AJOSE
& MATTHYSSE READY TO GO,
LOVE LOOKS TO LEAVE IMPRESSION:
FINAL PRESS
CONFERENCE QUOTES
This
Saturday, Sept. 8, at 9 p.m. ET/PT Live on SHOWTIME®;
Live
Undercard Fights at 7 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME
EXTREME
From
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas ,
Nev.
LAS VEGAS (Sept 6, 2012) - The
four boxers who’ll appear this Saturday, Sept. 8, live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the
West Coast) from Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. pronounced themselves fit and ready to go during
Thursday’s final press conference.
In what should be a
terrific, hard-fought main event between two eager, determined and hungry
fighters, undefeated Olusegun Ajose (30-0, 14 KO's) of Nigeria
will face hard-hitting Argentine Lucas Matthysse (31-2, 29 KO's) for the
vacant WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Championship on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP
BOXING.
Promising, unbeaten
middleweight J'Leon Love (12-0, 7 KO's) of Las Vegas will risk his
perfect record against Chicago 's Ramon Valenzuela (7-1, 1 KO)
in the co-feature.
Preceding Saturday’s
doubleheader on SHOWTIME will be two live undercard fights on SHOWTIME EXTREME
(7 p.m. ET/PT): Daquan Arnett (6-0, 4 KO's) of Orlando, Fla. meets Jesus Tavera (3-2, 1 KO), of Mexico City, Mex. in a six-round junior
middleweight scrap and Ishe Smith (23-5, 11 KO's) of Las Vegas takes on
Puerto Rico's Irving Garcia (17-7-3, 8 KO's) in a 10-round junior
middleweight bout.
Ajose vs. Matthysse,
a 12-round fight for the vacant WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Championship
taking place Saturday, September 8 at The Joint At Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with DiBella
Entertainment, Gary Shaw Productions and Arano Box Promotions and sponsored by
Corona and
AT&T. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP
BOXING telecast will air live at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast)
with middleweight prospects J'Leon Love and Ramon Valenzuela squaring off in a
10-round co-featured bout presented in association with Mayweather Promotions. Preliminary fights will air live on
SHOWTIME EXTREME® beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West
Coast).
Tickets, priced at
$200, $100, $75, $50 and $25, along with a limited number of VIP suite seats
priced at $150, are on sale and may be purchased at the Hard Rock Hotel Box
Office, all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.Ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800)
745-3000.
Here is what the SHOWTIME
fighters, their promoters and representatives said during the final press
conference at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino:
OLUSEGUN AJOSE
“I’m grateful that I am
fighting on SHOWTIME. I am thankful
to be back on their network. I was
on ShoBox last year in my American debut. This is an opportunity for me to show
everyone what I’ve got. I give
Matthysse a lot of respect. I think
he is the best in the division. That makes me the best of the best in
this division.
“The fans should expect
fireworks. He is an all-out guy and
I am an all-out guy. My advice to
people is they shouldn’t blink. Whatever power he has, show me. He has to land first. I am not worried about his power. I’m not even thinking about his power. If he hits me, I am going to hit
him too.
“My aim is to come in,
win the title and take it back to Nigeria. In Nigeria they think I am invincible. They think no one can beat me. I think so, too. I want to use this as an opportunity to
teach younger fighters about boxing. There is a lot of talent there. I want to make boxing bigger than what it
is now. It used to be very
big. Boxing used to be the national
sport for Nigeria and then football took over. Boxing is still big but I want to make it
bigger.’’
LUCAS MATTHYSSE
“Thank you SHOWTIME and
thank you Golden Boy Promotions for this opportunity. What can I say? I am ready to fight. I am ready to win and take the belt
back to Argentina. That is
all.’’
ERIC GOMEZ (Vice President/Matchmaker,
Golden Boy Promotions)
“When we approached Team
Matthysse about fighting Ajose, the first thing they said was that he is pretty
tough. There are no other guys out
there, no other possibilities and we said this is going to be a good fight. Matthysse has had some experience
with that kind of fighters. He
thinks that Ajose is tougher than Devon Alexander and Zab Judah and I agree with
him. He really is a better fighter
and he’s hungrier because he has been waiting a long time for this title shot.
So I want to say thank you for being patient, making this happen and I wish both
of them luck.’’
MARIO ARANO (Arano Box Promotion,
Co-Promoter of Matthysse)
“Matthysse’s time has
come. He has had a tough road but
he is ready. He has fought former
World Champions and they all are tough. Obviously we feel the Judah and Alexander
fights were hometown decisions and we consider Lucas Matthysse a world champion
and undefeated. Hopefully this
Saturday Lucas is going to be victorious. We respect Ajose very much but
unfortunately he has to dance with the toughest opponent he has ever
faced.’’
RON RIZZO (Vice President, DiBella
Entertainment)
“I don’t think there has
been enough credit given to Golden Boy and SHOWTIME for saving this show and
elevating this fight to the main event. This fight does stand by itself as a main
event. With boxing there are always complications, but there is a lot of credit
to give to these guys for making the show go on. Ajose has been looking forward to this
for a long, long time. He has had
to wait for this opportunity for a long time. He has been the No. 1 guy and had been
passed over and over. He has been
patient, but now he is ready to seize his opportunity. I want to thank Matthysse for taking this
fight because no one else wanted to fight Ajose.’’
J’LEON LOVE
“I believe in myself and
my ability and I have a team that I am surrounded by that believes in my ability
as well. I am the future of the
sport. J’Leon Love will be a future
champion. This is a blessing and I
want to thank God for this opportunity. This doesn’t happen every day. One minute we were fighting an
eight-round fight on SHOWTIME EXTREME and now we are fighting as co-main event
in a 10-round fight.
“We have been training so
hard, day in and day out. All I
know is how to work hard. We met in
the amateurs years ago, I think I was maybe 14 or 15, but professionals and
amateurs are so much different. We
are going to go out there and definitely handle business. That’s all I know is to fight. We are going to give a good one. I am going to show you that I’ve been
waiting for this all my life. We
wait years and years for this and now I have my moment and I’m not going to let
it pass. I am going to solidify
myself and show the world who I am.’’
RAMON VALENZUELA
“I just want to say this
will be a really good fight. I am
going to be victorious. I am
pleased that I’m going to fight on SHOWTIME as the co-main
event.’’
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