and that’s a breath of fresh air for the boxing fans.

Q. Okay. Quick question for you, Abel, first. Gennady has one of the best knockout percentage ratios in the boxing game right now. My question for you is sometimes he doesn’t get credit for his excellent footwork. Is there anything else, specifically, that you’ve found, or that you’ve kind of sharpened in fight camp with him these last few weeks prior to the fight with Willie Monroe?

Abel Sanchez: Well, every training camp that we go into we set aside a couple things that we’re going to concentrate on for the particular fight we have coming up. For Willie, we have a couple things that we’re working on to combat some of his, not only movement, but also the way he tries to be slick.

So, hopefully the reason for that is hopefully in ten, twelve fights, we covered a lot of the areas that need to be covered to improve his game. Gennady’s a student of the game. Gennady loves learning new things, Gennady’s always paying attention, so it’s easy to show him something and to ask for him to do something and he repeats it. Max and I, his brother Max and I will talk about what it is that we want him to do and then Gennady executes it the way we want it.

Fortunately, for this camp we had two very good sparring partners in Julius Jackson and Raymond Gatica that provided us that canvas for Gennady to practice some of the things that we’re trying to improve on for this fight.

Q. Was anything different now fighting a southpaw that you felt like you had to kind of enhance or work on a little more?

Abel Sanchez: Oh, absolutely. Willie Monroe’s not a standard southpaw. He’s very slick. He has very good wheels, so it’s going to be a process of trying to cut him off and practicing that in the gym to be able to cut him off and react to the situations, so he’s done it very well. He’s adapted very well to what we wanted for this particular fight, in addition to the things that we were doing in the past. So we’re looking forward to a great night.

Q. Okay. My question to you is, is it a little frustrating for you sometimes, I know you fight four times a year, more or less, give or take, you try to stay active. Is it frustrating for you sometimes when you start to see some of these guys like Miguel Cotto, he’s able-and you want to try to get to fight some of these really good guys, and sometimes it’s difficult for you? How do you stay focused knowing that you want to fight some of these really great champions, and it’s a little difficult for you?

I know that you say sometimes you’re into the Mexican fighters, and so I’m assuming that you want to emulate their greatness.

Gennady Golovkin: I kind of just see my situation now as just I’m ready. You know you’re right, absolutely, that’s not my focus. My focus is on who is number one in the middleweight division. It doesn’t matter how many fights per year, five, six, I remember, like Chavez Sr., a lot of great champions, every second month he had a big fight. For me, right now I’m ready for big fight, I’m ready. I know I have just maybe couple years, maybe three years, maybe four years, I’m ready for six fights per year. I’m ready for anybody.

Q. Is Chavez your favorite Mexican fighter?

Gennady Golovkin: Yes. Chavez, Sr. is. I love great champions from Mexico. I like Chavez Sr.’s style, like moving, and the strategy, I like this. I like the style because he will fight anybody and anytime. It may only be five, six, seven times per year. Same for me, I’m ready.

Q. So, is that why you try to fight as often as you do?

Gennady Golovkin: Absolutely, yes.

Bernie Bahrmasel: We’re going to wrap up Gennady Golovkin’s side. Tom, if you want to make some closing comments, and tell the media where their readers can get tickets?

Tom Loeffler: Absolutely. Again we’re all excited about Gennady coming back to Southern California May 16th against Willie Monroe Jr. It’ll be at The “Fabulous” Forum. It’s a great building that’s event better since it was renovated. It has such a great history of legendary fights being held there and now with this fight card coming to the L.A. area, I think we’ll see a great turnout. We priced the tickets for the fans starting at the $30 and they are available at TheForum.com, and also at TicketMaster.com. Gennady’s last fight in LA sold out, so we advise the fans to buy their tickets early so they don’t run into the same problem last time when there was no tickets available.

Bernie Bahrmasel: Abel, do you want to give the media some closing comments before we get back to training?

Abel Sanchez: Absolutely. I’d like to thank them for their support and their calls and their questions. Make sure that you tune in and see another great fight from Gennady on his way to superstardom.

Bernie Bahrmasel: Thanks very much, Abel. Gennady, any more comments before you go back to training today?

Gennady Golovkin: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very much for support. Thank you very much for attention. It is really important for my team, for my career, and I promise great show, great events, just welcome to my Big Drama Show. Thank you.

Bernie Bahrmasel: Thanks very much, Gennady. Thanks very much, Abel. At this time for the media, it is my pleasure to introduce Artie Pelullo from Banner Promotions, who will introduce Team Monroe. Go ahead, Artie.

Artie Pelullo: Hi, guys. Hello. Good morning to everybody. I guess the opening statement that I would like to make is I would like to thank Gennady Golovkin and Tom Loeffler for giving Willie Monroe this opportunity. As we all know, Willie is number two in the world, and the reason why we’re here is because of how well he did in 2014 by winning four fights in a row, including the tournament that ESPN had the ability and the foresight to put on called Boxcino. And then Willie came back and then won a unanimous decision after winning the tournament against Bryan Vera, which now has put him in the status to challenge the best middleweight in the world, and it’s going to be a very interesting fight.

It’s a fight that we believe we can win. Most people don’t think Willie can win the fight, but we do; that’s why we took it. And it’s going to be a terrific fight, and I think Gennady is going to be in for a very difficult fight with a very good fighter who can do things that nobody who’s fought Gennady has done before.

So, I just want to say thank you to Gennady because it’s a voluntary fight, and he said he wanted to fight a tough guy who is a southpaw and this is the best southpaw out there. And Tom Loeffler’s a very good guy, a friend of ours and mine, not ours, mine, and has been able to make this deal rather quickly.

I want to thank HBO for also for putting the fight on because Peter Nelson who buys the fight for HBO realized that this is going to be a very compelling match, and back then to my opening statement. I want to thank everybody. Bernie, you’re doing a good job, and then now what Bernie. I guess, where’s this-is Willie on the line?

Willie Monroe Jr.: Yes, I’m here.

Artie Pellulo: Go ahead, Willie.

Willie Monroe Jr.: I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for the opportunity. Thanks to Banner Promotions for putting me in the position to fight for the middleweight world championship against the greatest middleweight in the world at this time, and I’m blessed. So, thanks to Banner Promotions, and ESPN Boxcino and HBO. Thank you.

Artie Pellulo: Tony, would you like to say a few words?

Tony Morgan: Yes. How you all doing? I just want to say we’re glad to have the opportunity. Thanks to Tom Loeffler, Banner Promotions, HBO for giving us this opportunity to do what we do. Thank you.

Q. Hi, Willie. In your opening remarks, you referred to Gennady Golovkin, saying you’d be grateful to fight for the middleweight championship against the fighter known as the greatest middleweight of his time. I just want to know if you believe that Gennady is the best middleweight out there today.

Willie Monroe Jr.: I mean, what he’s done is he’s proven himself. And he’s widely known as the best middleweight out there, so you can’t argue with it, and obviously, I’m up there around two or number three, so that’s why I’m thankful for this fight. So, I can’t chop the man down. I won’t sit up here and chop him down because once I win, then I’ll be chopping myself.

Q. Right. Okay. Do you believe there’s any fight that you’ve had, leading into this, that can prepare you? I mean, obviously, Gennady’s better than everyone you’ve fought, but is there any particular style that you’ve faced that prepares you for what to expect next Saturday?

Willie Monroe Jr.: I think my whole career from the amateurs all the way up to now has prepared me for this opportunity. I mean I had 142 amateur fights, I’m a three time national champion.

