{"id":6037,"date":"2010-12-10T11:22:58","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T16:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=6037"},"modified":"2010-12-10T11:27:40","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T16:27:40","slug":"showtime-bantamweight-tournament-starts-saturday-december-11th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=6037","title":{"rendered":"Showtime Bantamweight Tournament Starts Saturday December 11th"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The promoters and fighters involved with The Bantamweight Tournament: Winner Takes All \u2013 a two-stage, single-elimination tournament of 118-pounders \u2013 took center stage on Thursday in the final press conference to discuss the two Semifinal bouts set to take place on Saturday, Dec. 11, LIVE on SHOWTIME\u00ae at 9 p.m. ET\/PT (delayed on the West Coast) from Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash.<\/p>\n

In the opening bout, undefeated, world-ranked rising star Abner Mares (20-0-1, 13 KOs), of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico, will face two-division world champion Vic \u201cRaging Bull\u201d Darchinyan (35-2-1, 27 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, by way of Armenia.<\/p>\n

Then, former IBF 118-pound champ Joseph King Kong Agbeko (27-2, 22 KOs), of Bronx, N.Y., by way of Ghana, Africa, will try to earn back the title from the man that won it from him, current IBF champ Yonnhy \u201cEl Colombiano\u201d Perez (20-0-1, 14 KOs), of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., by way of Colombia.<\/p>\n

With a win over Darchinyan, Mares could earn a rematch against Perez, who he fought to a disputed majority draw last May 22, or face the hard-hitting Agbeko. If Darchinyan wins his semifinal bout, he could face the last man to beat him, Agbeko, who won a close, unanimous decision in July 2009.<\/p>\n

Highlights of what the fighters had to say on Thursday at the final press conference:<\/p>\n

Gary Shaw, Vic Darchinyan\u2019s Promoter:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the fighters. Thanks to SHOWTIME \u2026 actually they should be thanking us for bringing them two great fights and four great fighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe television crowd will be rewarded on Saturday. I wish I didn\u2019t have any fighters in the ring so I could just watch on my couch and enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Agbeko:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis tournament is going to be the best because the bantamweight division is the most exciting.<\/p>\n

I expect a war against Perez. With bantamweights, there are always lots of explosions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary Shaw:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph, I have a surprise for you. The Washington state commission agreed to it. Since you\u2019re known for the head butts, I am going to have Perez and Vic fight you in a tag-team match. When you head butt one of them, we\u2019ll tag in the other while the first guy gets sutured up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Agbeko:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAbout head butts, styles make head butts. I guess they get cut and not me because I have the harder head.<\/p>\n

Saturday night, I\u2019ll put an end to any excuses. After Saturday, I think everyone will see who is the favorite of this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abner Mares:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI know every boxer says that they just had the best camp of their life but this really has been a tremendous camp for me. I\u2019m ready. I know I\u2019m ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs bantamweights, we are fighters known to throw a lot of punches. We\u2019re known for making fights exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vic Darchinyan:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMares is good. I\u2019ve seen his fights. He\u2019s strong. He\u2019s fast. But on the night of the fight, I\u2019ll slow him. I\u2019ll take away his strengths. You will see a new Vic Darchinyan, hungry and motivated like a
\nyoung fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go for the knockout. It\u2019s exciting. It\u2019s what people want to see. It\u2019s simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yonnhy Perez:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have to thank SHOWTIME for making this tournament a reality. This is very important because we know that the winner of this tournament will be a very significant fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only one thing I\u2019m waiting for: the bell on Saturday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertise Now On RSR<\/a><\/p>\n

Purchase Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The promoters and fighters involved with The Bantamweight Tournament: Winner Takes All \u2013 a two-stage, single-elimination tournament of 118-pounders \u2013 took center stage on Thursday in the final press conference to discuss the two Semifinal bouts set to take place on Saturday, Dec. 11, LIVE on SHOWTIME\u00ae at 9 p.m. ET\/PT (delayed on the West […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2185,105,659],"class_list":["post-6037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-bantamweight-tournament","tag-boxing","tag-showtime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6037\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}