NBC Sports Group’s Fight Night presents its first afternoon broadcast of the year on NBC this Saturday, September 20th, at 3 p.m. ET. The fourth afternoon network boxing broadcast since the Fight Night series premiered in 2012, the show will feature South African heavy-hitter Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu (16-1, 11 KOs) vs. Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson (13-7-1, 7 KOs) and, undefeated Karl “Dynamite” Dargan (16-0, 8 KOs) will take on Angino “The Nightmare” Perez (16-5, 14 KOs).
The final press conference for the card was held today, and you can find the full quotes & details here.
Kathy Duva
– Welcome everyone to the beautiful Foxwoods Resort Casino. This is going to be our fourth show on broadcast NBC. We are very proud to bring boxing back to network television. This card is going to bring a lot of excitement to the Saturday afternoon line-up. We plan on making boxing fans out of casual fans with this card.
Thank you to Foxwoods. I want to thank the commission. It is such a pleasure to work with the staff here. Tickets are still available through www.ticketmaster.com and through Foxwoods box office. Special discounts are still available. It is going to be an exciting afternoon of boxing. Come out, enjoy the fights and then take advantage of all that Foxwoods has to offer.
With these fights we have the potential for absolutely anything to happen. The cruiserweight division is what the heavyweight division used to be years ago. The most electrifying fights take place in this division. They are the same size that Joe Frazier was when he was in his prime. They changed the name of the heavyweight division. The current heavyweights are twice the size of what they used to be. People in the heavyweight division are outweighing their opponents by 50 pounds. I have struggled to understand why the cruiserweight division isn’t popular.
This is going to be a great fight. They are coming to win. That is what makes this sport so exciting.
Thabiso Mchunu
– Thanks to Main Events, NBC and Kathy Duva for this opportunity to showcase my skills. I know Garrett Wilson is a tough opponent. I just have to do my magic and put on another great show.
Sean Smith, trainer of Mchunu
– It is a great honor to be with the Main Events team. We are honored to be on NBC. It is a long way for us to come from South Africa but we do it because Mchunu is going to be a star. He will defend his title. Many people say the cruiserweight division isn’t interesting but Garrett is a great fighter. We’ve watched him. We aren’t overlooking him. Thabiso has worked hard to come and put on a show for the fight fans. We are going to bring the cruiserweight division alive again. We are going to make the cruiserweight division the one to watch.
Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson
– I want to thank Main Events for having me back on the card and Foxwoods for hosting this event. I have nothing but respect for Mchunu, he is an awesome fighter. He beat Eddie Chambers and I have the utmost respect for Eddie Chambers, so if he can beat Eddie I know he is a great fighter. I didn’t lose my belt. To me it is still MY belt. This to me is a defense of my belt. I trained hard. I am looking forward to an exciting fight. I want to once against become the NABF champion.
Rodney Rice, trainer of Wilson
– Thank you Kathy. I want to thank Main Events for bringing us back again and giving us this opportunity. We have a lot of respect for Mchunu. We trained real hard for him. This is going to be an awkward fight. Garrett has an awkward style. You can’t practice to fight him. You never know what he is going to bring.
Karl “Dynamite” Dargan
– I would like to thank Main Events and Angino Perez for taking the challenge. We had a great camp. I don’t know too much about Perez but I know he knows how to win. I don’t have too much to say I am just looking forward to Saturday.
Brother Naazim Richardson, trainer of Dargan
– I would like to thank everyone for coming out. I would like to thank Kathy and Main Events. I don’t know much about Perez. I watch the way a man carries himself. I am looking forward to the match-up and trying to figure out his style. Karl is an outstanding young kid. He is mature beyond his years. He has been around a lot of outstanding athletes and coaches. He is smart and that is his toughest weapon. I want the smartest. I am also looking forward to the main event Saturday. This is going to be an outstanding show for NBC.
Angino “The Nightmare” Perez
– Usually we get last minute calls and we don’t have much time to train. I don’t know Dargan but I have only heard good things about him. I appreciate the opportunity and just want to give people a good fight.
