FLOYD
MAYWEATHER, ANDRE BERTO AND
“HIGH STAKES”
UNDERCARD FIGHTERS
MAKE MGM GRAND
ARRIVALS IN LAS VEGAS
TO OFFICIALLY
KICK-OFF FIGHT WEEK
Photos by Esther Lin/SHOWTIME
LAS VEGAS – The countdown to “HIGH STAKES: Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs. Andre Berto” continued Tuesday afternoon as Floyd Mayweather and Andre
Berto made their Grand
Arrivals atMGM Grand in
Las Vegas before their fight this Saturday, Sept. 12 live on SHOWTIME PPV® (8 p.m. E/5 p.m. PT) from the MGM Grand Garden
Arena.
In what is expected to be
the final fight of his illustrious 19-year career, boxing superstar and
pound-for-pound king Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) will put his undefeated record
and
WBC and WBA Welterweight World Championships on the line against
power-punching, two-time welterweight world champion Berto (30-3, 23 KOs).
Also
making their Grand Arrivals Tuesday were the six other talented fighters
who will compete on the four-fight pay-per-view telecast: Roman “Rocky” Martinez Orlando
In world
title fights, Martinez 29-2-2 , 17 KOs ) will
risk his WBO Junior Lightweight title in a rematch against the boxer he
dethroned, four-time world champion Salido (42-13-2, 29 KOs ), and
Jack (19-1-1 , 12 KOs ) will
make the first defense of his WBC Super Middleweight World title against
mandatory challenger Groves (21-2, 16 KOs ).
Opening the telecast will be a 10-round junior lightweight showdown between former three-time world
champion and Mexican power-puncher Gonzalez (58-9, 49 KOs) against Puerto
Rico’s Oquendo (25-4, 16 KOs).
Tickets for the live
event, which is promoted by Mayweather Promotions LLC., are priced at $1,500,
$1,000, $750, $500, $300 and $150 and are on sale now. Tickets are limited to
eight (8) per household for all ticket prices except the $150 ticket category,
which is limited to four (4) per household. To
charge by phone or with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.
Tickets also are available for purchase atwww.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
Here is what the fighters
and Leonard Ellerbe, CEO
of Mayweather Promotions, said at MGM Grand on Tuesday:
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
“To become great, you
have to follow greatness. To become a great leader you have to be a great
follower.
“I want every fighter to
stay focused and on a parallel path.
“I’ve done a lot for this
sport. Everyone used to be focused on heavyweights. My ultimate goal was to
have everyone focus at whatever weight class I was, in my weight class. I’ve
always been able to make noise at whatever weight class I was in.
“We want Andre to believe
in himself and his skills.
“Every fighter that I’ve
ever faced had the remedy to beat me, but the results have always been the
same.
“I don’t overlook anyone,
he’s a tough competitor, and we will just have to see what happens on Saturday.
“My ultimate goal is that
we can find another Floyd Mayweather. When I turned professional I was a
teenager and the MGM was Mike Tyson’s building. I’m just blessed and I feel
like I was dealt a royal flush.
(On Jen Welter) “She is a
remarkable woman; I look forward to meeting her. She’s a trailblazer.”
ANDRE BERTO
“I had a tremendous
training camp. I am in better shape than I’ve been in years.
“I’m looking forward to
making history on
Saturday.
“I don’t know anything
about any code that Mayweather has. When I want to walk through a door I just
break through.”
LEONARD ELLERBE
“We’re really honored to
be able to honor her (Jen Welter) at the Titans of Trade breakfast. This is our
sixth breakfast; we’ve been able to recognize other great women who have
contributed to sports.
“She’s a remarkable
person and we look forward to honoring her and having her attend the fight.”
BADOU JACK
“This is my first defense
so I’m excited and absolutely ready for Saturday. He says he is
going to win, but we’ll see how it goes on fight night.
“I’m ready to go. I’m
ready to knock him out.’’
GEORGE GROVES
“I’m feeling great,
really focused and had a great camp. On Saturday all I have to do is be myself and I
will get the job done.
“Jack is a good opponent
but he is not as good as me.
“I appreciate all the
support I am getting from the Brit fans, some of whom are here today. This is
going to be a good week.’’
ROMAN “ROCKY” MARTINEZ
“I am very proud to be on
this card and what better way to be a part of it than against Salido again.
“We all know Salido’s
style: he falls and is used to getting up and continuing to fight. This
“I’m ready to bring on
the war, give it everything I’ve got and looking for a big win. I know I made a
lot of mistakes in the last fight but I’m confident I corrected them.
“A big difference in this
fight is that it is not in Puerto Rico like our first one, this
one’s at a neutral site the United States
JHONNY GONZALEZ
“Oquendo is a great,
tough fighter but I am ready to take him on. I expect this to be a great fight on Saturdayand
I will leave everything in the ring.
“This is going to be a
hard fight. I’m coming here to win.’’
JONATHAN OQUENDO
“Jhonny Gonzalez is a
champion of the world. We know he’s a powerful, dangerous fighter. But I’m here
to fight and give my daughter a gift on Saturday.
“But this fight is for
all the fans of Mexico Puerto Rico .”
*
* *
“HIGH STAKES: Mayweather
vs. Berto,”
a 12-round world championship bout for Mayweather's WBC and WBA
Welterweight World Titles takes place Saturday, Sept. 12 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and is
promoted by Mayweather Promotions and sponsored by Tecate. The event will be
produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® (8:00 p.m. ET /5:00
p.m. PT ). The co-main event will feature a rematch between Roman Martinez
and Orlando Salido for the WBO Junior Lightweight World Title. The Martinez
vs. Salido fight will follow Mayweather Promotions’ own Badou Jack “The Ripper” making
his first defense of the WBC Super Middleweight World title against mandatory
challenger “Saint” George Groves. The
Jack vs. Groves Puerto Rico ’s Jonathan
Oquendo. The event will be available in Spanish through secondary audio
programming (SAP).
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