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SHOWTIME SPORTS MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 28, 2008Lou DiBellaVernon ForrestDan GoossenSergio MoraGeorge PetersonCarlos QuintanaJeff WaldPaul WilliamsOn Saturday, June 7, SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING will present a World Championship Doubleheader when Vernon Forrest defends his WBC super welterweight title against Sergio Mora and Carlos Quintana looks to defend his newly acquired WBO welterweight belt against the boxer he dethroned, the previously unbeaten Paul Williams live at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). The event is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, and Fight Nite, LLC, in association with Tournament of Contenders, LLC, DiBella Entertainment and Goossen Tutor Promotions in association with Northeast Promotions. It will emanate from Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. In his last start, Forrest (40-2, 29 KOs), of Atlanta, Ga., continued his rebirth atop the 154-pound division when he successfully defended the WBC belt against Michele Piccirillo with an 11th round TKO on SHOWTIME on Dec. 1, 2007. Forrest, a former three-time welterweight champion, won the vacant crown with a 12-round unanimous decision over Carlos Baldomir on July 28, 2007. Mora (20-0-1, 5 KOs), of Los Angeles, Calif., won The Contender television series on Oct. 15, 2005 with an entertaining and hard-fought split decision over Peter Manfredo, Jr. The fight with Forrest is exactly what Mora has been aiming for and should prove to be his toughest challenge to date. The Quintana-Williams bout is a rematch of a WBO welterweight title fight that Quintana won in a shocking upset on Feb. 9, 2008. Williams, who came into the fight confident -- perhaps looking past Quintana, an 8-1 underdog -- lost a 12-round unanimous decision by the scores of 116-112 twice and 115-113. Quintana, of Puerto Rico, is 25-1 with 19 knockouts. The only blemish on his record came in a hard-fought bout to Miguel Cotto for the WBA welterweight title on Dec. 2, 2006 on SHOWTIME. Williams (33-1, 24 KOs), of Augusta, Ga, captured the belt with a close decision over Antonio Margarito, who had made seven successful defenses, on July 14, 2007. MODERATOR: Louie, opening comments about the show Saturday, June 7th. Then we'll go to Dan, and then we'll go to Vernon, Carlos, Paul. LOU DiBELLA: Well, look, first of all, I'm 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, Paul Williams. It was a terrific fight the first time. And 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 Paul. But Paul has big wins over Antonio Margarito and was a terrific champion in his own right. One of the tallest and biggest reaches I've ever seen in the welterweight division and a very dangerous guy. And I expect it to be a terrific fight. And Vernon Forrest, the main event, he's been one of the best fighters of his generation. Really a Hall of Famer, and I think a first bout 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. And that figures to be a terrific fight. SHOWTIME, I think, has a tremendous show. A tremendous show on June 7th. 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 for the show and a real good attendance in Connecticut. I want to turn it over to a man who together we've been through hell on this promotion because it's always difficult when you have fighters of the caliber of Vernon Forrest and Carlos Quintana, Paul Williams, Sergio Mora, and three promotional companies. Never easy to put everything together. But Dan, we're here on this phone call, so thank you. Turn it over to one of my co-promoters, Dan Goossen. DAN GOOSSEN: I thought you were going to say all the problems were because of me. But you didn't. So I know 30 reporters out there are laughing right now. But I'm going to be short and sweet. February 9th was a stunner. Not too many times have I gone into this, gone into a fight throughout almost 30 years in the business did I think that we didn't have a victory February 9th. The last fighter I did that with was Michael Nunn, and for the most part, I was always correct. It just shows me how crazy this business is. And no one gave Quintana a shot and he pulled out a major upset. And I know that 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. That's about it from my end. I want to thank SHOWTIME. It's good to be with Vernon Forrest. We go back many years; and Lou, you're right, he's a classy man. And I want Paul to say some words and then we'll go to the champ. PAUL WILLIAMS: I'm happy to be on SHOWTIME, HBO, cool to get my title back. I'm just going to go out there, do my job again to get my belt back. VERNON 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, DiBella Boxing and Goossen Tutor Boxing. 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 those guys and continue to do business with those guys. 