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SHAWN PORTER, PAULIE MALIGNAGGI, PETER QUILLIN
AND LUKAS
KONECNY MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT
Click HERE To Download An MP3 Of This
Call
Kelly
Swanson
Today
we have a great conference call to discuss an unbelievable undercard that will
be on the "Hopkins vs. Shumenov" fight card at the D.C. Armory in
Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 19. I'm looking forward to seeing all of
these fights. We're going to start with Lukas and Pete, and then we will move
into Shawn and Paulie immediately upon the completion of these two fighters. So,
to make the introductions is Bruce Binkow, the Chief Operating Officer and Chief
Marketing Officer of Golden Boy Promotions. He is joining us to introduce the
fighters and talk a little bit more about the fights.
Bruce
Binkow
I
totally agree with you; this is going to be a great night, "History at the
Capitol." In keeping with the tradition of SHOWTIME's terrific tripleheader
action, I think we have three amazing televised fights. Obviously, Bernard
Hopkins and Beibut Shumenov, who you'll be hearing from tomorrow, but today we
want to talk about two outstanding fights that I think are really exciting in
and of themselves. Obviously, Porter and Malignaggi, and the one we're going to
talk about first, Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin and Lukas Konecny.
To
reiterate, the fight is Saturday, April 19 at the DC Armory. It's promoted by
Golden Boy Promotions. Our sponsors are Corona, AT&T and Casamigos Tequila.
It is airing live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®, which will begin
at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. It will be available in Spanish via the SAP
Channel. There are some tickets still available starting at just $25 at
Ticketmaster.com. The DC Armory box office is open on fight only, so I wanted to
stress that again.
Lukas
Konecny is from the Czech Republic, and he joins us today from Germany, where
he's training. He's 50-4 with 23 KOs. He's a five-time National Champion for the
Czech Republic and he also represented his nation in the 2000 Olympics. He's a
former interim WBO Junior Middleweight Champion. He made his permanent move to
160 in 2013.
He's
35-years old, and is making his U.S. debut after years of fighting Europe's
best. He plans on making it a memorable visit as he challenges for Quillin's WBO
middleweight belt. Without further ado, let me introduce to you Lukas Konecny.
Lukas.
Lukas
Konecny
By
me everything is okay. For example, before every fight I have a big trouble with
my weight, but this time everything is okay. Sparring is going quite well and I
hope that I can bring a great fight to Washington, D.C.
B.
Binkow
Okay.
Now I want to introduce a guy that most of you know and have heard from before,
one of the most exciting fighters out there, Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. His
record stands perfect at 30-0 with 22 KOs. He's currently fighting out of
Brooklyn, N.Y., although I have to say that I spotted just today a "Kid
Chocolate" t-shirt at the gym in L.A., on the west side of L.A., which I think
speaks to his growing popularity out there.
He's
wearing the championship belt of the division Hopkins once ruled. Quillin got
his reign at 160 off to a rousing start with a decision over Hassan N'Dam for
the WBO crown in 2012, and after two successful defenses with stoppages of
Fernando Guerrero and Gabriel Rosado he's ready to take on the challenge of
Konecny. He's 30-years old. He has wins over Winky Wright, Craig McEwan, Jesse
Brinkley, and Fernando Zuniga, and he's eager to begin 2014 with another
knockout over the experienced Konecny. Ladies and gentlemen, Peter "Kid
Chocolate" Quillin. Pete.
Peter
Quillin
Hi.
Thank you for having me on the line. I want to thank Golden Boy, want to thank
Al Haymon, I want to thank my whole team, I want to thank my manager, John Seip,
I want to thank Gleason's Gym, I want to thank the D.C. Commission for letting
this fight come to the capital, our nation's capital, and I'm looking to come up
in D.C. with a spectacular win, spectacular victory.
Training
has been A-1. I've been having great sparring sessions. I've been learning a lot
of valuable lessons about myself with this cat, and I just know that I'm looking
to experience everything that Konecny is going to bring in the fight and I think
this is what we do as far as challenging ourself and taking something away from
every fight. I'm just very humbled by the experience to be able to go and
perform at the level I've been performing at to hold this belt, and then for
sure this belt is coming back to Brooklyn.
Q
How
difficult is it not to focus on the rest of the division when you obviously want
to be unifying the titles?
P.