I fought in Boxcino-I mean, Gennady is a little bit of a mixture of everyone I fought in Boxcino all the way up to Bryan Vera. So I think this is the pinnacle, and it’s my job to go in and do what I do best.

Q. Hi, guys. Thanks for taking the time to do the call. Appreciate it. The question is for trainer Tony Morgan. Tony, you were in the news recently, a slight misstep it looks like. I’m not sure the situation and specifics, but I’m wondering has there been any interruption in training, and has that affected things at all, and how’s the relationship with you guys? And, how’s training going?

Tony Morgan: Flawless. We don’t have any issues. Everything is in the hands of my attorneys with my situation. The situation here is just training camp and that’s-we’re going to go through and do what we do, and put the pieces of the puzzle together, and solve the puzzle that nobody seems to be able to do.

Q.: Hi, Tony. It’s also the question for the trainer. We all think that this fight will be about speed versus power, and power on the side of Gennady, obviously, and the speed, which is supposed to prevent him to knockout his punches will supposed to be the number one most important thing for your fighter, for Willie. How do you see the fight? Are we wrong? Are we right? Give us a little bit, a glimpse of what we can expect from Willie in this fight.

Tony Morgan: I think the fight will truly be won by ring intelligence. I think what we bring to the table is something Gennady’s never seen and realistically can’t prepare for. I mean, there’s really only one Willie Monroe. There’s two guys, maybe three that mimic his style that is very fast, very elusive.

Willie had a lot of knockouts in the amateurs, not saying Willie always goes in there to be a big puncher, but I think people are going to be surprised as they were with Bryan Vera. I think it’s going to be a big surprise for a lot of people, not for us, but for everybody else.

Q.: And one more question, this time for Willie. All those talks, all those bets around Las Vegas and all over the world from 60:1 to 80:1 for Golovkin is just bulletin board material for you? Do you need extra motivation? Do you use this as extra motivation or are you just pushing this all information about you being basically-you basically lost already before you went into the ring? You just don’t pay attention to it?

Willie Monroe Jr.: I mean, after this fight is over, and I’m the new WBA champion, I will tell you guys a little story, and give you guys a little insight on my personal life, but I say that to say this. I’ve been the underdog since I was conceived in my mother’s womb, and I mean that literally; that’s not a figure of speech. I mean that literally.

So, being an underdog is what I relish because those are the moments where I rise to the occasion and do-sometimes I surprise myself with how good I do, so I’m in my element. If I was the favorite, then I’d be a little worried, but being the underdog is what I actually relish because it motivates me to do what I need to do.

Everybody’s different. Some people need to be encouraged and told that they’re the best, to be the best, and some people need to be told that you can’t do it, so they can go out there and prove that they can. And I’m one of those people that’s always looking to prove people wrong.

Q. Alright. So, of course this is the biggest fight of your career and being the fact that boxing has probably been in the best shape that it’s been in quite a while, how do you feel about being part of boxing’s future, going forward?

Willie Monroe Jr.: It’s a blessing. This is something that we’ve said since I turned pro. My trainer’s always said I will resurrect boxing; I will bring back the true essence of boxing and being articulate, inside as well as outside of the ring.

Well now, I think the timing is perfect. I mean, it’s a blessing for me. I’m blessed, and I’m elated to have this opportunity and this is just the beginning.

At the end of the day, it’s all about what I do. I mean, it doesn’t matter the pedigree or where you come from or what the name is, it’s all about how you apply yourself and what you do in the ring and what you do in training camp leading up to the fight. So, I really try not to live off what my dad and my uncle did. I’m creating my own legacy, and my own right, and as of right now, I’ve made it further than both of them already.

So, it’s really nothing for me to do me and be me.

Q. Alright. Thanks for taking my call. This question is for Willie. From looking at you, you are a boxer, a very slick guy, and a lot of technical skill. Who did you look up to? Who do you pattern your style after, in terms of as a fighter?

Willie Monroe Jr.: My two favorite fighters, premier fighters are the champions, Roy Jones, Jr., and Sugar Ray Leonard. Anybody who was fast and very elusive and could do things physically that other fighters just can’t pull off, and do it in such a pretty fashion. Those are the guys that I look up to.

Hector “Macho” Camacho Sr., Pernell Whitaker, all of those guys that were special, physically and mentally special. So those are the guys that I like to watch all the time and emulate.

Q. Thank you very much, and hi, everybody. Willie, it was right before you were going into training camp, you were on with myself and Gerry Cooney. You said you were very confident about this fight. How did training camp go and how do you feel?

Willie Monroe Jr: Training camp’s good. Training camp’s great. I’m more confident now that we’re in tiptop shape, but I mean everything is good. Everything is good. This is the fight I’ve wanted. This is the fight I said I wanted right after Boxcino.

A lot of people are insinuating that oh, you must be getting paid a lot of money. I mean, this is the fight I asked for. When all the blogs and different interviews, they asked me what middleweight would you like to fight? I said Gennady Golovkin. I mean, he’s the best. So, you either go hard or go home.

So, I mean, everything’s good. Camp is great. I’m having fun. I mean, just ask yourself who is my trainer, then you know how good training camp is going. I got the best trainer in the world.

Q. Okay, and let’s see, let’s go back to upsets, Leon Spinks over Muhammad Ali, Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson. This is really going to be looked at because GGG is certainly in the top two or three pound for pound in the world. If you win this fight, it’s going to be one of the biggest upsets over the last 30 years or so. How do you look at it?

Willie Monroe Jr.: I look at it the same way, and you have to. I mean, look what he’s accomplished as a fighter; 19 straight knockouts. He made his American debut in 2012, and he’s knocked out everybody thus far. And I mean like why wouldn’t you want to take that cloak of invincibility from somebody? And, I mean, I’m the one that can do it.

But, I mean, once the bell rings, and on May 16th nobody can get in there and fight for him, nobody can get in there and fight for me, it’s all about what we apply and what we adjust to that night and may the best man win.

Q. You got it. Final question. Were you disappointed in the big fight the other night, Mayweather and Pacquiao?

Willie Monroe Jr.: Not really because I knew it was going to be like that. It’s one of those stylistically matchups where you just kind of know what’s going to happen, and I’m glad it’s done and over with, so people can stop talking.

Q. Thank you very much. This is a question for Tony. Tony, I’m not going to ask you to give away any of your training secrets before the fight, but you did mention-there was a mention in the lead up that you’re going to be bringing something different to the fight. Let me put it in these terms. In watching Golovkin’s previous opponents, did you identify any mistakes that you think Willie can correct in this fight?

Tony Morgan: I think that Golovkin makes a lot of mistakes. I think he’s beatable. I think any guy’s beatable if you bring the right plan to the table, but yeah, we’re going to capitalize on his mistakes and I don’t want to say we’re going to expose him because he is a great fighter, but we’re going to expose Willie. We’re going to expose what Willie really is, and what he’s really capable of doing.

Q. And Tony, on your follow-up to the question, and that’s a great answer. The question was actually aimed at Golovkin’s opponents and their mistakes that you might be able now to avoid? So, have you looked and seen that the Geale’s and the Murray’s and the Macklin’s of the world, did they do anything that you think you and Willie can avoid?

Tony Morgan: One hundred percent, all of them are pretty much all flat-footed and all of them stand in front of Golovkin. Sooner or later, he gets people to stand in front of him. I don’t think he’s going to be able to capitalize on anything that he’s used to doing because he’s never fought anybody the caliber of Willie Monroe.

I’m not saying that we beat everybody who is out there. We don’t have a name like he does, but the style that Willie presents is a style that’s imitated by no one, really.

