NEW YORK ? Nicholas Walters wants to teach Miguel Marriaga a painful, lasting lesson Saturday night.
The undefeated featherweight champion, coming off the biggest win of his career, clearly has heard enough reminders from Marriaga about what happened when they fought as amateurs in April 2008. Colombia’s Marriaga defeated Jamaica’s Walters in a qualifying tournament and prevented Walters from competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) says he can’t recall anything about his fight against Marriaga (20-0, 18 KOs), who’ll challenge Walters in an HBO “Boxing After Dark” main event in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
“I don’t remember the amateur fight,” Walters said. “That took place some years ago. That was one fight. Don’t blame me if I don’t remember. That was in 2008. We’re in 2015 now.
“But I hear him bragging about the amateurs. Let’s see if he can do what he did in the amateurs. In the amateurs, it was just four rounds. Now we go 12 rounds. And I’m not preparing to go 12 rounds with him. I’m training to knock him out. He needs to know that. I’m coming to knock him out.”
Marriaga, 28, doesn’t believe Walters, 29, has no recollection of their amateur fight.
“He doesn’t remember me because I beat him,” Marriaga said. “He won’t remember me on [Saturday night], either. I beat him once. I’ll beat him twice.”
The one thing upon which everyone involved in the promotion seems to agree is that the bout between these powerful featherweights won’t go the distance.
Walters has knocked out 84 percent of his professional opponents, including 11 of his past 12.
He floored “The Filipino Flash,” Nonito Donaire, twice on his way to stopping Donaire in the sixth round of their Oct. 18 fight to win the WBA 126-pound championship. Donaire (34-3, 22 KOs) also is one of boxing’s most punishing punchers and had not been knocked out in his first 13 years as a pro.
Marriaga, who hasn’t faced as high a level of opposition as Walters, has knocked out 90 percent of his pro foes, including 12 of his past 13.
“I’ll bet you any money you want it’s going to end in a knockout,” promoter Bob Arum said. “It ain’t going to a decision.”
If Walters wins, Arum plans to match him against Vasyl Lomachenko in a featherweight unification championship fight in October or November. Ukraine’s Lomachenko (4-1, 2 KOs), the WBO 126-pound champion, is a highly skilled southpaw who’s generally regarded as one of the top 10 boxers, pound-for-pound, in the world, despite that he has just five professional fights on his record.
“That’s the fight I want to make,” Arum said. “People would love that fight.”
Marriaga isn’t as diverse or talented as Lomachenko, yet expects to sabotage Arum’s plan and place himself in position to face Lomachenko in the fall. Unlike many of the one-dimensional, rugged punchers who come from Colombia to fight in the United States, Marriaga possesses plenty of technical skill.
Walters doesn’t think that’ll matter once he starts landing against Marriaga.
“This Saturday, it’s not the same Nicholas Walters he fought back then, in 2008,” Walters said. “It’s a whole different ballgame now. His record speaks highly of him. He speaks highly of himself. Let’s see.”
Twitter: @Idecboxing
