NBA All-Star Williams & NFL Pro Bowl Running Back Gore Announce Boxing Pro Debuts On Undercard of Jake Paul Vs. Tommy Fury Main Event Saturday, December 18 Live on SHOWTIME PPVÂź at AMALIE Arena in Tampa, Fla.
Also Featuring Quotes and Photos from Seven-Division World Champion Amanda Serrano
NEW YORK â November 16, 2021 â Three-time NBA All-Star Deron Williams and legendary NFL running back Frank Gore faced off for the first time following a press conference announcing their professional heavyweight boxing debuts on Tuesday at Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Williams vs. Gore will take place on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury, live on SHOWTIME PPV on Saturday, December 18 at AMALIE Arena in Tampa. The four-round heavyweight bout will be contested with a 215-pound contractual limit as the two legends make their professional boxing debuts.
Also appearing at Tuesdayâs event was seven-division world champion and current unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano, who will face 135-pound titleholder Miriam GutiĂ©rrez in the co-feature of the SHOWTIME PPV event.
Tickets for the live event, titled #PaulFury: One Will Fall, are now available for purchase at www.amaliearena.com.
Below are quotes from Williams, Gore and Serrano.
Deron WilliamsÂ
âIâve always wrestled all the way until high school and always been a big boxing and MMA fan. Iâve done a lot of training at my gym, Fortis MMA, in Dallas for the past six years.
âIâve always wanted to do an MMA fight. I had one that I was training for before Covid hit but my opponent pulled out. It was always in the back of my mind and Iâve always stayed in shape and stayed training. I got a call from Nakisa (Bidarian) who I hadnât talked to in five years and he said Frank Gore was training and looking for an opponent, and I felt like it was a great opportunity. I felt like if I didnât take it Iâd be kicking myself for the rest of my life.
âFrank looks good. If Iâm going to do a fight Iâd rather do it with someone who is capable and who has been training. The man is tough, thereâs no doubt about that. Anyone who can take that many snaps in the NFL has to be tough. Itâs a good challenge for me and something that I can check off the bucket list.
âMost people are behind me. Iâve had some people say, âYouâre fighting Frank Gore. What are you doing?â But thatâs OK. There are a lot of unknowns in this game, so it makes it exciting. Iâve been training for years and doing a lot of MMA, and a lot of it has been boxing.
âI first started wrestling when I was like five. I didnât really know what it was and I spent the whole season being dragged on the mat by my mom crying because I was so scared to go in there. But she said I had to because she had already paid for it and said youâre going to do this every weekend. So I basically went out there crying, got pinned, walked off the mat and then did it again for the whole year. The next year she asked if I wanted to sign up again expecting I would say no, but I actually said yes for some reason. I did that for about a half year before I turned into a little animal. So I think that year and a half of getting pinned made me tougher. Wrestling is a tough sport, and it was a great base for me and Iâm really glad I did it and was able to go to the state tournament in Texas as an eight-year-old and 12-year-old. And I would have loved to have kept going but it was in the same season as basketball.
âI loved watching the heavyweights. Growing up in the â90s and watching (Mike) Tyson and all those wars they had. And watching (Evander) Holyfield. It was just a special time in boxing and there were still other fighters, but those were the ones I was watching and who I was excited to see.
âI jogged four miles yesterday and that was the first time Iâve ever run four miles. Itâs getting out of your comfort zone and itâs a different feeling. Basketball, and football for him, weâre comfortable with that work. Itâs learning to get hit in the face and being OK with it. Itâs just a new challenge. Iâve been retired for four years now. You just miss competing. You miss having something to train for.â
Frank Gore
âl have always loved boxing. Iâve been training since 2005. I was doing it because it would save my legs since I play running back. I just fell in love with it, how hard it was and Iâm very competitive. I was just doing it for the cardio. My first time I didnât think I could do it, but I kept getting better and better at it.
âIâm definitely not doing this for the money. Iâm blessed. Iâm good and blessed with football and off-the-field stuff.
âIâve always been an underdog my entire life. I was raised in a one-bedroom apartment. I blew out both of my knees and many thought I wouldnât make it to the NFL. Sixteen years later and Iâm No. 3 on the all-time list.
âIâm happy to be here and I respect Deron. Heâs coming from the NBA and I always say any man who gets into the ring has got to be different. I donât care what sport you play. Iâm training my behind off for December 18.
âI know heâs trained in MMA and coming over from the NBA but heâs no Nate Robinson. Heâs been doing MMA for six years so I have to respect that. Heâs been wrestling since he was a kid. Iâm training my behind off and the only one I can worry about is myself. Iâm looking forward to the challenge and let the best man win on December 18.
âFootball and boxing are totally different. When you watched me play I never really got hit. Thatâs why I was able to last so long. I played off of angles. Now, with boxing Iâm going in there with guys that have had 300 amateur fights, are 10-0 as pros. So I canât just dodge all the shots they are throwing because they have more ring experience.
âI would say jogging has been the toughest thing. In football we never jogged. We always did sprints and pulled the sled but I had to really train myself to jog. I had to put my mind somewhere else and work on it.
âMy favorite fighter is Floyd (Mayweather, Jr.). There are a bunch of guys I like to watch now. I like Terence (Crawford) and I like Errol Spence, Tank (Davis), Shakur Stevenson. I just want to be the best of me. Whatever my coach tells me to do Iâm going to go out and try to do and do my best to get this win on December 18.â
Amanda Serrano
âThis fight is more important than the Katie Taylor fight. Miriam Gutierrez is a tough girl at 135 pounds and itâs not my natural weight class. Iâm moving up two divisions. I have to get through Miriam in a way that people will want to see me fight Katie next.
âI would actually rather lose the weight than gain the weight. Itâs so hard for me to keep the weight on because once I start training I drop it. Iâm eating a lot of good foods and had to hire a nutritionist for this camp to make sure Iâm strong. Iâm a little girl, but I pack a punch wherever I go.
âI definitely want the Katie Taylor fight. That night could be the night I accomplish my goal and become the first undisputed boxer to come out of Puerto Rico. That would be an amazing night. Right now Iâm concentrating on boxing because I have two amazing fights but in the future I definitely want to become an MMA champion, but right now itâs all about boxing.
âPound for pound I think is a matter of opinion. Some people think I am, some people think itâs Claressa Shields. Katie actually fights the week before me so she has to look good, and I have to look good. Iâm training really hard for Miriam. I know she is a tough girl and Iâm just going to go out and be the best I can be and I think the fight with Katie Taylor is going to happen.â
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