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SHOWTIME SPORTS MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 15, 2007

Kermit Cintron will defend his IBF welterweight title against Jesse Feliciano in one of three 12-round fights Saturday, Sept. 8, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Calif., on SHOWTIME PPV. In another, Roman Karmazin faces Luca Messi for the WBA super welterweight Intercontinental crow.
In the highly anticipated Sept. 8 main event, two-time world champion Fernando Vargas faces three-time world champion Ricardo Mayorga at a catch weight of 162 pounds.

ROMAN KARMAZIN: I've been training very hard, and I'm taking this fight extra seriously, not only because I have a tough opponent in front of me, but also very recently my trainer, Boris Zykanov, recently passed away, and I've dedicated my next fight, this fight, and my title run for new title to my late trainer.
And so I'm training very hard and very seriously to make him proud.
LUCA MESSI: I've been training in Italy for two months. And I've been here for or I will be here for about five weeks in total, a month, for sparring, that's where I am right now. I'm happy. I feel very good, and the heat is making me get acclimated to the hot weather.

Q. You're training right now in Florida?
LUCA MESSI: Miami, Florida.

Q. First question for Roman: Can you tell us what you know of Luca Messi, what kind of a fighter he is, and also he's coming off a loss in his last fight, about a year ago?
ROMAN KARMAZIN: I haven't had a chance to study some film yet. I plan on studying him. I've just been working more on getting ready for the fight and sparring a bit. But I don't take him for granted. I heard he's a very good fighter with a good pedigree. On this level fighting for what we're fighting for, I don't expect him to be anything but world-class.

Q. Question for Luca: It's been about a little over a year since you fought last, when you lost to Piccirillo, can you tell us what you've been doing to stay sharp because it's such a long period of inactivity and what you expect in this fight with Roman Karmazin?
LUCA MESSI: I continue to train. I have my own gym in Miami and have my own trainer. I continue to train. I had problems with my promoter. I was with him and then with Don. Now I'm back with Don King Promotions. So I had some legal problems with my problems, that's why I didn't fight.

Q. Do Roman or Luca want to make a prediction on the fight?
LUCA MESSI: The only thing I'm going to say is I came here to win and I'm going to win. That's enough.

Q. Would Roman like to put a prediction on the fight?
ROMAN KARMAZIN: The results of the fight, only God knows what the results are going to be, but anything can happen in boxing, but I only come out to win and that is my plan. So I intend to win.
LUCA MESSI: This is only my second fight in America. I was an Italian 154-pound champion, came over as somewhat of an unknown August 13th, 2005 and fought Alejandro Garcia 24-1 and had like 22 knockouts and it went to decision. And I surprised everybody. I was tenacious and did a nice job. And that was my only title shot. And the rest of it is explanatory on my record.

Q. Roman, two fights ago, obviously, your fight with Cory Spinks when you lost the IBF Middleweight title and your last fight, you got a fourth-round TKO; obviously if you win this fight with Luca, you'll have another minor title, put you back in line for a world title. Are you looking to go have another fight with Cory Spinks, or are you looking towards one of the other champions?
ROMAN KARMAZIN: I would very much like a rematch with Spinks, very much, that's actually all I want right now.

Q. Luca, as you just mentioned a few minutes ago, your management team was saying over the last year or so you've had some problems with your problems; you're back with Don King. You had a little bit of inactivity over the last few years. I think you've only had about four or five fights since back in 2004. Do you really think that a win over Roman, especially considering Roman has only had two losses in his whole career and he's basically all his last fights have been against top-level competition, do you really think if you do win over him and you do it in a spectacular fashion, that this is going to put on you the big scene and make you a major player in the 154-pound division?
LUCA MESSI: Exactly why I'm fighting this tough fighter like Roman Karmazin, because I know he's classified and very highly regarded and I want to show -- I know that when I win it will place me in the highest possible position for a title fight.