Quillin
Well,
let's just say, first and foremost, if we worry about too much and don't remain
focused then I wouldn't have what I have. So I know that Lukas is a strong
challenger, very experienced and I'm not going to focus on that. I know he's
going to come and fight for a world title shot. It gives somebody another sense
of motivation, so I have to just worry about what's in front of me, and then
after the fight then I can worry these other guys and worry about unifying the
belts. But I just know that nothing is possible without looking good in this
fight and winning spectacularly to consider myself as one of the best in the
world.
Q
Is
this potentially one of your more dangerous fights?
P.
Quillin
Yes.
I can look at any fight and say that they're dangerous, because, like for
instance, I don't really know anything about Lukas. I just know that I've seen
some videos of him and he seems very determined and he brings a lot of pressure.
I just think I have to really focus on what he's going to bring, because anybody
is very dangerous, especially when they're fighting for a world title. I'm an
American star. This guy is a European star, and he's pretty big in the Czech
Republic and everybody seems to know him. Being a world champion doesn't mean
that I just fight guys in America or guys that American fans are familiar with.
I think a world title-holder fights everybody across the world to be able to
bring the best out.
So
I'll just stay focused on that. I just know what I've been working towards, and
motivated being at home training here in Brooklyn, and, like I said, I'm just
looking for a spectacular victory.
Q
Lukas,
what do you know about Peter and how do you characterize him as far as the level
of opponents you faced? How difficult is he compared to the rest of the
opponents you've faced?
L.
Konecny
So,
of course, I know he is a world champion, I know he's taller than me, he's got a
good punch, and he has some skills. He's, of course, a good world champion, but
not a very good one. I think he has more experience, but not with the same style
as I have. I have over 250 amateur fights, over 50 professional fights.
Q
Do
you mean he's not a very good champion or are you saying he's not as good as the
other ones? What, what does that mean?
L.
Konecny
No,
I think he's a good boxer, he's a good fighter, he's a good champion, but I can
beat him.
Q
What
is his style that you haven't seen? What about his style have you still not
seen?
L.
Konecny
He
is fast, he moves well, but, but he didn't have a great coverage. His defense is
not the best.
Q
Peter,
can you address his comments?
P.
Quillin
Yes,
I can definitely do that. I can just definitely say that everybody can judge me
off of whatever performance they've seen from me, but, like he said, he has 250
amateur fights and 50 professional fights. I only have 15 amateur fights and I
have 30 professional fights, and I think that's special within itself. Being one
of the first guys to ever put Winky Wright on the canvas; I think I have a lot
to show for my work and dedication to boxing. I think it was very special that a
lot of guys see the flaws in me, but once they actually step in there with me I
fight totally different than they expect. That goes for Hassan N'Dam, Gabriel
Rosado, Fernando Guerrero, all these guys that have all the experience to be
able to go in a fight and say they can beat me.
Q
What
does it mean for you to fight on Bernard Hopkins' undercard as the middleweight
champion knowing that he was so great in that division for so long?
P.
Quillin
For
me, just looking at it as a business, that part is great promotion for me, to be
able to get for somebody that held the same belt and is creating legendary
status every time he steps out there. A lot of guys criticize me for not having
a main event, but, like I said, fighting on a Bernard Hopkins undercard like
this, I learn valuable things outside the ring with Bernard, I catch moments
with Bernard all the time, and I'm very thankful to be able to be part of this
card. My first being in D.C., I almost thought about changing my name to the
'Capital Kid', because going up in there to fight on Bernard Hopkins' undercard
is a privilege to me, and I'm just very thankful.
Q
What
specifically do you pick up from your time; you talk about spending outside of
the ring with him, what specifically did you pick up from him?
P.
Quillin
I
always learn that inside of the ring when we wear our boxing uniforms we are
professional boxers. When we step outside of the ring I put my business suit on
and I become a businessman, and I happen to be on top of my business at all
times. I'm talking to my accountant as often as I can. I'm organizing my team
making sure that everybody's delegated a task to be able to make sure that I
will not step out there for a fight, that I have nothing else to think about
besides how to win. And I learned a lot of those values from Bernard Hopkins and
how to organize the many people. So there are a lot of things that I may not be
so experienced with, but I can call Bernard up and get any knowledge that I can
and he's willing to share with me.
Q
Lukas,
what does it mean to you to be fighting in America for the first
time?
L.
Konecny
Well,
I am fighting in America first time, but only in professional ring. I was over
there in '98 at the Goodwill Games in New York and then '99 in Houston for the
World Championship. So maybe it's not the first time, but this is a big
event.
Q
What
exactly is your style and can you describe it for your American
audience?
L.
Konecny
I
think I have a good defense and I make pressure all the time; I can make
pressure for all 12 rounds.
