Operator:
Welcome to the Matthysse Provodnikov conference call.
I will now turn it over to Marc Abrams.
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: העלא, יעדער יינער, welcome to this great conference call for this tremendous fight that’s going to happen on Saturday, April 18th at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, ניו יארק. The fight will come on air at 9:45 as part of a split site double header with Terence Crawford taking on Thomas Dulorme. On the call for the first part of the call will be Team Provodnikov, Banner Promotions present Artie Pelullo, the Siberian Rocky himself Ruslan Provodnikov, along with his manager Vadim Kornilov who will train–ultimately will translate, Hall of Fame promoter Freddie Roach, and also Kelly Abdo and Heidi Strong from Turning Stone are also on the call. Let me turn it over to Artie Pelullo–Artie?
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: הי, hello, יעדער יינער, this is Artie Pelullo from Banner Promotions. Good afternoon–everybody on this call knows that this is one of the great fights of the year for us, for our sport, and I just wanted to–the first thing I want to say is thank Eric Gomez from Golden Boy, and Oscar for helping us put this fight together. It was very easy to do. עריק, לוקאַס, און–I’m sorry, Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov, excuse me, both wanted this fight. אַזוי, it was very easy to put together. Eric and I literally did the deal in maybe 30 אָדער 40 minutes and this is how one of the great fights of 2015 got made, very easily, but two guys who wanted to fight and two promotional companies who work together in the co-promotion. And we’re doing this event equally together and it’s going to be an exciting night for boxing. I believe it’s going to be Corrales Castillo one, which I had a good fortune of promoting with Bob Arum and Gary Shaw. That’s what I think of the fight. Both guys don’t know how to do anything but put on TV friendly and fan friendly fights. Before I get into anything else with the show, I’d just like to turn it over to Kelly from Turning Stone who is the PR Manager who would like to say a few words on behalf of or host, Turning Stone Resort & Casino who went out of their way to make sure that they landed this fight because they’re really into the boxing business. They’re really fight site friendly. And they’re really into going out of their way to put on a spectacular live event at their location. אַזוי, קעלי, why don’t you take it from here and say what you’d like to say about Turning Stone.
מס. קעלי אַבדאָ: קעשורע, אַ דאַנק, Artie–hello, יעדער יינער, it’s Kelly Abdo from Turning Stone Resort Casino. And as Artie mentioned, we’re really excited to be hosting this epic fight and to have everyone here. We’re all really looking forward to it and we have a week’s worth of events lined up that we’re really excited to host.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: דאַנק, קעלי–one thing I need to mention, גויס, to everybody on the call and ladies and ladies and gentlemen, the reason why the fight is at Turning Stone is because Ed Allmann and Heidi Strong. They wanted the fight. They were aggressive about the fight. They realized what this kind of fight could mean because it could be a historic event because of two great punchers and two great exciting styles. I know Oscar is going to talk about Lucas, but I just like to say that he is a great fighter and I know his manager slash promoter for 20 יאָרן, Mario Arana and he’s an exceptional young man. אַזוי, it’s going to be a terrific fight on their side. As far as Ruslan’s concerned, in my opinion there’s none better. We’ve been together since his very beginning, since his first fight. It’s been my privilege to work with him. He’s a true athlete. He’s very focused on his job. He’s extremely focused on being a promotional. The VADA, the Anti-Doping Test is always something that he demands and insists on. He doesn’t believe athletes should be anything but legitimate and 100 percent legal. And his manager is Vadim who I have been working with for several years. We have a lot of fighters together. And he’s just good people, focused on the job–never an issue about who. It’s always when are we fighting? Let’s make the best fights possible. And also now Freddie Roach is on the call with us, as you know. Everybody knows Freddie. And his career changed Ruslan when he went to Freddie. The truth of it is, when he went to Freddie, got in that gym, was around world-class guys, the quality of the people he was working with changed and the development of his career was tenfold. אַזוי, after saying all of that I want to thank everybody. I’d like to introduce Freddie right now. און, as you know, Freddie is training also training the great Manny Pacquiao, but I’d like to have Freddie say a few words on behalf of Ruslan and the show–FREDDIE?
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: היי, אַ דאַנק, Artie. Ruslan is doing really well and he’s in a really good shape for this fight. He knows just how to fight and he’s a good fighter and I look forward to it, and on paper it looks like one of the best this year. אַזוי, it’s going to be a tremendous show and I don’t think you want to miss this on.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: אָוקיי, thanks, FREDDIE, and now I’d like to introduce to you all Ruslan Provodnikov, the Siberian Rocky, ווער, as I’ve said I’ve had the good fortune of meeting him and Vadim seven years ago when I went to Moscow for the first time and signed Ruslan to an exclusive contract. און, boy, did I not know how lucky I was at the time–רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו, gentlemen and ladies–רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו.
