Kelly Swanson
Thanks, everybody for joining us today. We’re very excited to be talking about the fantastic undercard of the Canelo vs. Angulo pay-per-view event, which is taking place Saturday, March 8 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and live on Showtime PPV®. Today joining us will be Leo Santa Cruz, Cristian Mijares, Omar Figueroa, Carlos Molina, Jermall Charlo and Eric Gomez, who will be running the call.

We’re going to start with Jermall Charlo and Carlos Molina and then work our way up to the other fighters. So, without further ado I’m going to turn it over to Eric to give the notes and make the introductions for the fighters. Eric?

Eric Gomez
Great. Thank you, Kelly. Thank you very much to all the media that’s on the call. We appreciate you guys being on. The co-feature, Leo Santa Cruz vs Cristian Mijares is a 12-round WBC Super Bantamweight followed by Omar Figueroa vs. Ricardo Alvarez, the for the lightweight world championship. Opening up the pay-per-view telecast will be Carlos Molina, the IBF Junior Middleweight World Champion against Jermall Charlo.

Saturday, March 8 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions, sponsored by Corona and AT&T. Carlos Molina vs. Jermall Charlo is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Warriors Boxing. The show is going to be produced and distributed by Showtime PPV, beginning at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and 6:00 p.m. Pacific.

The event can be heard in Spanish using Secondary Audio Programming, SAP. Tickets are on sale now and are priced at $600, $400, $200, $150 and as low as $25, not including the service charges, taxes, available to be purchased at www.mgmgrand.com or ticketmaster.com.

“Toe To Toe: Canelo vs Angulo” will be broadcast to nearly 400 select movie theaters across the country. Tickets are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.fathomevents.com.

Okay, after having said that let me introduce to your first our first fighter participating on the undercard. He’s a young, undefeated American fighter, 17-0 with 13 knockouts out of Houston, Texas, first started boxing in September of 2008, has won his last four within the division, including the fifth round knockout of Joseph De Los Santos in December. He’s a twin brother of the unbeaten also contender, Jermell Charlo. He is 23-years-old and this is his first world title fight against Carlos Molina. So, if I can please introduce Jermall Charlo to say a few words.

Jermall Charlo
How is everybody doing? I’m just pleased to be on this card fighting in Las Vegas for the second time at MGM Grand on March 8 against the IBF World Champion Carlos Molina. This is going to be a test night for me. I’m prepared for it. As of right now, today, I’m probably nearly just 10 pounds over the weight. I feel strong.

Carlos Molina is a great fighter. He’s a world champion. I give him all the credit for even just choosing me to fight him and giving me the opportunity. I’m going to be well-prepared, well-disciplined in the ring when it’s time to go. I just want to give the fans an exciting toe to toe match-up that they’ve been waiting for.

E. Gomez
That’s great. Thank you very much, Jermall. Now, I want to introduce the World Champion, Carlos “King” Molina with a record of 22-5, two draws, six KOs, originally from Michoacán, Mexico. Now he’s living in Chicago, Illinois. He’s the World Champion. He’s 30 years old. Carlos is probably the most avoided champion out there. It’s incredible. He’s the toughest guy out there and he won the title by beating Ishe Smith in probably one of the biggest Pay-Per-Views in recent history.

But, you know what, he’s stepping up to the plate again to defend his title and looking for bigger, better things in the division. So, Carlos, can you please make a few comments?

Carlos Molina
Thanks to everybody for being here. I feel great. The training camp has been going good, top shape, I feel good. I just want to fight and defend my title as often as I possibly can. Like I said before, I just want to keep fighting and I plan to get those bigger fights and decided to take this fight with an undefeated fighter like Jermall Charlo and just whoever they put in front of me, I’m ready to fight and I’m ready to run.

Q
Jermall, when you got this fight it caught maybe some people by surprise because your brother, who is also undefeated and was moving along, at this point has a few more fights than you professionally, has maybe fought a little bit better competition than you. Was there anything within the family between you and your brother that was sort of like, oh man, that he said to you that you got this title fight before I did, even though the view was that maybe he fought a little bit better at this point because he had had a few more fights than you had?

J. Charlo
Yeah, of course, you know, me and my brother we stick by each other’s side and he called me with just a little bit of laughter in between like, wow, you made it, like this is it right here. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. I’m going to make my best to get this opportunity to fight Carlos Molina out of nowhere and just like they doubted my brother, they’re doubting me. So, it’s only making me try harder and it’s only making me grind to my maximum potential where I’m going to shut Carlos Molina out.

Q
I believe it was Eric that talked about Carlos is not a guy that a lot of people want to fight because he’s really good and he’s really got a difficult style to fight. You really have to be on your technical game to beat a guy like Carlos Molina.

I’m wondering when you look at the way he fights whether it was when he fought against Erislandy Lara a couple of years ago in a draw that many people thought he got robbed in or the fight when he won his title against Ishe Smith not too long ago, what do you see in his style that makes you believe that your boxing skills are going to be good enough to, like you said, shut him out or win a very clear decision against him?

J. Charlo
The thing is Carlos Molina, yeah, he’s fought great competition; I don’t feel like Carlos Molina lost against anyone he lost to. I feel like he’s an undefeated fighter at heart. But he’s never fought anyone with my size, my power and my skill, so I’m giving Carlos Molina something he’s never seen before and I want to see how he can deal with it. I mean, he’s the most feared fighter in our division right now that has a title and all of the good things, but I’m going to give him something that he’s never seen before, just like he’s going to give me something that I’ve never seen, but I’ll be more prepared than he will be.

Q
Your brother just got a big win against Rosado a couple of weeks ago. He’s still undefeated. If you beat Carlos Molina and you become the IBF Champion is there ever a scenario where you and your brother would fight each other in a world title fight?

J. Charlo
No. Our belts are going to hang up together. A lot of people ask that and I mean, I don’t think anyone would even want to see my brother and me fight each other. They want to know about it, but it’s not going to happen.

Q
Carlos, they’re taking you, sticking you in the ring against an undefeated guy who a lot of people think very, very highly of. What’s your perception of the way that your first title defense came about?

C. Molina
I mean this is what I wanted. I want full fights, you know. And this was a fight that was also available to me right now at the time and I jumped right in to fight. And, like I said before, I wanted to fight in December and I couldn’t fight Victor Ortiz because they didn’t sanction it, but I’m just very excited. I don’t usually vacation, I don’t need time off or stuff or anything like that. I’m just ready to fight the best and I’m ready to fight for this.

Every month if it was available to me, I’d be fighting every month. Whatever they give me I’m willing to fight.

Q
Carlos, do you look at the main event and think how will it be? Obviously, a big fight for you to fight the winner, particularly if it was Canelo Alvarez, I mean knowing the kind of fans and money that he brings to any kind of event. Is that really part of the motivation for taking this fight on this card?

C. Molina
Well, no, no, not the motivation for it. That was not the motivation. I train hard fight no matter what because if I don’t win I don’t get to advance. And I don’t care what card I’m in or who’s fighting on the main event, to me I’m not going to be kicking around Canelo if I can’t get the fight. I’m just ready to fight if can. If I can’t get the fight, I’ll fight Jermall Charlo then I’ll fight his brother also. That’s what I want, I just want to fight.

Q
First of all, can you reflect on your brother’s performance and how does that motivate you going into a big fight like this, obviously, your biggest opportunity of your career, in terms of the way he handled it and how that rubs off on you?

J. Charlo
Gabriel Rosado, as everybody knows he’s tough and he has nothing to lose, just like Carlos Molina. I know Carlos Molina has his world title that I’m so hungry for. He has nothing to lose fighting me, the way I feel about it. He is the storm. Just like my brother weathered the storm, I’m going to weather the storm also.

Q
Okay, is there anything about his style that you find particularly difficult, pretty much everybody he’s fought has found it to be hard. He’s rugged, very sneaky, he can brawl at times. Do you characterize his style and what it takes to beat somebody like him?

J. Charlo
Carlos Molina is a beast and I’m taking nothing away from Carlos. Everything he wants to do in the ring, he knows how to win, obviously. He’s the world champion. I don’t want people thinking that I’m thinking that Carlos Molina isn’t what he is and I know he’s a monster in the ring so I’m not necessarily worried about his style, I’m not necessarily worried about what he’s going to do. It’s all my God-given attributes that will display the victory for me.

Q
Carlos, obviously, it’s been referenced already over your career the hard luck you’ve had to get in this position, how close your fight was and almost unlikely it was for you to win the title against Ishe Smith, which you did. Given what you’ve been through can you characterize how motivated and determined you are to keep your title?

C. Molina
I mean, it was a tough road. But I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me or anything like that. That made me a better fighter and I wouldn’t have it any other way, winning my title the way I did. I’m always motivated. I know how hard I’ve worked to get to this point and I’m just, I’m so focused in every fight.

Every fight I treat the same. I treat every fight equally because without winning I wouldn’t be here, so every fight to me, I train like a championship fight, so this is no different. I’m just going to be in top shape and ready to fight.

Q
You’re fighting a very young, talented, big, athletic fighter. Other than his youth, what are the things that are different, if at all, about him than anyone else you’ve fought?

C. Molina
I mean, it’s hard to tell. It’s always hard to tell until you get in the ring and experience it for yourself. We’re just going to give ourselves; I would picture him being even better than what he is right now so that when you go into the ring you’re ready for anything. So, you know, he’s got that jab, he’s got that height and that’s what he uses real good, so we’re just going to take that away from him.

Q
Carlos, people have alluded on this call that basically you have a very awkward style and people find you hard to fight. Obviously, it makes you pretty avoided. How would you describe your style if you had to describe it?

C. Molina
They always say awkward. They say awkward because I feel like they can’t figure it out. So, if you can’t figure it out they just call it awkward. But if anything my style is just smart, sneaky, aggressive, just never do the same thing, always adjusting. And that’s what I do and I’m always thinking no matter what. You’re not always going to see the same fighter under every fight because you’ve got to fight different fighters different.

With this fight it’s no different. I’m just going to adjust to whatever he brings and whatever he does and I’m ready.

Q
Do you think it’s more how you train or is it you as a person, it’s natural for you to be awkward and just have your movement in the ring? Is it something that you consciously make an effort for, I guess, not able to be adjusted to?

C. Molina
Well, yeah, you’ve got to look at who you’re fighting and what they do the best, and then what they do the best, you try to neutralize that. And you just go off that. If he edges up, then I edge up again. It’s always, it’s like a chess match.

They think I’m awkward or a certain style is there. The next thing you know, you take it away from them and you just keep adjusting. You never do the same thing over and over again.

Q
Jermall, have you been sparring with Erislandy Lara or have you been claiming to do that? And has he given you any advice on what to expect with Carlos Molina, seeing that he’s basically the only person to have actually beaten Lara?

J. Charlo
No. His fight with Molina was not advice for me. I’m trained by the great Ronnie Shields. He has a great game plan for Carlos Molina. Ronnie Shields actually lost to Carlos Molina twice, so I don’t think a third time it’s going to happen and we’ll just see how the fight plays out once we get in there.