K.
Swanson
Okay,
guys, that is it. Thank you so much. We're going to go ahead and transition now
to talk to Shawn Porter and Paulie Malignaggi. So we appreciate you taking the
time out of your training, and we will see you April 19. Thanks.
B.
Binkow
So
we move into our co-main event, and I would like to start with Mr. Malignaggi.
Most of you guys know Paulie; he's been around, he's familiar to us all. He's
always exciting to watch. He is currently fighting out of Brooklyn, always
fought out of Brooklyn. He's currently the NABF Welterweight Champion, former
two-time, two-division world champion, recently has been winning awards for his
commentating work, which we here at Golden Boy are very delighted with.
Obviously, he's on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and the Golden Boy Live on FOX
Sports 1 broadcasts, and doing a terrific job. But I think, more importantly,
he's proven that at 33 he's still one of the top welterweights in the world, so
he hasn't quite made the transition of full time yet.
He
first made his mark at the 140-pound weight class when he defeated Lovemore
N'Dou in 2007 for the IBF crown. In April 2012, he scored a ninth-round TKO over
Senchenko, and it earned him the WBA Welterweight World title. And he went to
the Ukraine to do that, which was pretty impressive. He successfully defended
his belt against Pablo César Cano during our opening event at Barclays Center,
our opening boxing event at the Barclays Center in 2012. He's become a fixture
at the Barclays Center since then. He's won six out of his last seven bouts, and
on April 19 he's going to attempt to become a three-time world champion. So,
with that, I'd like to introduce Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi.
Paulie.
Paulie
Malignaggi
I'm
excited to be on the show. It's exciting. I want to thank Golden Boy, Al Haymon
and the rest of my team for the great job they've been doing with me. It's a
chance to capture my third world title, and I'm all about accolades, I'm all
about trying to accomplish more in my life as best I can, be it in the ring or
outside the ring. As Bruce mentioned, I just got the award for Broadcaster of
the Year as well. So I'm just trying to basically be the kind of guy to stay
motivated, be it with my work in the ring, out of the ring, and it's a chance to
keep that motivation going with my work in the ring with a chance to capture my
third world title.
I
respect Shawn; he's a good champion, he's a hungry champion, but I feel like I
have the experience necessary to put this work into place and get this third
world championship. It feels good to still be here. I'm 33-years old, still
going strong. I live well; I don't drink, don't do drugs, I live a clean life.
Even if I like to be out and about a lot I always keep myself healthy. And I
think my body of work has proven it, in the last, especially the last few years
since I joined up with Golden Boy and I've been training with Eric Brown. We've
done a lot of good things; we're going to try to continue to do good things.
I
think, as far as I'm concerned, I haven't lost at all in the last three years.
Adrien Broner was given my world title, so I feel like I need to win another
world title to kind of rightfully get what's mine. I deserve to be a world
champion; I should not have lost that bout. It was basically a win for Broner
where I basically became a filler for his, for Adrien Broner's bullshit resume
that he has. My name just became a filler on that resume, and I feel like for
that reason I need to get a world title to kind of redeem myself and get what's
rightfully mine.
I
mean Shawn worked hard for his, but it's, it's a world championship that I want
and now I got the chance to do it. So I'll look forward to the challenge. I'll
look forward to putting on a good show on the 19th of
April.
B.
Binkow
In
order to do that Paulie's going to have to get through a very tough guy. Shawn
Porter is 23-0-1 with 14 KOs out of Akron, Ohio. He was one of the best amateur
boxers of this era, and he's coming off a really impressive win that I'm sure
you all saw, his 12-round unanimous decision win over Devon Alexander, where he
picked up his IBF Welterweight belt. He has wins over Julio Diaz, Phil Lo Greco,
Alfonso Gomez. He's 26-years old and will be beginning his reign with the belt
on April 19 against Paulie. I'd like to introduce you now to Shawn Porter.
Shawn.
Shawn
Porter
Thank
you for the introduction. I want to thank God, want to thank my team, thank Al
Haymon, Golden Boy Promotions. They've been promoting me since I came back in
2012, and it's been great. I'm an IBF champion now. That's a beautiful blessing
to have and to able to say.
And
with that being said, Paulie Malignaggi is meant to be. We had that feeling for
quite a while, so it was nothing new to us when the fight was finally announced.