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: How are you? הי.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: געזונט, that’s good. He can say more than one word.
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: I just woke up getting ready to go to training. I’m happy to hear everybody.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: געזונט, Vadim, would you like to say a few words?
מר. Vadim Kornilov: באשטימט–Artie, thank you for the great introduction and, איר וויסן, we’re here. רוסלאַן–he’s eating as we’re doing this. I’m sorry–he’ll be more talkative in about two, three minutes, but I’m glad that this all worked out. It’s a great fight that everybody is looking forward to. און, איר וויסן, באַנער פּראָמאָטיאָנס, גאָלדען בוי, אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ, אַרטי פּעלוללאָ, you guys did a great job and I appreciate, and you working together to put this fight together. It’s very easy to make, and I think this is the way it should be. This is way the business should be, is the best fighting, the best, and the promoters working together–אַ דאַנק.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: אַ דאַנק, Vadim, and I guess now it’s back to you for questions and answer, גויס, for Marc? How does it go from here?
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: Maggie?
Operator: The lines are now open for questions. If you would like to ask a question, you may do so by pressing star and then one on your telephone keypad. That’s star and the number one. Our first question comes from the line of Dan Rafael with ESPN. Your line is live.
מר. דן Rafael: דאנק איר זייער פיל–hello?
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: Go ahead, און. We can hear you.
מר. דן Rafael: אָוקיי, אַ דאַנק, Artie–אַ דאַנק, גויס–my first question, Vadim, could you ask, respond, what does he believe the impact will be if any in the fact that Freddie–because of the Pacquiao training camp–is not going to actually be in the corner, even though he’s training him in the gym?
מר. Vadim Kornilov: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: Everything is all right. This is not the first time that Freddie was not in the corner. For me what’s important is that Freddie is with me throughout the camp and we’re working together as a team to come up with the right strategy and, איר וויסן, get ready for this fight. It’s not a big deal. איר וויסן, Marvin Somodio is Freddie’s right hand guy is going to be there for me and I know that Marvin knows what I need to do in the wrong. And that’s all that’s important, but for me this is not a problem.
מר. דן Rafael: אָוקיי, FREDDIE, ביסט איר עס?
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: יאָ.
מר. דן Rafael: FREDDIE, I know you always like to be with your fighters on fight night. Obviously that’s a big part of training a guy. Can you speak to the reason you won’t be there? Is it the matter of just because of the serious nature of the Pacquiao training camp? I understand you’ve also had some problems with your back. What’s your take on the reasons that you can’t make it to Turning Stone for the fight.
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: יאָ, because the Pacquiao fight is very important right now and Ruslan is very important also. I work with him every day in the gym. He and Marvin have a good rapport together. Marvin knows what to do. He’s a very good trainer. Even after a fight when we went to Denver by himself without me and they came through. They understand what I want and just because I’m not there doesn’t–Ruslan will still fight his fight and Marvin will make the adjustments along the way. There will be no problem whatsoever. It’s not the first or last time this has happened in my life.
מר. דן Rafael: FREDDIE, when you think about the fight on paper between these guys, I think pretty much every boxing fan looks at this and just says, “Wow, there is no chance. This can’t be, איר וויסן, potentially the fight of the year, or a very memorable action packed fight. Can you just give me your take on the match up?
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: יאָ, it’s the greatest match up in the world. עס ס–you’ve got two guys that love to fight, two guys that are great punches. It’s going to be a very exciting fight. אַז ס פֿאַר זיכער, and it’s the best fight and the best is what we need. This is what’s going on in boxing right now and that’s why everything is really happening in boxing bigger than ever at this point because of fights like this.
מר. דן Rafael: Vadim, could you ask Ruslan to also give your response to his take on the match up? There are so many boxing fans who are super excited about this just because of the action style that Ruslan as well as Lucas to the ring.
מר. Vadim Kornilov: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: I expect the same as all the fans. איר וויסן, this is a very exciting match up. This is going to be a great fight and I think that for me it’s no less than to all the people watching. איר וויסן, for me it’s exciting as well and these types of fights are what’s important because for me the fight and the money as I’ve said many times, they’re not number one. Number one is I want my fights to be part of history, and I think this is one of those fights that is destined to be part of history. And that’s what I want to give my fans. That’s what I want to give my people back home is these fights that people will remember because not all the fights that a World Title fights are remembered. But the fights that–the type of fight that can happen between Matthysse and I are–is a fight that’s definitely going to be remembered forever.