Bernie Bahrmasel: Artie, we’re going to go ahead and wrap up the call if you want to make your closing comments and have Tony and Willie join you, that would be fantastic.

Artie Pelullo: Sure. Listen, once again, I want to thank everybody for giving Willie the opportunity. I think Tony and Willie said it right, and we all know that it’s going to be a great fight. We’re going to win the fight, and that’s how much confidence we have in Willie’s ability. But if it wasn’t for Tom Loeffler and Gennady Golovkin and HBO giving Willie this opportunity, we wouldn’t be here.

So, I want to say thank you to everybody. We’re going to be out there off all week, so there’s a lot going on. Willie will be available to do interviews one on one, there’ll be an open workout, and just want to thank everybody for having us and it’s going to be a great show. It’s going to be a very good fight. It’s going to be much more than people realize what Willie can do, and it’s going to be a great show, and I think that Gennady Golovkin knows that, and I think he’s taking it very seriously.

So, once again, thank you, everybody, and I’ll turn it over to Willie and then Tony. Go ahead, Willie.

Willie Monroe Jr.: I’m just thankful for this opportunity and like Artie eluded to, you have to thank GGG and his camp for taking this fight and for giving Willie an opportunity, myself, Willie Monroe, an opportunity to tango with the best, and I’m happy, so thanks Tom Loeffler, thanks team GGG. And an even bigger thanks to my team for believing in me and putting in the work the last seven weeks. May 16th is show time.

Bernie Bahrmasel: Go ahead, Tony.

Tony Morgan: I just want to say thanks for all the support, thanks for GGG’s team for allowing us to get this opportunity, thanks for Artie, and Banner Promotions, and we’re going to go out and do what we do. We win, that’s what we do, so I just want to say thanks and thanks for the interview and appreciate the publicity.

Bernie Bahrmasel: Thanks very much, gentlemen. Again, this is going to be a tremendous fight. This is the best middleweight in the world against a fighter who’s truly earned this opportunity to fight him. And we look forward to seeing all the media in Los Angeles next week, and we look forward to everybody watching the fight on May 16th on HBO. Thanks very much, everyone.

GOLOVKIN VS. MONROE FIGHT INFO:
Gennady Golovkin vs. Willie Monroe is a 12-round middleweight world championship bout presented by K2 Promotions and GGG Promotions in association with Banner Promotions and the Forum. The fight will take place Saturday, May 16 at the Forum in Inglewood, CA. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. PT and the first bout starts at 4:45 p.m. PT., the HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Golovkin, 32-0 (29KO’s) will be defending his World Boxing Association, International Boxing Organization and “Interim” World Boxing Council Middleweight World Titles against #2 ranked challenger Monroe,
19-1-0 (6KO’s).

Co-featured on the telecast is 12-round junior flyweight matchup between World Boxing Council Champion ROMAN “Chocolatito” GONZALEZ, 42-0 (36KO’s) and #2 ranked challenger and former world champion EDGAR SOSA, 51-8-0 (30KO’s).

Advance tickets, priced at $300, $200, $100, $60 and $30, are now on-sale through Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.com, 1-800-745-3000) and the Forum Box Office.

GOLOVKIN vs. MONROE is presented by K2 Promotions and GGG Promotions in association with Banner Promotions and the Forum.

Co-featured on the telecast is an outstanding Junior Flyweight matchup between World Boxing Council Champion ROMAN “Chocolatito” GONZALEZ and #2 ranked challenger and former world champion EDGAR SOSA.

GONZALEZ vs. SOSA is presented by K2 Promotions and Teiken Promotions in association with Zanfer Promotions.

SOCIAL MEDIA: For more information, visit www.K2Promos.com,www.GGGBoxing.com, www.Banner-Promotions.com, www.FabulousForum.com andwww.HBO.com/boxing.

Follow on Twitter at Gennady Golovkin @GGGBoxing, Willie Monroe Jr.@WillieMonroeJr, Roman Gonzalez @ChocolatitoBox, Edgar Sosa@EdgarSosaChamp, Tom Loeffler/K2 Promotions @TomLoeffler1, Banner Promotions @BannerBoxing, the Forum @theForum and HBO Boxing @HBOBoxingand become a fan on Facebook www.facebook.com/GGGBoxing,www.facebook.com/WilieMonroeJrFanPage,
www.facebook/BannerPromotions, www.facebook.com/TheForum andwww.facebook.com/HBOBoxing.

Use the hashtags #GolovkinMonroe and #GonzalezSosa to join the conversation on Twitter.

FORMER WORLD CHAMPION  DANIEL GEALE  WRAPING UP TRAINING CAMP IN AUSTRALIA  AHEAD OF SHOWDOWN WITH WBC MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION  MIGUEL COTTO ON JUNE 6 AT BARCLAYS CENTER LIVE ON HBO

 Geale Set To Complete Training Camp In The United States

Photos by Team Geale

NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA (May 7, 2015) – Former Two-Time World Champion, Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KO’s) is finalizing his last days of training in Australia as he prepares for his upcoming June 6 world championship bout against WBC and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KO’s) which will be televised live on HBO from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

 

“Training camp has started off on the right track,” said Daniel Geale. “I’m super focused on Miguel Cotto and we have a nice game plan were working on.  My countrymen have shown a tremendous amount of support since I came back from the press conference.  I’m getting some good work with some mates here at home and my body feels good.  I’ll be leaving to start training in the United States shortly and it’s something I’m looking forward too. Cotto is a great champion, but I’m coming to win and bring that belt home to Australia.”

 

“Daniel Geale and his team have assured me that he’s looking real sharp in camp,” said co-promoter Gary Shaw.  “We have everything set up once he arrives in the United States.  This is a fight the fans won’t want to miss.”

 

Cotto vs. Geale, a 12-round fight for Cotto’s WBC and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Championships, takes place Saturday, June 6 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and will be televised live on HBO.  The fight is presented by Roc Nation Sports and Miguel Cotto Promotions in association Gary Shaw Productions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate. Tickets priced at $500, $350, $250, $200, $150, $100, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges and taxes, are on sale now and available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com and at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. To charge by phone, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Doors open at 6:00 PM, the first fight begins at 6:15 PM and the HBO telecast begins at 10:30 PM ET/PT.

 

For more information please visit www.rocnation.com. Follow Roc Nation on Twitter and Instagram @rocnation and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RocNation.

 

For more information, visit www.hbo.com/boxingfollow on Twitter and Instagram at @HBOBoxing and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing.

 

About Roc Nation Sports

Roc Nation Sports, a sub-division of Roc Nation, launched in spring 2013. Founder Shawn “JAY Z” Carter’s love of sports lead to the natural formation of Roc Nations Sports, helping athletes in the same way Roc Nation has been helping artists in the music industry for years. Roc Nation Sports focuses on elevating athletes’ career on a global scale both on and off the field. Roc Nation Sports conceptualizes and executes marketing and endorsement deals, community outreach, charitable tie-ins, media relations and brand strategy. Roc Nation Sports launched its boxing division, a full service promotional company which represents world champions Miguel Cotto and Andre Ward, in August 2014.  Roc Nation Sports’ roster includes premiere athletes such as Robinson Cano, Skylar Diggins, Kevin Durant, Geno Smith, Victor Cruz, CC Sabathia, James Young, Dez Bryant, Ndamukong Suh, Rusney Castillo, Yoenis Cespedes, Jaelen Strong, Todd Gurley, Wilson Chandler, Erick Aybar, Justice Winslow, Willie Cauley-Stein and Frances Tiafoe.

