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“Star Power” Undercard Press
Conference
By Barbara Pinnella
Photos: Linda Jolicoeur
In the outdoor heat – and I do mean heat – of a summer’s day
in Los Angeles, California, we had the press conference for
two big undercard fights on the Star Power boxing card on
September 17, those being the bout between Josesito Lopez
and Jessie Vargas, and the one with Erik “El Terrible”
Morales facing off against Lucas Matthysee. (Matthysee was
not in attendance.) Both of these fights will be under the
Floyd Mayweather/Victor Ortiz card, the fight that is going
to take place at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
We were first greeted by the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions
Richard Schaefer, who informed us that it is hard to
remember any other pay-per-view event that was packed with
as many evenly matched fights as the event taking place in
Las Vegas. “Three World Champion fights in one night,”
Schaefer said. “We have the 140 pound title with Erik
Morales and Lucas Matthysee. Then you’re going to have the
147 pound title between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz,
and then the 154 pound title between Saul Alvarez and
Alfonso Gomez. All on one night, on one pay-per-view.”
Next up was Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather
Promotions. He echoed Richard’s comments regarding the power
of the card. “I’ve been in boxing for a little over 30
years, and I can’t remember a card like this. We have a good
combination of some young fighters and obviously we have the
great Canelo on the card, as well as the main event, “Money”
Mayweather himself, and Victor Ortiz.” I think the fans are
in for a great night of boxing.”
The co-promoter of Lopez, Ken Thompson of Thompson Boxing,
had this to say; “I think this card could be the fight of
the century. I don’t think this could ever be outdone. It is
without question one of the best organized fights ever, and
the card is unbelievable.
There are eight great fighters on this card, but I think two
of these fighters are going to steal the show. Josesito
Lopez and Jessie Vargas are two of the youngest, fastest,
sharpest fighters in the world today, and both of them are
going to be out to prove themselves.”
Finally we got to hear a
fighter speak, Josesito Lopez. After thanking everyone
for coming, he said, “Whenever you have a fighter like
me and Jessie Vargas in the ring, you’re going to see
action. So don’t miss the fight. We are two top fighters
at the top of our game, and we’ll see who can survive.
Thank you!”
His opponent Vargas was a bit wordier and through an
interpreter had his own things to say. “This is a great
opportunity that’s been given to me, to fight on a
pay-per-view. I’m very excited, and I’m definitely going
to take full advantage of this opportunity. It’s a
pleasure being on the same card with Erik Morales and
Floyd Mayweather. My opponent is Josesito Lopez, and he
is a very good fighter, but I feel I’m a better fighter
and I’m going to show him September 17th. I’m going to
train very hard, and I hope Josesito is also training
hard, so we can give the fans a great fight, which I’m
sure we will. I’m coming to win, and at the end of the
day, I will come out victorious.”
It was time to hear from
the three-time World Champion, and the man who Schaefer
said was one of the most famous Mexican fighters ever in
the history of the sport, Erik Morales. Also through an
interpreter, Morales said, with regard to Matthysee, “We
were looking at videos, studying different opponents.
I’ve seen a lot of the comments on different websites
and on Facebook that I’m crazy. (With regard to this
fight.)
“It was the same thing in the last fight with Maidana,
that I was crazy, that I was going to get killed, and
there was about a second there, that people were
convincing me of that. The reality is that yes, I am
crazy, but I’m crazy for what I do, for what I believe
in. when I looked at videos of Matthysee and studied him
I found he’s a very strong fighter who hits very hard.
It doesn’t matter to me if people understand me or not.
This is just a sport, and I do it with a lot of love and
a lot of heart. I feel that this is a fight that people
want to see – the public wants to see it. It couldn’t be
a better fight. People ask why, and sometimes I don’t
even know how to answer, I don’t know why I do it
either. I just know that I love to do it and I want to
do it. So have a great time, and there’ll be a
celebration when I come out victorious.”
With that the conference ended with the customary posing
for photos by the fighters, followed by a serious search
for water!
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
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