מר. דן Rafael: קעשורע, דאַנקען איר זייער פיל, גויס–appreciate your time.
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: אַ דאַנק.
Operator: קעשורע, next question comes from the line of Michael Woods with the Sweet Science. Your line is live.
מר. מיכאל וואָאָדס: היי, גויס, thanks for making the time–my question is for Ruslan. רוסלאַן, I presume that you believe going into the fight you are betting than Matthysse. How are you better than Mattyssee?
מר. Vadim Kornilov: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: געזונט, first of all I never said that I’m better than him or that I’m better than anyone else because it’s not for me to judge. All I can say is that I know that I can beat anybody and it’s all about my will. And I know that if I give everything that I have in the ring, and I give everything that I have in training, I can beat anybody. It’s all about my character and all I’m willing to give. I can’t judge who is better or who is not better, איר וויסן? And I know his team are saying a lot of things and they’re saying, “איר וויסן, we’re going to knock them out. We’re smarter, we’re better, we’re better boxers.” I don’t want to say any of that. I’m a lot more political than that. איר וויסן, talk is cheap. איר וויסן, there’s a Russian saying that says, “Don’t say I won until you win,” you know basically. And I’m not going to talk. איר וויסן, I’m going to my talking in the ring and I think that I can be better than anybody if I deserve it and I give it all in training.
מר. דן Rafael: Good stuff–איך ווי אַז. Question is for Freddie–FREDDIE, I’m not asking for your game plan, but I am asking how you believe Ruslan is better than Matthysse on paper going into the fight.
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: איך טראַכטן, יאָ, he is, I think he’s a good puncher, but Matthysse is very strong also. I mean this is–both guys are very dangerous. I told Ruslan if you hurt this guy, don’t just talk in because he has tremendous power. Don’t let him get lucky. אַזוי, איר וויסן, we have a pretty good game plan down. We know what do I think and how to do it I think. And so, probably we had a great training camp.
מר. דן Rafael: קעשורע, good stuff–thanks, גויס, איך אָפּשאַצן עס.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Distino Lois Jr. from Black Star News New York City. Your line is live.
מר. Distino Lois Jr.: דאנק איר זייער פיל–thank you for the invitation, איך אָפּשאַצן עס. The question to Ruslan is, רוסלאַן, צומ באַדויערן–this is Distino Lois Jr., Black Star News, מאַנהאַטטאַן–you suffered a setback with your loss to Chris Algieri. Do you consider this fight with Lucas Matthysse a redemption, a door opener if victorious so that you can take advantage of the vacancies of the 140 pounders because now, אַוואַדע, we are aware of the fact that Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson, two of your future opponents, have moved up to 143 catch-weight fight for the 11th. אַזוי, now the victory over Matthysse would be a door opener for you. Is that how you feel?
מר. Vadim Kornilov: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: I definitely know that there’s a lot of different things going on at 140 רעכט איצט, but for me right now I’m thinking about April 18th, איר וויסן? איר וויסן, I’m thinking about this fight and I know that once I win this fight it will open a lot of doors for me. אָבער, איר וויסן, once the fight is over we can sit down and I’ll be happy to answer all your questions about what’s next.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: I see–let me just also clarify the question that was asked. So you know, neither one of those two guys are giving up their title. They’re fighting at 143 פונט. אַזוי, neither one of them would have to be at risk of losing their title, which I find very interesting that neither one of them would fight for their title so they could give up their title to the winner. אַזוי, nobody is giving up their titles in that fight. What they’re doing is they made an agreement not to put their titles on the line, which is a big difference in what your question was originally about, מייַנ הער.
מר. Distino Lois Jr.: געזונט, absolutely, but I question Danny Garcia and you said he was having trouble making the weight. That’s why he agreed–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –Then he should give up the title–.
מר. Distino Lois Jr.: –To, צו–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –Then he should give up the title, but anyway–.
מר. Distino Lois Jr.: –רעכט–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –That’s not–he should give up the title, but that’s not what’s going on–.
מר. Distino Lois Jr.: –רעכט–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –What’s going on is they’re not fighting on weight, so neither one of them are at risk to lose their title–.
מר. Distino Lois Jr.: –רעכט, I’m aware of that. דאנק איר זייער פיל. רוסלאַן, without giving out any trade secrets with your Hall of Fame Freddie Roach trainer, how are you all prepared for Matthysse, being that Matthysse has already shown some flaws of being knocked down twice by Molina and once by Danny Garcia? אַזוי, what are you doing to make sure that yours is the final punch?
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: I guess next question?
Operator: קעשורע, our next question comes from the line of Briggs Seekins from Bleacher Report. Your line is live.