Q
Was it Carlos who chose you or you did you guys kind of come together and start negotiating from the table because you wanted to fight each other?

J. Charlo
Every fighter, 154 pound division that’s trying to rise to the top where the fighters at the top kind of know what’s going on with each other. At heart, Carlos Molina got turned down by the sanction when he was going to fight Victor Ortiz, which I would have thought he’s the guy. I’m actually further down in the rankings and it’s a lot of guys that really wanted to fight.

And I’m working with Al Haymon, who is the best in boxing and he manages my card and every time I fight he tells me, look, you’re only getting better and better, smarter and smarter, keep trying it and one day we’re going to get that big shot. And sure enough, it happened.

E. Gomez
Before we introduce the next fighter, if we can have a closing statement from the champion, Carlos Molina. Can you just make a closing statement, please?

C. Molina
Yeah, I want to thank God for giving me this opportunity and letting me be as successful as I’ve been in the sport that I love. And I’m ready to put on a show on March 8th and I bring the fight to Jermall Charlo and I’m ready.

E. Gomez
And the challenger now, Jermall, can you please make a closing statement?

J. Charlo
My closing statement is just I want to thank God for just giving me this opportunity. And, Carlos Molina, can you hear me?

C. Molina
Yeah.

J. Charlo
I’ve got a lot of respect for you, man, but when it’s time to fight I respect no party.

C. Molina
Yep, same here, man.

E. Gomez
So, now we’ll introduce the next fighter.

He’s the newly crowned WBC Lightweight World Champion out of Weslaco, Texas. He’s a hard punching fighter, exciting, he’s only 24-years-old. Figueroa, he’s undefeated and he’s going to be in a tough fight come March 8th. He’s fighting Ricardo Alvarez, who is Canelo’s brother, and in one of his most recent fights Figueroa won a unanimous decision in what many people consider, including myself, as one of the best fights ever.

These guys threw so many punches. It was a fight of the year candidate against Nihito Arakawa, and he needed to take a little time off after that fight it was such a grueling fight. It was an exciting fight and now he’s back March 8th to defend his title.

So, Omar, are you on the line? Yes, if you can make a couple of opening statements and then we’ll open it up for questions. Omar?

Omar Figueroa
For sure, we’ll start off saying thank you, guys, at Golden Boys for the opportunity I’m in, my team, everyone making it possible, the WBC. I know I just lost strength, again, but it’s a strong organization, staying at the top of boxing for a while, so I know it will get back to where it was at. But other than that I’m grateful, I’m excited and I’ll be ready come March 8th.

Q
I want to ask you about, going back to, Eric mentioned the fight you had with Arakawa last summer. First of all, if I remember correctly, you hurt both hands in that fight, right?

O. Figueroa
Yes, sir.

Q
How are they now? Because it’s been, you’ve had now a number of months to rest them and make sure that everything is okay. How are those hands?

O. Figueroa
The hands will be all right come March 8. That’s not going to be a worry. Whether they feel fine or whether they don’t, either way the fight is going to happen. And if I mess them up during the fight, it’s going to be the same thing as what happened to me in the Arakawa fight.

I can’t stop, I won’t stop and not my hands, not anything like that. So, you’re still going to get a good show regardless.

Q
Okay. A lot of people thought that was, in fact, the fight of the year last year, like Eric was saying. It kind of came out of nowhere. I think a lot of people knew Omar Figueroa and the kind of style you bring to the ring, but most people were not familiar with your opponent.

When that fight was over, what was it like over the next few weeks, few months, when you would see boxing fans? Can you describe sort of the reaction you would get when people would come to you and talk to you or ask you about that fight? Because it sure made a big impression on a lot of people it seems to me.

O. Figueroa
Yeah, there was certainly I couldn’t expect it; me and my team did not expect that. We honestly felt like we were going to get him out of there in two or three rounds. And it was headed that way until I hurt my hand. It’s like Carlos was saying, it’s a chess game in there. And as soon as I hurt my hand, everything changes, a million things goes through one’s mind.

And, like he said, you have to adjust to whatever, adjust better in the ring and more than likely you’re going to be the winner. I feel like that’s the reason I fight and that’s the reason I fight and what I do because when it comes to thought or movement, I can do that and I do that well when I’m in training camp.

Training gets a little heavy and a little tiring and I do take some days off and on those days I box and I avoid getting hit or I avoid mixing it up. It just gets boring to me. So, the reason I don’t like to do that is because it gets boring. And I know I look like I got hit a lot or like I took a lot of punishment, but in reality I didn’t.

Q
Now, Arakawa is fighting on the undercard also against Linares, so when you guys see each other, say, at the press conference or when you’re maybe in the hotel, do you think you guys will have like a, I know the language barrier is there, but I know you guys have a lot of respect for each other; do you think you’ll have a little bit of a high five or handshake or hug or something in memory of that great fight you had?

O. Figueroa
Definitely. It’s an honor, it was an honor to be in one of those fights, especially for me. I look up to the guy, I admire the guy because he has tremendous work and will. He has balls of steel and the heart of a champion. To be able; because we know how hard I hit, I know how much damage I dealt and for him to be able to take that and smile and remember where we were at because other fighters didn’t remember where we were at, he’s just, I don’t know, an amazing human being when it comes to in relation to boxing.

So, yes, definitely he’ll get a hug, a high five, a handshake, whatever it takes. I’m grateful to have fought him.
Q
When you fought that fight you ended up with the interim title. And then when Adrien Broner decided to stay as a welterweight and was stripped of that title because, obviously, he hadn’t fought a lightweight for quite a while and then you were moved up to the WBC’s full champion. Did it take away anything that you weren’t able to; you won the fight in the ring and they gave you the belt, but you know you were the interim champion. Does it take anything away for you to get it sort of like with a letter or a phone call or a message as opposed to standing in the ring hearing Jimmy Lennon call you, “and the new World Champion”? Does it in any take away from your enjoyment and what you feel about your accomplishment?

O. Figueroa
In reality, it doesn’t really phase me because I don’t really fight for titles. I don’t fight for belts. I fight for something like what you saw on July 27, which is that kind of fight, like knowing that you were in that kind of fight, the reaction I got from the people, the respect that I earned from my opponent and just the fact that everybody, even the casual boxing fans, everybody loved that fight. And that’s what I fight for.

I could care less for titles. I mean, yes, they mean more money, but other than that it doesn’t mean anything nowadays because it’s so, I don’t know how to explain it. But it didn’t matter. Whether I was the champion or now, I’m still going to train the way I train the way I train. I’m prepared for every fight and I’m just willing to go out there, balls out, and try to give the fans the best show they can possibly see. So, title, it doesn’t really matter to me.

Like I said, at the end of the day it means more money, but other than that, a title is just a title. I think the boxers need the belt and I’m going to try to make the best of that belt.

Q
Omar, great fight last time, the kind of fight that Mexican fans like and, obviously, if they’ve seen that fight that’s probably what they’re going to expect this time. Having said that, you’re also going to be in against the brother, the older brother, of a Mexican icon and there are going to be a lot of Mexican eyeballs on this telecast.

What does that mean to you by extension with your being a Mexican-American and knowing that they’re going to be watching your fight, possibly more because of him, but maybe also as much because of you and your style?

O. Figueroa
Like I said, that doesn’t really faze me when it comes to fighting. It won’t change the outcome of a fight or it won’t have any effect on a fight whatsoever. But I’m going to perform like I’ve always said. I’m going to go out there and give 150% and whatever it takes to win, that’s what I’m going to do.

And the main reason we took this fight was because it did represent a good opportunity in the sense of the fan base and the people that would be watching and the amount of people watching. So, other than that, it doesn’t mean anything, but it’s just numbers.

Q
Can you talk more about your thought process when you talk about the fan base and the amount of people and am I wrong in referencing the fact that there are going to be a lot of Mexicans watching this?

O. Figueroa
Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean we have the biggest Mexican fighter right now fighting on that card, so yes, definitely there’s going to be maybe 80% of people watching the fight are going to be Mexican and then to have his brother, have his name out there against me, so that just represents a great opportunity. It’s perfect for me. It’s a perfect platform for me to get my name out there and whatever and I know that the WBC is the Mexican organization, so knowing that it just passed and that for the amount passed and that was given to me and everything, so people are definitely going to be turning out for that fight.

Q
Is there a part of you that kind of pinch yourself for the way things have kind of worked out, that your fight wound up being the interim title and that the WBC belt is based in Mexico and that you are fighting on this card? It just seems like it’s, I don’t know what to say, more than coincidence, but it just seems like you said, perfect.

O. Figueroa
No, sir. This may be a dream come true, but it’s something that I envisioned myself in. I saw this coming a long time ago. And I guess it’s something that you have to, to be great you have to think great thoughts and you have to feel great. You have to train like you’re great. Everything has to be like you’re the greatest and that’s what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been preparing like I’m the greatest. I’ve been training like I’m the greatest. So, I guess you can call it power of suggestion or whatever you want to call it, but it’s just a mentality that you have to have. So, no this doesn’t feel surreal. It just feels like it came in due time. So, I guess other than that, it just came in due time and I’m just going to keep grinding and keep working as hard as I’ve been working.

Q
What do you think about what Ricardo is trying to do? He’s trying to become the third brother, which would make history, in one family to become a world champion?

O. Figueroa
I’m very thankful and gracious for this opportunity to be on this card and to be fighting and defending my title. Obviously, I know that Ricardo, my opponent, is going to be motivated. He’s going to be motivated; he’s trying to make history. He’s trying to be the third brother in the same family to win a world title.

But, obviously, I’m the world champion and I’ve got a lot of say and I’m going to do my part so that that doesn’t happen and I’m going to be well prepared because I know that he’s coming and he’s motivated. And if he saw my last fight he’s in for a tough fight and he’d better be in shape for 12 rounds because I’m going to be in shape for 12 rounds and I’m going to defend my title.
Q
I had a conversation with Joel Diaz, who is your trainer and Joel seems to think it’s going to be a fight that’s going to end, it’s going to end before five rounds, that the way you are training right now, the way you’re looking, he should be able to get a quick knockout and knock him out within five rounds. Omar, do you believe that? Do you think that you’re capable? I mean, you’ve had a long layoff. The last fight was a tough fight. Do you feel that you’re in position to deliver on that kind of a statement that Joel Diaz is making?

O. Figueroa
Joel has some validity to what he’s saying. He’s the one that’s training me, he’s the one that’s watching me and he notices everything I do and the hard work I put into my training camp and my craft.

Most of the time, most of my fights, the majority of my fights, have ended within two or three rounds and it just happened to be that in the last fight I hurt my hands and I didn’t hold up, but I was still able to go 12 hard rounds and that’s what I’m preparing myself for. I’m preparing myself to give it my best and to be in the best shape and to give a good fight and, obviously, yes, I am going to be looking for the knockout.