Q. The second part of that question, even if by some chance you do lose this fight, are you going to get back into the ring again or are we going to have -- is it going to be another year? Are you ready since now all the promotion problems are taken care of?
LUCA MESSI: I am sure, absolutely sure, that Don King will put me back in the ring for a title because I came to America because I was promised this by Don King, and I'm here for that reason.
Don and I are very good friends. If you wondered how Don got to have a public audience with the Pope, it was myself and my Italian friends who invited Don over and facilitated the visit where you saw Don shaking hands with the Pope.
My brother is a priest and my good friend, parish priest, sings in the choir in the Vatican. It was through my brother and Don Gilberto that got us in to see the Pope.
I'm from Bergemo, Italy. That's why I'm known as the Bergemo Bomber. I want to change my name from the Bergemo Bomber to Miami Made in Paradise (Laughter).

Q. Luca, give your side of exactly how he got -- even though it may be redundant, can we get you to give your side of exactly how you got Don hooked up with the Pope?
LUCA MESSI: I've got the Victoria Gym, a youth program there. It's a huge gym. It has a swimming pool and everything. And the priests are always invited free there. And my brother's a priest and all the priests, the monsignor, the bishop, they come and work out; they swim in the wintertime because it's cold where I come from. It was easy for me through my brother and Don Gilberto, the monsignor, and the bishop to hook it up because of that.

Q. Roman, the loss of your trainer, how has it impacted the atmosphere of your training camp?
ROMAN KARMAZIN: Losing Boris is a very big loss to me on many levels. But right now I've been working with Freddy Rocha of Wild Card. That's where I trained before with Boris. I'm in the same atmosphere I have been in the past.

Q. Freddy's now in the Philippines, is he going to be coming back September 8th for your corner?
ROMAN KARMAZIN: Yes, absolutely, he assured me he'd be there.

Q. Luca, what is it about Miami that you like in terms of being able to train down there?
LUCA MESSI: Because of all the beautiful women. (Laughter) Miami, I like it because of the sparring partners. I have terrific sparring partners here. And I don't have that in Italy. Sparring partners are too easy in Italy. Here they have tough sparring partners. And also because my trainer is here. I love and hate him so much.

Q. What part of Italy are you from?
LUCA MESSI: I'm Neapolitan. Mother is from Naples. But I was raised in Bergemo, Italy, which is near Milano. A very wealthy suburb of Milano.

Q. Luca, is your family all very religious; and if so, how did you end up fighting and not moving -- were you an altar boy to begin with?
LUCA MESSI: It's very interesting, my family is not that religious. But it's really strange, my brother became a priest and I became a boxer, because I'm the first boxer in my family. And my brother Alejandro is the first priest.

Q. Was your family against you fighting, coming from a religious background like that?
LUCA MESSI: I grew up poor. Even though we're from the south, from Naples, which is poor, and I worked at 13 and 14 years old in the foundry area where they make the steel and stuff like that. It's very dangerous and very hard work, so they didn't care if I was boxing or working with hot metal. It's very dangerous. So they never gave a second thought about me being a fighter.

Q. Is your brother, the priest, younger or older?
LUCA MESSI: He's older.

Q. Luca, is it important for you just to win this fight or do you need to win this fight impressively?
LUCA MESSI: I feel it's important to win, and I don't care how I win.

Q. Was the meeting with the Pope, was that when you drove by doing 40 knots while waving to the thousands --
LUCA MESSI: No, we were in the first row for invited special guests. And it was a place reserved because of my brother and Don Gilberto, because of what I explained already, that one of them is part of the Vatican choir.