מר. Briggs Seekins: יאָ, hi, רוסלאַן–I’m wondering is there a sense where mentally it’s a little bit easier to relax in training camp when you know you’re playing a guy who is going to give you the kind of fight you want and not be, איר וויסן, an evasive sort of fighter like Algieri, but a guy who is going to, איר וויסן, like you say, give you a fight that makes history and also give you the kind of fight that you like to fight?
מר. Vadim Kornilov: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: For me training camp is training camp. I always give everything I can in training camp and I’m very responsible in training camp. איך טאָן ניט נעמען אַבי ווער לייטלי, but to answer your question, איר וויסן, walking into a ring with a fighter that I know will fight me definitely I can do a lot better than a fighter who will just run.
מר. Briggs Seekins: גרויס, אַ דאַנק–and Artie I did–I want to thank you for calling out the situation at 140 with the titles. It’s a little discouraging to see them not treated the way that a lot of us grew up seeing titles treated.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: Yup, you’re right, און, איר וויסן, what’s going on is purely that they don’t want to have anything at risk. It’s a dangerous fight for both guys, but not for like Provodnikov and Matthysse. They’re putting it all on the line because they’re still fighting at 12 ראָונדס. עס ס 140 פונט. There is no title because we don’t have one, and I’m telling you both these kids would put their titles out if they had, but they wouldn’t be avoiding fighting for the title because then they don’t want to take a chance at losing it. That’s what’s going on. That’s exactly what’s happening.
מר. Briggs Seekins: יאָ, absolutely–all right, good luck, רוסלאַן.
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: I guess we’ll take one more for Ruslan.
Operator: Our last question comes from the line of Chris Gunzz with 15rounds.com. Your line is live.
מר. Chris Gunzz: רוסלאַן, he is a huge puncher as a few different guys brought up already. Do you think he’s going to be the biggest puncher you’ve faced and do you ever wonder if you’ll be able to handle that power? Have you ever had the experience of getting hit by a guy who carries a massive punch like that, and do you feel–any questions on whether you’ll be able to take it on the night?
מר. Vadim Kornilov: The question is about Matthysse being the biggest puncher that Ruslan has faced, correct?
מר. Chris Gunzz: יאָ, and if he has any questions of whether he’ll be able to take it.
מר. Vadim Kornilov: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: Looking at his record, he seems to be one of the biggest punchers of this decade, איר וויסן? He’s probably one of the biggest punchers right now. Does it bother me–not at all. It only makes me more excited because I know that this is going to be a real fight and I know that either, איר וויסן, I take him or he takes me. And it’s going to be toe to toe it’s going to be a real fight. For me that’s only a positive.
מר. Chris Gunzz: And I appreciate that even more that you realize you’re facing someone dangerous, and you want to face him anyway and you don’t mind it. I love the balls you’re showing in that, and final question for Freddie. Is it a plan to jump on him early, FREDDIE, because he did show that vulnerability in the Molina fight? Is Freddie still there? I heard someone hang up in the phone call, but is Freddie still there?
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: איך בין דאָ. יאָ, I’m still here.
מר. Chris Gunzz: Is it a focus in training camp to try to jump on him early seeing that the vulnerability was shown in the Molina fight early on?
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: געזונט, איר וויסן, we can. I mean we know how this guy fights. I mean I think he is the bigger punch, and we’re a little bit better than he is, but I mean, איר וויסן, he’s got his strong points also. אַזוי, it makes for an exciting fight. Ruslan is a very good fighter. רוסלאַן, I saw him learn how to fight Manny Pacquiao on his own. He used to be Manny’s sparing partner. And that’s when I first really got interested in him because he’s so capable. He learns very quickly and he’s a great shooter.
מר. Chris Gunzz: One of the best ever–איך אָפּשאַצן עס, FREDDIE. Good luck on April 18th and good luck on May too.
מר. פרעדי ראָוטש: דאנק איר זייער פיל.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: אָוקיי, was that it, גויס?
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: עס ס–I’m going to turn it over to Golden Boy and Team Matthysse in a minute. I guess final comments from I guess first Artie and then Ruslan.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: געזונט, I just want to say thank you for everybody for joining the call. There’s really not much to say. As Dan Rafael and all the other reporters and Mr. Woods who got on the phone, everybody knows that this is the most TV friendly and fan friendly fight. The networks were all over–both of them bid on the fight. אַזוי, it’s going to be a great night for boxing, a great night for our fans. And I just want to thank everybody, רוסלאַן, FREDDIE, and Vadim for helping promote the fight, וואָס–it’s like–it doesn’t take a lot of promoting to promote this event because everybody knows it’s going to be a terrific event. I want to thank everybody for coming on board–אַ דאַנק. Now I’d like to introduce my co-promoter and my partner in the show, and everybody knows who this is, one of the great fighters of our time who has turned out to be quite the promoter himself, good people. He has a nice staff. Like I said earlier, a lot of people say a lot of different things. It literally has been no misses to work with Oscar and his staff. It was very smooth and it’s been a joy and a pleasure, and like Eric Gomez and I say there will be future events that we’ll be working. Now I’d like to turn it over to Oscar De La Hoya. He’s the founder and president of Golden Boy and one of the great personalities in our sport. It’s my pleasure to work with him, אָסקאַר?
