Monday, April 23, from JW Marriott L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, Calif.
“It’s a whole new ballgame – welcome to the big time, brother” – Antonio Tarver
“He has the name, but he doesn’t have any heart.” – Lateef Kayode
LOS ANGELES (April 23, 2012) – A mix of boxing legends, undefeated contenders and a current world champion converged in Los Angeles for a wild, emotional and often heated press conference on Monday to formally announce the upcoming Saturday, June 2 Quadrupleheader live on SHOWTIME® from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
Former light heavyweight kingpin and current SHOWTIME ringside boxing analyst Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (29-6, 20 KO’s), of Tampa, Fla., will headline as he continues his campaign in the cruiserweight division by taking on unbeaten power puncher Lateef “Power” Kayode (18-0, 14 KO’s), of Hollywood, Calif., by way of Lagos, Nigeria.
In the co-main event, Ronald “Winky” Wright (51-5-1, 25 KO’s), of St. Petersburg, Fla., makes his return to the ring against undefeated rising star, Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (26-0, 20 KO’s), of Brooklyn, N.Y.
The telecast, which features four undefeated fighters, over 200 combined victories and 102 knockouts, will open with two world title bouts including WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (24-0,14 KO’s), of Las Cruces, N.M., defending against crowd-pleasing Delvin Rodriguez (26-5-3, 14 KO’s), of Danbury, Conn., by way of Santiago, D.R. In the opening world title match, Vusi “Marvelous” Malinga (20-3, 12 KO’s), of Johannesburg, South Africa, will face undefeated Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz (19-0-1, 11 KO’s), of Lincoln Heights, Calif., for the vacant IBF bantamweight world championship.
The event is presented by A.T. Entertainment, Golden Boy Promotions and Gary Shaw Productions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T with Trout vs. Rodriguez being presented in association with Greg Cohen Promotions and Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Malinga vs. Santa Cruz being presented in association with Branco Sports Productions.
The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will air live at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) on SHOWTIME ® with preliminary bouts airing live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Tickets for the June 2 event are on sale now for as low as $25, with VIP floor seats priced at $200. Other tickets in the 8,000-seat outdoor stadium at The Home Depot Center are available at $50 and $100. Fans can purchase tickets at AXS.com or by phone at 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849), as well as The Home Depot Center Box Office (open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT). VIP Suites are available for purchase by calling 1-877-604-8777. For more information on group discounts or VIP packages, please call 1-877-234-8425.
Here’s what the participants had to say on Monday:
Antonio Tarver:
“You have to admire these young guys for their enthusiasm and their will. Eight or nine years ago that was me, trying to fight a legend.
“I feel I still have so much to give to the game of boxing. I have to take this fight seriously and you better believe I’ll be ready for June 2.
“These young guys are trying to take our spots and this is what makes boxing special.
“When you try to constructively critique someone (Tarver has served as color commentator for Kayode fights), you hope they go back to the gym and get better. I wasn’t on his bandwagon. I saw loopholes in his game and it was my job to tell him that. He didn’t want to take heed to that and now I need to show him.
“I’m telling Lateef that his dream is going to come crumbling down.
“I’m standing here today to tell Lateef Kayode and everybody he’s got coming to support him on June 2 that his dreams are going to come tumbling down. It’s a big difference when you are in that ring by yourself and facing the heat and fire I’m going to bring, and all (Kayode trainer) Freddie Roach can do is give you water. It’s a whole new ballgame – welcome to the big time, brother.”
“I’ve never been worried about power because power is nothing if you can’t land that punch.
“There are two types of fighters, some you can make quit and some you have to knock out and I don’t think there is any quit in Lateef Kayode, which means I’m going to have to knock him out to come away with the victory.”
“Lateef Kayode is in a good position for a young fighter who has nothing to lose and everything to gain. They think that’s a dangerous fighter, but I see it different. A fighter who has everything to lose is more dangerous than a fighter who has everything to gain, because I know what will happen to me if I lose. Lateef Kayode will be facing a very, very dangerous fighter. I’m bringing a lot heat with me in the ring on June 2.”
Lateef Kayode
“I will knock you out. I will beat the crap out of you.
“I want to be a world champion and I want to fight world champions. I want to prove to all of you that I am better than him, that I am stronger than him.
“When Tarver commented on me on SHOWTIME, he never said anything good. I never disrespected him and I said, “Champ, what have I done to you?’
“I’m going to prove myself and prove that I am ready for this man, that I am ready for the best.
