Great double interview from 15rounds:
We recently caught up with both Arthur Abraham 26-0(21) & Edison
Miranda 30-2(26)ahead of their fight scheduled for 21 June at Seminole
Hard Rock and Casino in Hollywood, Florida live on Showtime. It's
arguably the biggest grudge fight in Boxing. Both guys fought in
September 2006 for Abraham's IBF Middleweight title when Abraham won a
controversial foul fested bout on points, ever since both guys have
regularly engaged in a war of words in the press. Just when it looked
as though the match up was finally dead in the water with Miranda,
campaigning up at Super Middleweight and looking at matches with the
likes of Mikkel Kessler & Jean Pascal and Abraham appearing to be
going in a different direction then suddenly Kessler & Pascal cried
off leaving Miranda looking for a new opponent. When both teams agreed
a fight at Catchweight of 166 the fight quickly came to fruition. It's
good news for boxing fans the world over as the fight is sure to be
action packed and so will the build up with both sure to declare war
on each other. Here's what both guys had to say.
Hello Arthur, welcome to www.15rounds.com
Hello Edison, welcome to www.15rounds.com
Anson Wainwright - When do you go into training for your fight & where will you train for this fight?
Arthur Abraham - I started the preparation for the fight in April.
After my last bout at March 29 I only had a break of one week. Then my
coach Ulli Wegner and I joined a training camp in the mountains of
Switzerland. In the moment we are in a training camp at the Baltic
Sea. At June 10 I will go to the US.
Edison Miranda - I started training a few weeks ago. I'm just getting
back into shape and light gym workouts. I began my heavy sparring and
work this week.
Anson Wainwright - The fight takes at 166 what difference will this
make to you as you it will be 6 pounds above the Middleweight limit?
Arthur Abraham - I think the difference is 6 pounds - no more no less.
What I mean is the difference will be not so important.
Edison Miranda - I am working with a nutritionist who is helping me a
lot. 166lbs will be tough to make, but I know if I train at 100% and
diet right, I can do it and keep my strength. It was the lowest
weight I agreed to make. I wanted the fight to be at 168lbs or
higher, but Abraham refused.
Anson Wainwright - There won't be any love lost b. Can you tell us how this fight came about?
Arthur Abraham - There are two reasons: me and my management. I want
this fight for my soul and my honour. I won the first fight with a
double broken jaw and for everybody who have seen the whole fight is
clear that I was the winner. Miranda couldn't finish me and for him
that is a drama. Miranda's style was dirty and unfair with headbutts
and low blows. And he upset my audience in the arena. So I will show
him what the reality is: I have beaten him with a broken jaw on
points, I will beat him now I am healthy by knockout. The other reason
for the decision was my management. Mr Sauerland wanted to start in
the US with a big fight - and I think the people in the US are waiting
for the fight Abraham vs. Miranda like the fans in Europe are.
Edison Miranda - (laughing) No there is far from any love between us.
I respect him for staying on his two feet when I kept beating him up,
but he knows he was given a gift that night. He is no more than a
baby inside a crib in Germany. And they will kill you in that country
if you hurt their little baby! I want to fight the best. Mikkel
Kessler most people think is the next best Super Middleweight under
Calzaghe so I targeted him. He was too scared to make the fight
happen. My managers went after all the top names, but they all had
excuses. Abraham has balls the size of a gorilla to come here and
fight me. I never thought he would ever step in the ring with me
again, so I respect his courage. But courage won't win him any points
in America.
Anson Wainwright - what do you expect from this fight?
Arthur Abraham - America is the world's number one for Boxing so I
expect a wonderful audience and an exiting fight. And I'm sure if the fight is good and fair the people will give all their respect to the winner.
Edison Miranda - I expect to play with Arthur for a few rounds and
then make him suffer until I lay him to rest on the canvas. All the
top fighters will make up excuses after. But my fans are many and
strong. They will demand for them to come out of their holes and fight
the might Panther. I will revenge my one true loss soon enough.
Anson Wainwright - Do you have a message for your opponent?
Arthur Abraham - No. Miranda is something like a "Message Man" - every
day people tell me what Miranda says in the American newspapers. But
my job is boxing and not speaking. I have beaten him in Germany; I
will beat him in the US.
Edison Miranda - Arthur, you better have a strong man with a net on
your team on each side of the ring. When I knock you trough the ropes
you will need someone there to catch you before your head hits the
hard floor.
