LAS VEGAS (Nov. 18, 2021)—Before WBO welterweight world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford and two-time champion “Showtime” Shawn Porter battle for division supremacy, a loaded PPV undercard and a pair of can’t-miss featherweight fights will set the stage Saturday, Nov. 20 at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The PPV co-feature, a 12-round IBF middleweight world title eliminator, will see Brazilian 2012 Olympic silver medalist Esquiva “La Pantera” Falcao fight fellow unbeaten Patrice Volny.
The PPV telecast also includes a 10-round middleweight tilt between rising star Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly and former world champion Hassan N’Dam, and an eight-round lightweight duel between unbeaten prospect Raymond “Danger” Muratalla and Elias Araujo.
Presented by Top Rank and TGB Promotions, Crawford-Porter will be a Top Rank PPV exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. CLICK HERE to view the ESPN+ order page.
The televised undercard (ESPN2 & ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) will feature former junior featherweight world champion Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe against two-time title challenger Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz, and an eight-round featherweight rematch between Adam Lopez and Adan Ochoa. Lopez defeated Ochoa by four-round decision in 2017 when both fighters were undefeated prospects.
At Thursday’s undercard press conference, this is what the fighters had to say.
Esquiva Falcao
“You can be sure that I am very well prepared and I will bring the win to Brazil. I had the best training and the best sparring. I trained hard and I sparred hard and now I bring the title to Brazil. My last fight was against a Russian {Artur Akavov} and a very tough opponent. He had never been knocked down and I took him out in the fourth. I am prepared and no one will take this opportunity from me.”
Patrice Volny
“Not many people have seen me because I fight in Canada a lot. I am ready to fight. I have prepared for this and here I am on the stage in Vegas. If we have to box, we will box, and if we have to fight we will fight. I am ready for everything.
“I came to Vegas to train and I learned a little bit from each boxer I trained with. Coming to Vegas early I got to adapt and it’s been great. This is a big opportunity, and opportunities don’t happen every day, and when you get them, you’ve got to take them. We have been working many years for this.”
Janibek Alimkhanuly
“I am here to show the world ‘Qazaq Style.’ I want to put Kazakhstan on the map of boxing, not like all the other stops. My goal is not only to be a one-division champion, but to be a four-division world champion.
“I think I should have got my first shot (at a world title) yesterday. I prepare 100 percent for each fight and I don’t want to fight former world champions. I want to fight present world champions. He was a good champion – he is a former world champion – and it will be easy work.”
Hassan N’Dam
“I want to thank my team for getting me ready, and I want to thank Bob Arum, and I want to thank my opponent who went to social media to tell me to be ready for the fight. Look at me. You think I’m not ready? I am ready to face you. Saturday night I am going to respond to you in the ring, so be ready. I think you are ready and you need to be so we can do the good fight.
“This is a good fight for me, and when I win, I will be closer to a world championship, and that’s why I took the fight. I feel good at middleweight. Super middleweight was too big for me.”
Raymond Muratalla
“I feel like I’ve been putting in the work and it’s really showing. It was more difficult than I thought it would be (coming back from COVID), but I just kept training and it’s been good. In the gym (Robert Garcia Boxing Academy), there are a lot of good fighters and we are sparring a lot with a lot of different styles and just continue to learn. This (fighting on a PPV) has come a lot sooner than I thought. I put in the work and good things are coming. I am different than a lot of fighters, I have a lot of skills and I’m going to show that Saturday night. He’s an aggressive fighter – I am prepared for anything – so I’ll be good.”
Isaac Dogboe
“The losses to Navarrete helped me to see things clearly and for me to start paving my own way. Boxing has taken me places and got me to meet my new team. My new team made me realize boxing is not all about knockouts – it’s a thinking man’s game. Now I am trying to think a little bit more, enjoy the atmosphere a little bit more. With my new team – Perfecting Athletes – I can eat and drink on the day of a weigh-in and that is crazy, whereas before on fight week I’d be looking like a skeleton.
“Diaz is a tough man. We know he is an energetic fighter and he will throw overhands and uppercuts. It will be fireworks. Let it begin.”
Christopher Diaz
“{The Navarrete fight} was a great fight. I pushed through every round, and {in the 12th}, I went down three times and I got up three times like the warrior that I am. On Saturday, every time I hit him, he will feel it, and let the best man win.
“Two weeks after the last fight, they made me the offer to fight Dogboe, so I went back to the gym – let’s get it! I am here to fight the best. Will you go the 130 and fight Ito? Yes. Will you fight Navarrete? Yes. Will you fight Dogboe? Yes. So they send me the offer and here I am. Being the warrior that I am I will continue to get opportunities. It will be a great fight on Saturday night and the best man is going to win.”
Adam Lopez
“The kid is tough, and when we first fought, I have to give him credit. He was a tough competitor and had no quit in him. He’s got 12 wins and a couple losses, so that’s a winning record to me, and I’ve never turned down anybody, so let’s do it. I got pushed up quick with the {Oscar} Valdez fight. I went from a nobody to a featherweight contender. I’ve held my own against the best in the world. You all know I can fight, and I bring it every time, and it’s going to be a tough fight for sure.”
Adan Ochoa
“It’s always been on my mind since the first loss and it’s personal to me. I’m not the same fighter I was four years ago. I was barely an amateur transitioning into professional and now I feel like I’m ready for this. There is no animosity – it is just a loss that has stayed in the back of my mind. You can expect fireworks. I am going to go straight at him and do what I’ve got to do to win.”
SATURDAY, November 20, 2021
ESPN+ PPV, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter, 12 rounds, Crawford’s WBO Welterweight World Title
Esquiva Falcao vs. Patrice Volny, 12 rounds, IBF Middleweight Title Eliminator
Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Hassan N’Dam, 10 rounds, Alimkhanuly’s WBC Continental Americas and WBO Global Middleweight Titles
Raymond Muratalla vs. Elias Araujo, 8 rounds, lightweight
ESPN2 & ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Isaac Dogboe vs. Christopher Diaz, 10 rounds, Dogboe’s NABF Featherweight Title
Adam Lopez vs. Adan Ochoa, 8 rounds, featherweight
ESPN APP (no paywall), 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
Karlos Balderas vs. Julio Cortez, 6 rounds, junior lightweight
Tiger Johnson vs. Antonius Grable, 4 rounds, welterweight
