Haney & Saunders will fight at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Saturday November 9, live on DAZN in the US, Sky Sports in the UK and distributed globally on FITE – All of the fighters from Saturday’s stacked card hit the scales on Friday afternoon. Highlighting the main card, which kicks off at 9 p.m. ET, is newly crowned lightweight world champion Devin Haney making his first title defense and super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders making his United States debut. The undercard begins at 7 p.m. ET and features rising prospects Diego Pacheco, Nikita Ababiy and Reshat Mati.
Billy Joe Saunders 167.4 vs Marcelo Coceres 168
Devin Haney 135 vs Alfredo Santiago 135
Diego Pacheco 167.2 vs Aaron Casper 166.6
Nikita Ababiy 160.6 vs Jonathan Batista 163.6
Ronny Rios 120.6 vs Hugo Berrio 121.6
Reshat Mati 148.4 vs Cody Peterson 148.6
Quotes from the press conference:
Billy Joe Saunders – “I need to put on a showcase in America. No one really knows who I am but you will after Saturday night. No disrespect to my opponent, but I’m here to put on a showcase. I’m after Canelo, GGG, and I have been waiting a long time. I am looking forward to putting on a great performance on a great card.”
Devin Haney – “In this fight I’m going in with chip on my shoulder. The boxing fans aren’t acknowledging me as the WBC champion. Come Saturday night I will show them. I will put on a great performance. He will see everything Haney is made of, and if he can’t it will be an nearly night. I will show the world I’m one of the best fighters in the world.”
Joseph Markowski, EVP of DAZN NA
“Fresh off a fantastic weekend for the DAZN business and our partners at Golden Boy with Canelo’s spectacular knockout in Las Vegas. It’s great to get back into a massive fight week, a unique fight week. Every fighter on this stage has an unique opportunity this week to introduce them to what we firmly believe will be a massive audience on both sides of the pond and globally. The numbers we’re seeing are phenomenal: the social numbers and the subscription buys as well. A huge opportunity for this roster of fighters to introduce the next generation of sports fans, and the next generation of we what we hope will be boxing fans.
“In particular, thank you to Devin Haney and Billy Joe. You’re standout fighters in your own right, and we appreciate you having the same vision we have in the plan to continue growing the sport of boxing and the significance this card has in that plan.”
Eddie Hearn
“This is a great turn out ahead of a crazy night on Saturday night. It’s been a joy working with KSI and Logan Paul on this fight, it has completely blown my mind. The numbers we’re seeing for pre-subscriptions are just crazy. We have enjoyed it and we will embrace it. I think every fight on this card is a main event. Two world championship fights on this card, and two of the very best pound-for-pound fighters already in the world of boxing.
“We know there’s a whole new audience coming to this sport on Saturday night. The aim for us is to make sure the audience will get to see greatness and fall in love with what we fell in love with in boxing. When you watch Billy Joe Saunders and Devin Haney you must become instant fans. Our plan is to bring a new global audience and make sure they stick around, and stay in the sport to follow these fighters.”
Billy Joe Saunders will make the first defence of his WBO Super-Middleweight World title against undefeated Argentinian Marcelo Esteban Coceres on the blockbuster KSI vs. Logan Paul 2 show at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Saturday November 9, live on DAZN in the US and Sky Sports Box Office in the UK.
Saunders (28-0, 13 KOs) became a two-weight World Champion with a shutout points win over Shefat Isufi in Stevenage earlier this year, outclassing his Serbian opponent over 12 rounds to add the WBO 168lbs crown to his collection.
Saunders hopes win over Coceres leads to Canelo or Golovkin fight
The Hatfield star is on the verge of securing mega fights with the elite fighters of the 160 and 168lbs divisions after signing a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing and knows that a slip up against Coceres would be disastrous.
Coceres (28-0-1, 15 KOs), from San Jorge, is undefeated in 29 fights since turning professional in 2012 and the 28-year-old has won numerous titles at Super-Welter and Middleweight, most recently picking up the WBO Latino and WBA Fedebol Middleweight titles.
“I’m really looking forward to fighting in LA and making my professional American debut and my first fight under the Matchroom umbrella on DAZN and Sky Sports,” said Saunders. “Marcelo Esteban Coceres is a tough, world-class operator, an unbeaten fighter and I certainly feel the pressure to outperform him and look good on such a massive platform. Training is going very well, I just have to stay focused and get the job done.”
Hearn says Saunders could get big fight in 2020 with an impressive win
“I can’t wait to see Billy Joe shine stateside and what a huge platform to do it,” said Eddie Hearn. “He is right in the mix for all the big fights in 2020 but he can’t slip up here and if he can make a statement against Coceres then I truly believe he will land a monster in the first half of next year.”
Adam Smith, Head of Sky Sports Boxing, said: “We are very excited to have the outstanding Billy Joe Saunders back on Sky – and what a night to make his re-appearance! This is a real chance for our growing sport to reach a new audience with world class fighters in action before the YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul clash. Bring on November 9th!”
Saunders vs. Coceres ticket information
General sale tickets are available to purchase now via www.axs.com
