09.05.07 – With just over one week to go before his big showdown against Kelly Pavlik in Memphis Tennessee on HBO, Edison Miranda, the ‘People’s Champion’, took some time to talk about his thoughts for his upcoming fight. “Kelly Pavlik is a very unlucky guy. I had a goal after I saw the horrible performance that Jermain Taylor gave when he undeservingly took the belt from Bernard Hopkins. My goal was to get in the ring with Taylor and show him how a true champion fights. I spent a lot of money flying to Las Vegas, getting a room and going to this fight. It was a waist of my money and I want a refund..
“I will pick Jermain up and shake the change out of his pockets if I need to. Now Pavlik is the last man standing in front of me before I have this shot. Nothing is going to stop me. When I step into the ring I will turn into a monster and destroy him. I have never been so motivated or trained so hard for a fight. I will not stop my attack until Kelly Pavlik is laying on the ground for good. If he is stupid enough to get up, he will get hurt badly.”
This will be Pantera’s 3rd consecutive fight on HBO and his 4th fight against top ranked opponents in less than 8 months. Some fighters say they will fight anyone anywhere, but not many stand behind it. After a highly controversial decision in Germany against Arthur Abraham last September, Miranda has been out to prove he is the best in the division. Should he get past Kelly Pavlik, Miranda’s last 5 opponents will have had a combined record of 134-4 with 111 KO’s. That equates to a 97% win rate with a 83% KO ratio!
“I have fought top competition at the 160 and 168 level and destroyed everyone. I train hard and get better with each fight. Kelly is going to see an Edison Miranda like no other. Like Green, Gibbs and Abraham, I do not think he will make it to the post fight press conference. I will embarrass him in front of the world!” The fight is titled “The Right To Fight” with the winner getting the next shot to ! face Jermain Taylor in the ring. “After I knock out Pavlik it will be my turn to face Taylor. He just better hope I take my gloves off and leave the ring before he steps in or I may be the first boxer in history to get two KO’s in the same night.”
This very anticipated fight will air live on HBO on May 19th on the undercard of the Jermain Taylor vs Cory Spinks middleweight title fight.