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Philippines, 24 Nov 2024 |
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CROCKER VS. FELIX + UNDERCARD PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES PhilBoxing.com Fri, 26 Jan 2024  Frank Smith, Matchroom Boxing CEO: "Lewis [Crocker] showed back in December on the Michael Conlan undercard that he has a massive future. We’ve seen some great nights here in Belfast over the years – whether it be Carl Frampton, Mick Conlan, Ryan Burnett, and now this is a big opportunity for Lewis to step into those big nights. With Jose it won’t be easy because we saw against Gary Cully what he can do. And looking at the pictures of him from yesterday, he looks like he’s coming here to fight. You also have to applaud both fighters as this main event was made on late notice. What is key in this sport is working with professionals who are working in the gym and are ready to go at all times, which both of these have proved. I think it's a brilliant fight. It’s exactly the fight that Lewis needs to kick on but Jose isn’t coming here to lay down. Lewis is young and he's in a market where there's a love and passion for boxing. We hadn't been to Belfast for a long long time but we came back here with Mick in December and like I say this is Lewis' chance because he's in a place where people talk about boxing. It's great so come somewhere where everyone is talking about the boxing at the weekend, because you don't get that everywhere. He's got that perfect opportunity to recreate those sold out nights in Belfast. It's going to be a tremendous atmosphere on Saturday. This is his chance, he's got the personality and he' got the skills and ability. He needs a big performance on Saturday night. This can really set him up for massive fights in 2024 and beyond." Lewis Crocker: "It's amazing to be back in Belfast so soon again. I'm headlining this time. Obviously last month the atmosphere in the city was amazing, fight week was great, fight night was great - so to be doing it again so soon is unreal against a very dangerous opponent as well. He's coming off a win over Gary Cully. He looked very good in that fight, very strong. I'm expecting fireworks on Saturday. Because it was Belfast vs. Belfast I'd grade my performance A*. It has to be. That meant everything to me. It was the pride thing, I said that during the fight week. As long as I got the victory it would have been A* regardless. To come through and do it in front of my friends and family was amazing. It put me on the map. Everything went well. With the platform of Matchroom and DAZN now everything is so different. Going into the fight week last time I realised this was the big stage. They've obviously got confidence in me to set me up as main event the next month. I'm not looking past Jose Felix but a big statement on Saturday sets me up for a big year. I'm expecting an exciting fight because I think he has the same mindset as me. This is a more dangerous fight than the McKenna one. With the McKenna one there was more pressure mentally. There's just as much at stake with each and every fight. He'll be full on confidence with the Gary Cully win and looking to make another upset in Ireland." Jose Felix: "Firstly I want to say thank you to all of the people that are gathered here. I want to say thank you to God, also to Matchroom for continuing to give me these opportunities, also to Paco who manages everything for me. I also have to thank the people of Ireland for their support. It is almost as if I have more supporters in Belfast than I have in Mexico so I thank God for that also. I think this fight will be a really interesting fight because when I fought Cully it was a real battle for me to get down to that weight. The main battle I had was with making weight more than anything. This time I'm fighting at 147, I'm much more prepared and I'm hoping to put on a better show this time so that Eddie Hearn gets to see me win and gets to see that I'm the next star of Matchroom. As I said before my main problem against Cully was making the weight. This time there won't be that pressure to make the weight. My battle was with the scales on that occasion but this time I think that will work to my advantage. I know my opponent will try to use that weight against me in the way that he can but I'm sure that I can go on and get this victory on Saturday night and put on a great show. Don't take your eyes off this fight. You know that Crocker hits hard, I hit hard too - I think it will be a great fight. I love this city, I love these people. I feel like I'm in Mexico and I feel like I've got the support, so I'm very grateful to the people here." Cheavon Clarke: "Where was the experienced and handsome Tommy McCarthy in your last fight. We'll find out if he's my biggest test to date on Saturday night. Obviously he's been in with some good guys from the British circuit and come up short. On Saturday night we'll find out. I've seen clips of him but I haven't watched him in depth through his career to rate him. He's talking about being fast-tracked. I'm not being fast-tracked. Who's fast-tracking me? I'm moving at my pace. Maybe he's moved slow in his career. I'm moving at my pace. They give me a fight, I think I can win it, I take it. The boos can't fight for you, they ain't gunna fight for him. What are they going to do. Like you said, as an amateur I've ravelled the world. I've been in hostile places. You've just got to be professional and focus on what you've come to do and execute. Bring the same energy Saturday, that's all I'll say on that. He's a funny guy, he's a clown. Bring the same energy on Saturday. I'm going to be smiling and laughing as I inflict damage." Tommy McCarthy: "Obviously I'm the A-side because it's Belfast. People from Belfast are coming to watch the Belfast man. It's an attractive fight, like you say an up-and-coming prospect agains the experienced and talented and handsome Tommy McCarthy. Chev don't worry about the last fight I just went there for the craic. This time I've trained properly for it. It was a last minute thing. Listen, don't worry about the past, focus on the present. All you need to worry about is what's happening on Saturday night. I've taken this fight seriously because I know you're a serious guy. I've trained properly so just worry about that. The last fight, I'm not even joking, I just went there because I had nothing else to do. During that fight I was like, 'you know what - I love this game'. I love fighting, and it just brought back a buzz for me because I hadn't fought for like 14 months before that. That really got my passion back for boxing and got my head back in the game. I had Eddie Hearn on my podcast at the last show in Belfast and I asked him to throw me a bone. He then phoned my and asked if I wanted to fight Chev Clarke. It's a good fight for me. The WBA Title is on the line. The winner of this fight is going to go high up in the world rankings. This is almost like a World Title Eliminator - you're putting yourself in line for a big title fight." Paddy Donovan: "I'm in a great position. Obviously with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, you couldn't ask for any better. I've got to keep living up to the expectation and keep performing very well at the highest level. The opportunities are there, as you can see there are so many Welterweights here today. I'm ready to put on a big performance on Saturday and I'm glad to be back in Belfast. First of all Andy (Lee) has been there and he's done that. He knows the road to be a World Champion and he knows it's not easy - there's a lot of ups and downs. Obviously I'm still a prospect with Andy. I'm still under his care. Andy can see a little bit of me in him, what he's been through. I've got to just listen to Andy and observe everything that I can. Keep building in the gym, keep working and learning with Andy, keep disciplined and the world will be my oyster. We've got a good challenge on our hands on Saturday. Deal with that on Saturday. We've got May at Croke Park on the Katie Taylor undercard. I'm sure a lot of Irish fans would like to see me on that. Hopefully summer time Eddie said we could do a show in Limerick City. Why not? I've seen some of his fights and he's a very durable fighter - never been stopped, 15 fights 13 wins. It's a great test for me at this stage of my career. It's an opportunity for me to perform again at the highest level." Williams Andres Herrera: "Firstly I'd like to say thank you very much for the opportunity. I've just come here to compete. It's a great opportunity for me and I just want to show that I'm at this level. I've seen a lot of my rival, I know that he moves well around the ring. He has great potential but we've come here to win and that's what we're coming to do. All I need to do is just study him in the ring, to watch him, to watch how he develops and how he fights, to kind of get the worst out of him." Conah Walker: "I'm massively grateful. As all boxers will know, inactivity can kill you, so it's best to be getting out and getting out so early in the year. I've got a test in front of me, he's undefeated, 9-0, he's a good talent. We've spoke in the past and we get on but all of that is to the side now because we've got to go to war and that's that. I'm always confident, I got into the trenches every camp. Every fight from now onwards is one more step of securing a future for my family that I want. I treat every fighter and every fight the same. I prepare diligently and it is what it is. He's never tasted defeat and i'm grateful for him stepping up but he's got a big task on his hands. He's never fought anyone and he's never fought anyone like me. I'm going to win. It doesn't matter how I'm going to win, but I will win." Lloyd Germain: "Obviously I'm here for big fights and I'm grateful for the opportunity from DAZN and Matchroom. Come Saturday night I'm ready to grab the opportunity with both hands. Beating Conor is going to progress my career and I'm looking forward to doing that on Saturday night. Like he said, we've spoken to each other in the past, there's not bad feelings. It's business at the end of the day. What he's got I want very very much. He had a great performance against Cyrus upsetting the applecart and I've been brought in now and I'm going to do the same for myself on Saturday." Giorgio Visioli: "I'll be real, I've watched my debut knockout pretty much every day. I watch the little clips on DAZN back on Instagram, I watch the YouTube full fight back and everything. It was a great experience. Watching it back I'm not too surprised I got the knockout but back then I was because in the amateurs I was more like a boxer mover - I didn't really get the stoppages. Watching it back I realised that I'm a good fighter and I can read my opponents really easily. My reaction times were on top. I do a lot of rounds in sparring, I do eights and I do tens and I do them really comfortably. I don't think an extra two rounds is going to be a problem for me at all." Leli Buttigieg: "I've gained a bit of experience. I know what it's like, first public workout, press conference and weigh-in last time. I went back to the gym and i carried on learning, working on things. Now I'm coming back to Belfast and I'm glad to be back. I'm going to put on another demolishing performance. As an amateur I flew to Russia, Ukraine - I fought abroad a lot. So coming to Belfast wasn't really anything new to me because I'm used to this stuff." Kurt Walker: "I'm happy. Big thanks to Matchroom and Conlan Boxing for getting me on the show. It's what I want, activity. I've got big plans for this year. I'm looking to have big fights. I've been pro for two years now. I had a long long amateur career where I did good things so I'm ready to go now, I don't want to waste time. I'm just ready to go, big fights, any opportunity I can get. I have to take my opportunities now. I'm ready to go. I need to get through this fight on Saturday obviously, I'm not overlooking my opponent. I'm looking at the likes of Hopey Price and Nathaniel Collins, all them boys. We have big plans, If I want those big fights in the summer it's about learning too. I'm still learning. I'm trying to learn every fight. It's just about small improvements every time for me."  |
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