 

About Miguel Cotto Promotions

Miguel Cotto Promotions is the leading promotional company in Puerto Rico founded by the five-time and four-division world champion Miguel Cotto and entrepreneur Hector Soto in 2005. Miguel Cotto Promotions has the vision of developing the besttalent in Puerto Rico and Latin America, while searching for the best partnerships in the business to present the best quality shows in the industry. In 2015, Miguel Cotto Promotions launched their most recent project named “Boxeo Al Maximo” in partnership with Univision Puerto Rico network, capturing great ratings results on the new Saturday night fights’ platform.

 

About Gary Shaw Productions

Based out of New Jersey, Gary Shaw Productions was founded in 2002 by President and Chief Executive Officer, Gary Shaw, a former NJ regulator. Having promoted boxing shows in China, Australia, Mexico and the U.K., GSP is known as an international enterprise, whose main objective is to bring excitement to boxing with competitive fights.  Partaking in some of the biggest events in boxing history, which include Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas, Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko, Winky Wright vs. Felix Trinidad, Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo, Shane Mosley vs. Winky Wright and Marquez vs Vasquez I, II & III, GSP has solidified its self as one of the top promotional companies in the sport.

 

About Barclays Center

Barclays Center opened on September 28, 2012, and is a major sports and entertainment venue in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. One of the most intimate seating configurations ever designed into a modern multi-purpose arena, Barclays Center offers 17,732 seats for basketball, 15,795 for hockey, and up to 19,000 seats for concerts, and has 101 luxury suites, four bars/lounges, four clubs, and 40/40 CLUB & Restaurant by American Express.

 

Barclays Center hosts an extensive variety of events, including premier concerts, major professional boxing cards, top college basketball, family shows, the Brooklyn Nets and soon the New York Islanders.

 

Barclays Center has redefined the arena customer service and culinary experience. Its more than 2,000 employees are trained by Disney Institute, the business advisory arm of The Walt Disney Company, and its BrooklynTaste™ food program features selections from 55 well-known restaurants and vendors in the borough.

 

Barclays Center engages the customer with state-of-the-art technology to enhance the fan experience. As the first arena in the world to utilize Cisco StadiumVision mobile multicast streaming technology, Barclays Center allows fans to watch live video and instant replays from their mobile phones while connected to the arena’s free Wi-Fi.

 

Located atop one of the largest transportation hubs in New York City, Barclays Center is accessible by 11 subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road, and 11 bus lines.

For more information on Barclays Center, please visit www.barclayscenter.com

Danbury Fight Night Card Set For May 30 

Danbury, CT (May 6, 2015)– On May 30th Prize Promotions presents their first professional boxing card, Danbury Fight Night, taking place at the Danbury Arena, in Danbury, CT. This action packed card is loaded with some of Connecticut’s fastest rising stars, and will be headlined by the much anticipated return of former amateur sensation, and undefeated professional Tramaine “Mighty Midget” Williams.

Williams (8-0 2KOs) out of New Haven, CT, turned pro at the age of 19 after a stellar amateur career, winning his first 8 pro fights in under a year and a half. Legal issues in 2013, halted Williams’ fast track to stardom. After over a year and a half layoff, Williams is set to make his return and reclaim the momentum and buzz that he created as a teenager. Promoter A.J. Galante was happy to give Williams a second chance.

 

“People make mistakes in life, big or small, especially kids. I’m a firm believer in people can learn from them, and I’m big on second chances. I’m proud to be the one to give Tramaine a second chance in boxing, when not a lot of people were willing to. I sat with him, we spoke, and I saw a kid look me in the eye and I saw that he was sincere about getting back on the right track. I’m hoping by giving him a second chance, he will make the most of it, and fulfill his promise. I’m certain a big performance May 30th will catch the eyes of everyone in the sport, which will only lead to more opportunities for him. There is no doubt whatsoever if he can keep his life outside the ring intact, he will be a World Champion,” said Galante.

 

Williams certainly won’t be coming back after a long layoff with a soft touch, he will be taking on Josh Bowles (9-1, 1KO) out of Harrisburg, PA in a 6 round featherweight attraction.

 

Also featured on the card will be New Haven’s Nate “The Great One” Green (7-0, 2KOs) as he takes on tough veteran spoiler Timur Shailezov (17-9-1, 4KO’s) from Kyrgyzstan, currently residing in Philadelphia, PA

 

Galante made clear that he has not signed Williams, Green, or any boxer for that matter to promotional contracts, but he noted there are requirements to fighting under Prize Promotions, “My vision is to give guys opportunities that could springboard them to bigger and better things. I’m looking to actually promote the sport the old fashioned way, and put together exciting 50-50 matchups. I think anyone who fights on my card should be recognized as a throwback fighter, and someone that wants to really become great. My matchmakers Russell Peltz, Brittany Rogers and I have not put any soft matches together. Fans can look at this lineup, and realize it’s nearly impossible for there to be an upset, because all these bouts, top to bottom, are equally matched. Everyone fighting on May 30th understood from the start that they have to fight tough competition, because in the end, it will only bring the best out of them and they will actually grow as a boxer from their matches. Plus the fans deserve it.”

 

This all action night of Professional boxing will also feature some of Connecticut’s most exciting and promising prospects. New Haven’s exhilarating Josh Crespo (3-2-2, 1KO) will take on Edgar Cortes (1-0) in a four round Featherweight bout.

 

Bridgeport’s Oscar Bonilla (3-0-2) puts his undefeated record on the line against Andrew Bentley (2-2-0) in four round Lightweight bouts.

 

Heavyweight Fan favorite and former University of New Haven Basketball star Cassius Chaney (1-0 1KO) of New London, recently signing with powerhouse promoter Main Events, will make his second appearance in a professional boxing ring, after picking up a TKO win in his debut April 17, against an opponent to be announced in a four round bout.

 

In what could potentially be the fight of the night, Veteran Richie “Kid Brasil” Neves(8-2-1, 4KOs) of nearby Hyde Park, NY will take on Gilbert Alex Sanchez (5-6, 2KOs) of Camden, NJ in a Super Welterweight bout scheduled for six-rounds.

 

The night will also feature three highly anticipated debuts from charismatic Light Heavyweight “Fly” Mike Marshall of the Bronx, former amateur standout, Super Welterweight  Mike Rue of Las Vegas, by way of Columbus, Ohio, and decorated amateur Saso Leskaroski of Macedonia.

 

Tickets: $100, $75, $50, $25 – can be purchased at www.prizepromotions.net or call 203.544.2WIN.

 

The Danbury Arena is located at

 

1 Independence Way, Danbury, CT 06810

 

All fights are subject to change & commission approval.

Baltimore Boxing to bring Excitement this weekend to Ocean City!

 

Baltimore, MD (May 6, 2015) – On Saturday, May 9, Baltimore Boxing Promotions will provide a complete evening of entertainment to Ocean City, MD.

 

Tickets from $25 are available on Ticketmaster.com and at the Convention Center Box Office.

 

At 8 PM, an Olympic style boxing card titled “Beatdown at the Beach” takes place at the Ocean City Convention Center. The card is headlined by a heavyweight title match including Baltimore Boxing Gym’s record holding knockout king Sam “Vanilla Gorilla” Crossed vsSalisbury’s KGC for the East Coast crown.  Renowned Joey “Bazooka Joe” Veazy of the Baltimore Boxing Gym squares off against Down Under Boxing’s Nigel Fennell. In addition, Donald Wallace of the Baltimore Boxing Gym meets Ryan Watson of Salisbury, MD, while young phenom Tommy Coe Jr., Ed Park and Omar Serrano will appear in separate bouts.

