PRESS RELEASE: Two undefeated boxing world champions—WBA heavyweight king Nikolai “Giant Russian” Valuev and WBC light heavyweight titlist Tomasz Adamek—worked out for the media in Chicago at Jabb Gym in preparation for their title defenses at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., on Saturday and on HBO beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Valuev will defend against Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett and Adamek finds himself in a re-match with Paul “Firepower” Briggs, which was one of last year’s best bouts.
Listed below, please find quotes from the fighters:
Nikolai “Giant Russian” Valuev
“It means a lot for me to be fighting in America. This is a very important fight for me. I want to win over the hearts of the American people and I know the best way to do this is with a strong performance on Saturday night.
“I don’t know much about my opponent’s before I fight them but I respect them all. I expect a great fight on Saturday.”
Tomasz Adamek
“I will not fight Briggs the same way I did the first time we met. I suffered a broken nose in training three weeks before the match and was swallowing blood the whole fight.
“I promise my performance will be better than my last fight where I scored a knockout over Thomas Ulrich in Dusseldorf in the sixth round (10/15/06). I liked my jab that night. Briggs will face that jab plus double- and triple-jab combinations.
“I expect Paul Briggs to be completely surprised and confused on Saturday.”
Buddy McGirt (Adamek’s new co-trainer): “Tomasz is a very good fighter and has the potential to be an even greater fighter.
“I watched three different rounds from his first fight with Briggs at the beginning, middle and end of the match to see if anything changed in the fight. Nothing did.
“I saw weaknesses in Briggs that were not exploited due to the broken nose Tomasz suffered in training just before the fight. He looked like he was in survival mode. He did enough to win the championship in a brutal fight.
“People talk about what a great jab Tomasz has and it’s true. The scary part for Briggs is that his right hand is better than his jab.”
Andrew Gimitruk (legendary Polish trainer and longtime Adamek coach who had heart by-pass surgery early this year): “I hope Paul Briggs will attack Tomasz just as he did in their first fight. If he does, the fight will be shorter than Tomasz’s sixth-round knockout over Thomas Ulrich in Dusseldorf in October.”
