MONDAY, OCT. 13, 2008
El
Paseo Inn Restaurant, Los Angeles
Photos: Jorge Garcia
History will be made on
Saturday, Nov. 1, when World Boxing Association (WBA) and World
Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight world champion Cristian
Mijares climbs into the ring to face International Boxing
Federation (IBF) world champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan at
the The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Mijares and
Darchinyan are fighting in the very first 115-pound World
Championship Unification.
The historic showdown is being
co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment, KO Entertainment and Gary
Shaw Productions and will air live on SHOWTIME beginning at 9
p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) with a 12-round super
middleweight (168 pounds) special attraction – Andre Dirrell vs.
Victor Oganov.
Tickets are on sale and are
priced starting at $25 to $250 for ringside. Tickets may be
purchased at The Home Depot Center Box Office, open 10:00 a.m.
to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster
retail ticket locations, as well as www.Ticketmaster.com and
Ticketmaster-Charge-by-Phone, by calling 213-480-3232.
CRISTIAN MIJARES
“Darchinyan is talking too
much because he’s scared of me. Jorge Arce talked a lot of
trash too and I shut him up. I’ll do the same with Darchinyan.
“Everyone knows I’m the
smarter fighter. I learn new things all the time. From what
I’ve seen, Darchinyan doesn’t grow from fight to fight. What you
see is what you get. He’s predictable.
“Some people are saying that
this fight could turn into an epic series like the
Vazquez-Marquez trilogy. Those fights were extremely close. I
don’t see my fight with Darchinyan being close. I expect to win
by a comfortable margin.
“Darchinyan is a champion and
you have to respect him for that, but he is vulnerable. Nonito
Donaire proved that by knocking him out. Darchinyan says he
learned from that fight, but he looks like the same fighter to
me.
“Both of us are confident of
victory. I think Darchinyan is overconfident. They say they’re
going to knock me out. That’s not going to happen. I’m too
fast, too slick and too smart for that.
“Fighting in Los Angeles is
going to be great for me. I love the L.A. area and I have a big
following here. Darchinyan has a nice following too with the
Armenian population. I’m sure we’ll have a diverse crowd at The
Home Depot Center.”
VIC DARCHINYAN
“I didn’t have to take this
fight but I’m so glad I did. I will knock him out, there’s no
question about it. I will come not just to win. I will knock him
out.”
On fighting in front of a
pro-Mexican crowd. “It doesn’t matter where I fight him. I’ll
fight him anywhere. I’ll fight him in Mexico. Los Angeles has a
big Armenian community and I will have tons of support. After
the first round the Mexican crowd will be silent. There will be
nothing for them to cheer about. I don’t mind coming in being
the bad guy. I know most of the fans will be against me but at
the end of the night they will be on my side.
“They said Mijares is
pound-for-pound the best fighter out there, but after I get
finished with him we’ll see what number he is. I’m going to give
a lesson to the little boy.
On his style: “I want to show
on Nov. 1 my power. I’m a smart fighter but I will knock him out
with my power. I know his weaknesses and they will be exposed.
“After I knock him out I don’t
want to hear any excuses that he’s still better than me. When I
beat him it’s not going to be because he’s no good but because
I’m so much better.”