 

In association with this exciting night of fights, Baltimore Boxing is proudly teaming up with the Worcester County Humane Society’s efforts to find new homes for shelter animals. During the fights, there will be a 50/50 raffle with the proceeds going to the society and Baltimore Boxing is also donating tickets. The Humane Society will also be on hand to answer any questions and distribute information on their organization.

 

Throughout the evening, fans will have the opportunity to meet and greet a number of local notables. World rated cruiserweight Alex Guerrero of Salisbury and undefeated Steve “Show Stealer” Wheeler of Baltimore will be on hand along with legendary trainer Frank Gilbert and Virginia’s Andrew “Doo Man” Farmer. Following his nationally televised match on ESPN 2’sFriday Night Fights the evening prior to “Beatdown at the Beach”, middleweight warrior Jessie “The Beast Nicklow” of Baltimore will be on hand as will Ocean City’s very own Brian Ziegler.

 

Following the fights, all ticketholders are invited to the exclusive after party at Abbey Burger, located at 126th st in Ocean City.

 

“Beatdown at the Beach is not just a fight card, it’s a complete event,” said Smith. “I want every ticketholder to have a blast from the time they enter the Convention Center until their evening is complete. This is why it was important for Baltimore Boxing not only to have an entertaining fight card, but also have special guests and an after party at a popular place. Saturday evening is guaranteed to be a great time for everybody in OceanCity.”

For more information, go to Baltimoreboxing.com

Alyson DeRenzis wins Boxcino Bracket Challenge

Philadelphia, PA (May 6, 2015)— Banner Promotions is pleased to announce that Alyson DeRenzis has taken first place in the Boxcino Bracket Challenge.
Alyson will take home the grand prize of two ringside tickets to the Boxcino finals that will take place on May 22 in Corona, California, a full roundtrip for two to the finals, complete with a hotel stay and meals for two, as well as a guest invitation to the pre-fight weigh in and post fight press conference.  Alyson will also receive two Boxcino t-shirts.
The runner-up is Matt Andrzejewski.  Matt will have two tickets to the finals and two Boxcino t-shirts.
Banner Promotions would like to thank all contestants for their interest and participation!

SHOWTIME SPORTS® ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES “ALL ACCESS” WINS SPORTS EMMY AWARD FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR

 

 

NEW YORK (May 6, 2015) – SHOWTIME Sports original documentary series “ALL ACCESS” earned a Sports Emmy for the second consecutive year on Tuesday, taking home the honors for “Outstanding Sports Documentary Series” at the 36th Annual Sports Emmy Award ceremony in New York City.

 

The revealing documentary series, which chronicles the buildup and aftermath of boxing’s biggest prizefights, won its first Sports Emmy at last year’s ceremony for Outstanding Edited Sports Event Coverage with “ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Canelo Epilogue.”

 

In 2014, SHOWTIME Sports offered four multi-episode installments of ALL ACCESS, documenting the first and second showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana, Canelo Alvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo and Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara.

 

SHOWTIME Sports received a network best nine Sports Emmy Award nominations for the premium networks’ sports programming in 2014.  SHOWTIME has won 11 Sports Emmy Awards in the last five years.

Fight Report: Ozgul and Khan Secure Titles In York Hall Thriller

Report by: Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

Let’s face it, with the amount of column inches dedicated to Mayweather-Pacquiao over the past few weeks, you could easily be forgiven thinking that there were no other boxing events that took place on May 2nd.

Well, there was another fight card, and I’m pleased to say that I was at that event – the Mark Lyons and Billy James-Elliott promoted Lords of the Ring event at the iconic York Hall in London.

 

OK, admittedly York Hall in Bethnal Green doesn’t have anywhere near the cachet of being at such a mega fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but when it comes to drama and excitement, sorry you just can’t beat small hall boxing, especially when it’s at York Hall.

 

When the event was announced it was due to feature fourteen bouts, but immediately after May-Pac was announced a significant number of the bouts were cancelled, as the fighters wanted to be ringside in Vegas, then in the final build up further fights were off the card, due to injuries, leaving a seven card fight show on the night, or was it.

 

The card was further reduced on the day, after one of the fights was cancelled on safety grounds – due to a 5kg difference in the weight between the two debuting fighters – and if that wasn’t bad enough Manny Muhammad’s opponent, Rafael Snow failed to turn up, leaving just five fights on the night.

 

First up was a six rounder between Liverpool based Russian hot prospect David Agadzhanyan, against Czech Republic’s Josef Redlich, who stepped in at the last minute to save the bout, following Ghana’s Isaac Owusu being forced to pull out due to illness.

 

It took Agadzhanyan just forty five seconds to send Redlich to the canvas for the first time and about the same again to put him down a second time.

 

Redlich was plain outclassed so no surprise that when he went down for the third time that referee Ken Curtis decided to call a halt to proceedings on the two minute and twenty five seconds mark.

 

I’ve seen Agadzhanyan in action a couple of times, including the excellent win over then unbeaten Daniel Bazo back in March, so was really looking forward to seeing him in action against Owusu, a tough uncompromising former Ghanaian Champion and Commonwealth title eliminator challenger, but that’ll have to wait until later this month when the rescheduled bout takes place in Liverpool.

 

Next up was WBF Inter-Continental Champion Paul Economides, in a non-championship six rounder, against another late replacement, Czech Republic’s Petr Gyna, following former British Champ Andy Bell pulling out the week prior and then the original replacement pulling out just two days before the show.

 

Economides is another class act, so no surprise that Gyna was on the canvas within just thirty seconds, on the restart Gyna decided that attack is the best form of defense, however in taking the fight to Economides he played straight into his hands, literally as Economides punished him with a big right, that sent the Czech down to the canvas for a second and final time, on the one minute and twenty five second mark.

 

With both the opening fights finishing early and the live TV broadcast not due to start until 9pm, the promoters had no option but to have quite long interval before the next bout, a six round Light Heavyweight contest between Champions TKO’s unbeaten Hackney based Turkish prospect Onder Ozgul and the entertainer himself Jody Meikle.

 

Throughout the first four rounds Ozgul just walked Meikle down, letting rip with massive right hands at every conceivable opportunity, Meikle is as tough as they come and seemed content to absorb the punishment dished out by the man dubbed ‘Little Mike’ by the Turkish fans.

 

Ever the joker, Meikle played down the punishment he was taking, happily playing to the crowd, as well as infuriating his opponent, by pulling faces and insinuating that there was no power in the Turkish lads shots, however by the fact that Meikle had toned down his antics, clearly showed that Ozgul shots were indeed having the desired effect.

 

Meikle toned down the playfulness of his tactics even further in the fifth, as Ozgul stepped up his attacks, putting even more power into his shots.

 

Right from the start of the sixth it was clear that Ozgul was intent on punishing Meikle even further, backing the Scunthorpe man onto the ropes before letting rip with big double handed flurries, one of which, a cracking body shot, literally knocking the wind out of Meikle and forcing him to take to one knee.

 

On the restart Ozgul went in for the finish, this time Meikle went defensive, no further playing to the crowd, to see it through to the final bell.

 

After six highly entertaining rounds Referee Ken Curtis scored the bout 60-53 in favour of Ozgul.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the fight, I know it wasn’t a classic, but boy oh boy it was very entertaining.

 

The fourth bout of the night see Bradford’s Tasif Khan in Championship action for the first time, against Georgia’s Mikheil Soloninkini, for the International Masters Silver bantamweight title.

 

Khan started fast, boxing beautifully behind his jab the Bradford man kept his slightly more experienced foe on the back foot for the majority of the bout.

