{"id":69947,"date":"2018-01-11T18:24:56","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T23:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=69947"},"modified":"2018-01-11T18:25:28","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T23:25:28","slug":"rances-barthelemy-kiryl-relikh-press-conference-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=69947","title":{"rendered":"Rances Barthelemy – Kiryl Relikh Press Conference Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Tom Casino\/SHOWTIME<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unbeaten two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy and former title challenger Kiryl Relikh will both look to kick off their new year with a world title victory when they meet in a rematch for a vacant 140-pound title Saturday, Feb. 10 live on SHOWTIME from the Alamodome in San Antonio in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.<\/p>\n

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins at 10:15 p.m. ET\/PT and will be headlined by three-division world champion Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) taking on unbeaten 140-pound world champion Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs).<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the number one goal for 2018 is to bring home that belt on February 10,\u201d said Barthelemy (26-0, 13 KOs). \u201cThen I want to unify with all the other champions. My New Year\u2019s resolution is to surround myself with good people and win multiple world titles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst I have to win this fight in February,\u201d said Relikh (21-2, 19 KOs). \u201cBut then I have hopes of a great year defending my belt against the mandatory and eventually a unification fight. This will be the year I reach a new level in this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barthelemy and Relikh will fight for the WBA\u2019s vacant Super Lightweight World Title after their title eliminator bout in May ended in a debatable decision for Barthelemy. This time the fighters will look to leave no doubt with the full title on the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my second time fighting for a world title and it will be a second lesson for me,\u201d said Relikh. \u201cThis is my time to become champion. I need to do much more during this fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be aggressive right from the start. I\u2019m sure that I need a knockout to get the victory. He can try to run, but he won\u2019t be able to hide from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning this title would be a dream come true for me,\u201d said Barthelemy. \u201cI\u2019d be the first Cuban fighter in history to win a title in three different divisions. The last fight was very close and deserving of a rematch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just need to stick to my game plan and show everyone that I\u2019m the best 140-pound fighter in the world. The key will be to stay disciplined and land hard shots all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both fighters have sacrificed in training camp on the road to what they hope will be a celebratory moment on February 10, training hard through the holiday season to stay on target for fight night.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole team has done a fantastic job so far in camp,\u201d said Barthelemy. \u201cIsmael Salas and Joel Casamayor are giving me great tips and keeping me focused on my goal. One new thing I\u2019ve added this camp is Bob Santos for nutrition and strength and conditioning. It\u2019s made a big difference over the holidays where I usually eat too much. He\u2019s kept me on a strict diet and training has never been better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese last few weeks through the holidays have been the hardest of my camp, so there was no room for distractions,\u201d said Relikh. \u201cI spent New Year\u2019s with my family and then I was right back into training camp in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

With two belts in the 140-pound division on the line in the same night, the winner between Barthelemy and Relikh will be in a great position to begin a path toward unification after February 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will have my eye on the main event for sure,\u201d said Relikh. \u201cI\u2019m focused on Barthelemy now, but I want to unify and if that means fighting Garcia or Lipinets, I will be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGarcia vs. Lipinets is going to be a great fight and I definitely want the winner,\u201d said Barthelemy. \u201cAlthough Lipinets is the underdog going into this fight, I think he\u2019s going to give Garcia all he can handle. But I still think Garcia will come out on top, setting up war between us in a unification bout.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Tom Casino\/SHOWTIME Unbeaten two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy and former title challenger Kiryl Relikh will both look to kick off their new year with a world title victory when they meet in a rematch for a vacant 140-pound title Saturday, Feb. 10 live on SHOWTIME from the Alamodome in San Antonio in an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[17629],"class_list":["post-69947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-rances-barthelemy-kiryl-relikh-press-conference-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69947","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=69947"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}