We had been training since the beginning of January, so we will be prepared to
do whatever it takes to hold onto this title, whatever it takes to get Paulie
out of that ring. My team and I, we worked extremely hard day in and out, and we
are going to be prepared and excited April 19 to get back into the ring and do
what we all love to do and what we're here to do. And with that being said, I am
the IBF champion, and I plan to stay that way.
Q
Against
Alexander was your mentality just that you would not be denied that night and
that whatever it took was going to be the way the fight went down?
S.
Porter
That
was my mentality and that is my mentality. I've been bred that way, I've been
trained that way my whole life. I've always been taught to be hungry, be
aggressive, and not to allow someone to get comfortable in the ring, and that's
going to always be my mentality against whoever it is I'm going to be
fighting.
Same
goes with Paulie. I know he's fast and he has good feet and he knows how to move
around the ring, so my plan is to cut him off and be really aggressive and get
to his body and make it uncomfortable for him for 12 rounds or less.
Q
Shawn,
do you feel like by facing Devon that that was a halfway decent blueprint for
the way you would approach a fight with somebody like Paulie?
S.
Porter
Yes,
a pretty good blueprint for going against someone like Paulie, and then you take
into account everything I've done up until this point. Sparring with Manny
Pacquiao, I mean there's no better blueprint than that. The guy's got the
quickest hands and feet in the business. So I have all the experience in what it
takes to beat Paulie, and it's just matter of getting in there April 19 and
doing it.
Q
When
was the last time you were involved in Manny's camp?
S.
Porter
It's
been a few years since I've been involved with Manny's camp. I want to say it
was the Shane Mosley fight was the last time I had done anything with
him.
Q
What
did you think of that performance against Alexander and were you at all
surprised by just the extreme aggressiveness that he showed?
P.
Malignaggi
I
remember the performance. I've seen it all. Shawn is a very good performer. He
did a very good job of taking Devon out of his comfort zone, like you said, and
he did a very good job at taking away what Devon does well, and he's got to be
given credit for it. He became world champion that night for a reason.
But
sometimes in boxing it's about fighting smarter, not harder. Shawn has a
tendency to fight very hard, and that's not a bad thing at all and it's got him
to this point. It's gotten him a world championship and it's got him a lot of
success, even as an amateur. But in professional boxing we have 12 rounds, and
that leaves a lot of time to set traps, it leaves a lot of times to bait you
with a lot of things. And so aggressiveness can be made to pay, and that's kind
of my bread and butter. It's kind of always been my blueprint.
But
again, fight aside, I've gone over a hundred times of what the problem was in
the Ricky Hatton fight. I'm not going to get into it again. But really,
regardless of that, if you look at anything else I make aggressiveness pay. And
we have our own game plans, and we, we feel that we have a very good game plan
for that kind of aggressiveness. We expect a very high-intensity fight, and we
expect to have the answers for that kind of high-intensity fight.
But
this is nothing new for me, conditioning has never been a problem for me, but
it's, it's definitely the kind of challenge that I look forward to. It's a
stylistic match up that I think, in my opinion probably could make it the best
fight of the night. So I look forward to it. It's boxing; being a both pro
athlete, being a pro fighter, it's these kinds of moments, to be a part of them,
and I'm a part of them yet again. I'm a part of one of them yet again, and I
look forward to being motivated and putting my skills to the test against
Shawn.
Q
Hey,
Paulie, one other thing for you. When, when you were, after the Broner fight and
you were deciding that you were going to fight on again, and I know you wanted
to fight for another title and everything, at that time Shawn was a little under
the radar. Everybody kind of looked at him as this is a very good prospect, but
he hadn't won a title yet, hadn't fought the big names yet, or anything like
that. I mean at any point did you think to yourself, 'Wow, I might be fighting
this guy?' Because we've known in boxing Shawn's been around for a while as atop
young guy coming up, but he didn't have the title. So was he even remotely on
your radar? When the fight came up were you sort of like, 'Oh, yes, I'll guess
I'll fight him because he has a belt,' but that was not somebody that I would
think was on your hit list, let's say.
P.
Malignaggi
I
think before he beat Devon I looked at him as a solid fighter, but it never
really crossed my mind that I might fight him. I had seen him and his father
training in Wild Card Gym at times. We've always been friendly, we've always
been cool. I never really looked at Shawn as somebody I would fight, but once he
got the title he kind of stepped up into another dimension. People view you
differently when you're a world champion. So, obviously, once Shawn grabbed that
title, it put things into a different perspective as far as okay, maybe this is
somebody I may wind up in the ring against, because he's got a world title in my
weight class. And then so be it and it happened.