 

By midway point Khan slowed the pace slightly, at the same time keeping the pressure on Soloninkini, however about midway through the sixth, during a routine exchange Khan was a little slow bringing up his gloves, leaving an opening for the Georgian to let rip with a big right, which sent Khan to the canvas.

 

On the restart Soloninkini went full out in attack, Khan remained calm and got behind his jab again, the Georgian was well hyped and continued to come forward at pace before throwing huge bombs.

 

During these skirmishes Khan sensibly grabbed hold until referee Lee Murtagh issued the order break. This tactic worked and Khan was able to clear his head enough to turn control back round to himself.

 

Khan had his hands full for the final three rounds though, as Soloninkini had the bit between his teeth and was pushing hard, however Khan is a cool character and seemed content to box of the back foot each time the Georgian made a forceful foray.

 

After ten rounds of excellent boxing, the judges scorecards read – Ken Curtis 99-94, Obie Garnett 98-90 and Matt Hamilton 98-91, all in favour of Tasif Khan.

 

Jennifer Burton, the Northern Region Secretary of the Malta Boxing Commission, presented the familiar blue International Masters belt to the victorious Tasif Khan.

 

Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the fight, even though it was quite one sided for a lot of the time, let’s face it that’s not a statement on the quality of Soloninkini, as his pedigree is well known, this kid’s a tough nut to break, as proved by having taken Jamie Williams the distance, when they fought for the Bronze Masters back in March, as well as fought the sensational Charlie Edwards a couple of weeks later, but to my mind the one-sidedness of the fight as well as the result shows just how good Tasif Khan fought.

 

The headline fight of the night see a rematch between Champions TKO’s unbeaten Hackney based Turkish prospect Siar Ozgul, yep brother to the aforementioned Onder, against Nottingham’s Matt Scriven and this time there was a Championship on the line – The MBC International Welterweight title.

 

When these two first fought, back in October last year, it was an out and out war, Ozgul won but the rounds were so close it could have been a very different result.

 

The bout started in a very similar manner to their October showdown, neither man wanting to concede any ground, however just before the end of the first round Ozgul let rip with a massive right to Scriven’s body, which forced the Nottingham man to cover up to see the round to it’s conclusion.

 

The shot to the body must have really hurt Scriven as he seemed more intent on defense, rather than full on attack, from the start of the second, a pattern that remained for the rest of the bout.

 

Ozgul made most of the running throughout, however Scriven more than held his own during the many skirmishes that ensued, although have to admit he was a little more cautious than during the opening round.

 

After ten rounds of superb boxing the judges scorecards were read out – Lee Murtagh and Matt Hamilton scored the bout 100-90 and Obie Garnett 100-88 all in favour of Siar Ozgul.

 

This was followed by the presentation of the MBC International belt to Siar Ozgul by his fellow Champions TKO gym mate and the current MBC International Super Bantamweight Champion Marianne Marston.

 

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the event, especially the final three bouts, however I was a bit disappointed that some of the planned fights, such as those featuring Iain Weaver, Antonio Counihan, Mark Prince, George Hillyard and the aforementioned Marianne Marston, failed to materialize, because to my mind if they had taken place I feel this almost certainly would have been one of the best shows at York Hall this year, as it was it still was a highly enjoyable and entertaining evening of pugilistic action and a fitting prelude to the May-Pac fight, which promoters Mark Lyons and Billy James-Elliott arranged for the boxers, their teams and attendees of the event to watch live via satellite at a private function room.

 

ROC NATION SPORTS & MIGUEL COTTO PROMOTIONS ANNOUNCE SPECIAL PERFORMANCES AND UNDERCARD FIGHTERS FOR WBC MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION MIGUEL COTTO VS. DANIEL GEALE EVENT ON JUNE 6, 2015 AT BARCLAYS CENTER IN BROOKLYN

 

Big Sean, Angie Martinez, and DJ Lobo Comprise Entertainment Line Up

 

Roc Nation Sports’ Dustin Flesicher, Junior Younan, Zhang Zhilei. Along With Miguel Cotto Promotions’

Jose Lopez, Alberto Machado and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. To Be Featured On Undercard

 

NEW YORK (May 6, 2015) – Already a marquee event featuring Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KO’s) defending his WBC Middleweight and Ring Magazine World Champion titles against former Two-Time World Champion Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KO’s) in a 12-round main event, the June 6 showdown will now include a live musical performance by Roc Nation and Grammy-nominated artist Big Sean before the main event.

 

Roc Nation will bring other major names to the boxing experience at Barclays Center including notable event emcee and “The Voice of New York” Angie Martinez, who will serve as the event’s host, alongside hit master DJ Lobo from WSKQ La Mega 97.9 FM New York City, the #1 Spanish radio station in the United States. Martinez and Lobo will entertain together throughout the night to keep the energy up between bouts.

 

Cotto vs. Geale, a 12-round fight for Cotto’s WBC and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Championships, is presented by Roc Nation Sports and Miguel Cotto Promotions in association with Gary Shaw Productions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate. The championship bout takes placeSaturday, June 6 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and will be televised live on HBO beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.

 

Last year marked Big Sean’s first Grammy nomination and the release of his critically acclaimed sophomore effort, “Hall of Fame” which once again held an impressive number three Soundscan debut in the U.S. With over 10 million records sold to date, Sean became the first rapper to ever perform at The White House earlier this year and has released three successful shoe designs in partnership with Adidas Originals. While his professional work as an artist keep him extremely busy, Sean makes the time to use his resources to give back through his Detroit based non-profit, the Sean Anderson Foundation. He is currently on a national tour promoting his third major label album, Dark Sky Paradise (G.O.O.D. Music / Def Jam Recordings) which debuted at number one.

 

“I’m so excited to be coming together again with Roc Nation Sports to host its next boxing event at Barclays Center on June 6 featuring Miguel Cotto’s return to New York City,” said Angie Martinez. “The event format, including a live musical performance by Big Sean, will ensure the night is one to remember.”

 

“As an active member of the Latino community in New York City, I’m proud to be kicking off the week of the Puerto Rican Day Parade festivities with Miguel Cotto’s long-awaited return to the ring and debut at Barclays Center,” said DJ Lobo. “I’ll be sure to keep the atmosphere rocking between bouts and hope I can count on the Latino community to show their support on June 6.”

 

In addition to an exciting June 6 performance lineup, some of boxing’s hottest rising stars will be featured on the non-televised undercard. Roc Nation Sports standouts Dustin Fleischer, Junior Younan, Zhang Zhilei, and Miguel Cotto Promotions’ Jose Lopez, Alberto Machado and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. will look to keep fans on their feet from the opening bell through the main event.

 

New Jersey native and Two-Time State Golden Gloves Champion Dustin “The White Tiger” Fleischer (1-0, 1 KO), age 25, is on a quest to become the first grandson of a Holocaust survivor to be crowned world champion. Fleischer, with an amateur record of 112-18, is a protégé of 1996 Olympic Head Coach Al Mitchell and the youngest graduate of the U.S. Olympic Education Center for boxing at the age of 16. Mitchell’s guidance helped to propel Fleischer to U.S.A. Boxing’s #5 open-fighter ranking at 132 lbs in 2007, with only standout professionals Sadam Ali, Terence Crawford, Danny Garcia, and Luis Ramos ranked ahead of him. Fleischer made his professional debut on January 9, 2015 during Roc Nation Sports’ inaugural throne boxing event, scoring a second round technical knockout victory over Frank Jordan in a fight that was televised live on FOX Sports 1. Fleischer faces an opponent to be determined in a four round welterweight bout on June 6.

