Fight week officially kicked-off Wednesday in Chicago as fighters on the Premier Boxing Champions on Spike fight card participated in the final press conference before entering the ring on Friday, April 24 at UIC Pavilion. The night of fights features Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell (27-0-1, 22 KOs) battling Badou Jack “The Ripper” (18-1, 12 KOs) and Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (28-1, 25 KOs) taking on Caleb “Golden” Truax (25-1-2, 15 KOs). The televised action on Spike begins at 9 ET/8 CT.
ANTHONY DIRRELL
“I’m a better fighter now because I’m working harder. You have to work harder to stay at this level. Now everybody is gunning for you because you have what they want.
“I’m glad that because of this platform, everybody knows what I’ve been through now. People can see that anything is possible. Going through something like defeating cancer has helped me achieve my dreams.
“Badou Jack is a good fighter, but he hasn’t fought a guy like me.
“On Friday night I just have to hope that Jack doesn’t run. I want him to stand in there with me and we’ll see who’s better. I’m going to test his chin like nobody else has.”
BADOU JACK
“I had the best training camp I’ve ever had and I’m ready to bring the title back to Las Vegas.
“I don’t do the social media trash talking, I save it for the ring and on Friday I’m going to show the world why I deserve to be world champion.
“I respect Anthony Dirrell for winning the fight against cancer. I lost two of my amateur trainers to that disease and I’ll be dedicating this fight to them.
“His team likes to bark and talk a lot of trash but they can’t fight for him. Come Friday night it’s just going to be the two of us in the ring.
“I don’t bark, I don’t talk trash, I let my fists do the talking.
“Opportunities like this don’t always come around and I will make sure I don’t let this one slip away.”
DANIEL JACOBS
“Fighting here in Chicago serves as extra motivation for me. I’ve always been the guy fans favored at Barclays Center, and I may have gotten a little spoiled. So I’m excited to be the guy that people want to see lose. Truax will probably have a larger crowd supporting him, and those fans will motivate me to be stronger and fight better on Friday.
“People love a great story. I’m extremely proud of my story and for having beat cancer, but let’s not forget about my skill set.
“Truax can say he’s tired of hearing about ‘The Miracle Man’ all he wants, but he shouldn’t be thinking about my cancer when we get in the ring. He should just fear me. I’m going to be a cancer to him once we start fighting.
“I’m not saying I’m going to knock him out. I’m just saying I’m going to win because that’s what I came to do. I’ll take a win however I can get it.”
CALEB TRUAX
“This is a huge fight and a huge opportunity for me. It’s a career-changer and life-changer for my career in boxing. I’ve got to be smart in this fight.
“I couldn’t be in any better shape right now. Physically I’m mature at 31-years-old. This is the right spot for me and a great opportunity.
“I want to thank all of my fans and you should expect to see a lot of people from Minnesota coming down to see me. It’s going to be great to celebrate with all of them.”