I
wasn't sure it would happen right off the bat, but certainly once he beat Devon
Shawn put himself in another level, which is the level of guys like me who will
look at and say, 'Oh, you know what, he's a guy to be reckoned with, he's a
force to be reckoned with, and I might wind up in the ring with him.' All the
other stuff didn't matter before that. Once you become world champion I think
you put yourself, you set yourself apart from the rest of the class, and Shawn
did that by winning the world championship.
All
that other bullshit about sparring with Manny Pacquiao and all that, I don't
rate Manny Pacquiao as a very good fighter. I don't rate him as a very
intelligent fighter, actually. So all that other bullshit about the sparring and
all that stuff it really, for me, goes in one ear and out the other. But what
Shawn did to Devon was very impressive, and certainly it put him in a different
light in a lot of different ways, in a more positive way, should I
say.
Q
Shawn,
when you fought Devon for your first title Paulie and Zab were fighting in the
main event in that night. Did you go into that night knowing that you would
probably end up fighting the winner of that fight?
S.
Porter
I
actually did. I thought that it would be somewhat of that kind of situation
where the winners would fight each other. I didn't know if it would come so soon
or when it would come, but I did kind of have a mindset of fighting the winner
of Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi. So, again, we've been training for a long
time, and when the call came that it was going to be Paulie, it was not a
surprise to me or my camp.
Q
Shawn,
where do you rate Paulie in terms of level of competition as far as everyone
you've faced to date?
S.
Porter
I
mean he's right up there, he's at the top. I think out of everyone I've fought,
other than Julio and Devon, he's got the most spirit. So I think maybe out of
those two just maybe him and Julio. So I know what I'm up against April 19. I'm
up against a crafty veteran, someone who's got the hands, feet, and likes to
hustle his hands, and like he said, he's in shape. So I'm prepared to come in
there, man, and be in just as great a shape as he's in and be just as smart as
he is, and be aggressive and do what I have to do to hold onto my
title.
Q
Paulie,
is there anyone that you have fought that reminds you of Shawn
Porter?
P.
Malignaggi
I
mean, I can't say anybody for sure, but he has an aggressive mentality. Guys
like Juan Diaz or Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto had that aggressive mentality. So
you can't say you've seen exactly what he's bringing to the table, but I've seen
similar stuff, I guess. I think Shawn is the biggest guy out of those guys, so
it poses a little bit of different challenges and then some of the same
challenges. I think we'll make the decider as you get in there and you start to
adjust as you, as the rounds progress and you start to see things more and more,
and that's going to be important on fight night. It's about being intelligent in
there. I know the fight is a long fight; it's a marathon, not a sprint. So you
start toimprovise on the game plan and start to execute what you need to
do.
Q
Shawn,
we've talked a lot about what you did against Devon; Paulie's expressed his
opinion about that. What did you gain from watching Paulie against Adrien
Broner? Was there anything that you could gain? I know your styles are
different.
S.
Porter
Yes,
I'm going to say not much from that fight. We have, me and Adrien, have two
different styles. So Paulie's smart, I know that. Paulie has a good coach. Eric
Brown is a good coach, I know that. They're not going to come at me the way that
they came at Adrien Broner, and it would be smoke and mirrors for me to look at
that fight and say that they will. I think Paulie's going to use his feet a
little bit more and try to use his reach and move away instead of being as
aggressive as he was against Adrien.
So
I did look at the fight. I'm not going to say what small things I did see that I
am going to take from that match, because you don't want to give up anything at
this point. But that really wasn't one of the fights that I watched that I'm
watching to get ready for Paulie.
Q
Did
you score the fight? Paulie really feels like he won the fight. What are your
thoughts?
S.
Porter
Yes,
I scored the fight, and every time I come back to it I'm just like it's out of
my hands; whatever the judges say is what it is. I honestly couldn't -- if you
said it was a draw -- I would have said, "Okay, it was a draw." I didn't really
have it going Paulie's way. I had it going more of a draw, or maybe even
Adrien's way.
Q
Paulie,
what do you have to say about the fact that he says he couldn't pick anything
up? Did you learn anything, is there something you didn't do in that fight? Did
you do enough to win, and is there something you can learn, even at your age and
with your experience into this fight?
P.
Malignaggi
I
felt like I did enough to not lose my title, to hold onto my title. I do think
it was a close fight, but I did feel like I did enough to hold onto my title.