 

Brooklyn’s 19-year-old, undefeated Junior “The Young God” Younan (6-0, 5 KO’s) is considered one of New York City’s best boxing prospects. Younan, trained by his father Sherif, a former professional boxer himself, began fighting competitively at age eight and only two years later was called a “boxing prodigy” by the New York Times. He compiled an amateur record of 90-5, racking up an impressive series of titles along the way including nine Junior Olympic championships, nine Junior Metro championships, eight New York State Silver Gloves championships and five Regional Silver Gloves championships. In 2011, he was crowned National Junior Golden Gloves champion and was U.S.A. Boxing’s number one rated junior boxer in his weight class. Less than a month after his 18thbirthday, Younan made his professional debut on November 9, 2013, at the Aviator Sports and Events Center in Brooklyn, New York, stopping Kenneth Schmitz in the first round. On June 6, he will see action in a six round light heavyweight bout.

 

Zhang “Big Bang” Zhilei (3-0, 2 KO’s) is a 6-foot-6, 260-pound southpaw who is poised to make a major splash in the heavyweight division. Born in Henan, China, home to the world famous Shaolin Temple and Shaolin Warriors, Zhilei began his amateur career in 2003, participating in the World Championships. He went on to compete in the World University Boxing Championship the following year where he made it to the finals. A breakthrough came in 2007 at the World Championships when Zhilei captured a bronze medal and, by finishing the competition in third place, qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where he reached the super heavyweight finals, proudly adding to the host country’s medal total with a Silver Medal. Zhilei returned to the Olympics in 2012 in London, where he looked to better his 2008 performance. After a solid start, Zhang faced a stern test in the hard-hitting, eventual Gold Medal winning Brit Anthony Joshua and suffered a heart-breaking loss. In 2009 and 2013, Zhilei captured gold medals at the China National Games, an event of equal prestige to the Olympics in China. On August 8, 2014, Zhang made his professional debut by scoring a first-round knockout win over Curtis Lee Tate in Fallon, Nevada. On January 17, 2015, Zhang overpowered Perry Filkins with another first round knockout at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.  In his last bout on March 14, he scored a four round unanimous decision victory over Eric George in Jersey City, New Jersey.  The 32-year-old Zhilei will face an opponent to be determined in a four round bout at Barclays Center.

 

Hailing from Carolina, Puerto Rico, Jose “Wonder Boy” Lopez (15-0-1, 11 KO’s) is a bit modest when it comes to discussing his punching power, but that power was evidenced during the 21-year-old’s appearance on October 26, 2013 at the Ray G. Amalbert in Juncos, Puerto Rico when he faced veteran Nicaraguan Sergio Gomez and knocked him out in the eighth and final round. On March 29, 2014, the undefeated powerhouse scored a first round technical knockout win over Leivi Brea of The Dominican Republic to capture the vacant WBC FECARBOX super bantamweight title at the Cosme Beitia Salamo Coliseum in Cataño, Puerto Rico. Lopez successfully defend the title on June 7, 2014 against Raul Hidalgo via a near shutout eight round unanimous decision victory.  Another defense came on August 16, 2014 when he faced Roberto Casteñeda in what became an instant classic with Lopez hitting the canvas four times in the first round and Castañeda getting floored once each in rounds one, two and three before Lopez emerged the victor via an eight round majority decision. In his last bout on February 7, Lopez fought to a draw with Josean Figuroa at the Coliseo Guillermo Angulo in Carolina. On June 6, Lopez will look to add another win to his record in a six round featherweight bout.

 

Alberto “El Explosivo” Machado (10-0, 8 KO’s) started boxing at the age of ten in the Monte Hatillo Gymnasium located in San Juan. The 24-year-old Rio Piedras native compiled an amateur record of 145-21 and secured national championships in the junior, junior Olympics, cadet and adult categories. On November 11, 2012, Machado made is professional debut against Alex Nazario at the Coliseo Roger L. Mendoza in Caguas, Puerto Rico scoring a third round technical knockout win. Seven consecutive wins would follow, and on November 1, 2014, Machado fought for his first professional title at the Coliseo Hector Sola Bezares in Caguas where he defeated Alvin Torres via a second round technical knockout to capture the vacant WBC United States super featherweight title. In his most recent bout, Machado successfully defended his title on March 14 against Jean Javier Sotelo at the Coliseo Roger L. Mendoza in Caguas with a first round knockout. Machado faces an opponent to be determined in a six round junior lightweight bout on June 6.

 

Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (24-4-1, 19 KO’s) has emerged from the large shadow of his father, Puerto Rican legend Wilfredo Vazquez, to make a name for himself inside the squared circle.  The 30-year-old former World Champion from Bayamon is on a quest to recapture a world title belt now campaigning in the featherweight division.  After storming out of the gates with an 18 fight unbeaten streak, Vazquez captured the WBO junior featherweight world championship by defeating then fellow unbeaten Marvin Sonsona via a fourth round knockout on February 27, 2010.  Two successful title defenses followed before Vazquez lost his title to Three-Time World Champion Jorge Arce in an all-out war that the judges had a draw at the time of the twelfth round stoppage.  Another world title challenge came against Six-Time World Champion Nonito Donaire on February 2, 2012, but Vazquez came up short, dropping a split decision to the champion.  In his last bout on November 1, 2014, Vazquez scored a majority decision win over Jonathan Arrellano in Caguas, Puerto Rico.  On June 6, he’ll look to keep his winning ways going in an eight round featherweight bout against an opponent to be named.

 

Cotto vs. Geale, a 12-round fight for Cotto’s WBC and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Championships, takes place Saturday, June 6 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and will be televised live on HBO. The fight is presented by Roc Nation Sports and Miguel Cotto Promotions in association with Gary Shaw Productions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate. In addition to the great action inside the ring, the event will feature several notable Roc Nation touches that will further serve spectators with an enhanced fan experience, including Roc Nation and Grammy nominated artist Big Sean taking to the ring for a special performance prior to the main event. The event will be hosted by notable emcee “The Voice of New York” Angie Martinez and will also feature hit master DJ Lobo who will serve alongside Martinez throughout the night. Tickets priced at $500, $350, $250, $200, $150, $100, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges and taxes, are on sale now and available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com and at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. To charge by phone, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Doors open at 6:00 PM, the first fight begins at 6:15 PM and the HBO telecast begins at 10:30 PM ET/PT.

 

For more information please visit www.rocnation.com. Follow Roc Nation on Twitter and Instagram @rocnation and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RocNation.

 

For more information, visit www.hbo.com/boxing, follow on Twitter and Instagram at @HBOBoxing and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing.

 

About Roc Nation Sports

Roc Nation Sports, a sub-division of Roc Nation, launched in spring 2013. Founder Shawn “JAY Z” Carter’s love of sports lead to the natural formation of Roc Nations Sports, helping athletes in the same way Roc Nation has been helping artists in the music industry for years. Roc Nation Sports focuses on elevating athletes’ career on a global scale both on and off the field. Roc Nation Sports conceptualizes and executes marketing and endorsement deals, community outreach, charitable tie-ins, media relations and brand strategy. Roc Nation Sports launched its boxing division, a full service promotional company which represents world champions Miguel Cotto and Andre Ward, in August 2014.  Roc Nation Sports’ roster includes premiere athletes such as Robinson Cano, Skylar Diggins, Kevin Durant, Geno Smith, Victor Cruz, CC Sabathia, James Young, Dez Bryant, Ndamukong Suh, Rusney Castillo, Yoenis Cespedes, Jaelen Strong, Todd Gurley, Wilson Chandler, Erick Aybar, Justice Winslow, Willie Cauley-Stein and Frances Tiafoe.

