SUNRISE, Fla. – Two of the pound-for-pound hardest hitting boxers in the world could barely contain themselves and had to be separated during Thursday’s press conference at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. IBF bantamweight champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko will defend against four-time world champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan, but the two fighters seemed more interested in settling matters on Thursday rather than waiting for Saturday’s LIVE SHOWTIME telecast (9 p.m. ET/PT) from the BankAtlantic Center.
Thursday’s press conference started as a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, who Don King worked with promoting the historic Jacksons Victory Tour in 1984 that reunited the Jackson 5 and brokered a colossal endorsement deal between Jackson and Pepsi. King plans a traditional 10-count and a video tribute to honor the King of Pop
But, once it was the fighters’ turn to speak, things turned ugly. What began as a few, innocent verbal shots escalated into a shouting match between the Agbeko and Darchinyan camps. While Thursday’s press conference was tense, it proved that one thing was for certain: Saturday’s main event is going to be a real “Thriller.”