Anson Wainwright - When you guys fought back in September 2006 Arthur's
jaw was broken and there was some controversy over the result, what
did you make of the fight?
Arthur Abraham - The controversy over the result was only in the US
where you could not have seen the whole fight. Everybody I know who has seen the 12 rounds live or in TV had no doubt, that I was the clear winner by points. Look at the
decision of the judges, look at the tape from the fight - Miranda's
head buts and low blows where not a dream, it was reality.
Edison Miranda - It was frustrating in the ring. The referee was all
over me whenever I hurt Abraham. I could not believe they let him
fight with that injury. Every time I hit him blood flew everywhere.
My entire body was covered with his blood. My white socks had turned
completely red, even inside my shoes. It was very disturbing for me to
see this happen to another person.
Anson Wainwright - Further down the road if you can win you'll have
put yourself in the public eye in America for a possible fight with
Kelly Pavlik, is this why you wanted to go to America?
Arthur Abraham - Yes. My management and I want the fight with Kelly
Pavlik. It was my aim for a long time to be the Super Champion. And
maybe we will get the chance end of this year.
Anson Wainwright - Further down the road if you can win it would open
many doors for you, would you then go after a World title at 168?
Edison Miranda - I want to fight the best. Whoever has the courage to
fight me, if that means for a belt, then great. But legacies are not
built on winning Belts. You have to beat the best.
Anson Wainwright - You have several very impressive KO's on your
record, what one do you consider the best? Did you know when you threw
the punch and it landed that the fight was over?
Arthur Abraham - There are a lot of good KO's, that's right. The KO
with Khoren Gevor maybe was one of the best. It was a tough fight and
I knocked him down in round 11that he was out for minutes. I'm looking
forward to fighting in the US for the first time and promise the
American fans that they will see an attractive and hard fight.
Edison Miranda - My best KO was over Eastman. He had never been
stopped and I was proud to show the world that Edison Miranda is for
real.
Anson Wainwright - What do you think happened with regards possible
fights with both Jean Pascal & Mikkel Kessler?
Edison Miranda - They are two little mice who went hiding. Panthers
eat mice all day long. I want to eat an elephant.
Thanks for your time champ.
Thanks for your time Pantera.
We recently caught up with both Arthur Abraham 26-0(21) & Edison
Miranda 30-2(26)ahead of their fight scheduled for 21 June at Seminole
Hard Rock and Casino in Hollywood, Florida live on Showtime. It's
arguably the biggest grudge fight in Boxing. Both guys fought in
September 2006 for Abraham's IBF Middleweight title when Abraham won a
controversial foul fested bout on points, ever since both guys have
regularly engaged in a war of words in the press. Just when it looked
as though the match up was finally dead in the water with Miranda,
campaigning up at Super Middleweight and looking at matches with the
likes of Mikkel Kessler & Jean Pascal and Abraham appearing to be
going in a different direction then suddenly Kessler & Pascal cried
off leaving Miranda looking for a new opponent. When both teams agreed
a fight at Catchweight of 166 the fight quickly came to fruition. It's
good news for boxing fans the world over as the fight is sure to be
action packed and so will the build up with both sure to declare war
on each other. Here's what both guys had to say.
Hello Arthur, welcome to www.15rounds.com
Hello Edison, welcome to www.15rounds.com
Anson Wainwright - When do you go into training for your fight & where will you train for this fight?
Arthur Abraham - I started the preparation for the fight in April.
After my last bout at March 29 I only had a break of one week. Then my
coach Ulli Wegner and I joined a training camp in the mountains of
Switzerland. In the moment we are in a training camp at the Baltic
Sea. At June 10 I will go to the US.
Edison Miranda - I started training a few weeks ago. I'm just getting
back into shape and light gym workouts. I began my heavy sparring and
work this week.
Anson Wainwright - The fight takes at 166 what difference will this
make to you as you it will be 6 pounds above the Middleweight limit?
Arthur Abraham - I think the difference is 6 pounds - no more no less.
What I mean is the difference will be not so important.
Edison Miranda - I am working with a nutritionist who is helping me a
lot. 166lbs will be tough to make, but I know if I train at 100% and
diet right, I can do it and keep my strength. It was the lowest
weight I agreed to make. I wanted the fight to be at 168lbs or
higher, but Abraham refused.
Anson Wainwright - There won't be any love lost b. Can you tell us how this fight came about?