Like I said, I think in the end, at the end of the day, that fight was always
going to be used as a filler to fill Adrien's bullshit resume, which is what it
is pretty much if you look at it as a whole. But at the end of the day it didn't
go my way and I'm not going to sit there crying over it or to go back at it. And
I think I've made my points about the fight, and we go on and we move on.
I
actually think I'm fighting a better opponent than Adrien Broner. I think you
match up Adrien Broner and Shawn Porter, and I think Shawn Porter beats him
every time simply on the grind. Adrien doesn't like to fight, and I think Shawn
would force him to fight at a pace that he wouldn't like. And Adrien, as we saw
in the Maidana fight, doesn't have an answer when you force him to fight at a
pace that he doesn't like.
So
I think I've got a better opponent in front of me, I think I've got a more
worthy world champion in front of me, but that makes it all the more the better
of a fight, that makes it all more entertaining for the fans, and that's going
to make it a better stylistic match up overall, because there's skill, there's
talent, there's grind, there's hard work in there. We've got the combination of
everything you want to see in a fight. And so I think anything I can take from
the Broner fight doesn't really apply here. I've got a better fighter in front
of me.
And
really the only thing, at the end of the day, everybody came in saying he's
going to be the big puncher and all that stuff, and I actually came in
respecting a little too much at first, and it turned out he couldn't punch for
shit. So it was a lot of aliveness that some of me subconsciously bought into
with Adrien, and I'm definitely not going to make that mistake again.
But
Shawn Porter, all I can say, I think he's a better fighter than Adrien, but at
the end of the day it's a different fight, and so there's a different kind of
game plan.
Q
All
right. And the difference also was that, I don't know if you feel this is
relevant, you weren't without Haymon when you fought him. You are now. You've
won a fight since then over Zab Judah. Do you feel that you could potentially be
a filler for his resume or do you feel like the the playing field is
even?
P.
Malignaggi
I
think the field is even. I think Al takes care of all his fighters and when
they're matched up against each other it's just may the best man win. I think on
the 19th it will be that kind of situation: may the best man win.
I've got no complaints, I don't believe Shawn does, so I think it's just a
matter of it's a competition and we both want the same thing. We're in the same
weight class, we both want world championships, and so you kind of come across
each other and you have to fight for what you want. So I have no beef on any of
that, you know what I mean; it's all in the name of competition, and that's what
I'm here to do.
Q
Shawn,
what do you think of his thoughts of how he kept saying that you're a better
fighter than Adrien?
S.
Porter
I
mean I feel the same way. I think that I'm one of the best welterweight fighters
here. I feel like I have everything that it takes, the mentality, the
physicality, the strength, everything, the heart, everything that it takes to
become a world champion. I think I have all that. And again, like Paulie said, I
am extremely competitive. I would not be fighting Paulie Malignaggi if he was a
filler fighter, if he was just someone for me to get in the ring with and
showcase my skills against. I wouldn't do it, because that's not what we accept.
We don't accept anything but the best. Everybody thought he was the best
opposition for us, and so with that being said I'm really looking forward to
April 19. And I'm excited that Paulie is willing to get in there and be as
competitive as I expect him to come into the ring and be.
Q
Paulie,
you've always done a good job of mentally evaluating fighters before we see them
in the ring. You did that with Adrien and you also did that recently with Judah
when you mentioned how you did that and basically with the strategy that you
brought to the ring. From what you see of Shawn Porter do you feel his
aggression can be broken that same way, just based on what you've seen so far
from him in the ring?
P.
Malignaggi
I
think the trick is always to take what a fighter does best and kind of try to
minimize it or take it away from him. So one of Shawn's best assets is that
aggressive physicality, so as a fighter, as a veteran of the sport, as a guy
myself who has been around some of the best fighters in the world and have been
around some of the best fighters in the world, has been trained with some of the
best trainers in the world, including the one I have now, Eric Brown, I think
you gain a lot of knowledge going through all of that. And I think it's not out
of the question to say Shawn is a very good fighter, but at the end of the day
there's traps that can be set for that kind of aggressiveness, and there's traps
that will be set for that kind of aggressiveness. So you kind of you go with the
flow and then you adjust as the fight goes along.
But
boxing is like numbers, they never end; there's always a counter move to a move,
you know what I'm saying. So I expect that kind of fight. I really expect a
demanding, physically demanding fight. We always come in very good shape. I do
and I know he does, and it's going to come down to a lot more than just grinding
to win the fight. Boxing at a world-class level is a combination of a lot of
things; just one thing will not win you the fight. So I think we both know that,
we both understand that, and I for sure understand that, and have implemented
that on my game plan going into the fight.
