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SPARKS FLY BETWEEN NICARAGUA & MADISON SQUARE GARDEN AT JUNE 14 PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE FELIX “TITO” TRINIDAD vs. RICARDO “EL MATADOR” MAYORGA OCTOBER 2, LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW
New York, N.Y. – June 15, 2004 – Legendary champion Felix “Tito” Trinidad is “Back with a Vengeance” when he returns to meet the exciting former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga in New York’s Madison Square Garden, The World’s Most Famous Arena on Saturday, October 2, 2004. This WBA International middleweight championship bout is presented by Don King Productions in association with Madison Square Garden and will be produced and distributed domestically by HBO Pay-Per-View and broadcast internationally and on closed circuit by KingVision.
Tito Trinidad (41-1, 34 KOs), former Welterweight, Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight Champion from Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico was at Madison Square Garden for the press conference, however, Ricardo Mayorga (27-4-1, 23 KOs) is currently on restricted travel and was unable to travel to New York. He was connected to the press conference via telephone from his home in Managua Nicaragua, where “El Matador” was hosting the Nicaraguan media.
With Don King at the podium in the Mecca of Boxing, flanked by “Tito” Trinidad, along with his father and trainer, Felix Trinidad, Sr., the verbal jabs began to fly:
DON KING: We would like now for Ricardo Mayorga, who can’t be with us here at Madison Square Garden today, to tell us how he feels about this fight coming up on October 2.
MAYORGA: I would like to thanks God and Don King for this opportunity and I will especially thank you when I get there.
DON KING: Tito is here listening to everything that you are saying, so Ricardo, you have to tell us what you are going to do with Tito. And Tito is going to tell everyone what he is going to do to Ricardo. So what are your plans for this fight and how do you think it will come out?
MAYORGA: I am going to hit hard and that’s all he really needs to know. I’m not going to fight pretty. All I know is how to hit hard. I will hit Tito’s memory right out of his head. That’s all I care about, just hitting hard and not worry about looking pretty.
His father knows that his son is finished now. He knows that. I have a lot of respect to Tito’s parents, but after the fight, his father will have to call 911 to pick up Tito. He will be finished by the end of the fight. 911 will have to be called to pick him up from the ring.
Tito: First of all, I want to say hello to all of the press that are here. I want to speak straight to Ricardo and I want to advise him that nearer to the fight, you clear up the situation that is happening now. I hope that he can go to the ring, because I will be waiting in the ring for him on October 2nd. I don’t want him to make any more excuses, so I want to keep him out of trouble and I want him in the ring on October 2nd. I am working the right way and we will continue doing that and on October 2nd, we will continue to show the whole world I am the best. My regards to Ricardo and I hope we can go from this situation very soon and we will see you there.
Papa Trinidad: I will continue the line that Tito said before me and I want to advise Mayorga to keep out of trouble, have behavior out of the ring and be ready to be in the fight, because if not, as of now, I will look at that as an excuse for not coming up to the ring and facing Tito. So you put yourself to work and prepare yourself well. As always, I don’t desire any bad things for anybody. I just want you to be ready on that night because Tito’s going to be ready for you.
MAYORGA: I’m getting rid of all of the problems that I have and I will be there. I would like to thank all of the American press because they have treated him nicely. And all of the Latin-American people because we are all of the same race. I am very positive about this fight and everybody knows that I’m going to knock him out. I’m not going to say that he’s going to drop in the third or fourth round, because every time I do that they start to get scared. That’s why I say that I’m going to knock him out in the eight round, but I know I’m going to do it before that. After I knock him out. I am always going to recognize his father as a great trainer.
Everybody is listening to you here in Nicaragua and all of Nicaraguan television is here listening to what we are saying here. I am going to knock you out and after I do that, once again Tito will disappear. I am going to tell you something…when I knock you out, step out of boxing until I retire, because you will only want to come back after I retire. Make sure your father buys a pair of sneakers so he can run into the ring and pick you up. Make sure you are training hard because you are going to need it so you don’t lose memory of everything. You know I am the best and I will be the best on October 2nd. And I am going to become more of a millionaire than I already am.
Tito’s father knows that no one is going to hit his son harder than I am. I am the best and you know that I’m going to knock him out. All of the Americans know that I am going to win that day. No matter what you do Tito, you know you will be a loser and you are going to fail. I understand that we are going to fight at Madison Square Garden, so make sure you eat well because your brain is going to be messed up and I will knock the memory out of you. His father knows in his heart all of the punches that I will give his son. And tell him to stop biting his nails as he did in the Las Vegas press conference.
TITO: I didn’t know that all of Nicaragua would be listening to this interview, so now I want to express all of my regards to the people there. For me it is good that you are listening and I see that you (Mayorga) continue talking even more than in person. Now I say to you as my father also says, don’t have any excuses, behave well and get in the ring on October 2nd. Then we will see what hands bring more leather.
I hope that you get well and resolve your situation and finally see you soon on the press tour. I hope that you are able to do that so I can look at you in he eyes and tell you personally that I will knock you out.
MAYORGA: You know I’m better than you and you know that I’m going to knock you out. You are just being nice to the press, but you know I’m a better man. You know I’m going to knock you out. I have fought fighters that hit twice as hard as you have and I have won.
TITO: You know that you’ve never fought a man like me with my punching power. You won’t realize that until October 2nd. It is then you will realize how hard I hit, when I punch you and when I hit you. I will be waiting for you at a sold out Madison Square garden on October 2nd. It is there where we will be waiting for you in the ring.
MAYORGA: I will even give you a video (of the fight) for free so you can see how you lose. You may to improve your condition, but you can’t train to improve your brain.
TITO: Mayorga, you should know that your brain is real damaged, because you think that we can both talk at the same time. So I will se you in the ring on October 2nd. Take care of yourself and don’t get hit too much from your sparring partners, because it is going to be a lot worse for you in the ring.
Tickets, priced at $1,000, $700, $400, $250, $150 and $75, are on sale at the Garden box office and all TicketMaster locations or by calling TicketMaster at 212-307-7171, 201-507-8900, 631-888-9000, or 914-454-3388. TicketMaster purchases are subject to convenience charges.
The TRINIDAD-MAYORGA pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9pm ET/6pm PT on October 2nd, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to over 49 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For more event information, log on to www.HBOPPV.com.
