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The DAZN headliners have no rivalry, but both promise to provide action on Saturday night.
Jaime Munguia and Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan are two days away from fight night in San Antonio, where the two headline on DAZN from the Alamodome.
It’s the first fight at 160 pounds for Munguia, while it’s a chance for the Irish veteran O’Sullivan to score a big win and possibly land that world title fight he’s angled for for years now.
The fighters met up at their final press conference on Thursday.
“I’m happy and motivated at this new division,” Munguia said. “This is something new for me and my team. It is a great division with a lot of great fighters like Gary O’Sullivan. I’m excited for that, because at 160 we will have big challenges, we will have big fights and we will deliver great fights to all the people. We had a great preparation. We prep at 100 percent keeping in mind that we want to give a great fight and a great show.”
Munguia (34-0, 27 KO) said that the plan, if victorious on Saturday, is to go after world titles at 160, which surely is no surprise.
The always-colorful O’Sullivan (30-3, 21 KO) has no trash to talk here, as he and Munguia have been respectful toward one another since the day the fight was announced. Still, both men are coming to win.
“It’s nothing personal, I really like Jaime, he is a very good guy, very pleasant guy,” O’Sullivan said. “I wish him good health and good luck in his life, but on Saturday night I’m coming for war, I’m coming to win. And I look forward to putting a great show.”
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Tom Hogan-Hoganphotos/Golden Boy
Less respect was shown between WBC and WBO super middleweight titleholder Franchon Crews-Dezurn (6-1, 2 KO) and Alejandra Jimenez (12-0-1, 9 KO).
Jimenez, a former heavyweight, spoke about her move down to 168 pounds. She wasn’t aggressive in her time on the mic, but there was already plenty of beef coming in.
“When I started as a fighter, they told me I couldn’t be a boxer because there were few opponents in the heavyweight division,” Jimenez said. “However, I decided to initiate my professional career. And in my fifth fight, I became a world champion on that division by becoming the first Mexican female fighter to win a heavy world title.
“I’ve always wanted to come down from my division and fight the champion in the super middleweight division. I know Franchon is going to be a tough opponent. She’s the No. 1 in her division, but after this fight, I’m going to be No. 1.”
Crews-Dezurn picked up the heat from there.
“Excuse my French, but you aren’t taking shit from me,” the titleholder said. “Boxing isn’t about weight loss and shout out to my opponent. That’s an amazing feat to lose that amount of weight to compete for her goals, but unfortunately, that road is going to stop here with me because I’ve had to fight my whole life.”
“After my opponent tried to bully me at the WBC convention in Cancun by blowing me a kiss and being disrespectful to my team, there is definitely some unfinished business that needs to be settled. I just want to make sure that when I step in the ring, I represent not only myself and my team, but I represent women’s boxing as it continues to grow.”