Q
Paulie,
a couple years ago you mentioned that one of your main goals with boxing was you
wanted to get into the Hall of Fame. You also mentioned at that time you felt
you had a few key losses that might prevent you from getting that goal. If you
were to win this fight and become a three-time world champion, do you think that
would finally put you over the hump to possibly get in the Hall of Fame when you
retire?
P.
Malignaggi
It's
not up to me to decide that. I hadn't really given it a lot of thought in recent
years. I think a lot goes into the Hall of Fame besides what you do in the ring.
I think a lot of it has to do with the kind of team you have around you. For
example, if I had the team I have now from when I turned pro I think for sure
I'd be a Hall of Famer. But I didn't have the team I have now when I first
turned pro, I didn't have the team I have now from up until recently through
these last few years. Getting into the Hall of Fame, there's a lot of different
things involved in that. In the last few years especially, I have not given it a
lot of thought. If it happens it happens, if it doesn't it doesn't. Really my
focus is on being the best fighter I can be and just accomplishing one goal at a
time and make some good money in the process.
Q
Shawn,
do you see any weaknesses in Paulie's boxing skills that you feel that you can
take advantage of? Because he's pretty good, he's pretty smart, and he's always
active, so what do you see that you could take advantage of?
S.
Porter
Pretty
good, pretty smart, and pretty active; you hit it on the nose with that one. We
plan to just take advantage of that; when he's trying to be active we want to be
more active, when he's trying to be smart we want to be feinting him and showing
him things that he can't, or not that he can't, but things that are just going
to propose questions, things that are going to make him uncomfortable in the
ring. And with that being said, that's kind of the blueprint, I think, to
beating Paulie is just making him uncomfortable, and I plan to do
that.
Q
Paulie,
before your last fight with Judah you had said that you were examining your
career and that another loss might make you want to consider if you - wanted to
continue on in the sport. Now that you have beaten Judah and you have that
victory do you feel like your career has been revitalized?
P.
Malignaggi
Yes,
I think you're always one key win away from revitalizing your career. I think
boxing at a world-class level, when you have a good resume behind you already, I
think you're always one good win away from revitalizing things. But I just take
one fight at a time. I have fun doing it. I enjoy my time in boxing, I enjoy my
time competing. I still love it, I still love to be in front of a big crowd and
hear the crowd roar in a big championship match.
So
at 33-years old, you're not 23, you don't have a lot of years in front of you,
but at the same time I'm the kind of determined fighter, determined athlete that
if I do something I'm going to do it 100 percent, otherwise I won't do it. So my
time fighting, while I'm still fighting, it's going to be done 100 percent. I'm
going to keep giving it my all every time I step in the ring and fight. I always
told myself that I would refuse to be one of these older veterans that kind of
just fights just to step in the ring and make an extra paycheck, but really
doesn't dig down the same way that he used to. You see a lot of older fighters
tending to reach that point in their career where they just don't want to dig
down the same way, and I always remind myself that will not be me.
So
I think I keep proving it. I think I always grind and hustle the way I need to,
be it in the ring or be it in the gym, and so to kind of not be stereotyped in
that way. When my time is done fighting, I'll be done fighting. I don't need to
force it, right, I don't need to force it. But I want to do it, and I think my
body work speaks for itself, so I'll keep doing it as long as I can.
Q
Paulie,
do you see any weaknesses in Shawn's boxing skills that you can take advantage
of?
P.
Malignaggi
There's
pros and cons to everybody's style. Everybody does some good things, everybody
has some bad habits, and so none of us are perfect as fighters. Shawn does a lot
of good things, but in turn he also does some things that you can kind of make
him pay for it. So come fight night we'll see who has all the answers.
But
absolutely it takes, it's like he said, you got to grind hard, you got to be
smart. Tthere's going to be times when you do one or the other. I think a fight
evolves a certain way, and then from there you start to add the pieces to it.
But absolutely I don't think anybody likes to be uncomfortable, so making each
other uncomfortable is definitely a game plan for both of us I guess.
Q
Paulie,
you keep talking about traps and maybe a little inexperience on Shawn's part
that you see. Do you see enough of that that you can exploit him and put
yourself in the position to eventually get another big fight, maybe a Mayweather
fight down the line, maybe a rematch with Broner?
P.