“He has the name, but he doesn’t have the heart. He doesn’t have the power. The way he fights, I can get this guy.
“He doesn’t have crap. Tarver is done. I never disrespected anyone in my life, but on June 2, this guy is done.”
Winky Wright
“I’m not coming back for the money. I’ve got money, and I’ve got friends who have money, so it’s good there. The reason I’m coming back is to make a statement.
“I could have fought a tune-up, but boxing is about accomplishments and to me that means winning another world championship.
“My last fight was a bad one for me. I probably should have taken a fight before it, but I was never retired. I could have come back a year-and-a-half ago, but the kind of deal and opportunity we were looking for just wasn’t there. It is now.
“This guy (Quillin) is hungry and he wants to win a championship. I love his enthusiasm, so I’m looking forward to fighting him. If he thinks I’m making a mistake fighting him after being off, if he thinks I’m not what I used to be, now’s his chance to show it.
“Let’s do it. I’m ready for a fight.’’
Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin
“I want to thank Golden Boy, SHOWTIME, Tarver, the powerful team I have behind me and everyone involved in making this event happen for giving me the platform to show what I have.
“I’m just getting started. I’m still climbing the ladder, so there’s no way I overlook any opponent, especially a fighter that is going to wind up in the Hall of Fame.
“I’m going to win this fight. I’m in fighting shape. I’m fired up. I’m ready right now to take advantage of this great opportunity.
“I don’t fight for my family. I don’t fight for my friends. Kid Chocolate fights for himself.
“If you’ve never been to the planet, Pluto, I’m going to take you there. Pluto is where all the stars are, so if you want to go to Pluto, come out and support me.’’
Austin Trout
“It’s an honor for me to be part of an event like this with so many great fighters, and I thank everybody for making me a part of it and for SHOWTIME for accepting me.
“I’m super excited and I know my fight with Delvin (Rodriguez) will be great. Trust me, Delvin comes to fight, so this is going to be a good, hard fight for a while, but I’m working in the gym on making it easier.
“I know I’m not a household name in boxing. That’s why I’m so appreciative of this opportunity and looking forward to taking full advantage of it.
“I’m looking to fight any of the other titleholders or the biggest names out there.’’
Leo Santa Cruz
“I’m from Lincoln Heights (Calif.), so for me to be fighting in my own backyard in my very first world title fight is beyond my wildest dreams. I’ve been waiting for something like this, and now my opportunity of a lifetime is here.
“There are so many great, great fighters on this card. I’m excited and very happy to be on it. This is going to be a great show.
“I know (Vusi) Malinga is an aggressive fighter who’s waited a long time to fight for the IBF title, but I’ve waited my whole life. I can’t wait for June 2 to show what I can do on the biggest stage at The Home Depot on SHOWTIME.’’
Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO
“It’s a privilege to bring a great event like this to Los Angeles. We have four undefeated fighters on the card and they’re not just fighting anybody, they’re fighting legends, guys who know how to win.
“This is an amazing card. Those legends are telling these guys to be forewarned because your “0s” are going to go. We have eight fighters with a combined record of 213 wins and 19 losses and each one wants to win on June 2.
“This is big-time boxing back in Los Angeles.
“Winky is one of the most decorated fighters of our generation. He could have come back with a soft touch, but that’s not what Winky does. He comes in against one of the most feared fighters in the division.
“Kid Chocolate didn’t hesitate a second to take the fight. He wants to face the best, but Winky is here to turn back the clock. He’s coming back to show you what he’s all about.
“Kayode is a young, undefeated guy with tremendous knockout power. Tarver could have gone with an easier fight, but he wanted to fight the best.”
Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports ®
“We are very proud to bring this unique night of boxing to SHOWTIME – eight world-class fighters, four fights, two world title fights. We’ve only had one quadrupleheader that wasn’t a pay per view in SHOWTIME history.
“We have legends, rising stars, youth vs. experience and world title fights. There are no easy fights on this card.
“We’re going to have at least one fight on SHOWTIME EXTREME so we’re going to have at least a quintupleheader.
“It’s really a tribute to the six promoters on this card to put together what will be an amazing night of boxing.”
For information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, visit the website at http://sports.SHO.com.
WORLD BOXING COUNCIL NEWS
April 24, 2012 – Mexico City.
From WBC President Dr. José Sulaimán: The following is one of the weekly “Hook to the Liver” columns by WBC President Dr. José Sulaimán that are published in El Universal every Sunday. From April 22, translated from Spanish:
HOOK TO THE LIVER
By José Sulaimán
Nature Towards Fifth Evolution, Such as Boxing.