Arthur Abraham - There are two reasons: me and my management. I want
this fight for my soul and my honour. I won the first fight with a
double broken jaw and for everybody who have seen the whole fight is
clear that I was the winner. Miranda couldn't finish me and for him
that is a drama. Miranda's style was dirty and unfair with headbutts
and low blows. And he upset my audience in the arena. So I will show
him what the reality is: I have beaten him with a broken jaw on
points, I will beat him now I am healthy by knockout. The other reason
for the decision was my management. Mr Sauerland wanted to start in
the US with a big fight - and I think the people in the US are waiting
for the fight Abraham vs. Miranda like the fans in Europe are.
Edison Miranda - (laughing) No there is far from any love between us.
I respect him for staying on his two feet when I kept beating him up,
but he knows he was given a gift that night. He is no more than a
baby inside a crib in Germany. And they will kill you in that country
if you hurt their little baby! I want to fight the best. Mikkel
Kessler most people think is the next best Super Middleweight under
Calzaghe so I targeted him. He was too scared to make the fight
happen. My managers went after all the top names, but they all had
excuses. Abraham has balls the size of a gorilla to come here and
fight me. I never thought he would ever step in the ring with me
again, so I respect his courage. But courage won't win him any points
in America.
Anson Wainwright - what do you expect from this fight?
Arthur Abraham - America is the world's number one for Boxing so I
expect a wonderful audience and an exiting fight. And I'm sure if the fight is good and fair the people will give all their respect to the winner.
Edison Miranda - I expect to play with Arthur for a few rounds and
then make him suffer until I lay him to rest on the canvas. All the
top fighters will make up excuses after. But my fans are many and
strong. They will demand for them to come out of their holes and fight
the might Panther. I will revenge my one true loss soon enough.
Anson Wainwright - Do you have a message for your opponent?
Arthur Abraham - No. Miranda is something like a "Message Man" - every
day people tell me what Miranda says in the American newspapers. But
my job is boxing and not speaking. I have beaten him in Germany; I
will beat him in the US.
Edison Miranda - Arthur, you better have a strong man with a net on
your team on each side of the ring. When I knock you trough the ropes
you will need someone there to catch you before your head hits the
hard floor.
Anson Wainwright - When you guys fought back in September 2006 Arthur's
jaw was broken and there was some controversy over the result, what
did you make of the fight?
Arthur Abraham - The controversy over the result was only in the US
where you could not have seen the whole fight. Everybody I know who has seen the 12 rounds live or in TV had no doubt, that I was the clear winner by points. Look at the
decision of the judges, look at the tape from the fight - Miranda's
head buts and low blows where not a dream, it was reality.
Edison Miranda - It was frustrating in the ring. The referee was all
over me whenever I hurt Abraham. I could not believe they let him
fight with that injury. Every time I hit him blood flew everywhere.
My entire body was covered with his blood. My white socks had turned
completely red, even inside my shoes. It was very disturbing for me to
see this happen to another person.
Anson Wainwright - Further down the road if you can win you'll have
put yourself in the public eye in America for a possible fight with
Kelly Pavlik, is this why you wanted to go to America?
Arthur Abraham - Yes. My management and I want the fight with Kelly
Pavlik. It was my aim for a long time to be the Super Champion. And
maybe we will get the chance end of this year.
Anson Wainwright - Further down the road if you can win it would open
many doors for you, would you then go after a World title at 168?
Edison Miranda - I want to fight the best. Whoever has the courage to
fight me, if that means for a belt, then great. But legacies are not
built on winning Belts. You have to beat the best.
Anson Wainwright - You have several very impressive KO's on your
record, what one do you consider the best? Did you know when you threw
the punch and it landed that the fight was over?
Arthur Abraham - There are a lot of good KO's, that's right. The KO
with Khoren Gevor maybe was one of the best. It was a tough fight and
I knocked him down in round 11that he was out for minutes. I'm looking
forward to fighting in the US for the first time and promise the
American fans that they will see an attractive and hard fight.
Edison Miranda - My best KO was over Eastman. He had never been
stopped and I was proud to show the world that Edison Miranda is for
real.
Anson Wainwright - What do you think happened with regards possible
fights with both Jean Pascal & Mikkel Kessler?
Edison Miranda - They are two little mice who went hiding. Panthers
eat mice all day long. I want to eat an elephant.
Thanks for your time champ.
Thanks for your time Pantera.
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