Q. Roman, you said that Cory Spinks is a top priority to fight again. But being that this is for a WBA Intercontinental title, you're not going to turn down a fight if you could fight for the WBA title, right?
ROMAN KARMAZIN: No, of course I wouldn't turn it down. I would take that fight.
MODERATOR: I'd like to thank both great fighters for participating on this portion of the call.
KERMIT CINTRON: First of all, I want to thank Main Events and Don King, also SHOWTIME for giving me the opportunity to be able to defend my title one more time.
Jesse Feliciano, he's a great fighter. Seems strong from the fights I've seen of him. He comes to fight. He never backs up. Always forward. He's a fighter that tries to win his fights. And I'm getting ready here for the fight and I'll be ready for September 8th to defend my title one more time successfully.
JESSE FELICIANO: My thoughts are, man, I can't believe I got this shot. I've been waiting for this all my life. And now that I have it, I'm going to give it all I've got. True warrior. And I'd like to thank Kermit Cintron for letting me get a chance to get this shot and Main Events and Don King and Star Boxing. And it's going to be a tremendous show.
Kermit Cintron, he's there to defend his title and he comes to fight as well. And once we put our gloves together, it's going to be a major war. It's not going to be no Mayweather fight. It's going to be the real deal.

Q. When you said you couldn't believe it, what was your initial reaction when you found out that you had the opportunity?
JESSE FELICIANO: I was very excited. I didn't think I was going to get this shot so soon. I thought maybe next year. But I'll take it however I can get it. I'm ready. And I've got nothing to lose. Going all out.

Q. Kermit, what do you know about this guy? Is there any chance at all that you might be overlooking him to move on to bigger and better names?
KERMIT CINTRON: No, not at all. I take my fights seriously. They're putting Jesse Feliciano in front of me for a reason. They're giving him the opportunity to fight me for my title. And like I said before, he's a fighter that comes to fight and I know he has three good wins under his belt.
So I'm not taking this fight lightly. Just going to go in there and do what I do best.

Q. Kermit, I just want to go back, if I can, to one loss that you've had in your career. And only because I want to see how you were able to handle -- I was at your fight against Margarito, what I want to know is how difficult was it for you to get through the mental anguish of losing your first fight, especially being stopped?
KERMIT CINTRON: It was a fight that I wasn't well prepared for. Just the loss, it just happened. And not being well prepared for that fight, only having four weeks of training and only two weeks of being able to hit with my right hand, I just wasn't well prepared for the fight.
But I took the fight like a warrior. I don't back from no fight. And the loss did me good. The loss -- I think that it got me stronger mentally, physically and emotionally.

Q. Why were you only able to train four weeks and what was the matter with your hand?
KERMIT CINTRON: I just had a ruptured tendon. Took cartilage and had no blood flow going to my middle knuckle so my bone was dying. I had to get that fixed, and finally they got it fixed and it's been 100% ever since.

Q. Now you're world champion, and I'm wondering, were you surprised that you were able to recover that quickly from that first loss, and the next thing you know three fights later, I believe, you're fighting for if championship. How exciting was that for you to be able to be right back in the thick of things like that?
KERMIT CINTRON: Definitely not surprised. I know myself that I could do it. It was just the fact of having the proper training and the proper trainers around me. I was not surprised at all. I decided to go back in there and fight, win fights. I knew that eventually I was going to get my title shot again.

Q. The welterweight division is pretty awesome right now. Even a couple of guys that aren't champions, don't hold belts, are very good at talking about Margarito and Mosley; and of course the champions, including yourself, and Mayweather and Paul Williams, holy smokes, a lot of good fighters out there. What kind of a mark would you like to be able to leave on this division in the next few years?
KERMIT CINTRON: Just want to definitely be myself in and outside the ring. And I definitely want to unify the titles. One of my biggest goals right now is to being able to win all titles and be the undisputed welterweight champion of the world.

Q. Margarito, would you like to do that again and this time be healthy and have a two-month training camp?
KERMIT CINTRON: Yes, definitely would love to fight Margarito again, to avenge that loss, and move on. Move on for better things.

Q. Kermit, talk about your last fight a little bit. One thing I've noticed that you've been doing quite well in that fight, and a couple of previous fights, was the jab and how you used it. I noticed in the Margarito fight, that wasn't the case in that fight. Do you just think your skills are, that you're just a better more well-rounded fighter now?
KERMIT CINTRON: I think that I definitely am. Like I said before, I just needed the proper training and having the proper trainer. I've been improved a lot ever since I've been with Emanuel, and it's going to continue. I'm going to continue to look better and better as fights goes on.

Q. I've got information on your camp before, something was going on inside your camp before the Walter fight, and it was kind of impressive. Everyone seems to have made a big deal of how you were working the pads in that fight. Was that a factor in this fight? People were -- from what I hear everybody was saying they were so impressed with how you were working the pads during training?
KERMIT CINTRON: The pads, just in general, I had a perfect training camp in Austria, getting ready for the Matthysse fight. I had no complaints at all. I had no injuries. I was 100%. I was ready to go, focused mentally, physically and emotionally, I was ready.

Q. Coming off such an impressive knockout in Atlantic City, do you feel the need to -- is it possible for you to even top that performance, because that was such a great performance?
KERMIT CINTRON: It was a great performance. Like I said, Emanuel and I have been working hard together, one-on-one. I'm still young in the sport, still learning. I've been boxing seven years I want to say now and I'm still learning. I know I'm going to be better. And as fights, as time goes on, as fights go on, you're going to see that Kermit Cintron will improve more and more.

Q. Jesse, obviously fighting for the title is big and obviously is what you fight for. But Kermit is a much different fighter than, say, Delvin Rodriguez and even Alfonso Gomez. Do you approach it differently, or do you just do what you normally do?
JESSE FELICIANO: A little bit of both. Like he said, he's not just any regular fighter or any other fighter at that. He's at a whole other level, at a whole other stage. Can't just go in there like I did in other fights all big headed. Gotta maintain and focus and mentally ready as well as physical.

Q. Jesse, at a point in your career you went 1-4 in your last five and you went up in weight. You were losing fights and it started to become a trend. I even saw you on television one time on some kind of people's court show, that's Jesse Feliciano, then right after that you started rolling out these wins. Who or what do you credit for the resurgence in your game?
JESSE FELICIANO: Repeat it.

Q. You were 1-4 in your last five at a point in your career. You gained weight. Were fighting 140 at the time. Now you're having all this success, who or what do you credit for your resurgence in the sport?
JESSE FELICIANO: I credit my father. He's been there for me. He's my boxing manager, baby-sitter/caretaker. He's been everything, taking care of me and helping me. And also to my son, Jesse James. If it wasn't for my son, I would never have been in this game still. I won that USBA for my son, rest in peace. He died on June 11th. I like to dedicate my life to my son.

Q. If I can ask, what happened?
JESSE FELICIANO: The veins in his lungs were obstructed and his heart only had three chambers instead of four. So he didn't have a good chance of making it. He was alive for about 13 hours. I got to hold him and bathe him before he passed away.

Q. I've seen a bunch of interviews before you were saying you want to fight Margarito again. I know you were well prepared in that fight then. Didn't your arm turn black?
KERMIT CINTRON: My knuckle was turning black.

Q. I remember you said they said you would never fight again.
KERMIT CINTRON: The doctor did say that if what they did wasn't going to work, then that would have been it for me.

Q. I know that was a bad loss; you weren't prepared for it. But I hear you calling out Antonio Margarito, but I never hear you say much about Paul Williams. What do you think about him as a fighter?
KERMIT CINTRON: I'll fight Paul Williams any day. Everybody keeps saying I'm avoiding Paul Williams. I'm not avoiding Paul Williams. I think Paul Williams is avoiding me. I think his problems is avoiding me as well. I think the fight with Paul Williams, it will be a perfect match for me and a great win for me.

Q. Emanuel deserves a lot of credit for your resurgence as well; but do you credit the fact that you got your confidence back and that you never really -- there was never really anything wrong with you, you just took a fight on short notice and you weren't ready for it?
KERMIT CINTRON: Yes, I didn't have the confidence in me. I wasn't well prepared for the fight against Margarito.

Q. Kermit, just wanted to know what importance would you place in getting your revenge against Margarito as opposed to, say, getting a shot at unifying the title against the other champions?
KERMIT CINTRON: What was that question?

Q. What importance would you place like in order of getting your revenge against Margarito or fighting the other champions first?
KERMIT CINTRON: Both. Both. I want to fight everybody. I want to fight Margarito. I want to fight every other champion out there in the welterweight division.

Q. Following the win last time out, what has been the reaction to yourself on behalf of the fans? What has been the response to the second round knockout that you got over Matthysse?
KERMIT CINTRON: A lot of people have been calling. A lot of people have been impressed about it, the way I look, the way I stopped him. Everybody's been impressed. I've been getting a lot of calls. It's a good feeling that a lot of people are opening their eyes and seeing that the fight against Margarito is a difference Kermit Cintron.

Q. We know what kind of warrior Feliciano is. How do you see this fight playing out?
KERMIT CINTRON: I'm just going to go in there well prepared for the fight. Feliciano is a fighter that comes to fight, like I said. Never backs down. And I see it a win for me.

Q. Prediction.
KERMIT CINTRON: I don't have any. As long as I win the fight, that's all that matters.

Q. Kermit, last few fights you've been training all over the place. In Europe and all that. Where will you concentrate this time for this fight?
KERMIT CINTRON: What was it again?

Q. Where will you concentrate your training camp for this fight?
KERMIT CINTRON: I'm here in the Poconos. I'm here with Jermain Teller.

Q. You've been talking about you want to unify titles. You'll be fighting before Cotto that is fighting in November and other fights that will be happening. Will you wait and see what happens for 2008 if there's a possibility you can fight Cotto even here in Puerto Rico?
KERMIT CINTRON: I think that any possibility I can get to unify the titles I'll take. I'm here. And he has good plans for me, wants to keep me busy. That's what we're doing. Eventually by 2008 we'll be unifying the titles.

Q. Earlier you mentioned that you still have some things to learn, specifically what things do you think you need to learn in order to continue to be successful?
KERMIT CINTRON: I think in boxing you never stop learning. I think that you will never learn everything in boxing. Emanuel Stewart knows every trick in the book about boxing and little by little we've been going one-on-one with it and learning.

Q. Kermit, it seems as though regardless to what you've done since the loss to Antonio Margarito, it seems as you get a lot of questions that relates back to that loss against Margarito. Does it bother you?
KERMIT CINTRON: No, it doesn't bother me at all. It's a fight that I looked bad in. I lost a fight. And who cares. I moved on. Everybody's still, I guess, still on that date back in '04. I moved on with my career, you know? I'm a world champion and there's a lot better things in life.

Q. You're fighting Jesse Feliciano. Let me ask this question first, you just fought Walter Matthysse in your last fight in July. Why would you come back to fight a guy like Jesse Feliciano who is on such a roll in these last few fights?
KERMIT CINTRON: This is a fight, the Main Events and SHOWTIME gave me. It's just through a fight to keep me busy with what I do. I think the busier I am the better I get.

Q. Feliciano he's had a lot of fight at 140 pounds. Obviously he's moved up there in weight for this challenge. Can you motivate yourself and training camp and do you see yourself as being as motivated to the fighting of Feliciano as opposed to the fits you fought in previous fights?
KERMIT CINTRON: I don't take no fight lightly. Every fighter that steps in there is trying to hurt me. They're trying to win against me of course they want to get the title away from me. That's not going to happen. I train hard for every fight, if not harder, and you will see September 8th.

Q. Obviously this is the biggest fight of your career, Jesse. It's your first world title fight. Can you continue your level of success, are you confident enough in your ability to raise your level, the level of your game when fighting a Kermit Cintron, a very strong puncher?
JESSE FELICIANO: I'm raising the bar, as you can see. I'm on a whole other level. I'm on a winning streak; I'm not losing. But I think it's going to last. I got good things coming from me. Good things are going to happen to me as well.

