The Aug. 9th triple-header edition of NBCSN Fight Night will take place at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and will feature a ten-round heavyweight match-up between Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov and Derric “El León” Rossy, a twelve round light heavyweight match-up between Robert “The Butcher” Berridge and Vasily “The Professor” Lepikhin and an six-round heavyweight fight featuring Joseph Parker and Keith “Untouchable” Thompson.
The final press conference was held today.
Main Events’ CEO Kathy Duva
This is our 19th show Fight Night event. We have been enjoying a tremendous run. When we started, NBC thought we needed to work with other promoters. It has given us the freedom to create fights that would have never happened otherwise. J Russell Peltz and Jolene Mizzone’s matchmaking has been a huge part of our success along with BAM Promotions. This event has the most promoters of any of our previous events. For this event we have German Titov of Titov Promotions, Pushka Promotions, Sal Musumeci of Final Forum Promotions and Duco Events. It has been a pleasure working hand-in-hand with them.
Saturday is going to be a triple header. Duco is one of the reasons we have a triple header. They are very famous in New Zealand. Main Events has a history with New Zealand. We brought David Tua over here. David Higgins and Dean Lonergan from Duco have been great to work with. The recurring storyline for Fight Night has been coming to America and it seems to be working for Main Events.
Derric Rossy is a solid working class fighter. That is the highest compliment. He is one half of a classic crossroads fight. When we were looking for Czar’s next opponent, we knew we needed to test him and we knew Rossy would test him. Czar comes from the eastern most city in the Ukraine. This gave him a reason to uproot his family and come here to the United States. He has moved to Florida and started working with John David Jackson and Derik Santos. I am so sorry for what he has been through, but I am so happy he is finally here.
Finally, I want to thank Sands. This is the easiest place to put on an event. You get a treat when you come to a fight here. It is a beautiful facility.
J Russell Peltz
This is our sixth (Fight Night) card at the Sands. I think it is our favorite place. Saturday’s fight is shaping up as an all-star clash with Czar Glazkov vs. Derric Rossy. Both are coming off the biggest fights of their careers. The card also has a lot of local fights. Ismael Serrano and Jonathan Williams both trained together here and now they are going to face each other in the ring.
Czar Glazkov
I would like to thank Main Events, Kathy Duva, Sands and NBCSN for the opportunity to come here and show my skills. I just went through the very good camp with John David Jackson and Derik Santos. I got more experience and I can’t wait to showcase that Saturday night. I wanted to thank Derric Rossy for taking this fight. The strongest man is going to win Saturday night.
Egis Klimas, Manager of Lepikhin and Glazkov
[On Czar Glazkov] We have been working together for a couple of years now. He has proved himself over and over again. He moved to the United States and has a new trainer, John David Jackson. I heard a lot from John David Jackson that Czar is much more aggressive now. They had a really good camp. I see a lot of changes coming.
[On Vasily Lepikhin] Kathy thank you very much for giving Vasily Lepikhin the opportunity to come to the United States. This is going to be his first fight here and the first fight under my management. German Titov is very high about him. I am very excited to see him fight on Saturday night. He is a hard worker and he is in great shape. He is ready to show his skills Saturday night.
Derric Rossy
This is a great opportunity for me. Thank you, Kathy Duva and Main Events. It is going to be a great fight with two skilled fighters both coming off big wins. It makes for exciting television.
Sal Musumeci, Final Forum Promotions (Rossy’s Promoter)
I would like to thank Kathy. I deal with a lot of promoters world-wide and Main Events comes through with all of their promises. It is a pleasure to work with such a class act. I am amazed this fight is taking place. This is a world class fight. These are all evenly matched fights. Rossy is coming off a big fight. He was an ironworker earlier this year. He quit to box full time. I give Glazkov a lot of credit for taking the fight. He is taking a big risk and putting his #2 position on the line. He has big balls. This is what fighters need to do. This is the fight. Tune in Saturday night. The winner is the next contender.
Robert Berridge
Thank you for the opportunity to be in America. It is my dream to showcase my skills and fight here.
Vasily Lepikhin
I had a good camp in Miami and it was good, hard training. Sergey Kovalev was one of my mentors and he was very nice to me. Thanks to my team and my promoter and Egis, my manager, and my trainer. I am ready to show a good fight on Saturday.
Kevin Barry, Joseph Parker’s Trainer
Thank you very much for this opportunity. My relationship with Main Events started in 1992 when we brought Tua over, then we brought Robbie Peden over and he ended up becoming a champion. To be able to bring Joseph over here is very exciting. Parker fought Brian Minto five weeks ago. Joseph took Minto apart in seven rounds and pushed him to the canvas three times before the referees stopped the fight. We had visa issues in New Zealand which restricted our travel to the United States. Joe is in really good shape. We appreciate the opportunity. He has three belts. He is the least experienced in the light heavyweight division and, yet, he has three belts.
Joseph Parker
Thank you for this opportunity. I am in good shape. I fought five weeks ago so I have just been maintaining. It is going to be a good night of boxing.
Keith Thompson
It is a really good opportunity to fight a ranked opponent like Joseph. I came here to win.