But if it doesn’t come, if the knockout doesn’t come and if I happen to hurt my hand again, then I’m mentally strong and I can adjust and I know that I’m going to be ready to go 12 rounds and do what I have to do so I can win this fight. So, I’ll be ready. I’ll be ready regardless.

E. Gomez
Okay, great. Thank you very much. Omar, thank you, once again for being on the call. I know that you’re busy in training camp. So, if you can just make a couple of closing statements before you hang up.

O. Figueroa
Yes, definitely. Again, I’m just thankful and grateful for this opportunity. I’m definitely not going to disappoint my fans when it comes to effort. That’s one thing I make sure of and that’s one thing I train to make sure that I don’t do. So, I would just expect the best Omar Figueroa and I would expect a good show. Best of luck to all these fighters and may God protect them during the rest of their training camp, my opponent and everyone, have great training camps and make it safely to the fight.

E. Gomez
All right, so now to introduce our last two fighters on the call. This is the co-feature, Leo Santa Cruz is going to be on the line as well as the challenger Cristian Mijares. This is going to be a 12-round WBC Super Bantamweight World Title. Obviously, Leo Santa Cruz is the Champion. He’s going to be defending his title against the former Champion and challenger from Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. He’s a former three-time World Champion. He’s 32 years old, Southpaw, one of the best fighters in Mexico.

Cristian Mijares is 14-1 in his last 15 fights, dating all the way back to November of 2009. His only defeat came in a world title fight and it was a split decision, controversial split decision against Victor Terrazas and he’s looking to give Leo Santa Cruz all he can handle on March 8th.

So, I want to introduce to you Cristian Mijares. Cristian.

Cristian Mijares
I would like to say hi to all the press. Thank you for being on the call. I’m very happy and motivated to be on this fight card and to be fighting against Leo Santa Cruz for the title once again. Obviously, Leo is a very good fighter and I’m excited to be fighting him and ready to get my chance at the title to become a world champion again. So, thank you all for being on the call.

E. Gomez
Now, I want to introduce the World Champion. Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz. He’s undefeated, 26-0, 15 knockouts, originally from Michoacán, Mexico, now he’s living in Los Angeles. He’s widely recognized as one of the highest volume punchers in the game today, broke on to the international scene June of 2012 when he won the IBF Bantamweight World Championship.

Last year he mowed through Alex Munoz in May, earned the Super Bantamweight World Championship after knocking out the Champion, Victor Terrazas in August. And in December he had a very tough fight against Cesar Seda, but was able to win the fight and convincingly.

So, now he’s facing a mandatory challenger, Cristian Mijares, which promises to be a very, very good co-feature and very good fight. So, Leo, if you can please say a few words.

Leo Santa Cruz
Good afternoon, everybody. I want to thank to Golden Boy, Richard Schaefer and my manager Al Haymon for this opportunity, always putting me in great card. I will try really hard not to disappoint.

Q
Three quick questions for you. One, two years ago Oscar De La Hoya said you were the best kept secret in boxing and since then you’ve fought on network TV on CBS, you fought on Pay-Per-View on Showtime. Do you think you are no longer the best kept secret in boxing?

L. Santa Cruz
Hopefully, that’s what I want to be, a good fighter. And I’ll leave it up to the people and if they think I’m a great fighter, I can’t say it for me, I can’t really say that, I guess. But I think I’m doing my job, I’m training hard to become that and if people say it, then it will be fortunately so. I’m going to keep on working hard, training, so that people can be talking good about me and think that.

Q
Do you think people have a better idea and know who you are now more so than they did maybe two years ago?

L. Santa Cruz
I thank God for bringing Al Haymon, my manager, into my life, Golden Boy and Richard Schaefer. And Showtime, because for them they were the ones that gave me the foot here, they were the ones giving me this big undercard. If it wasn’t for all the people like that, nobody would know me because I wouldn’t be on Showtime, I wouldn’t be on this undercard Pay-Per-View like I am now. So, I think I owe that to my manager, to my promoter and Richard Schaefer and Showtime.

Q
My second question is since you became Bantamweight Champion a few years ago and now you’ve become a Super Bantamweight Champion, two weight classes. How is it different for you when you go into the ring knowing that you’re the hunted rather than the hunter when you were pursuing that first title? Is there a different mindset about the way you go about your business in the ring, knowing that you’re defending titles rather than chasing titles?

L. Santa Cruz
No, it feels great. I say that to myself that I’m doing a great job. Before I was the one chasing and now when I hear that people want to fight me, they ask people who do you want to fight and then they say Leo Santa Cruz, it shows that I’m doing something good because they want to fight me, so it just makes all the hard work I’ve been doing and just staying up to really; at the same time it gets me more motivated. It keeps me training harder and trying to learn more. A lot of outsiders are trying to fight me to take that away from me.

Q
My last question, Leo, is as you’ve fought a few experienced fighters the last couple of years, guys with a lot of time in the ring, what will make fighter Mijares different than fighting some of the other guys you’ve faced who have had a lot of experience?

L. Santa Cruz
I think that as I’ve been watching his videos, he’s being trained by, he has a lot of trainers that I see a really good fighter. He’s fast and everything, but everything like that tells me I started working in the gym. So, I think that all the experience, like I sparred with people with great experience, Ponce De Leon, all those Mexicans, a lot of fighters with great experience. So I think in the gym is where I’m learning and when I go out there in the fight I just go and do my job and try to do everything like they tell me and just go out there and give the best, do a great job.

Q
It’s a little easier for you to fight more experienced guys now than maybe it was a couple of years ago when you were still kind of learning, right? You’re much more comfortable fighting older, experienced fighters now, aren’t you?

L. Santa Cruz
Yeah. Those are the fighters I like to fight, they’re more experienced, they adjust more to my style better than fighting like a wilder fighter because they come in, they’re wild. When you fight those experienced fighters your timing is better, everything you do, better punching, everything is better. So, I think those are the fighters that make me work harder.

Q
Leo, you have said in the past that you’ve had fighters whose style you idolize or at least try to emulate. Can you name a few of those fighters? I believe you had said Julio Cesar Chavez was one of them and, if so, what about your style is reflective of theirs do you believe?

L. Santa Cruz
When I was growing up we used to watch Chavez videos and he used to teach me that he loved his body shots and the pleasure that when he grows forward boxing. And my dad, since I started boxing my dad always taught me that body shot, so it’s back to the fact that when you get to that level…. But, that’s what we did, always in the gym practicing, going forward. And like Chavez after he came through a title, his style after he used to fight, box, like to punch and move. That’s how we try to do. When we have to box we’re going to box, if we have to go and pressure, we’re going to go pressure. We’re trying to learn from everything.

Q
My last question is in your last fight Cesar Seda was very clever. At times he exchanged body shots with you, very exciting fight. What did you take away from that fight that you can improve on that will help you in this fight? I don’t think you were quite able to do everything you wanted to do with him and had to make adjustments. What did you learn from that experience?

L. Santa Cruz
He was a great fighter and he came ready, he wanted that title and he showed that night. But we, I think had to box a little more and I think we’re going to that now for Mijares and I’m in the gym training really hard and little by little we’re going to be practicing how to fight those kind of fighters that move a lot.

Q
The name or the fighter that guys both have in common is Victor Terrazas. Can we measure both of you guys or your fight against fighting Victor Terrazas?

C. Mijares
No, it’s very different. There’s no parameters between Victor Terrazas there’s no comparison. It’s very different. It’s about styles and Leo has a different style. But I think that we both beat Victor Terrazas. Obviously, I didn’t get the decision, but I think that I wore him down. I hurt him in the fight and I prepared him for Leo. But I’m going to be well-prepared for this fight. This is going to be a different kind of fight against Leo and I’m going to be well-prepared and I think that we’re going to be, both, giving it our all and it’s going to be a great fight.

L. Santa Cruz
Yes, I agree with Cristian. It’s very different. This is about styles. It’s a different style and even though we both fought the same guy, it doesn’t mean that you can measure us on that fight. But I’m glad that he’s training hard because I’m also training hard and I know I’m fighting a very, very good fighter in Cristian Mijares, so I have to be 100%. And that’s all I can expect. I’m going to be ready and I know he’s going to be ready and I’m sure we’re going to both make it a good fight.

Q
In your last fight with Seda you actually fought a very good disciplined fight. You kind of gave yourself a low mark in that fight, even though I thought you performed fantastically. Do you feel that you have to top each performance and each fight as you go along in your career?

L. Santa Cruz
Yeah, I think as I go I think I can be learning more and to be improving, the more I’m winning and the more I’m picking better opponents, better fighters, fighters those kind of fighters are better, so I think for every fight I need to be adjusting a little more and that’s what we’re doing in the gym. My dad is teaching me and we’re practicing and we’re trying to learn little by little so that when we get to those points we already know how to fight those fighters and in every fight we’re trying to do that more and I think that’s what’s showing and I’m just glad and I’m training harder every time.

Q
Before you fought on network television, the pre-fight segment it shows that you mainly fight for your family and, basically, for your brother and his serious medical condition. It’s been over a year later. What’s the prognosis today? How is your brother doing and has his condition gotten any better?

L. Santa Cruz
We were really like struggling and I always want to give my family a better life and thank God that he gave me the talent to become a boxer and be good at it. So, for my brother, he’s doing a lot better since I fought the Munoz fight, he was in the hospital then during that fight. But ever since that fight, he’s been great. He hasn’t gone to the hospital. He hasn’t been hurting. His muscles are better, everything.

Before like every week he used to go to the hospital because he would be hurting and when it was cold his body would swell up and he could not even walk or anything. And now, none of that has happened. I thank God that he’s been great. It’s been already I think a year and he hasn’t even gone to a doctor, only for a check up and stuff like that, but not to stay in the hospital because he’s hurting or anything. So, I’m really glad and happy to have him like that.

Q
Cristian, do you consider this your last opportunity to become a world champion?

C. Mijares
No, not at all. I don’t think about that at all. I’ve been asked that before, but I don’t think about that at all. I’m going to be a world champion. I’m going to win on March 8, I’m going to be a world champion. That’s the only thing on my mind and I’m very motivated. I’m very motivated for this fight. I know I’m fighting a very good fighter and the World Champion in Leo Santa Cruz, but I’m motivated for this fight. I will be the World Champion and I’m ready for bigger and better things, to be considered in the big fights once again. So, that’s all that’s on my mind.
Q
Do you see Leo as more of a complete fighter? He’s a two-time World Champion. Is he more of a complete fighter than Victor Terrazas when you faced him? Can you compare them?

C. Mijares
Of course he is. He’s a way better fighter, of course he is. It’s going to be a difficult fight. He’s more of a complete fighter, it’s going to be a difficult, complicated fight, but that’s what I want. That’s what motivates me. I’m concentrated on this fight 1,000 percent and, yes, that’s what motivates me, that he is such a better fighter.

Q
Leo, this is a fighter that you’ve admired when you were coming up. He was a former Champion, you followed him, you admired him. Can you talk to us a little bit about that?

