WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. says he must make a “statement” against Derrieck Cuevas tonight to be a “legend” in the sport.
Norman Jr.-Cuevas will fight on the undercard of the Mikaela Mayer vs. Sandy Ryan rematch at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The event will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN+, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
“Legend” Quest
Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) wants to look spectacular beating Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in their co-feature fight, and then target a unification with the winner of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vs. Eimantas Stanionis. If he can’t make that fight happen, he says he’ll go after WBC champion Mario Barrios.
“Not only with this fight, but wth every fight in my career because I want to be a legend. They have to be a statement fight,” said Brian Norman Jr. to Ring Magazine when asked if he feels he needs to make a statement tonight against challenger Derrieck Cuevas to get the other welterweight champions to fight him.
A lot of boxing fans believe that Norman ducked a fight against Boots Ennis by pricing himself out during negotiations. Brian Jr had the chance of making that fight happen but wanted more than what we were being offered by Boots’ promoter. Norman Jr. may need to forget about Boots and just focus on fighting often and looking impressive. Eventually, he’ll get the deal that he wants if he holds onto his WBO belt long enough.
“I want to be a legend in the game and make a name for myself. So, this fight will be a statement, and others after that as well. No, I won’t try to go there to make the fight happen,” said Norman Jr. when asked if he plans on attending the April 12th fight between IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to try and set-up a unification clash.
“Even if I pull up or I don’t, it’s all about the paperwork. Being there won’t change anything. So, hopefully, we can make the fight happen after that, or I can go to the WBC to see what Mario Barrios has got going on. He’s over here hiding somewhere. I don’t know what he’s got going on, but try to take that belt from him. Whoever wins that fight, we could have an undisputed just that quick,” said Norman.
To create interest in his career, Norman Jr, 24, needs to crush Cuevas early and not get so much like he did in his last fight against Giovani Santillan on May 18th last year.
