Undefeated former World Lightweight Champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (29-0-1, 22 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., and Top-10 world-rated contenders “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (32-0, 23 KOs), of Denver, Mauricio Herrera (18-1, 7 KOs), of Riverside, Calif., and Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (24-0-1, 12 KOs), a native of Cebu, Philippines who now fights out of San Diego, held media workouts yesterday at a jammed Fortune Gym in Los Angeles.
All four are in deep training for their career-defining battles which take place next week in Las Vegas, Nev. Take a look at what each man had to say at the public workouts.
These warriors, who boast a combined record of 103-1-1 (64 KOs), will be featured in a world championship pay-per-view event that’s so big its main events are originating from two different countries!
Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios
“This is going to be an action fight. I will make absolutely sure Abril sees some real action. April stepped up when he put his hands on me at the Miami press conference. Now after our fight he will return to the dark shadows where he really belongs.”
“Mile High” Mike Alvarado
“Let’s see what Herrera brings to the ring. I have a lot of power and he will have to deal with it. I have been training hard the last six weeks in Los Angeles. I am ready. This is the best I have felt in my career. I am coming off a soul-searching fight so this fight means a lot to me. My “A” Game is on right now – speed, power and footwork”
Mauricio Herrera
“Great fighters bring out the best in me and that’s what I am expecting when I fight Alvarado. We are going to war.”
Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta
“I plan to win this fight and then I hope to fight Juan Manuel Márquez. I have no problem taking him on. I am ready for him.”
JUAN MANUEL MÁRQUEZ headlines the event as he goes for an historic fourth world title in as many different weight divisions when he rumbles with World Boxing Organization (WBO) European junior welterweight champion SERGEY FEDCHENKO for the vacant WBO interim 140-pound world title. Márquez-Fedchenko will take place in México City’s brand new Arena México. Rios, who will be in the other main event, will attempt to reclaim his old title when he tangles with Cuban gladiator and World Boxing Association (WBA) interim lightweight champion RICHARD ABRIL in a battle for the vacant WBA lightweight title, Saturday, April 14, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The Márquez/Rios world championship event will be produced by Top Rank and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
The live pay-per-view telecast (SRP $44.95) will also feature a 10-round junior welterweight collision between Alvarado and Herrera, and open with Gesta in a 10-round lightweight fight. Boxing fans at Mandalay Bay will also see the Márquez-Fedchenko world title fight live, via closed-circuit, on a jumbo screen.
Rios, the former WBA lightweight champion, enters this fight having won 10 of his previous 11 fights by knockout. Highlight victories on his resume include Miguel Acosta, Anthony Peterson, Urbano Antillon and John Murray, none of whom went the distance. Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs), a Cuban expatriate who now resides in Miami, Fla., returns to the ring having won seven of his previous eight fights. He captured the WBA interim lightweight title last October, knocking down former WBA lightweight champion Acosta three times en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Márquez (53-6-1, 39 KOs), of México City, is one of only a rare few from México to have won world titles in three different weight divisions. The only man to go the distance with pound for pound superstar Manny Pacquiao three times, Márquez boasts a Hall of Fame resume highlighted by victories over Marco Antonio Barrera, Manuel Medina, Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis. Fedchenko (30-1, 13 KOs), from Kharkov, Ukraine, enters this fight riding a 28-month winning streak, which has includes WBO European title victories over Willy Blain and Demarcus Corley. He is world-rated No. 4 by the WBO.
Alvarado has won 10 of his last 12 bouts by stoppage en route to a career-high No. 3 world rating, in the World Boxing Organization (WBO). Notable knockout victims include Breidis Prescott, Ray Narh, Emmanuel Clottey and Cesar Bazan. Herrera enters this fight riding a two-year, five-bout winning streak, highlighted by victories over Ruslan Provodnikov (17-0) and Mike Dallas, Jr. (17-1-1). Herrera is currently world-rated No. 7 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
Gesta returns to the ring with seven of his last 10 victories coming inside the distance, earning career-high world ratings of No. 7 in the WBA and No. 8 in the WBO.