מר. Vadim Kornilov: Artie, sorry to interrupt. Ruslan is leaving. אַזוי, we’re good to go. He wanted to say a couple of things–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –טאַקע, I’m sorry–I went too fast, excuse me. I’m sorry, רוסלאַן. Say something. I apologize.
מר. רוסלאַן פּראָוואָדניקאָוו: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Vadim Kornilov: I just want to say that I want to thank Artie Pelullo personally, באַנער פּראָמאָטיאָנס. I want to thank my whole team for making this happen. דאס איז געגאנגען צו זייַן אַ גרויס קאַמף. I want to thank HBO for making this happen. I’ve been loyal to them and they’ve been loyal to me and that’s very important to me and we’ve done great things together and there’s great things to come. אַזוי, I appreciate this and I want to say one thing to the fans. I promise this is going to be the fight you guys are all waiting for. And now from me, Artie, good luck with–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –Sure–.
מר. Vadim Kornilov: –I want to give the word to Oscar De La Hoya and the rest of his team, and I bet for the next 30 minutes you guys are going to hear a lot of–Matthysse is going to knock Provodnikov out and all of that, but I just want to say that Provodnikov has never been on his knees. אַזוי, איר וויסן, they’re talking about knockouts a lot, but they should be expecting a knock out on their team. Good luck to you guys and I appreciate the promotions. Ruslan says all the best of health to Matthysse and his team–אַ דאַנק.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: דאַנק, Vadim–.
מר. Vadim Kornilov: –Thanks again–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –געזונט, since I–I apologize, גויס, I went a little bit too fast. אַזוי, אָסקאַר, you’re up. I don’t have to say it again. Everybody knows what we think of you–אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ–.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: דאנק איר זייער פיל–we really appreciate it and Artie already mentioned this fight needs no promotion. We are just thrilled that the best network is going to be televising this event. These are the types of events that obviously belong on HBO Championship Boxing and we are just thrilled and excited to be part of it. I also want to take the opportunity to thank Corona Extra, also Mexico Live it to Believe it, and Corsair Vodka, which are the sponsors of the events. They have been doing a tremendous, tremendous job with all of the Marketing and the grassroots Marketing. אַזוי, come April 18th the whole world will know the best 140 pounders will be fighting on that night. It is my pleasure to introduce to you a fighter who hails from Argentina. We all know Argentinean fighters are strong fighters who are smart fighters who come to give the fight fans a spectacular show and when you’re going to see Lucas and Provodnikov in that same ring April 18th, we–you’re guaranteed fireworks. אַזוי, it is my pleasure to introduce to you a fighter with a record of 36 און 3 און 32 קנאָקקאָוץ. They call him La Máquina, and that is Lucas Matthysse. [Foreign Language Spoken]–לוקאַס. [Foreign Language Spoken], לוקאַס.
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: I’ll translate for Lucas. He said, hi, good afternoon, יעדער יינער–I’m calling from my training camp in Junin and I’ve very excited for this fight and to be fighting once again in the United States.
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: אַ דאַנק, gracias, and we’ll now open it up for questions from the media–gracias.
Operator: As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, you may do so by pressing star and then one on your telephone keypad. That’s star and the number one, and our first question comes from the line of Dan Rafael with ESPN. Your line is live.
מר. דן Rafael: דאנק איר זייער פיל–my question for Lucas–I asked Ruslan this in his portion of the call–you have a fight here where I think pretty much every boxing fan, media is anxiously waiting what they think would be the fight of the year. I would like to hear from Lucas about his thoughts about the really high expectations for this fight to be, איר וויסן, extremely, extremely exciting and entertaining.
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: יאָ, איך בין, איר וויסן, I’m just excited. I’m excited to be fighting a caliber of fighter like Ruslan. It’s two, איר וויסן, fighters at the top of their game fighting each other. I had many good, איר וויסן, replies on it, especially in Argentina. A lot of people are looking forward to the fight and I’m just excited to be fighting again at this level and fighting a guy like Ruslan.
