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POST-FIGHT QUOTES FROM BRING ON THE TITANS
LUIS COLLAZO
“It’s my first fight back since fighting Shane Mosley and having surgery on my left hand. My hand actually feels better than it did before. I’m back and I want to re-establish myself as one of the best welterweights in the division.”
DeMARCUS “Chop-Chop” CORLEY
“I felt good tonight but should have pushed him more. I wanted to pick it up around the 6th or 7th round but it didn’t really happen.
“Nothing he did really surprised me because we knew he had fast hands and a nice left hand. But nothing really surprised me. I wish I had let my hands go more but it didn’t happen.
“I got a couple more months with Don and then I am going to hang it up. I had a great career and love my family too.”
DEVON ALEXANDER “The Great”
“It felt great to go 12 rounds with a former world champion.
“It was hard because it was my first 12 rounder. I was pressing hard for a knockout in the early rounds but my coach told me to settle down and just do what I do.
“I am ready to do more and I know I will do even better in the future. I want everyone in St. Louis to know that I am coming back with a win and a belt.”
ROMAN “Made In Hell” KARMAZIN (As told my trainer Freddie Roach)
“He told me in between rounds that he had no power and felt really weak. He got caught and after that he never really recovered.”
ALEX “The Technician” BUNEMA (after bursting into tears in his dressing room)
“I knew Karmazin was in very good shape from the opening bell. I also believed that he watched a lot of tape on my fights because he changed his style for me.
“He was trying to counter-punch more. The fight was close until I knocked him into the corner in the 10th round. I knew he was in trouble then. I thought it was over when I hit him with the big right but he stayed up.
“I followed him and landed the big hook that knocked him down. I was not surprised I did what I said I was going to do. Now I want a title shot against WBA champion Joa chi m Alcine.”
ANDREW GOLOTA
“I hope nobody will ever call me a quitter again. I couldn’t see anything after round 8. I had to box more by feel than what I could see. He was much faster than I thought he would and he hit me too many times. I wish I had landed more combinations.”
MIKE MOLLO
“I couldn’t believe the number of combinations he threw for an old man. I fought the best I could. I got nervous and flustered. I wish I had done better. I didn’t fight my best fight but my hat is off to him.”
FELIX “TITO” TRINIDAD
“I took off two years and eight months. I take nothing away from Roy but if I could have avoided the KOs , I think I would have won the fight. He was very fast and strong and threw great punches. I have no excuses.
“He demonstrated speed and took my body punches. I fight for my fans and the people of Puerto Rico .
“Roy Jones was very fast and he fought a good fight. I think he won the fight but not by such a wide margin.
“I will decide if I fight again or not. I will speak to my father but I will make the decision as to whether or not I will fight again.”
ROY JONES JR.
“All my fans around the world said I was done. He took a lot of hard punches.
Jones said to Trinidad , “I can’t believe you stayed in there 12 rounds with me. We had a great fight and everyone said we were too old.”
“I tried to put him away a few times but he slipped a lot of my good punches. I had a wonderful camp and great sparring partners.
“It was a great fight. I can’t believe he stayed in there for all of those rounds for me.
“He was slipping a lot of my good punches and I felt like I was missing knocking him out by inches.
“I jammed my knuckle sometime during the fight. He’s got a pretty hard head.”
Quotes From Wednesday Boxing Media Workouts Kingsway Gym
Roy Jones Jr., Andrew Golota, Mike Mollo & DeMarcus Corley
New York City – Jan. 16 —Roy Jones Jr. worked the mitts and showed the blazing speed that made him the pound-for-pound best boxer on the planet for a decade during a media workout today at Kingsway Gym in New York featuring fighters from Saturday’s “Bring on the Titans” boxing event at Madison Square Garden and on HBO Pay-Per-View.
“Guess who’s back, Roy Jones Jr.,” Jones declared. “Ain’t nobody got the speed to handle me. Only Floyd Mayweather comes close to me and he’s still 10 miles an hour slower,” Jones quipped.
Jones, Andrew Golota, “Merciless” Mike Mollo and DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley all performed a light workout and answered questions.
Jones will face Felix “Tito” Trinidad in the main event; the International Boxing Federation North American champion Golota will take on once-beaten World Boxing Association Fedelatin champion Mollo; and the former World Boxing Organization junior welterweight champion Corley will take on undefeated 20-year-old phenom Devon Alexander “The Great” to kick off pay-per-view telecast.
Roy Jones Jr. “The best birthday present for me would be a knock out on Saturday night. Tito’s fighting the toughest fight of his career. He picked me to get up for this fight. He knows I’m a guy who normally beats him so he knows what type of shape he’s got to get in to step into the ring with me. I understand that.