Malignaggi
I
don't look at it. I don't look past anything with Shawn. Right now I'm looking
at April 19 and I know there might be others from the welterweight division in
general, but I really don't think about anything but Shawn right now and the
fact that I'm fighting him and that I'll handle my business on April 19with
Shawn. As far as how I'm setting traps or whatnot, I mean those are just as you
make on the fly. You see things in somebody's file and you kind of look for them
during the fight or maybe you'll see something else during the fight that you
may not have seen on video or whatnot. Regardless, I'm a guy that I feel like
I'm very intelligent, I feel like I observe things, I catch onto things quickly,
and sometimes when I'm in the ring with somebody I may see something different
than I did when I wasn't in the ring with that person. So some of the traps that
get set are preordained, or whatever they're called, we'll set them from knowing
... in setting these kind of traps, and sometimes you may see other things that
you got to set different kind of traps once you get there.
So
little by little; it's one round at a time and, like I said, it's a marathon,
not a sprint. So it's two world-class fighters in there going at it putting
their best effort up. So I don't expect an easy fight, I never do, so it's the
kind of thing I know I'm going to have to think my way through.
Q
Paulie,
you seem very respectful. Is it the way that Shawn approaches you or is it just
your laser focus right now that if you get past this you know there's big things
at the end of the rainbow for you?
P.
Malignaggi
I
always feel like I'm focused, but I know Shawn and his dad, I've seen them, I
see them training at the Wild Card back when I was there, always respectful
people, just good competitive guys that want to make the best of themselves. So
I don't knock that, I don't knock that at all. I think we're all in this to make
a buck, to make a career for ourselves, to make a name for ourselves, and
there's definitely nothing wrong with that. And so they've always been
respectful, so I have no reason to disrespect him.
Q
Shawn,
going into this fight everything's a little different for you. You're the champ,
you're getting a lot more attention, people are recognizing you. How has this
changed you, who you are as a person and also, more importantly, how you're
preparing to get into the ring?
S.
Porter
Winning
this IBF title hasn't changed me one bit, especially not as a person, but it
hasn't changed anything around me either. I still live with my dad, we still
train hard every day, and I still have the same team that I've had for the last
'X' amount of years. It's still tight, it's still small and we're going to keep
it that way. We know what it took to get to this championship and we know that
that worked, and so we don't want to change anything and make anything
different. Maybe working harder. My dad works me extremely hard. That could be
the only thing that I would say has changed is I'm working harder in some type
of way. I come to the ring always strong and in the best shape of my life, so
that's a given. But if I had to say anything changed I would say we're working
harder.
Q
Shawn,
Paulie has great athleticism, he's a fast fighter, doesn't have the pop that you
might want out of a boxer, but he presents a lot to you. What do you think is
the most significant thing that he can give you trouble with or offer that will
give you trouble?
S.
Porter
You
know what, to be honest with you, I'm not sure. I've watched Paulie, I've seen
what he can do. I've seen it before; I've been against it. And like he says,
it's just a matter of being smart, making adjustments: he's quick, I'm quicker;
he's fast, I'm faster; he works hard, I'm going to work harder than him. I'm
going to keep my title. What he can do to make me uncomfortable or make me slow
down or anything like that remains to be seen. I really don't know what that is,
so when we get in the ring I'm going to expect that to come up. But every round
we'll take it one round at a time and make our adjustments as we go.
B.
Binkow
Well
thanks, Kelly, and thanks, everybody, for joining. I wanted to reiterate that
the fight, again, is on April 19 at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. It's a
great, great tripleheader live on SHOWTIME starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We
heard from all four guys that are on the featured bouts, and I think it's going
to be a very memorable night. And, obviously, I urge everybody to tune in or
come to the fight if they can and they're in the neighborhood. And looking
forward to speaking to Bernard and Beibut tomorrow. So until then thank you guys
very much, and have a great day.
# # #
Hopkins vs. Shumenov, a 12-round fight for the IBF, WBA and IBA
Light Heavyweight World Championship, will take place
Saturday, April 19 at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. The event is promoted by
Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona, AT&T and Casamigos Tequila.
In the 12-round co-features, Shawn Porter defends his IBF Welterweight World
Title against Paulie Malignaggi and Peter Quillin puts his WBO Middleweight
World Title on the line against Lukas Konecny. The live SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP
BOXING® telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West
Coast) and will be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming
(SAP). Preliminary bouts will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT
(delayed on the West Coast).
Tickets priced at $25, $50, $75, $200 and $300, plus
applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are on sale now and
available online at http://www.ticketmaster.com, all
Ticketmaster locations or by calling (800) 745-3000. The DC Armory Box Office
will be open on fight night only from 3 p.m.-10 p.m. ET.
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