HBO, DiBella and Santana accepts fight…waiting on Salita to accept!

RC: There has been rumblings going on about a possible match up between your guy Edgar Santana and undefeated Dmitriy Salita, what can you tell us about that?
ED: Well I was approached by the folks over at DiBella Entertainment (DBE) and they asked me if I would be willing to fight dimity Salita in February on Boxing After Dark (HBO) and I said yes. After that Lou DiBella came up to me at the fight on Wednesday November 15th basically saying that…. pretty much saying that he wanted to make the fight. HBO has approved the match up, he (DiBella) already had my yes and Santana’s yes, and all we are waiting for is for Dmitriy Salita to say yes and that is where we stand. We are just waiting for Dmitriy Salita to say yes, but as far as I am concerned everyone else said yes, and with them it’s a go.

RC: Is this the type of fight you wanted for Edgar at this point in his career or is this a situation where the opportunity is just to good to turn down fighting on HBO?
ED: It’s an opportunity that came to us; we never thought that we would be fighting Salita at all. He is part of the DBE family, but is an opportunity DiBella presented to us so we will take it, absolutely.

RC: Two of NY’s up and coming prospects (Frankie “Gato” Figueroa & Joey Rios) recently clashed on the Klitschko-Brock under card a little over a week ago, and from what I understand Edgar was offered the fight on that card. In a lot of peoples eyes, without looking at the bigger picture some may look at is as if Santana wanted no parts of either of them, why don’t you give us your side?
ED: The truth of the matter is the whole “Gato” Figueroa and Joey Rios thing we had no evolvement in that, Jim Borzell made it seem as if Edgar Santana is part of his mix and that he can select and he can match make Edgar Santana, and that’s not the truth. We don’t do business with Jim Borzell, we have our own match maker and his name is Joe Quiambo and he works for DBE. We have initially been asked about fighting at the garden, but again outside of the fact, well before it even came down to opponent I just didn’t like the setup at the garden that night, we were going to be deep in the undercard off TV for no real money, so regardless of who the opponent was, I didn’t like the situation at the garden anyway and I immediately asked for my own show which is what DBE gave me on November 15th. So as far as me fighting Joey Rios, Gato Figueroa or any of those people, it never even got to that stage I turned down fighting at the garden because it was just not a good look for us. We have a much better look at the Hammerstein ballroom, we did a main event, sports New York shows it and I wasn’t about to let my fighter just be a ticket seller to fill up for a K2 show. I don’t do business with Jim Borzell, I mean I like him, he is a nice guy but we never got into the discussion so it was very premature for anyone to say that we turned down any type of opponent

RC: In your opinion what do you think that chances of this fight actually coming to fruition are between Santana and Salita?
ED: I think It was had a very good chance of it happening because of the act that HBO has already approved the match up and they are the ones who write the checks, and there is a rule, it is called the golden rule. The guys with the gold, makes the rules and HBO wants the fight. Lou DiBella wants the fight and I am not necessarily sure where Dmitriy Salita’s head is at, I haven’t had an opportunity to speak to him. But if his promoter wants it and the networks want it, and we want it I am not really sure what his hesitations are.

RC: And I am quite sure the people want it…
ED: And I bet the people want it as well, I know that my fans will come out, I know that Dmitry’s fans will come out I know that the writers want it, I know that New York wants it. It is a good fight for the Jr. Welterweight division; it’s a very good match.

RC: Do you think Gato Figueroa, the winner Battle of the Bronx Showdown that took place on November 11th at Garden deserves a shot at the winner of Salita-Santana if they fight can be take place on a comparable stage, to see just who the best Jr. Welterweight in NY is?
ED: I think that it just so happens that Salita and Santana are in New York, I don see this as who is the best Jr. Welterweight in New York. I am gunning for best Jr. welterweight in the world, and Salita is a respected contender, it just so happens that he is in NY. My aspirations for Edgar Santana are big and beyond NY. It just so happens we are fighting in NY, so any other opponents post Salita we can talk about it Post Salita, but these guys gotta bring something to the table.

My goal for Edgar Santana is two fold; my number one goal for when he retires is I want my fighter to be healthy and wealthy, and anything that takes me to help him do that, that is what I am going to do. I am not looking for school ground playground street tough bragging rights, I beat you, you beat me kinda fights. I want my fighter to retire healthy and wealthy, that’s how I make my decisions.

RC: Obviously this is a fight that will have to take place in New York to capitalize…
ED: (Cutting in) Let me tell you New York is the largest TV capital in the world, it is the largest media market in the world, it is the greatest city in the world so when you say it is a fight for New York, it is a lot bigger that means that everybody is paying attention to it, New York city and Las Vegas are the boxing capitals of the world. So when you say New York, it just so happens it is a big deal. Also when you think New York… You are fighting on a world stage, so that’s why it is a big match up. Just so happens we happen to be here in New York. It will be an international stage; it is going to be lots of different people. All Latinos are going to come out; his loyal fan base from Brooklyn is going to come out. I am sure people in the Ukraine are going to follow it, people in Israel are going to follow it, people in Puerto Rico are going to follow, our west coast Mexican fans are going to follow it just so happens the fight is in New York but it is not a local fight. This is a global fight, and international fight and it will be on the world stage.

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