“The Mecca of Boxing”, Madison Square Garden played host today to the Kick-Off Press Conference for the highly anticipated “MIDDLEWEIGHT MADNESS” showdown between Unified Middleweight World Champion (WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO) GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN (36-0, 33 KO’s) and WBA Middleweight Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS (32-1, 29 KO’s) set for Saturday, March 18 in The World’s Most Famous Arena.
The press conference was held in the arena in front of a massive crowd of media and fans. The championship event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Golovkin and Jacobs have an extraordinary, combined 35 consecutive knockouts heading into this highly anticipated battle.
Presented by K2 Promotions, tickets for “MIDDLEWEIGHT MADNESS” priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com.
NYC PRESS CONFERENCE PART 1
NYC PRESS CONFERENCE PART 2
Below are quotes from the participants:
GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN
“I’m very excited for this fight, I have a great deal of respect for Danny Jacobs. This is the best place for boxing, Madison Square Garden, The Mecca of Boxing. The best channel for boxing, HBO, the best companies, JORDAN Brand and Tecate.”
“Today I understand, this is huge for me, for us, for everybody. I believe Danny is very ready for this fight, because I have four belts, this is a dream for him. It’s very important for us to prove who is #1 in the middleweight division, not for the future but for right now.”
“Thank you very much to everyone and I welcome you all to Madison Square Garden on March 18th. I promise an amazing show, it’s the biggest step for us.”
DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS
“I want to thank so many people who played a part in this, my family, Madison Square Garden for allowing us to have this fight here and HBO along with so many other people who have followed our careers and allow this opportunity to be so big. This is truly one of the biggest fights this year.”
“I’m just excited, I’ve wanted this fight since before the WBA mandated it, I called ‘GGG’ out right after the (second) Sergio Mora fight and right after that the WBA mandated it.”
“For me it’s the perfect opportunity and the perfect time for this to happen. I’m glad it’s finally happening, in my hometown, pretty sure it’s going to be a sold-out crowd.”
“I look forward to seeing everyone and my fists will do the talking inside that ring. At the end of the day it’s about fight night and as a fighter that’s exactly what we do. Much respect to Team Golovkin but we have an amazing plan and we look forward to executing it.”
ABEL SANCHEZ, Trainer of Golovkin
“First of all to Danny, thank you for being a gentleman and a man of character. Three years ago when he won his title, I remember him saying he wasn’t ready for the elite, he needed more 10-12 round fights and then he would be ready for Gennady.”
“Once the fight was ordered Danny started talking like a champion should. These two fighters enter the ring with better than a 90% KO ratio, it’s fair to say that somebody is going out.”
“Andre and I understand the importance and significance of this fight in the middleweight division and we look forward to matching wits. It’s all about getting the two best fighters in the ring to put on a great show for all of us.”
ANDRE ROZIER, Trainer of Jacobs
“We’ve been told that we were running, that we were afraid, that we didn’t want to fight Gennady, I’m here to tell you that is entirely not true. This young man here, Daniel Jacobs, I call him my son. He has fought the hardest fight he could ever have, in life. Everything after that is a walk in the park because he fears no man.”’
“When he gets in the ring on March 18th, he will show all those who didn’t believe what he’s really about. We going to work hard and train hard, I’m a big fan of Gennady, he a class act, a gentleman but on March 18th I don’t’ know who he is, I don’t want to know who he is because my fighter has to inflict punishment and garner a victory. I won’t like him on March 18th, maybe after the fight I will.”
TOM LOEFFLER, Managing Director of K2 Promotions
“Both of these champions here set the stage for the type of promotion this will be. We have a tremendous media turnout here and we’ve had a great response since we officially announced the fight. We can’t thank everyone enough involved for putting this promotion together.”
“This will be the fifth time Gennady has fought at Madison Square Garden and when you have a champion like Danny Jacobs and all the support that he brings and all that he’s accomplished in his career, it’s a fight that sells itself. Both fighters are great ambassadors for the sport. It’s so rare these days to see the best in the division fighting each other and that’s what the fans respond to.”
“We want to acknowledge the set up here in the arena for this press conference and thank Joel Fisher and everyone on his staff at MSG. Fights like this couldn’t be done without our broadcast partner HBO Pay-Per-View led by Peter Nelson and we thank them for their support. We also want to their Tecate for their support on this promotion.”
“The ticket prices start at $100 and there were 5,000 in that price category when we put tickets on sale. We’ve had a tremendous reaction from the fans as far as ticket purchases. The response to ticket sales is well above our last event here in October 2015 which sold out.”
KEITH CONNOLLY, Team Jacobs
“A fight like this with a champion like Gennady and a champion like Danny, a fight like this can really elevate boxing. This is rare, sometimes you see boxers in the same division, circle each other and avoid each other for years and years or wait until one of the guys gets old, we weren’t looking to do that.”
“I think both guys are in their prime and you’ll see the best of both of them come March 18th. I think whoever comes out on this fight on top will be the superstar in the sport.”
“I think on fight night, people are going to be really surprised, not only do I think Danny wins but I think he’s going to be dominant. I think halfway through the second round people at ringside and Gennady himself will realize he’s in there with a totally different animal, I think he bit off more than he could chew this time. I don’t think people are giving Danny enough credit for what he’s accomplished.”
“With 32 victories and 29 knockouts, Danny’s one of the biggest punches in the middleweight division and with Gennady’s knockouts I don’t see this fight going the distance, it’s a can’t miss fight and I think it’s the biggest fight of the year.”
All photos by Ed Mulholland/K2 Promotions