Q. Kermit, you've been on my radar for a while now. Emanuel Stewart pointed out your boxing skills to me almost a year and a half, maybe a little longer than that ago. Looks like things are coming to fruition now. Tell me about the other -- there's a whole bunch of other welterweight champs that you are matching up well against. Floyd is one that Emanuel firmly believes you can beat. What are your thoughts on that? Emanuel Stewart told us a couple of years ago that you're going to be the man at 147. He even mentioned that Floyd would be somebody that would be a bout you could win. Can I get you to speak to that, please?
KERMIT CINTRON: It's a fight that every fighter in the welterweight division wants to fight is against Floyd Mayweather. That's a fight I would love to have, but that's his decision on that. I think that Mayweather would be a great one for me, I think that my style.

Q. Match-up wise with all the champions right now, I see you posing problems for different reasons for all the guys. Do you think that's going to be a stumbling block as far as getting you to unify with any of these other champs?
KERMIT CINTRON: What was that again?

Q. Your style is going to pose problems for all the other champs; do you think it's going to be a stumbling block in regards to you unifying?
KERMIT CINTRON: It's up to the other champions. If I don't get the opportunities I will continue to defend my title successfully until I get a chance to fight for the other titles. I think that there are champions they'll fight me.

Q. Were you sparring with Wladimir Klitschko?
KERMIT CINTRON: Yes.

Q. How did it go?
KERMIT CINTRON: It was a totally different experience but it was a great experience for me.
ROMAN KARMAZIN: Fighting somebody that tall is getting you ready for Paul Williams, right?
KERMIT CINTRON: Yeah.

Q. Jesse, you're being referred to as a stay busy fight, sounds like. Does that bother you? How does that work with your mind frame?
JESSE FELICIANO: Can you repeat the question?

Q. They're referring to you as a stay busy fight, keep busy fight something to do in between big fights. What do you think about that?
JESSE FELICIANO: I think it motivates me more to do a better job.

Q. First question I have for Kermit. You're fighting less than two months after the last fight that you had even though it was a two-round fight, where you knocked out Matthysse, is the fact, have you been training continuously and is there added pressure even though the fight you had was a short fight in July, is there added pressure to come back this quickly?
KERMIT CINTRON: Not at all, no pressure at all. These are the things I like. I like to stay busy. The sooner I get back into the ring, the better it is and more fights I get, the better I get.

Q. What specifically are you doing to face Jesse Feliciano, because I'm pretty sure he's going to be up for this fight, and what are you doing to avoid just sort of looking at it as a stay-busy fight and looking beyond to some of the better known welterweights?
KERMIT CINTRON: Just training hard here in the Poconos. And just making sure that I'm we will prepared for this fight.

Q. Jesse, this fight obviously is something that's a very important fight for you. Can you tell us why you think you have the advantage in this fight especially after the spectacular knockout that Kermit had in his last fight back in July?
JESSE FELICIANO: Everybody thinks I'm the underdog. Everybody wants to fight me because they think it will be an easy fight. And as well as any other fighter that's out there. I'll be ready. I'm training hard. I gotta train right now. This fight is the real deal and we're both coming to fight and we're probably going to steal the show.

Q. Can you tell us specifically what you saw in the fight that Kermit won against Matthysse, the second-round knockout that you think you can take advantage of?
JESSE FELICIANO: I'm not really too sure if I can answer that question right. But all I saw was good pinpoint sharp shooting assassin right there. He just took that guy out. I don't know, man. It's going to be all-out war. Martino, I'm not going to go down in the second round. It's going to be a war is all I can say.

Q. Kermit, since the Matthysse fight, looks like some people weren't giving you much respect despite you having a world title. Since then, do you think you've gained more respect since the Matthysse fight?
KERMIT CINTRON: People are still talking about my loss against Margarito, and like I said, other media people. I've moved on. That was the past. I've moved on. I'm in a better position than I ever was back then. But I do get some props as well.

Q. Emanuel recently said when he first began working with you, he kind of had some doubts and some questions about your motivation and some things like that. Did you feel when you first started working with him you had to prove yourself to Manny a little bit?
KERMIT CINTRON: Yeah, definitely did prove myself on sparring with a kid named Dominic Dawson, who is an extremely fast, good boxer, who is going to be probably making the Olympic team this year. That's who I've actually been sparring with right now. But, yeah, I definitely felt that I needed to prove myself; that I had it, that I could become a world champion.