L. Santa Cruz
Yes, I admired Cristian and I followed his career when he was coming up, when I was first starting, he followed his career. I admired him and I knew that at one time, sooner or later, I was going to be at that level and possibly even fight him. And, lo and behold, here we are. I’m going to be fighting Cristian Mijares.

E. Gomez
We’ll do some closing statements with both fighters and then we’ll conclude the call.

C. Mijares
Thank you all once again. It’s going to be a great honor for me to be in this card, to be fighting. I’m very gracious to be fighting against Leo Santa Cruz and it’s going to be a war, it’s going to be a very, very good fight. It’s going to be a war. We’re going to give an exciting fight to all the fans and hopefully God, both fighters don’t get hurt and may the better man win.

L. Santa Cruz
I just want to give thanks to my manager Al Haymon, Showtime, Richard Schaefer and for giving me this opportunity and keeping me fighting on this big undercard. For me it’s an honor to fight on this undercard of Canelo and to fight a great champion like Mijares. And I want to give thanks to all the fans all over the world because they’ve been supporting me and they’ve always been there to encourage me and keep me motivated to train harder.

So, I want you all, the people, to watch us on pay-per-view or to come out and support us on March 8th because we’re training really hard to give a great, great fight for you guys. And we’re just motivated and you guys are the ones that keep us motivated, so March 8th you guys are going to get a great fight because that’s what we fight for, for the fans and to able to go home happy. Thank you.

E. Gomez
Great, thank you. Thank you very much, Leo. Thank you for being on the call. And thank you, once again, to all the media that called in for this very important conference call. Once again, Saturday, March 8th, MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Toe To Toe, distributed by Showtime, you can get it on Showtime Pay-Per-View. Tickets, tickets are still on sale at the MGM Grand garden office, box office. You can go on the website, www.mgmgrand.com or at Ticketmaster, www.ticketmaster.com. Thank you very much. Have a beautiful week.

# # #

“TOE TO TOE: Canelo vs. Angulo,”a 12-round super welterweight fight taking place Saturday, March 8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. Carlos Molina vs. Jermall Charlo is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Warriors Boxing. This event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP). “TOE TO TOE: Canelo vs. Angulo” will be shown in over 400 movie theaters nationwide. For more information and a list of theaters, go to www.fathomevents.com.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @CaneloOficial, @elperro82, @leosantacruz2, @diamantemijares, @OmarFigueroaJr, @DinamitaAB, @JorgeLinares, @FutureOfBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #CaneloAngulo and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing.

LAS VEGAS (Jan. 17, 2014) – Former World Champion and Mexican boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez returns to the ring on Saturday, March 8 to face the fierce and rugged Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo in the headline attraction of a stacked four-fight event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, presented live on SHOWTIME PPV®.

Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, the pay-per-view card offers matchups that promise to be exciting, all-action bouts. The most anticipated match of the night features Canelo, as he looks to reassert himself as the best young fighter of this era. Rounding out the card are two outstanding 12-round fights: Two-Division World Champion Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15 KO’s) will defend his WBC Super Bantamweight World Title against former Two-Time World Champion Cristian “El Diamante” Mijares (49-7-2, 24 KO’s); exciting young star Omar “Panterita’’ Figueroa (24-0-1, 17 KO’s) will risk his WBC Interim Lightweight Title against Canelo’s brother Ricardo “Dinamita” Alvarez (23-2-3, 14 KO’s) and former Two-Time World Champion Jorge “Niño de Oro” Linares (35-3, 23 KO’s) will face Nihito Arakawa (24-3-1, 16 KO’s) in a lightweight clash.

Tickets are on sale and are priced at $600, $400, $200, $100, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges and taxes, with a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

March 8 is a hallowed date in boxing history as in 1971; “Smokin” Joe Frazier first met Muhammad Ali in the ring to begin their epic series. Now, eight fighters, including two of the most exciting Mexican stars of today, will attempt to do their part to add to its lore.

“This is a great fight for me and for the fans and I can’t wait to get back in the ring on March 8,” said Canelo, who will be making his first ring appearance since his mega-fight with pound-for-pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather last September. “Angulo is a true warrior and I have to be alert every second of every round when I fight him. I expect that we will put on a fight no one will ever forget.”

“Canelo is a great young fighter who has earned his way to the top,” said Angulo. “That being said, I know I’m hungrier than he is right now and I will take him to places he’s never been. Our fans in Mexico and around the world will see what we’re all about when we fight.”

“When we presented opponents to Canelo for his return fight, he immediately took the man who he expected would give him the toughest challenge in the ring and who also would help him give the fans the most exciting fight possible,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Alfredo Angulo fits the bill on all counts and this will not only be a stern test for Canelo, but I know fight fans are going to see all action from start to finish. I can say that about all the fights on the card, and in keeping with Golden Boy Promotions’ promise to fans, we’re making sure to deliver the most competitive and compelling matchups that we can.”

“We are very excited to welcome back Canelo Alvarez to MGM Grand for what’s sure to be a fierce battle with Alfredo Angulo,” said Richard Sturm, president of sports and entertainment for MGM Resorts International. “These two fighters are sure to bring their best performances to the MGM Grand Garden Arena for a thrilling evening of epic boxing.”

“This is the type of stacked, all-action fight card that SHOWTIME has become known for,” said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “We are proud to present this excellent main event and compelling co-features on our preeminent platform, SHOWTIME PPV. Last year, this network emerged as the premiere destination for boxing’s biggest events and most competitive fights. The men and the matchups on this fight card embody our commitment to deliver the best the sport has to offer.”

A superstar in his native Mexico who has gone international with his appeal over the last two years, Canelo Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) is a former super welterweight world champion whose talent, fighting style and charisma is likely to keep him on top for years to come. Only 23 years of age, the Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico native turned pro in 2005 and he hasn’t looked back since he defeated the likes of Jose Miguel Cotto, Carlos Baldomir, Lovemore Ndou, Matthew Hatton, Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, Kermit Cintron and Sugar Shane Mosley. In 2013, Canelo packed nearly 40,000 fans into the Alamodome in San Antonio for a win over Austin Trout to unify 154-pound titles. Canelo’s last fight, the main event bout vs. Mayweather, shattered pay-per-view revenue records, largely due to the growing popularity of the bright Mexican star. On March 8, Canelo is back.

A vicious puncher with a crowd-pleasing and aggressive style, Mexicali Baja California, Mexico native Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo (22-3, 18 KO’s) produces exciting fights every time he steps through the ropes, as evidenced by knockouts of Gabriel Rosado, Joel Julio and Joachim Alcine, as well as his classic 2011 showdown with James Kirkland. Owner of 2012 wins over Raul Casarez and Jorge Silva, the 31-year-old appeared to be on his way to his first world championship in June 2013 when he knocked down Erislandy Lara twice in their interim WBA title fight. However, a controversial stoppage due to an eye injury postponed Angulo’s ascension to the top, something he hopes to rectify starting with his bout against Alvarez.

All-action warrior Leo Santa Cruz simply outworks his opponents every time he steps between the ropes, becoming must-see TV in the process. But he will be meeting a former world champion in Cristian Mijares who plans on having an answer for everything the young titlist throws at him.

“I’ve always been a fan of Cristian Mijares, and I know he will give me a tough fight on March 8,” said Santa Cruz. “When two Mexicans get into the ring together, it’s always a show, and this fight will be no different.”

“Santa Cruz is an impressive young fighter and a worthy champion,” said Mijares. “I respect him because he fights like I fight: to get the knockout and give the fans a great fight. They will get their money’s worth on March 8.”
Santa Cruz (26-0-1, 15 KO’s) is widely recognized as one of the highest -olume punchers in the game today. The 25-year-old, two-division world champion fights out of Los Angeles by way of Huetamo, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico, and will be making the second defense of the WBC 122-pound title he won by knockout last August. In his initial defense, Santa Cruz registered one knockdown en route to a close, hard-fought, decision over a determined and courageous Cesar Seda last Dec. 14. His exciting work rate and significant power have made Santa Cruz a mainstay on SHOWTIME as six of his last seven fights have aired on the premium network. The other came on CBS Television Network in December 2012.
Mijares (48-7-2, 22 KO’s), 32, of Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico, is as game as any active fighter today. His give-and-take southpaw style makes him as vulnerable as he is exciting. He’s is currently 14-1 in his last 15 fights dating to November 2009. A pro since 1997, the former Three-Time World Champion is 8-2 in world title fights and owns a ninth-round TKO over renowned slugger Rafael Marquez. His only defeat since 2009 came on a split 12-round decision to then-WBC champ Victor Terrazas on April 13, 2013.
Seen for years as the future of boxing, Omar Figueroa’s time is now, especially after his epic win over Nihito Arakawa last July. Now returning to fight in Las Vegas for the first time since 2012, “Panterita” will look to turn back the challenge of Ricardo Alvarez, a winner of five straight who emerged on the world scene with his December victory over Rod Salka.
“I can’t wait to get back into the ring on March 8; it’s been too long and I’m ready to defend my title,” said Figueroa. “The fans know what I can do in the ring, and they’re going to see the best version of me yet against Alvarez.”
“World champions are in the Alvarez bloodline, and we’re going to make history when I become the latest champion from our family on March 8,” said Alvarez. “Figueroa is a great young fighter, but I will be the one with his hand raised in victory. ”
The popular and promising 24-year-old Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KO’s), of McAllen, Texas, captured the Interim WBC 135-pound crown with a unanimous decision over Arakawa in brutal brawl last July 27 that was a top nominee for 2013’s Fight of the Year. Figueroa, despite fighting with a cut on his nose from an accidental head butt in the third round, dropped Arakawa in the second and sixth rounds. Figueroa and Arakawa combined to throw more than 2,100 punches in their memorable 36-minute slugfest.
Alvarez (23-2-3, 13 KO’s), of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, has triumphed five consecutive times and is 13-1-1 in his last 15 bouts. The older brother of Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez and current WBC Continental Americas 140-pound champion, the 32-year-old “Dinamita” is coming off a 10-round majority decision victory over Rod Salka last Dec. 14.
Former world champion Jorge Linares has fought his way back into title contention with four consecutive victories, including three knockouts, but he will get the fight of his life from Japan’s Nihito Arakawa, whose instant classic with Figueroa last July made him an instant star in the United States and around the world.

“I’ve worked hard to get back to the top of the division, and I can’t let Arakawa slow me down,” said Linares. “He’s a tough, rugged fighter who will be in front of me all night, but I am confident that I will be victorious.”

“The United States fans treated me so well when I fought here against Omar Figueroa, and I’m excited to be back to fight Linares,” said Arakawa. “He is a true warrior and we will put on a memorable fight for sure.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Linares (35-3, 23 KO’s), a Venezuelan now fighting out of Tokyo, Japan, is a former WBC Featherweight and WBA Super Featherweight titleholder. The hard-knocking 11-year professional has won four straight, including a first-round knockout over Francisco Contreras last Nov.10 in Tokyo.
Arakawa (24-3-1, 16 KO’s), of Tokyo, will be fighting for the second time in America. The 32-year-old proved his ability and toughness to the U.S. audience in the aforementioned slugfest versus Figueroa last July. Arakawa’s spirited effort was anchored by his ability to overcome two knockdowns and fight exhaustion as he forced the action until the final bell. The Japanese warrior earned great respect in defeat.
# # #

“TOE TO TOE: Canelo vs. Angulo,” a 12-round super welterweight fight taking place Saturday, March 8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. This event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @CaneloOficial, @elperro82, @leosantacruz2, @diamantemijares, @OmarFigueroaJr, @DinamitaAB, @JorgeLinares, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #CaneloAngulo and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing.

