AGUASCALIENTES, MÉXICO (May 7, 2010), — The warriors who will be featured in Saturday’s Latin Fury 14 championship extravaganza had their final say at today’s Official Weigh-in.
Latin Fury 14 will feature the return of the Tijuana Tornado, three-time world welterweight champion ANTONIO MARGARITO, who is ending his 16-month ring hiatus with his 2010 debut, against Texas toughman ROBERTO “La Amenaza” GARCIA, who is riding a five-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zanfer Promotions and Tecate, the four-bout Latin Fury 14 will be broadcast Live on Pay-Per-View, Tomorrow! Saturday, May 8, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, from Aguascalientes, México, which is celebrating the San Marcos Fair. Top Rank’s TRLiveStream will air the non-televised undercard bouts, free to fans, at www.TopRank.com/TRLiveStream, beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.
ANTONIO MARGARITO (154 Lbs) — “I am so glad to get back into the ring. I really missed the crowds and all of the fans — but I always kept training. I never left the ring. I feel strong and I am ready. During the last year I have always been in the ring working on my timing and keeping sharp. I expect Garcia to charge right at me on Saturday night. That is something I will deal with in the ring.”
ROBERTO GARCIA (153 Lbs) — “My preparation was just not hard, but smart. This has been my best-ever training camp. My claws are sharpened. Working with Freddie Roach also means a lot of film study. Freddie knows everything there is about Margarito.
I am not the same fighter I was two years ago. I’m a world champion in waiting. And one thing is for sure – Margarito is going to have trouble hitting a moving target.”
ROBERT GARCIA, Margarito’s Trainer –“Our whole training camp went so well. To see Antonio train so hard — it helps our other fighters, seeing how hard he works and what it takes to fight on a high level. We worked on Antonio’s stance, his head movement, little things. He’s keeping his hands up better. He’s a great listener when we are in the ring training. Antonio is in tremendous shape – he could have made 147 for this fight. We had great sparring and we are prepared for whatever Garcia throws at us.”
JORGE SOLIS (130 Lbs) –“I feel great at this weight, at super featherweight. Méxican fighters are complete fighters – skilled and with a lot of courage. I know Mario Santiago is fast with quick hands. But he is a Puerto Rican fighter and we will find a weakness when we are in the ring Saturday night.”
MARIO SANTIAGO (130 Lbs) — “I am facing a tough, experienced, strong fighter in Solis and I am coming into his backyard. This is my first time in México and I know I must be more aggressive. Solis has an excellent right hand, a good left and is smart. I learned my lesson in the Concepcion fight and should have been more aggressive in the early rounds against him. I will not make that mistake twice. This fight against Solis will clear everything for me.”
URBANO ANTILLON (135 Lbs) — “I had my best training camp while training in Big Bear for two months. Rios is hurt and out of this event, but now I have an even bigger fight – a WBA Lightweight Title Elimination Fight. I’m going to shoot the works against Rene Gonzalez.”
RENE GONZALEZ (135 LBS) — “I was originally scheduled to fight elsewhere in México on May 14 so I was already in fighting trim when we got the call last Friday to fight Antillon. He is a strong fighter and this should be an interesting fight. I plan to move around and look for openings – the same way Miguel Acosta beat Antillon. I have studied that video. I’m going to pick him apart.”
The Latin Fury 14 pay-per-view will feature the broadcast team of Al Bernstein, Alan Massengale, and former world junior middleweight champion Raul Marquez. The production will be produced and directed by Rick Seara.
The pay-per-view undercard will feature World Boxing Association (WBA) interim super featherweight champion JORGE SOLIS (38-2-2), of Guadalajara, México, defending his title against top-10 contender and one-time world title challenger MARIO SANTIAGO (21-2-1, 14 KOs), of Ponce, Puerto Rico; top-five contenders URBANO ANTILLON (27-1, 20 KOs), of Maywood, Calif., and RENE “Super Chiroz” GONZALEZ (27-1-1, 21 KOs), of Managua, Nicaragua, battle it out in a WBA lightweight world title elimination bout.
Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs), of Tijuana, México, captured his first world title in 2002, winning the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title with a tenth-round TKO of Antonio Diaz. He reigned as WBO champion for five years, successfully defending his title seven times – five by knockout – including victories over world champions Kermit Cintron, Andrew Lewis and Joshua Clottey. After losing the title to Paul Williams in 2007, Margarito dethroned International (IBF) welterweight champion Cintron in a rematch, knocking him out in their 2008 fight. Margarito claimed his third welterweight title when he stopped undefeated WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in the eleventh round of their July 2008 battle, arguably the fight of the year.
Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs), a native of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, México who fights out of McAllen, Texas, enters this fight riding a five-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak. Garcia possesses impressive power in both fists, where 75% of his victories have come by way of knockout and many of those stoppages produced by devastating body shots. During his impressive streak, Garcia has captured the Caribbean Boxing Federation interim welterweight title and the Texas welterweight title.
Aguascalientes organizes the largest festival held in Mexico, the San Marcos Fair, which takes place from the middle of April to the beginning of May. The celebration was held originally in the San Marcos church neighborhood, and its magnificent neoclassical garden; since then, it has greatly expanded to cover a huge area of exposition spaces, bullrings, nightclubs, theaters, performance stages, theme park, hotels, convention centers, and other attractions. It attracts almost 7 million visitors to Aguascalientes every year.
The suggested price for the Latin Fury 14 pay-per-view is $39.95.
