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<\/a>Undisputed middleweight world champion Claressa Shields and former welterweight champion Ivana Habazin met face-to-face Tuesday at the final press conference three days before their long-awaited showdown for the vacant WBC and WBO 154-pound world titles this Friday, January 10 live on SHOWTIME from Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.<\/p>\nThe press conference also featured Philadelphia\u2019s welterweight sensation Jaron Ennis and Brooklyn-based contender Bakhtiyar Eyubov, who meet in the 10-round co-featured bout, plus Lindenhurst, N.Y. native and WBA Super Middleweight Champion Alicia Napoleon Espinosa and undefeated IBF Super Middleweight Champion Elin Cederroos, who will clash in a blockbuster unification bout to open the SHOWTIME BOXING: SPECIAL EDITION action at 9 p.m. ET\/6 p.m. PT. The event is promoted by Salita Promotions in association with T-REX BOXING PROMOTIONS.<\/p>\n
Here is what the fighters had to say Thursday from the Hotel Plaza Ath\u00e9n\u00e9e in Manhattan:<\/p>\n
CLARESSA SHIELDS<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m once in a century kind of athlete. I guarantee it\u2019s going to be over before six rounds. And I say six because I\u2019m punching different. I\u2019m stronger at 154. I\u2019m faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just try to keep carrying women\u2019s boxing the best way that I can. I\u2019m regarded as a top 10 fighter in boxing already with only nine fights. When you have that kind of pressure you have to go out and not be average. Skill wise, there\u2019s not a woman that can compare to me. I can do everything. I can box, I can brawl, I can stand in front of you toe-to-toe. When I win this fight I\u2019m just going to get a little bit louder with: She\u2019s the GWOAT, Greatest Women Of All Time. Put it there. I claim it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter everything happened in Flint, I had a conversation with Stephen Espinoza and he just told me to stay focused. Everyone who was in Flint and knows about the incident that happened knows it\u2019s not something I have a history of doing. I don\u2019t do stuff outside the ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things she said that was really disrespectful was that I didn\u2019t make weight for October 4. Don\u2019t believe the lies. I made 154 pounds and I\u2019m going to be a three-division world champion come Friday. Ivana doesn\u2019t stand a chance. I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m just going to keep it real. She\u2019s not as skilled as Christina Hammer. She worked her way up, but once a quitter, always a quitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the fight is over, she\u2019s going to be a blast from the past. They won\u2019t be talking about the incident in Flint. They may remember it, but her? They won\u2019t even remember her name after I beat her down on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n
IVANA HABAZIN<\/p>\n
\u201cI bet all of you are excited to see this fight. It\u2019s finally time. First, I want to say thank you to SHOWTIME, Salita Promotions, and my team, who made this fight. I want to say that Claressa Shields is not the greatest woman of all time, but she is the greatest bully of all time. She can say whatever she wants, but you know what, talk is cheap, and on Friday night she ain\u2019t going to do anything, because I\u2019m going to knock her out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn regards to weight, I definitely think it\u2019s going to be an advantage for me, but I don\u2019t worry about her weight. Whatever, this is the fight. It\u2019s not a game, and I came here to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe can say whatever she wants, but the lion doesn\u2019t concern itself with the opinions of sheep. So, I don\u2019t even think about her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not worried about the judges. I know what I need to do. If I want an easy win, it\u2019s going to be with a knockout. But I prepare myself for the knockout or for whatever I need. I am really prepared better than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the fight is going to be easy. Of course it\u2019s not going to be easy and I prepared for that too, but I think this is one really big show and the judges will be fair, but I will not give them a chance to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
JARON ENNIS<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank Eyubov for taking this fight because as you all know we go through a bunch of opponents every time I fight. Nobody wants to fight me. I thank him for taking this, but despite that, Friday night I\u2019m coming to do my thing and put on a show. You all know I\u2019m in and out like a robbery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to get that knockout. It\u2019s going to come. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s going to come because he\u2019s got to come to me. It\u2019s going to come. We\u2019re going to set it up perfect and get him up out of here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m unpredictable. You don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do. I can switch it up, I can have fun. I can do whatever I want to do to him. Friday night he\u2019s going to see why nobody wants to fight me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I do my thing on Friday night, we are most definitely looking for the top 10 or top 15, title eliminators, world titles, all of that. 2020 will be the year that I take over and the world will know about Jaron \u2018Boots\u2019 Ennis.\u201d<\/p>\n
BAKHTIYAR EYUBOV<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited to be here on this SHOWTIME card. I come from a small country (Kazakhstan) and it\u2019s really hard for me to believe that this is actually happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very thankful for this opportunity and will do my best on Friday. I\u2019m grateful to fight such a skilled and tough opponent. I know he\u2019s very strong physically and mentally, but I grew up on the streets and I\u2019ve been around war all my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to bring the toughness. I\u2019m not a regular opponent. I come with an awkward style that will cause him problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
ALICIA NAPOLEON ESPINOSA<\/p>\n
\u201cWe finally got here and it\u2019s amazing. I\u2019m honored to be on the card with these women and to be bringing this sport up together. We\u2019re pioneering for women\u2019s boxing for all the women that are with us now and the women who are ahead of us.<\/p>\n
On claims that Napoleon-Espinosa avoided Shields in the past:<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not avoid [Shields] and we hashed this out before in person, not on social media. I want to get paid. I want to make decent money and make as much as the men in this sport eventually. You know when Claressa first started they weren\u2019t offering as much as now and the money still needs to be more. Women offer just as much as the men.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking to be challenged and to fight the best. That\u2019s what we are here for. But I\u2019m going to take a stand and I\u2019m not going to say yes until the team agrees. That\u2019s where I stand.\u201d<\/p>\n
ELIN CEDERROOS<\/p>\n
\u201cMy team is something special. This is a big opportunity to be here and be on this fight card, and I just try to enjoy every moment. This is my first time in the U.S. I came from Sweden for this fight. We arrived yesterday, and this is so fun. I love it. It feels great to be here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a big dream coming true. Thank you for this opportunity. I don\u2019t know what to say, I\u2019m just enjoying the moment. I\u2019m for sure going to put on a great show Friday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had my first amateur fight six years ago and had to pause for two years because of my second pregnancy. My kid Jack is turning four in February. My kids are back at home and my husband is coming tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just feeling so strong. I feel I have this in me. The fight is just ahead and I think it will be such a great fight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[AdSense-A] Undisputed middleweight world champion Claressa Shields and former welterweight champion Ivana Habazin met face-to-face Tuesday at the final press conference three days before their long-awaited showdown for the vacant WBC and WBO 154-pound world titles this Friday, January 10 live on SHOWTIME from Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The press conference also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[21351],"class_list":["post-85180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-claressa-shields-stuns-boxing-world-with-press-conference-comments-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85180","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=85180"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}