מר. דן Rafael: עריק, could you ask Lucas, איר וויסן, in April last year he knocked out John Molina. It got voted as the Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers. Does he think that it has the chance of–to be another fight of the year? Is that something he ever thinks about? I know he’s probably happy that they got the Fight of the Year for last year. He could make it two in a row potentially.
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: געזונט, I mean for last year’s fight I’ve got to give credit to John Molina because he came to fight and he allowed me to perform in a way that made it Fight of the Year. If Ruslan comes forward and is aggressive and does the same thing, דעמאָלט, יאָ, I’m going to seize that opportunity and try to take advantage of that and make it an exciting fight. I think personally it could be a great fight. אָבער, איר וויסן, it takes two.
מר. דן Rafael: Exactly, thank you for that, עריק–one question for you, אָסקאַר.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: איך בין דאָ.
מר. דן Rafael: היי, אָסקאַר, good to talk to you. I know for the last number of months you have preached very regularly about your desire to try to make the best fights you possibly can do as the leader of Golden Boy Promotions. I’d like to know from your point of view, is this sort of basically the kind of fight you had talked about when you said those words that this is the expectations that you have to make this caliber of a fight on a regular basis?
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: געזונט, these are exactly the fights that the fans want to see, whether there’s a title on the line or no title, or where it takes place. איר וויסן, these are the fights that the fans deserve and I’ve been an advocate of staging the best fights possible for the fans and come April 18th I don’t know for sure, but I have a good hunch that this fight might be the Fight of the Year.
מר. דן Rafael: קעשורע, thank you for that, אָסקאַר–appreciate it. דאנק איר זייער פיל, גויס, look forward to this one.
Operator: קעשורע, our next question comes from the line of Daniel [אַנינטעלאַדזשאַבאַל] [00:35:22] Deportiva [sp]. Your line is live.
מר. דניאל: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. דניאל: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: יאָ, he asked me about this fight, why wasn’t it staged in Los Angeles or in Las Vegas? Why New York, און, איר וויסן, simple–the venues were not available and I–he asked me if, איר וויסן, this fight being such an exciting and anticipated fight, I mean how do I feel? This is what Golden Boy is all about and I’m just really happy to be working with Artie Pelullo and Eric was very instrumental in making this fight happen, and we feel very, very optimistic that I mean this fight is going be action packed from the first battle and I–and it might even be better than the Mayweather Pacquiao fight.
מר. דניאל: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: אָוקיי, so the question was, do you know–are you aware that, איר וויסן, Freddie Roach will not be working in the corner of Ruslan on the night of the fight. And Lucas said, “צי ניט, not really–I didn’t know.”
מר. דניאל: Gracias.
Operator: קעשורע, next question comes from the line of Michael Woods with the Sweet Science. Your line is live.
מר. מיכאל וואָאָדס: הי, גויס, thanks for taking the time. My question is for Ruslan. רוסלאַן, on the first portion of the call someone referenced you saying something along the lines of you believe you are going to knock Provodnikov out. But I didn’t see that. I’m not sure what outlet that was said to. Can you reiterate that? Can you talk about that and clarify it for me what was said there?
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: צי ניט, he said they weren’t exactly those words, but he said how long. It’s a tough fight and he’s going to–he’s ready to fight. He’s ready for a tough fight, and if the opportunity presents itself so that the fight could end early, obviously I’m going to take advantage of it. But I’m ready to fight a tough fight and it’s going to be a tough fight.
מר. מיכאל וואָאָדס: דאַנק–this question is for Oscar. אָסקאַר, you’ve repeatedly said you want the best fighting the best. That’s going to be the stamp that Golden Boy wishes to put on its fight. I am wondering, is there a certain class of athlete and human being who wants to accept the challenge of the best fighting the best, and are you going to maybe target those types of fighters and only sign those types of fighters to Golden Boy moving forward?
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: געזונט, that’s up to the fighter. I mean I can’t fight for the fighter. איר וויסן, they go up to the ring and they perform, אָבער, איר וויסן, we at Golden Boy want to make the best match ups possible, איר וויסן, obviously keeping in mind that, איר וויסן, that the fans always come first and, איר וויסן, this fight here with Lucas and Provodnikov, I mean this is–everybody is writing about how this is going to be the Fight of the Year and we feel proud to be working with Artie Pelullo and making this happen.
מר. מיכאל וואָאָדס: יאָ, and the fan buzz for this on Twitter is amazing I would say. Could you give us a hint maybe, a little bit of a tease about maybe some other types of fist fights that maybe you’re trying to make, or want to make for the rest of this year?
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: געזונט, this is–that’s calls for another conference call. אַזוי, we’re going to focus here on Lucas. אַזוי, we’ll have a call about that shortly, my man.
