Andrzej Fonfara-Joe Smith on NBC: CompuBox Historical Review

Both are catchers and Fonfara has fought the much, much tougher opposition: Fonfara's last 6 opponents landed 46.8% of their power punches- #1 among CompuBox Categorical Leaders. Smith's last 4 (Pena, Rosinsky, Cummings & Griffin) landed 37.8% of their power punches. Fonfara's 75.4 punches thrown per round ranks #4; His 34.1 jabs thrown per round is #4- (he landed 6.2 per round). Smith threw and landed well above wgt. class averages in all categories, but doesn't yet qualify for CompuBox Categorical Leaders (must have at least 5 fights vs. champ. caliber opponents).

CHICAGO - Premier Boxing Champions on NBC takes place tonight, June 18 at the UIC Pavilion headlined by light heavyweight bruiser Andrzej Fonfara battling hard-hitting New Yorker Joe Smith Jr.
 
Televised coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT and features a bantamweight world championship rematch between Juan Carlos Payano and Rau'shee Warren plus rising star Erickson Lubin battling Mexico's Daniel Sandoval. At 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT, PBC coverage switches to NBCSN and will feature a battle of unbeaten middleweights as Hugo Centeno Jr. takes on Poland's Maciej Sulecki.
 
Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Warriors Boxing and Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing, are priced at $201, $101, $61 and $41, not including applicable service charges, and are on sale now. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or UIC Pavilion Box Office at (312) 413-5740. Tickets are also available at www.ticketmaster.com or by visiting the UIC Pavilion Box Office (Thursday or Friday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.).
 
Wednesday's media workout took place at Oakley Fight Club in Chicago as the fighters showed off their skills for the media heading into fight night.
 
Here is what the fighters had to say Wednesday:
 
ANDRZEJ FONFARA
 
"I'm in great shape right now. Camp went very well. We had great sparring and conditioning. I'm definitely ready to fight.
 
"We've seen a couple of his fights. He's a young, tough guy. I know that I must win the fight. I'm prepared and I will be victorious.
 
"I expect this fight to be a real battle. I'm not going to stop throwing punches. I will control the ring and find my spots. I definitely want to give my fans the knockout.
 
"Fighting in Chicago is a great motivation for me because I have such outstanding support here. I always want to entertain my fans so they keep coming back to watch me perform.
 
"I was the underdog my whole career. Now in this position, it's even better. I'm motivated by being in this position. I know my opponent feels overlooked and that will add to his motivation, but I'm ready."
 
JOE SMITH JR.
 
"We've done some traveling in camp to get excellent sparring and overall it's just been a great camp. I'm excited to be here and ready to get in the ring. I'm happy to have this opportunity because I worked so hard for it. I'm looking to put on a show.
 
"This is a big chance and if I win I can open up a lot of doors. I just need to do what I do best and hopefully I'll be in a world title fight next.
 
"I love representing Long Island and New York. I want to bring a title back home.
 
"I'm going to give it my all and at the end of the night I should come out on top."