ALLAN GREEN: “Andre Ward is a good fighter; a good young fighter. Very skilled, very talented and I do respect his skills. But against a fighter like myself, he is going to have to bring a lot more to the table than he did against Mikkel Kessler. I did admire what he did to Kessler; no disrespect there, but at the same time, come June 19th I will be WBA Super Middleweight Champion.”
ANDRE WARD: “As usual, I have another opponent talking loud and minimizing what I have done, and that’s ok. At some point in time, the world is going to have to give us our just due, but I don’t look for it right now.
“What is being said, how Allan Green feels, that is a good thing. I take it; I use it as fuel, and I am going to do what I’ve been doing for the last 12 years: prepare, come into the fight ready to win and get the win. That’s what we’ve been doing for the past 12 years. I have had opponent after opponent try to intimidate me; opponent after opponent try to minimize me; opponent after opponent try and break down my skills from the outside. But when they get inside, it’s something totally different. In my opinion, Allan Green is a beast. That’s what I am preparing for. That’s what I am eating, sleeping and drinking. I’m getting ready to fight a monster, that’s how I am looking at it.
“We have a date, June 19th. When you have a date and you got a dancing partner, there not much else that needs to be said. We have that, and I look forward to putting on another tremendous performance for the fans and, believe it or not, I am going for three points in this fight..
“Allan Green is absolutely right. There is going to be deep water in this fight and we are going to see who swims the best when we get to that point.”
DAN GOOSSEN
“One of the great thrills of having a home team is to see them win. But I think what is more important is to see them grow in front of your eyes. I believe the Bay Area is in select company and very privileged to have such an elite athlete as Andre Ward as one of their own.
“I am proud to be part of Andre’s team as his promoter, along with our partner Antonio Leonard, but more importantly, the Bay Area should be very proud of him. And they should be out here supporting Andre Ward, filling up Oracle. It’s not about the dollars and cents here. It is about the pride and support this man has given this city and given sports, in general, an athlete to be very proud of.
“It is going to be a great fight, because Green is that type of challenge.
“I want to see Andre Ward in that final, which I believe he is going to be, and I want to do this on pay-per-view because that’s where Andre Ward is going. He is going to become a pay-per-view star in our sport, and one that we are very proud of as an asset to our sport.
“I do not expect any other fighters from the Super Six to be willing to come out here to Oakland after this, so it could be some time before we come back out here again.”
ANTONIO LEONARD
“It is going to be a great event. As my partner Dan has said, Allan Green is a great opponent. He had a great amateur career, so Andre Ward knows him very well. But like I said, if you have been here from the beginning, everything Andre Ward said since I met him in 2002, he has accomplished. He said he was going to win a gold medal; he done that. He said he was going to become world champion; he done that. He told us to bring him to Oakland the first time in May, he done a great job then.
“Come June the 19th, you’ve got two of the best guys fighting each other. You’ve got the best guy fighting the second best guy, and if you don’t win you still go on. There is no question in my mind that Allan Green will probably become world champion because he fights Mikkel Kessler next, and he will probably beat Mikkel Kessler. I like Allan Green a lot, but there is no doubt in my mind that on June the 19, Andre Ward will still be the WBA champion of the world.”
VIRGIL HUNTER
“I think Showtime did an excellent job by inviting the next super middleweight contender (Allan Green) into the tournament.
“We’re preparing as always. We understand what we have to do. It didn’t take much to go back to the drawing board because, basically, you are getting ready to fight a guy that specializes in knocking out people that have been knocked out before several times. So you have to ask yourself that when you are making your preparation. How do you prepare for a guy that specializes in knocking out people who have been knocked out? So it gets pretty simple after that.”
Saturday, June 19th at the Oracle Arena in a Group 2 Super Six World Boxing Classic bout on SHOWTIME, Ward will look to defend his title against the mouthy Green in front of his hometown fans and take another step toward becoming the Super Six World Boxing Classic Champion.
Tickets for the June 19 Super Six World Boxing Classic are priced at $300, $150, $65 and $35 and are available at the Oracle Arena Box Office, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621, Phone: (510) 569-2121 or online thru www.Ticketmaster.com.
The Ward-Green event is presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions, Antonio Leonard Productions and Di Bella Entertainment.
