Lake
Tahoe/San Jose, Calif. (July 16, 2012) - As training camp winds down,
take a look into the training camps of former Three-Time World Champion Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KO's) and undefeated WBC Silver Welterweight Champion Selcuk "Mini Tyson" Aydin (23-0, 17 KO's) as they prepare for their July 28 world title clash at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. which will be televised live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast). Guerrero has settled into
training camp in the beautiful Lake Tahoe mountains where California
meets Nevada at a high elevation; while Aydin moved his training from
Stuttgart, Germany to San Jose to finish preparation for July 28.
GUERRERO: CALIFORNIA LIVING IN LAKE TAHOE MOUNTAINS
A
former three-division world champion, the talented Guerrero is ready
for the difficult challenge of moving up in weight to face number one
rated WBC welterweight contender Aydin in hopes of winning a world
championship in a fourth weight class.
"It's
been a grueling training camp since I arrived four weeks ago," said
Guerrero. "There's no cable TV, no busy streets, nothing, just a whole
lot of forest and mountains."
Guerrero
continued, "I get up at 5:00 a.m. every morning to start my road work.
I follow that by a hard workout in the middle of the day, then end with
push-ups and sit-ups at night. I'm getting the proper sparring and
amount of rounds to get me ready for Aydin, who I know is coming to rip
my head off. I'm expecting a rough, rugged fight and the fans will not
want to miss it, I can guarantee that!"
When
asked about Aydin and his come-forward style, Guerrero said, "My team
and I have been studying all of Aydin's fights and we know where we can
take advantage of his flaws. Aydin is very strong and puts a tremendous
amount of pressure on all of his opponents. I can see why he's been
avoided, but I'm ready to take him on even though nobody else wants to."
Guerrero's father, Ruben Guerrero,
who also is his trainer, said, "Robert is looking sharp and I'm
confident we will win this fight. We've been studying Aydin and we have
the perfect game plans for him. I know my son is hungry to take care
of his family and believe me; he's going to leave it all in the ring on
fight night. This training camp has been very productive."
"I can see Robert's body getting stronger and stronger as each day goes by," manager and nutritionist Bob Santos said. "I think people will be surprised at how Robert's body will look
on fight night. We took this risky fight because we believe Robert is
on the level of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. A win against Aydin puts us in a wonderful position to challenge the best fighters in boxing."
Guerrero
went on to say, "I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for
getting me to this point in my career. I have tremendous support from my
wife Casey, who's been through a lot. I also want to say that
no man in boxing is hungrier than I am. On July 28, everyone is going
to see a man that will be fighting to take care of his family, a wife
who has battled cancer and is now healthy, a tremendous team who's stuck
by my side through thick and thin and a hometown crowd that will be
cheering for me to bring it home. Aydin is going to give it absolutely
everything he has, just like me, so this fight will most likely be a
'Fight Of The Year' type fight, because neither of us is going to back
down. Everyone is in for a treat when we battle at HP Pavilion on
SHOWTIME!"
AYDIN: FROM GERMANY TO CALIFORNIA
The
offensive-minded, hard-hitting Aydin, who hails from Trabzon, Turkey,
has been the WBC's number one rated welterweight contender and mandatory
challenger for the 147-pound title for almost three years and is eager
to showcase his skills and ability to fans and experts all over the
world.
"This is the big chance and the big fight I have been waiting and working for," Aydin said. "I will not let this opportunity pass. I give my respect to
Robert Guerrero for fighting me when so many other so-called champions
have ducked me for years. Unfortunately, Guerrero will find out the hard
way why nobody wants to fight me. I will walk right through "The Ghost" and take the belt back home to Turkey! "
To
achieve a lifelong goal, Aydin and his team left nothing to chance. The
former European champion started training on May 1 in Stuttgart,
Germany and moved his training camp to San Jose, Calif., on July 1.
He'll spend the last couple weeks winding down his preparation while
continuing to acclimate himself.
"When
we have to go to the lion's den, we go all the way, " Aydin's promoter
Ahmet Oner said. "By coming to San Jose so early, Selcuk wanted to make a
statement and show everybody that he is not afraid of Guerrero's
hometown advantage. Of course, we know that it is always tough to win in
your opponent's backyard, but Selcuk is a true warrior. It doesn't
matter where he's fighting, he is always ready for war. "
"Moving
training camp from Germany to the United States had different benefits
for us, " Aydin's head coach Conny Mittermeier said. "Of course, we
wanted to get adjusted to the time difference and the weather conditions
over here, but it's also easier to find high-quality sparring partners
in the United States than it is in Europe. Especially when you're
looking for slick, fast welterweight southpaws."
Aydin
has already completed more than 50 rounds of sparring and will end up
having done about 100 rounds before wrapping up training camp.
"I
had no problems adjusting to everything here in California," Aydin
said. "I have trained and fought in the United States before and it
feels natural to be here. Boxing is an international sport and the
United States is the place to be for big fights and big money. Of
course, Turkey is my home country and Trabzon is my hometown, which I am
very proud of, but I am also happy and proud to be here. Not many
fighters get the chance to prove themselves on the big stage and I thank
everybody for giving me this opportunity."
"Thanks
to our wonderful hosts at San Jose Boxing & Fitness," added
Mittermeier. "We've had ideal conditions for our training. The sparring
partners are doing a great job. We have some guys over here who worked
with Miguel Cotto for his fight against Floyd Mayweather and with
Timothy Bradley for when he prepared for Manny Pacquiao. It doesn't get
much better than this. Selcuk is in great shape. Sometimes I have to
stop him a little to make sure that he doesn't tear somebody's head off.
I have never seen him as focused and as fired up for a fight."
"The
Thunderstorm from the Black Sea" ("Karadeniz Firtinasi"), as Selcuk is
called in his hometown of Trabzon, knows that it could be difficult to
win a decision.
"I
am not planning to leave the decision to the judges," Aydin said. "I
didn't come to California to outbox or outscore Guerrero. I am on a very
simple mission...seek and destroy! Every other day I read somewhere
that Guerrero is dreaming of fights against Mayweather and Pacquiao. He
can dream whatever he wants when I put him to sleep. 'The Ghost' has no
idea what's coming to him. He may have been featherweight and junior
lightweight champion, but now he's playing with the big boys. The first
time I hit him, he will regret moving up in weight and accepting to
fight me."
# # #
Guerrero
vs. Aydin, a 12-round fight for the WBC Interim Welterweight World
Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with
Arena-Box Promotion and sponsored by Corona, DeWalt Tools and AT&T.
The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will air live at 10:00 p.m.
ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) and preliminary fights to air live on
SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT
Tickets, priced at $252, $127, $62, and $26 are available for purchase online at Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at (800) 745-3000 and at the HP Pavilion Ticket Office.
.
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