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Emanuel Navarrete vs. O’Shaquie Foster
Press Conference Quotes
WBO/IBF super featherweight world champion Emanuel Navarrete
(40-2-1, 33 KOs) and WBC king O’Shaquie Foster (25-3, 12
KOs) will collide in a three-belt unification showdown
Saturday, Oct. 24, at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
In the 10-round featherweight co-feature, Albert "Chop Chop"
Gonzalez (18-0, 11 KOs) takes on Edward Vazquez (20-3, 6
KOs).
Additionally, super lightweight contender Frank Martin
(19-1-1, 13 KOs) makes his Top Rank debut in a 10-round
battle against an opponent to be announced shortly.
Navarrete-Foster, Gonzalez-Vazquez, Martin’s return, along
with an additional fight, will be streamed LIVE on DAZN
beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Top Rank, tickets go on sale Friday, Sept. 11,
at 10 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster.com.
This is what the fighters and Top Rank president Todd duBoef
had to say Wednesday.
Emanuel Navarrete
“I’m very happy that this fight came together. I’m training
very well and working hard on figuring out what this fight
is going to require. We know what Foster represents. We know
he’s a very skilled fighter with a lot of weapons in his
boxing repertoire, and that’s what we’re preparing for. I’m
extremely excited for fight night to arrive, to show
everyone the great preparation I’ve had, put on a great
fight and give 100 percent of myself to accomplish the
goal.”
“I think boxing also depends on moments. There are moments
in any fighter’s career when injuries, emotional instability
or perhaps some other situation can affect you. In my case,
physically, I wasn’t at 100 percent. There were certain
things that weren’t allowing me to be the fighter I’ve
always been—aggressive and with a positive mentality.
Physically, I’m recovered. Thank God, we’ve overcome some
injuries. There are no excuses now.”
“If he doesn’t come to fight, if he tries to win on points
and make it an easy fight without making things too
complicated for himself, we’re going to try to force him to
fight. We’re going to put our face right in front of him so
he can hit us, and we’re going to try to hit him, too. It’s
going to be very difficult, but I’m coming in with the
mentality of bringing the fight from the very first round,
trying to land my punches and imposing the pace of the
fight.”
O’Shaquie Foster
“I definitely feel like I’m at my best right now. Mentally,
physically, everything is coming together. I’m ready for any
challenge, and I feel like I’m there right now.
“We weren’t going to sit around and wait for Shakur
{Stevenson}. Whatever the next big opportunity was, I was
going to take it. Everybody knows that’s who I wanted, but
my career is going to keep moving. We’re going to keep
knocking them down until the fans keep calling for that
fight. Right now, we’ve got a great opponent in front of us
that we need to handle.
“The biggest difference in me at this stage of my career is
my mentality. I went through those losses, turned them into
lessons, got stronger, kept building and stayed consistent.
Now I’m here.
“I’m going to go in there and control the fight. I’m going
to dominate from round one. I saw an interview where he said
I like to run and make fights difficult. I’ve never run from
anybody. I put punishment and pain on my opponents, too.
That night, he’s going to get a boxing lesson. There won’t
be any running. It’s going to be a boxing lesson.
“To beat Navarrete, I just have to be me. I have to come
out, be dominant like I have been, not take any rounds off
and keep pressing the gas. It’s going to be a great night. I
feel good about it.”
Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez
“I’m feeling great. I’m feeling blessed to be here. I’m
grateful to God and grateful to my team. It’s only been
about a month since our last fight, and thank God we had a
great outcome and a great victory. But we’ve got to keep
pushing forward. You’re only as good as your last
performance. We had a great performance last time out, and
now we’ve got another tougher test ahead of us. It’s time to
handle business.
“Like Edward said, you see my style and you see his style,
and I think it creates a fan-friendly fight. He’s close to
home, and I’m from Texas, so I know he’s going to bring a
crowd. I’m thankful that I have some Texas supporters, and
hopefully after this fight I’ll have a lot more.
“We’re in for a fan-friendly fight that everybody is going
to enjoy. At the same time, I’m coming in looking to show
everybody that it’s not just hype behind me. I’m here to
live up to it.”
Edward Vazquez
"This is an exciting fight. Gonzalez is a young, exciting
fighter with a lot of hype behind him. But I'm battled
tested. I know what it takes to get here."
“One thing I know for sure is that he hasn’t been in there
with someone like me. This will be his first real test, and
we’ll see what that’s like on October 24.
“I don’t want to give away too much of the game plan, but
it’s going to be fireworks. You guys have seen how I fight
and how he fights. It’s a perfect clash of styles, and the
fans are in for a real treat.
Frank Martin
“I’m excited. I feel like I’ve got a new spark, fighting
with a new promotional company. I’ve got to come in and show
out and show them that signing me was a good decision. I’m
going to bring some excitement over to the Top Rank side. I
feel like Top Rank is going to keep me busy, and that’s what
I’m looking forward to.
“The key is to come out in this next fight, dominate and
move forward. I actually feel like I’m in a good position.
There are going to be fighters who might take an opportunity
or take a chance to fight me based off my last performance
and think it’s sweet or think it’s an easy fight. They’re
just going to put me in the position that I want to be in.”
Todd duBoef (Top Rank President)
“I think it’s a 50-50 fight. It’s ultra-competitive between
two guys with very different styles. With Navarrete, you
have an absolute tornado coming at you. We’ve seen it going
back to the Dogboe fights. Punches come from all over the
place, and you don’t know where they’re going to come from.
That’s going to make things very difficult.
“Then you have Foster, who has an incredible boxing IQ. He
sees things, he loves to counterpunch, and he’s going to
have to be very careful. It’s a real contrast of styles, and
I think it’s going to be interesting to see who can impose
his will. That’s why I see it as a 50-50 fight."
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