“Ain’t nobody got the speed to handle me. Only Floyd Mayweather comes close to me and he’s still 10 miles an hour slower.
I feel good. Now is just the waiting. You fight the fight a bunch of times in your head and I think of different ways to do it. I have several options and every night I think of a different option.
Andrew Golota “Everybody is talking about Mollo’s speed and his offensive abilities. Why isn’t anybody talking about his defense? I guess we’ll know more after the first round. It shouldn’t go the distance. I can’t see it going the distance.
“He says he wants to start fast and be aggressive. I feel the same. It’s better for me because now I know what he is going to try to do. Mollo’s a good fighter and I know he wants to win. How is he going to win? Be there to watch me.
“Bernard Hopkins is my role model. I’m not too old yet. I stay in shape. I even got a hair cut to be more aerodynamic. I feel much lighter!”
Mike Mollo: “Golota’s an old fighter. He’s been great and I respect him. He’s fought in some tremendous fights that have slipped away from him for whatever reason.
“I feel like I’m younger and faster and should win the fight. Now I need to get in the ring to prove I’m ready to move to the next level. I fear no one. I have butterflies like I should but no fear.
“I’ve been to the Garden before for a basketball game but this will be my first fight there.”
DeMarcus Corley: “It’s do or die for me right now. I’m fighting on one leg. I’m like a dog with a broken leg. If I lose this one I’m out. I can’t call Don King and ask for another match if I lose another fight.
“If I knock this kid Devon Alexander out it would help me. Just getting past him is not enough. I need to knock him out. He and his team have shown me a lot of respect. I appreciate that. After the stare down at the press conference, I told him to bring his “A” game. He asked for me. You gotta be careful what you ask for because you might get it.”
Boxing Titans Meet at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 19
Superbout Features Felix “Tito” Trinidad vs. Roy Jones Jr.
NEW YORK—Two of the greatest boxers in history, Felix “Tito” Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr., will face each other in a battle boxing fans have been waiting for years to see at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008, and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View.
Trinidad (42-2, 35 KOs), from Puerto Rico, and Jones (51-4, 38 KOs) from Pensacola, Fla.,—both destined for the Hall of Fame—have built a staggering list of accomplishments and will enter the ring for this highly anticipated 12-round fight at or below the catch weight of 170 pounds.
Jones is an eight-time world champion, winning belts in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, becoming the first former middleweight champion to win a world heavyweight crown in over 100 years.
Trinidad is a five-time world champion with a stunning career knockout ratio of 80 percent that has won titles in the welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight classes. He also holds the distinction of having defeated three Olympic Games gold medalists: Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya and David Reid.
“I always want to fight great fighters and I have always wanted to fight Roy Jones Jr., one of the greatest fighters of the era,” Trinidad said. “I have too much boxing left inside of me and I want to show that I am still one of the best fighters in the world. I feel good at this weight and it will be a great fight.”
Jones minced no words in summing up the match.
“We both have bombs in our tank and are phenomenal boxers on top of that,” Jones said. “We are both powerful punchers and it will all depend on who gets there first. I will guarantee this: count on it, this will be a superfight that delivers the goods. We’re going to give fight fans exactly what they want to see.”
“Tito is a great champion and I know he leaves a great legacy behind him. If someone like that challenges you, how are you going to turn that down?”
Promoter Don King is especially proud to be promoting this fight.
“I’ve been trying to put these two superstars in a match for a long time and to get this done just leaves me breathless,” King exclaimed. “This will be a fight for the ages and will be remembered among the greatest events I have ever staged. Tito and Roy, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
HBO Pay-Per-View’s Mark Taffet shares his excitement.
“Tito Trinidad and Roy Jones are two legendary fighters who have participated in some of the biggest and most memorable fights of our generation,” Taffet said. “We’re thrilled that boxing fans will finally get to see this matchup of superstars.”
The Mecca of boxing is proud to be hosting the event at the world’s most famous arena.
“Two legendary fighters at Madison Square Garden in the greatest city in the world, it just can’t get any better than that,” said Joel Fisher, senior vice president, Madison Square Garden Sports Properties. “The Garden is strongly committed to the sport of boxing and Trinidad versus Jones is certainly an event our loyal boxing fans have been waiting to see.”
From 1993 to 2004, Jones was regarded by most as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He was Ring magazine’s “Fighter of the Year” in 1994 and was voted 1990’s “Fighter of the Decade” by the prestigious Boxing Writers Association of America.