 

About Miguel Cotto Promotions

Miguel Cotto Promotions is the leading promotional company in Puerto Rico founded by the five-time and four-division world champion Miguel Cotto and entrepreneur Hector Soto in 2005. Miguel Cotto Promotions has the vision of developing the best talent in Puerto Rico and Latin America, while searching for the best partnerships in the business to present the best quality shows in the industry. In 2015, Miguel Cotto Promotions launched their most recent project named “Boxeo Al Maximo” in partnership with Univision Puerto Rico network, capturing great ratings results on the new Saturday night fights’ platform.

 

About Gary Shaw Productions

Based out of New Jersey, Gary Shaw Productions was founded in 2002 by President and Chief Executive Officer, Gary Shaw, a former NJ regulator. Having promoted boxing shows in China, Australia, Mexico and the U.K., GSP is known as an international enterprise, whose main objective is to bring excitement to boxing with competitive fights.  Partaking in some of the biggest events in boxing history, which include Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas, Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko, Winky Wright vs. Felix Trinidad, Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo, Shane Mosley vs. Winky Wright and Marquez vs Vasquez I, II & III, GSP has solidified its self as one of the top promotional companies in the sport.

 

About Barclays Center

Barclays Center opened on September 28, 2012, and is a major sports and entertainment venue in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. One of the most intimate seating configurations ever designed into a modern multi-purpose arena, Barclays Center offers 17,732 seats for basketball, 15,795 for hockey, and up to 19,000 seats for concerts, and has 101 luxury suites, four bars/lounges, four clubs, and 40/40 CLUB & Restaurant by American Express.

 

Barclays Center hosts an extensive variety of events, including premier concerts, major professional boxing cards, top college basketball, family shows, the Brooklyn Nets and soon the New York Islanders.

Barclays Center has redefined the arena customer service and culinary experience. Its more than 2,000 employees are trained by Disney Institute, the business advisory arm of The Walt Disney Company, and its BrooklynTaste™ food program features selections from 55 well-known restaurants and vendors in the borough.

 

Barclays Center engages the customer with state-of-the-art technology to enhance the fan experience. As the first arena in the world to utilize Cisco StadiumVision mobile multicast streaming technology, Barclays Center allows fans to watch live video and instant replays from their mobile phones while connected to the arena’s free Wi-Fi.

 

Located atop one of the largest transportation hubs in New York City, Barclays Center is accessible by 11 subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road, and 11 bus lines.

 

 

For more information on Barclays Center, please visit www.barclayscenter.com

Juan Dominguez battles Jonathan Perez on May 22 at the Claridge in Atlantic City

Plus undefeated Bryant Perella, Gervonta Davis, John Magda, Kareem Martin, Jamontay Clark, Caleb Plant, Keenan Smith and Antowyan Aikens
Atlantic City, NJ (May 5,2015)–

On Friday night,May 22, boxing returns to the Claridge in Atlantic City with a full 10-bout card promoted by King’s Promotions in association with DeeLee Promotions
In the main event, undefeated super bantamweight Juan “Baby Tito” Dominguezwill take on Jonathan Perez  in a bout scheduled for 8-rounds.

Dominguez of Brooklyn, New York has a perfect mark of 18-0 with 12 knockouts,

The 29 year-old has risen up the ranks with quality wins such his third-round stoppage over previously undefeated Gabriel Gomez (4-0).  He also won the New York State Bantamweight title with a win over Arturo Santiago.

On February 16, 2013, Dominguez won the WBA Fedecaribe Super Bantamweight title with a 2nd round stoppage over Geyci Lorenzo.  Dominguez also has a win over Camilo Perez (9-1)

Dominguez is coming off a fifth-round stoppage over Carlos Rodriguez on February 21 in Allentown, PA.

Perez of Barranquilla, Colombia has a record 33-10 with 27 knockouts.
He has quality wins over Gustavo Sandoval (7-1) and Hugo Berrio (15-2) for the Colombian Bantamweight title.
He has been in the ring with world champions Abner Mares, Martin Castillo, Eric Ortiz and Cristian Mijares.
The 28 year-old is coming off a fifth round stoppage defeat to undefeated Horacio Garcia on August 16 in Mexico.

There will be three eight-round co-features that will highlight a nine fight undercard
8 round bouts:

Bryant Perella (11-0, 7 KO’s) of Lehigh Acres, FL will battle German Perez (11-1-3, 3 KO’s) of Tijuana, MX in a Welterweight bout.

John Magda (9-0, 6 KO’s) of Rutherford, NJ will fight Miguel Angel Manguia (31-32-1, 25 KO’s) in a Super Middleweight bout.

Gervonta Davis (10-0, 9 KO’s) of Baltimore, MD will take on an opponent to be named in Featherweight bout.
In 6-round bouts:

Kareem Martin (4-0-1, 3 KO’s) of Washington, DC will square off with with an opponent to be named in a Welterweight bout.

Middleweight Caleb Hunter Plant (6-0, 5 KO’s) of Ashland City, TN will fightRahman Mustafa Yusubov (11-20, 8 KO’s) of Dallas, TX.

Jamontay Clark (5-0, 3 KO’s) of Cincinnati, OH will battle Jonathan Garcia (4-13, 1 KO) of Aguada, PR in a Welterweight bout.

Pro  debuting light heavyweight Carlos Gongora of Brooklyn, NY will fight Jesus Gonzalez (0-3)  of Puerto Rico.
Jr. Welterweight Keenan Smith (6-0, 2 KO’s of Philadelphia) will take on an opponent to be named.
Light Heavyweight Antuwyan Aikens (9-0, 1 KO’s) .of Atlantic City, NJ will fightEdgar Perez (6-13, 3 KO’s) of Chicago, IL.
Tickets can be purchased for $100, $75 and $50 by clickingwww.claridge.eventbrite.com or by calling call 610 587 5950 or 609 868 4243

The 1st bout will start at 7 PM with the doors opening at 6 PM.

JENNINGS & SANTANA GAIN RESPECT WITH FANS

 

NEW JERSEY (May 5, 2015) – After HBO World Championship Boxing had one of their highest rated shows since 2012 with the Klitschko vs. Jennings championship bout on April 25th, Gary Shaw feels his fighters, Bryant Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs) and Francisco Santana (22-4-1, 11 KOs), can make quick comebacks to the big stage.

 

“There is no doubt in my mind that Bryant Jennings and Francisco Santana are fighters the fans want see,” said Gary Shaw. “The viewership that HBO had on April 25th was fantastic and I believe Jennings and Santana had a lot to do with those high ratings.  Jennings because of his activity on social media.  Santana because he has a tremendous amount of Latin fans that support him.  With that being said, I believe both fighters, will be back on the big stage in the future.”

 

Bryant Jennings gained a ton of respect for his gallant effort against Klitschko, in which he went the distance, giving Wladimir his toughest fight in recent years, proving he was deserving of a title shot.  Francisco Santana, who also went the distance with Sadam Ali, showed remarkable heart as he fought hard in every round, giving the fans their money’s worth.

 

“Bryant Jennings proved he’s an elite heavyweight contender with his performance against Klitschko,” Gary Shaw continued. “Santana is a Mexican warrior and both fighters gained a lot of fans that night.  Both fighters pressed the action, taking the fight to their opponents, bringing excitement to the bout.  Many in attendance felt the scores for both Jennings and Santana were not reflective of their fights.  It was a lot closer then what the judges scorecards read.  Jennings and Santana both love being HBO fighters.  I have plans to bring them back to HBO.”