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. JEFF 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 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. LOU DiBELLA: Not for much longer you keep blabbing. JEFF WALD: You'll see a great fight between Sergio Mora and Vernon Forrest. Vernon Forrest has been a great champion. I've watched him fight many, many times. I saw his last fight. He was terrific. And I can tell you that Sergio has had a phenomenal training camp. He's in the best shape of his life. He's motivated. He knows what's ahead of him. He has a tremendous amount of respect for Vernon, and he's in it to win it. And I think you're going to see a good fight. And I think what you've seen with a lot of our guys, our guys are guys who come there and go toe to toe, not running. Sergio's far from a runner, and all of his fights have been really exciting. He's undefeated and wants to stay that way. I think it's going to be a great night of boxing. And I'm also looking forward to seeing Williams and Quintana. I think it's going to be an exciting rematch. Everybody expected Williams to win the first one and there was an upset there with Quintana. And I think it's going to be a very exciting fight again. So I think we're going to see a great, great evening of boxing. LOU DiBELLA: Northeast Promotions is my partner of Carlos Quintana, I want to acknowledge them. SERGIO 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 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 bullshit. I'm glad. I'm happy. The fighters are going to get the best out of me. Get the best out of Vernon, obviously. He's 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. MODERATOR: Questions. Q. This question is for Paul Williams. People are saying that the first fight Quintana was an upset. Now, are you preparing yourself to do the same, complete an upset of this fight, or do you consider yourself the champion and that Quintana has to prove himself to you? PAUL 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. Q. Where did you complete your training for this fight and why didn't you return to Puerto Rico as in the past? PAUL WILLIAMS: We just didn't. Q. Why is that? PAUL WILLIAMS: I don't know why we didn't go back to Puerto Rico. That's up to my manager. He figured that out, where we're going to train. I just do what he says. Q. Obviously you expect a different result this time. What are you going to do different? Did you learn by your mistakes in the past? PAUL WILLIAMS: I ended up doing all that in the ring. I'll just do it in the ring, fight night. Q. Sergio, you know, you've already had one very big moment in your career when you won the championship of "The Contender" the first season. This obviously is a little bit bigger moment for you, fighting for your first major world championship. That said, 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? SERGIO MORA: This is definitely a moment I've dreamed about my entire career, aspired to be 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 opportunity to just come already. And I'm eager for it. And I know it's going to be a tough fight. Vernon's a hell of a fighter. He's a great champion. He's an Olympian. He does everything right. And it's going to be a tough fight. It's only good for you guys as the fans and critics and writers. And I'm there to do a good job and he's there to do a job. It's going to be a great night. Q. Sergio, I know that one of the problems Shane Mosely had with Vernon was with Vernon's length, being tall and having a long body. You also have a long body. Do you think that gives you a little bit better chance to defeat him than maybe some of the other guys he's fought who are shorter than him? SERGIO 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 Mosely, obviously I'm a bigger fighter. I think we should be similar in height and length. If he 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 and basically a fight of attrition as well. So that's exciting for me and for the fans and for Vernon, I'm sure. So I've fought tall fighters before, guys that are six foot three, six foot one. So I like fighting tall guys. I prefer fighting short guys, I have the advantage. Tall fighters, short fighters, makes no difference. Q. Jeff, I know you're real high in all of your fighters that came out of "The Contender" and all that. Do you look at this fight as a chance for a contender like Sergio to score that upset victory? In your eyes, is that a feasible thing to happen? JEFF WALD: Yes, there's no doubt about it. But these guys, while they fight under "The Contender," banner, they fight for themselves and their families. Sergio had a career before he came to us. He was brought to us by Fernando Vargas. All these guys on the phone, they all 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. Upset when Brian Vera beat Andy Lee. Highly touted guy. VERNON FORREST: No, I'm no Gotti or Andy Lee. You have to realize who you're dealing with. I'm a completely another level than that one. Don't compare me. JEFF WALD: Talking about upsets. VERNON FORREST: Won't be an upset next Saturday. Trust me on that. You can forget about that shit. CARLOS QUINTANA: I'm very happy about this opportunity that SHOWTIME has provided me to fight again. And I'm expecting a great fight. I'm expecting another great fight. I can't say what type of win it will be, but I'm expecting another triumph. Q. Vernon, can you tell us why, with half the promoters in America, apparently, involved in this fight, why have you also decided to create your own promotional company at this point? VERNON FORREST: Actually, I've been my own promoter since I left Main Events back in 1998, I believe it was. 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. So with the relationships I've had with Lou and Gary and Dan, you know, one thing about this business is that there's a lot of unscrupulous people in this business. When guys honor their word, honor the business, then people like to work with people like that. So I felt it's time that -- I was the only team I played on. Now it's time to open it up to other guys to give them opportunity. Q. How is it preparing for this fight? You're obviously the favorite in it, but doing the promotional work and preparing for a major title fight at the same time? VERNON FORREST: I've been training for this fight for three months. I've been in camp since February. So, trust me, I'm not taking this guy lightly at all. I'm really, really focused on this guy. I'm looking at him exactly the same way I looked at all the other fights that I've had. I only had one guy that I fought that I didn't take seriously, and I got an "L" on my record for that. From that point on I learned my lesson. So I'm definitely taking him very, very seriously. Q. Sergio, this is the fight going against somebody who people have seen as one of the top fighters for the last several years and is obviously back healthy again. How are you going to approach it? Because it looks like it's going to be a big step up for you. SERGIO MORA: It's definitely a big step up for me, but I think it's time for me to take that step. If you look at my opposition, my last 10 opponents, I've been fighting guys that have 80 to 90% winning records. And I may not deserve this title shot, say maybe the rankings per se, but as far as me being a formidable fighter, and I've proven myself against different opposition, that would prove that I actually do have a chance against Vernon Forrest and I respect him as a champion and as a hell of a fighter. He's human, obviously. And he makes mistakes just like everyone else. I'm just going to try to do my job and try to capitalize on those mistakes. And he's going to try to do the same. Whoever has the most success is going to win the fight. Q. Do you see any specific weaknesses that he's exhibited in his last couple of fights since he's been fighting regularly again? SERGIO MORA: We all have weaknesses, whether we choose to exploit them verbally or during the fight, if I would choose. I know I'm going to choose to do it on June 7th. Q. Vernon, I know you've had that big surgery a couple of years ago. It seems like in your last couple of fights you've been gradually improving. Even the fight against Coutour, I thought you looked a bit rusty from some of your previous fights. Looked a lot better the last two definitely. Is that shoulder or arm giving you any issues during those fights or during training? VERNON FORREST: What I've done, before I'll go to camp, I have short camps. So it's like you've got to get your body in shape to get in shape; then you've got to get into boxing shape and sparring shape and fight shape. So it was more or less a rush job. This time, from since I came back from my injury, what I've been doing, I've been taking my time when I go to camp and making sure I'm physically in shape. Then I'm in boxing shape, sparring shape, fight shape. When I take my time, condition my body and my mind right, then I don't have any problems. Coutour was more of a rush champ. I didn't have the kind of camp I wanted to. But after that I've had great camps. When I have a great camp, I have a great performance. I had a great camp this time so you'll see a great performance. Q. You're 37 now, you took two years off. Did you -- VERNON FORREST: I was still training. See people, here's the misconception. People thought I was sitting watching football or eating potato chips. No, no, I was training. I just couldn't fight. I had to pull out a couple of fights during that time because my body just wouldn't allow me to fight. I was still training. I never took two years off. I just couldn't fight for two years because I was still trying -- my body wouldn't allow me to get in there and compete at a level that I wanted to. So I had to pull out a couple of fights. Q. Carlos, can you talk about your fight with Paul Williams? Paul is having some success earlier on, but it seemed like Carlos made some adjustments to come on strong at the end. So my question is: What kind of adjustments did Carlos make and what did he see in Paul that made him do so? CARLOS QUINTANA: In the last fight, I had a good defense and this fight I'm going to keep up that defense. I'm going to come and see what else, whatever new tactics he brings and I'll be able to adjust to them. Q. Paul, I think it's fair to say that probably most people did not expect you to fight at this weight again. Probably figured you'd move up. I'm wondering how difficult it was for you to make 147, and was there a possibility that you were going to move up? How much thought did you give to that? PAUL WILLIAMS: I gave a little thought to it but not that much. But the weight's no problem-- it's not tough for me to make it. Q. Did the weight sap your energy at all? You're a tall guy. 147 is tough to make for you, but you're saying it's not that hard? PAUL WILLIAMS: Just didn't get in my rhythm last time. Q. Just didn't get in your rhythm? PAUL WILLIAMS: Yeah. Q. Dan, did you have discussions with him on the weight and would he go up and would he stay there, what's your thoughts on his weight? DAN GOOSSEN: We discussed it with George and with Al, that's Al Heyman, and the bottom line was that it was going to be left up entirely to Paul and to George because they're the ones that have to deal with it every day. And we certainly gave them every opportunity to say it was a problem and that we should move up. But they insisted it wasn't the weight. And based upon that you move forward. And Paul kind of hit it best, he said it after the fight, he just never got in rhythm. It was a Paul Williams that none of us had seen before, expected to see that night. And come next week he's got to go out there and show that that's exactly why he lost and his actions next Saturday will dictate where everything is if the weight was good, bad or if it was a rhythm problem, it was just a Quintana problem. Q. Any of the guys on the line, with Pavlik fighting Lockett that night, and HBO having a doubleheader, state your case now for any of the viewers out there why people, if they don't have a Tivo, should watch your broadcast and not HBO's? VERNON FORREST: Because it's the best fight of the night. You got myself, a world champion. You've got Sergio Mora. By winning "The Contender", he has millions of fans that's following him, have been following his career. You have Carlos Quintana and Paul Williams, it's a rematch. Any time a guy beats you, the first thing you want to do is get that win back. So you're talking about a major upset in boxing. And Paul wants to get his revenge and Quintana said it was his win. You've got four of the best fighters in the world fighting that night. Q. Paul, you say you can't get into the rhythm. Have you been able to figure out why you couldn't get into a rhythm? Do you think you took this guy lightly or maybe overtrained? Do you have any explanation for why you couldn't get into a rhythm in that first fight? PAUL WILLIAMS: That's the thing about it. I just couldn't get my rhythm. VERNON FORREST: Paul, sometimes you have a bad night. Sometimes Mickey Mantle had a bad night. Sometimes guys just have a bad night. That's just the way it goes. Q. Was there any point during that fight where you were thinking to yourself: I'm having a bad night here, I gotta do something? Or did it just happen? PAUL WILLIAMS: I thought about it in the first round. I couldn't get in my rhythm. He knows it too; you have to work through it. Q. When you say you couldn't get in your rhythm, what did it prevent you from doing? PAUL WILLIAMS: Everything, how I normally fight. I don't know. I just couldn't get in rhythm. Q. In other words, you couldn't fight the way you did against Margarito and everyone else? PAUL WILLIAMS: Yeah, I wasn't in my rhythm. This time, I just don't know what it was. I couldn't do it like I could before. Q. Mr. Williams, in the past you trained in Puerto Rico. You fight at the Perez. This time you have trained with great secrecy. Why so much secrecy? Why the different strategy? PAUL WILLIAMS: Ask my manager, Mr. Peterson. You have to talk to him about why we didn't go to Puerto Rico. He said this is where we're going to train. I follow suit. LOU DiBELLA: You go back to basics. And you go back to the dingy gyms and that privacy to get that head together, that's exactly why George and Paul aren't in Puerto Rico right now. Serious business. Q. Paul, you mentioned that you had trouble getting into rhythm in the first fight you had with Carlos. Could you tell us how you adjusted your training, or is there anything you've done differently in this to prepare for this fight so that doesn't happen again? PAUL WILLIAMS: You'll see it on the 7th. When I get into the ring, you'll see the difference. Q. Lou, let me ask you, since Carlos apparently isn't there or on the line. Can you tell us what you see could be different in this fight? They've both seen each other for 12 rounds. The upset has taken place, and so obviously Paul overlooked Carlos. That's not going to be a factor this time. How do you see this fight going compared to the first time? LOU DiBELLA: Whenever you have a good fighter like Paul Williams, he's going to make some adjustments and he's going to be a better fighter. I think you're also going to have a very confident champion in Carlos who beat Paul the first time, who feels like he knows him even better and he's going to be able to be a better fighter. And I expect it to be a sensational fight. I'm interested as a fan, honestly, whether the weight is going to be an issue for the former champion, because it was certainly an issue last time. I want to see if Paul feels comfortable at 147 still. If he is comfortable at 147, it's going to be a great, great fight. I can't wait for it. If he's not comfortable at 147, he'll have a real problem. Q. Paul, have you had a chance to look at the tape of that first fight that you had with Carlos? And, if so, have you picked out specific weaknesses that you can take advantage of this time that you weren't able to do in the first fight? PAUL WILLIAMS: Yeah, I saw a lot of weakness, but I'm not going to share them with nobody. Watch on the 7th. Q. Do you want to make a prediction for the fight? PAUL WILLIAMS: I'm getting my belt back, that's one. Q. Lou, first, immediately after the original fight -- and you didn't say this out of disrespect. I know you said it more out of concern -- you said Paul Williams should never fight at 147 pounds again. Yet, here we are. With that statement, are you feeling the same result is going to happen? LOU DiBELLA: First of all, I'm not Paul, his trainer manager or promoter, so what I think doesn't matter for shit when it comes to Paul. That's the truth. Look, whenever I see a guy who is as tall as Paul and has as much reach as Paul, he's struggling to make weight, it's an issue. I was really surprised with a champion of Quintana's quality that Paul would want the rematch. But I promoted Jermaine Taylor. And he was having a problem making weight. He could have taken an easier route and used weight as a reason not to take the rematch. He insisted on fighting Pavlik. It doesn't shock me that the champion wants to get right back to the guy that beat him. Doesn't surprise me. Do I think the result is going to be the same, yes, I do. Q. I'll stay with you, Lou. I think a lot of people still are underestimating Carlos even through this, and I saw Carlos and a lot of people did back when they beat Julio. That kid is a slick fighter, and I think he's going to pose the same type of problem again in this fight. LOU DiBELLA: People discount Carlos' credentials because of one loss to Miguel Cotto. And a lot of terrific fighters have been knocked out by him. That night doesn't reflect his career. He's a very tough guy. Very cagey guy, skilled boxer and he's rough. As Paul saw from the first fight, Carlos is not just a stylus in the ring. He's a guy that will fight you in the ring, but is also a boxer. He's a tough fight for anybody. And Paul's going to discover again that it's a tough fight. But I know Paul is not underestimating him. And I know Paul is ready for a tough fight. I just think that Carlos might have his number and I expect the same kind of fight. DAN GOOSSEN: Today, Carlos fighting Miguel Cotto would be a completely different fight. He's learned a lot from that loss just like any good champion does. I have to disagree with you on one thing. We'll see the real Paul Williams on June 7th, which is going to translate into a victory. Q. Paul, Carlos brought this fight to you immediately. I don't know if that caught you by surprise in the first fight or not. But I'm pretty much expecting him to do the same thing. Are you prepared for the kind of pace that Carlos is obviously going to set that worked the first time? PAUL WILLIAMS: Whatever. I'm going to prepare for whatever I have to prepare for, sir. Q. Vernon, you sound like you're ready, you're eager, you're obviously always willing to go. You sound like you've got a little bit of anxst there when -- you wanted to make sure you weren't being compared to any of the other fighters mentioned there. Tell me about that. VERNON FORREST: When you talk about Gomez and Gotti, Gotti and Andy Lee is overrated. So you try to compare -- you put me right in the middle of those two guys, I'm nowhere on that level. So when you're talking about fighting a guy with my skill level, whole different ball game. JEFF WALD: Vernon, we weren't comparing you on that level. What I was saying, it's real easy saying the guy is going over the hill. Going to that fight, he was an 8-to-10 favorite. That's number one. Number two, Mora is not that little. He won "The Contender," he beat those guys. VERNON FORREST: Let me throw something out. JEFF WALD: Let me finish. VERNON FORREST: The only real fighter you had on "The Contender" show was the little guy, Stevie Ford. That's the only real guy you had on your show. He damn near won the show. So that little boys club that you all, I'm going to call you The Pretenders, not The Contenders. Now, your main pretender I'm going to beat the dog shit out of him come June 7th. I want you to know that. So don't compare me with no Gotti or no Andy Lee. Don't even put my name in the same breath with Andy Lee or Gotti. Q. Sergio, obviously everybody who has stepped up to the world championship level from The Contenders has not met the mark. You have a big challenge ahead of you, you hear what you've got in front of you, do you think you'll be the first contender who can actually step out of that pretender role? SERGIO MORA: Gomez and Manfredo, they took the fight for the wrong reasons. One took it for the money and the other for celebrity status to say he fought on that caliber. I could have both by accepting the Jermaine Taylor fight earlier this year. Could have had a nice payday and a big fight for me. I thought I wasn't going to win Memphis, so I didn't take that fight. I feel that this my time now. I'm ready and prepared and I'm hitting my peak, my physique, the way I'm taking camp and life. And I'm ready. I'm 27. I'm ready, in my prime. So I have nothing but respect for my opponent. I can see by what he's saying he has no respect for me, which is cool. That's fine. But when it comes down to it, I can say all I want. I still have to do what I'm going to do. Whether I'm real or not, a contender or pretender, whatever I'll have to prove it June 7th, regardless what I say. Don't make a mistake of comparing me to -- VERNON FORREST: What I want you to do on June 7th, I just want you to come and fight. Come and fight and I promise you they're going to take out on a stretcher. If you do all that running shit you normally do, then it will be a boring fight. I win by unanimous decision. You come to fight, they'll take you out on a stretcher. I guarantee that. SERGIO MORA: My man, listen, there's no way I'm going to make it a boring fight. So I don't come to run, I come to fight. VERNON FORREST: Come to fight and they'll take you out on a stretcher. You come to fight, if you come to fight, you step like a proud Mexican warrior, you step in the fight come to fight I'm knocking your mother $$!!## off. SERGIO MORA: I don't wish anyone stretchers. JEFF WALD: Vernon, you don't know me, but you fought in Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Center there. I went out of my way to work behind the scenes on that fight with Isaiah Thomas and Danny Walsh and told them to invite the people that you handle down in Atlanta from that home that you support. I've been a big fan of yours as a human being for what you've given down there with your fiance. VERNON FORREST: We're not talking stories. Right now we're talking business. We're talking business. I didn't ask you -- JEFF WALD: You've been very disrespectful. VERNON FORREST: I don't know you either. Right now we're talking about a fight. This is not a buddy system. We ain't friends, so make your point but don't bring all the other stuff in there. If you've got a point, make it relevant to what we do. JEFF WALD: My point is this is a sport and a business, and there's no reason for you to act like that. So I'm surprised. This is the first press conference we've had with any of the fights we've had where the other side has acted like that. That's all. You can be a little respectful. VERNON FORREST: You ain't fighting. You need to get off the line. I got to fight him. You ain't doing nothing but sitting back and watching. Get off the line and let me talk to your fighter. The middleman has something to say. You sit back and shut up and enjoy the conversation. Q. Vernon, how would you describe Sergio Mora's style and have you fought anybody with that similar style? VERNON FORREST: Garbage. I describe it as garbage. Me and him sparred before in LA. He was the first guy that got in the ring after my surgery. I beat him up with one arm. I was lighting him up. As a matter of fact, I was laughing. Ask his trainer. He was sparring and I was laughing. His trainer asked me: Why are you laughing? I can't believe they're getting ready to pay this guy a million dollars to fight. I had to beat King Kong to make that kind of money. So for them, I'm like I can't believe they're getting ready to pay this guy a million dollars. Garbage. That's what I think about it. SERGIO MORA: I don't remember you laughing about it. VERNON FORREST: Ask your trainer. You'll see. He was there. Q. George, if you get past Carlos Quintana on the 7th, any name from the welterweight division you would like to be coming up against after that fight? Peterson: We haven't thought about anything but about the fight on the 7th. Our primary concern is the 7th of next month. Q. Sergio, after hearing the disdain Vernon has for you, does that fire you up and is this fight personal now and are you more motivated than ever? SERGIO MORA: No, man that doesn't motivate me. What motivates me is other stuff. Man, I'm getting entertained by this. Listen, I can see what I will do and what I won't do, vice versa. The bottom line, he's the champion. He's proven himself. And I'm a guy who is fighting for the championship and I need to prove myself. That's the basic story line. It doesn't get too exciting. That's it. So, yeah, I expected to be the underdog. I am the underdog, obviously. And I mean as far as his insults go, well I can't do nothing about that. That's what he says. I'm not a pretender. I know that. I know I'm a damn good fighter, I know that, and I know I've got pride enough to not embarrass myself or embarrass my promotional company. Bottom line, I'm coming to fight and that's it. I'm ready for this. Q. Vernon, seems like you have more fire for this fight than you've had in a long time. What is it that's changed for this fight? VERNON FORREST: I'm setting my legacy. Every fight is personal to me right now. From this point on in my career every fight is personal. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Those days are over. Nice guys always finish last. So people are saying, well, you know, you've changed since you've had the surgery. I haven't changed. What I'm doing is, in order for me to go where I want to go, make it, there are certain things I have to do that some other people might not agree with. But so be it. But this is my career and these are the things I choose to do. It's what it is. Q. George, I'm so happy you climbed on the line because there were some questions that were deferred over to you. People were asking Paul about not going down to Puerto Rico and the reasons for the change and the camp and why the camp has been a little bit, I think the word used was "secretive." I would like to ask you, if you don't mind, why the big change? GEORGE PETERSON: It's not that the camp was secretive. We just focus on what we're doing and what we're doing we have to fight on June the 7th and we're focusing on that fight. So it's not secretive. We're right here in Washington D.C. If you can remember, Washington D.C. just several years ago had world champions in Washington D.C. This is a boxing mecca here. I'm from Washington D.C. and we're training here. We started here. Q. Was it a misconception of you training in Puerto Rico this time and it's just a matter of circumstances why you -- GEORGE PETERSON: It was so convenient, it's our backyard. So we just decided, hey, let's go back where we came from. Q. George, Paul said that he could tell by the first round that something was different. He couldn't find his rhythm. Was it evident to you that early on that Paul wasn't Paul? GEORGE PETERSON: It happens. I'm relocated to the Augusta, Georgia area. I've seen Tiger Woods down there. I know you've noticed it a number of times. It's not every time that he is on point. It was just a night when this young man wasn't on point. I know you being involved in athletics, there are times when you see -- Michael Jordan, you take any of your top athletes, there's times when they're off. I can't understand why they continue to dwell on this young man having a bad night. MODERATOR: We're going to go to closing comments. Let's start with Paul, Carlos, Sergio and Vernon. Paul, final thoughts and closing comments on your fight. The big rematch against Carlos Quintana and the opening bout June 7th Saturday night on SHOWTIME. GEORGE PETERSON: This is George. We'll be present that night and Paul will put out one of the best performances like he's done so many times before. SERGIO MORA: Yeah, I'm glad to be fighting on SHOWTIME. I'm ready to get some press. I hope everybody attends and thank SHOWTIME, and for the promoters, whether I fought on your card before or not, I want to take home a title. And I'm looking to be the best possible fighter I can be and prove a lot of people wrong. That's it. God bless. VERNON FORREST: Great night of boxing come June 7th with the better boxing, Gary Shaw Boxing and Goossen Tutor Promotions, it's going to be, along with Fight Night Promotions, great night of boxing. Look forward to putting on a great performance. My last performance was pretty good, in my opinion. But I think this performance is going to be spectacular. And I'm looking forward to continuing to put on great shows in the future with SHOWTIME and Fight Night Promotions. LOU DiBELLA: Just come out to see the show live because it's tremendous, tremendous boxing show. And if you can't watch it on SHOWTIME I really think you're going to have a good night of entertainment. I expect my champion, Carlos Quintana, to defend his title successfully. DAN GOOSSEN: The last thing I want to comment on, I understand the juices are flowing through Vernon as a fighter and as a promoter now. And you did a great job on this call. Bottom line, I'm anxious to see Paul Williams get out there June 7th. As we know there have been a lot of great champions throughout our history starting with Sugar Ray Leonard that lost their, had their first loss in a championship title defense and have come back and reclaimed their titles. There have been some that have tried to get that title back and were unsuccessful against the man that took it. I believe Paul Williams is going to be successful. George did the right thing on getting him out to the roots where I believe that we're going to see the difference on June 7th. JEFF WALD: I think I'm interested to see what happens in the ring. First of all, as a fan it's the going to be a great night of boxing. I know what Sergio is capable of and what he can do. I've been enjoyed watching Forrest, contrary to whatever you heard here, and I can't wait to see Quintana and Williams again. I think that will be a great fight. End of FastScripts |
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