SAN ANTONIO – I like to think I write quickly, finding words within the readymade template, lede to nut to quote to body, that governs ringside reporting and probably has for centuries. Yet Saturday, as I groped to describe what happened during Andre Berto versus Jesus Soto-Karass, as fine a main event as our sport may see for the rest of 2013, I was entirely alone. Before I was within 300 words of filing, there was nary a soul in AT&T Center’s other 10 rows of particleboard tables.

Turns out, half the writers left after the co-main, and those who stayed did not have editors that wanted more than a line about the walk-out match, and raced back to the media center to reserve a seat at the press conference. Such is the drawing power of Weslaco’s Omar Figueroa in South Texas, and such was the match he made with an indomitable Japanese lightweight named Nihito Arakawa.

Figueroa is every good thing South Texans say about him, but there, too, was Arakawa, all through their 36 minutes of mutual belligerence, cussedly stomping forward, making the volume puncher’s compact with Figueroa who was prepared as possible for a meaningful and violent confrontation but necessarily unprepared for the grotesquerie of Arakawa’s bottomless capacity for absorption, as if punches were an ocean and he was set on the task of patiently mopping the beach and emptying its seawater in a bucket.

That was exactly how futile Arakawa’s task appeared to three judges – a Californian, a Mexican and a Nevadan, no Texans, who scored an intensely fine match 119-107, 118-108, 118-108, grading Arakawa’s performance somewhere between Short Notice and Heavybag – yet Arakawa did not relent. There is a momentum to prizefighting, of course, but it hasn’t nearly the fluidity professional scorekeepers observe at ringside, where every fighter who won the previous round begins the next with a symmetrical lead, and keeps that till his opponent overcomes a judge’s mental inertia with force great enough to convince him something materially different has occurred. Chuck Giampa, deservedly famous for taking Showtime viewers inside the mind of a judge, instructs aficionados, elsewhere and here: There is not an iota of infallibility to be found at ringside, so do not look for it or rage at its unjust absence.

Arakawa’s secret to absorbing punishment is a kin to his having informidable punching power; he does not commit fully to any punch because he’d rather remain within himself, in full self-possession, working to a rhythmic tempo he alone hears, keeping his southpaw hands and feet in motion, right hook and shoulder and left cross and shoulder and left to the body and right to the head, shoulder, shoulder, backwards step, overhand left, backwards stutter, right foot shuffle, shoulder, left hook . . .

Arakawa’s mental resilience is not a matter of making adjustments to an opponent in mid-fight but one of preparation and self-knowledge, of reducing his required thoughts in combat to a simple yes/no question – “Am I comfortable?” – that he can answer even when partially or fully out of his mind. It is not the simpleton’s approach for which it is mistaken, always, by those who’ve not employed it, either for having natural gifts of power or reflex too great to sacrifice, or for having never worn gloves; it is the choice of our sport’s most introspective and intellectually hardy practitioners, an intelligent choice that asks, in all humility: What am I not as good at as another, and how can I reduce his advantages?

Arakawa, blasted repeatedly in the opening six minutes by a South Texas lad with 17 knockouts in 22 fights, a lad yet to meet man or beast capable of absorbing more than a baker’s dozen of his best strikes, a lad, coincidence would smilingly note, who shares a trainer with Timothy Bradley, boxing’s finest practitioner of the very style Arakawa applies pretty damn well himself, a lad who said two Fridays before he would have to strip naked in the breathless heat and pitiless light of a South Texas supermarket parking lot at two o’clock on a July afternoon that if the time came for his mind to blank in an orgy of attrition, like Bradley’s did in March, he prayed not to solicit the white feather, wilting before another man’s greater desire – blasted repeatedly by that lad, Arakawa relaxed, found his comfortable place, and forced his will on Figueroa’s fighting spirit, and Figueroa did not wilt.

But he did tire. As he took the scale Friday afternoon, he looked somewhat drawn, in the tradition of longarmed Mexican prizefighters who bring severity to other men at a weight no fewer than 25 pounds below a physique nature would not begrudge them, and then he missed by a quarter pound, 135 1/4, and had to disrobe entirely. It was an interesting spectacle of modesty and awareness, that. Figueroa, who emphasizes his desire to be a role model to kids in the Rio Grande Valley where Weslaco sits, requested a barricade of blinding towels, a square perimeter of white terrycloth, and then took to the scale, package in hand, cupping his manhood in his right fist, and made weight – disproving one physics-defying myth of Mexican prizefighters: Raising your arms overhead and inhaling will begin a negotiation with gravity that reduces slightly your weight. This curious show of modesty brought a tiny, unexpected touch of further likability that explained why Figueroa was, by far, AT&T Center’s most popular prizefighter.

And that was before Figueroa and Arakawa made a historic show of valor and sportsmanship, elevating one another’s public standing, making even wizened fight scribes grateful.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

In round one, Soto Karass rocked Berto with a hard left hook that stunned him on the ropes.. Soto Karas continued to come forward. Berto looked goo offensively, especially with the uppercut but he looked shake defensively and at times it looked as if his legs would betray him. Berto looked like he hurt his shoulder in round four and took him a few rounds to try shake out the injury and gain use of that arm.

The two continued to their high contact bout. Berto started to get the upper hand and dropped Soto Karass with a shot the body in round eleven. Sensing the bout was very close, Soto Karass did not want the judges to figure in the fight and dropped Berto with a short left hook in round twelve. When Berto got to his feet, he stumbled and referee Jon Schorle stopped the bout at 48 seconds of the final round.

Soto Karass, 147 of North Hollywood, CA is now 28-8-3 with 18 knockouts. Berto, 147 lbs of Winter Haven, FL is now 28-3.

“My corner just told me to keep on working and I didn’t think at any moment about his shoulder,” Soto Karass said. “I’m dedicated 100 percent to boxing. I stopped clowning around. My corner told me to come out and start boxing, but I said, ‘no, I’m going to knock him down.'”

“I think I tore it out of the socket early, maybe the fourth round,” Berto said. “That’s why I kept using my left. I couldn’t really use it at all. At the end of the day I show that warrior spirit every time. I don’t care if I mess up my shoulder. I’m going to put it all on the line.”

Omar Figueroa scored a twelve round unanimous decision over Nihito Arakawa in one of the best fights of 2013 in a bout where Figueroa captured the WBC Interim Lightweight title.

The two went at it from the opening bell. Figueroa rocked Arakawa in the opening frame that buckled the visitor. In round two, a huge flurry caused Arakawa’s knee to touch the ground. When it seemed like Arakawa could be done, he came back and landed some good body punches. Arakawa continued to connect in round three but it did not have much affect on Figueroa. The two continued to land at a vicious rate with Arakawa landing a huge left on the ropes but Figueroa came back to land shots to the body and head. In round four, Figueroa was cut on the nose from an accidental headbutt. Arakawa continued to land in between taking hard shots. Figueroa came back later in the round with a big right and left hook. In round five, Figueroa rocked Arakawa with a big right hand and he followed that up with a jard combination/ Arakawa just kept on coming as if he had nothing to lose. the two continues to trad hellacious shots until Figueroa landed a huge body shot that had Arakawa reeling all over the roing and referee Laurence Cole ruled a knock down.

The seond half of the fight was more of the same as the the fighters would not give an inch with Figueroa getting the better of each frame. As great as this war was, you never got the sense the at Arakawa could or would hurt Figueroa but that does not take away from this fight of the year candidate.

Figueroa, 135 lbs of Weslaco, TX won bu scores of 119-107, 118-108 and 118-108 and is now 22-0-1. Arakawa, 135 lbs of Tokyo, JP is now 24-3-1

“It’s what I’ve looked forward to since the beginning,” said Figueroa, who complained to his corner that he injured both his hands in the fight. “My respect to this guy. He can take a beating. We both took a beating. The only things that didn’t hold up were my hands.”

“The only thing I can say is Figueroa was very strong,” Arakawa said. “I was thinking about all the people that supported me up to this point to get to this level and that’s what kept me going.

Keith Thurman won the WBA Interim Welterweight title with a thrilling tenth round stoppage over Diego Chaves.

It was an exciting fight with both guys throwing and landing hard shots to the head and body. Thurman’s impact ful shots caused blood from the nose of Chaves as early as round six. Chaves contiued to fight string but was caught with a hard left hook to the body in round nine that sent him to the canvas. Thurman ended things in the tenth after a double left hook was followed by a huge right that sent Chaves to the canvas and the fight was stopped at :28 of round ten.

Thurman, 146 lbs of Clearwater, FL is now 21-0 with 19 knockouts. Chaves, 146 1/2 lbs of Argentina is now 22-1.

Thurman was awarded a $10,000 bonus by Golden Boy Promotions for the knockout of the night.

“I came in this fight to have multiple game plans,” Thurman said. “I knew he would be my toughest opponent. I wanted to punch him, I wanted to box him and later on, I was able to hit him with that beautiful body shot.

“You save the tools that you want to use for the later rounds. I had a feeling he was going to die out.”

“He connected very well on my temple and I couldn’t recuperate,” Chaves said. “I don’t regret that the referee stopped the fight. I thought I was winning the fight when they stopped it. I hope I get a rematch and come back soon.”

Follow all the action from the AT & T Center in San Antonio as former world champion Andre Berto battles Jesus Soto Karass. There will be two world championship bouts as Omar Figueroa battles Nihito Arakawa for the Interim WBC Lightweight title and Keith Thurman takes on Diego Chaves for the Interim WBA Welterweight title. The action begins at 9pm est / 6 pm pac

12 rounds–Welterweights–Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) vs Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO’s)

Round 1 Soto Karass landing to the body…Jab from Berto..Right from Soto Karass hurts Berto..right…Counter right from Berto..Soto Karass lands another hard right…10-9 Soto Karass

Round 2 Berto lands a counter right..Soto Karass lands a left to the body and head…20-18 Soto Karass

Round 3 Berto lands a combination…Soto Karass lands a left and right..Counter right from Berto..left and right..jab..right…jab..Soto Karas lands a left hook…Left and right to the body from Berto..Soto Karass lands a left…Counter right from Berto..SK lands a left uppercut..29-28 SK

Round 4 Crisp left hook from Berto..Jab/short left uppercut from SK…double jab from Berto…left/right to body from SK..Left hook from Berto..Counter jab from SK…Huge counter left and flurry…Berto hurt...39-37 SK

Round 5 Berto hurt and his shoulder is injured….Berto is wobbling all over the place..49-46 SK

Round 6 Berto lands a left uppercut/left hook..left hook to the body…SK lands a left hook to the body and an uppercut...58-56 SK

Round 7 Berto lands a good body shot…SK lands a left to the body..straight right hand…3 uppercuts from Berto..lead right..Swelling around thr right eye of SK…3 left hooks from Berto..67-66 SK

Round 8 Straight right from SK..uppercut on inside..combination…swelling around left eye of Berto..left hook..straight right..Berto lands an uppercut..left uppercut from SK..right..counter..77-75 SK

Round 9 SK lands a straight right..Berto lands a right Uppercut..left from Berto..86-85 SK

Round 10 Berto backing SK up..left hook…95-95

Round 11 Counter left from Berto…shoRT SHOT AND DOWN GOES SK…Berto lands a left…straight right from SK…right and left…left to body from Berto..Right from SK..upercut from Berto…big shot from SK..left hook from Berto..Body.right from SK…105-103 Berto

Round 12 Toe to toe in the center of the ring…Right from SK..LEFT HOOK DOWN GOES BERTO….THE FIGHT IS OVER

12 Rounds–WBC INTERIM LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP–OMAR FIGUEROA (21-0-1, 17 KO’S) VS NIHITO ARAKAWA (24-2-1, 16 KO’S)

Round 1 Arakawa landing…3 punching combo from Figueroa..Big right..Right to the head..Phone booth fight…10-9 Figueroa

Round 2 Arakawa lands a left to the body..counter let to body from Figueroa..HUGE RIGHT HURTS ARAKAWA…HE TAKES A KNEE..Rigt to the body and left to the head from Figueroa..Arakawa coming back…20-17 Figueroa

Round 3 Body and head from Figueroa..Body from Arakawa…right from Figueroa..Left uppercut..2 lefts from Arakawa…hard left..left uppercut from Figueroa..double right to the head..right…hellacuous shots…a war...30-26 Figueroa..

Round 4 Accidental head butt causes cut on Figueroa’s nose..Left hooks by both men…counter from Arakawa..Left hook from Figueroa..Left to head and body from Arakawa…3 hard shots from Figueroa..right and left to the body from Arakawa..39-36 Figueroa

Round 5 Left hurts Arakawa..49-45 Figueroa

Round 6 Right from Figueroa..Right uppercut and right..Right hands stuns Arakawa…right and left…on ROPES RULED A KNOCKDOWN...59-53 Figueroa

Round 7 Straight left from Arakawa..Double left and right from Figueroa..Arakawa works body…69-62 Figueroa

Round 8 Left from Figueroa…Right..Right..Right…double left hand…swelling around left eye of Arakawa…Figueroa batering and hurting Arakawa..left hook..79-71 Figueroa

Round 9 Right from Figueroa…great uppercut and left hook..counter from Arakawa..89-80 Figueroa

Round 10 Figueroa lands a left to the liver..flurry off the ropes..99-89 Figueroa

Round 11 Arakawa lands a combination on the ropes…Figueroa lands a straight right..Arakawa landing in the ropes..Right to body and left to the head by Figueroa..Right from Arakawa..left upper cut/right from Figueroa..108-99 Figueroa

Round 12 Figueroa lands power shots..Right…this is a bloody war…wow…great 118-108 Figueroa

118-108. 118-108 and 119-107

12 ROUNDS–WBA INTERIM WELTERWEIGHT TITLE–DIEGO CHAVES (22-0, 18 KOS) VS KEITH THURMAN (20-0, 18 KO’S)

ROUND 1 Chaves jabs to the body..Jab..Thurman lands a left hook..Right to the boy..Chaves lands a left to the body..Thurman lands a left to the body and head..Chaves lands with a combination..10-9 Chaves

Round 2 Right from Chaves..Thurman lands a double left hook…right…19-19

Round 3 Chaves lands a left..Good counter from Thurman…good left hook…Jab..Thurman lands a right lead…counter from Chaves…29-28 Thurman

Round 439-37 Thurman

Round 5 Double jab from Chaves…Right from Thurman…double jab…counter jab…49-46 Thurman

Round 6 Chaves lands a right to the body..Big right from Thurman..Good left uppercut..Chaves jabs to the body…another jab to the body..Chaves nose bleeding..58-56 Thurman

Round 7 Chaves lands to the body…Counter left from Thurman..nice left hook…3 punch combination..Chaves lands a body shot..Thurman lands a right…Combo from Thurman..1-2..Thurman lands a left..68-65 Thurman

Round 8 Chaves lands a left hook…Thurman lands a right..left combination…Chaves lands a combination…77-75 Thurman

Round 9 THURMAN LANDS A BODY SHOT AND DOWN GOES CHAVES…87-83 Thurman

Round 10 THURMAN LANDS A BIG COMBINATION AND DOWN GOES CHAVES AND THE FIGHT IS STOPPED

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING
ANDRE BERTO – 147 Pounds
JESUS SOTO KARASS – 147 Pounds

OMAR FIGUEROA JR. – 135 Pounds
NIHITO ARAKAWA – 135 Pounds

DIEGO CHAVES – 146 ¼ Pounds
KEITH THURMAN – 146 Pounds

SHOWTIME EXTREME:
ANTHONY DIRRELL – 172 Pounds
ANTHONY HANSHAW – 171 ½ Pounds

JOSEPH RODRIGUEZ – 132 ¼ Pounds
JESSE ANGUIANO – 130 ¾ Pounds

(SHOWTIME EXTREME Swing Bout – Time Permitting)
ARMANDO CARDENAS – 140 ½ Pounds
STEPHEN SALAZAR – 138 ½ Pounds

ABOUT “KNOCKOUT KINGS II”
“KNOCKOUT KINGS II,” featuring former Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto facing tough Mexican veteran contender Jesus Soto Karass in a 12-round main event for the vacant NABF Welterweight Championship, takes place Saturday, July 27 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the 12-round co-featured attractions, Weslaco, Texas’ undefeated rising star Omar Figueroa Jr. squares off against Japan’s Nihito Arakawa for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with Teiken Promotions and undefeated power- puncher Diego Chaves faces fellow unbeaten knockout artist Keith Thurman for Chaves’ WBA Interim Welterweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with KO International. The tripleheader will be broadcast live on SHOWTIME® at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT and will be available in Spanish via second audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50, $25 and $10, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are available for purchase at the AT&T Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com at www.ticketmaster.com and ATTCenter.com all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (800) 745-3000 or through Leija & Battah Promotions by calling (210) 979-3302 or emailing m@leijabattahpromo.com.

LOS ANGELES, July 25 – Two of the key participants in Saturday’s “Knockout Kings II” event taking place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio will first be featured this Friday night, July 26 on FOX Deportes as a special edition of Golden Boy Classics gets fight fans ready for one of the hardest-hitting nights of the summer featuring former Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto and rising star Omar “Panterita” Figueroa. The broadcast airs on Fox Deportes at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

In the main event, viewers will see Berto defend his WBC Welterweight World Championship in The Ring Magazine’s and USA Today’s 2011 Fight of the Year against Victor Ortiz while, in the co-feature, they will see Weslaco, Texas’ Figueroa make his first major statement to the boxing world in his 2012 fight with fellow then undefeated lightweight prospect Michael Perez.

On April 16, 2011, undefeated WBC Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto risked his title and his perfect record against rising star “Vicious” Victor Ortiz at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. What resulted was an epic 12-round match that saw both fighters hit the deck twice before Ortiz emerged with the unanimous decision victory in one of the best fights in recent memory.

In a rare showdown between undefeated top prospects, on January 6, 2012 Omar Figueroa put his record on the line against Newark, New Jersey’s Michael Perez at Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, California. “Panterita” was the fighter who delivered, scoring a sixth round stoppage, taking his promising career to a new level.

# # #

“Knockout Kings II,” featuring former Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto facing tough Mexican veteran contender Jesus Soto Karass in a 12-round main event for the vacant NABF Welterweight Championship, takes place Saturday, July 27 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the 12-round co-featured attractions, Weslaco, Texas’ undefeated rising star Omar Figueroa Jr. squares off against Japan’s Nihito Arakawa for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with Teiken Promotions and undefeated power-puncher Diego Chaves faces fellow unbeaten knockout artist Keith Thurman for Chaves’ WBA Interim Welterweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with KO International. The tripleheader will be broadcast live on SHOWTIME® at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT and will be available in Spanish via second audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50, $25 and $10, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are on sale now and are available for purchase at the AT&T Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com at www.ticketmaster.com and ATTCenter.com all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (800) 745-3000 or through Leija & Battah Promotions by calling (210) 979-3302 or emailing m@leijabattahpromo.com.

SAN ANTONIO – The promotional posters for “Knockout Kings II” that arrived in some writers’ inboxes these last few weeks were different from the original posters that featured Haitian-American Andre Berto and Mexican Jesus Soto-Karass, the men who will fight in the main event Saturday at AT&T Center. The new posters featured Texan Omar “Panterita” Figueroa, who will fight Japan’s Nihito Arakawa for the WBC’s interim lightweight title and have to sell more tickets than Berto, Soto-Karass and Arakawa, combined, for Leija-Battah Promotions’ first post-Canelo event to succeed at the box office.

“(Arakawa) is going to be tough,” Figueroa said Friday morning. “Usually Japanese fighters are a lot like Mexicans in the fact that that they fight with a lot of pride, a lot of heart. There’s no quit in them either. I’m preparing for a good 12 rounds, hopefully . . . I mean, hopefully, it doesn’t go that long.”

There has been a gradual but pronounced shift away from the main-event fighters and towards Figueroa, as it appears circumstances have confirmed what was long known about Saturday’s headliner, Andre Berto: He does not sell tickets. Berto makes interesting fights when he is matched with someone who can beat him, a scenario to which he was rarely treated during his deservedly maligned HBO tenure. Berto was no more the next Floyd Mayweather than Victor Ortiz was the next Oscar De La Hoya, despite programmers’ hopes, though both men were close enough in appearance to make network executives believe otherwise. Now on Showtime, Berto is in the precarious place where his next loss may be his last televised loss.

He is aware of this, or aware as Berto can be; at the announcement press conference in this city’s famed Mi Tierra restaurant in May, Berto mentioned coming close to a Mayweather fight twice, against Ortiz and then Robert Guerrero, losing both tryouts, and being determined not to lose a third. How enthusiastic anyone might be about a Mayweather-Berto fight is dubious, else Golden Boy Promotions would not have announced Matthysse-Garcia, a casting call for Mayweather’s next opponent, as its Sept. 14 co-main, last week. Since Berto is not an introspective lad, though, it’s best for all parties to have him believe Saturday’s fight is to win the Mayweather lottery. There is something about the way Berto claps that bears watching as a metaphor, or insight into his connection with fans: He doesn’t mirthfully slap his hands together but rather does a two-fisted, right-pinky-knuckle-to-left-index-knuckle touch, that says: I am too cool for all this.

Omar Figueroa is the draw upon which Saturday’s gate relies. Berto’s opponent, Jesus Soto-Karass, is the fabled tough Mexican, of course, but Mexicans are quite familiar with him subsequently, and will never see him as more than Antonio Margarito’s limited stablemate. And while the third Knockout King, Florida’s Keith Thurman, might become a draw someday, he’s not known well enough to sell tickets in Texas against a welterweight who’s only once fought outside Argentina.

Figueroa is from Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley, a four-hour drive south of San Antonio, a city in South Texas (so is the awesomeness of Lone Star State: “South” Texas begins 250 miles north of Texas’ southern border) – a place known by Texans as “The Valley” and home to more than a million persons who are Texans by both birth and generations. More than 80-percent of them share ethnic origins with the Mexicans just a few miles south of Figueroa’s Weslaco, but most of them have been in the United States, or at least Texas – whether during its time as a Confederate state, its own republic or part of Mexico – longer than your family has.

“Honestly, I do not know, but I’m glad they do,” Figueroa said, when asked why fellow Valley residents drive four to five hours to see his matches. “We’re mainly Mexicans in the Valley, and Mexicans, we have such a passion for everything we do.

“It’s a mutual thing. They support me, and I put on my best face when it comes to fighting.”

Figueroa’s fans are Texans in the very core of their being, and Texans support their own, especially when their own looks as they do and fights ferociously as Figueroa does.

“I go in there to just punish my opponent as much as possible, in the sense that the knockout will kind of, sort of, come – sooner or later?” Figueroa said. “That’s our plan, I guess.”

“Panterita” – the affectionate diminutive of the Spanish word for panther – has power in both hands and a willingness to engage in attrition fighting, the kind both Mexicans and Texans thrill to. Figueroa is trained by Joel Diaz in Indio, Calif., where Timothy Bradley shares his camp.

“Bradley, whom I have the pleasure of working with, has a lot of heart and a lot of brains,” Figueroa said, then addressed his campmate’s March showing against Ruslan Provodnikov. “If I’m ever in one of those – in that circumstance? – I hope that I react the same way, that I don’t cower and quit. I don’t know if anyone else, except for the Mexicans, those types of fighters who live to fight fights like that, would have put up with that sort of punishment and try to keep the fight going.

“It was just an amazing feat for a human being to take those kinds of punches and fight on.”

Bradley is the name Figueroa mentions first and solely when asked for prizefighters he models himself after; he hopes to react to semi-consciousness in the mindless and miraculous way Bradley does, and while he does not admit to seeking such a chance, one detects in his voice a sense he would not mind it. If somehow Nihito Arakawa takes Figueroa to that state, endures the Texan’s attack without wilting then catches him on the way in, and Figueroa fights his way through it, comporting himself with even some of Bradley’s honor, on national television, South Texas will have its new draw, and Leija-Battah Promotions will have still more of what leverage it has already earned.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

ANDRE BERTO, Former Two-Time Welterweight World Champion

“I’m looking forward to this challenge on July 27. As you can see, it’s an exciting undercard with my man Keith Thurman and my man Omar Figueroa.

“I’ve been through some ups and downs. I feel that I have made some of the right changes that I needed to get focused.

“I have a new team and I’m dedicated to win another world title.

“I let the big show get away from me twice, once against Victor Ortiz and once against Robert Guerrero. I’m coming to San Antonio focused.

“It’s going to be a hell of a show. Make sure you buy your tickets or tune in on SHOWTIME because there’s nothing stopping me. I’m ready.

“You can have all the power in the world, but if you don’t know technique or don’t have a strategy, then you’ve got nothing. I’ve made changes in my game plan and I’m going to fight smarter.

“Soto Karass is a good fighter. I’ve seen his fights. There’s nothing too spectacular about him, but he does have that tough Mexican fighting style.”

JESUS SOTO KARASS, Veteran Welterweight Contender

“I have a great test ahead of me. I have followed Andre Berto’s career very closely. When he was a world champion, I was hoping I was going to get to fight him someday.

“I wasn’t ready for him then, but now that I got offered the fight, I know I’m ready.

“This is a very important fight for me and I know I’m ready. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to prove all of the doubters wrong.

“I decided that this year is the year I’m going to become a world champion.

“San Antonio is one of the best places for boxing. With these ticket prices, I’m hoping the arena is going to be full of Mexicans and Mexican Americans.

“The name of this fight is ‘Knockout Kings II’ for a reason and I’m going to try to make sure it lives up to its name.”

OMAR FIGUEROA JR., Undefeated Texas Rising Star

“This fight is called ‘Knockout Kings II’ for a reason. I always go out there looking for the knockout. This is a great fight card for the fans. This is what boxing needs.

“It especially means a lot for my home state of Texas. This is perfect for me. All of my friends, family and fans can come up and see me fight.

“I’m at a loss for words when I think about fighting for my first world title here in Texas. I pictured myself being in this position because as a fighter, you have to see it in order to achieve it. This is what we’ve wanted and what we’ve been working so hard for.

“July 27, you’ll see fireworks in the ring.

“San Antonio is the perfect place for a card like this. I can’t describe what it was like being at the Canelo vs. Trout fight. Hearing 40,000 people cheer was incredible. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and proud to be a part of this fight card.”

KEITH THURMAN, Undefeated Top Rated Welterweight Contender

“The last time I was in Texas was when I was competing as an amateur in the 2008 Olympic Trials.

“I don’t know if there is another fighter out there that’s hungrier than me. They’ve been feeding me, but I’m still starving I have a long time left in this game and I don’t know when I’m going to get enough of it.

“I’m looking forward to this fight. My opponent is a young hungry fighter with a record of 22 and 0 with 18 knockouts and I am 20 and 0 with 18 knockouts. You know this is going to be a fight.

“If you’re a boxing fan and you’re from around here, then you have to be here unless you’ve got a family emergency.

“Come support the undercard that has a lot of local fighters and local talent.

“I don’t expect this fight to go more than two rounds. If the fight goes more than two rounds, find me and I will give you a refund.”

ERIC GOMEZ, Vice President and Matchmaker of Golden Boy Promotions

“We’ve been around for a little over a decade and we’ve done great events and I don’t think we’ve had a partner like Leija and Battah Promotions. They’re committed to boxing and committed to Texas and they’re doing an amazing job.

“Don’t blink when Keith Thurman fights, because you might miss something big.

“Everyone has been looking for the next great fighter in Texas, the next great champion from the state and I think we’ve found him in Omar Figueroa.

“In boxing, there are great events and then there are great fights. Last month at the Alamodome, there was a great event. This main event is a great fight. Styles make fights and both of these guys really come to fight. They’re going to come to fight hard because that’s what they know how to do.

“This is little bit of a crossroads fight for both Berto and Soto Karass. The winner is going to go on to bigger and better things and whoever loses is going to have to take a hard look at their career.”

JESSE JAMES LEIJA, Former Two-Time World Champion & Texas Boxing Legend

“We have a strong undercard with great local talent from San Antonio. We see great things happening for these guys in the future.

“We’re excited to have Omar Figueroa back again, but maybe he will give us two rounds this time.

“I’m a huge fan of Andre Berto and of Jesus Soto Karass. I’m also a huge fan of the sport of boxing and Mike [Battah] and I have worked really hard with Golden Boy Promotions to bring the best events to San Antonio.

“We want to fill the AT&T Center with 18,000 people and I think that’s doable.

“We’re bringing great fights, big names and we hope everyone comes out and supports boxing in San Antonio.”

MIKE BATTAH, President of Leija and Battah Promotions

“We are growing this fight business and it’s growing in a fast way. San Antonio is going to be the hub of boxing and we’re really excited about that.”

# # #

“KNOCKOUT KINGS II,” featuring Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto facing tough Mexican veteran contender Jesus Soto Karass in a 12-round welterweight main event, takes place Saturday, July 27 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the 12-round co-featured attractions, Weslaco, Texas’ undefeated rising star Omar Figueroa Jr. squares off against Tokyo’s Nihito Arakawa for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with Teiken Promotions and unbeaten knockout artist Keith Thurman and fellow power-puncher Diego Gabriel Chaves battle for Chaves’ WBA Interim Welterweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with KO International. The tripleheader will be broadcast live on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will be available in Spanish via second audio programming (SAP).

Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50, $25 and $10, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are on sale and will be available for purchase at the AT&T Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com and ATTCenter.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (800) 745-3000 or through Leija & Battah Promotions by calling (210) 979-3302 or emailing m@leijabattahpromo.com.

For information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.comor www.ATTCenter.com, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/AndreBerto, www.twitter.com/OmarFigueroaJr, www.twitter.com/attcenter and www.twitter.com/SHOsports, follow the conversation using #KnockoutKings2 and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing andwww.facebook.com/ATTCenter.

AN ANTONIO, May 15, 2013 – San Antonio, Texas will once again be the site of a major boxing event when SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® returns to the Lone Star State on Saturday, July 27 with “KNOCKOUT KINGS II,” a spectacular night of world-class fights at the AT&T Center featuring a tripleheader starring some of the sport’s brightest stars live on SHOWTIME.

In the 12-round main event, former Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto is back in the ring to take on tough Mexican contender Jesus Soto Karass. Plus, unbeaten knockout artist Keith Thurman and fellow power-puncher Diego Gabriel Chaves battle for Chaves’ WBA Interim Welterweight World Championship and Weslaco, Texas’ undefeated rising star Omar Figueroa Jr. squares off against Tokyo’s Nihito Arakawa for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship.

Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50, $25 and $10, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, go on sale Friday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m. CT and will be available for purchase at the AT&T Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.ATTCenter.com, all Ticketmaster locations by calling (800) 745-3000 or through Leija & Battah Promotions by calling (210) 979-3302 or emailing m@leijabattahpromo.com.

The event marks the return of co-promoters Golden Boy Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions to San Antonio where they recently promoted the April 20 blockbuster fight between Canelo Alvarez and Austin Trout which had almost 40,000 fans in attendance.

“Texas is our new home away from home and it’s great to be returning so soon after the Alvarez-Trout mega event in April,” said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions. “That event proved that boxing is alive and well and on July 27, we’re going to have another stacked card that will pack the AT&T Center.”

“Leija-Battah Promotions is thrilled to be co-hosting another SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING event in San Antonio in collaboration with Golden Boy Promotions,” said Mike Battah, President of Leija & Battah Promotions. “The people of San Antonio and Texas demonstrated their affinity for boxing on April 20 at the Canelo vs. Trout sell-out event and we look forward to hosting multiple mega-fights yearly.”

“We have always dedicated ourselves to providing the people of San Antonio and all of South Texas with a broad variety of first-class sports and entertainment events at the AT&T Center,” said Rick Pych, Spurs Sports & Entertainment President of Business Operations. “San Antonio is a city that truly appreciates and supports boxing in a big way and this is a terrific opportunity for fight fans to witness three world-class bouts in an arena setting.”

A member of the 2004 Haitian Olympic team, Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) turned pro later that year and has never looked back. A throwback fighter willing to go into the trenches to put on exciting bouts for his fans, the 29-year-old from Winter Haven, Florida first struck professional gold in 2008 when he stopped Miguel Rodriguez in the seventh round to win the WBC Welterweight World Championship. Berto successfully defended the crown five times before losing it to Victor Ortiz in The Ring Magazine’s 2011 Fight of the Year. He bounced back five months later to defeat Jan Zaveck for the IBF Welterweight World Championship. In his most recent bout, Berto engaged in a fight of the year candidate against Roberto Guerrero, losing a hard fought 12-round decision last November.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve fought in Texas and I’m happy to be back fighting in front of the great fans here,” said Berto. “I’m hungrier than ever to get my title back and the first step is taking out Soto Karass on July 27.”

One of the fight game’s most rugged competitors, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico’s Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO’s) always gives a supreme effort in the ring and, win or lose, his opponents never emerge from their fights with him unscathed. Fresh off of a January win over Selcuk Aydin, the 30-year-old Soto Karass hopes to add Berto’s name to a list of vanquished foes that includes Euri Gonzalez, Said El Harrak, Vince Phillips, David Estrada and Chris Smith.

“I respect what Andre Berto has done in his career and he’s a tough fighter, but a win over him would be the biggest of my career,” said Soto Karass. “If I want to get a world title shot, I have to go through him to get it.”

A crushing puncher with a 90% knockout rate, Clearwater, Florida’s Keith “One Time” Thurman (20-0, 18 KO’s) has raised his worldwide profile considerably since returning from a year-long injury induced layoff in 2012. Since then, Thurman has gone 5-0 with four knockouts, with wins over Brandon Hoskins, Orlando Lora and former World Champion Carlos Quintana. In his last fight in March, the 24-year-old scored a shutout win over former World Champion Jan Zaveck and on July 27, he challenges for his first world title.

“I’m looking forward to fighting for an interim title and doing it against someone like Chaves,” said Thurman. “I’m not going to have to chase him or get him to fight. We’re going to battle and I’m going to be the last man standing.”

The latest in the line of hard-hitting standouts from Argentina, Diego Gabriel “La Joya” Chaves (22-0, 18 KO’s) shares a similar fighting philosophy with his opponent, Thurman: to end matters as soon as possible. Currently sporting a five-fight knockout streak, the 27-year-old Chaves won the WBA Interim Welterweight World Championship in July of last year with a second round knockout of Ismael El Massoudi and defended it two months later with an identical result against Jose Miranda. Now he’s back to fight in the United States for the first time since 2010.

“I appreciate the opportunity to fight in the United States and against someone with a great reputation like Keith Thurman,” said Chaves. “We’re proud people and proud fighters in Argentina and I’m going to show this to the world on July 27th.”

Adding to the knockout theme on July 27 is Texas’ own titan, Weslaco native Omar “Panterita” Figueroa Jr. (21-0-1, 17 KO’s), who has ended four of his last five wins with first round knockouts. In April, the 23-year-old thrilled his home state fans with a first round knockout over then unbeaten top prospect Abner Cotto, winning the NABA and WBC Interim Silver Lightweight titles in the process. He will draw on the energy from a San Antonio crowd for his third consecutive fight when he fights for his first world title against Arakawa on July 27.

“For me there’s nothing like fighting at home in Texas and the fans of San Antonio have pushed me to new heights in my last two fights,” said Figueroa. “I’m looking forward to giving them another big knockout win.”

Fighting out of Tokyo, Japan, 31-year-old southpaw Nihito Arakawa (24-2-1, 16 KO’s) is a nine-year veteran guaranteed to give Figueroa some looks he has never seen in the ring before. A Japanese and OPBF lightweight champion, Arakawa has won 11 of his last 12 bouts, most recently dispatching Pakphum Tor Pornchai in two rounds on May 4. On July 27, he’ll enter hostile territory with the goal of pinning a “1” on Figueroa’s loss column.

“I’m looking forward to fighting in the United States for the first time against a tough opponent like Omar Figueroa,” said Arakawa. “I’m coming here to put on a great show and take the title back to Japan with me.”

“KNOCKOUT KINGS II,” featuring Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto vs. tough Mexican contender Jesus Soto Karass in a 12-round welterweight main event, takes place Saturday, July 27 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the 12-round co-featured attractions, unbeaten knockout artist Keith Thurman and fellow power-puncher Diego Gabriel Chaves battle for Chaves’ WBA Interim Welterweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with KO International and Weslaco, Texas’ undefeated rising star Omar Figueroa Jr. squares off against Tokyo’s Nihito Arakawa for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with Teiken Promotions. The tripleheader will be broadcast live on SHOWTIME and will be available in Spanish via second audio programming (SAP).

For information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.ATTCenter.com, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/AndreBerto, www.twitter.com/OmarFigueroaJr, www.twitter.com/attcenter and www.twitter.com/SHOsports, follow the conversation using #KnockoutKings2 and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing andwww.facebook.com/ATTCenter.

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Fresh off his 1st round destruction of Abner Cotto, undefeated Lightweight Omar Figueroa will return to action on July 27 as part of a Showtime televised tripleheader that will feature Andre Berto taking on Jesus Soto-Karass and Keith Thurman taking on Diego Chaves in San Antonio according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“We’re going to price the tickets right, and I think we’re going to call the card ‘Bang for Your Buck’ because with Berto, Thurman and Figueroa, you have big bangers on the card,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.

“We are really looking forward to bringing another big card to San Antonio. It’s a great fight city, and we wanted Omar Figueroa to be part of this significant tripleheader,” Schaefer said. “He will be in a significant fight. He had a terrific performance against an undefeated guy [Abner Cotto], and he’s one of those exciting guys where you want to have your popcorn and drink in front of you because you don’t want to get up because you know he might knock his opponent out at any moment.

“After the fight [against Cotto], I got a lot of emails from people saying, ‘Who is this guy? He’s so exciting, so strong.’ These kind of comments. Saturday night was a big night for Canelo Alvarez but it was a big night for Omar Figueroa also to have almost 40,000 people going nuts for him. It was amazing. Omar Figueroa has arrived, and let’s see how far he can go.”

SAN ANTONIO, April 19 – The 38,000 fans in the sold out Alamodome tomorrow night are in for non-stop action as the undercard for the WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez and WBA Super Welterweight Austin “No Doubt” Trout showdown is now complete. Unbeaten prospects Jermall Charlo and Julian Williams will be joined by 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha in the SHOWTIME EXTREME bouts that will lead into the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast featuring undefeated lightweights Omar Figueroa Jr. and Abner Cotto followed by the highly anticipated Canelo vs. Trout 12-round Super Welterweight Title Unification bout.

In the SHOWTIME EXTREME headliner, Houston’s Charlo, twin brother of top contender Jermell, puts his perfect 12-0 (8 KO’s) record on the line when he battles veteran Mexican contender Orlando Lora (29-3-2, 19 KO’s) in a super welterweight bout scheduled for eight rounds.

Plus, an eight-round middleweight contest between Philadelphia phenom Williams (11-0-1, 6 KO’s) and Escondido, California’s Dashon Johnson (14-10-3, 5 KO’s) and in a four round middleweight swing bout, 2012 U.S. Olympian Gausha (3-0, 2 KO’s) of Cleveland meets up with Valley, Alabama’s William Waters (2-3, 2 KO’s).

In an eight-round flyweight contest, unbeaten Ivan Morales (20-0, 13 KO’s), the brother of legendary Erik Morales, will continue to make a name for himself when he faces Chihuahua, Mexico’s Raul Hidalgo (17-7, 13 KO’s).

The vacant WBC Silver Super Bantamweight title will be up for grabs as well when Queretaro, Mexico’s Andres Gutierrez (25-0-1, 21 KO’s) faces countryman Salvador “Sal II” Sanchez (30-5-3, 18 KO’s), the nephew of the late Salvador Sanchez.

Local San Antonio hero Raul Martinez (29-2, 17 KOs) continues his comeback in bantamweight action, as he takes on Omar Gonzales (5-8, 1 KO) in a four-round battle. In the four-round junior lightweight opener, unbeaten Houstonite Miguel Flores (10-0, 6 KO’s) meets Weslaco’s Guadalupe De Leon (8-13, 4 KO’s).

Canelo vs. Trout, a 12-round Super Welterweight World Championship Unification fight for Canelo’s WBC title, Trout’s WBA title and the vacant Ring Magazine title, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Canelo Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. The co-main event will be a 10-round fight between undefeated prospects Omar Figueroa Jr. of Weslaco, Texas and Abner Cotto of Caguas, Puerto Rico for the vacant WBC Silver Lightweight Championship which is presented in association with Miguel Cotto Promotions. The fights will air live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with Canelo vs. Trout being presented in association with Greg Cohen Promotions. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

San Antonio (April 3) Over 30,000 fans packing the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday, April 20 for the Super Welterweight World Championship Unification showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Austin Trout will have another reason to cheer, as the evening’s co-main event will feature a clash of unbeaten lightweights when Weslaco, Texas’ Omar Figueroa Jr. and Puerto Rico’s Abner Cotto square off in an explosive 10-round fight for the vacant WBC Silver Lightweight title live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®.

Canelo vs. Trout, a 12-round Super Welterweight World Championship Unification fight for Canelo’s WBC title, Trout’s WBA title and the vacant Ring Magazine title, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Canelo Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona andAT&T. The co-main event will be a 10-round fight between undefeated prospects Omar Figueroa Jr. of Weslaco, Texas and Abner Cotto of Caguas, Puerto Rico for the vacant WBC Silver Lightweight Championship which is presented in association with Miguel Cotto Promotions. The fights will air live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with Canelo vs. Trout being presented in association with Greg Cohen Promotions. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP).

Remaining tickets priced at $100, $25 and $10, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are available for purchase at the Alamodome box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations or by calling (800) 745-3000.

A proud Texan who always shows his best for his home state fans, Weslaco’s Omar “Panterita” Figueroa Jr. (20-0-1, 16 KO’s) is a top lightweight prospect on the verge of moving into the top ten at 135 pounds. The owner of wins over top prospects Michael Perez, Ramon Ayala and Dominic Salcido during a 2012 campaign that saw him go 6-0, the 23-year-old kept the momentum going into this year, when he knocked out Henry Aurad in just 47 seconds in March in San Antonio. On April 20, he’s back and looking to match or surpass that performance against Cotto.

The second cousin of Miguel and Jose Cotto, 25-year-old Abner Cotto (16-0, 7 KO’s) has gotten off to an impressive start in the family business. A former amateur standout, Caguas’ Cotto turned professional in 2009 and has since won each of his 16 bouts. A Puerto Rican and WBC FECARBOX lightweight champion thus far, Cotto has bigger titles in his sights in the future and after an impressive seventh round technical knockout over Sergio Perez last December, Cotto knows that a victory over the undefeated Figueroa will make a statement to the boxing world that he’s ready for anything.

For information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/leijabattahPR, www.twitter.com/CaneloOficial, www.twitter.com/NoDoubtTrout, www.twitter.com/Alamodome and www.twitter.com/SHOsports, follow the conversation using #CaneloTrout or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing.