Vernon Forrest, Sergio Mora, Paul Williams, Carlos Quintana Quotes
On Saturday, June 7, SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING will present a world championship doubleheader as Vernon Forrest defends his WBC super welterweight title against Sergio Mora, while Carlos Quintana looks to defend his newly acquired WBO welterweight belt against the boxer he dethroned, previously unbeaten Paul Williams live at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast)..
Question: Lou DiBella, Dan Goossen, Paul, Vernon, Jeff Wald, and Sergio, can you provide us with some opening comments?
DiBella: I am pleased to have my champion, Carlos Quintana, defend his title for the first time, giving a rematch to the ex‑champion who the granted him the opportunity. It was a terrific fight the first time. I think people saw the terrific ability of Quintana and the strategy and toughness of Quintana and, frankly, the best of Quintana when he beat Williams.
But, Williams has big wins over Antonio Margarito and was a terrific champion in his own right. He is one of the tallest and has one of the biggest reaches I’ve ever seen in the welterweight division, and is a very dangerous guy.
I expect it to be a terrific fight. Vernon Forrest has been one of the best fighters of his generation. He is really a Hall of Famer. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer when he continues to challenge at 154 pounds and look for a major fight at 154 pounds at this stage of his career. He’s got Sergio Mora, who won the first year of “The Contender” in front of him. That figures to be a terrific fight.
SHOWTIME has a tremendous show on June 7. It’s something they can be really proud of. But, I think they have the best show on June 7th, and I expect really nice viewership and really good attendance in Connecticut.
Goossen: I thought you were going to say all of the problems were because of me, but you didn’t. So, I know there are some reporters out there who are laughing right now.
February 9 was a stunner. It just shows me how crazy this business is. No one gave Quintana a shot and he pulled out a major upset. I am chomping at the bit to get out there next week. I’m anxious to do everything we can to get this thing turned around.
I want to thank SHOWTIME. It’s good to be with Vernon Forrest. We go back many years. Lou, you’re right, he’s a classy man.
Williams: I’m happy to be on SHOWTIME. It will be cool to get my title back. I’m just going to go out there, do my job again and get my belt back.
Forrest: It’s a pleasure to be fighting on SHOWTIME again and also in Connecticut again. It’s always a pleasure to work with Lou DiBella and Goossen Tutor. But, I have my company with Fight Night. So, finally I get an opportunity to hook up with those guys, and it’s a pleasure to be associated with them and continue to do business with them.
We did business in the past. We’ll definitely do business in the future. We look forward to a big night of boxing next Saturday.
Wald: I agree with Lou. You’ve got Dan Goossen, Lou DiBella and Gary Shaw. I’ll throw another name in there, Lou, am I right? And you have the first promotion by Vernon’s promotion company. You’ve got Goossen Tutor, Lou DiBella, and you’ve got “The Contender” and Gary Shaw and we’re all still talking to each other.
DiBella: Not for much longer if you keep blabbing.
Wald: You’ll see a great fight between Mora and Forrest. Forrest has been a great champion. I’ve watched him fight many, many times. I saw his last fight. He was terrific. I can tell you that Mora has had a phenomenal training camp. He’s in the best shape of his life.
Mora is motivated. He knows what’s ahead of him. He has a tremendous amount of respect for Forrest, and he’s in it to win it. You are going to see a good fight. What you’ve seen with a lot of our guys is they go toe-to-toe and don’t run.
Mora is far from a runner, and all of his fights have been really exciting. He’ is undefeated and wants to stay that way. It’s going to be a great night of boxing. I am also looking forward to seeing Williams and Quintana. That is going to be an exciting rematch. Everybody expected Williams to win the first one, and there was an upset there with Quintana. You are going to see a great, great evening of boxing.
DiBella: Northeast Promotions is my partner of Carlos Quintana, I want to acknowledge them.