The messages of nature are today quite worrying. The continuous tornados in the USA are as seldom before. The Mexican volcano, El Popo, with eruptions including its explosion of firing rocks; the earthquake in Mexico City at 7.8 magnitude; the gigantic tsunami in Tokyo, Thailand, and Indonesia; the Santa Elena volcanic eruptions stopping flights in Europe for days; the serious global warming; the great solar explosion this week. So many threatening activities by our planet earth, with the addition of destruction by its own human beings, creating rivers of blood in the world, abuse over the poor. The destruction of human beings by human beings, like in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and many other countries. The abuse by the nations of power over the poor of the world, are leading my thoughts to the predictions of the Mexican Mayas civilization, which is still in mystery by its three interpretations: being only the end of the Mayan calendar. Being the end of the world. Being the beginning of the fifth evolution of earth.
Being a serious student – at my age ! – of Astronomy, I received from a friend an alleged astrological report by NASA, from June, 2011, that I related with some conclusions to the Mayan predictions. The alleged apocalypses will be: 1. An extraordinary eruption from the sun directly to earth on December of 2012. 2. The Photon belt will be approached by the Galaxy of the Solar system for a dramatic change of the era of the Atom into the era of the Photon. It will produce several gigantic phenomena like two to three weeks of sun day and night, being followed by three days of total darkness as predicted by the Virgin of Fatima. The color of fire will be changed to blue light, as predicted by the
Mayas. And 3. A blast of steroids on the universe, as predicted by the Virgin María in Spain. All of the above to happen between 2012-2013 until 2018. Those predictions state that only 15% of human beings will survive in the process of changing the atoms into the Photons and the other will take a long time to do it, with many not being able to do it. Those remaining will see that life can not continue with the prior mentality of destruction and live until the end of times.
Whoever believes those predictions, that I take with reservations due to the mystery of life, I say that I have to conclude for myself that I will continue living with my faith in Jesus Christ and the Almighty God, on whose hands I shall put all the years that HE allows me on this beloved and beautiful planet earth. This gives me also the opportunity to understand that evolution is in the path of all activities on earth. It has been in our sport since its 300 years of documented boxing, and thousands since the beginning of mankind. My life started at the final days of the Mexican Revolution, when there was no electricity. Where music could only be heard on manual record players. Social evolution has come to today the era of the Atom and will continue with reform. Reform is also evolution.
I remember as a kid when I started in boxing and could not separate boxing as a sport with boxing as a massacre. Some time about the mid-forties, after a bloody fight of a friend with a rival and about seven knockdowns of both, I asked him why wasn’t the fight stopped or why hadn’t he quit. He answered that while he was in the ring, there was not any other thought in his mind but winning. Those were the days of gym training with old towels as gloves, cotton used in the mouths as a mouthpiece, and estimated times of exercise when there was no watch. Evolution has risen to television. At the daily unbelievable change of technology. The internet every day improving; the high level of protection for the safety of the sport. Gloves that do not razor your face. Length of boxing pants like comedians in circus. Advertising on TV, and everywhere as nobody would ever believe in the past – luxury, luxury all over.
Boxers are leaving back in history the bohemian era when they thought only of being boxers, of winning to show that they were better. To win a world championship to show that they were kings of the world. To go to a bar and have every one around him as a champion. To do the signal of the cross before the starting of a fight. To sing the national anthem and be proud of their nationality, and over any other feeling, his strong respect to loyalty to his team, his nation, his title. Today, most of that is gone, excepting several really exemplary boxers and champions. Today, the green color – money – is the boss; wherever money goes, they go …… the hell with anything else !
Boxers have been for me like sons, of all races, religions or nationalities, who many times hurt. Sometimes they forget loyalty, but still I always see them like of my own. Today we solve a problem and are happy to go to bed, to wake up the following day and find even a bigger problem. Evolution has to come also to boxing. There are many things that must be solved and others implemented. Extreme poverty and living with extreme needs and nostalgia of their great days of triumph, glory, limelights and money belong to the past. Evolution in boxing should and shall be to implement a fund to protect them from arriving at the third age with nothing in their pockets. All people of boxing, and especially promoters, are responsible. The WBC will seek the compliance to a unanimous agreement to get the world of boxing together for the protection of boxers. How sad it is, how responsible I feel when I see boxer without a piece of bread.
Thank you for your kindness in reading my thoughts that always come from what I sincerely feel.