"I expect a hard fight, but a fair fight. I want to win and I have the most experience...it should be a good confrontation between the European and the U.S. boxing style," stated middleweight contender Lukas Konecny, who spoke during the final press conference ahead of his upcoming clash this Saturday with WBO middleweight champion Peter Quillin. Check out what else he had to say!
LUKAS KONECNY, WBO European Champion & Former WBO Interim Junior Middle Champion
"I expect a hard fight, but a fair fight. I want to win and I have the most experience.
"I think it should be a good confrontation between the European and the U.S. boxing style. Hopefully the best one will win and it will be me."
RICHARD SCHAEFER, Golden Boy Promotions CEO
"Now is your chance. Here in Washington and the East Coast, people from Philly, New York and Washington come here to be part of this historic event.
"With Beibut Shumenov, Bernard's fighting somebody who as a pro has a record with 14 wins, 9 by KO. Beibut is from Kazakhstan, and he has a rich amateur history. He was a 2004 Olympian for Kazakhstan. He has been waiting for an opportunity like this. He is as dedicated as any fighter I have ever seen. He has tremendous will and desire. He has a tremendous and loyal team behind him. He's trained hard and is ready to go and make history here in Washington, D.C.
"Paulie is one of the most recognized fighters in the world. He's a two-time, two-division world champion who is trying to win his third world title on Saturday night.
"Shawn Porter wants to face a veteran and the welterweight division is without any question the hottest division. Shawn Porter was one of the best amateur boxers of this era and established himself as one of the most exciting, young emerging stars of the sport.
"I've been in boxing since 2000. Of all the fighters there's one that stands out when it comes to loyalty and when it comes to respect and Bernard tells me that it's because of the respect I show him. He is one of a kind in many ways. He is a true friend."
CHRIS DEBLASIO, Vice President Communications, SHOWTIME SPORTS
"This fight Saturday night on SHOWTIME is part of a tremendous lineup of boxing programming on our network that features no less than 19 live prizefights over the next three weeks.
Saturday's SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will be preceded by the premiere of All Access: Mayweather vs. Maidana. And the live show will feature a special guest analyst. Middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs will be substituting for Paulie Malignaggi who will be indisposed.
"Last January, when we had a fight card here at the DC Armory, I reported record ratings and record viewership growth for Showtime Boxing. I am proud to say that the trend continues and we are looking for strong performances in the next three weeks. Thank you for your support."
ERIK A. MOSES, Senior Vice President of Events DC
"We consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to host such a fantastic fight card. As a fight fan, I'm excited about what we're going to see on Saturday. But as a person who's responsible for making D.C. more of a fight and sports town, I'm really excited that Golden Boy Promotions and SHOWTIME and Bernard, in particular, have decided to come back to Washington.
"For those of you who don't know, this will be the third championship fight in 14 months that we've hosted in the DC Armory, which is a fantastic thing. And frankly, we should give it up to Golden Boy Promotions for that. D.C. is a good sports town, but we want to make certain that people know it's a fight town as well.
"I will echo Scottie Irving's [D.C. Boxing Commissioner] comments that we want to sell this fight out. And every fight that comes to Washington, we want to show that we're a great fight town. There's a lot of energy and buzz around this city, and there has been ever since this fight was announced.
"We want Golden Boy Promotions to come back many more times and bring many more fights to Washington, D.C. as we continue to show them what we can do to support this fantastic sport.
"We're honored to have Bernard and Mr. Shumenov here having their fight, as well as Paulie and the other combatants who are going to be here.
"This is going to be history in the making. To see someone like Bernard, who's been fighting as long as he has, and at his age, do what he's trying to do in our nation's capital has all the makings of a fantastic story."
SCOTTIE IRVING, Chairman of the DC Boxing Commission
"We expect an outstanding, clean fight. I want to make it really clear that the last time we had a fight at the DC Armory that sold out we talked to Golden Boy and had a conversation with Bernard, and we said at that time that we did a great job and we deserve another fight. And Bernard said, 'I will do my best to make sure you guys get another fight soon.'
"I said it before, that Bernard is a man of his word. Not only did he go out and find the best fighter that he could to fight in D.C., he offered to do it himself, and to come fight here.
"If you miss this one I'll do my best to make sure Golden Boy is back this summer, and next time at the Verizon Center. We look forward to our continued success in boxing."
# # # #
In the history-making main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® (9 p.m. ET/PT following the premiere of Episode 1 of ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Maidana) the 49-year-old Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KOs), of Philadelphia, will be seeking to become the oldest fighter in boxing history to unify world titles when he puts his IBF Light Heavyweight title on the line against his WBA counterpart, Shumenov (14-1, 9 KOs), of Shymkent, Kazakhstan, who is aiming to become the fastest fighter to unify the light heavyweight division with only 15 professional fights.
The two other world title fights on SHOWTIME -- unbeaten IBF Welterweight World Champion Shawn Porter (23-0-1), ofCleveland, defends against former world champion Paulie Malignaggi (33-5, 7 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y. and unbeaten WBO Middleweight World Champion Peter Quillin (30-0, 22 KOs), of Brooklyn, risks his belt against the Czech Republic's Lukas Konecny (50-4, 23 KOs). Three live preliminary fights will precede the SHOWTIME telecast on SHOWTIME EXTREME®(7 p.m. ET/PT): Sadam Ali (18-0, 11 KOs), Brooklyn, vs. Michael Clark (44-9-1, 18 KOs ) Columbus, OH., 10 rounds, welterweights; Zachary Ochoa (6-0, 3 KOs), Brooklyn, vs. Hector Marengo (6-7-4, 4 KOs), Arecibo, Puerto Rico, 4/6 rounds, junior welterweights; and Marcus Browne (9-0, 7 KOs), Staten Island, N.Y., vs. Otis Griffin, 24-15-2 (10 KOs) Sacramento, Calif., 8 rounds, light heavyweights.
Tickets priced at $25, $50, $75, $200 and $300, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are on sale now and available online at http://www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations or by calling (800) 745-3000. The DC Armory Box Office will be open on fight night only from 3 p.m.-10 p.m. ET.
Hopkins vs. Shumenov, a 12-round fight for the IBF, WBA and IBA Light Heavyweight World Championship, will take place Saturday, April 19 at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona, AT&T and Casamigos Tequila. In the 12-round co-features, Shawn Porter defends his IBF Welterweight World Title against Paulie Malignaggi and Peter Quillin puts his WBO Middleweight World Title on the line against Lukas Konecny. The live SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) immediately following ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Maidana. The telecast will be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary bouts will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.sports.sho.com and follow on Twitter at @TheRealBHop and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #HopkinsShumenov and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing