By Norm Frauenheim–

The lawsuit isn’t a surprise. It’s been looming, brewing for at least a year in the contempt Canelo Alvarez has for Oscar De La Hoya and in mounting impatience he has for DAZN.

It finally landed, all 24 pages of it, in federal court this week in Los Angeles. From money to broken promises, it’s full of all the usual grievances and suspects.

Canelo is suing for $280 million. He wants out of his DAZN contract, a $365-million over 11 fights a couple of years ago. Then, it looked like a titanic deal and it still does, at least in terms of what seems to be happening to DAZN. It never foresaw the pandemic. Who did? But it appears to have blown a huge hole in what the streaming service had hoped to do.

DAZN looks to be sinking. In negotiations for a September fight, it’s alleged that it could no longer afford Canelo’s contracted minimum, $35-million a fight.  Canelo was reportedly offered a smaller purse and some stock in the company. It didn’t take Canelo long to figure out that the stock might soon be worth about as much as the contents of a spit bucket.

He decided to get what he could in court.  Nobody knows how long the pandemic will last and what the impact on simple households and billionaire budgets will be. Long, drawn-out legal proceedings – is there any other kind? – could end with a judgment and no payoff. In boxing terms, just another paper champion.

But Canelo has the time and the money to risk it. He’s 30, which means there are three, four, maybe as many as five more years left in his prime. Plus, he’s already wealthy, thanks in large part to DAZN. He grossed $105 million for three fights — Rocky Fielding, Danny Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev. There was no Gennadiy Golovkin, which figures to be an issue in court. DAZN invested plenty on the bet that it would happen. Fans have wanted it. But the lawsuit says a third GGG-Canelo fight is past its due date.

Time to move on. But to where? And to whom?

The guess is that Canelo has plenty in the bank, perhaps enough for him to promote himself. According to Forbes, he made $94 million in 2019, including victories over Fielding and Jacobs. Add $35 million for his victory over Kovalev in his last fight, and he earned $129 million over the last couple of years.

He’s got deep pockets. But is it enough for him to follow De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. into independent entrepreneurship? Impossible to say. De La Hoya and Mayweather split with established promoters and during eras when there was no COVID. Each found a network partnership. But it’s hard to say what happens during a time rocked only by uncertainty

Even if the money is there, it’s not clear that anybody would partner with Canelo. He has the pay-per-view numbers to say he is the biggest draw in boxing. But there’s a debate about whether he’s the world’s best fighter, pound-for-pound. There are lingering questions about whether he could in fact become the face of the game in the defining way De La Hoya and Mayweather were.

De La Hoya had good looks and fast hands. People liked him. Mayweather’s dazzling elusiveness frustrated foes and his cocky claim on being The Best Ever exasperated fans. People hated him.

In marketing terms, both De La Hoya and Mayweather knew their roles and played them, each with their own kind of genius. But Canelo’s identity has never been quite so evident. He doesn’t have De La Hoya’s smile. Unlike Mayweather, he appears to be uncomfortable with criticism from fans, who didn’t like Mayweather, yet paid for just a chance to see him get beat.

His unpopularity, even among Mexican fans, was mentioned by Julio Cesar Chavez during an interview during the before his stoppage of Kovalev. Chavez, who could do no wrong in a different Mexican era, said that not everybody likes Canelo during a new Mexican era.

Symptoms of that have been evident. Fans left Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena amid scattered boos after his draw with GGG in their first fight in 2017. Mayweather would have heard the boos and turned them into business. De La Hoya would have smiled.

Canelo doesn’t seem to know what to do.

Who to be.

It’s hard to be the face of any game if the fans aren’t sure who you are. Canelo may go his own way after the lawsuit is resolved and COVID is gone.

But will anybody follow?

Wednesday, May 20, will be a night of boxing on ESPN2 when the network airs five consecutive hours of the sweet science featuring some of the sport’s most debated decisions. The action will begin at 7 p.m. ET with Oscar De La Hoya vs. Félix Trinidad.  

In addition to the linear telecast, all these fights are also available on ESPN+. Exclusively available to subscribers, ESPN+ features a library of hundreds of the most important fights in boxing history.

Lineup includes:

Oscar De La Hoya vs Félix Trinidad (7 P.M. ET): The two long-reigning welterweight champions and pound-for-pound greats met in the “Fight of the Millennium” on Sept. 18, 1999,  with De La Hoya defending his WBC title and Trinidad defending his IBF title.  De La Hoya landed 97 more punches (263 to 166), but after 12 tensely fought rounds, Trinidad was controversially declared the winner by majority decision. The bout set the pay-per-view record for a non-heavyweight fight with 1.4 million buys, a mark that stood until it was broken by De La Hoya-Mayweather on May 5, 2007.

Oscar De La Hoya vs Shane Mosley II (8 P.M. ET): In a rematch of their first bout in June 2000 — won by Mosley via split decision — De La Hoya put his WBA and WBC super welterweight world titles on the line against the former welterweight and lightweight world champion. According to CompuBox, De La Hoya landed more punches (221-127) and was the more accurate puncher (36%-26%). Despite De La Hoya winning in the eyes of most boxing experts, Mosley was declared the winner in a controversial unanimous decision.

Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Márquez III (9 P.M. ET): The only fight of the four between them not to feature a knockdown, Pacquiao and Márquez once again went to a decision in this WBO welterweight title fight. Pacquiao was making the third defense of his title and landed more punches (176-138), but Márquez was the more accurate of the two fighters, according to CompuBox (32%-30%). The bout generated 1.4 million pay-per-view buys in the United States, which was Pacquiao’s best pay-per-view total until his 2015 mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard (10 P.M. ET): Longtime middleweight champion Hagler had made 12 successful defense of his world title before facing the returning Sugar Ray Leonard, who had not fought in almost three years. Leonard, who was attempting to win a world title in a third weight class, built an early lead, but Hagler came on strong late. Ring Magazine named Hagler-Leonard the 1987 Fight of the Year, and the split decision victory for Leonard cemented a comeback for the ages.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. José Luis Castillo I (11 P.M. ET): After eight successful defenses of his super featherweight title, Mayweather moved up in weight for his lightweight debut against Castillo, who was making the fourth defense of his WBC title. According to CompuBox, Castillo outlanded Mayweather 203-157. HBO’s ringside judge, the late Harold Lederman, scored the fight for Castillo by four points. The official judges, however, scored it unanimously in Mayweather’s favor.

ESPN+ features a library of hundreds of the most important fights in boxing history, as well as recent Top Rank on ESPN fight cards for replay, all streaming on demand. The historic fights on ESPN+ include legendary heavyweight showdowns like Ali vs. Frazier III, Ali vs. George Foreman, Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn, Tyson vs. Holmes, Jack Dempsey vs. Gene Tunney, Max Baer vs. James J. Braddock, Ali vs. Sonny Liston I & II, Wilder vs. Fury II and many more.

(April 16, 2020) — This Saturday, April 18, will be a day of classic boxing on ESPN when the network airs 11 consecutive hours of the sweet science starting at 12 noon ET. This special presentation will showcase some of the greatest bouts of all time, including the epic trilogy between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Ali-Frazier I has never been aired before on ESPN platforms and has not aired on U.S. television in nearly 30 years (August 1991). 

In addition to the linear telecast, Ali-Frazier I will become available on ESPN+ beginning Saturday, joining the other two fights in the Ali-Frazier trilogy. Exclusively available to ESPN+ subscribers, it marks the first time ever that all three of the historic fights are available together on demand.

ESPN’s 11-hour Saturday programming initiative will begin at noon ET with Ali-Foreman and culminate with the Ali-Frazier trilogy, running from 7 p.m. to 11p.m. ET.   

The full lineup is as follows:

Ali-George Foreman (12:00 PM ET): Ali was a 4-to-1 underdog against Foreman, who entered the fight at 40-0 with 37 KOs and two title defenses under his belt. Dubbed “The Rumble in the Jungle,” the fight became iconic after Ali employed the “rope-a-dope” tactic to tire out and ultimately stop Foreman in eight rounds.

Evander Holyfield-Foreman (1:00 PM ET): Holyfield knocked out Douglas to win the heavyweight title and chose Foreman, 42 years old and four years into his comeback, for his first world title defense. Holyfield won a unanimous decision, but Foreman pushed the younger man for 12 rounds. “The Battle of the Ages” was a heavyweight title showdown for the ages.

Oscar De la Hoya-Julio Cesar Chavez I (2:00 PM ET): De La Hoya, the then-unbeaten Mexican-American superstar, was seeking a world title in a third weight class against the beloved Chavez, who entered the bout with a 97-1-1 record. Chavez lost his super lightweight world title in four lopsided rounds, as a severe cut and a busted nose caused by De La Hoya punches forced the ringside doctor to stop the fight.

De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad (3:00 PM ET): Trinidad and De La Hoya were a combined 66-0 entering the welterweight title unification bout, which at the time was the most lucrative non-heavyweight contest in boxing history. Trinidad came on strong in the later rounds to eke out a controversial majority decision, a verdict that still sparks heated debate among fans. 

Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns (4:00 PM ET): Quite simply, one of the greatest fights in boxing history. Round 1 is perhaps the greatest round in boxing history, and in less than three rounds of brutality, Hagler and Hearns cemented their status as legends of the sport. Hagler made 12 defenses of the middleweight world title, while Hearns won world titles in five weight divisions over a nearly 30-year career.

Mike Tyson-Trevor Berbick (4:30 PM ET): The beginning of a legend. Tyson knocked out Berbick in two rounds to become the youngest man (20 years old) to win a heavyweight world title.

Tyson-Larry Holmes (5:00 PM ET): In a matchup of youth versus experience, Tyson needed only four rounds to knock out Holmes, who entered the fight having not fought in nearly two years. Holmes held the world heavyweight title from 1978-1985, made 20 successful title defenses and is considered to be among the greatest heavyweights who ever lived.

Tyson-Michael Spinks (5:30 PM ET): Tyson earned lineal heavyweight champion status with his 91-second destruction over Spinks, who first defeated Larry Holmes in 1985 to win the recognized heavyweight title. Spinks edged Holmes in their 1986 rematch and defended the lineal title twice more over the next two-plus years before running into Tyson.

Sonny Liston-Cassius Clay 1 (6:00 PM ET): On Feb. 25, 1964, the unthinkable happened when Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, entered the ring as a clear underdog to face heavyweight world champion Sonny Liston. Clay claimed the victory after Liston, one of the most intimidating fighters ever, quit on his stool, after the 6^th round.

Ali-Frazier Trilogy (7:00 – 11:00 PM ET): In their first battle, since then known as “Fight of the Century” on March 8, 1971, Ali and Frazier were both undefeated gold medalists with legitimate claims to the heavyweight title in a nation torn apart from Vietnam when they stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden. A vintage Frazier leaping left hook planted Ali on the canvas in the 15^th round, as he closed the show in style to win a unanimous decision. Ali and Frazier met again three years later in 1974, with Ali avenging his loss in a hotly contested rematch that cemented the fierce rivalry.

“Thrilla in Manila,” their third and final fight, turned out to be the most brutal fight of Ali’s and Frazier’s careers. Ali and Frazier split their first two matchups, and the two went to war. After 14 rounds, Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, stopped the fight. Neither man was ever the same, and the greatest rivalry in boxing history had reached its conclusion.  

ESPN+ also features a library of hundreds of the most important fights in boxing history, as well as recent Top Rank on ESPN fight cards for replay, all streaming on demand. The historic fights on ESPN+ include legendary heavyweight showdowns like Ali vs. Frazier III, Ali vs. George Foreman, Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn, Tyson vs. Holmes, Jack Dempsey vs. Gene Tunney, Max Baer vs. James J. Braddock, Ali vs. Sonny Liston I & II, Wilder vs. Fury II and many more.  

ESPN Boxing Schedule (All Times Eastern)

LOS ANGELES (March 27, 2020) – The Adventist Health White Memorial Charitable Foundation and the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation today announced today the generous gift of $250,000 made by Oscar De La Hoya and Millie Corretjer to the Adventist Health White Memorial.

Oscar De La Hoya applies the same strength and determination to philanthropy that made him a legend in the boxing world. Oscar De La Hoya’s advocacy for the health and well-being of lives in East Los Angeles has been demonstrated many times through generous donations and the giving of their time.

This newest donation of $250,000 to Adventist Health White Memorial will go toward supporting COVID- 19 unexpected expenses and help with supplies needed for the hospital to take care of the community during this crisis.

“Adventist Health White Memorial is my hospital. They took incredible care of my mother when she was fighting breast cancer. During this time of crisis, White Memorial is incurring extraordinary expenses as they continue to provide quality care to our Boyle Heights Los Angeles community,” said Oscar De La Hoya.

On behalf of me, Millie and our children, we are donating $250,000 to White Memorial to help with these critical unexpected expenses. I am challenging my peers – celebrities, athletes, business leaders and community leaders – to donate to White Memorial or your local hospital to help during this crisis,” said De La Hoya.

“Oscar is a major philanthropist and donor to our hospital. We are continually honored by the generosity of his gifts. Oscar and Millie are our heroes,” said John Raffoul, President, Adventist Health White Memorial.

“For decades, White Memorial has provided high-quality healthcare to a population in need, and through this donation, they will continue their mission in helping those in need,” said De La Hoya.

De La Hoya, who was born in East Los Angeles, won multiple world titles during his career as a professional boxer 1992 to 2008, including a gold medal for the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

He has been a prolific donor for the Adventist Health White Memorial, where several departments are named in his honor, including the Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center, the Oscar De La Hoya Labor & Delivery Center and the Oscar De La Hoya Neonatal Intensive Care Center.

As a product of Adventist Health’s mission, “Living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness and hope,” the hospital is known within the community and the industry for the culturally sensitive, bilingual care provided to underserved individuals, particularly the Hispanic community.

Adventist Health White Memorial’s patients are 90% Hispanic. As a safety-net hospital, it is the only private, nonprofit hospital providing comprehensive care for the federally designated medically underserved area of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.

“Covid-19 continues to spread quickly throughout the nation. Those who work in health care and at our hospitals are truly heroes, stepping up in a way that deserves our gratitude and admiration. This is our way of saying thank you,” said Millie Corretjer.

Be a Hero. Donate now. Go to: https://www.AdventistHealthWhiteMemorial.org/Donate

White Memorial is a part of Adventist Health, a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 75 communities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

LOS ANGELES (March 12) – “This morning, we were informed by the California State Athletic Commission that all combative sports events have been cancelled for the month of March due to concerns regarding COVID-19,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy. “Therefore, our March 19 and March 28 events, which were scheduled at Avalon Hollywood and the Forum respectively, have officially been postponed. We will work with state and local officials as well as our venue and broadcast partners to determine the best course of action with respect to these and other upcoming events, both in California and elsewhere.”

“The health and safety of our fighters, fans, employees, officials and partners is of the utmost importance to us, and we thank them for their support and understanding during this time. We will communicate further plans when the time is appropriate.”

Note: For those who have already purchased tickets to the events, refunds will be made available at the original point of purchase. If tickets were purchased online, refunds will be processed automatically.

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 24, 2020): “It is extremely unfortunate to learn that WBC and WBO Super Middleweight World Champion Alejandra Jimenez (13-0-1, 9 KOs) has tested positive for banned substances after her title fight with Franchon Crews-Dezurn (6-2, 2 KOs) on January 11,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy. “As Franchon’s promoter, we are incredibly disappointed for her as she worked incredibly hard to defend her titles. However, our job is to ensure the safety of our fighters both inside and outside of the ring. Thus, we have always insisted and supported testing through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) for all of our world championship fights. Jimenez’s fight against Franchon Crews-Dezurn is no exception. Now our job is to find justice for Franchon by working closely with the WBC and the WBO in order to re-instate her as a world champion.”

LOS ANGELES, CA. (Oct. 22 2019): A frivolous lawsuit was filed recently alleging that Oscar De La Hoya sexually assaulted ‘Jane Doe,’ which is completely false. Oscar is a very successful businessman, running one of the country’s leading sports and entertainment companies – thus a prime target. It is worth noting that both recent lawsuits have been filed by the same attorney who is looking to make a name for himself. We vehemently deny these allegations and look forward to vigorously defending Oscar’s good name and reputation.

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 10, 2019) – Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 34 KOs), the face of boxing and the king of the middleweight division, hosted an international media conference call today to discuss his upcoming 12-round bout against champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (34-3-1, 28 KOs) for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title. Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy, participated on the call, along with trainers Eddy Reynoso and Jose “Chepo” Reynoso. The event will take place Saturday, Nov. 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be streamed live exclusively as one of the most anticipated events this fight season on DAZN.

Below is what today’s participants had to say on the call:

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Hello, and thank you for dialing into the Canelo Alvarez media call. On November 2, Canelo Alvarez will look to make history as he moves up two weight classes, challenging Sergey “Crusher” Kovalev for the WBO light heavyweight world title. Keep in mind that Sergey Kovalev has a record of 34-3 with 29 knockouts, so obviously this is a very, very difficult and tough challenge, but that’s exactly who Canelo is, a guy who challenges the very best and will always do so.

Tickets are still on sale and selling fast, so we’re really excited about that, and this historical fight will take place exclusively live on DAZN, the sports streaming platform that has changed the way consumers enjoy combat sports. We want to thank DAZN for providing us at Golden Boy with the best platform in boxing.

We are also happy to announce that our sponsors for a long time for many years are Tecate, the official beer of boxing, and Hennessy, never stop, never settle, and the brand new Grapefruit Crush Knockout flavor.

We will now open it up for questions, and I am also happy to announce that Ryan Garci­a, who is the up-and-coming superstar in boxing, will also be participating in the co-main event, and he is also trained by the great trainer for many years now, who also trains Canelo Alvarez, to say a few words, the Trainer of the Year who has a stable of fighters who is growing, that is Eddy Reynoso. Eddy?

EDDY REYNOSO: Obviously I’m very happy that we’re all on the call, and I’m ready. I’m preparing Canelo Alvarez to be the best he can on November 2nd.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Also it’s my pleasure to introduce another man who is on Alvarez’ team and in his corner. He’s been there forever for the longest time, and that is Jose “Chepo” Reynoso.

JOSE “CHEPO” REYNOSO: (Answer not translated).

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Now it is my pleasure to introduce to you a young man who has continued to make history in the sport of boxing, has continued to prove that he is the very best, not only in the division but in boxing in general in the world. Every single fight that he takes, every challenge that he has, he’s always been up against the very best, and obviously you take a look at his career and he’s only getting better, and that’s a testament to his great trainers, to his managers and to himself. The hard work, the discipline, the dedication that he puts into his work has gotten him to the top to be the very best. So it is my pleasure to introduce to you the current WBC franchise world champion, WBA lineal and Ring Magazine’s middleweight world champion, and he is currently the WBA super middleweight champion. With a record of 52 wins, one loss, 35 knockouts, I’ll introduce you to Canelo Alvarez.

CANELO ALVAREZ: Hi, how is everyone. Thanks for the support. As always, I want to thank the media. I want to thank everyone for their support. I’m training 100 percent. This is going to be a big challenge that we have in front of us, and we’re happy to take it with a lot of responsibility and a lot of discipline. Thank you.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Okay, we will open it up for questions now.

Q. Canelo, I wondered if you could just speak to your decision-making process to decide that it was Sergey Kovalev that you wanted to fight and that you wanted to go up two weight divisions. I know you fought at middleweight against Fielding, but you really have been a middleweight. What was the thought process for selecting Kovalev, and what was the drive to do that?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Obviously I spoke with my team. We talked with my team, with Eddy more than anything. He wanted that fight. He wanted to get a fourth title against one of the best fighters in that division, and we wanted to make history in boxing and leave a big legacy, so it looked like a good idea. It’s a risk that we’re taking, but that’s boxing.

Q. Canelo, the weight limit is 175 pounds, but I wonder — I was thinking about when Manny Pacquiao, for example, fought for the junior middleweight title against Margarito. He didn’t come close to being 154 pounds. He weighed in around 144, 145 pounds. Do you anticipate when you fight Sergey that you’ll be all the way at 175, or do you think you’ll be a little bit smaller than that and just be natural at whatever weight you come in at? Where do you expect to weigh on fight night or at the weigh-in?

CANELO ALVAREZ: I will be on weight at 175 pounds. That’s what I’m going to weigh, 175 pounds. God willing, that’s what we’re working on.

Q. Can you speak about the particulars that you’re doing in your training to put on that kind of weight properly? You looked in tremendous condition in your most recent fight, but now you’re going to be going up even more weight. What kinds of things are you doing? Maybe Eddy could speak to that, also, as the trainer, what you’re doing to put that weight on the right way.

CANELO ALVAREZ: That’s what I’m doing, I’m lifting more weights. I hadn’t lifted that much previously. A lot of reps but not that much weight, so I’m lifting more weights, eating more carbs, eating protein, and that’s what we’re doing to make weight.

EDDY REYNOSO: That’s what we’ve been doing in the gym, as well, lifting more weights. We also have to keep in mind the nutrition, eating more carbs, obviously, and then doing sparring with fighters who are taller and stronger, and so far things have been going well. There have been no injuries, no setbacks, and hopefully we become four-division world champion.

Q. Oscar, I wondered if you could give me, as a guy when you were a professional fighter before you were a promoter, you went through six different weight classes and won world titles in those different weight divisions. Can you give me your perspective what Canelo is trying to do by moving up two weight divisions in this case to fight probably the most recognized light heavyweight out there?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Well, he’s doing it to make history, I believe. Fighters move up in weight class to make history and to separate themselves from ordinary fighters. Two weight classes is not an easy task, but when did Canelo ever take easy tasks? And obviously that’s very admirable because nobody in boxing does it today. Fighters sometimes take the easy road out, and Canelo is taking this tough road.

Q. What does it say to you, then, Oscar, that he did not try to fight or make a big deal about getting Kovalev to do this fight at a catch weight, that he’s doing it at the 175-pound limit, not making him drain even one or two pounds to come down lower than that weight division?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: It shows who he is. It shows his character. It shows what he wants to accomplish in the sport, and that’s to make history and to one day be considered the best in the business.

Q. Did you try to convince him to ask for a catch weight?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: No, not at all.

Q. What do you think in the sense of boxing terms is the biggest challenge that Kovalev will present, and what does it mean to have a young fighter like Ryan García part of your team? We want to know your perspective; what kind of advice would you give him?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Moving up two divisions against a world champion is a big challenge for me, worrying about a champion at light heavyweight. But I also think that it’s the most important fight of my career. That’s why we are doing this, to keep making history. That’s what I like. I like those challenges.

And the fact that Ryan is in our team, well, the truth is we like to support young fighters, fighters who really want to be someone in their life, and he’s a young man who trains really well and learns, as well.

Q. If you had a chance to respond to your detractors about the risks in moving up two divisions, what would you tell these people regarding their criticisms?

CANELO ALVAREZ: The truth is with the critics who aren’t with me, who are always going to talk about anything I do, I have nothing to respond to them with. I’ll never make them happy. I don’t try to, and I don’t hope to.

Q. We’ve always talked about making history, capturing titles, but before this fight did you ever think that you would be moving up to 175 pounds? Or is this something that you just decided after your last fight?

CANELO ALVAREZ: We decided that after the last fight. Obviously we had thought about it before the fight with Jacobs because media asked, they asked if it was possible to be moving up to 175 pounds, and it didn’t sound bad, and then we started to think about it. But first, of course, we had to pass the first challenge, which was against Jacobs, and then we decided to move up in weight.

Q. Did you get a chance to see the Kovalev fight in Russia against Yarde?

CANELO ALVAREZ: No, he’s a great fighter, and he’s taking a big risk to be moving up two weight divisions, but we believe in ourselves. We believe in our capabilities to win the world title, and we do this with the conviction that we have the tools to accomplish this.

Q. The goal obviously right now is to win this title at 175 pounds, though obviously also you have titles at 160 pounds and 168 pounds. Have there been discussions about what weight you will fight in after this fight, irrespective of the result of this upcoming fight?

CANELO ALVAREZ: No, the truth is, no, we are focused on 100 percent on this fight. Afterward we’ll see what follows. We are 100 percent focused on this fight, and we’ll have to see what comes after.

Q. Canelo, over the years you’ve mentioned that your goal is to represent Mexico in accomplishing as many titles as you can obtain. At this point you have a big task in front of you on November 2 against Kovalev by going up those two weight classes. Looking ahead, would you see yourself chasing another title in another weight class, or would you focus, as well, on perhaps another big name, for example, in Andre Ward, if he were to come out of retirement to fight you?

CANELO ALVAREZ: You know, right now to move yet to another division would be a lot. We can’t exaggerate. It would be too much moving to another division, but I’m looking for challengers. I keep looking to make history. That’s how I would characterize myself as the kind of fighter that tries to make history.

Q. I saw a video recently of you speaking with Ryan García, and it was really fun to see you doing something outside of your norm and you guys joking around. I wanted to know, do you think at this point in your career you are that crossover star that you want to be, and if you don’t, what do you think that you need to do to become that crossover star? Do you think that you have to change your personality? What are your thoughts on that and your appeal to the world and sporting universe?

CANELO ALVAREZ: My only advice would be to tell him to focus well on what you do, to be 100 percent dedicated. Don’t get off track. Keep in mind where you are and where you want to go. More than that, that’s the advice that I would tell him.

Q. Canelo, can you describe when you first met Kovalev back in 2013? I believe you were in camp in Big Bear preparing for the Mayweather fight. Did you ever think that you’d be facing him six years later?

CANELO ALVAREZ: I was training for the Mosley fight, if I’m not mistaken, but I would go there to train, and at the same time when I would get there, he would be leaving. We would greet each other. There was nothing in particular special, but that’s where we met, and that’s where we got to know each other. He was a four- to six-round fighter then, and then we saw that he was moving up. He was going to become champion, and we as a team really liked that, to see someone who was fighting at the four- to six-round level become the world champion. I mean, and one of the best, as well. So we really liked that as a team.

Q. Right now there’s no limits in your career. You’ve been keeping up with the challenges, starting at super welterweight, then the middleweight and beyond. Is there any peak or limit to you? Are you seeing the limits now, and what are the other challenges that you want to face?

CANELO ALVAREZ: The truth is no. For us there are no limits. We want to make history. We want to keep advancing. So there are no limits for us. We’re in a good moment in my career, so we have to take advantage of that.

Q. I wondered if you saw Triple G’s very tough fight that he had with Derevyanchenko this past Saturday night, and if so, what was your take on that performance?

CANELO ALVAREZ: We saw it. Obviously for me — Derevyanchenko won the fight. It was a fight where he really looked well. It was his fight. Regarding Triple G, we all know, everyone knows, it’s unnecessary to say more, but he looked slow, and I think I gave everyone the pathway to see how to hurt him, which is the body, and that’s what we saw.

Q. When the third fight between yourself and Triple G did not get made, you had said on multiple occasions that you felt like if he has a title I would fight him, but until he has a title I’m not going to fight him. You stuck to that; you’re obviously fighting Sergey Kovalev. Now Triple G has another middleweight title belt, and whatever happens November 2, you’re still going to be middleweight champion. He has the title now. Do you think that fight will happen in the future, the third fight? A lot of people want to see it.

CANELO ALVAREZ: Like I said before, and I’m going to repeat it again. I said it before the fight, and I’m going to repeat it. For me that fight presents no challenge to me right now. We fought two times, 24 rounds. I beat him, so he represents no challenge. However, what he does represent is some good business, so if they offer me something really good, maybe the third fight can happen. But for me, no, because he represents no challenge for me.

Q. Also, Canelo, were you at all disappointed that you watched as they fought for the IBF title that ultimately was stripped from you because you and your team for whatever reasons were unable to complete the deal with Derevyanchenko who was the mandatory challenger so they basically were fighting for your belt? Was there any kind of sadness in that situation that they have your belt now?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Yeah, that was it. That was the fight, but I didn’t think that. What happened is what happened. Unfortunately they took the title, but that’s what happened.

Q. One other question as it relates to the question you’re going to have with Sergey. One of the things about Sergey Kovalev that seems to be quite obvious is that it was apparent in his loss to Andre Ward, it seemed apparent in the fight against Yarde, he doesn’t take body shots all that well. That’s just being real. Canelo Alvarez is a fantastic body puncher. Is it fair to say that when you look at the video, you and Eddy and everybody and Chepo and do the strategy that you’re going to be in there trying to bang that body as much as possible? I don’t think you’d be giving away any secrets if you said that was the case.

CANELO ALVAREZ: Without a doubt. It’s one of the most important punches for any fighter, and not just in this fight, in all fights. But of course even more so with this fighter because that’s a weak point that he has, so we’re going to try to penetrate with the impact to the body.

Q. Canelo, I know you already explained in depth the steps you’ve taken to properly make 175. Is there anything about this training camp that was different or that you learned from when you fought Rocky Fielding and moving up in weight for that fight?

CANELO ALVAREZ: No, obviously this is a very different fight than the one against Fielding. He’s 175 pounds, which is heavier. It’s in a different division, and we know the challenge that we have in front of us, but we’re ready for it.

Q. You take a lot of pride in fighting on the Mexican holidays. You didn’t get to fight on Mexican Independence Day. I wanted to know if there’s going to be any type of a theme for fighting on Di­a de los Muertos.

CANELO ALVAREZ: Obviously I’m going to fight, but on the Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, we’re going to be having a fight, and I plan to give a great fight to the ones who have left us, for family members who are no longer with us. It’s something that we really celebrate in Mexico.

Q. Because they’ve taken so long to get the Kovalev fight signed, there was a lot of reporting that said that DAZN really wanted the Gennady Golovkin fight and still wants it. I wondered if you felt pressure from DAZN during negotiations or if you think they should even have a say in your upcoming opponents. What are your thoughts on that?

CANELO ALVAREZ: More than any pressure, what was happening is the fight was getting complicated because there were other interests involved, but pressure on me, no. I always know what I want, and what I want is what I’m doing now. They may have wanted the Triple G fight, but as I said before, he represents no challenge for me, so I didn’t feel any pressure.

Q. The week after you fight Kovalev there’s a YouTube star fight, Logan Paul versus KSI. I wondered what you thought about that fight and a couple of amateurs fighting on a big — fighting in Staples Center that will sell out, probably, and hundreds of thousands will tune into. I wondered if that kind of fight was good for boxing or if it was just kind of silly, or just what you were thinking?

CANELO ALVAREZ: The truth is I have no opinion. I don’t even know the people which you speak of, so I have nothing bad to opine about this. The sun rises for everyone.

Q. I’ve heard from Eddy Reynoso that you’ve been training with bigger, stronger fighters. Have you noticed anything different in the strength of their punches compared to when you were training to fight 160 pounders, and is there any boxer that you admired when you were growing up who also moved up in divisions, who may have inspired you?

CANELO ALVAREZ: It’s normal. It’s normal for you to feel that when you’re sparring with bigger people. It’s logical. But we have felt really well, training and sparring with my sparring partners, and I really appreciate that because they’re helping me train, but it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

Sugar Ray Leonard, obviously, is one of the ones who I remembered who mostly moved up in divisions. I saw videos of him, watched the fights so that I could learn.

Q. You’re about less than a month away from making history. I wanted to know if this is something you visualized from when you were a young boy to be doing this.

CANELO ALVAREZ: I always imagined the magnitude of what I could accomplish so fast, and then I discovered more things. I learned more things, and I learned that there are even more things ahead of me that I can keep making history, and that’s what motivates me to keep going, keep making history.

Q. You clearly want to get the bigger challenges, the biggest names that you can. You explained that Triple G isn’t really a challenge at this point, but somebody that is a challenge is Demetrius Andrade. He’s obviously not the biggest name out there, but he probably presents the biggest challenge for you at middleweight. I don’t want to ask if you want to fight him, but is it more so attractive for you to fight guys who have bigger names as far as like a Triple G and a Kovalev as opposed to Andrade, even though Andrade might be the biggest challenge, that you would rather face the bigger names?

CANELO ALVAREZ: The truth is he hasn’t fought with anyone, hasn’t fought against anyone, and he’s also boring, very boring. Maybe he’s a good fighter, but he’s a boring fighter, and at the end of the day, when there’s a boring fight, people are going to blame me. I like fights where there’s action, where people can enjoy a good show. That’s very important for me. But also he doesn’t represent a challenge for me, as well, because he hasn’t fought against anybody.

Canelo vs. Kovalev is a 12-round fight for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title presented by Golden Boy, Main Events and Krusher Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING,” Hennessy “Never Stop. Never Settle” and Brand-New Grapefruit Crush, Knockout Flavor. The event will take place Saturday, Nov. 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN. The title clash is one of several highlights this fight season on DAZN – an entire fall featuring boxing’s biggest matchups in one of the best schedules in boxing history.

Tickets for Canelo vs. Kovalev are on sale and are priced at $1,754, $1,254, $854, $654, $404 and $204, not including applicable service charges and taxes. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849). Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.axs.com

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.MainEvents.com
and DAZN.com. Follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @Main_Events, @KrusherKovalev and @DAZN_USA. Become a fan on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing,
www.facebook.com/SaulCaneloAlvarez, https://www.facebook.com/thekrusher/,
https://www.facebook.com/MainEventsBoxing and
https://www.facebook.com/DAZNUSA/. Follow on Instagram @GoldenBoy, @Canelo, @Main_Events, @SergeyKrusherKovalev, and @DAZN_USA. Follow the conversation using #CaneloKovalev.

Photos and videos are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/CaneloKovalev to a browser. Credit must be provided to Golden Boy or Main Events where applicable for any photo and/or video usage.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (Aug. 27, 2019) – Daniel “Danny” Evangelista Jr. (20-10-2, 16 KOs) of Mexico City, Mexico will step in to fight welterweight prospect Ferdinand “Lucky Boy” Kerobyan (11-1, 6 KOs) of North Hollywood, Calif. in the eight-round main event of this Friday’s special edition of Golden Boy DAZN Thursday Night Fights. Kerobyan was initially scheduled to fight Oscar Molina, but a last-minute injury forced him to step out the fight.

For this event, the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation will be giving back to the community by presenting a full card of action from Pasadena City Hall. The celebration will be open to the public. All proceeds from the event will go towards the Foundation to help support programs that will benefit the youth and community of Pasadena.

The event will be streamed live on RingTV.com and on Facebook Watch via the Golden Boy Fight Night Page beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. The series will also be available on regional sports networks around the nation. To see when and where the series is available in your area, click here.

In the co-main event, Emilio “The Kid” Sanchez (18-1, 12 KOs) of North Hollywood, Calif. will face Jose Gonzalez (23-8-1, 13 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico in an eight-round featherweight battle. Sanchez is coming off two straight wins after losing his undefeated record via knockout.

Bektemir “Bek Bully” Melikuziev (1-0, 1 KO) of Indio, Calif. will fight in a six-round light heavyweight bout against Adrian Luna (22-6-1, 14 KOs) of Mexico City, Mexico.

Cornell Hines (5-0, 2 KOs) of Washington, D.C. will face Eben Vargas (9-0, 4 KOs) of Arizona, Texas in a six-round welterweight battle.

Jousce “Tito” Gonzalez (9-0-1, 9 KOs) of Glendora, Calif. will return in a six-round lightweight fight against Miguel Mendoza (23-16-2, 22 KOs) of Aguasclientes, Mexico.

Anthony Garnica (3-0, 2 KOs) of Oakland, Calif. will square off against Yaqub Kareem (14-11-1, 8 KOs) of Bloomingfield, Mich. in a four-round super featherweight fight.

Kerobyan vs. Evangelista is an eight-round welterweight fight presented by the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation. The fights will take place on Friday, Aug 30 at Pasadena City Hall and will be open to the public. The event will be streamed live on RingTV.com and on Facebook Watch via the Golden Boy Fight Night Page beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. The series will also be available on regional sports networks around the nation. To see when and where the series is available in your area, click here.

Standing-room only admission is free to the public. Limited seated tickets for this event are on sale and start at the fan-friendly price of $25. All proceeds from the event will go towards the Foundation to help support programs that will benefit the youth and community of Pasadena. Tickets are available for purchase now at www.GoldenBoyTickets.com. For sponsorship and/or donation opportunities, please contact Gerry Mendoza via e-mail at
GerryM@GoldenBoyPromotions.com or via phone at 323-376-7695.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and DAZN.com. Follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Become a fan on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and https://www.facebook.com/DAZNUSA/. Follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Follow the conversation using #KerobyanEvangelista, #ThursdayNightFights and #TNF.

Videos and images are available for download by clicking here. Credit must be given to Golden Boy for any photos/video.

About The Oscar De La Hoya Foundation
Founded in 1995, the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation annually hosts a golf tournament, a boxing gym equipment donation, Thanksgiving dinner giveaway and holiday toy giveaway in addition to supporting the Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School, the Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center and the Oscar De La Hoya Labor and Delivery Center and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (both located at White Memorial Hospital in East Los Angeles). Today, with the help many partners, the foundation serves thousands of people annually.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (Aug. 15, 2019) – The Oscar De La Hoya Foundation is giving back to the community through a special night of professional boxing at Pasadena City Hall on Friday, August 30. The fights will be open to the public and feature some of Golden Boy’s best Southern California prospects. The celebration will also include a live concert and a beer garden. The event will be televised as part of a special Friday edition of the Golden Boy DAZN Thursday Night Fights series, which is available on regional sports networks around the nation.The fights will also be streamed live on RingTV.com and on Facebook Watch via the Golden Boy Fight Night Page beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

Boxing aficionados and fans alike are encouraged to attend for a memorable night of high-level action and entertainment. All proceeds from the event will go towards the Foundation to help support programs that will benefit the youth and community of Pasadena.

“I am extremely passionate about giving back to the community, and I’m excited to bring this special event to my backyard of Pasadena,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy. “I know the importance of supporting and empowering our youth, which is why we are committed to hosting fundraisers and giveaways throughout the year to help encourage future generations to overcome any obstacles they face. All contributions made at the event will help the Foundation continue to drive programs that truly impact the community.”

Headlining the main event will be welterweight prospect Ferdinand Kerobyan (11-1, 6 KOs) taking Olympian Oscar Molina (13-2-1, 10 KOs) in an eight-round bout. Kerobyan is a 20-year-old native of North Hollywood, Calif. who became the first Golden Boy prospect to be managed by former UFC fighter and current WWE Superstar Ronda Rousey. After scoring several dominant wins, Kerobyan suffered his first loss against undefeated prospect Blair ‘The Flair’ Cobbs in a very close fight. Keroyban will look to regain momentum in his second main event fight.

“As a boxer, it’s very hard to appreciate a win without having experienced a loss,” said Ferdinand Kerobyan. “After my last fight I had to refocus, learn from my mistakes, and work hard to find new motivation to win again. A certain darkness is needed to see the stars again. I can say with confidence that I have learned a lot and I can’t wait to get back into the ring.”

Molina is a 29-year-old from Norwalk, Calif. who represented Mexico in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Molina has fought against very tough opponents, with his only losses being against Jarret ‘Swift’ Hurd and Levan Ghvamichava. After more than a year of inactivity, Molina will return to the ring to reinvigorate his career.

“I know that Ferdinand Kerobyan is coming off a loss, but I am not focusing on how he’s going to come,” said Oscar Molina. “I already know that he’s going to come at 100 percent. I am working on coming very prepared. I am confident in my style and my corner, so if I come well prepared, I’m going to walk away with my hand raised in victory.”

In the co-main event, Emilio “The Kid” Sanchez (18-1, 12 KOs) of North Hollywood, Calif. will face Jose Gonzalez (23-8-1, 13 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico in an eight-round featherweight battle. Sanchez is coming off two straight wins after losing his undefeated record via knockout.

Bektemir ‘Bek Bully’ Melikuziev (1-0, 1 KO) of Indio, Calif. will fight in a six-round light heavyweight bout against Elio Trosch (14-8-2, 7 KOs) of Barranqueras, Argentina.

Cornell Hines (5-0, 2 KOs) of Washington, D.C. will face Eben Vargas (9-0, 4 KOs) of Arizona, Texas in a six-round welterweight battle.

Jousce “Tito” Gonzalez (9-0-1, 9 KOs) of Glendora, Calif. will return in a six-round lightweight fight against Rafael Reyes (9-15, 6 KOs) of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Kerobyan vs. Molina is an eight-round welterweight fight presented by the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation. The fights will take place on Friday, Aug 30 and will be open to the public. The event will be streamed live on RingTV.com and on Facebook Watch via the Golden Boy Fight Night Page beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. The series will also be available on regional sports networks around the nation. To see when and where the series is available in your area, click here.

Standing-room only admission is free to the public. Limited seated tickets for this event will go on sale on Thursday, Aug. 15 at 10:00 a.m. PT and start at the fan-friendly price of $25. All proceeds from the event will go towards the Foundation to help support programs that will benefit the youth and community of Pasadena. Tickets are available for purchase now at
www.GoldenBoyTickets.com. For sponsorship and/or donation opportunities, please contact Gerry Mendoza via e-mail at GerryM@GoldenBoyPromotions.com or via phone at 323-376-7695.

Media interested in covering Kerobyan vs. Molina must be pre-approved for credentials. Credential application are due Monday, August 26 at 5:00 p.m. PT. Click here to apply for a media credential. Submitting an application does not guarantee approval for a credential and you cannot transfer your credential to someone else. Media will not be credentialed on-site, no exceptions.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and DAZN.com. Follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Become a fan on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and https://www.facebook.com/DAZNUSA/. Follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Follow the conversation using #KerobyanMolina, #ThursdayNightFights and #TNF.
Videos and images are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link: http://bit.ly/KerobyanMolina. Credit must be given to Golden Boy for any photos/video.

About The Oscar De La Hoya Foundation
Founded in 1995, the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation annually hosts a golf tournament, a boxing gym equipment donation, Thanksgiving dinner giveaway and holiday toy giveaway in addition to supporting the Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School, the Cecilia ?Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center and the Oscar De La Hoya Labor and Delivery Center and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (both located at White Memorial Hospital in East Los Angeles). Today, with the help many partners, the foundation serves thousands of people annually.

LOS ANGELES, CA. (Aug. 1, 2019): Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy, has issued the following statement in response to the International Boxing Federation’s decision to strip middleweight world champion, Canelo Alvarez.

“We are extremely disappointed at the IBF for forcing the world’s best fighter to relinquish his world title. We have been in serious negotiations with Sergiy Derevyanchenko’s promoter. We offered his team an unprecedented amount of money for a fighter of his limited stature and limited popularity, but the truth is that I’m now certain they never had any intention of making a deal. But instead they wanted to force us to relinquish Canelo’s belt. This is an insult to boxing and more importantly an insult to the boxing fans of the world. This decision validates already existing concerns about the credibility of the IBF championship. Canelo inherited a mandatory challenger by defeating Daniel Jacobs, the man who beat Derevyanchenko, so to strip him of his title without giving him enough time to make the best fight possible is truly what is wrong with boxing, and I plan to aggressively consider all legal actions possible.”

LOS ANGELES (June 11, 2019): Andrew “El Chango” Cancio (20-4-2, 15 KOs)
and Alberto “Explosivo” Machado (21-1, 17 KOs) hosted an international media conference call today to discuss their upcoming 12-round rematch for the WBA Super Featherweight World Title. Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy, and Miguel Cotto, President of Miguel Cotto Promotions, participated on the call. The event will take place Friday, June 21, 2019 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN.

Below is what today’s participants had to say on the call:

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you very much and hello to all. Thank you for dialing in for the Andrew Cancio versus Alberto Machado II international conference call. It’s ahead of their 12-round fight for the WBA Super Featherweight World Title.

This exciting match will be taking place Friday, June 21st, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. It will be streamed live on DAZN World Championship Boxing.

Andrew Cancio defeated Machado in a spectacular fashion back in February. After hitting the canvas in the very first round, Cancio got back up, dropped Machado three times, and earned his first world title via upset in the fourth round.

He feels he has confidence, has what it takes to remain champion, but more importantly he wants to silence his doubters and prove that his victory was no fluke.

Obviously on the other hand you have Machado. He’s a Puerto Rican fighter with a lot of knock-out power. They obviously call him ‘Explosivo’ for a reason. He has knock-out power in both hands. Obviously he wants to redeem himself. He wants to go back to where the knock-out took place and get redemption.

We expect another great fight, a wonderful rematch. We expect a sellout at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Again, you can stream it live on DAZN, Home For Boxing.

We obviously want to thank our sponsors, Tecate, Official Beer of Boxing, and Hennessy, Never Stop, Never Settle.

We also on the other card have an exciting matchup, as well. The co-main event will be light flyweight Tito Acosta, who is with Golden Boy Promotions, and I’m honored and proud to be promoting this young world champion, alongside the likes of another great world champion, Miguel Cotto, of Cotto Promotions, who has been doing an incredible job in Puerto Rico, in cultivating world champions and finding those next young stars for generations to come.

Before I turn the call over to my president Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions, I want to introduce to you a man who needs no introduction. He is a multiple weight division world champion. He is one of the most beloved in Puerto Rico. He is the president of Miguel Cotto Promotions, I introduce to you Miguel Cotto.

MIGUEL COTTO: Thank you. Always a pleasure to work together with you and all the amazing people at Golden Boy Promotions. Also I thank Tecate, The Official Beer of Boxing, and Hennessy, and Fantasy Springs Resort Casino for making this fight possible.

One fight isn’t enough for these two warriors. It will be a night to remember. Cancio came in willing to accomplish (indiscernible) and he made it. Now he needs to defend what he worked so hard to accomplish. Machado needs to prove that he owns his territory in the super featherweight division, get his crown back.

The Cancio-Machado II will be an epic battle on June 21st.

Thank you, Oscar.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you, Miguel.

Obviously we know this rematch is a very dangerous one for both guys. That’s what makes boxing. Boxing is a sport you never know what you’re going to get. Whoever thought inside that arena, other than Cancio supporters, that Machado was going to get knocked out by Cancio.

We’re looking forward to this amazing rematch. Cancio is more than ready. He’s prepared. He’s in great shape. He’s a hard worker, a family man. Machado, the same for him. He’s been working hard. They’re ready for their rematch.

Without any further ado, let me introduce to you president Eric Gomez.

ERIC GOMEZ: Thank you, Oscar. Just a quick couple of notes. There’s still tickets available. You can get them at FantasySpringsResort.com or you can call 1-800.827.2946. We’re expecting a sellout. The first fight was a sellout. There’s a lot of excitement for this rematch.

I want to thank the sponsors, Tecate, The Official Beer of Boxing, Hennessy, Never Stop, Never Settle. They’ve been great sponsors. Obviously once again I want to thank our co-promoters, Miguel Cotto Promotions, his entire team, Bryan, everybody over there, for everything you do, Hector. It’s great working with you guys. You guys have the same vision as Golden Boy putting on the best fights. Thank you for everything.

With that, we’ll open it up to the fighters to say a few words.

I want to introduce first, the world champion, Andrew Cancio, to say a few words.

ANDREW CANCIO: Hello, everybody. Thank you guys for having me. Thank you for giving me another opportunity to showcase my skills come June 21st. I feel like the fight is going to the end the same way the first fight ended. I hope to put on a spectacular performance that night.

ERIC GOMEZ: Thank you, Andrew.

The challenger, the former champion, Alberto Machado, if you can say a few words.

ALBERT MACHADO: (Translated from Spanish) Thank you to everyone for another conference call. Nothing much more to say but that the work has been done and I’ll be ready to make weight next week, to step into the ring and become a world champion once again.

ERIC GOMEZ: Thank you.

Let’s go ahead and open it up for questions.

Q. Andrew, my first question is, before you came into the ring and won that fight in dramatic fashion back in February to get the title, go back a couple years before that, after you had the loss against Joey Diaz, you were basically retired for almost two years. I’m just wondering if you could walk me through what happened then after that fight that made you decide, I may be done with boxing, then what made you decide to come back? You’re a young guy. What was it like for you post Joey Diaz and before you got back into the ring in 2018?

ANDREW CANCIO: Post the Diaz fight, I had a lot of things going on in my personal life as far as the gym life between trainers and manager. It was just switching gyms. There was just a lot going on. I was just mentally frustrated with everything. Nothing was going right. I got cut one week before a fight on my nose sparring. There was a lot going on. I was just frustrated. I felt like here I was once again getting nowhere. Like I said, I was just more mentally frustrated and just drained from everything.

What made me get back in the ring, in the gym, was I knew I have a lot to prove, I knew I could be a world champion, like I am right now. My kids wanted to see me fight again, as well. I got the itch again. That’s what made me come back to the sport that I love doing.

Q. Were you training a little bit or basically doing your 9 to 5?

ANDREW CANCIO: No, I was not training. When I left that stadium, I didn’t pick up a pair of gloves until I started getting ready for the Aidar fight. I was in the gym I believe either one month or a month and a half before the Aidar fight just to start losing weight.

The manager that I have now, we told him not to make any phone calls until we lost some weight, once we all decided as a team we were going to go ahead and go forward.

Yeah, I was on the couch working my 9 to 5. I didn’t have no enthusiasm going into the gym or running, doing nothing. I did absolutely nothing.

Q. When you did come back and you got back in the ring, you scored a knock-out in the first fight, did you feel at that point, I’m back in the groove and I actually can still become a world champion, or did you figure you’d have a couple fights, make a couple bucks?

ANDREW CANCIO: Oh, no. World champion was always there. The only reason why I was doing it was I always thought I could accomplish my goal. A long layoff like that, upsetting an undefeated Russian.

I knew I still had it. I knew I had it when I was in the gym, sparring. Everything was still there, coming back. We just knew being active was just going to get better and better and better.

But yeah, no, we all knew we still had it, we still had what it took to get to this level.

Q. You were working a day job at the gas company, if I’m not mistaken? What do you do at the gas company? What is your actual job there? Do you still have that job today, even though you’re a champion getting ready for this important rematch?

ANDREW CANCIO: So, my official job title is construction technician. Yeah, I still have this job. I’m actually taking my lunch while doing this conference call right now in my truck.

Q. Did you take some time off for vacation to do your training camp?

ANDREW CANCIO: No, I only get to take off for the press media. I took a vacation, last Tuesday, when we had the media. I’m going to be working Monday, then taking Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off using vacation time for the fight.

Q. It’s obviously been worthwhile, you would say?

ANDREW CANCIO: Oh, yeah, it’s been worthwhile. Paid off.

Q. Eric, could you speak to the dedication that Andrew shows by doing the things he just described as far as working a full-time job and taking some vacation to get ready for a world title fight. He’s a champion, he’s not making Floyd Mayweather money, not a lot of guys can do that. Seems to me he’s awfully dedicated.

ERIC GOMEZ: It shows his character. It shows his character, determination. It’s hard enough to box. But when you have a 9-to-5 job, you have to put food on the table for your kids, find ways to train early in the morning, after work, I mean, it builds character. It’s a sign of a true champion, a true overachiever.

We’re very happy for him. We’re very happy for him. He had a chance of a lifetime and he took advantage of it. You have to admire that. You have to admire that.

His fight was a big upset. Kind of like what Andy Ruiz just did. Nobody gave Andy Ruiz a chance as well. It shows if you’re committed to your craft, you put in the hard work, anything’s possible, anything’s possible.

Machado is a great champion, as well. He had an off night. You know he’s going to come hungrier than ever. It’s going to be a great fight. We’re looking forward to a great fight.

Q. Andrew, does it bother you after all the hard work that you put in to become the champion that you still have to prove yourself that you deserve to be at the top now that you’re fighting Machado again?

ANDREW CANCIO: A little bit, it does. A lot of people are saying it was a fluke or it was because he was weight trained, that that’s the reason why I won the first time. But come the second time, he’s going to win the rematch.

It does bother me. But it’s only pushing me to train even harder, to go in there and do what I did the first time around, shut these critics up, these doubters that doubt me.

I’m more confident than the last time. Training camp has gone very, very well. My sparring partners have helped me out, pushed me tremendously. Come June 21st, I’m going to show everybody exactly why I won February 9th, the first time.

Q. Alberto, do you think you have to prove something this second time around against Andrew?

ALBERT MACHADO: (Translated from Spanish) There’s nothing to show in this fight, but I am preparing strong to win, to win this fight, and to beat Cancio convincingly. June 21st will be different. I’m training with that in mind to walk away with the victory on June 21st.

Q. Andrew, I wasn’t surprised to hear that you were doing this call during your work break. How are your coworkers treating you these days? I understand they call you ‘champ’ on the job. Are they protective of you sometimes? You’re doing some rough work out there. Are they ever concerned you might hurt yourself or are you concerned you might get injured for your next fight?

ANDREW CANCIO: The guys treat me the same. I mean, we joke around a lot. We have a little inside joke. They always tell me (indiscernible). We always laugh.

They try to help me out whenever it gets closer to the fight. They’ll tell me to save my energy, they’ll dig or they’ll pick up the jackhammer. They do try to look out for me that way so I don’t injure myself.

I have that in the back of my mind when I am working the pneumatic tools to make sure I’m in a proper position, that way I don’t tweak my back or I’m careless to injure myself before the fight.

Q. Do you think doing this sort of grueling schedule that you’ve got has been an asset as far as your stamina in the ring?

ANDREW CANCIO: I would say so. I feel like I have gotten a lot stronger. When I first started doing this job, picking the jackhammer up, actually using it, was very brutal. It takes at least two to three months to get used to the digging. I used to go home and knock right now, be so drained from the job that I couldn’t do anything else.

Then now I can use all these tools and dig all day long, then go home and go train. I already got my strength and conditioning workout out of the way. I would say it’s definitely helped me out.

The jackhammer is no joke. After that you still have to dig a hole. After you dig that hole, you have to put the dirt back in and tap it down.

I definitely will tell you it’s massive for me.

Q. Alberto, you are now in the position of the challenger, which has been a long time since you’ve been the challenger. How are you approaching this? Does it feel different to you since you were a challenger the first time before you became a champion? How has the mindset shifted around for you?

ALBERT MACHADO: (Translated from Spanish) I feel well. All this has been a process of coming back, so I feel very motivated from being a prospect to becoming world champion, now to go beyond that now with the possibility of becoming a two-time world champion. All of that has me very motivated.

I work with that in mind for this fight.

Q. For the champion Cancio. How has life changed for you after winning the title? Moving forward, what do you use as motivation now that you’re the champ and not the challenger?

ANDREW CANCIO: People start recognizing me out in the streets. They ask for a photograph or autograph. But, I mean, I still work every day. I don’t think it’s changed too much. I’m not making the big, big money just yet.

What keeps me motivated is I want the bigger fights, the bigger platforms. I want to go after another champions. I feel like there’s a lot bigger fights out there for me.

I’m still on the grind. I still got a lot to prove to the boxing world of why I’m here. That’s what keeps me motivated. I got my family that I got to fight for.

Q. Knowing how motivated he will be coming off of a loss to avenge it, do you approach this any differently? Did you do anything that maybe you didn’t do the first time because you know he’s going to come with a little more incentive on the rematch?

ANDREW CANCIO: No, no. He knows what I’m going to do, I already told him. I’m going to come straight after him from round one. If he’s prepared like he says he’s prepared, it’s going to be a great fight for the fans. I’m ready to go to war for 12 rounds. I’m ready to dig to his body for 12 rounds if that’s what it takes to put him down.

So, no, we looked at tape, see what we got to do, change a little bit differently as far as while he got caught with that uppercut. Just keep doing our job in the gym. But we’re coming in with the same game plan. I hope he’s ready for it. If he is, it’s going to be a great fight for the fight fans.

Q. Alberto, in your first fight we saw you said you had some personal issues in life. I saw that you said it affected you. How has that affected training? Has that situation changed?

ALBERT MACHADO: (Translated from Spanish) With the last fight, I only fought one round with full strength. After that, I didn’t have the energy any more. But I prepared as always. I’ve always said that I’m a fighter who respects the sport. I love what I do. I do what I have to do in training.

This time is not going to be an exception. I’ve been training very well to take the title back to Puerto Rico and give happiness to my family and friends over there.

Q. Alberto, before this last fight, you were thinking about moving up to 135 pounds because clearly it was getting hard to make 130 pounds. What was your thought process in making that decision, instead of moving up to 135 you’re going to stay at 130 for this rematch?

ALBERT MACHADO: (Translated from Spanish) What made me want to do that is the way I made weight for the last fight. It wasn’t right. But that had never happened before. I’m a very disciplined fighter, so I know that I can do it in a healthy way.

Beyond becoming a world champion again, this fight is very important for my career, has a lot of meaning, because I get to avenge my only defeat in a way that only great fighters can do.

It’s something that I want for my career. It’s something that I want for my family, as well. I really like the idea of avenging this loss so I’m very motivated to get the victory that night.

Q. Andrew, obviously you’re one of those title holders at 130 pounds. If you do come out on top in this rematch, is your goal to go after the other title holders at that weight class?

ANDREW CANCIO: I would eventually like to. I know Rene Alvarado, I know he’s patiently waiting for Machado to end this fight here. If I were to come out victorious, I would like to give him the opportunity to fight for the world title. Him and I had a very great first fight when we fought years back. He’s been on a win streak ever since. I feel like it would be only appropriate for me to give him the opportunity to fight and try to win the world title against me.

Then hopefully after that then, yes, if I come out victorious with him, I would definitely go after the other title holders, as well.

Q. The title in the WBA at 130 pounds, you have one of the two titles, Gervonta Davis has the other. Alberto Machado won the title when that was the sole definitive title. Do you consider this fight, any other future fights, with the belt that you have right now, to be the true definitive WBA super featherweight championship?

ANDREW CANCIO: I would. I think Gervonta Davis needs to step out of his shell and start fighting some real opposition. I would love to fight him in the future or as soon as we can make it happen if everything goes well.

But, yes, Alberto Machado, he was fighting a lot of top opposition to win this title. I do feel he was a true champion.

Q. Alberto, before this it has been your goal to win a world title, but you have talked about moving up in weight. Will this result determine if you stay at your weight division or if you move up to 135 pounds?

ALBERT MACHADO: (Translated from Spanish) Right now I have a great motivation, which is to win this fight and become a world champion again. We had it planned since before that this would be my last year at this weight because if you just look at my height and my reach, I have what it takes to be able to move up in weight. Obviously my promoters also have been telling me as well, Miguel Cotto Promotions and Golden Boy.

With regard to my health, when it comes to moving up in divisions, we have decided this year will be my last year at 130.

Q. Alberto, what change did you do in this camp when you compare to what you did in the previous camp for the previous fight?

ALBERT MACHADO: (Translated from Spanish) It’s the time, the time that I took to prepare myself. That has been the difference. It has also showed in the way I feel. The result will be shown in the fight.

Q. Eric, throughout the years you’ve been involved in a lot of Puerto Rico versus Mexico world championship fights. Any that stand out in your mind that kind of hit home on why these fights are so significant and why these two countries always battle it out?

ERIC GOMEZ: Wow, yeah, I mean, look, I’ve been involved in the first one that I was really involved in was when Oscar fought Trinidad.

We pretty much have similar backgrounds. Mexico has a lot of pride. Puerto Rican fighters, they have a lot of pride. The people do, as well. They’re patriots. It’s just that there’s a great, great history.

I can remember back when Wilfredo Gomez fought Salvador Sanchez. Even back when I was a kid, Wilfredo Gomez was one of my favorite fighters, just loved watching him fight.

It’s very similar backgrounds, very similar upbringings. There’s a lot of pride, hard work, humble people. It always makes for great fights.

Q. Eric or Miguel, my understanding was that nobody really wanted Alberto to stay at this weight, they wanted him to move up, a lot of concern for his health. What did he do to convince everyone to make this fight happen at 130?

ERIC GOMEZ: I’ll let Miguel answer that.

MIGUEL COTTO: Bryan, can you answer.

BRYAN PEREZ: When we sat down with Alberto about the rematch, we asked him about the option about moving in weight. He said that they were going to consider it, but first he wanted to sit down with his medical staff to see if they were willing to do the weight in great condition for this fight on June 21st. The answer was yes. He needed more time to do his training. This way it was going to be done the right way as he usually does.

We gave the call up to him and his team to give him the option to move in weight, but they wanted the rematch, and that’s the way it went through.

ERIC GOMEZ: Thank you very much. I just want to thank everybody for being on the call. Want to wish both fighters, participants, good luck. I know that both fighters are going to be ready. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be an amazing rematch.

Once again, there’s still tickets available. We’re looking for a sellout like we did the first fight. They’re going fast. Make sure you get your tickets, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino box office or online to www.FantasySpringsResort.com.

I want to thank DAZN. Remember, if you’re not able to go in person, you can see the fight on DAZN. I just want to thank everyone for being on, wish everybody good luck. Thank you.

Cancio vs. Machado II is a 12-round fight for the WBA Super Featherweight World Title presented by Golden Boy and Miguel Cotto Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING,” and Hennessy “Never Stop. Never Settle.”
The event will take place Friday, June 21 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and will be streamed live on DAZN.

Tickets for the event are on sale and are priced at $35, $45 and $55. Tickets will be available at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino box office, by calling 1-800-827-2946, or by purchasing online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

For more information,visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and DAZN.com. Follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and https://www.facebook.com/DAZNUSA/. Follow on Instagram @GoldenBoy and @DAZN_USA. Follow the conversation using #CancioMachado2.

Photos and videos are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/CancioMachado2 into a browser. Credit must be provided to Golden Boy Promotions for any photo and/or video usage.

MONTERREY, MEXICO (April 11, 2019): WBO Junior Middleweight World Champion Jaime Munguia (32-0, 26 KOs) and mandatory 154-pound challenger Dennis Hurricane” Hogan (28-1-1, 7 KOs) hosted their final press conference today ahead of their 12-round fight for Munguia’s title. They were joined by Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy, along with Fernando Beltran, CEO of Zanfer Promotions, among others.The event will take place Saturday, April 13, 2019 at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN.

Below is what today’s participants had to say at the press conference:

JAIME MUNGUIA, WBO Junior Middleweight World Champion:

“I feel very happy and proud to be here. We have been advancing, little by little. had four very tough world title fights. We’ve been learning a lot, and we’ve been gaining a lot of experience during the past year. I also want to say that I will leave everything in the ring this Saturday. I want you all to see a different Jaime Munguia, a better version with better abilities. I want to tell Dennis Hogan that this world title will stay in Mexico. He is not a better fighter than me. This fight is dedicated to all of Mexico!”

DENNIS HOGAN, WBO Number 1 Contender:

“I’m happy to be now as my chance to become world champion gets closer. I want to say that as an Irish man living in Australia who is fighting a Mexican in his own land, I am honored. I know that Ireland, Australia and Mexico are great boxing nations with people who always fight with determination and will. So, I know this will be an excellent fight for everyone in the world. I’m happy and proud to be part of it. To put the icing on the cake, I will be going out there to take that world championship. I’m winning on April 13.”

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy:

“Golden Boy has been here before in this great city of Monterrey back in September 2008 when Antonio Pitalua and Jose Armando Santa Cruz fought in the main event. Monterrey, the land of great fighters such as Lauro “El Tigre” Salas and Clemente Sánchez, will be in for a show on Saturday when knockout artist Jaime Munguia faces the tough Australian contender, Dennis Hogan.”

“Munguia became known to the world by beating Sadam Ali by knockout in May 2018 when he was crowned WBO Junior Middleweight World Champion. Since then, this powerful Mexican warrior has defended his crown three times. Now, he has a very difficult test against Dennis Hogan, WBO No. 1 contender. We know it will be a great battle between two of the best 154-pound fighters in the world.”

“Also, the co-main event will feature Diego de la Hoya against Enrique Bernache in his featherweight debut. We are also going to present to the local fans the strong Brazilian contender Patrick Teixeira, who will face Mario Lozano in a match for the WBO Latino Junior Middleweight Title. At Golden Boy, we are committed to offering the best fights in boxing.”

FERNANDO BELTRAN, CEO of Zanfer Promotions:

“When I talk about Jaime Munguia, I talk about a young man who I have had the pleasure of knowing since he was a boy. He was a young boy with a lot of dreams. His father, Jaime Munguia Sr., would go to the office and say, ‘My kid, he’s good!’ He will be someone important!”

“We helped him with what we could. We helped him during his amateur career. Logically, he debuted with us and he had a great run in different parts of Mexico. We debuted him in Las Vegas where he won by knockout. Then, Golde Boy called us, and gave us the great opportunity with Sadam Ali. We fought him, and then began a co-promotion with Golden Boy. That initiated his jump toward international fame.”

Munguia vs. Hogan is a 12-round fight for the WBO Junior Middleweight World
Title presented by Golden Boy in association with Zanfer Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING” and Hennessy “Never Stop. Never Settle.” The event will take place Saturday, April 13, 2019 at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN.

Tickets for Munguia vs. Hogan can be purchased online at www.ArenaMonterrey.com or by clicking here.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and DAZN.com. Follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and https://www.facebook.com/DAZNUSA/. Follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Follow the conversation using #MunguiaHogan

Photos and videos are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/MunguiaHogan into a browser. Credit must be provided to Golden Boy for any photo and/or video usage.

By Bart Barry-

SAN ANTONIO – Not even a threehour drive from where this was written, Saturday night at Houston’s Toyota Center Mexican super welterweight titlist Jaime Munguia decisioned Japan’s Takeshi Inoue on unanimous scorecards that were semiaccurate despite likely being filled-in over breakfast tacos. The match’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, a promise machine, promised to be back in Houston again and again, as he does in every city he visits.

I wasn’t there and through the opening credits of Saturday’s mainevent couldn’t remember why, exactly, I’d forgone the experience, especially considering December’s trip to Corpus Christi for a spectacle promising nothing much qualitatively greater. (Toyota Center, too, remains dear for being the site of a personal ringside highlight and Golden Boy Promotions’ greatest early show: Juan Manuel Marquez versus Juan Diaz, 10 years ago next month.) Then a few minutes in the opening round it came together: I did not believe a month ago, and remain no more convinced today, Munguia is a mainevent fighter.

He may be on his way like Antonio Margarito once was, but he’s not there now, and his promoter’s abundance of broadcasting opportunities more than Munguia’s abundance of talent is why Saturday’s was a headline gig for the Tijuanense. It shines through in Munguia’s hitch, more pronounced when he is moving backwards or sideways than when his aggression bends him forwards. His hands too low, his chin too high, Munguia raises his gloves drops them raises them to get each combination started, and it’s the very way Inoue ducked so many high hooks early (before Inoue decided these punches were better blocked).

It’s a large reason Munguia works best moving forward and should not move to weightclasses whose titlists do not let him move forward on them. Munguia is enormous for 154 pounds, and enormity composes most of his talent at this point. We’re told how young he is and likely to outgrow his weightclass, and that doesn’t bode well for him since adding six pounds will make him punch hardly harder but absorb abler what punches clip his chin, which is many. Because his trainer’s breakthrough professional accomplishment was befriending Joel De La Hoya Sr. decades ago, Munguia hasn’t a proper tutor to admonish his left glove upwards, upwards, and this leaves him scarywide open to rights of all shape and flavor, from dunking-overhand to piston-cross.

Limited as Inoue was in every pugilistic tool save desire he nevertheless struck a prizefighter in his third title defense with punches launched from his own hip. How he did this speaks to Munguia’s want of ring IQ. At least once every round Inoue’d bull Munguia to the ropes, where Munguia’d drop his left hand as if involuntarily. His opponent’s guard pinned at his waste for reasons Inoue found fortuitous if puzzling as the rest of us did, Inoue’d force the palm of his left glove between Munguia’s chin and collarbone then blast Munguia with a right. The first few times it happened one immediately sensed Inoue must be about more than first impressions (dominated as those were by images of Inoue’s crossing right foot behind left every time he pivoted) and onto wily stuff indeed, as he teed-up Munguia’s chin in a way more than figurative.

But no. Munguia simply didn’t have an answer for being bullied back. Sometimes Munguia returned fire, sometimes he brought Inoue to his chest and looked for the ref, and other times he began a rabbitpunch-off and looked for the ref. In this sense if no other Munguia gave the impression of a mainevent fighter, a true a-side: He expected official enforcement of favorable terms and got that quite a bit in the match’s first half from a sometimes officious ref unable to break the fighters without assigning culpability.

On to Inoue. What Japanese pressure fighters have that all pressure fighters have but few have more than the Japanese is self-possession. There are cultural origins for this, probably, or maybe it’s a selfselection sort of thing, whereby matchmakers know an entertaining test will be given their fighters if a b-side gets imported from Japan. How else does one explain Inoue’s presence on Saturday’s card in the first place? It’s not enough to say Inoue’d only once before fought outside Japan; Inoue’d only twice before fought outside Korakuen Hall.

Yet there he was, making his American debut in a mainevent at Toyota Center, home of the Rockets, and making a proper show of his opportunity, too. A little zany, a little eccentric, a little offkilter – that was Inoue during fightweek and into fightnight and right through the last bell. Those aren’t pejorative modifiers because they’re not even tangential synonyms for the pejorative modifier Munguia was after, after all: Intimidated. Inoue was not that. Even when he got near kneedropped midlate by the same basic combo Munguia bounced off him 50 times Inoue straightened and shimmied and recollected on his stool.

Something else Inoue’s self-possession revealed about Munguia: He may not hit hard as advertised. Despite doing regularly the one thing every single completely superfluous commentator demands – punching to the body – Munguia did very little to take Inoue’s legs and still less to take Inoue’s spirit. Frankly the left hooks Munguia landed to Inoue’s body took about much from Munguia as they did from Inoue, blasphemy of all blasphemies.

About the completion of boxing commentary’s superfluousness: DAZN is an innovative platform without innovative commentary. Already the Kenny Mora Leonard trio is brutedreadful for all the reasons Lampley Kellerman Jones became so; the whole enterprise is banal, salesy and most of all constant. The threeman booth means someone or -ones must be talking every instant, and since there aren’t that many ways to sell a product to a customer whose payment you’ve just confirmed and since the new media reality is that no one who might criticize a promoter or manager or programmer, much less an advertiser or sponsor, is allowed a live mic, televised boxing commentary now reduces to a childlike contest of who can say “unbelievable” the most times, where five years ago it was at least a contest of who could say it the most euphemistically.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions:
“The safety of our fighters is always of the highest concern to us,” said Oscar De La Hoya, CEO and Chairman of Golden Boy Promotions. “Though we understand that David Lemieux is in stable condition, we must always execute precaution when dealing with the health of our fighters, especially since we know the consequence of improperly cutting weight. That said, we have spoken with our partners at Eye of The Tiger Management and have cancelled this fight. We wish Lemieux the very best and know that he will come back stronger than ever.”

Camille Estephan, Eye of the Tiger Management:
”Due to health concerns, David Lemieux was taken to the hospital for evaluation,” said Camille Estephan, President of Eye of The Tiger Management. “He was considerably weakened by the process of making weight. There were concerns regarding his vital signs and was immediately taken to the hospital to be in the hands of medical staff. Tests are being administered to ensure his safety and health as well as IV treatment for re-hydration. He is currently kept in the hospital hence we have taken the decision to cancel his bout.”

Statement from Golden Boy Promotions on cancellation of Vergil Ortiz, Jr. fight:
“The New York State Athletic Commission did not allow Vergil Ortiz Jr. to fight due to a rule preventing fighters who have had Lasik eye surgery from fighting. Ortiz Jr. had Lasik eye surgery in early October and thus will not be able to fight.”

Dear Fight Fans,

On the night of Saturday, September 15, fans were set to be treated to what sports should be all about: the two best athletes in a sport squaring off against each other with the winner earning the title of the best in the business. This kind of an event – where an individual can be called the best in any sport – is truly rare.

Not only did the fight itself deliver all that was promised, against all kinds of pressure, Canelo Alvarez gave the performance of his lifetime to secure the unified middleweight championship of the world.

Unfairly criticized for not fighting “Mexican” enough in the first fight, he kept Gennady Golovkin on his heels all night, taking the action to the “boogeyman of boxing,” walking him down and controlling the pace.

Repeatedly ravaged for two positive drug tests that showed minor traces of clenbuterol – a common occurrence in Mexico due to the contamination of beef across the country – Canelo submitted to more than 20 drug tests in the lead up to the fight and passed them all with flying colors.

Saddled with a judge’s card of a year ago that he had nothing to do with; the pressure of millions of fans watching; and what many were describing as a must-win to stay relevant, Canelo delivered a near-flawless fight.

And yet…

It wouldn’t be boxing if thousands of keyboard warriors weren’t talking (or tweeting) complete nonsense in the hours and days after Canelo began to cement his legacy as an all-time great fighter.

Many have told me to ignore the haters; that I’ll never win. But, while I know I won’t convince many of them, allowing them to even partly soil what was a certain Fight of the Year; a mega-event seen by millions of people; and a virtuoso performance by boxing’s marquis fighter would do a disservice to the sport I love.

So allow me to respond to a few of the more absurd comments:

Golden Boy paid the judges to fix the fight.
Though I don’t think this deserves response, here are the facts: The three judges were chosen by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Given the result of the first fight, NSAC was under a lot of scrutiny to come up with the fairest group of judges possible. For the first time I know of, Golden Boy Promotions and Team GGG were even allowed to approve a pool of judges. They saw what everyone else did; a close, competitive fight and scored it exactly that way.

Golovkin landed more punches and therefore should have won the fight.
If landed punches were the difference between winning or losing a boxing match, we would have an incredibly different and less interesting sport. Clean punching, ring generalship, effective aggressiveness and defense are what the judges are looking for in determining the winner of a round. I’m obviously a promoter, but in the four areas that actually count in judging, I can’t find one where GGG was the victor.

Tom Loeffler’s statement that he doesn’t know if Golvokin can win a decision in Las Vegas.
Perhaps Tom is just looking to make GGG feel better, but regardless this is maybe the most disappointing comment, because it comes from someone who knows the sport. Of course, GGG can win a decision in Las Vegas. But 22,000 people aren’t going to crowd into the T-Mobile Arena to watch Golovkin fight and blast out the likes of Dominic Wade, Willie Monroe, Jr., or Vanes Martirosyan. He is going to need to fight a higher level of competition – and then fight better than that opponent – to earn a victory in the mecca of boxing.

Boxing is a wonderful sport that is coming back thanks to streaming technology and growing international interest. But, it is a sport that also faces competition, not only from the outside in the form of other, more-widely watched leagues, but from inside where the fractured nature of boxing has made it tougher and tougher for the best to face the best.

Just look at celebrity row to see how special Saturday night was. There, another best-in-sport athlete, Lebron James, joined by Will Smith, Mark Wahlberg and a huge group of other A-list celebrities to witness something special.

While everyone is entitled to his or her opinion (especially in boxing), let’s take a moment to appreciate what Canelo and GGG gave us on Saturday night and work towards doing it more often for the sake of the sport we all love so much.

LOS ANGELES (Sept. 2, 2018) — Tom Loeffler, promoter of undefeated World Middleweight Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN has called out the team of Canelo Alvarez and specifically, its promoter Oscar De La Hoya. On Sunday, under the headline “Oscar De La Hoya Boldly Claims Gennady Is Unpatriotic,” Niall Doran posted on the website Boxing News and Views a story based on a video interview De La Hoya had done with Villainfy Media which was posted on You Tube on Aug. 31. The story also stated that De La Hoya “…questioned his {Golovkin’s] support of his own country.”

“I have no idea what Oscar is talking about but it is not true,” said Loeffler. “The truth is Team Golovkin had requested that the national anthems of Kazakhstan, Mexico and the United States be sung before the pay-per-view telecast began so that we could proceed with the fights seamlessly and uninterrupted. HBO supported this position and has always preferred that the anthems take place before the HBO Pay-Per-View telecast begins. To suggest that Gennady is unpatriotic and has no respect for the anthems of his Kazakhstan, Mexico or the U.S., where Gennady resides in southern California, is patently false. Oscar and Canelo owe Gennady yet another apology. This is just another example of why Gennady never believes anything from Canelo’s side.”

This link will take you to De La Hoya’s interview with Villainfy Media. His statement about Gennady begins at 2:58 of this video which was posted on You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p15oRiI-hwU. Below is a transcription of it.

“Look, I mean, they have to stop all this nonsense. I can tell you one thing for instance. Talk about not supporting your own country? The Golovkin people didn’t want to sing the national anthems before the fight. That’s a ritual. Having a national anthem before a championship fight is what you’re supposed to do. It makes it feel like a bigger event. Golovkin’s people didn’t want the Kazakhstan national anthem to be sang, the Mexican national anthem to be sung, the American national anthem to be sung. I mean what else are they going to demand? Jesus, are they going to cancel the fight? It’s ridiculous Just go out there and fight!”

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“24/7 Canelo/GGG 2” is streaming on HBO GO and HBO NOW.

Canelo’s fifth “24/7” appearance and Golovkin’s third, “24/7 CANELO/GGG 2”

is the latest installment of the acclaimed franchise that began in 2007.

Canelo vs. GGG 2 is a 12-round fight for the middleweight championship of the world presented by Golden Boy Promotions and GGG Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING,” Hennessy, “Never Stop, Never Settle,” Fred Loya Insurance, Interjet, Venom, and Fathom Events. The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 15 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5 :00 p.m. PT.

Remaining tickets for Canelo vs. GGG 2 are priced at $5,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500, $800, $700, $500 and $300, not including applicable service charges and taxes. There will be a limit of eight (8) per person at the $5,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500, $800 and $700 price levels with a limit of two (2) per person at the $500 and $300 price levels. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849). Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.t-mobilearena.com or www.axs.com.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, ;;;

www.caneloggg.com ;;;and www.hbo.com/boxing; ;;;follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @gggboxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @hboboxing and @TomLoeffler1; become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing,

www.facebook.com/gggboxing, and www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing; follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @gggboxing, @HBOboxing and @OscarDeLaHoya; and follow the conversation using #CaneloGGG2.

Photos and videos are available for download by clicking here or copying

and pasting the link http://bit.ly/CaneloGGG2 into a browser. Credit must be provided to Golden Boy Promotions for any photo and/or video usage.

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 9, 2018): Golden Boy Promotions is excited to announce that Chairman and CEO, Oscar De La Hoya, has assembled an all-star broadcast team for the brand-new Golden Boy Fight Night series on Facebook Watch. The broadcast team will feature Todd Grisham as its blow-by-blow commentator, with celebrity entertainer Mario Lopez serving to drive color commentary and boxing analysis. The two-man booth will be supported by the show’s social media reporter Rosci Diaz. Diaz will provide fighter and celebrity interviews as well as updates from Facebook and Instagram fans via a fully integrated touchscreen monitor.

“I have been mining the media landscape for the past several years to find a broadcast and platform partner to change up the sport and to create a series that delivers fans across the world a new and engaging spin on the great sport of boxing,” said Oscar De La Hoya. “This collaboration with Facebook has been nothing short of amazing. Their team has the all the tools to clearly separate a Golden Boy boxing show from any other combat sport show on the market.”

Oscar De La Hoya, Executive Producer
De La Hoya serves as the Executive Producer for this new and innovative series and plans to deliver a product with global appeal. The first fight will take place at Avalon Hollywood and actors, sports figures and major influencers will be in attendance. De La Hoya envisions an intimate club atmosphere, featuring eclectic music curated by DJ Susie de Los Santos, a renowned DJ who has toured across the world and has made several television appearances. Jeremiah Gallegos will be the night’s ring announcer after winning Golden Boy’s Next Gen Ring Announcer contest.

Todd Grisham
Blow-By-Blow Commentator
Todd Grisham is an experienced combat sports commentator who spent six years working at ESPN in a variety of roles including hosting “SportsCenter,” “MMA Live,” and “Friday Night Fights.” Prior to joining ESPN in 2011, Grisham worked as a professional wrestling commentator for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). During his tenure with the WWE, he worked as the play-by-play commentator for Smackdown and then WWE NXT. Grisham also served as the play-by-play commentator for the ECW brand and won the 2008 Slammy Award for Announce Team of the Year. In 2007, Grisham was named the host for Fox Soccer Channel’s Major League Soccer broadcasts, working alongside Christopher Sullivan for pre-game and post-game coverage of the network’s Saturday night broadcasts until 2010. His first professional job in the television industry was with KTVO of Ottumwa, Iowa, where he worked for a year and a half. He was a sportscaster for KOLD-TV Tucson for approximately five years before moving to the WWE as an announcer.

Mario Lopez
Color Commentator
Mario Lopez is the consummate entertainer. He is the host of the Emmy Award winning show “Extra,” and the national iHeart radio programs “On with Mario Lopez” and “iHeartRadio Countdown with MarioLopez.” Lopez is a constant presence on the pop culture scene with a legion of fans across the board. Actor, NYT Best Selling author, producer and host, Lopez’s prolific career has made him one of the most sought-after personalities in entertainment today. Some of Lopez’s acting credits include Jane the Virgin, Nip/Tuck and Saved by the Bell, among many others. In 2008, Mario Lopez made his Broadway debut as Zach in the revival of A Chorus Line where he met his wife Courtney. Mario and Courtney have two adorable kids, Gia and Dominic and two dogs, Julio and Juanita.

Rocsi Diaz
Social Media Reporter
As the former co-host of BET’s ultra-popular mega music show, 106 & Park, Rocsi Diaz interviewed everyone from Lady Gaga to Eminem. As a co-host and daily correspondent on CBS’s Entertainment Tonight, Rocsi was known for setting the tone for what’s hot in music, movies and entertainment. She reached 85 million homes worldwide during her time with 106 & Park, and has since gone to host MTV’s Dating Naked, and Hollywood Today Live. With a massive social media presence, Rocsi reaches millions of followers across all platforms. Currently, she can be seen co-hosting People TV’s Chatter.
Rojas vs. Diaz Jr. is a 12-round fight for the WBA Featherweight World Championship presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Universal Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate,”THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING,” and Hennessy, “Never Stop, Never Settle.” The fights will take place Saturday, August 11, 2018 at Avalon Hollywood. Doors to the event open at 4:00 p.m., and the first fight begins at 5:00 p.m. The action will be streamed live on Facebook Watch in the U.S. and globally on the Golden Boy Fight Night Facebook Page beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. Fans can catch all the fights by following the Golden Boy Fight Night Page.

Limited tickets for Rojas vs. Diaz Jr. are still available and are priced at $40, not including applicable service charges and taxes. Tickets are available for purchase at www.goldenboytickets.com and the Golden Boy Promotions Facebook page.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.avalonhollywood.com.
Follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing and @AvalonHollywood. Become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and
https://www.Facebook.com/AvalonHollywood/Follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya and @AvalonHollywood. Follow the conversation using #GBPonFB and #RojasDiazJr

Photos and videos are available to download by clicking here or by copying and pasting link: http://bit.ly/RojasDiazJr into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 12, 2018) Business executive and former journalist Stefan Friedman, a longtime advisor to RING Magazine proprietor and boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, will become the next publisher of the venerable boxing publication effective immediately, the Hall of Fame fighter announced today.

Friedman, a native of New York, will be tasked with shepherding THE RING, known as the Bible of Boxing since 1922, into new territory in relation to strategic partnerships and advances in the digital space.

“I have every confidence that Stefan will be a great steward of the Ring Magazine and lead the publication and its dedicated staff into a new era that will benefit the fans, readers and the sport overall,” said De La Hoya.

“I remember the day I purchased RING Magazine as it was a moment I would have never thought possible as a young kid growing up in East Los Angeles. I still have the same love and respect for the magazine and its writers today as I did back then, and I trust that Stefan will make the best decisions for the publication and be successful leading THE RING into this next chapter in its history.”

THE RING’s print edition is dedicated to enterprise stories, in-depth features on the sport’s power players and colorful columns. The digital brand, RINGTV.com, compliments the legacy of the magazine with breaking news content and hard-hitting stories that lead the industry’s coverage on the web.

“As a longtime fan and ardent supporter of boxing, I am humbled to be the next publisher of the legendary RING Magazine and entrusted with leading the publication’s business,” said Friedman.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with THE RING’S talented editorial staff to build upon the great work they’ve done in sustaining the publication’s reputation and importance to boxing while also exploring new ideas and strategies with digital integration and partnerships that will engage and excite fans of the sport.”

THE RING Magazine was founded nearly 100 years ago as boxing’s premier publication for all things related to the Sweet Science. Based in Los Angeles, Friedman will oversee the editorial staff led by Douglass Fischer which includes a network of boxing expert contributors around the world.

As part of his new role as publisher, Friedman will take a step back from his duties as advisor to Golden Boy Promotions while continuing to work with De La Hoya in myriad other capacities.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you to the media for joining us today in this International Media Conference Call for Saunders versus Lemieux. We are kicking off fight week with this call and have a week of events leading up to Saturday’s events, which will surely be a showdown between two heavy hitters this Saturday, December 16th, at the brand new Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada. WBO Middleweight World Champion Billy Joe Saunders will battle the heavy-handed David Lemieux for Saunders title, which is a WBO title. This event is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Eye of the Tiger Management in association with my partner Frank Warren.

Additionally, we have a spectacular co-event as part of the HBO telecast. Antoine “Action” Douglas versus Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan will be a ten-round fight for the WBO International Middleweight title presented by Golden Boy Promotions, Eye of the Tiger Management, and in association with GH3 Promotions and Murphy’s Boxing.

And opening up the HBO telecast, we will have Cletus “Hebrew Hammer” Seldin returning to the ring just more than a month after his dominating knockout victory. He’s taking on a highly regarded Yves Ulysse Jr., and that’s a ten-round super lightweight, and that will be opening up the telecast on HBO, which begins at 9:40 Eastern/Pacific time.

Tickets for the Saunders-Lemieux are priced beginning at $45 all the way up to $500. They’re still for sale. Tickets are going fast. We’re going to have a full house at the brand new arena.

So at this time, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the president of Eye of the Tiger Management, my good friend and partner at Golden Boy Promotions, Camille Estephan.

Camille Estephan: Hello, everyone. It’s fight week. We’re here. We’re ready. This fight is going to be a war. We expect a show that we’ll talk about for the next decade. HBO undercard as well, two styles that, I think, will marry very well. Great fight, Action Douglas against O’Sullivan. I can’t wait to watch the fight myself as a fan. We thank you for supporting HBO, Golden Boy, Frank Warren. Everybody’s involved. So many promoters, so many people got together to put this great, great event together.

Oscar, Eric, and the team, wonderful job. Thank you very much. We’re ready here.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you very much, Camille.

Let me introduce now the trainer for David Lemieux. Obviously, he’s been doing an amazing, amazing job. They’ve been training for months now getting ready for this incredible showdown on December 16th. Here is Marc Ramsey to say a few words. Marc?

MARC RAMSEY: First of all, I would like to thank everybody who made this happen, HBO, Golden Boy, Camille Estephan, and Eye of the Tiger Management, Frank Warren.

I proposed to David Lemieux a couple of tough, tough training camps, but a very successful training camp where we reached every single goal in camp. I’m very enthusiastic about the performance of David Saturday night and a very nice victory just before Christmas for our fans here in Montreal.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you. Thank you very much. So now it’s my pleasure to introduce to you Canada’s biggest star. He’s a former IBF Middleweight World Champion. He has a stellar record of 38 wins, 3 losses, and 33 knockouts. David is a thunderous puncher with tremendous, tremendous power in both hands. He captured the IBF World Middleweight Title against Hassan N’Dam in 2015, knocking the then world title holder out four times en route to a decision victory.

This year, Lemieux blasted out title contender Curtis Stevens in a third-round impressive knockout, which is a contender for the Fight of the Year. And then also he went on to beat Marcos “Dorado” Reyes. Now he’s up for another big challenge in Billy Joe Saunders, and that will be for the WBO Middleweight title. It is my pleasure to introduce to you from Canada, David Lemieux.

DAVID LEMIEUX: Thanks, Oscar. Hi, everybody. I’m so excited for this week. Very, very grateful for another great opportunity to become world champion again. I’m thankful for everybody to be part of this. Thanks to Golden Boy Promotions, Eye of the Tiger Management, HBO, and everybody around. Thank you, guys.

It’s been a great camp. I’m really excited for this fight. I’m more excited, actually, just to lay my hands on Billy Joe Saunders more than anything else. He’s got a big mouth. It’s rare I see fighters with such a big mouth. I just hope his fighting is going to come as close as his mouth on Saturday night. He has a very, very aggressive Lemieux on his back, and I’m going to be ready. I’m extremely prepared for this fight. So, it’s not going to be easy for him. It’s actually going to be hell for him.

I’m here to knock him out. I’m here to destroy him every round. It’s 12 rounds. It’s unfortunate for him, but I’m ready for 12 big rounds. I’m excited for this fight to give the fans their money’s worth and finish the year with a new WBO title.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: All right. Thank you, David. Do we have Team Saunders on?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Here ready to rock and roll.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: All right. It is my pleasure to introduce to you the man behind the WBO World Champion. Obviously, when you have a world champion like Saunders, you need a great trainer, and so it’s my pleasure to introduce to you Dominic Ingle. Dominic?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: No, this is Billy Joe. Dominic is not here. It’s the champ here, just the champ alone.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: All right. So, let me — it is my pleasure to introduce to you, hailing out of Hatfield, United Kingdom, Saunders is undefeated coming off back-to-back defenses. He is the WBO World Champion. He demolished Irish Andy Lee in 2015. He is the WBO Middleweight Champion, fighting the likes of Willie “The Mongoose” Monroe.

And on Saturday night he’s looking to stay undefeated, and he’s ready. He trained hard for this fight. So, it is my pleasure to introduce the WBO Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Good afternoon, everybody. Training camp is very, very good. It’s come to an end now. Lovely, beautiful, it’s done. Fitness is done. Feeling in the best shape ever. No excuses. No excuses. Don’t need no excuses about injuries or anything else. It’s going to be a very good fight. I think David is a good fighter, but at the minute, he’s just the last bit of dog meat for me because (indiscernible) Golovkin told me I am the dog himself. And I know he’s given David a bit of a beating and also set that big fire out for me.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: We will now open it up for questions from the media.

Q. My first question for David is I guess this is going to be the first time there’s going to be a boxing event in this particular arena they opened this year in Laval. I wonder, just from your perspective, I know you’ve had a lot of fights in Quebec and in Montreal in particular, but what would it mean for you to win a world title in front of your hometown, the way you did the first time you won a world title belt, especially in a new building, and excited about the fight?

DAVID LEMIEUX: Well, it’s been done once. It’s going to be done twice. I think it’s going to be a great night for the fans, what I’m going to bring to the ring and how I’m going to fight. People are just talking about my punching power and this and that, but they’re going to be surprised once I start mixing it up with Saunders, and not just the punching behind here, there’s a boxer too. So, we’ll see how he holds up.

Q. When you fought in your last fight that was — in a world title fight and you lost that fight. What makes you believe that your performance against Saunders is going to be a whole lot different than the way it went down against Golovkin? I know that wasn’t your best performance.

DAVID LEMIEUX: I’m a whole different guy than I am facing Golovkin. I’m a whole different guy. You put Golovkin back in front of me, and it’s going to be a whole different scenario. Now I’ve got Saunders to take care of. We’ve done everything we need to do in camp. I don’t think it’s going to be very difficult in the ring against him.

I’m going to be nice manners because it’s going to be hell for him. But I’m ready. I’m ready to take the title now.

Q. You made it clear, David, in your opening remarks that you don’t really seem to have much like for Billy. I wonder where does that come from? What’s the reason? I’ve heard you talk in other fights, and you didn’t have that kind of animosity between Gennady Golovkin or even Curtis Stevens, necessarily. What is it about Saunders that has you going in the wrong way?

DAVID LEMIEUX: I’m going to make him pay in the ring. All this animosity is going to come out in the ring. If he thinks he can run away for 12 rounds, he’s in a lot of trouble.

Q. Is there something he said that got you upset or something he did?

DAVID LEMIEUX: Well, he said a whole bunch of things. Just his character, he is who he is, and I don’t like him.

Q. Billy, can you give me your perspective about traveling to your opponent’s hometown to defend your title. Your previous world title fights have taken place in front of the more friendly crowds over in the UK. Give me your mindset about coming to enemy territory.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: I go to enemy territory all the time. Where I’m from, when I boxed Andy Lee, it was the biggest feud amongst possible gypsy culture, English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh all there in one mixture. Most of them there for Andy Lee.

I perform under pressure. I’ve seen David’s absolute best performance against Gennady Golovkin. I think David is very weak in the mind. And at the end, I don’t care if it’s in his backyard, put the ring there. As long as there’s a ring we can get in, that’s all that matters.

I’m quite happy to know I’m under his skin because, if he wants to play a boxing match, then bring a blindfold, and I’ll put it on, and I’ll beat him. That’s how confident I am.

Q. Do you have any regard for his punching power? Most people watch David fight, they think — and have seen knockouts he had against Curtis Stevens, and think of David honestly as one of the top punchers in the sport regardless of weight class. Do you have any thoughts about the kind of punching power he possesses?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Against bums, yeah, knocking out old men, but he got stuck against Rubio. He’s a tough man with power. He lost his next and then fought bums all the way up until Golovkin. Curtis Stevens, he’s not an A-level fighter. He’s just a step up, a bit of a seasonal fighter. He’s really nothing special. He dealt with him, fair play. But he got spanked by Golovkin previous to that.

When you mix him up against the very, very best of the league, he’s not quite comfortable. He didn’t win a round against Golovkin.

Q. One more question for you, Billy. Since you’re so confident you’re going to win this fight, what kind of big fight in the middleweight division or maybe a different division do you want after this fight? There’s obviously a possibility of a Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch. What do you want to do after you beat him?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: I want whoever’s next. I would love to fight Canelo Alvarez. I would love to fight him. As long as it’s all a fair playing field here in Canada, which I’m sure it will. I don’t want no Canelo-Golovkin results. I want a fair result. If David Lemieux beats me fair and square, I will shake his hand. But when I beat him fair and square, he won’t even shake my hand, and rightly so.

Q. Billy, just what you just mentioned about going to basically his hometown and you want fair play, how concerned are you about the judging if the fight goes the distance?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Listen, I’m not concerned at all. We’ve got one Canadian, one English, and one other nationality. So it’s going to be a fair playing field. Listen, David’s already said that he’s going to knock me out. So we don’t need judges, do we? He’s already put that pressure on himself. He has to come and knock me out, and if he doesn’t knock me out, there’s no way in God’s name that he’s going to win this fight because, to me, he will be a walking punch bag.

Q. Obviously, if you win this fight, you’re in a great position because they haven’t made the Canelo-Golovkin rematch. How do you feel about possibly getting Canelo, as you just mentioned, if you win this fight?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: When I win this fight, that’s the one I want is Canelo. He’s a global superstar. He’s the one you have to beat to get recognized at the high potential of this game. I would love to work with Oscar De La Hoya and Frank Warren Promotions to make that fight after, but I’ll be up for that fight with Canelo.

Q. And you obviously have no trouble coming to Las Vegas or something like that based on what you said, right?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Listen, if I will come to Canada to spank David, I will go to Las Vegas, Mexico, wherever they want, to be in the fight. I’m not in it for money. I’m not in it for anything else. I’m in it because I want to be involved in big fights. Now I’ve got my hand in the big pot, I don’t want to make any slip-ups. So I’ve got to make sure I’m 100 million percent on Saturday night, which I will be.

Q. David, what is your perspective on possibly getting another — if you win this fight, possibly getting another shot at Golovkin or possibly facing Canelo?

DAVID LEMIEUX: These are all names that will come up sooner or later, so I will be prepared when their time comes.

Q. Hi, David. I just wonder, you’re up against a left-hander, unbeaten guy who doesn’t have a lot of knockouts on his record. So the obvious thing would be power against — puncher against boxer. Is that the way you see the fight?

DAVID LEMIEUX: You know, we’ve prepared for many scenarios. I’ve had multiple sparring partners. We’ve been training to brawl. We’ve been training for everything. Come fight night, there will be no surprises. But I have an idea about how he’s going to fight against me, and we’ve prepared very well for it. So there’s going to be no surprises for me.

In regard of fighting a left-handed guy, I’ve always done good against left-handed guys. It’s not a problem.

Q. Were you inspired at all by Jean Pascal winning his farewell fight?

DAVID LEMIEUX: Inspired? No, but I guess he did do good. I didn’t really see the fight, but congratulations to him. He had quite a comeback.

Q. David, I’m sure that Saunders points to your record and says, well, he has losses, and I don’t. However, do you think that those losses give you a level of improvement and learning that somebody with an O on their record doesn’t have? In other words, is that an advantage to you?

DAVID LEMIEUX: If you look at those losses, there’s really only one loss that I can credit. The two losses were early in my career, the first one against Rubio, and the one against Alcine is very debatable, in my eyes. I still don’t believe I lost that fight.

The one against Golovkin, I had my issues. Right away the fight was done. No excuses. I worked my way back up, and I’m very confident in getting those defeats back to a win on Saturday. The first thing to do is to get this deal settled, and we’ll talk about Golovkin or Canelo or whoever it is.

Q. And earlier you were asked about fighting in this new arena in front of the Canadian fans. I think many people are surprised how avid the Canadian fans are, that there are so many very strong Canadian boxing fans. Why do you think that that is? That doesn’t strike people immediately as a country that is very strong with boxing.

DAVID LEMIEUX: We love boxing. We have a lot of good fighters. There’s been a lot of good fighters out here, and boxing has been very active.

Q. Well, they love it, and they show it. The question for you, Billy Joe, you have fought all of your previous professional fights in Great Britain. For your first fight, you choose to come to Canada. Why was that the choice for your first overseas fight?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Because David’s team wouldn’t come to England. I wasn’t going to come to Canada at first, but then if this fight was going to get made, it was going to be after Christmas. I said, listen, I want to beat out twice before the new year, and twice I will be. So traveling is nothing to me. I’m a born traveler. Traveling is nothing to me. I’ve been boxing all over the world since I was 10 years of age, from Russia, from Australia, from Beijing — you name the countries, I’ve been there. I know it’s only amateur boxing, but I’m so used to traveling and preparing to fight the same nervous system, the same energy you need to play.

I’ve seen David. I’ve seen David at his very best, his extreme best. That don’t worry me. He has to bring more than that.

Like I say, boxing is a dangerous sport. One punch can change everything. As David says, he’s a very, very big puncher. So I have to be on my game.

Q. And a final question to the both of you. Are you motivated by the animosity between you? I mean, there’s no love lost at all. Your comments today have been mild compared to Twitter.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: I don’t know David. All I know is he’s got short legs. That’s all I said is he’s got short legs. I think with such a nervous — the nerve button a bit. Listen, I don’t not like David. As a matter of fact, after I beat him, I’ll give him a kiss on the cheek, no problem.

Q. Any response, David? And I’ll end my remarks there.

DAVID LEMIEUX: You kiss me on the cheek, you’d better watch out for my hook.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: For the hook? I’ll watch out for that one, yeah. I’ll watch out for the hook, David. Careful you don’t pull that shoulder out as well.

DAVID LEMIEUX: What was that?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: I said be careful you don’t strain too hard on your shoulder when you try that hook, okay?

DAVID LEMIEUX: I’m ready. Both shoulders are good. Let’s see if your chin holds up.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Good, good, good. My chin will hold up. I’ll promise you that. That’s one thing I’ll promise you, my chin will definitely hold up. If it don’t, you can have my purse. How about that? No problem.

DAVID LEMIEUX: I’ll keep that in mind after the fight.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Keep that in mind because you need it. You’re only getting a small one this time, aren’t you?

DAVID LEMIEUX: I got you in Canada at least.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Yeah, you got me in Canada, no problem. At least it’s a ring, isn’t it? You’ve got me in Canada. I’ll just look at it a little bit and smack you up and go do what I need to do after. That’s what we’ll do.

DAVID LEMIEUX: We’ll see on Saturday.

Q. Billy, you just mentioned something about David’s shoulder. Do you suspect that he has a shoulder injury? Is that what you mean?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: I don’t expect nothing. Every fight has had injuries, but some are worse than others. We seen James DeGale last week. He had a shoulder injury, and he rushed back too soon, and he should have waited a bit longer. Look, the way I look at it, I’m sure David is healthy and ready to go because he wouldn’t be in the ring if not. His management team wouldn’t be advising him to get in that ring, I’d like to hope so. If I had an injury, then I wouldn’t be here. So we’ve both got to be 100 percent. Thank God we’re both 100 percent, and we can both go to work on Saturday night.

Listen, I’m not hoping for no advantage or disadvantage for injuries. I’m hoping to get in there against the best guy myself and get the win fairly.

Q. This is a question for Billy Joe Saunders. Hello, champ. It’s great to speak with you, sir. No matter what both of you and David say, the bad blood element of this fight is a big, big talking point. You had a bad blood fight with Eubank, Jr., of course, which you won and still talk about a rematch and various things. Is this more bad blood in this fight, do you think? Do you see this as more of a fight where you dislike your opponent?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Like I said earlier on, I don’t dislike David. I don’t know him to dislike him. I don’t really keep track of him, how he goes on and how he don’t. All I know is that he said some — he mentioned about putting people in a coffin dead on Twitter. Now, I’ve only got respect for the boxing world, and we recently lost someone who passed away in the ring and also somebody again the other day. So I just don’t like that talk because it’s stupid talk because to those people’s family, it is very upsetting and very discrediting to boxing.

So if he knocks me out, he knocks me out. If I knock him out, I knock him out. But a death situation, that’s the only thing I didn’t like, which personally, myself, it don’t hurt me, but I love boxing, and it discredits boxing. So that’s the only reason why I got a little bit of a — why I said he had short legs and something else, why I said that.

I’m only saying the truth. He’s got short legs. David, my son’s got some size 22 jeans I brought over for you for after the fight. I’ve got them as a present for you, 22-inch legs.

DAVID LEMIEUX: You talk in English. I don’t understand what you’re saying.

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: I’ve got very nice jeans for you, good gesture. They’re very short in leg for you.

Q. Also, Billy, you look to be in absolutely fantastic shape. Is it fair to say you’re in the best physical condition you’ve ever been in before? Because people have remarked on the way you look so ripped. Have you trained harder than ever before?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: Listen, when I come into somebody’s backyard in Canada — I flew over here — I’m never going to leave a stone unturned. I am at my physical, best shape I possibly can be in. There is no better Billy Joe Saunders turning up here on Saturday night, and I can guarantee that. So I hope David can be the same.

Q. This question is for Billy. You’ve taken a lot of criticism from a lot of people who say you’re ducking Gennady Golovkin. I wasn’t interested in the question myself, but I see on my Twitter feed that you mentioned Canelo over Gennady. Would you like to comment on that?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: I know that Golovkin and Canelo, they hold the ace card. I offered to fight Golovkin in June, but he passed up on the opportunity. Not that he was scared or frightened, but he had big business to do with Canelo. So if them two aren’t fighting, it makes more sense now that, me beating one of Oscar De La Hoya’s boxers in Canada, also gives me more of a chance to fight Canelo. Either one of them come along, I would love to fight Canelo.

Q. David, have you altered your training at all to face Saunders or no? In other words, you’re fighting a slickster this time. You’re not fighting a Stevens or a Canelo or even a Triple G. You’re facing someone who’s a little more slippery. Have you altered your training at all?

DAVID LEMIEUX: For every fighter there’s a new planning. I’m in the best shape of my career. Come Saturday night, you guys watch what I’ll do. You can judge for yourself.

Q. (In French).

DAVID LEMIEUX: (In French).

THE MODERATOR: Camille, can you translate the question and the answer for others on the call. Camille or David, are you able to translate the question and response that was just given in French?

CAMILLE ESTEPHAN: Basically, how David feels about fighting, and David is very excited to be able to fight for a second time for a world title in front of his fans, this time in his own backyard. He’s very proud of being able to do an event of this magnitude for the city of Laval.

With regards to the second question was about how he’s going to fight Canelo and Golovkin after his fight. And he says, looking back, David is making a big mistake to talk about what he’s going to do after Saturday, and David would prefer to not talk and just do. Show him on Saturday rather than just talk about it.

THE MODERATOR: We’re going to transition to final comments. David, do you have any final comments you want to share with the media on the call today?

DAVID LEMIEUX: Saturday night I’m going to be the new world champion.

THE MODERATOR: Billy Joe, do you have any final comments you’d like to give?

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS: LOL. See you Saturday. God bless you all.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us on today’s call. We will see you Saturday at Place Bell for Saunders vs. Lemieux. Have a great day.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Saunders vs. Lemieux, a 12-round fight for the Saunders’ WBO World Middleweight Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Eye of the Tiger Management in association with Frank Warren. Douglas vs. O’Sullivan is a 10-round fight for the WBO Intercontinental Middleweight Title presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Eye of The Tiger Management in association with GH3 Promotions and Murphy’s Boxing. Seldin vs. Ulysse, Jr. is a 10-round super lightweight fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions, Eye of The Tiger Management and Star Boxing. The event will take place Saturday, Dec. 16 at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:40 p.m. ET/PT.

Tickets for Saunders vs. Lemieux are priced beginning at $45 to $500 and are on sale. Tickets can be purchased at the Place Bell Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com, www.goldenboytickets.com or www.placebell.ca/en.

Visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.eottm.com, www.frankwarren.com, www.StarBoxing.com and www.hbo.com/boxing for more information. Follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @EOTMVD, @hboboxing, @bjsaunders_, @LemieuxBoxing, @Action_Douglas, @spike_osullivan, @StarBoxing, @LifeOfCletus, @frankwarren_tv; and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing. Visit us on Instagram at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @eottm_boxing, @saundersbillyjoe, @davidlemieuxboxing, @action_douglass @garyspikeosullivan, @StarBoxing, @BearJewUSA; and follow the conversation using #SaundersLemieux.

Photos and videos are available for download via the link: http://bit.ly/SaundersLemieux. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used. Download the French language version of the Saunders vs. Lemieux press kit here: bit.ly/SaundersLemieuxFR. Photo credit: Vincent Ethier / Eye of the Tiger Management.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you very much. First of all, to all the media who has joined us for today, for the Miguel Cotto-Sadam Ali international media conference call.

Just want to say a few words about the event. Obviously, this is a classic event. As one star says good-bye and another one looks to try to fill that void, that one we’ll leave behind.

What can you say about Miguel Cotto that hasn’t already been said during his two decades in boxing? He’s a first ballot Hall of Famer, a true legend in Puerto Rico, New York, and beyond, and he’s obviously been a true credit to the sport of boxing. He’s Puerto Rico’s only four division world champion, six-time world champion. He has fought the who’s who in boxing in the sport. And on December 2nd, he will look to go out as a champion and defend his WBO Junior Middleweight World Championship. And just like he was given a shot for his first World Championship many years ago, he is now doing the same for Sadam Ali.

Sadam Ali is a top contender with a fantastic resume himself. He’s a 2008 Olympian. He has knockout power in both hands. He’s had a series of regional titles, and he’s now looking to step it up and fight for that world title against a legend in boxing. And more than that, he’s doing it for something far too many boxers shy away from. By going against a legend, Sadam is daring to be great. That is how you make a real name for yourself in the sport of boxing.

I’m glad this historic matchup will take place on the network of champions. You can catch it on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:00 p.m. eastern, 7:00 p.m. pacific time. The full undercard for Miguel Cotto and Ali is packed with talent and will be announced very shortly, so stay tuned for that.

I do want to thank our sponsors, our main sponsor for the sport of boxing, who obviously takes boxing to a whole new level, and that is Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING.” I want to thank Hennessy: “Never stop. Never Settle,” and the best tequila in the world, Casa Mexico Tequila. So thank you to all the sponsors who contribute to this great sport of boxing.

Tickets are still on sale obviously and can be purchased at Madison Square Garden. You can go to goldenboytickets.com as well. They are moving fast. As you well know, Miguel Cotto has fought numerous times there. He’s sold out the arena many, many times. You want to get your tickets soon as this event will be sold out.

Also, want to let you know that this event is being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Miguel Cotto Promotions. And one thing we do want to emphasize is Puerto Rico needs help. Puerto Rico needs help more than ever. What we’re finding out, obviously, through media, through family and friends that we have over there is that a lot of families are still left without electricity, without water, without any contact with other people. It’s devastating what happened.

Obviously, because of Miguel Cotto, part of the ticket sales, Miguel Cotto and his team, along with Golden Boy, will be able to choose different charities to give back and to make sure that families, that families are being taken care of and make sure that we do continue to give back and shed light on this terrible devastation that took place in Puerto Rico.

On that note, I just want to say thank you again to all the media for shedding light on what’s really important, and obviously, we’re thrilled and excited that Miguel Cotto is going to be inside that square circle on December 2nd against Sadam Ali on HBO.

Without any further ado, I want to introduce you to the teams. Let me have the honor to introduce Sadam Ali. He’s the current WBA International Welterweight Champion. Obviously, he was a decorated boxer who was in the Junior Olympics, the under 19 champion, as well as the New York Golden Gloves champ and represented the United States in 2008 in Beijing in the Olympic games.

Sadam, I feel, deserves this shot. He’s a tremendous fighter. He’s a fighter who is willing to fight everyone and anybody, obviously, to be great, to be a legend. Let me introduce to you a fighter they call the World Kid, and that is Sadam Ali. Sadam?

SADAM ALI: Thank you, Oscar. It’s a pleasure being here and being on the big stage in Madison Square Garden against a legend, who I grew up watching. It’s a little scary, but I’ve been working hard, and I’m ready to go out there and perform. I know I’m a huge underdog, but I’m ready to go out there and put on a great show. I know what I’ve got to look for out there, and it’s amazing.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you, Sadam.

And at this moment, I would like to introduce to you Team Miguel Cotto. Like I said, every fighter needs a great trainer behind him, the man who comes up with the strategies and obviously is there for support not only the night of the fight, but months leading up to the event. So I would like to introduce to you the Hall of Famer. He is an amazing trainer, and that is Freddie Roach. Freddie?

FREDDIE ROACH: Thank you, Oscar.

Miguel is doing really good. We have a great training camp. He’s in great shape. And we’re going to finish up strong for the year and head to New York pretty soon. It’s going to be a great night. I’m looking forward to this fight, and Miguel’s going to be at his best. Thank you.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you, Freddie.

And now to introduce to you the man himself. I mean, what can I say that you already don’t know? I’m just proud and fortunate to be able to be promoting his final event at the Garden, where he has performed — I believe this will be his 11th performance there, and he has had amazing fights. He has given us some incredible, incredible showings against top, top fighters, the best fighters in the world, and he continues doing so.

So making his 24th — I mean, 24th appearance on HBO, and his 10th and final showcase at the MSG, let me introduce to you from Puerto Rico, Caguas, Puerto Rico, Miguel Cotto.

MIGUEL COTTO: Thank you, Oscar.

It’s great to be here again. Like Oscar and people have said, it’s my final fight, and I’m working hard for making the final fight really good for everybody. All we have to do is wait until the day of the fight. We are ready for the fight.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Gracias, Miguel. So now we can open it up for questions.

Q: Hello, everybody. Hi there, Miguel, Sadam. Good to talk to you guys today. Want to start with a question for you, Sadam. You mentioned in your opening remarks, you come into the fight and you know you’re the underdog although you’re getting the opportunity to fight at home. You say you’re fighting against an opponent that you grew up watching. Can you talk about just what goes into your thought process about fighting in an arena that you grew up thinking about fighting in, fighting a guy like Miguel Cotto, who as Oscar says, is going to be in the Hall of Fame someday. How do you not let it get to your mental state to overwhelm you when you get in the ring with him?

SADAM ALI: I’ve been fighting since I was eight years old, and I’ve been in big arenas. Of course, it’s going to be a little bit more in this one. But this is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I took the challenge against a legend. I dare to be great, like Oscar says. I fear nothing, and I don’t hold back. This is the opportunity of a lifetime in Madison Square Garden. It’s going to be amazing. I feel like we’re going to put on a great show, and I’m excited, and I’m ready.

Q: Do you have any concerns about moving up another weight class? Some guys, they go up, they may get used to the weight class with a fight, maybe two. You’re stepping in against not only moving up in weight, but obviously fighting the best opponent of your career.

SADAM ALI: Yeah, it’s a huge challenge, a big step up. The biggest opponent in my career, and I’m also moving up to another weight class. But I love the challenge, and I’m ready to do whatever I have to do.

My weight — I’m not really, really down in weight. My weight is okay. I’m where I’m supposed to be. So I’m excited.

Q: How much of a fan of Miguel’s were you earlier, maybe before you turned pro? Were you like a guy that was a hard-core Cotto fan that might go to the Garden in those fights or just sort of followed his career just as a regular kind of boxer? Were you really a big-time Miguel Cotto fan?

SADAM ALI: I followed his career, and I’ve also been to a few fights. I always liked his style and what he did. He’s fought the best. He’s had some great fights. So if you love boxing, you’re going to grow up watching Miguel Cotto. So, yes, I did come up watching for sure.

Q: Very good. Thank you for that, Sadam. Hello, Miguel. How are you today? Miguel, you’ve been saying all along this is going to be your last fight. Wondering if you can just say is there any sadness that you’re bowing out? Are you excited to be bowing out? What’s your feelings about going into the ring one last time of what will end what’s been a great career?

MIGUEL COTTO: After having the opportunity to provide the best for my family with boxing, all I can say about boxing is I’m thankful for being a boxer, and I have to thank a lot for boxing providing the best for me and my family. That’s all I can say.

Q: So no regret, no sadness? Are you excited to move on to the next part? I’m just wondering where you’re at as far as your thoughts about your emotions of this being the last fight?

MIGUEL COTTO: No, I’m good. I’m good. I just want to start a new life and a better life with my family, not being away from them and just take advantage of every moment with them. That’s all I want.

Q: So as you look back — you’re going to get asked a lot, I’m sure, leading up to this fight about your career. What’s been your highlight fight, in your opinion? Like your best moment in the ring. And then maybe what was your worst moment in the ring?

MIGUEL COTTO: I enjoyed my whole career, and I can’t point at one fight, you know. I enjoyed my whole career. Every moment made me be the boxer I am right now, the person I am right now. I would have to say my whole career has been amazing for me.

Q.Any negatives?

MIGUEL COTTO: No. All of the negative things are in the past.

Q: Freddie, as you prepare Miguel for what he says will be his last fight, as you’ve been with guys that are in their prime and also guys that are older that shouldn’t be fighting, do you think Miguel is — or give me your perspective on his selecting this time to call it a career. How much do you think he has left? Could he go on longer? Are you happy with the decision he’s made? What’s your perspective on his saying this is the end for him?

FREDDIE ROACH: I’m happy he’s going out on top. We’re training really hard for this fight. The training camp is identical to all our training camps. He works hard. We push each other. And just because this is his last fight, no one’s taking it easy or anything like that. We’re working very hard for this fight, and going out on top is the best way to do it, I feel. I’m really happy with his decision. He’s had a great career, and he wants to spend more time with his family, and that’s great. He’s going to have a great opportunity to enjoy that more.

Q: My question is for Sadam. Sadam, what do you feel the challenges will be in the ring that night being that you’re going to face a bigger guy at a weight you’ve never fought at? Just how do you expect that to play out in the fight?

SADAM ALI: It’s a great challenge. He has a lot of great things in his fight arsenal. He has great power. He has a great jab. He can come forward, and he’s also learned how to move a little bit too. So it’s a mix of everything, and I have to be prepared and ready for all that. I have to be at my best. I have to be in the greatest shape if I want to perform like I need to.

Q: Do you have to be more careful in this fight, in a sense, being that he’s bigger and I’m assuming he’ll outweigh you in the ring when you get in there?

SADAM ALI: Of course I’ve got to be more careful. He has tremendous power. I’m always careful in my fights, but this fight, of course, I should be a little more careful, and I’ll have my eye open a lot more and stay focused throughout the whole fight. He is the bigger guy. Like I said, I’m moving up a weight class. This is a huge challenge for me, but I’m up for it.

Q: I also have a question for Freddie. Freddie, would you be disappointed if Miguel didn’t win this fight by knockout being that he’s fighting a smaller guy?

FREDDIE ROACH: I don’t ever plan on knocking anybody out in a fight. We’re training to go 12 hard rounds and win every one of them. Training camp is going well, and we have great sparring partners. He’s working out really well. We’re right on track right now. If a knockout comes, that will be a bonus, but I expect Cotto to win this fight and go out on top for sure.

But the thing is we are fighting a younger generation of new kids coming up. Some people say in with the new, out with the old, but we’re not that old yet.

Q: Freddie, is there a sense of how you think Miguel still would do against Canelo and guys at that level? I know you still feel he can fight at a very high level. Any disappointment in the sense that, although you’re happy for him moving forward with his family, that you won’t get the chance to fight Canelo again or maybe even Triple G or something like that?

FREDDIE ROACH: You know, Triple G and Canelo would be great opponents, and we look forward to fighting them, but they all have obligations before, and the next best guy was the young guy coming up, the next generation. We are getting a chance at that, and we’ll see how good he really is.

Miguel will be on top of his game. And, again, we would have loved to go out with one of the bigger names, but the thing is they’re not available at this point, and we want to stay busy.

Q: Oscar, I was just wondering if you could just talk about how you maybe wanted to make a big fight for Miguel before his career ended, but just logistically it didn’t work out in terms of Canelo and guys like that. Is there some disappointment in the sense that it just didn’t work out that way?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: There’s no disappointment whatsoever. I mean, look, everything happens for a reason. Miguel Cotto has had a stellar career, an amazing career. He’s fighting in the main fight against Sadam Ali, and he’s fighting in his second hometown, which is New York at the Garden, right next to Puerto Rico, and fighting on HBO live. There’s no disappointment whatsoever. Everything is all positive.

And Miguel Cotto deserves this chance of a lifetime of — imagine that, going out on top or vying to go out on top, on HBO, in front of your hometown in New York at the Garden against a great fighter like Ali. This is another great opportunity for the boxing fans and for Miguel Cotto.

Q: Oscar, you know what it’s like, as a great fighter, when you retire, the urge to come back. You’ve discussed it several times about possibly coming back and stuff. How hard will that be for Miguel, just the competitor in Miguel, to resist that urge as he moves forward?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Obviously, there’s many reasons why a fighter can choose to come back, but a fighter like Miguel Cotto, he has everything he needs, most importantly, his family. He has a whole island that supports him, that is with him 100 percent. Millions of people who supported him all over the world so there’s no reason. He has one last chance, and believe me, he’s obviously training to give everyone the best show possible. I believe we’re going to see the best Miguel Cotto we’ve seen on December 2nd.

Q: So you don’t feel we’ll see him in the ring again? There’s no possibility of that, you don’t think?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: I believe him when he says this is his last fight.

(Question and answer in Spanish.)

TRANSLATOR: I’m going to take a moment to translate that. The reporter has asked Miguel if he has any regrets or if he has anything that he wishes he would have done in his career before he retired.

And Miguel responded with, no, I have done everything in my career that I’ve wanted to do. This is the final. His decision is to retire now and spend more time with his family.

Q: Miguel, I wanted to ask you, I know we talked a little bit in my first question about some of the highlights of your career, you said you enjoyed everything. I was hoping you could maybe just give me your opinion about what you think was your most satisfying victory or your biggest victory.

MIGUEL COTTO: I can’t point to one victory. I enjoy my whole career. Every victory became part of my career, and I’m happy with the way my career is going, the way my career is going to end on December 2nd, and I’m really happy with my whole career. I’m not going to point to one fight. I’m going to look at my whole career.

Q: Is there a fight that you feel like made your career sort of, that put you in people’s minds and made you into a topnotch fighter? I mean, I have my own opinions. I obviously covered your entire career. But you’ve had so many good fights and significant fights. What’s the one that you feel like sort of put you over with the public?

MIGUEL COTTO: I think the fight with Torres in Calaveras is the one that put Miguel Cotto on the map.

Q: Why do you say that? That was a great fight back in ’05, I believe.

MIGUEL COTTO: It was the way the fight was happening this night and the way I woke up from the canvas, and it was the fight that put Miguel Cotto on the map.

Q: And you feel like maybe that’s the fight that made the fans sort of realize, whoa, look at this guy, how exciting he is. Is that sort of what you’re getting at?

MIGUEL COTTO: Pardon me?

Q: When you talked about the Torres fight, was the way that that fight went and how you won it, are you saying that was sort of the fight that made people recognize that you were a very exciting and really good fighter?

MIGUEL COTTO: Exactly.

Q: Do you have thoughts — I mean, can you give me your thought — I mean, you had a couple of big wins not that long after that, Malignaggi and Zab Judah and Shane Mosley. Do you have thoughts about those fights? Those were pretty significant fights for you at that time?

MIGUEL COTTO: I’ve been blessed. You know, I had a wonderful career, and all I can say is that every moment in the gym, every moment on the track was — my fight was a reflection of every hard moment of training, and I’m really happy and blessed for that.

Q: So I’ve got to ask you, though. I think maybe — you tell me if I’m wrong — just as far as your own personal satisfaction — I know all the fights made you who you are, but personal satisfaction, I have to think that knocking out Margarito in the rematch was special for you. I remember your reaction after that fight, and you seemed very satisfied that you were able to sort of beat him down the way you did. Can you speak to that moment for your career?

MIGUEL COTTO: Was just showing people what happened in the first fight, that was over.

Q: Meaning like you felt his hands were illegal in that first fight?

MIGUEL COTTO: Everybody knows what happened in the first fight.

Q: Now, you also — I mean, you have some losses along the way, but you gave — for example, I’ll throw this out there for you. When you fought Floyd Mayweather, I know you didn’t win that fight, but you gave him just about as tough a fight as anybody has given Mayweather in his entire career. Did you take any satisfaction in that? I know it was painful to lose, but you fought so well against the fighter who everyone thought was the number one fighter in the world who was undefeated at that time. It’s not like you just held your own; you didn’t come that far from beating him.

MIGUEL COTTO: I stepped up to every opportunity I had in the ring, as in the fight with Mayweather. I had a great career and much satisfaction. That’s my career, and I’m happy with it.

Q: Can you tell me how significant it was for you when you stopped Martinez? Not only did you win the middle weight championship in that fight, but it obviously made history for Puerto Rico by you becoming the first fighter to win the title in the fourth weight class, what that meant to you?

MIGUEL COTTO: I became the first Puerto Rican boxer to be champion in the fourth division, and it was another accomplishment in my career.

Q: Can you talk about where you stack up in the great Puerto Rican fighters, whether it’s yourself, Felix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez, Benitez, Carlos Ortiz. There’s so many great fighters in Puerto Rico. Ivan Calderon has a good chance to be elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame when the ballots come out — or when the results come out next month. Where do you put yourself in the list of the great Puerto Rican fighters?

MIGUEL COTTO: I’m just another — I was just a kid who wants to be a boxer, then became a man. All I did in my life, in my career, was try to do my best. It’s not my works, not my job to put myself in any position. I just tried to do my best every day.

Q: And just one other question, Miguel. When you go into this fight, there’s been so much discussion about Puerto Rico in the news recently because of the terrible hurricane that did so much damage. How much is that on your mind, and how are your family members and friends dealing with it where they live in the island?

MIGUEL COTTO: I’ve been in Puerto Rico my whole life, and I know what capable Puerto Rican people is. I know that. The hurricane was tough for us as Puerto Ricans, but together we are going to overcome this and be grateful for that.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you to the media for the questions and for dialing in. Miguel and Sadam have to get back to training. Before we wrap up the call, I wanted to give both of them an opportunity to make some closing comments.

Sadam, do you have a few final words you want to share today?

SADAM ALI: First of all, I want to thank God for this opportunity and for me being healthy. I am very appreciative of everything. I want to thank all the fans for tuning in, and I know there’s a lot of doubt in me in this fight, and some people think it’s not going to be as good, but I will make sure that it is, and I’m excited. I’m ready to go out there and put on a show. December 2nd is going to be a great night.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

Miguel, do you have any final words you want to share with the media?

MIGUEL COTTO: All I have to say, thank you to the media, all the fans around the world. I’m going to see everybody on December 2nd for my final fight. Thank you very much.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks everyone for joining us for the call today. Just a quick reminder that Cotto will have a Los Angeles media workout on Monday, November 20th. It will be at Wild Card, and we will have some of the Cotto-Ali undercard fighters there as well. Stay tuned to your e-mail inboxes for details on the workout and also the remaining undercard bouts we’re going to announce very shortly.

For the New York media, mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 29th, for Sadam Ali’s media workout. We will also have the east coast undercard fighters there as well. Details will be shared soon, including time and location. All I have to say, thank you to the media, all the fans around the world. I’m going to see everybody on December 2nd for my final fight. Thank you very much.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks everyone for joining us for the call today. Just a quick reminder that Cotto will have a Los Angeles media workout on Monday, November 20th. It will be at Wild Card, and we will have some of the Cotto-Ali undercard fighters there as well. Stay tuned to your e-mail inboxes for details on the workout and also the remaining undercard bouts we’re going to announce very shortly.

For the New York media, mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 29th, for Sadam Ali’s media workout. We will also have the East Coast undercard fighters there as well. Details will be shared soon, including time and location.

# # #

Cotto vs. Ali, a 12-round fight for the Cotto’s WBO World Junior Middleweight Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Miguel Cotto Promotions. Vargas vs. Negrete is a 12-round fight for Vargas’ WBC World Super Bantamweight Title and is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Miguel Cotto Promotions in association with Promociones del Pueblo. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING,” Hennessy “Never Stop. Never Settle”, and Casa Mexico Tequila. The event will take place Saturday, December 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Tickets for Cotto vs. Ali are priced at $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50 and are on sale. Tickets can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com, www.goldenboytickets.com or www.MSG.com.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, and www.promocionesmiguelcotto.com, and www.hbo.com/boxing. Follow on Twitter at @cottopromotions, @GoldenBoyBoxing, and @hboboxing, and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/realmiguelacotto. Visit us on Instagram at @GoldenBoyBoxing and @realmiguelacotto and follow the conversation using #CottoAli.

Photos and videos are available to download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link: http://bit.ly/CottoAli into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Oscar De La Hoya isn’t losing any sleep worrying about whether the potential pay-per-view audience for Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin on Sept. 16 will suffer some erosion because of Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor on Aug. 26.

Fans know the difference between what is real and what isn’t, De La Hoya, Canelo’s promoter, said during a conference call this week.

“We’re concentrating on our fight,” De La Hoya said Tuesday on a call that included Canelo. “We’re concentrating on our event, our fight. Obviously we have the real fight. We have a serious fight. This is a serious fight, a serious event. Two of the best fighters, fighting each other. And I think that the fans have recognized that.

“…So have the sponsors and a lot of the media people. They’ve recognized that this is the real fight. This is the fight that they want to be at. This is the fight that they want to see. A clear indication is we sold out in ten days.’’

If the quick sellout is a reliable indicator of pay-per-view expectations, Golden Boy Promotions is way ahead of the game with Canelo-GGG, which De La Hoya believes can be the biggest fight in middleweight history, bigger than even Marvin Hagler’s legendary victory over Thomas Hearns in 1985.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times last week, thousands of tickets remained unsold for Mayweather-McGregor at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, also the site for Canelo-GGG.

For now, the best explanation for the slow sale rests in exorbitant ticket prices. Ringside seats are $10,000. The cheapest seats were $500. They sold out. According to reports about three weeks before opening bell, as many as 7,000 tickets could still be available. Mayweather didn’t toss that many dollar bills into the air during his international press tour with McGregor.

Lower the prices and a sellout will quickly follow, according to rival promoters. But what if De La Hoya is right? What if fans have decided that the long-awaited Canelo-GGG clash is the only true contest. It’s quickly becoming a pick-em fight, one that could easily lead to a rematch. Or two

Despite betting odds – anywhere from 7-1 to 5-1 – that appear to give McGregor a real chance, the consensus is that Mayweather, the best boxer of his generation, wins easily. McGregor, a UFC star, has never boxed professionally.

If McGregor somehow lands a lucky punch for a stoppage, it might go down as an upset bigger than even Buster Douglas’ 1990 KO of Mike Tyson in Tokyo. Douglas, who had a lot more experience as a boxer than McGregor ever had, was a 42-to-1 underdog.

Nevertheless, Mayweather-McGregor continues to generate a lot of talk on the internet and at water coolers. Not even Canelo could escape it Tuesday. He was asked if would fight McGregor if the Irishman some how won.

“If that miracle was to happen, then it’s a different conversation,’’ Canelo said. “You know, if that miracle was to happen. But I doubt it very much.’’

By Norm Frauenheim-

TUCSON, Ariz. — Brooklyn welterweight Sadam Ali hopes to fight his way back into title contention Saturday against well-traveled Johan Perez in an ESPN2-televised bout at Casino del Sol in the second Golden Boy Promotions card at the southern Arizona casino since Oscar De La Hoya’s signed a 43-fight deal in January with the cable sports network.

Ali (24-1, 14 KOs), a 2008 Olympian and the first boxer of Yemeni descent on a U.S. team, has won two straight since Jessie Vargas stopped in the ninth of his only world-title bout in 2015.

Perez, a 34-year-old Venezuelan who beat a then-unbeaten Yoshihiro Kamegai in 2013, also has won his last two, but he’s 3-2-1 over his last six.

Ali was at 147 pounds Friday at a weigh-in that included a mount when Perez jammed his nose into Ali’s nose during the ritual stare down for the photographers. Perez was at 146.6 pounds.

VILLA MERCEDES, Argentina (July 1, 2017) Fighting outside the U.S. for the first time in his professional career, WBC Youth Super Bantamweight World Champion Diego De La Hoya (19-0, 9 KOs) successfully defended his title and undefeated record with a unanimous decision victory over Alan Luques (21-6, 90 KOs) of Cordoba, Argentina before an electric, sold-out crowd at the Parque La Pedrera.

“Many thanks to all the people of Argentina for their great support and affectionate love that they offered us while here for this fight,” said Diego De La Hoya. “Thanks to Mario Arano and Parque La Pedrera of Villa Mercedes for being part of this historic inauguration also.”

Preceding the fight in the town of Villa Mercedes, Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who was in Argentina to watch Diego De La Hoya’s fight, was honored by local dignitaries as the first boxer to get a star in its town square. The special event was hosted by the San Luis Province Governor Alberto Rodriguez Saa and was significant as Villa Mercedes is the home of famous Argentine boxer Jose “El Mono” Gatica who is also one of the country’s most well-known sports idols.

Back at Parque La Pedrera in the first of their 10-round main event bout, De La Hoya positioned himself as the bigger fighter, dominating Luques in the ring. The second round saw more activity with Luques showing agression and Diego putting in good combinations, looking for the knockout. With the action from round to round, the sold-out crowd at Parque La Pedrera continued to go crazy, screaming and chanting loudly for the fighters.

The third round produced great action, with Luques working his jab and counter punching though De La Hoya continued to lead. By the seventh round, De La Hoya remained ahead on the judges’ scorecards and continued to lead with Luques showing heart and good counterpunches.

De La Hoya showed good stamina through the ninth round and kept the momentum going. Luques, knowing he was behind on points, pushed forward to demonstrate his skills and abilities but came up short. The fight went the full 10 scheduled rounds, with De La Hoya declared the victor by unanimous decision with scores of 98-92, 97-93, 98-92.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing and @OscarDeLaHoya; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing; and follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @OscarDeLaHoya.

Los Angeles, CA (May 24, 2017) – Hollywood came out in full force to catch a night filled with action-packed boxing matches, live performances and more at the B. Riley & Co. 8th Annual “Big Fighters, Big Cause” Charity Boxing Night at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, CA. The star-studded evening of boxing presented by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions benefitted the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation and its mission to fund life-changing research, care and awareness for pediatric type 1 & 2 diabetes and to help children live healthier lives through diet and exercise.

Hosted by actor and comedian Bill Bellamy, the night also featured a national anthem performance by En Vogue, as well as a live & silent auction display, which included iconic memorabilia and other one-of-a-kind items and experiences to benefit the foundation. Additionally, the evening honored nine-year-old Jackson Blair with the 2017 Golden Glove Award for his extraordinary dedication and hard work to raise money and awareness for type 1 (T1D) diabetes.

Celebrities, VIP guests and Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation supporters in attendance included Usher (Actor/Recording Artist), Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Luke Wilson (Actor), Oscar De La Hoya (Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO), Magic Johnson and Cookie Johnson, En Vogue (R&B/Pop Vocal Group), Tina Knowles Lawson and Richard Lawson, Bo Jackson (Former NFL/MLB Athlete), Chris Spencer (Actor, Black-ish), Johnny Gill (Recording Artist), Laila Ali Conway (Former Professional Boxer), Mia St. John (Boxer), Rodney Peete (Former NFL Athlete), Sergio Mora (Professional Boxer), Terry Norris (Former Boxer), Tommy Davidson (Actor/Comedian), Jeffrey Osborne (Recording Artist), and more.

Main event to the exclusive charity boxing soiree, Kevin “K-Smoove” Rivers, Jr. (14-1, 10 KOs) took on Mexico City’s rugged Roberto “Escorpión” Pucheta (10-11-1, 6 KOs) in a six round lightweight bout. Rivers, Jr., returning to the ring after a 16 month absence, turned up the heat in the third round throwing combinations, giving his opponent a bloody nose late in the round. “K-Smoove” found his groove as the rounds progressed, landing with accuracy. The judges scored the bout all in favor of the East Coast fighter, awarding Rivers, Jr. the unanimous decision win with scores of 60-54, 58-56, and 59-55.

“It’s an honor to be a part of such an event, for such an important cause, especially for my man Sugar Ray,” said Kevin Rivers, Jr. “It was a tough, competitive bout and it was a great way to jump back into the game after 16 months of being out of the ring.”

Rising star Luis “King Louie” Coria (4-0, 3 KOs) took a step up, going toe to toe with the more experienced Antonio “Chore” Martinez (7-10, 5 KOs) in a four round super featherweight bout also part of the star-studded event. It was the first time Coria has gone the distance in his professional career, displaying generalship of the ring. A strong right hand stunned Martinez in the first and third rounds – with Coria even catching “Chore” on the ropes several times. In the end, all three judges scored the bout unanimously 40-36, in favor of Coria.

“My grandpa passed away from diabetes, so this means a lot to me to be able to be a part of helping find a cure for this disease,” said Luis Coria. “I feel good about my performance as I got the win.”

In round five of the scheduled six round middleweight bout, LA’s Marvin Cabrera (4-0, 4 KOs) knocked out Shreveport, Louisiana’s Quantavious “King Tulu” Green (1-1, 1 KO). At the start of the fight, Cabrera and Green traded heavy punches, however after two rounds, Green became exhausted and dropped his defense. Cabrera, taking hold of the opportunity, went forward and bombarded Green with a powerful body shot and overhand combinations. The referee stopped the fight before the fifth round could start due to a left eye injury sustained by Green, awarding Cabrera the technical knockout.

“I’m happy I got to add another knockout to my record at an event like this,” said Marvin Cabrera. “I’m looking forward to tougher fights where I can continue to show off what I have.”

Opening up the 8th annual charity event was Indio’s Alfredo Escarcega (2-0) going the distance in a scheduled four round super lightweight bout against LA’s Rolando Padilla (0-2). Escarcega sent Padilla to the mat twice in the fight, in the first and third rounds, with the same powerful left hook. Escarcega won the fight via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 40-34.

“I was so excited to be a part of such an event, I just couldn’t say no. It’s a great cause, and I’m glad that I got to be featured on it,” said Alfredo Escarcega. “My opponent kept leaning in, and most of the time I was trying to avoid his head butts, but overall I am satisfied with my performance.”

Photos, videos and scorecards are available for download in the following link: http://bit.ly/SRLFoundationBoxing

About Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation
The Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation was established in 2009 by boxing legend and six-time world champion Sugar Ray Leonard and his wife, Bernadette. The Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation funds life-changing care & research for pediatric type 1 & type 2 diabetes. The Foundation is also committed to helping children lead healthier lives through diet and exercise.

Throughout Leonard’s boxing career, he watched his dad and friends struggle with the many complications of diabetes and how it has affected every aspect of their life. Type 1 diabetes strikes both children and adults at any age. It comes on suddenly, causes dependence on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Type 2 diabetes in children is on the rise, fueled largely by the obesity epidemic. Leonard draws from his personal experience and boxing career to provide inspiration for funding research to combat the disease.

For more information, visit www.sugarrayleonardfdn.org, like and follow on twitter at @SugarRayLeonard and Facebook at www.facebook.com/SugarRayLeonard6.

About B. Riley & Co., LLC
B. Riley Financial is a publicly traded, diversified financial services company addressing capital raising and financial advisory needs of public and private companies and high net worth individuals. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with offices in major financial markets throughout the United States, Australia and Europe, the firm consists of over 200 professionals whose cross-platform expertise is mobilized to provide a myriad of financial solutions.

The Company operates through several wholly-owned subsidiaries, including B. Riley & Co., LLC (B. RILEY), a FINRA-licensed broker dealer; Great American Group, LLC (www.greatamerican.com), provider of advisory and valuation services, asset disposition and auction solutions, commercial lending, and real estate advisory services; B. Riley Capital Management, LLC, (which includes B. Riley Asset Management (www.brileyam.com), a SEC-registered investment advisor providing investment products to institutional and high net worth investors, and B. Riley Wealth Management, a multi-family office practice and wealth management firm focused on the needs of ultra-high net worth individuals and families (www.brileywealth.com); Great American Capital Partners, a provider of senior secured loans and second lien secured loan facilities to middle market public and private U.S. companies and B. Riley Principal Investments, a group that makes proprietary investments in other businesses, such as the acquisition of United Online, Inc. (www.untd.com) in July 2016.

About Golden Boy Promotions
Los Angeles-based Golden Boy Promotions was established in 2002 by 10-time world champion in six divisions Oscar De La Hoya, the first Hispanic to own a national boxing promotional company. Golden Boy Promotions is one of boxing’s most active and respected promoters, presenting shows in packed venues around the world and has worked with networks such as HBO, Estrella TV, ESPN, TeleFutura, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, Televisa and TV Azteca. The company has also promoted some of the top boxing events in the history of the sport including De La Hoya vs. Mayweather, Mayweather vs. Canelo and other notable pay-per-view fights featuring fan-favorites Canelo Alvarez, Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Marco “Baby Faced Assassin” Antonio Barrera, Erik “El Terrible” Morales and Sugar Shane Mosley.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, follow on Instagram and Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing and like on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing.

LOS ANGELES (May 15, 2017) The USNBC Super Middleweight title will be up for grabs when red-hot Super Middleweight prospect D’Mitrius “Big Meech” Ballard (16-0, 12 KOs) rides a five-knockout steak into a 10-round battle against heavy-handed Adrian Luna (18-4-1, 11 KOs) in the co-main event of the May 18 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN. The event was originally scheduled to be live on ESPN2, and has now been upgraded to ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya will be ringside watching the action as Diego De La Hoya faces hard hitting Erik Ruiz.

The fight – which will serve as chief support to WBC Youth World Champion Diego De La Hoya’s (17-0, 9 KOs) fight with Erik Ruiz (16-6-1, 6 KOs) — will take place at Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona and be televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes starting at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST. Calling the action live ringside for ESPN will be Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins.

A slew of Golden Boy’s top prospects will round out the stacked card.

Hoping to make TV, super featherweight prospect Hector “El Finito” Tanajara Jr. (8-0, 4 KOs) will face in a four or six-round fight against Daniel Bastien of Monterrey, Mexico. Tanajara is quickly returning from a brutal war in March in which he tasted the canvas for the first time in his career only to rise and win a unanimous decision over Daniel Perales.

Longtime Mexican super lightweight superstar Roberto “Tito” Manzanarez (34-1, 28 KOs) will square off in his second fight in the U.S. under the Golden Boy banner in an eight-round battle against Tijuana, Mexico’s Erick “Platano” Martinez (13-6-1, 7 KOs). Manzanarez was last seen in February taking out longtime contender former world champion Gamaliel Diaz with a brutal body shot in the fourth round.

Phoenix, AZ native Eben Vargas (4-0, 3 KOs) will take on Rodolfo “Rudy” Gamez (1-2) in a four-round welterweight fight. Vargas, a decorated amateur, will return to the ring only weeks after a stellar first-round knockout against Jose Mesa.

Staying active, undefeated super lightweight prospect Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro (9-0, 6 KOs) will return for the second time in just over a month and look for a repeat of his April knockout performance. He will fight Ciudad Juarez’s Ricardo “Maniac” Fernandez (3-4-4) in a six-round super lightweight bout.

Opening up the card, undefeated super flyweight prospect Joshua “The Professor” Franco (9-0, 5 KOs) will battle for six rounds against Mexicali, Mexico’s Marco Sanchez (9-4-2, 4 KOs).

De La Hoya vs. Ruiz is a 10-round super bantamweight bout set for May 18, presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Showdown Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate “Born BOLD” and Hennessy, never stop, never settle. ESPN and ESPN Deportes will transmit the fights live from Casino Del Sol beginning at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST. ESPN3 live stream of the fight will begin at approximately 8:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. PST.

Tickets are on sale and range from $30.00-$105.00 (includes convenience fee). Tickets are available for purchase at the Casino Del Sol gift shop and online at casinodelsol.com.

Videos and images are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link: http://bit.ly/DeLaHoya-Ruiz. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for any photos/video.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @ESPNBoxing and @ESPNBoxeo; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/espn.fnf, and www.facebook.com/ESPNBoxeo; and follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @ESPNBoxeo. Follow the conversation using #GBPonESPN.

About Casino Del Sol:
Located in southwest metropolitan Tucson, Ariz., the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is a federally recognized tribe with nearly 20,000 enrolled members. The Tribe owns and operates several enterprises including Casino Del Sol. Arizona’s only Forbes Four Star and AAA Four Diamond casino resort, one of the Best Hotels in Arizona named by U.S. News & World Report; Casino of the Sun; AVA Amphitheater, a 5,000-seat open-air concert venue named Casino Arena/Amphitheater of the Year by Casino Entertainment Awards; Sewailo Golf Club a par-72 championship course designed by Notah Begay III; and the Del Sol Marketplace. For more information, call 1-855-SOL-STAY (765-7829) or visit www.CasinoDelSol.com; Follow Casino Del Sol on Facebook and Twitter.

LOS ANGELES (May 1, 2017) Jump starting fight week on a high note, former WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) hosted an international conference call ahead of his highly anticipated showdown against Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) this Saturday, May 6, presented live on HBO Pay-Per-View from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Chavez, Jr. was joined by his legendary father, Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr., trainer Guillermo “Memo” Heredia, and Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya as he discussed his training camp and his upcoming fight.

Here is what Chavez, Jr., Chavez, Sr., and De La Hoya had to say on their conference call:

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions: We are really excited to showcase two of the most popular fighters in the world today who will clash on Cinco de Mayo weekend, May 6. It will be an unforgettable event that people will really look forward to.

And the response has been amazing, not only with the sold-out arena but with having to open up six more properties with the closed-circuit TV in Las Vegas, the huge buzz around the fight. We know tickets are going incredibly well. This fight is on HBO Pay-Per-View, I want to thank HBO who is always fired up to work with. They are our broadcast partners here in this incredible event.

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ, SR., Former three division, six-time World Champion: Hello, happy to be here.

DE LA HOYA: I want to take also this opportunity to thank Tecate, our sponsor, BORN BOLD. The commercials have been running everywhere and thanks to Tecate, the commercials with Sylvester Stallone and Canelo have done a tremendous job in promoting an incredible event. I want to thank O’Reilly Auto Parts, Adriana’s Insurance and Interjet, for participating in this wonderful event.

And now the trainer, Angel “Memo” Heredia. From what I hear Chavez, Jr. is in incredible, incredible shape. We hear he’s on weight already, a few pounds over, and it shouldn’t be a big deal. The weight is no problem, and thanks to this man.

GUILLERMO “MEMO” HEREDIA, Trainer to Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.: Yes, I’m very honored and happy to be part of this great fight, and just excited. We’re just waiting for the day to come, which is almost a few days, so we’re ready and excited for this event.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Next up now, with boxing in his blood, former four-time WBC World Middleweight Champion. He’s proven that he is worthy of carrying the legacy he inherited by his father, living legend and six-time world champion, Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr.

In his most recent performance, Chavez, Jr. met with highly-regarded Dominic Britsch, winning by a unanimous decision in Monterrey, Mexico in Nuevo Leon.

Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. will be putting his name and legacy on the line on May 6. And now let’s hear from the man himself, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

Q. Julio, curious about, we talked to Canelo and we talked about the magnitude of this fight within Mexican boxing communities, within all Mexicans of the culture, how big of a deal it is. I would like to hear your thoughts about how big you view it and if that has added anymore pressure because you are fighting another Mexican, and of course, wants to uphold the family name.

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ, JR.: It’s very, very important for both fighters. Yes, it’s very important for him, but the fact that it’s two Mexicans, I think that this is one of the most important fights in the history of Mexico.

Q. And why do you think that, and do you feel a pressure to uphold your family name as part of your role in trying to win the fight, because of course, knowing how famous and how many big fights your dad won.

CHAVEZ, JR.: I just feel, because it’s a great event; it’s a big event, with two great Mexican fighters, and I feel that it’s my last opportunity, and I’m going to take advantage of it and do the best I can.

Q. You’ve been a world champion before and fought in some major fights in your career, but even though this isn’t a world-title fight, is this to you the biggest fight of your career, and if so, why, if, in fact, it is.
CHAVEZ, JR.: Yes, I do feel that this fight is the biggest fight of my career, just because it’s a big event, because of who I’m fighting and because of the opportunity. I’m going to take advantage of it and make the best of it.

Q. How much bad feeling is there between you and Canelo? What are your feelings towards him? This fight has been talked about for a long time, it’s happening, and it seems to me you don’t particularly like one another, but you can never quite tell. What’s your feelings about Canelo and how much do you want to get in there and basically beat him up?

CHAVEZ, JR.: Yes, there’s a real, true rivalry, and on Saturday night, people are going to see firsthand this rivalry, how real it is. Obviously we’re going to show it inside the ring.

Q. Julio, I’ve seen video of you in this training camp, and you look to be in incredible shape. What are you doing differently now, that you were not willing to do over the past few years as your career went in the wrong direction?

CHAVEZ, JR.: The difference is I was listening to my corner, Mr. Beristain, he had me doing certain training and I did it. It was very difficult in the beginning getting used to this new regimen, but it’s something that I did. I followed it and I think that’s the difference in this fight.

Q. As you look back at the five years since you were in a fight that was this big, what do you think is the reason why your motivation soured for a while?

CHAVEZ, JR.: The difference is that I was younger, less experienced, and over the years, I’ve learned from those kind of mistakes and the inexperience that I had, and that’s difference between then and this fight.

Q. When you watch Canelo’s biggest fights, what are the main vulnerabilities in his game that stick out to you?

CHAVEZ, JR.: One of the advantages is that he’s fought a lot of fighters, not always in their prime. Also, he’s a smaller fighter. He’s a good fighter but smaller for his division and I think that’s an advantage that I have.

I want to congratulate my brother. I’m very happy for his victory against Alvarez family, I know it’s difficult any time somebody loses, but it’s a sport. With regards to that fight, it’s totally separate from my fight. My fight is a different fight, different event, something that I have to focus on. But I congratulate my brother. I’m very happy for his victory.

I think that there’s a lot of excitement. I’m very excited about this. I think the people are excited about this and I want to thank everybody for all the support, and I think that on May 6, we are going to put on a great fight and everybody is going to be able to enjoy it.

Q. How do you envision what’s going to happen in this fight in six days? How do you feel about it, and also your weight?

CHAVEZ, JR.: I feel a lot better, you know, when I train hard and I’m focused, when I’m motivated as I am in this fight.

Also, with regards to the weight, I’m close to making weight already and I’ve done everything I’ve been asked to do with regards to my diet. It’s not easy, but I know when I focus on my diet and when I focus on making weight, I can do it. I’ve done it before, and this is just one additional time I’m doing it.

Q. Memo, can you talk about the training since December and your last fight?

MEMO HEREDIA: Yes, we’ve been training for a while. The Monterrey fight was a good beginning, a smaller fight, and it wasn’t as long a camp. This one was much better. It was a longer camp. I feel Julio is really strong, and always remember that Julio is a good fighter. He’s a smart fighter. And with his preparation, I think the combination of things is going to make for a great fight from Julio.

Q. I know there’s been a lot of discussion about whether you’ll make the weight or how you’re making the weight. I wanted to know, when it was being discussed, this fight, how confident were you that when you finally agreed to the 164.5, that you would be able to do it, or was there a little bit of, like I hope I can do this, I think I can do this, I’m going to work really hard to do this, but were there some anxious moments in there?

CHAVEZ, JR.: I always felt that 160 was a possible weight that I could make. When we were discussing this fight, I didn’t think it was an obstacle, because I knew that if I want it and I worked hard enough, I could go to 160.

The only difference was it going to be a lot of work. I felt it was going to be a lot of work and it has been a lot of work. Therefore, 164.5, the weight that we agreed to, I never felt that it wasn’t possible. It was just going to be a lot of work to get there.

Q. And even coming down a little bit from where you’ve had your most recent fights, do you think that the way that you win this fight is because you are a bigger guy than Canelo, you have a great chin, you always have, and you also have good punching power; and that if you take a good big guy and match him with a good guy that’s smaller, a lot of times the guy that wins is the bigger man. Do you feel like your best asset is that you can go out there and just push him around, impose your will on him and break him down in that way?

CHAVEZ, JR.: Well, it has been said that in boxing that that’s an important factor; that the weight and the bigger person is always going to have the advantage. That I think is true.

But I think with this fight, I’m just focusing on staying strong, making the weight the right way so that I’m in there and able to compete at that level. But I think really that this fight is going to come down to me being intelligent, me being smart, and I think that’s going to be the difference, also.

Q. Do you think you can knock him out?

CHAVEZ, JR.: Yes, I feel I can. I feel that I’m a bigger guy. I fought at light heavyweight. He’s never thought fighters this size, and because of that, if things pan out and I get the right shot, I think of course it can happen.

Q. I know your relationship with Canelo is not good. Is it because he feels that you have not — you have not had to work that hard because of your bloodlines, etc.? Is that why you think that he does not like you?

CHAVEZ, JR.: The answer is, I don’t know specifically why he doesn’t like me or this animosity exists. Maybe because I’m the son of Julio Cesar Chavez, I don’t know. That could be one of the reasons.

You know, we don’t always pick who we’re going to, but I can tell you this: I am the son of a legend, but some of — all of my accomplishments have come from my work. I’m the one who wins these fights, and I think one of the reasons they picked me is because I put on good fights. And I’m the type of fighter that people want to see, and they know that this fight with me will generate bigger revenue, and that’s another reason why this fight is happening.

Q. When you train, do you prefer to have your father around you, or does that sometimes put so much pressure on you? How do you feel about that?

CHAVEZ, JR.: I like my father to be around. It’s okay when he’s around. It’s just important for him to understand that he’s not my trainer. Sometimes we don’t always transmit instructions the way we would like for them to come out, but I have my own trainer. I picked Nacho Beristain, who is a great trainer; one of the best in the history of boxing.

But I will say that a lot of what I learned in boxing, I learned it watching my father as a little kid. I grew up watching him my whole life, and I learned a lot of what I know from watching my father.

Q. What is it that motivates you the most to want to win this fight?

CHAVEZ, JR.: Everything. I want to prove to everybody that I still can be and fight at the very top levels. And also, I want to dedicate this fight, I want to do well and dedicate this fight to my daughters.

Q. Is this a great opportunity and could make you a star again, but what if you lost?

CHAVEZ, JR.: I don’t plan on losing. It’s not something I’m thinking about. This fight and boxing is not about luck. It’s about hard work, and it’s what you have in your heart. And if you work hard and your heart is in it, you’ll have good results.

So no, it’s not luck, I don’t believe in luck, and I don’t plan on losing. So there’s nothing for me to discuss regarding that.

Q. What do you respect about Canelo?

CHAVEZ, JR.: He’s a good fighter. He’s had good fights. He’s fought good people, not always in their prime, but they have been good fighters, and I have respect for anybody who jumps in the ring. Anybody who is willing to go in the ring and fight deserves my respect.

I have no fear of anything, and I don’t fear my opponents. The only thing that I worry about is myself. I’m the only thing that I have to worry about.

Q. You talked a while ago about your pairing with Nacho Beristain for this training camp. What made you make the decision to go work with one of the most revered and respected trainers in boxing? Compared to the other trainers you’ve worked with over the course of your career that got you to obviously a very good record.

CHAVEZ, JR.: So why Nacho? The reason I chose Nacho is that I think he’s a great Mexican trainer, and I think he has the correct character that matches with me. I saw something in him, some type of connection, that I felt would be very good for me.

It wasn’t easy making adjustments. Like anytime you have a new trainer, it’s a difficult transition sometimes. But I felt that throughout the camp, he taught me a lot of things, some things that I changed in my boxing, that I think are going to help me the day of the fight. That’s the reason I chose him.

Q. We just had a spectacular worldwide fight viewed by millions halfway around the world, and the boxing community is still buzzing about it. Are you going to be able to build on that for your fight this weekend? Do you think that is a big advantage and plus for you this weekend?

CHAVEZ, JR.: This last fight this past weekend was exciting. It’s always an exciting event whenever there’s a heavyweight match up at this level, especially two guys who are action fighters and that’s what we saw this past weekend.

And like everything in boxing, it’s about the styles. Good styles create good fights and I think that’s what happened in that fight. And I think that we’re going to build upon that this Saturday, May 6. I think that my style with my opponent is a fight set up for that kind of event: Action fight with two styles that are going to be exciting for the people.

Q. Was there ever a time when things weren’t going so well for you, maybe after the Fonfara fight that you ever thought about hanging it up, or did that never cross your mind?

CHAVEZ, JR.: It may have crossed my mind at some point, obviously after the Fonfara fight and the Reyes fight, those were two fights where I don’t think that I had the same amount of passion that I needed to have.

But this fight is a lot different. This fight has created a lot of passion in me, a lot of enthusiasm, and I think that that’s the difference in this. Excited about this fight, and I think that you’re going to see a different Julio that’s excited.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: We will be sending out information for the coming days in Las Vegas, and we will see you May 6 in the much-anticipated Canelo Alvarez versus Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. fight. Thank you very much.

Canelo vs. Chavez, Jr. is a 12-round fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Tecate, BORN BOLD, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Adriana’s Insurance and Interjet. Lemieux vs. Reyes is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Eye of the Tiger Management, Matthysse vs. Taylor is a 10-round fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Arano Boxing and Star Boxing. Diaz, Jr. vs. Avila is presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The event will take place on Saturday, May 6 at T-Mobile Arena and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets for the closed circuit telecast of Canelo vs. Chavez, Jr. are priced at $75, not including applicable fees. All seats are general admission and tickets are available for purchase at any MGM Resorts International box office or concierge desk. Tickets also can be purchased by phone with a major credit card at 800-745-3000.

Tickets for “Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio César Chávez, Jr.” in theaters nationwide are on sale now at www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in select movie theaters through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network (DBN).

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.hbo.com/boxing; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @hboboxing; become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing.com; follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @HBOboxing and @OscarDeLaHoya; follow the conversation using #CaneloChavezJr

Photos and videos are available to download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/Canelo-ChavezJr into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

LOS ANGELES (April 11, 2017) Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) hosted an international media conference call today ahead of his highly anticipated fight against Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs). Joined by his team, world renowned Eddy and Chepo Reynoso as well as the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez opened up about his preparation for the fight, the rivalry between him and Chavez, Jr. and what fans can expect come Cinco De Mayo Weekend, live from T-Mobile Arena and presented by HBO Pay-Per-View.

Here is what Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya, Eddy and Chepo Reynoso said during the international media conference call:

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions: We’re very happy, thank you very much to the media from all over the world. We are roughly less than 30 days away from the big event, Canelo vs. Chavez, which will take place on the Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 6 at the brand new, state-of-the-art, T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas.

Just to let you know, the response has been unbelievable. We haven’t had a Mexican showdown on Cinco de Mayo weekend in a very, very long time. And the demand has been incredible. I haven’t seen anything like it since Barrera vs. Morales; since De La Hoya vs. Chavez, Sr. This is going to be an incredible weekend for all boxing fans.

I would like to thank the best partner in the business, who is HBO, for being our broadcaster for this incredible event. At this moment, let me take the opportunity to thank our sponsors: Tecate, BORN BOLD, Hennessey, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Adriana’s Insurance and Interjet, which will be doing a massive, massive, marketing pitch on a global scale, which has been unheard of in the sport. They have created several different spots and commercials, which will be kicking in during the next few days.

We have created a special commercial for the actual fight, which should be a huge surprise to many. It will be a commercial that transcends the sport of boxing. And obviously, it’s because of the two fighters who are involved.

This fight is not only a fight for the boxing fans, but also a fight that casual sports fans have really been behind and supporting because of their careers, because of their records. So we’re really, really excited as you can hear.

Also, we will be having the Canelo’s media workout on Wednesday, April 19 at the House of Boxing in San Diego. More details will follow, so you want to stay tuned. One thing about Canelo, he’s been very courteous to the media. He opens up his camp. He lets people in every single day, so the media can follow his every move so they can be part of the fight, so we want to thank Team Canelo.

On that note, it is my pleasure to introduce to you team Canelo. First off, I would like to introduce to you the manager and trainer of Canelo, his manager, Jose “Chepo” Reynoso.

JOSE “CHEPO” REYNOSO, Manager and Trainer of Canelo Alvarez: Hello, everybody. Good afternoon to everybody.

I’m very happy how camp is going and training is going, and we’re anxious and ready to give everybody a spectacular performance on May 6.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Also at this time I would like to introduce to you the trainer of Canelo Alvarez, who has been doing an incredible, incredible job. We have seen the progression, his growth, his speed, his power, which has been unbelievable, at the tender age of 26 years old. I would like to introduce to you the trainer, Eddy Reynoso.

EDDY REYNOSO, Head Trainer of Canelo Alvarez: Good morning to everybody that’s listening. We’re doing very well. We’re training very hard, and we’re just anxious and ready for May 6.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: At this moment, I would like to introduce to you the young man who at the tender age of 26 years old has already accomplished more than 99 percent of the fighters — which fighters achieve in their entire career. He’s a two-time division world champion at both the junior middleweight and middleweight doubles. He has had his hand raised in victory 48 times with 34 knockouts. You know, he has taken all comers and has defeated almost every single one, including Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Austin Trout, champions like Sugar Shane Mosley, the spectacular knockout against James Kirkland, the masterful boxer Erislandy Lara; the list goes on and on and on, and he’s only 26 years old.

It is my pleasure to introduce to you, taking on Chavez, Jr. on May 6, this is Canelo Alvarez.

CANELO ALVAREZ,Former Two-Division World Champion: Good afternoon to everybody. Just want to say thank you, once again, for supporting another one of our fights, and for being here. I am looking forward to do what I always do: train hard, 100 percent focus and ready to give you guys all a great performance.

Q. Canelo, is Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. the first of the 50 opponents that you feel you want to rip his head off?

CANELO ALVAREZ: No, he’s one more of the 50 of all my opponents that I’ve faced. I’ve wanted to rip their head off; I wanted to beat them; I wanted to them knock them out. This is a little extra. There’s a little bit more motivation, of course, because of the rivalry, but it’s another one of my fights.

Q. Eddy, what’s the most difficult part of facing Chavez, Jr.? Is it the weight, the strength, the technique, or his strength?

EDDY REYNOSO: Well, the most difficult part of facing Chavez is that he’s Mexican. And anytime you have a fight between two Mexicans, it’s a guaranteed spectacular fight and brings out that extra in a fighter, and makes it that much tougher and guarantees the war.

Q. Oscar, as far as the Pay-Per-View, with all the expectation and people expecting this great fight and waiting for this great fight, what do you expect the Pay-Per-View to be in the US?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: We’re very happy with how it’s going. Obviously the way the tickets sold out and now Pay-Per-View, closed circuit is opening it up. MGM is opening up more properties for closed circuit. Won’t give you a number now, but we’re very happy and we can see that it’s going to do very well and break some records.

Q. Canelo, I know you have had world titles before and you’ve been a champion multiple times but this is not a title fight. In your opinion, is this even a bigger fight than any defense or world title or fighting for a world title, just because of the pride that’s at stake? And how significant is this fight to you and your fans and pretty much all the Mexican boxing fans; is the pride almost a bigger deal than a world title?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Titles are very important to me but this is above that. This goes above a title, any title. It’s for honor, for pride, and it’s very important for me. And to keep making history in my career.

Q. Oscar, I was wondering if you could address that, also. You were in a lot of fights in your career against other Mexican opponents, Mexican-American opponents, whether it was Genaro Hernandez or Rafael Ruelas, or certainly your huge fights with Julio, Senior. Can you speak to what Canelo is talking about, that maybe the pride and the glory for Mexico, that sort of attitude is perhaps even a bigger deal to the Mexican boxers than having a title at stake, or maybe even the money, for all I know. What are your thoughts about that?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: These are the types of fights that take you to a whole new level in terms of your boxing abilities inside the ring. It makes you obviously train harder. It gives you that extra motivation. If you want to go run ten miles today, well, guess what, you’re going to run 11 or 12 because you’re just so amped, because this fight is so personal.

And look, both fighters are going to be in the best shape of their life. But for some strange reason, there’s something extra that comes out in you. You know, Canelo and Chavez, Jr. are going to find out that, wow, I didn’t know I can do this move; or I didn’t know I can throw this combination at such a fast pace; or, you know, that extra motivation, it’s going to be all instinctual. It’s going to be all because of that pride, because of what’s at stake.

We’re going to see two completely different fighters, fighters that we’ve never seen before inside the ring on May 6, and it’s all because of that pride that’s at stake.

Q. Could you rate this among other big-time all Mexico fights, whether it’s Barrera and Morales as you mentioned in your opening remarks, or certainly the fights between, Barrera and Marquez? There’s been a lot of great Mexicans that fought each other, but obviously fights that you were involved in against other Mexican fighters, can you put it in any kind of context for me?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Well, in terms of action, inside the ring, yes, I would say kind of like Barrera – Morales. But in terms of the event, of how big it is, I cannot remember a fight against two Mexicans that has created so much interest, anticipation. So this is probably the biggest boxing event with two Mexican fighters.

Q. Canelo, You’re going up quite a bit in weight compared to your typical fighting weight. I wonder if you can talk about, what’s been the biggest factor in that and how do you feel putting on that weight, and how do you think he’ll take your power at the new weight?

CANELO ALVAREZ: I’ve been feeling very good. I’ve been training with sparring partners who are much bigger, who are light heavyweights that are much bigger than me. I’m feeling very comfortable, and very strong. I’m not having to dehydrate as much. I’m still having to go down in weight because I’m above the weight that the fight is scheduled at, but I don’t have to dehydrate totally. We’ll see come fight night how I feel, how the body adapts. I’m a fighter that knows how to adapt to the situations, and my body adapts well. I’m just anxious and looking forward to giving the public a beautiful fight, a great fight, come May 6.

Q. He quit against Andrzej Fonfara; Oscar gave his father quite the trouble in their rematch. Do you think you can make this guy quit?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Everything’s possible in boxing and as the great Bernard Hopkins once said: “Once a quitter, always a quitter.” So anything’s possible.

Q. Canelo, what do you think about the pictures that Chavez, Jr. has been posting? What do you think of his conditioning, his physical being now, and do you think that he seems to be posting these pictures to try to clean the image of his past performance with his training regimens?

CANELO ALVAREZ: No, it doesn’t bother me at all. It doesn’t intimidate me. Look, I’ve been fighting professionally since I was 15 years old, so I’ve been fighting bigger and stronger guys.

On the contrary, I’m very happy that he’s working hard, that he’s training hard and that he’s doing good, because you know what, that’s guarantees the people a great fight. I’m doing my thing like I always do. I have my conditioning. I’m feeling strong and I’m looking good. But I’m glad that he is, as well.

Q. Is the bet still on that you guys made?

CANELO ALVAREZ: No, his dad didn’t let him.

Q. I was interested in knowing, what is your history in knowing and talking to Chavez, Jr. personally? How far back does the rivalry go and how have you always perceived him as a person?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Well, this rivalry goes back about ten years, you know, to our time in Guadalajara. They had the opportunity to make this fight years ago. They had the power to make this fight back then. They didn’t want to.

As a person, you know, I don’t know him well, but just from what I hear from his actions and all, it’s like a guy that just doesn’t sustain what he says. You know, he just says a lot of things. It’s almost like he’s a little kid.

Q. Canelo, you like Oscar, have overcome earlier in your career the idea that you’re a pretty boy and not a true Mexican Warrior. So as things stand right now, how do you gauge the temperature of the Mexican public as to whether they will be supporting you or Chavez, Jr. in this fight?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Look, my fans are there. My fans know that I started from nothing, from the bottom up, from zero, and have worked my way up with a lot of sweat and sacrifices.

He has his fans, as well. But I think a lot of his fans are more his father’s fans than his, and his fans follow his father, what his father says, because he’s shown a lot of ups and downs in his career, and he himself has not had a real disciplined career. He is not a role model for the young children and the young fighters. And you know what, I’ve always said, whether I have 1,000, 5,000, 20,000 or millions, I’m very fortunate. I’m very happy and I’m very appreciative of my fans and I’ll give them 100 percent all the time.

Q. This motivation that Chavez, Jr. is showing in his camp, his training and his talking, does that bother you? Do you appreciate it? What do you think about that, because obviously he seems highly motivated for this fight against you?

CANELO ALVAREZ: I hope so. I hope everything we’re hearing is true, and that he is training extra hard and extra motivated, because that just makes me happy. That makes me happy because that just means we’re going to give the public, the fans, a beautiful fight.

Q. We know you prepare yourself very good. We know you prepare yourself 100 percent and you’re always training hard to go the distance and prepare for the 12 rounds, but do you think this fight will go the 12 rounds?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Look, there’s a very high percentage this fight could end by a knockout, because of our styles, obviously the weight, the size of each other. And obviously a knockout is spectacular, for the fighter, for the fans, and we’ll see.

We’ll see what’s going to happen come the fight, and we’re going to give it 100 percent to do everything possible to give the fans what they want.

Q. Oscar, Triple G is most likely going to be out till the fall. It looks like he’s not going to be fighting this June 10 fight in Kazakhstan. Are you pleased by that in terms of possibly making the fight with Triple G and Canelo for the fall?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: All my focus is on Canelo and Chavez, Jr. I actually didn’t even know he was not going to fight in June. That’s obviously a great indication. But all focus is on this fight.

Q. Canelo, do you view this match up with Chavez, Jr. in any way as preparation for the eventual fight with Golovkin, just in terms of his size and style?

CANELO ALVAREZ: No, not at all. This is just another fight and it’s a very important fight for me, and I’m not focusing on any other fighter but the fight that I have in front of me.

Q. You’ve mentioned in a couple interviews that it bothers you that Chavez, Jr. talks so much behind your back, but when he’s face-to-face with you, doesn’t say much. Is that an extra motivation for come fight night to shut him up?
CANELO ALVAREZ: Yes, obviously it motivates me and I’m just waiting, waiting for May 6. I’m building up because come May 6, I’m going to let it all out.

Q. What is it that worries you most or concerns you more with Chávez Jr., his punch, or what is it?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Look, I mean, obviously we have a strategy and I can’t say it now. Sometimes you build on that: Bell rings, the first round and that goes out the window and you’ve got to adapt to something else. And that’s what we’re doing: We’re working hard, we’re preparing, we’re training hard to come in with a plan and see how he brings it and we can adapt to it.

Q. What does it feel like to train at this heavy weight? From the outside looking in, you sound happier and livelier on this conference call alone. Has it been an easier transition than going into training camp having to worry about cutting weight?

CANELO ALVAREZ: You know what, I’m always real happy. I’m always — I’m normally a tranquil person.
But obviously in this fight, I don’t have to go down as many pounds, the weight. But it’s part of me. It’s my character. I’m always a happy person. I love what I do.

Q. If you cause Chavez Jr. to quit or you administer a very severe beating to him, will any part of you feel sad for his father?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Look, I don’t think of that. I don’t even give it a thought. It’s something that doesn’t even cross my mind. Look, I’ve got to go in there, do my job, and do what I have to do. And that’s part of boxing, to hurt your opponent and beat your opponent more than he can beat you. So that’s what I’m focused on, going in there and winning and beating him.

Q. Your trainers, Eddy and Chepo, they do a tremendous job, but they don’t always get the recognition. Why do you think that is?

CANELO ALVAREZ: I don’t know. I really don’t know and understand it. The trainer is a trainer, is a man, a person,that gets a fighter that doesn’t even know how to throw a jab, that doesn’t even know how to walk and teaches them.
Now, on the other side, when a trainer gets a fighter that’s already made and all they have to do is conditioning, those are conditioning coaches, not trainers.
And Eddy and Chepo, when I started with them, I didn’t even know how to throw a jab, and they taught me. Those are trainers.

Q. Is there any concern with Team Canelo with Chavez, Jr. training with “Nacho” Beristain and any strategy he might implement come May 6?
CANELO ALVAREZ: No, not at all. There’s no worries whatsoever. I’m a fighter that’s already been made; a fighter that — how much more can you teach him.

Sure, he can get him in great shape and give him a couple words of advice.

I have the best trainers, the best corner in the world. So we just have to worry and focus about ourselves, get in great condition and doing our work, and obviously when we get to the fight, we’ll see.

Q. Why do you think that the majority of the experts have you as a big favorite against Chavez, Jr.?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Because they know. They know based on my history, my discipline, my abilities, my talent, and obviously all the experts see that and they know.

Q. Chavez, Jr. made a declaration that he was sort of confused as to why the anti-dope tests have been one way; that maybe Canelo was hiding something. What do you have to say about that?

CANELO ALVAREZ: What he’s saying is very stupid. Simply put, very stupid. Because we’re talking about the top agency, a very professional — whether they do blood, whether they do urine, whatever they do, they know what they are doing.
And I haven’t tested positive, ever, in my career, and he’s tested two or three times. So he should shut up and worry about himself and stop saying those stupid things.

Q. I just wanted to ask, being that this fight is taking place at a higher weight, do you now consider yourself a true middleweight and do you consider yourself the Middleweight Champion of the World?

CANELO ALVAREZ: Look, I’m not a current world champion at middleweight. I have been in the past, but I’m not now.

And as far as the weight, after this fight, I’m not looking past this fight. I’m focused 100 percent on this fight, but I’m now staying at middleweight. I’ll stay at 160 pounds.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you very much and this concludes our call. A reminder to all the media, we will host Canelo’s final media day at the House of Boxing in San Diego, and more details to follow.

Again tickets are going extremely fast for closed circuit, which is a good indication everybody is excited, so we will see you May 6. And some closing comments from Canelo and we will end the call.

CANELO ALVAREZ: I want to thank all of you for all the support you’ve given in the promotion. I’ll see you all on April 19 for the public workout and then during the fight week for May 6. I want to see all the people there in support. Thank you so much.

Canelo vs. Chavez, Jr. is a 12-round fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Tecate, BORN BOLD, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Adriana’s Insurance and Interjet. Lemieux vs. Reyes is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Eye of the Tiger Management, Matthysse vs. Taylor is a 10-round fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Arano Boxing and Star Boxing and Diaz, Jr. vs. Avila is presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The event will take place on Saturday, May 6 at T-Mobile Arena and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets for a closed circuit viewing of the fights at the Grand Ballroom at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino are on sale for $75, not including applicable fees. All seats are general admission and can be purchased at the MGM Grand box office or by phone with a major credit card at 800-745-3000.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.hbo.com/boxing; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @hboboxing; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.Facebook.com/HBOboxing; follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @HBOboxing and @OscarDeLaHoya; follow the conversation using #CaneloChavezJr.

Photos and videos are available to download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/Canelo-ChavezJr into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

LOS ANGELES (March 8, 2017) The first card for the Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN series just got even bigger with undefeated former IBF Bantamweight World Champion Randy “El Matador” Caballero (23-0, 14 KOs) now set to compete against Jesus “Estrella” Ruiz (35-7-5, 24 KOs) of Nogales, Mexico in a 10-round bout for the vacant NABF Super Bantamweight title. Caballero will find a strong challenge in the battle-tested contender Ruiz who has squared off with the likes of world champion Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz and Diego De La Hoya.

Caballero vs. Ruiz will serve as the chief support to the highly anticipated main event between Irish amateur standout and middleweight contender Jason “El Animal” Quigley (12-0, 10 KOs) and the hard-punching Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia (23-3, 15 KOs), airing live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California starting at 10:00 p.m. EST/7:00 p.m. PST.

Opening up the televised portion of the night, 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist and highly decorated amateur Marlen Esparza of Houston, TX will make pro debut against Rachel Sazoff (0-2) of Hamilton Township, New Jersey.

Two additional undercard fights will be live streamed on ESPN3 and will be available in English and in Spanish. Golden Boy Promotions has added A-list prospect Hector “El Finito” Tanajara, Jr. (7-0, 4 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas to face off against Daniel Perales (7-6-1, 5 KOs) of Monterey, Mexico for over six rounds in the lightweight division.

The undercard will also feature IBF #1 middleweight contender Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13 KOs) against a soon to be announced fighter, in addition to previously announced fights featuring Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (22-7, 7 KOs) of Riverside, Calif. for an eight-round welterweight bout against Tijuana, Mexico’s Hector “Charro Negro” Velasquez (57-28-3, 39 KOs); and Azat “Attack” Hovhannisyan (10-2, 9 KOs) in an eight-round super bantamweight bout.

Additionally, renowned ring announcer and television personality Michael Buffer will serve as the VIP guest for the action-packed card on March 23 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. As the VIP guest of the night, Buffer will be in attendance for the fights and will be on hand to meet fans, sign autographs and take pictures inside the Fantasy Springs Special Events Center before the ESPN broadcast begins. The meet-and-greet is open to the public with the purchase of a ticket to the event.

Tickets for the event are on sale now, start at $25 and are available at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino box office, by calling 1-800-827-2946, or by purchasing online at www.FantasySprings.com.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing; and follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @OscarDeLaHoya. Follow the conversation using #GBPonESPN.

The event is sponsored by Tecate “Born BOLD.” Doors open at 4:00 p.m. PT and the first fight begins at 4:00 p.m. PT. The ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes transmission begins live from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions: Thank you for joining us on the media call with former IBF Middleweight Champion David Lemieux and WBC Continental Americas Middleweight Champion Curtis “The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens.

First off, I would like to introduce Team Curtis Stevens. He is the trainer of Curtis Stevens, and he was a great fighter. He’s a good friend. He’s a great trainer today. It is my pleasure to introduce to you John David Jackson. So a few words, if you can, how camp is going.

JOHN DAVID JACKSON, Trainer to Curtis Stevens: Camp is going real well. Curtis is a true professional. He’s dedicated to his craft. This is a fight that he wanted for some time. Like you alluded to, it’s a fight that the fans definitely don’t want to miss.

It’s a bigger fight. Camp is going the way it’s supposed to go. And we’re right on time. And come March 11th you should see an exciting fight from both fighters.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: It’s my pleasure now to introduce to you the WBC Continental Americas Champion Curtis “The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens, with 29 wins and five losses and 21 KOs.

He hails from Brownsville, Brooklyn to become former NABF and now Continental Americas middleweight champion, and has won two straight fights with a thunderous knockout over then undefeated Patrick Teixeira in May of 2016. And he followed that by a unanimous decision victory over James De La Rosa later in the year. So now he’s ready to end the war of words with Lemieux once and for all. It’s my pleasure to introduce to you Curtis Stevens.

CURTIS STEVENS, WBC Continental Americas Middleweight Champion: Good afternoon, everyone. Training camp, like John said, is going good. Right on time. A lot of work has been done. Last time going in just putting the work in with the hands.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Now I’m going to introduce to you Team Lemieux. We have on the line Marc Ramsay, who is the trainer, who has been doing an amazing job. He’s getting better, more experience, and thanks to his team and leading the charge is Marc Ramsay.

MARC RAMSAY, Trainer to David Lemieux: Hi, everybody. Stevens came back to the gym the beginning of December. Right now, the last week, it was very predictive. And we know that we have a good challenge in front of us, but at the same time everything is in place for a great performance, I believe, next week.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: I want to introduce my partner, Eye of the Tiger Management, and that’s Camille.

CAMILLE ESTEPHAN: Hey, Oscar. Hey, everybody. Thank you very much for being here. We’re extremely excited for this fight. We are going to definitely see the knockout-of-the-year or fight-of-the-year, or both. So keep your seats buckled as you’re watching this fight.

We can’t wait for March 11th around the corner. Thank you for the opportunity. Our partner is Golden Boy, HBO and Tecate, and thank you to both teams for making this happen.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: It’s my pleasure now to introduce to you Canada’s former IBF middleweight world champion, posting a stellar record of 36 wins with three losses and 31 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Lemieux’s coming off of back-to-back impressive victories over perennial contender and fighter Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia. He had a hard-fought unanimous decision against Argentine fighter Cristian Fabian Rios. And now obviously he’s ready to kick off 2017 with a great fight once again to prove himself that he is someone to reckon with in the middleweight division. My pleasure to introduce to you David Lemieux.

DAVID LEMIEUX, Former IBF Middleweight Champion: Hi, guys. Great to be back. Great to be on. It’s an exciting fight. It’s been a while. I want to shut Stevens down, and here it’s finally set and I’m very excited for this fight.

Obviously he’s a guy that’s come to fight. He’s going to give a good show. So the moment it lasts. I promise one thing if I promise anything, but one thing is for sure: My fans will not be disappointed. And the fans of the boxing world. It’s going to be a great fight.

It’s going to be a great night. Great night for me. I’m extremely excited to get back on top. Curtis Stevens is a step to where I want to go. And I’m very excited and extremely ready. I’ve had a great camp. And there’s nothing that — I’m extremely excited to show the world what I can do. And it’s going to be exciting, and I can’t wait for the fans to watch this fight.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you very much to David. And also fight fans, like I said, you can catch this fight on HBO Boxing After Dark. And now I would like to open it up for questions.

Q. This is for both Curtis and David. Obviously there’s a lot of talk about two other fighters in your division who people would like to see get together. Does this take away, do you think, from attention towards you two, who feel in any other era would be being talked about perhaps a lot more? Your division has a lot of attention because of two names that people are interested in, and that would be of course Canelo Álvarez and Gennady Golovkin. And you both faced Golovkin. Do you think in some ways that it’s diverting attention away from the two of you who, in another era, might be getting a lot more attention?

CURTIS STEVENS: To me, not necessarily, because Gennady and Canelo isn’t happening just yet. Stevens/Lemieux is happening March 11th. So I believe everyone is just waiting until March 11th until the fight day come, see what happens.

DAVID LEMIEUX: I believe after March 11th, a lot of people are going to be talking about Lemieux. They’ll be saying that Lemieux/Canelo which would be, those will be the names.

Q. I saw both of you on the Canelo/Khan undercard. And it seemed that the post fight news conference, you know, you two were pretty friendly with each other; you seem to get along pretty well. Would that be true? And are you having to kind of put a serious face on now that you’re going to face each other?

CURTIS STEVENS: No, I don’t necessarily think we was kind of cool at the start of it. Or at the end of the event, in general.

Like, you know, I am who I am, 24/7, seven days a week. If I’ve got something to say about you I say it to you.

I believe the difference between me and David is David says it to the camera and I say it to directly to his face, instead of when he’s seeing me he has something to say.

So David’s seeing me, David doesn’t say anything. David usually focus shit to the press than —

DAVID LEMIEUX: I don’t think that’s the case.

CURTIS STEVENS: I see it — I see it later on. David, I saw you the week, we came back from the gym. I said what’s up, David? You looked at me, put your head down and kept walking. You was walking inside MGM.

DAVID LEMIEUX: That’s in the movies. March 11th you’re going to put your head down.

CURTIS STEVENS: No —

DAVID LEMIEUX: Put your body down.

CURTIS STEVENS: Hey, champ, I’ve been working right —

(Multiple speakers)

CURTIS STEVENS: I can’t wait, champ. I can’t wait.

DAVID LEMIEUX: You’re going to get knocked out. Don’t believe it.

CURTIS STEVENS: Tell the doctor to bring smelly salts. They’re going to need to wake your ass up.

DAVID LEMIEUX: Yeah, yeah, okay. You’re going to get knocked out.

CURTIS STEVENS: No problem. No problem.

DAVID LEMIEUX: You ain’t never fought a guy like me.

CURTIS STEVENS: And you ain’t never fight nobody like me. The difference is I fought a million yous. You never fought someone like me. I don’t see — ain’t no problem. But, listen, no problem. No problem. That could be (indiscernible) guys that beat me. But one thing for sure, you are not —

DAVID LEMIEUX: I’m going to destroy you. March 11th.

CURTIS STEVENS: No problem. March 11, meet me in the middle of the ring, and that’s it, okay. Just meet me in the middle of the ring.

DAVID LEMIEUX: That’s what I’m going to do.

CURTIS STEVENS: That’s all you’ve gotta do. Meet me in the middle of the ring. That’s all you’ve got to do.

DAVID LEMIEUX: You don’t have to talk so much.

CURTIS STEVENS: I plan on —

(Multiple speakers)

CURTIS STEVENS: The fight is made. I don’t got nothing to say.

DAVID LEMIEUX: Don’t talk so much.

Q. My first question is for —

CURTIS STEVENS: I got what I want.

You’re going to get right what you want. Your whole front furniture will be missing out of your mouth.

Q. Do you feel like maybe, kind of alluded to what the first question was of attention being taken away from this fight, but maybe the fact that this fight is in between two big fights, March 4th, Danny Garcia Sherman and “Triple G” and Jacobs, maybe the fact that there’s a lot of awareness in the sport of boxing because of those fights, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. So this whole month is going to bring more viewers to the fact that there’s a lot of great boxing going on. So maybe that helps instead of hurt it. What do you think, Oscar?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Well, yes, you’re absolutely right. Look, the bottom line is that this fight is on HBO. And millions of fans will be watching it. That’s the bottom line. Not only because it’s the best network in boxing, but because this is a great fight. And this is a real fight.

As you can hear, these guys, they just want to fight. And so the fact that it’s on HBO, the fact that it’s in between two great events, you know, it’s going to create a lot of buzz and attention and the fact that it’s going to be a great fight.

So the fight fans know what exactly is going to happen on March 11th. So everyone’s excited.

DAVID LEMIEUX: You’re going to get knocked out, that’s what’s going to happen.

CURTIS STEVENS: Listen, David, you never talked so much in your life. You must have got to bullshit something; you never talked so much in your life. You gotta bullshit — you never talked so much in your life. You need an energy — energy battery, I see.

Q. David Lemieux’s trainer, what concerns you the most about Curtis going into this fight?

DAVID LEMIEUX: Nothing.

MARC RAMSAY: To be honest, it’s more about what David Lemieux can bring to that ring, not Curtis Stevens. Curtis is a good boxer. Curtis is a powerful boxer like everybody know. But at the end of the day, I don’t focus that much about Curtis Stevens because I know the result of that fights are on the hands — not in the hand of Curtis. And I think David is a more complete fighter and we’re going to show it next week.

Q. Curt, phenomenal win on your last fight. I know you had some issues with that hand over there and wanted to know like obviously if that hand is obviously feeling 100 percent to go for that fight; and really for David, do you feel that that hand is 100 percent, and if you don’t think it’s 100 percent, do you feel that you could exploit that?

CURTIS STEVENS: My hand is — I hurt it in the De La Rosa fight. It wasn’t broken or anything, just had a little hand contusion. It’s good. Doctors told me to take a month and a half off, don’t use it. I treated it with therapy, and everything’s ready to go.

Q. David, what about you and your team, do you guys think that if the hand is 100 percent, do you think it’s something that you can exploit? What do you guys think on that?

DAVID LEMIEUX: I don’t care if his hand is 100 percent or a thousand percent. I’m going to go in there, I’m going to destroy him.

CURTIS STEVENS: You ain’t doing shit. That’s why — if my hand was messed up (indiscernible).

(Multiple speakers)

CURTIS STEVENS: Falling down the steps, shit.

DAVID LEMIEUX: This is what I want. I want you to come like a raging bull. I want you to come like a raging bull, champ. Come.

CURTIS STEVENS: Got a nice spare for you, too.

Q. Curtis, it was your left hand that you hurt in your last fight. You said that you weren’t allowed to use it for about a month and a half. How confident do you feel in your left hand at this point heading into this fight?

CURTIS STEVENS: Oh, I’m confident about it. I use it every day. I use it in sparring. I use it on the bag. I use it. It’s good. My doctor told me not to use it so it could just heal. It was a little contusion. It’s good. I’m ready to go. He cleared me to fight. He cleared me to use it. So I’m good. I’m good to go.

Q. When you say “contusion”, what exactly happened to your hand? Was there like a —

CURTIS STEVENS: No, it must have, was broken before and I didn’t know it was broken. It just healed up on its own. And I believe something was rubbing against it, I believe. Something, I can’t really break it down to you because I’m no doctor. But like something was rubbing, like it was rubbing on something inside my hand that was giving me the pain when I was hitting him. But it’s okay. And he said I’m ready to go.

Q. David, I’m not sure I’ve seen you this emotionally charged before a fight since Purnell Gates. Just describe your emotions going into this and why is it exactly that you’re so worked up?

DAVID LEMIEUX: I’m not really worked up at all. It’s just stuff sometimes it really makes me laugh just the trash he is, the way he talks and the lack of professionalism he has.

It’s just — to me it doesn’t make no difference. Only making his entrance a lot more rough. So doesn’t matter. But sometimes when he says some things I’ve got to reply just concentrate on my camp and on my stuff.

So there’s emotion — nothing really gets to me. I know what I’m going to do on March 11th. My focus is there. He’s a clown. He wants to play around and put off some funny stuff on Instagram, put my picture up, me getting hit by Golovkin, when he got destroyed a lot worse by Golovkin.

It’s funny to me, like the games he plays. I don’t understand why he has to put other opponents, intermingle with what’s going to happen between him and me. Emotion, no there’s no emotion. I’m going to destroy him and that’s the only emotion I have.

Q. Curtis, question for you: Three of the last four of your fights have gone the distance. Can we somehow maybe expect the unexpected here and see this go longer than the slugfest we all think is going to happen?

CURTIS STEVENS: You know, this is boxing. Anything can happen. He could be knocked out. I could win by a decision. Come March 11th we’ll just have to see what happens. But you never know. This is boxing, anything can happen at the end of the day, you know?

Q. Is there anything that you’re banking on? You say you’re going to destroy him. Do we look forward to three, four round bombs away, or do you think this could actually go to the scorecards?

CURTIS STEVENS: No, I don’t — we personally, no, I don’t think necessarily it’s going to go to the scorecards, no. But like you said, everyone has a turn to get hurt. He may try to survive.

He may just go. You never know. You dig what I’m saying is? And, David, with respect to what you just said, I don’t control Curtis “The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens’ page. But notice you all watching what’s going in life. I don’t gotta to put a picture up of you getting hit. I really don’t give a damn what happens between you and Golovkin. We both lost to him at the end of the damn day. Just to clear that up with you.

I don’t control that page. But I know you be watching that, you be watching every move I make, huh? Shit. I think it’s funny. Shit.

Q. Obviously with what’s going on in the division right now, the loser of this fight finds himself in a pretty uphill battle. What does the desperation of that do to your efforts for this fight? Does it change the fight plans? Does it make you try to do something that’s more aggressive or more fueled by “I need to be sensational” and kind of maybe let things go a little bit more than I do because I don’t want this in the judge’s hands, because a loss here could be something close to fatal to championship hopes?

CURTIS STEVENS: We both are powerful fighters. So we’re both coming ready at the end of the day. Like I say, we can never really understand what’s going to go on March 11th, you know?

But the winner shall be victorious. To answer your question about what’s going to happen after, I can’t. Because I can’t see into the future. I can’t see March 12th. I can’t see what’s going to happen, you know, but we both are going to come in there to win at the end of the day.

I know he’s going to be in the best shape to put on a good fight and I’ll be in the best shape of my life for the fight.

Q. David?

DAVID LEMIEUX: Coming in to win, coming in strong. And Stevens is going to be in front of me, I’m going to take care of him. Put on a great show. What I can promise is my fans are going to have a great show. It’s going to be very nice and it’s going to be a great night for me.

So I’m excited, ready, March 11th. You guys be watching.

Q. Oscar, can you weigh in on that issue? You’ve seen enough flights like this where like the winner is still in that title talk; the loser, his relevance is going to be a little bit dubious. Is that why you can sell this as a real frontbed?

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Obviously, if the loser puts himself into a small corner. But didn’t necessarily mean that — it’s an uphill battle from there, but because of their styles, because of the fan-friendly style they always produce in the ring, I mean, people are watching them fight and obviously the animosity is going to transcend inside the ring and it’s going to be a great fight.

But you’re right, the winner obviously goes and gets in line to fight. They’re the biggest guys in the sports today in the middleweight division, and the loser then has to fight an uphill battle.

But that uphill is not that steep because of their styles, they’re such fan-friendly styles that people want to keep watching them fight.

THE MODERATOR: Does Team Stevens have any closing comments?

CURTIS STEVENS: No additional comments. See you on March 11th.

THE MODERATOR: Team Lemieux?

DAVID LEMIEUX: Thank you all for being here. Don’t miss March 11th, guys, because you’re going to see Lemieux at his best, the best Lemieux you’ll ever see, that you have ever seen. March 11th, 2017 is our year.

Tickets for this highly anticipated matchup are on sale now and priced at $30, $45, $55 and $75 for ringside seats plus applicable fees and are available at the Turning Stone Resort Box Office by calling 315-361-7469 or online at Ticketmaster(www.ticketmaster.com).

Lemieux vs. Stevens is a 12-round middleweight bout for the WBO Intercontinental, WBC Continental Americas and IBF North American Middleweight titles, presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Eye of the Tiger Management and Main Events, and sponsored by “Tecate, BORN BOLD.” The HBO Boxing After Dark® telecast begins at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Videos and images are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link: http://bit.ly/LemieuxVsStevens. Credit must be given to Eye of the Tiger Management for any video/image use of David Lemieux. Credit must be given to Main Events for any video/image use of Curtis Stevens.

For more information visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.mainevents.com and www.hbo.com/boxing; follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @main_events, @HBOboxing; and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/maineventsboxing, www.facebook.com/hboboxing; and visit us on Instagram at @GoldenBoyBoxing and @main_events. Follow the conversation using #LemieuxStevens.