Mora: Good afternoon, everybody. I’ve been listening in. I want to add that, since we’re on the subject, why don’t I throw in my promotional company while I’m at it. Mora Promotions is starting today. I’m glad to be working with so many talented people. That’s what boxing needs, instead of being at war with each other and trying to compete. So that’s bulls**t. I’m glad. I’m happy.
The fighters are going to get the best out of me, get the best out of Forrest, obviously. He is a respectable champion. Quintana and Williams have a lot to prove. It’s a great card, and SHOWTIME has been proving it, especially this year. So, I’m excited.
Question: Paul, do you consider yourself the champion and that Quintana has to prove himself to you?
Williams: I’m proving I’m the upset because by right he’s the champion. So, I have to go back and take that back from him.
Question: Why didn’t you return to Puerto Rico to train for this fight as in the past?
Williams: We just didn’t.
Question: Why is that?
Williams: I don’t know why we didn’t go back to Puerto Rico. That’s up to my manager. He figured out where we’re going to train. I just do what he says.
Question: What are you going to do differently? Did you learn by your mistakes in the past?
Williams: I ended up doing all that in the ring. I’ll just do it in the ring on fight night.
Question: Sergio, what are some of your thoughts that you’re about 10 days away from the biggest fight of your life? Are you nervous? Have you had dreams about this?
Mora: This is definitely a moment I’ve dreamed about my entire career. I have aspired to be a world champion. Out of all the belts, the WBC is the most prestigious and actually the nicest looking belt, too. So, it’s a great moment of my life. I’m not nervous because whenever you’re prepared for something mentally and physically you just look for an opportunity to just come already. I’m eager for it. I know it’s going to be a tough fight. Forrest is a hell of a fighter. He is a great champion. He is an Olympian. He does everything right. It is going to be a tough fight.
Question: Do you think having a long body gives you a little bit better chance to defeat Forrest than maybe some of the other guys he’s fought who are shorter than him?
Mora: I can think what I want. But, basically it’s going to come down to whether I can do it or not. I’m a lot bigger than Shane Mosley. We should be similar in height and length. If Forrest happens to be a little longer, I’ll have to adapt to that.
If I’m a little longer, great. But, I think the fight is basically going to come down to who can adapt to each other’s style. It is basically a fight of attrition as well. So, that’s exciting for me, the fans and for Forrest, I’m sure.
So, I’ve fought tall fighters before, guys that are six-foot-three, six-foot-one. I like fighting tall guys. I prefer fighting short guys because I have the advantage. It makes no difference if it is a tall fighters or a short fighter.
Question: Jeff, do you look at this fight as a chance for a contender like Mora to score that upset victory? In your eyes, is that a feasible thing to happen?
Wald: Yes, there’s no doubt about it. While these guys fight under ‘The Contender’ banner, they fight for themselves and their families. Mora had a career before he came to us. He was brought to us by Fernando Vargas. All these fighters on the phone have promoters.
We’re just facilitating what it is they do. We had an upset when Gomez beat Gotti. Everybody forgets Gotti was a huge favorite in that. They already booked the next fight. We had an upset when Brian Vera beat Andy Lee.
Forrest: I’m no Gotti or Andy Lee. You have to realize who you’re dealing with. I’m on a completely other level than that them. Don’t compare me.
Wald: Talking about upsets.
Forrest: There won’t be an upset next Saturday. Trust me on that. You can forget about that s**t.
Quintana: I’m very happy about this opportunity that SHOWTIME has provided me to fight again. I’m expecting another great fight. I can’t say what type of win it will be, but I’m expecting another triumph.
Question: Vernon, can you tell us why, with half the promoters in America, apparently, involved in this fight, why you also have decided to create your own promotional company at this point?
Forrest: Actually, I’ve been my own promoter since I left Main Events back in 1998. But I never signed any fighters. So, finally I decided to open it up and start signing fighters and give other guys opportunities to fulfill their dreams of winning a world championship.
There are a lot of unscrupulous people in this business. When guys honor their word, honor the business, than people like to work with them.
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