QUOTES: ORTIZ VS. LAWSON

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(January 4, 2024): With only days away from his highly anticipated debut in his new division, undefeated, knockout sensation Vergil Ortiz, Jr. (19-0, 19 KOs) of Grand Prairie, Texas, hosted a final press conference today. He will participate in a 12-round super welterweight fight against Accra, Ghana’s Fredrick “General Okunka” Lawson (30-3, 22 KOs) who will also be debuting in the new division. The event is scheduled to take place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on January 6, 2024 and will be broadcast worldwide on DAZN beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT.

As the co-main event, the U.K. ‘s Ohara “Two Tanks” Davies (25-2, 18 KOs) will make his Golden Boy debut in a fight against El Tigre, Venezuela’s Ismael Barroso (24-4-2, 22 KOs). The fight is a 12-round match for the WBA Super Lightweight Interim World Championship and is presented in association with TGB Promotions.

Also making a splash as a newly-signed Golden Boy fighter, El Monte’s Arnold Barbosa Jr. (28-0, 10 KOs) will participate in a 10-round super lightweight clash against Xolisani Ndongeni (31-3, 18 KOs) of Eastern Cape, South Africa. Opening the DAZN broadcast, undefeated NABF Welterweight title holder Raul “El Cugar” Curiel (13-0, 11 KOs) will participate in a 10-round fight against Elias Diaz (12-1, 7 KOs) of National City, California. On the preliminary card and opening the fight night, Emiliano Gandara of of Dallas, Texas will make his professional debut against Timvonte Carson (1-2) of Columbia, South Carolina in a four-round super welterweight fight.

Here is what some of today’s participants had to say: VERGIL ORTIZ JR., SUPER WELTERWEIGHT CONTENDER: “I just want to give a quick shout out to to everyone who’s believed in me up until this point. First and foremost, my dad, my team, Coach Robert, Coach Hector, and everyone on Golden Boy.” “I put my heart into this sport. But now we’re here. We weigh in tomorrow. If you had any doubts on getting any tickets erase them right now because this fight is happening for sure. And I’m ready. This is honestly the best I’ve ever felt.”

FREDRICK “GENERAL OKUNKA” LAWSON, SUPER WELTERWEIGHT FIGHTER: “First and foremost I would like to thank God. Thank you Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN who made this possible for us. We had a very good training camp leading up to this event. We’re prepared. We’ve seen a few scripts going around saying how this fight should go. We have a plan that will surprise everyone. We can’t wait for Saturday.”

BERNARD HOPKINS, GOLDEN BOY PARTNER: “We’re in competition with ourselves. We did great last year and we’re ready to go this year. As Oscar says, the future starts now.”

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, GOLDEN BOY CHAIRMAN AND CEO: “In 2023, Golden Boy set the bar for the rest of boxing. We put on the consensus top two fights of the year, put on the biggest PPV show by a mile and developed more prospects than anyone in the sport. 2024 is lining up to be even bigger, and it all begins with this card on Saturday.” “Since January 1, I have been saying to everyone that the future starts today. Starting with Vergil, Barboza and Davies on Saturday night, this is the year that a huge number of Golden Boy fighters are primed to fight for world championships. It’s the most exciting I’ve been for a year of boxing in some time.”