By Eric Duran
Johnny Gonzalez was a no show.
Gary Russell Jr, Jermell Charlo and Vanes Martirosyan joined a conference call to discuss their upcoming matches on Showtime.
Russel Jr will face Johnny Gonzalez live on Showtime at the Palms Casino and Resort for the WBC Featherweight title. Goossen Boxing and Dibella Entertainment are co-promoting the event.
Jermell Charlo faces off Vanes Martirosyan in Jr Middleweight bout.
Chris Dubiose of Showtime: “on behalf of Stephan Espinoza, were excited to get back into action. On Saturday, were introducing a new platform, we’re carrying a international fight between Kell Brook against Jo Jo Dan at 6:15 ET. It’s a two part platform, were excited about it.”
Russell (25-1, 14 KO’s): “we had a great training camp, perfect, no excuses. 110% ready for this fight and winning the title.”
“Nothing was different in this camp other than bringing in different sparring partners.”
On getting another title shot, “not surprised at all. Extremely grateful to my manager Al Haymon.”
On working with Haymon, “a great manager build a great team. I’m competing for a world tithe and will probably fight 4-6 times this year. He has been sufficient in meeting my needs.”
On the Lomachenko fight, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. We did a lot of things different for that fight. We brought in a strength and conditioning coach that had us in the sauna 2 days heading into the weigh-ins. People saw a different a Russell, my speed and power was off. I was disfigured early on. I feel I lost the fight though regardless of the scorecards.”
Lomachenko compared to Gonzalez, “very different fighters, Loma is fast while Gonzalez is a puncher. Gonzalez is more dangerous, more seasoned. We take every fight seriously, it’s a dangerous fight but we fill we’ll be successful.
On fighting Gonzalez, “he won’t be able to handle my speed. He has to set his feet and he lacks ring generalship. His punches are wide and I’ll be able too catch him between shots.”
Jermell Charlo (25-0, 11 KO’s), “training has been great. Every camp is different, I’m hungry and I’m ready.”
On fighting Martirosyan, “I spent a few years training with him. I was 17 or 18 years old. We’ve sparred before but I was young. Winning this fight is important, this fight is about building my name and my profile. Winning a championship is more important though.”
On the 154lb division, “this is a tough fight, every fight is a tough fight. I know what I bring to the table. This fight is showcasing the tycoons of 154.”
Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21 KO’s), “We can’t wait for this fight, I’m ready to go.”
On fighting Charlo, “I remember when we trained together, it was always a competition. It’s nothing but love, I respect him but come Saturday, he’s my enemy.”
On the 154lb division, “every fight is a elimination fight, Charlo is tougher then any other champion at 154. Most of the champions at 154 just run their mouths, especially Andrade. This is a fight between contenders, #1 vs #2, the fans are the winners.”
On losing promoter Dan Goossen, “it was hard but Joe was is my corner for the Wilson bout. We had to deal with it even though we got away from things.”
On losing to Andrade, “bad feeling, I’m ready to die to get back to that opportunity.”