The list of top-name fighters Jones has defeated reads like a Who’s Who and is even more impressive when one considers the opponents’ records going into the matches: Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (22-1); Thomas Tate (29-2); James “Lights Out” Toney (44-0-2); Vinny Pazineza (40-5); Eric Lucas (19-2-2); Mike “The Body Snatcher” McCallum (49-3-1); Montell Griffin (27-0); Virgil “Quicksilver” Hill (43-2); Lou Del Valle (27-1); Otis Grant (31-1-1); Reggie Johnson (39-5-1); Julio Cesar Gonzalez (27-0); Clinton Woods (32-1); John Ruiz (38-4-1); and Antonio Tarver (21-1).
Trinidad is the greatest and most revered fighter ever from the boxing-crazed island of Puerto Rico. He was named the BWAA Fighter of the Year in 2000 and in that same year participated in the BWAA and USA Today Fight of the Year when he knocked out then-undefeated “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas.
His list of vanquished star foes provides a similar list to that of Jones: Maurice Blocker (34-3); Hector “Macho” Camacho (43-2); “Yory Boy” Campas (56-0); Oba Carr (32-0); Freddie Pendleton (40-20-4); Pernell Whitaker (40-2-1); Hugo Pineda (36-1-1); Oscar De La Hoya (31-0); Fernando Vargas (20-0); William Joppy (32-1-1); and Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga (27-4-1).
Trinidad’s father, manager and trainer Felix Trinidad Sr. was named BWAA Trainer of the Year in 1995 and again in 2000 as well as Manager of the Year in 2000.
The Trinidad vs. Jones domestic pay-per-view telecast will begin at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT and is being produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View, available in more than 61 million pay-per-view homes.
This domestic telecast will be available in HDTV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your Trinidad vs. Jones fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.
The event will be distributed internationally by KingVision, available through DK International Sales, a division of Don King Productions, Inc.
The event is being promoted by Don King Productions in association with Madison Square Garden.
MSG Sports Properties is part of Madison Square Garden, L.P., owned by Cablevision Systems Corporation, which includes the New York Knicks (NBA); the New York Rangers (NHL); the New York Liberty (WNBA); the Hartford Wolf Pack (American Hockey League); MSG Entertainment, which includes concerts and events at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, and the Beacon Theatre; MSG Media, which is comprised of MSG and FSN New York; and the Madison Square Garden arena complex, located in the heart of the New York metropolitan area.
Don King Productions has promoted over 500 world championship fights with nearly 100 individual boxers having been paid $1 million or more. DKP also holds the distinction of having promoted or co-promoted seven of the 10 largest pay-per-view events in history, as gauged by total buys, including three of the top five: Holyfield vs. Tyson II, 1.99 million buys, June 1997; Tyson vs. Holyfield I, 1.6 million buys, November 1996; and Tyson vs. McNeeley, 1.58 million buys, August 1995.
DKP has promoted or co-promoted 11 of the top 15 highest-grossing live gates in the history of the state of Nevada including four of the top five: Holyfield vs. Lewis II, paid attendance: 17,078, gross: $16,860,300 (NOTE: Also second-highest live-gate gross for any event in history.), date: Nov. 13, 1999; Holyfield vs. Tyson II, paid attendance: 16,279, gross: $14,277,200, date: June 28, 1997; Holyfield vs. Tyson I, paid attendance: 16,103, gross: $14,150,700, date: Nov. 9, 1996; and Tyson vs. McNeeley, paid attendance: 16,113, gross: $13,965,600, date: Aug. 19, 1995.
CONTACTS:
Alan Hopper, Don King Productions (954) 418-5839 alandkp@hotmail.com
Dan Schoenberg, Madison Square Garden (212) 465-6367 daniel.schoenberg@thegarden.com
Larry Torres, Madison Square Garden (212) 631-5178 larry.torres@thegarden.com
Steve Brener, BZA PR (818) 462-5598 steveb@bzapr.com
Kelly Swanson, Swanson Communications (202) 783-5500 kswanson@swansonpr.com
Patrick Byrne, HBO PPV (212) 512-1361 patrick.byrne@hbo.com
Ed Keenan, EMC (609) 399-1330 keenan@emcevents.com
Trinidad-Jones Featured Pay-Per-View Matches
Destined to Produce Slugfests
NEW YORK—Two of the greatest boxers in history, Felix “Tito” Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr., will face each other in a battle boxing fans have been waiting for years to see at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008. The event has been dubbed “Bring on the Titans” and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).
But before Trinidad and Jones square off, there will also be three bouts featured at the Garden and live on the pay-per-view telecast including heavyweight Andrew Golota taking on the emerging Chicago heavyweight “Merciless” Mike Mollo; former 154-pound champion Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin squaring of with Alex “The Technician” Bunema; and undefeated super lightweight Devon Alexander “The Great”—Don King’s top young prospect—will face his toughest opponent yet in former world champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley.
In a match where two titles will be on the line, Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) of Chicago by way of Warsaw, Poland, the current International Boxing Federation (IBF) North American champion will face the young and hungry World Boxing Association (WBA) Fedelatin titlist Mollo (19-1, 12 KOs) in a Chicagoland showdown.
Preceding Golota-Mollo, Karmazin (36-2-1, 23 KOs), from St. Petersburg, Russia, now living in Los Angeles, will defend his WBA Intercontinental super welterweight title against Bunema (26-9-2, 14 KOs), from Kinshasa, Zaire, now living in Atlanta.
The opening of the telecast will showcase the 20-year-old phenom Alexander (13-0, 9 KOs), from St. Louis , Mo. , taking on Washington, D.C., veteran and former World Boxing Organization (WBO) 140-pound titlist Corley, who has stepped into the ring with the likes of “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, Zab “Super” Judah, Miguel Cotto, Junior Witter and Jose Alfaro.
Golota, the greatest Polish heavyweight ever and one of the best heavyweights to have never won a world title, has won his last two contests via technical knockout and continues on his quest to win an elusive world crown. His most memorable fights came against some of the best heavyweights of his era including former world champions Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Chris Byrd and John Ruiz.
His last ring appearance was against Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin “The Clones Colossus” McBride at the Garden on Oct. 6, 2007. Golota can often be a slow starter, so McBride took a page out of Lamon Brewster’s and Tyson’s scouting report on the Pole and rocked him early in the match.
Golota used his veteran skills to weather the storm and maintain his composure, buying time to establish a rhythm in what turned to be a highly entertaining brawl that saw the Garden crowd on its feet during much of the contest.
Golota opened a nasty gash over McBride’s left eye in round five and finished him off with just 18 seconds to go in the sixth when referee Arthur Mercante Jr. halted the contest.
Mollo, 27, is still building his reputation as a legitimate heavyweight contender. A win over Golota would help catapult him into the upper echelons of heavyweight contenders seeking a world-title shot.
Mollo needed only two rounds to knock out Art “The Polish Warrior” Binkowski in his last outing on Oct. 13, 2007, in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Mollo turned in a dominating performance, battering the former Canadian Olympian from pillar to post. He dropped Binkowski three times in the second round before the referee stopped the carnage.
When asked how he felt after the fight, Mollo exclaimed, “Unbelievable, super-aggressive like a pit bull. Now I want Golota.”
Look for the young Mollo to come out swinging early, and the proverbial chips—or possibly the fighters in this case—will fall where they may.
Karmazin is coming off a sterling third-round knockout over former two-time 154-pound world champion Alejandro “Terra” Garcia on Friday, Nov. 23, 2007, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles .
Karmazin, 35, proved why he has always been considered one of the best junior middleweights in the world in an absolute destruction of Garcia where the Russian looked fantastic.
He lived up to his Made in Hell moniker when he dropped Garcia with a devastating body shot in the opening round. The assault continued until Karmazin disposed of the Mexican with a four-punch combination punctuated by a stinging left hook to the body in the third round that earned him a knockout.
“I knew the fight was going to end early after the first round,” Karmazin said. “I’m a boxer, I’m a thinking fighter, and I knew I was faster and punched harder.”
Bunema is also coming into this fight with plenty of momentum. In his last appearance, the 32-year-old dispatched veteran Steve Walker with a second round TKO on Nov. 10, 2007, in Ridgefield , Wash.
The Zaire native managed another nifty victory nearly two months earlier. Bunema delivered a fourth-round knockout against the young and tough Farid Shahid on Sept. 21, 2007, in Salt Lake City , Utah .
Alexander is scorching hot, having scored an opening-round TKO over Cory Peterson on Oct. 13, 2007, at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates , Ill.
Fighting out of the Cory Spinks camp under the tutelage of trainer Kevin Cunningham, his promoter Don King thinks it’s time to show Alexander’s skills to a wider audience.
“I insisted on putting Alexander The Great on the Jones-Trinidad pay-per-view because he is emerging and ready to become the top welterweight in the world,” King said. “Now is Devon ’s time and I want everyone to see this young talent display his skills.”
Standing in the way of Alexander’s quest for glory is the always dangerous Corley. Now 33, Corley has a vast experience advantage over his young opponent and would like nothing more than to spoil Alexander’s first appearance in a televised pay-per-view match.
The Trinidad vs. Jones domestic pay-per-view telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and is being produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View, available in more than 61 million pay-per-view homes.
This domestic telecast will be available in HDTV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your Trinidad vs. Jones fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.
The event will be distributed internationally by KingVision, available through DK International Sales, a division of Don King Productions, Inc. The event is being promoted by Don King Productions in association with Madison Square Garden .
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