CRISTIAN MIJARES AND VIC DARCHINYAN
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
MONDAY, OCT. 13, 2008
El Paseo Inn Restaurant, Los Angeles
History will be made on Saturday, Nov. 1, when World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight world champion Cristian Mijares climbs into the ring to face International Boxing Federation (IBF) world champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan at the The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Mijares and Darchinyan are fighting in the very first 115-pound World Championship Unification.
The historic showdown is being co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment, KO Entertainment and Gary Shaw Productions and will air live on SHOWTIME beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) with a 12-round super middleweight (168 pounds) special attraction – Andre Dirrell vs. Victor Oganov.
Tickets are on sale and are priced starting at $25 to $250 for ringside. Tickets may be purchased at The Home Depot Center Box Office, open 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster retail ticket locations, as well as www.Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster-Charge-by-Phone, by calling 213-480-3232.
CRISTIAN MIJARES
“Darchinyan is talking too much because he’s scared of me. Jorge Arce talked a lot of trash too and I shut him up. I’ll do the same with Darchinyan.
“Everyone knows I’m the smarter fighter. I learn new things all the time. From what I’ve seen, Darchinyan doesn’t grow from fight to fight. What you see is what you get. He’s predictable.
“Some people are saying that this fight could turn into an epic series like the Vazquez-Marquez trilogy. Those fights were extremely close. I don’t see my fight with Darchinyan being close. I expect to win by a comfortable margin.
“Darchinyan is a champion and you have to respect him for that, but he is vulnerable. Nonito Donaire proved that by knocking him out. Darchinyan says he learned from that fight, but he looks like the same fighter to me.
“Both of us are confident of victory. I think Darchinyan is overconfident. They say they’re going to knock me out. That’s not going to happen. I’m too fast, too slick and too smart for that.
“Fighting in Los Angeles is going to be great for me. I love the L.A. area and I have a big following here. Darchinyan has a nice following too with the Armenian population. I’m sure we’ll have a diverse crowd at The Home Depot Center.”
VIC DARCHINYAN
“I didn’t have to take this fight but I’m so glad I did. I will knock him out, there’s no question about it. I will come not just to win. I will knock him out.”
On fighting in front of a pro-Mexican crowd. “It doesn’t matter where I fight him. I’ll fight him anywhere. I’ll fight him in Mexico. Los Angeles has a big Armenian community and I will have tons of support. After the first round the Mexican crowd will be silent. There will be nothing for them to cheer about. I don’t mind coming in being the bad guy. I know most of the fans will be against me but at the end of the night they will be on my side.
“They said Mijares is pound-for-pound the best fighter out there, but after I get finished with him we’ll see what number he is. I’m going to give a lesson to the little boy.
On his style: “I want to show on Nov. 1 my power. I’m a smart fighter but I will knock him out with my power. I know his weaknesses and they will be exposed.
“After I knock him out I don’t want to hear any excuses that he’s still better than me. When I beat him it’s not going to be because he’s no good but because I’m so much better.”