Q. After the Matthysse fight, you were calling out Sugar Shane Mosley, was there any disappointment on your part when obviously he went after Cotto and that fight didn't materialize and you wound up fighting, taking this fight?
KERMIT CINTRON: I wasn't disappointed. I just see how fighters are. They try to avoid those big punchers. They see what I did to Walter Matthysse and they see and saw that Kermit Cintron is no joke. He's a totally different fighter than he was against Margarito. And at the same time I guess at the same time -- but there's always fights out there. There's other big fights. Other fighters out there willing to fight me. As long as I stay busy I'll be fine. I'll get that big fight.

Q. You mentioned earlier Paul Williams. What is it about him that makes you confident that you can beat him?
KERMIT CINTRON: People keep saying I'm avoiding Paul Williams. I've never avoided nobody. I never backed down to a fight, never said no to any fight. Paul Williams, he's just another fighter. He's more an amateur than a pro, a fighter that throws a lot of punches but with no power. It's a fight that I definitely want. People think I'm avoiding him but I'm not.

Q. A fight with Miguel Cotto, knowing that he's fighting Mosley, what did you think of that fight between you and Cotto?
KERMIT CINTRON: I think that the fight would definitely be a fight I would love to have. I know he has a fight against Jim Mosley in November and I think that he will win the fight and I think that after the fight, if the opportunity comes, that it would definitely be a great fight.

Q. Will you knock him out?
KERMIT CINTRON: It will be definitely a tough, rough fight. And I know if I connect him with my hard shots that, yes, I think that he will go down. And the ticket sales will definitely be broken in Madison Square Gardens by the attendance, I think there will be more than 20,900 people, and it will definitely be a big fight.

Q. Jesse, obviously you've seen Kermit. You've watched Kermit come up. Is there anything about him that -- do you see anything in Kermit that, any weakness that's going to be to your advantage that you can capitalize on?
JESSE FELICIANO: I don't really see any weakness, especially in his last fight. Even though it was only two rounds, knocked out Margarito, that was in the past. This is a new Kermit Cintron. He's dangerous and nothing to take lightly.

Q. Kermit, obviously I know you've got to be tired of hearing Antonio Margarito's name everywhere you go; that's all you ever hear. You're 28-1, 26 knockouts. Everybody's praising you for your last fight. You've got the IBF title. To be all honest, there's a chance that you'll never get a rematch with Margarito. I know with Floyd Mayweather, nobody knows what's going on with him. He may be leaving the sport. A lot of people were kind of comparing you to Jeff Lacy after your loss to Margarito, a big knockout puncher who got put out the first time he faced a good boxer, like Lacy did when he fought Calzaghe. What do you think if you never get this fight with Margarito. What is it going to take for you to get rid of that in everybody's mind? Do you think it will be a good fight with Williams who is a big power puncher or a fighter, would erase that from everybody?
KERMIT CINTRON: I think the fight with Paul Williams and getting that win over him would definitely erase the Margarito fight. But everybody keeps asking me that question. I've moved on from that loss. You can never go back to that. There's a lot better things in the near future for my career.

Q. I know almost every question had to do with Margarito. I was wondering what you honestly would need to do to just finally get that put behind you. Not just for yourself, but realize you're passed that yourself, but to get it out of everybody's mind, the press and fans, and move to that next level?
KERMIT CINTRON: People still talk about it. People still doubt me. Whatever. I just ignore those people and move on in life and look forward to what's coming in the near future for me and it's going to be great things. I want to say, like I say, thanks to Main Events, Don King and SHOWTIME and Pay Per View for giving me an opportunity to get in a fight and defend my title successfully and I'm looking forward to September 8th.
JESSE FELICIANO: I'd like to thank Star Boxing most of all and everybody for putting this fight together, SHOWTIME and Pay Per View and all the fans out there. You're very greatly appreciated, and thank you for sticking around and here we go for the fight. Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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