The press conference overlooked the new crown jewel of Los Angeles soccer, the year-old Banc of California Stadium, home to Major League Soccer’s LAFC. Tomorrow, the inaugural boxing card will take place at the stadium, headlined by Emanuel Navarrete’s WBO junior featherweight title defense against unbeaten challenger Francisco De Vaca (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET).
At the Banc of California Stadium’s Founders Club, this is what the fighters had to say.
Emanuel Navarrete
“The reality is that my life has changed a lot in these last eight months. The fact that I have become world champion and that I have won over a wide margin to Isaac Dogboe, who came from beating Jessie Magdaleno, makes me very happy. I feel very satisfied with the results we have achieved for the hard work we have done in recent months.”
“The truth is that it doesn’t matter who is my opponent. I always prepare 100% for each of my fights, and this was no exception. We already did the hard work in the gym, and we are ready for a great fight. If De Vaca comes to fight hard, I am prepared to go even harder. I’m ready to give a great battle to all the fans.”
“I’ve said it several times already: If the other champions of the division don’t want to accept the challenge of unifying titles, I will be moving up to the featherweight division. If everything goes well on Saturday, maybe I will make another fight in the super bantamweight division, but if I don’t get a unification fight, I would go up to 126 pounds.”
Francisco De Vaca
“I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’m ready! I wanted to fight for a world title since I was 5 years old, and now that we have the opportunity, we are going to make our dream come true this Saturday. Come Saturday, there will be a new world champ for Phoenix and Michoacán. I’m coming for that world title.”
On his first 12-round fight
“I feel like I’m debuting all over again. We are ready! I’m going to give everyone a great show. I’ve focused on preparing very well mentally because physically I’m always ready. You will see that come Saturday night.”
ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
Emanuel Navarrete vs. Francisco De Vaca, 12 rounds, Navarrete’s WBO junior featherweight world title
Jessie Magdaleno vs. Rafael Rivera, 10 rounds, featherweight
ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT
Arnold Barboza Jr. vs. Ricky Sismundo, 10 rounds, super lightweight
Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Stuart McLellan, 10 rounds, Alimkhanuly’s WBC Continental Americas and WBO Global titles
Chris van Heerden vs. Aslanbek Kozaev, 10 rounds, welterweight
Javier Molina vs. Manuel Mendez, 8 rounds, super lightweight
Dmitry Yun vs. Javier Martinez, 6 rounds, lightweight
Brian Mendoza vs. Rosemberg Gomez, 8 rounds, welterweight
Elvis Rodriguez vs. Jesus Gonzales, 6 rounds, super lightweight
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zanfer Promotions and Iron Boy Promotions, tickets priced at $100, $80, $70, $60, $45 and $25 (not including applicable fees) are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800-745-3000 and in person at the Banc of California Stadium box office.
For more information, visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook: facebook.com/trboxing; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing.
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