More Ward vs Green Quotes
OAKLAND (May 11, 2010) – Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) 168-pound champion and America’s last Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) takes on World-ranked contender Allan “Sweetness” Green (29-1, 20 KOs), of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the Super Six World Boxing Classic on Saturday, June 19, on SHOWTIME, promoter Dan Goossen formally announced today.
Ward will be making the first defense of the WBA belt he won on a convincing, 11th round technical decision over Mikkel Kessler in the Super Six World Boxing Classic opener on November 21, 2009 at Oracle.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 30-year-old Green, a hungry, big, and dangerous fighter, boldly predicts a victory over the local hero Ward.
Following the postponement of the original April 24th date due to a flare-up in Ward’s previously repaired
knee, the ever-loquacious Green challenged the manhood and honesty of the WBA Champion.
Allan Green:
“I honestly don’t think he will ever get in the ring with me,” said Green. “I don’t think this is a fight Andre Ward and his people ever wanted. If I had my way he’d take a cortisone shot and fight. I seriously doubt he’s ever going to fight me. I hope it’s valid because there’s been a lot put into this from everybody involved and there’s no time to play games.
“If he were fighting Jermain Taylor or Sakio Bika,” Green continued, “I’m sure he’d be good to go right now. I’m a fighter. I fight through bumps, bruises and injuries and we go through that. I fought Tarvis Simms with a bad right shoulder. If your knee keeps getting hurt it would be something chronic and you’re probably not going to be ready in six weeks. If your knee is swollen, just take a cortisone shot, stop bitching and get your ass in the ring.”
“I just don’t see anyone who can beat me. I’ve watched all the fighters over and over. I’ve studied all of them and know I can beat any of them, including Ward.”
“I here him say ‘I’m a warrior and this and that.’ The truth is he’s not. I know for a fact I will blow him out of the water.”
“I hit a lot harder then Andre Ward. I can afford to make a mistake, he cannot.”
“There is nobody in the tournament that can beat me. Nobody.”
After hearing the braggadocios words of Green, the always-classy Ward had some comments of his own:
Andre Ward:
“I don’t think Allan Green and his team realize how bad I want this fight,” Ward said. “They will get
the fight.
“It’s time for the bravado and all his talk to end,” Ward continued. “It’s time to show up and take care of
business. I feel great and I am really looking forward to it. I’m ready to rock. I’m human and I hear what he is saying. But all he is doing is adding gasoline to the fire. I’m always highly motivated anyway; but now I’m highly stimulated too.
“In terms of his talk, whatever he’s been saying to the media, none of it bothers me. It certainly doesn’t rattle me. I’ve been accustomed to it, first at the highest level of the amateurs and now as a professional. There’s a reason behind what he does and says, and a lot has to do with fear and insecurity. Like he is trying to convince himself of what he can do.
“I’m sure it will help ticket sales,” concluded Ward. “The fans are going to be like, ‘Who is this guy and what’s he all about?’ But when you talk, you’ve got to back it up. Believe me, we are going to get to know each other really well in the ring on June 19. I can’t wait!”
“Allan Green talks a lot and if he’s got something to prove then that makes two of us.”
Allan Green’s verbal assault and prediction of victory over Andre Ward presents a few questions: does he possess the boxing skills to back up his talk and take down the new WBA Super Middleweight Champion? Or will Ward, the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist, hometown hero and one of professional boxing’s shining stars, silence the man with the golden mouth?
Saturday, June 19th at the Oracle Arena in a Group Stage 2 Super Six World Boxing Classic bout on SHOWTIME, Ward will look to defend his title against the mouthy Green in front of his hometown fans and take another step toward becoming the Super Six World Boxing Classic Champion.
Tickets for the June 19 Super Six World Boxing Classic are priced at $300, $150, $65 and $35 and are available at the Oracle Arena Box Office, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621, Phone: (510) 569-2121 or online thru www.Ticketmaster.com.
The Ward-Green event is presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions, Antonio Leonard Productions and Di Bella Entertainment.
SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC SCOREBOARD
Record Fighter Points
1-1 Arthur Abraham 3
1-1 Carl Froch 2
1-0 Andre Ward 2
1-1 Andre Dirrell 2
1-1 Mikkel Kessler 2
0-0 Allan Green 0