מר. מיכאל וואָאָדס: קעשורע, thanks–appreciate it, גויס–be well.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: Take care, מיכאל.
Operator: קעשורע, next question comes from the line of Disino Lois Jr. with Black Star News New York City. Your line is live.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: דאנק איר זייער פיל–gracias–[Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: היי, עריק, can you translate that in English too? I speak a little Italian, but no Spanish.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: טאַקע, you want me to say it in English too?
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: יאָ, I want to hear what’s–I told you, I speak a little Italian, but no Spanish–sorry, גויס.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: געזונט, I can do both if you want me to. I don’t know.
מר. עריק גאָמעז: אַזוי, the question was, לוקאַס, do you see this as an opportunity of more doors opening at 140 so that you can be the top fighter at 140? Obviously there’s still Danny Garcia and Lamonte, but everybody knows they’re fighting at a catch-weight. Is this kind of like the changing of the guard and it’s going to open up the doors so you can be the top fighter at 140? לוקאַס, [Foreign Language Spoken], לוקאַס?
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: יאָ, דאָך, I mean obviously with this fight here, we’re the ones that are fighting at the weight class–.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: –רעכט–.
מר. עריק גאָמעז: –Whatever reason Danny and Lamonte, they’re not–they’re fighting outside of the weight class. יאָ, this is the fight that’s going to open up opportunities for the winner. It’s the fight that’s going to open up bigger and better things, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. That’s what motivates me.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: לוקאַס, [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: Are you preparing for this question–are you preparing for this fight which obviously promises to be a fight in a phone booth? Are you preparing so you’re not hit and not dropped like you have, like you did get dropped with Danny and your last fight with Molina, לוקאַס?
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: געזונט, it’s all in the preparation. It’s all in the preparation and I’ve had–.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: –רעכט–.
מר. עריק גאָמעז: –And I’ve had a very, very good preparation and obviously we’ve worked on things so that that won’t happen during the fight, but it’s all in the preparation and I’ve had one of the best preparations for this fight.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: אַ דאַנק–gracias, לוקאַס–my last question will be to Oscar De La Hoya. אָסקאַר–I’ll do it in English. Is this your dream come true, אָסקאַר, that all of the fights that you wanted to put together are little by little coming true, and at the same time you are spreading the wealth because you are going up to Verona, ניו יארק. A lot of people have told me, where the heck is Verona, ניו יארק, but it is a fight town. אַזוי, are you doing this to spread the wealth of boxing and to make it more palatable for those who cannot come into the Las Vegas and the California’s and whatever?
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: געזונט, it, I’m happy to be part of a year where boxing will be shown and on the main stage. איר וויסן, we feel that boxing in 2015 is going to transcend–.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: –רעכט–.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: –And boxing is just–it’s just getting started. I mean with the Mayweather Pacquiao fight happening–.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: –רעכט–.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: –With Canelo fighting and this fight here, I mean this is what the fans want to see and we’re just excited to be part of it. און, איר וויסן, to take it down to Verona, איר וויסן, the ticket sales are just a great indication of–.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: –רעכט–.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: –איר וויסן, that Verona is a fight town and–.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: –Exactly–.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: –יאָ, the arenas weren’t available in Los Angeles or Las Vegas. אַזוי, איר וויסן, we didn’t take a risk of taking it to Verona. I mean we obviously already–Pelullo knew first hand what type of fans there are in Verona, ניו יארק. אַזוי, איר וויסן, obviously he wasn’t wrong. I mean this is almost a sell out event so we’re excited to be part of it.
מר. Disino Lois Jr.: דאנק איר זייער פיל–God bless all of you and [Foreign Language Spoken]. דאנק איר זייער פיל, איך אָפּשאַצן עס.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: Gracias.
Operator: קעשורע, next question comes from the lines of Chris Gunzz with15rounds.com. Your line is live.
מר. Chris Gunzz: לוקאַס, איך וויסן אַז–it was my opinion that it was Fight of the Year last year, you versus John Molina. And you know how hard John Molina hits. You faced him. When you were sent film of Ruslan, you know that he carries a punch. How do you assess through film when you compare what you might feel from him, that what you already felt from John Molina? Who do you think has bigger one-punch power?
מר. עריק גאָמעז: לוקאַס, [Foreign Language Spoken]. לוקאַס?
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: יאָ, יאָ, okay–יאָ, יאָ, איר וויסן, obviously it’s hard to compare because, איר וויסן, I haven’t fought against Ruslan. But they’re different styles. They’re different styles. Molina was a little sneaky. Ruslan is a very, very different style. Obviously the object of it is not to get hit, איר וויסן, in this fight but I’m preparing. I’ll be ready for it.
