The final press conference to promote this
weekend’s bout at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California between WBA lightweight champion Brandon
Rios and Urbano Antillon (Showtime, 10 PM ET/PT) was held on Wednesday
afternoon at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. It was a
relatively subdued affair compared to the last time they did this, where
tempers flared and things got quite heated between the two Mexican-Americans. This
time around, both were rather reserved and even respectful toward each other
just a few days before they engage in what many believe will be an old-fashioned
donnybrook.
But as they posed face-to-face for the
media, the jawing began.
And no, they weren't making lunch plans
either.
"Oh, no, not at all," said
Antillon, chuckling a bit, just minutes after leaving the stage. "I just
told him- I took the first word- and said, 'Bring it.' That was it and from
there, [Rios] was like, 'I'm going to bring it' and so-and-so; it was along
them lines. There was actually no cussing; it was really surprising."
So by 'Bam Bam’s' standards, it was a
rather civil exchange. The last time they were in the same room, Rios looked
like he wanted to start round one a good month before their scheduled fight.
When asked if he didn't want to expend any emotion leading up to the fight, he
answered, "Well, I haven't been wasting no energy. He's the one that got
fired up last time and so I mean, he held back this time. As a matter of fact,
I was pretty surprised he didn't swear in there." It doesn't take much to
set off Rios. In fact, you get the sense he looks for things that turn these
fights into personal grudge matches. According to Antillon, the ire directed
toward him wasn't manufactured, pre-fight hype. "No, I really think he got
offended in terms of me mentioning his wife, even though, he probably took it a
whole different level than I intended. But, no, I think he was genuinely pissed
off."
According to Antillon, there is no extra
animosity on his end, regarding Rios. For him, this is just business.
"I feel like this all the time towards
my opponent," said the 28-year-old native of nearby Maywood. "I have
no angers towards them; I really don’t care about him. He's nothing special,
just like any other opponent." Much of Rios' persona is a Fernando Vargas-like
bravado, where every fight is a personal affront to his machismo and very
being. "I think he believes he can intimidate everybody and that's not the
case here," said Antillon. "I'm a very confident guy. My training
went very well and I'm not insecure like most of his opponents and like he is,
in general. I think he's a very insecure guy."
Antillon’s trainer, Abel Sanchez surmised, "Y'
know, most of the time, the dog that barks real loud generally is the one
that's going to put his tail between his legs and run. So I hope that Brandon
brings it. You know, Urbano, from the past, will be a fighter in middle of
someone's sh*t. Brandon hasn't had to do that yet. He's going to have to do
that in this fight; he's going to have to respond in this fight."
Sanchez advised his charge to keep his
composure and save it for Saturday night.
"I kept telling him when they were
facing each other in the last press conference, 'C'mon guys, be professional'
because I don't want somebody to push somebody and get yourself hurt on the
table, fall and the fight’s off. Like Bob [Arum] said, 'I'm not going to pay
you if you fight here.' The fights on Saturday; we've worked tremendously hard.
I'm sure they've worked tremendously hard. There's no sense in doing something
in the heat of the moment."
For Arum, this all comes with the territory
(and besides, it usually makes for good copy) and it's all part of the business
of banging the drums for a promotion. "I've been around for so long that
I've seen incidents where I thought it would spill over. We had security guards
with James Toney, against either Iran Barkley or Mike McCallum. He once
attacked the late [boxing attorney] Milton Chwasky at a presser," he said,
laughing. "But no, I think the fighters know that- what the hell- they
ain't going to get paid [for fighting at a press conference]"
None of the extracurriculars are needed
here. What sells Rios-Antillon is that the two fighters’ styles seem to mesh so
well. It only helps that the two don't seem to really like each other all that
much.
"The only way it's not going to be a
good fight is, like I said at the beginning, some dogs that bark a lot,
generally. When the sh*t gets thick, they tuck their tails between their legs and
they run," said Sanchez, who perhaps isn't giving Rios nearly enough
credit for turning things around against Miguel Acosta in February. "If he
stands in front of Urbano, Urbano's going to hit him. Let's see if he can take
it. You know Urbano can."
Twice Antillon has fought for belts; twice
he has failed, most recently in his last outing against Humberto Soto for the
WBC 135-pound strap in December. It was a back-and-forth affair, one of the
very best of 2010. His other loss was a ninth round stoppage at the hands of
Acosta in July of 2009. While this may not be a “must-win” fight, it's
certainly a pivotal one for his career.
"I gotta admit, these opportunities
don't come around that often and for me to continue to stay at the world-class
level I'm fighting at now, I gotta win this fight. So in a way, it would be
that last chance," said Antillon, who has a mark of 28-2 with 20
stoppages. "Let alone the world title, this is the level I want to be at,
fighting the best and that's where I want to be. Winning this fight is going to
keep me here fighting the best."
Expect a pitched battle in Carson.
"It's going to be a helluva
fight," Antillon stated. "We're two fighters that don't like taking
steps back and there ain't going to be many taken here, so expect an all-out
war. It's what people are anticipating and that's what it is."
TIX
Arum told the gathered media that
approximately 1,200 tickets were left for this Saturday night’s card. The Home
Depot Center tennis court is personally my favorite local venue. There's not a
bad seat in the house and when there's a good fight going on (like the classic
third chapter of Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez), the atmosphere is electric.
It's a fun place to watch a prizefight.
The brisk sales aren't a surprise to the
veteran promoter, "No, because the people who are buying the tickets are
predominantly from Oxnard (where Rios is based out of) and Maywood. In other
words, we ain't selling a lot of tickets in Beverly Hills."
Yeah, that's not exactly the demographic
they were aiming for.
Tickets are priced at $125, $75, $50 and
$25 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Home Depot Center
box office between 10 AM-6 PM Monday through Friday and of course, the day of
the fight.
LOCKOUT FLURRIES
In addition to the main event
and the co-feature of Kermit Cintron-Carlos Molina, Showtime will show clips of
Lucian Bute's defense of his IBF super middleweight title versus Jean Paul Mendy
from Romania...This a pretty good looking card on Saturday from top-to-bottom, courtesy
of Top Rank. In addition to the debut of Mercito Gesta under their promotional
banner, Matt Korobov faces Lester Gonzalez and prospects Jose Roman, Gabino
Saenz, Paul Fleming and Mike Lee round things out. Doors open at 4 PM...Arum
said that Peter Manfredo Jr. is now back in the running to face Julio Cesar
Chavez Jr. on November 19th, most likely now in Houston, Texas...Junior
welter prospect Antonio Orozco, has signed a promotional pact with Golden Boy
Promotions...Richard Schaefer informed me via email that they are “finalizing”
a deal with the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, to host the October 15th fight between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson...With the impending NBA lockout,
the Madison Square Garden in New York (home of the Knickerbockers) is making
significant concessions to try and host the Dec. 3rd rematch between
Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto. Honestly, I think that's where this fight
belongs...Don't know what it is but after all these years, I still love V-8...I
can't believe Armon “The Hammer” Gilliam has passed away. That '87 UNLV team
was one of my favorites, with the likes of Gilliam, “Fearless” Freddie Banks,
Gerald Paddio, Jarvis Basnight, Eldridge Hudson and Mark Wade...Can you believe
college football teams will be opening up fall camp in about a month?...Good
thing Nancy Grace isn't covering boxing; she'd go nuts over all the bad
decisions in this sport...