ADRIEN BRONER, WBC Lightweight World Champion
“It’s not a gimmick. It’s not fake. It’s not a game. I don’t put on a show for the cameras. You might take it as an act, but this is just me.
“Antonio DeMarco is a hell of a guy. He has a nice spirit. When we fought, there wasn’t any trash talking. This guy [Rees] comes in talking trash. People think that I’m playing [games], but I’m serious. I don’t know Gavin. I don’t even know his name. I don’t know if he’s playing. I just know I’m not.
“I don’t know this guy’s name, but he can probably tell you my middle name.
“I motivate myself. It doesn’t matter if I’m by myself or if there are 100 people around. I’m going to train my heart out.
“I’m always motivated and it isn’t about the money. I know that’s going to be there. I’m worried about my legacy. I want to be the best boxer ever. That’s why I do things that people haven’t done before.
“Watching tape is useless. You can watch me fight a million times and [when you get in the ring with me] you’ll say ‘He isn’t doing the things I saw before.’ When you’re looking over a fence, the grass looks green and when you get inside that fence, it’s brown as hell.
“Saturday night is going to be fun. I’ve been boxing for so long. I’ve seen so many styles. It takes me a round or two to adjust to a certain style. You never know what your opponent will bring to the table. People think I’m overlooking this guy, but I respect every boxer 110 percent.
“Everyone that’s fighting me knows what they are going up against. I’m the best boxer of this era.
“I’m a professional entertainer as well. I love to entertain. I love to put on a show. I’m a legal bank robber. The way I make these fights look, you don’t think I’m robbing a bank? It’s easy money.
“I know people don’t take me seriously sometimes. I was always told that if everybody likes you, then somebody’s lying. You’re going to have people that like you and some people that dislike you.
“I am going to do whatever I have to do to get the victory. I can take it to whatever level.
“If I have to take a shot to give three, I’ll do it. Name somebody who can hit me three times with a significant shot.”
GAVIN REES, Former World Champion
“I need to outwork him, out point him and make a big statement when I knock him out.
“It isn’t really personal. I’m quite calm and he disrespected me a little bit at the press conference. He [Broner] gave it to me and I gave it back to him a little bit. It’s just the type of character that he is.
“I want to give him [Broner] a smack in the mouth, but I’ll wait for Saturday night.
“We have fans coming over [from Wales]. By the end of the night, I think all of the fans will appreciate my skills and talent when I beat the next big thing in boxing.
“My dad worked in the mines when I was a young boy. He is a steal worker now. No one in my family is a boxer except for me.
“I lost six fights as an amateur. I turned pro at the age of 18, so I’ve lost seven fights in 23 years of boxing which isn’t too bad.
“Of course I’ve watched tapes of Broner. Some of his tactics he used against his opponents are baffling. He picked them apart. I’ll make sure there is movement in this fight and that he doesn’t have the opportunity to do to me what he did to them.
“He tries to get in your head and when DeMarco got in the ring, he lost his game plan.
“People keep asking me if he is the best guy I’ve ever fought. On paper he is, but we’ll determine that on Saturday night only after being the ring with him.”
NIKOLA SJEKLOCA, Undefeated Number One Rated Super Middleweight Contender
“I know that he [Bika] is very strong. I saw it online and on television. He can hit very hard. I don’t think he’s good technically.
“I think I have a lot of things to show [in the ring].
“My tactic is to box technically all the time.
“This is my first professional fight in the United States. I boxed in an amateur world championship fight in 1999.
“I only think about boxing. My expectations for this fight are huge.
“I watch tape. I’ve seen Sakio Bika fight. So has my coach. We have a game plan for him.”
SAKIO BIKA, Number Two Rated Super Middleweight Contender
“I have my new trainer, Kevin Cunningham. We’re working on different strategies. We’re working to beat this guy.
“I can win on a knockout to make people happy
“I have been boxing since I was seven or eight.
“For me, we learned a lot from that fight [against Jean Mendy in 2010]. That was the past and this is the present. Every single day you learn.
“I don’t want to do anything too crazy or rushed in this fight. I want to take my time.
“Everything we are working on, we need to bring it on Saturday night.”
# # #
Broner vs. Rees, a 12-round fight for Broner’s WBC Lightweight World Championship will take place Saturday, February 16 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, R & R Promotions, sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City and Corona and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. The co-main event will be a 12-round WBC super middleweight title eliminator between undefeated number one rated contender Nikola Sjekloca and number two rated contender Sakio Bika.
Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, are available for purchase at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
