The fights will air live on VERSUS this Saturday, May 24 at 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT
Ricky Hatton vs. Juan Lazcano
Paulie Malignaggi vs. Lovemore N’dou
Moderator: David Itskowitch
May 15, 2008
11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET
David Itskowitch: Thank you very much. Thank you everybody for joining us today. We’re here to discuss the Ricky Hatton vs. Juan Lazcano fight which will be on May 24 from Manchester and will be televised here in the United States live on VERSUS at 3:30 pm Eastern and 12:30 pm Pacific Time.
We’ve got Ricky on the call, we will have Juan Lazcano on the call, Richard Schaefer and Marc Fein and I’d like to turn the call over now to Richard Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Boy Promotions.
Richard Schaefer: Thank you, David. Welcome everybody to an exciting week next week from Manchester, England. It’s going to be a tremendous showdown between the most exciting fighter in the sport, Ricky Hatton who we all know is always fighting his very best and he will do so again May 24. He will only do so but he needs to do so because Juan Lazcano, the fearless warrior here from the United States has made a name and reputation to always come to fight. It’s going to be an exciting battle. I saw Juan Lazcano a few weeks ago down in Houston where he is training with trainer Ronnie Shields. He is in an unbelievable shape and he really is coming to win.
So it’s going to be an amazing night of boxing, 55,000 people, Manchester City Soccer stadium. Tickets, Ricky really wants to see tickets to be available to his fight fans. This is a big thank you from Ricky to all the fight fans in the UK with ticket prices starting at 35 pounds. This fight is really a historic event.
Talking about an historic event, it is as well the first time that Golden Boy Promotions and VERSUS are working together here in the United States and we hope that it will be the first of many events we will do together. VERSUS over the last few years has really established itself as well as a network for fight fans, for boxing, for sports fans, and we hope that we will be able to bring many more exciting fights of this magnitude to VERSUS.
As David mentioned, the fight will be shown live here at 3:30 pm Eastern Time, 12:30 Pacific and it is a pleasure for me now to introduce to you the Executive Vice President of Programming And Production And Business Operations, Marc Fein from VERSUS.
Marc Fein: I think it’s been everything I was going to say and I know you guys all want to speak more to Ricky than myself so I’ll be brief. But as Richard said, we’re really excited to be partnering with Golden Boy on this event. Obviously, Ricky Hatton being one of the, biggest most recognizable names in the sport of boxing for us to start a partnership with Golden Boy at this level is very exciting to watch and really will help continue to build our boxing franchise which as Richard mentioned is still its infancy at only two years old but we think we’ve established ourselves in the sport pretty good and boxing really does fit the VERSUS brand more so than a lot of, you know, other sports when you dig down deep because it’s real, it’s raw, it’s hard hitting and had such a passion on fan basis as we can see with 55,000 people coming out to see, you know, Ricky in England. So I’m really excited about it. Nick Charles and (Wally Matthews) are great expert commentators will be calling the fight and the fight will also be available in High Def on the VERSUS HD network as well so we’re excited about that.
And overall, again, just really excited to have this fight May 24 at 3:30 pm Eastern Time live and Ricky I’m happy to have you on the network.
Richard Schaefer: This fight is promoted by Frank Maloney in association with Punch Promotions as well as Golden Boy. I really want to congratulate Ricky and his staff, Ray as well for establishing Punch Promotions. It is basically a pattern which they’re following similar like what we have done here with Golden Boy in the United States to empower fighters in the UK and it is really the first big event they are doing in the UK so congratulations to the Hattons for taking a step to become a promoter in boxing as well.
Having said that, it’s really is a pleasure for me to introduce this man, it’s an honor for me, he is the current IBO and Ring Magazine World Junior Welterweight Title, both of these belts will be on the line. He is known as the Hitman, he is fierce, he is really one of the most exciting fighters, period, and he is coming off, a tremendous in Las Vegas last year against Floyd Mayweather. He really has gained exposure in fans here with the gutsy performance against Floyd and he really is a fan favorite from everywhere around the world. The fans are following him and are behind him more than ever and that of course it’s Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton.
Ricky Hatton: Thank you, Richard. It’s great to be back in action. For me, let’s just say everybody knows – obviously, it’s not my last fight and the first defeat of my career and the knockout defeat so it’s very, very important that I bounce back strong. It’s an absolute dream come true being a big Manchester City football fan to get my dream to fight at the home ground of my halos really in many ways.
So, you know, to amaze me as the – for fan base and the support but I tend to get, I mean, 35,000 Brits went over to Las Vegas to watch my fight against Floyd and that has doubled any number, doubled any number of fans that have previously gone over to support a British fight which I think some of the great British fights or battle over the years but to hold that battle so to speak is fantastic and again it turned out for the fight was Juan Lazcano 55,000 against 45,000 fans. Tickets were sold in four hours and to say, it’s incredible. I did lose against Floyd Mayweather but that was fine, the best pound for pound fight of the year and that was to move my weight division. I have been a junior welt so I attempt to fight versus the age of 70 and I think previously when I moved up so Welterweight against Collazo, we went to win the world title. So it was a struggle for me to go the case with Floyd and I think it just emphasized, you know, that I am a Junior Welterweight and that’s the title that’s for me.
My own defeat for the Welterweight Title but the fight that I didn’t lose to is the best fighter, the best 140-pound fight in the world and that’s what goes on the line well, the universally recognized Number 1 spot and a very worthy opponent Juan Lazcano. He’s one of the Top 10 now I have to say for many years, Juan has been in the Top 10 rank as the world champion. He left two defeats and have been the both the world champion for Castillo when Castillo was the Number 1 lightweight in the world and now.
So it’s very, very important when you’ve got 55,000 fans sitting up to support you the right opponent comes in and Lazcano is my kind of fighter. He is a good all around he can do pretty job than in the boxing ring but like Ricky Hatton really, really would like to give a backward step, and I say last fight when people 55,000 people wanting to come in watching boxing and they certainly got the right man in the ring for that.
So it should be a fantastic occasion, a fantastic atmosphere, I mean 55,000 fans, I’m going to make a hell of a rocket for 55,000 Ricky Hatton fans to say it will be a rocket will be an understatement and yeah, it’s my home career fight and it’s one – one of my way saying thank you to all the fans who come in over and support in my fight against Floyd Mayweather and these are the fans that have been over my last four fights I have been in the United States and not everybody in England can afford to go to the United States every time. So my way of saying thank you for all the years of support in many ways that you’ve given me and, you know, we’re going on about the number of people that have come in and, you know, an atmosphere will be, what an occasion will be.
It will only be a sensational night if Ricky Hatton gets the right result and the right performance and my training camp have gone absolutely second to none sparring partners who come in that’s been exceptional and my have got one more group and workout to my own may really have been we do the last week. We wind down our training, but to me, always the hardest training session of the training camp so I want some get that out the way. Let me just conserve energy and just count in the hours down there. I’m very excited fantastic to be involved with Frank Maloney has done a great job of putting the show together my same of Punch Promotions and also the fantastic such a continue relationship with Richard Schaefer, Oscar De La Hoya, and the Golden Boy team.
This is the move I want to make and well, in the coming but more for the future, you know, when I’m going down the road of being a promoter and it’s great of the association with Golden Boy because I think they’ve asked promotions, they have showed me and my team the professional way which in this case should be one and that’s the way that they’ve addressed over in the United States and I would like to back on board on the relationship in which would have we’ve been and I’m proud to have the association with Golden Boy and Rocky Marciano up become a great fighter because of the way they bounce back from defeat, I don’t think they would be on the all time great fighters.
So that’s the decision Ricky Hatton finds himself in. He is training very hard and if anyone knew I’ll have a trained but no, I’m not taking Juan Lazcano lightly, that’s all.
And Juan Lazcano is my type of fighter and we’re going to fight one hell of a battle and in true, Ricky Hatton’s style, nobody will be falling asleep as to the usual.
So this fight I was looking forward to it. Thank you very much.
QUESTIONS:
Dan Rafael:
ESPN Ricky, I was reading some things in the British press that you have been a little ill to the weather in the last couple of days with the chest cold or something like that — can you speak about your physical condition right now?
Ricky Hatton: Yeah. It wasn’t in the last couple of days. In fact, it’s a couple of weeks ago, probably about a week and a half to two weeks ago. I’ve got a little bit of a chest infection not – I was very chesty, coughing a lot and that so – I actually had a couple of days as far as my training goes. But I think it’s difficult and the media and made it look a lot worst and bigger than it I actually was really. I think there’s nothing really to worry about just like with any illness or any injury or any, you just got to work around the problem at the time. It was a few weeks ago and