מר. Chris Gunzz: און, as a guy who faced that kind of power and had to get up, cross the canvas, and you pulled out a victory in that great fight, do you ever have any questions that if Ruslan does prove to carry bigger power, will you be able to get up? Do you ever question that?
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: I’m not going to get dropped with Ruslan. אַזוי, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going to get dropped. But when Molina dropped me, איר וויסן, if the punch was a little bit behind my head. I’m not making excuses, but I’m not going to get dropped. I’m not going to get dropped with Ruslan and that’s not what I’m thinking about.
מר. Chris Gunzz: He’s pretty tough, and one question for Cuty Barrera, Lucas did show and he has shown that he can jab and he can move a little bit. He does have a little bit more to his game than Ruslan does. Is it a game plan to show movement because Ruslan does admit that he has problems with movers? Is it a plan to try to move a little bit?
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Cuty Barrera: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. עריק גאָמעז: He’s talking in robot I think. I don’t know what he’s saying. [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Chris Gunzz: Does Lucas want to answer that? Is he trying to involve a little bit more movement to the fight?
מר. עריק גאָמעז: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. Cuty Barrera: [Foreign Language Spoken].
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: I don’t now what’s going on.
מר. עריק גאָמעז: יאָ, ער האט, you know what? I think I understood him saying they’re working on the jab. He’s working on the jab a little bit, but he doesn’t want to give up too much information.
מר. Chris Gunzz: Maybe he’s coming as a robot. He’s going to be had to beat if he does. And one quick question for Oscar. אָסקאַר, when you finished laughing out loud, what did you end up saying through text or phone call to Gary Russell on Saturday night? I’m just playing. I’m just playing. I don’t want you to answer that. I know you’re a lot more professional. I just want to commend you on the great fights that you’re putting on and the great job you’re doing at Golden Boy. I do appreciate the great job you guys are doing–אַ דאַנק–אַ דאַנק, יעדער יינער.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: אַ דאַנק.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: Are we done, Marc?
Operator: We have no further questions, אַ דאַנק, בייַ דעם מאָל.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: אָוקיי, אַזוי, איך טרעפן, אָסקאַר, I want to thank you. עריק, לוקאַס מאַטטהיססע, רוסלאַן, and all of the reporters on board. See everybody–אָסקאַר, I’d like you–I’ll let you finish up with the last word. I want to see everybody at the fight and I appreciate everything that is happening with this great event–אַ דאַנק.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: אַ דאַנק–דאַנקען איר זייער פיל, און, יאָ, there’s really not much to say. We’ll see you April 18th. I mean sure fireworks. We are all excited and we’re just–it’s just a pleasure to be working with Artie Pelullo and his staff and everybody involved. אַזוי, watch it live on HBO Championship Boxing. There’s a few tickets left. אַזוי, it’s sure going to be a sell out and crowd there in New York. אַזוי, we’re excited and so we’ll see you soon–אַ דאַנק.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: אָסקאַר, if you’re around tomorrow, מיטוואָך, I’ll be in LA. Lunch is on me at In-N-Out Burger. Very important on the east coast–we don’t have them here.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: I’m actually in–I’ll be in New York, but I’ll take you up on that at another date–אַ דאַנק, Artie.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: You got it. Have a good day, גויס–דאַנקען איר זייער פיל–anything else, Marc?
מר. מאַרק אַבראַמס: צי ניט.
מר. אַרטי פּעלוללאָ: קעשורע, אַ דאַנק–bye bye–.
מר. אָסקאַר די לאַ הויאַ: –Bye–.
FACTS: מאַטטהיססע ווס. פּראָוואָדניקאָוו is a 12-round junior welterweight bout presented by באַנער פּראָמאָטיאָנס, גאָלדען בוי פּראָמאָטיאָנס אין פאַרבאַנד מיטArano Boxing און איז באצאלטע דורך קאָראָנאַ עקסטרע, מעקסיקא – לעבן עס צו גלויבן עס! און כאָרטיצאַ וואָדקאַ. The HBO Boxing After Dark telecast begins at 9:45 פּ.ם. עט / פּט.
טיקקעץ: די אפריל 18 showdown between former World Champions Lucas “לאַ מאַקווינאַ” מאַטטהיססע און “די סיבעריאַן שטיינערדיק” Ruslan Provodnikov proved to be a smashing success as all ringside seats have sold-out. Limited seats are still available , $35 און $25 and are available at the Turning Stone Resort Box Office by calling 315-361-7469 אָדער אָנליין בייַ טיקקעטמאַסטער (www.ticketmaster.com).
פאָטאָ קרעדיט, עדוואַרד זשעקסאן / Team Jennings
מאַני פּאַקקוויאַאָ אויף