| |
|
|
Saunders vs. Murray & Undercard
Press Conference Quotes
Eddie Hearn:
"We're back in the bubble for a big night of boxing this
Friday, the World Super-Middleweight Championship between
Billy Joe Saunders and Martin Murray, live on Sky Sports in
the UK and DAZN around the world. It's great to be here.
We've been lifted by the news that fans will return for the
Anthony Joshua versus Kubrat Pulev fight on December 12.
1,000 allowed into The SSE Arena, Wembley for that, so this
effectively, touch wood, will be our last ever show, we
hope, behind closed doors. We're ready to make the most of
it, and ready for a great night of boxing."
Billy Joe Saunders – Hatfield, England – 29-0, 14 KOs –
defending his WBO Super-Middleweight World Title against
Martin Murray:
"First of all I've got to thank yourself and Sky for even
getting us out this year. I didn't think I was going to get
out. All of the big fights were tied up, out of the fights
that were left out there Martin Murray's name was screaming
out. We were supposed to fight twice before, it didn't
happen. He's boxed for the World Title four times, he should
have been a two-time World Champion, he was on the wrong end
of two decisions.
"People are looking at this fight as a walk in the park for
me and think I should win easily. If you look at Martin,
he's never took damage. He's never been beaten up in a
fight. Golovkin was what it was, he got him in his prime. I
promised him his shot and it's here. I believe that it's my
time to shine now. I'm doing this fight for my uncle Tom who
passed away who was like a dad to me.
"I want the Jacobs fights and the Canelo fights and the
Andrade fights now, but sadly everyone was tied up this
year. The only one really worthy of taking the fight which
was available was Martin Murray. He's a four-time World
Title challenger. In my opinion, two-time World Champion, so
it's not a bad pick out of the bunch.
"I know Martin is coming to fight. I haven't been beaten on
the UK soil since I've been 12-years-old. I've got a good
track record, and I'm going to keep it that way. He's going
to bring a good game, but afterwards he can go back to St
Helens, take his cash back and have a good Christmas and
retire with the family, because that's what I'm planning on
doing, retiring him."
Martin Murray – St Helens, England – 39-5-1, 17 KOs –
challenging Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO
Super-Middleweight World Title:
"This is my fifth one now. I know how hard a fight it's
going to be. I really rate Billy Joe. We've got unfinished
business. Everything happens for a reason. I firmly believe,
and truly believe that the pull outs years ago, all of the
little set backs that I've had, have all brought me to this
point and like I said, I'm fit, focused and ready.
"I get it, I get why he pulled out to be honest with you. We
all want those bigger fights. It makes sense. There was a
little bit of frustration at the time but I left that where
it was and I've got nothing against Billy. We shook hands
when I got beat in my fight against N'Dam, he was on the
card with me. He's here now and he's honoured his word. He's
going to be in top condition himself and we're going to lay
it all on the line. It's going to be a good fight.
"No one has ever done it in five times in the UK. I believe
Groves four, Frank Bruno four, and I truly believe that
there's been a reason why I've picked myself up off the
couch when times have been low and I've not wanted to go to
the gym, but I've forced myself to get there. There's been a
reason for it and it's for Friday. For me to achieve what
no-one else has done in the UK."
James Tennyson – Belfast, Northern Ireland – 27-3, 23 KOs –
fighting Josh O'Reilly in an Eliminator for the WBA
Lightweight World Title:
"It's good to hear people saying things like that, it means
I'm doing something right. I'm really looking forward to the
fight night now. I'm going to put on a masterclass
performance in another fan-pleasing fight. I come out every
time and I give the fans what they want. I do what I need to
do to get the win as well as that. I'm just going to go out
and be me, box hard and box smart."
Josh O'Reilly – Hamilton, Canada – 16-0, 6 KOs – fighting
James Tennyson in an Eliminator for the WBA Lightweight
World Title:
"I'm super excited. I've never been on a stage like this.
It's awesome to get this opportunity. I'm happy to be
sharing the ring with James, I think it's going to be a
great fight and I'm looking forward to it. I started boxing
when I was 14, I didn't really do much as an amateur but I
got to travel enough with a few teams. I got over to Ireland
when I was younger and I have a bunch of people supporting
me out in Cavan, I got to train there for a bit. I had a
really good time and I trained there for a few months when I
was younger. I expect nothing less. I'm a fan, I like
watching the kid. I've seen him enough and I think there's a
lot of stuff I can do in there to negate a lot of the stuff
he does. I've got my own plan on what's going to happen,
it's just about executing it."
Shannon Courtenay – Watford, England – 5-1, 2 KOs – fighting
Dorata Norek in an eight round Super-Bantamweight contest:
"I think there's nerves with every fight, and coming off a
loss I've got to prove myself now. Pressure is a privilege.
If there's no pressure then nobody believes in you, so I'm
taking it in my stride. I've made the choice to move, so I'm
now living in a hotel next to my camp. I've made a lot of
sacrifices but it's paid off because I'm at 118 for the
first time. It's time to make a statement.
"I think it would be easy for me to sit here now and say,
'oh it's fine'. I'll be honest. I felt like the floor
underneath me had been taken. I felt like my world was over.
You've got to hit rock bottom to come up again. Now I've had
that bitter taste of what a loss is like, I'm never going to
taste it again. It's made me more determined. Mentally and
physically I'm a lot stronger."
Dorota Norek – Watford, England – 6-1, 1 KO – fighting
Shannon Courtenay in an eight round Super-Bantamweight
contest:
"Thank you Eddie, I am very grateful for the opportunity to
be here and to participate in such a big event. I love to
fight. I'm a fan of Shannon's. I've watched a lot of her
fights and I know this will deliver for the fans. I come
from the MMA background as you mentioned, so I'm not scared
of big boxing gloves. I promise to show my full potential
and my aggressive style. I'm here to win."
Zach Parker – Derby, England – 19-0, 13 KOs – fighting Cesar
Nunez for the WBO International Super-Middleweight Title:
"I've got to focus on Friday night. He's going to be a tough
opponent. I can't look too far ahead with this mandatory
spot. My full focus is on Friday night and Cesar Nunez.
You've got to make noise with every fight. That's why people
want to watch you, for the knockouts and the showbiz.
Hopefully I can give a good performance and make a big fight
next year with Billy Joe or any of the other World
Champions. I think Saunders vs. Murray is going to be a good
fight. It's last chance saloon for Martin Murray so we'll
just have to see what version of him turns up. I'm picking
Billy Joe on points."
Cesar Nunez – Pamplona, Spain – 17-2-1, 0 KOs – fighting
Zach Parker for the WBO International Super-Middleweight
Title:
"First and foremost I would like to thank Matchroom and
Sauerland for the opportunity. I'm coming to take this
chance and win on Friday night."
Lerrone Richards – New Malden, England – 13-0, 3 KOs –
fighting Timo Laine in an eight round Super-Middleweight
contest:
"I'm very happy and excited. Let's go! There's no pressure,
I just need to do Lerrone Richards. Like I always say, it's
all about the skills. On Friday night you're going to see
that. Timo is a tough competitor. I'm taking him very
seriously and I'm going to do a job on Friday night."
Timo Laine – Helsinki, Finland – 28-14, 12 KOs – fighting
Lerrone Richards in an eight round Super-Middleweight
contest:
"It's going to be a hard challenge for me. I've seen a
couple of Lerrone's fights and he looks really skilful. I
want to say thanks for this opportunity. When the fight
starts I have to get going straight away. It's eight rounds
and I have to be fast."
Lewis Edmondson – Southampton, England – 3-0 – fighting John
Telford in a six round Super-Middleweight contest:
"Firstly I'd like to say thank you to Eddie Hearn and Frank
Warren. I'm contracted to Frank Warren, I don't know if
anyone knows, but they've come together for this one and let
me get on the bill, so I'd like to thank them for that. I
feel like I'm ready to move forward. I feel like I done well
as an amateur, I won National Titles and boxed for England.
I feel like that's helped me. I've got great fighters
training alongside me like Billy Joe Saunders and a great
team around me. I'm looking to move forwards fast. I've seen
a little bit of John. I'm 25 and I don't want to wait around
too long, I want to get in the mix."
John Telford – Manchester, England – 11-2-1, 2 KOs –
fighting Lewis Edmondson in a six round Super-Middleweight
contest:
"It's a big opportunity for myself. We only got a week's
notice but we were already training to box three weeks ago
on the Ultimate Boxxer show. That fell through because of my
opponent testing positive for COVID. We had a couple of days
off then had a call that very weekend asking if we'd be
interested on boxing on a Matchroom show. I jumped at the
chance. I've had a quick look at Lewis, he seems good at
what he does. There's not a lot to look at in his
professional career. We've seen what he did as an amateur,
let's see how it stands him on the night. Good on him for
jumping straight up, there needs to be a lot more of that in
the sport now."
Donte Dixon – Sheffield, England – 4-0, 3 KOs – fighting
Angelo Dragone in a six round Featherweight contest:
"I'm looking forward to it and I'm ready to go. All through
training everything has gone well. All of my road work has
been done and all of my work in the gym has been done. I
just can't wait to fight now. Billy always gets on to you
about me and that's good, I kind of like it because he wants
me to get out there so he gives me these opportunities. He
knows I can perform. I look forward to putting on a good
performance on Friday.
"This is another tough opponent for me but the better they
are, the better I'm going to perform. I like that it's going
to be a tough one. I'm happy with my progress right now.
I've sparred a lot of these guys and I hold my own against
them. Right now I'm on the right track. When we get those
fights in the future, I'll do good against them guys."
Angelo Dragone – Carmarthen, Wales – 5-1 – fighting Donte
Dixon in a six round Featherweight contest:
"100% I'm ready for this. I've trained really hard, we had a
six-week training camp and I've trained twice a day every
day. I'd just like to thank Matchroom for the opportunity.
We've seen some upsets over the last few weeks and there's
going to be another upset on Friday night. I'm ready to go.
I'm a 30-year-old man, he's younger, a 20-year-old. All of
the hype is around him. I'm an experienced man, I've been
involved in Title fights on live TV. I've been there and
I've done it. Let's see if he can beat the stallion. I'll be
on him from the first round to the sixth round. I'm going to
set a fast pace, I'm always in battles. I'm going to give
100% to get the win."
|
|
|
