12-11-2015, 04:25 PM
Arreola-Kaufmann heats up at PBC presser
As fight night nears, the fighters competing on Saturday’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC and NBCSN cards held a final press conference Thursday in San Antonio before their respective showdowns at the AT&T Center. The main event pits undefeated star Omar “Panterita” Figueroa takes on former world champion Antonio DeMarco. As expected, the fight between heavyweights Charles Martin and Dominic Breazeale is off after Martin pulled out to fight Czar Glazkov for the vacant IBF title. Televised coverage begins with heavyweights Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola and Travis “My Time” Kauffman, who had a heated exchange when they faced-off Thursday.
Chris Arreola: “I’ve made all of my opportunities and earned them. I’ve made every fight worth my while. Nothing was given to me. Kauffman and I have sparred many times. For him it’s been a paid vacation. I’ve been lazy sometimes and Kauffman knows that. He didn’t have to really work against me. Let’s look at who Kauffman has fought, he’s fought a bunch of nobodies. He’s taken care of those guys, but I wouldn’t even use them for sparring
“I was terrible my last two fights. None of those fights woke me up. I didn’t train hard enough and I blame myself. It showed in my performance. The fact that Kauffman wanted to fight me makes sense. He thinks I’m done and that I party too much. After this Saturday, I’m going to party after I beat him down. This is not a cakewalk, I trained so hard because I know Kauffman is a great fighter. He is not going to make a name with me. I’m the Grinch, I’m going to steal his Christmas.”
Travis Kauffman: “I want to thank everyone for this opportunity. Chris and I go way back. At least 10 years. We were in camp with Hasim Rahman and we are personal friends, but come Saturday night it’s business, there are no friends. Chris has had many opportunities and knocked at the door. But he hasn’t taken advantage of it. This is a huge opportunity and I’m going to take advantage.
“This isn’t an easy test. Chris will not quit. I have to do what no one else has done, and make him quit. We’ve sparred 200 plus rounds, but sparring and fighting are two different things. I’m a different fighter then when we sparred. There are no friends on Saturday. I’m taking care of business. This is my time. I want everyone to watch me get known in this business.”
Also in attendance and participating on the NBCSN portion of the telecast were former world champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz, San Antonio-prospect Mario Barrios and Omar Figueroa’s brother Brandon Figueroa.
As fight night nears, the fighters competing on Saturday’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC and NBCSN cards held a final press conference Thursday in San Antonio before their respective showdowns at the AT&T Center. The main event pits undefeated star Omar “Panterita” Figueroa takes on former world champion Antonio DeMarco. As expected, the fight between heavyweights Charles Martin and Dominic Breazeale is off after Martin pulled out to fight Czar Glazkov for the vacant IBF title. Televised coverage begins with heavyweights Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola and Travis “My Time” Kauffman, who had a heated exchange when they faced-off Thursday.
Chris Arreola: “I’ve made all of my opportunities and earned them. I’ve made every fight worth my while. Nothing was given to me. Kauffman and I have sparred many times. For him it’s been a paid vacation. I’ve been lazy sometimes and Kauffman knows that. He didn’t have to really work against me. Let’s look at who Kauffman has fought, he’s fought a bunch of nobodies. He’s taken care of those guys, but I wouldn’t even use them for sparring
“I was terrible my last two fights. None of those fights woke me up. I didn’t train hard enough and I blame myself. It showed in my performance. The fact that Kauffman wanted to fight me makes sense. He thinks I’m done and that I party too much. After this Saturday, I’m going to party after I beat him down. This is not a cakewalk, I trained so hard because I know Kauffman is a great fighter. He is not going to make a name with me. I’m the Grinch, I’m going to steal his Christmas.”
Travis Kauffman: “I want to thank everyone for this opportunity. Chris and I go way back. At least 10 years. We were in camp with Hasim Rahman and we are personal friends, but come Saturday night it’s business, there are no friends. Chris has had many opportunities and knocked at the door. But he hasn’t taken advantage of it. This is a huge opportunity and I’m going to take advantage.
“This isn’t an easy test. Chris will not quit. I have to do what no one else has done, and make him quit. We’ve sparred 200 plus rounds, but sparring and fighting are two different things. I’m a different fighter then when we sparred. There are no friends on Saturday. I’m taking care of business. This is my time. I want everyone to watch me get known in this business.”
Also in attendance and participating on the NBCSN portion of the telecast were former world champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz, San Antonio-prospect Mario Barrios and Omar Figueroa’s brother Brandon Figueroa.