Fighters Michael Katsidis, Robert Guerrero and James Kirkland spoke to members of the media yesterday regarding their upcoming bouts on the undercard of Morales vs. Maidana, April 9th in Las Vegas, NV.
Guerrero and Katsidis are set to do battle in what will be a explosive lightweight bout while Kirkland will have this third bout in two months time. Below are selected quotes from the conference call.
Michael Katsidis: “Well, training has been as per usual, Richard. We’ve been doing the same thing for a long time now. We come to Thailand approximately a couple of months before every fight and it’s hot and we do the work. I can expect a very tough night come April.”
Q:Why is it that you picked Thailand as a training camp?
Michael Katsidis: “Well, it’s not comfortable in the ring and I think Thailand, of all places, just gets by, just needs the bare necessities, so it’s very tough and rugged conditions here. There are very few luxuries. If you can become comfortable in those surroundings, well, I guess you feel a little bit more at home in the ring, in the fire. So I guess that’s probably the reason why we come here. The other thing is it works, so if something isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”
“You just have to dig deep. I have a belief that if something doesn’t kill you it only makes you stronger. This is one of those things. If we can work through that camp, as we did for the Márquez one, it’s been a hell of a lot better working for this camp. I can sleep well at night. There is no problem. Everything is going very, very well in those regards. So you just really have to dig deep and when I look inside I always aim to find more, so I’m motivated for it.”
Robert Guerrero: “It’s going to be a great fight. I’m excited about this fight. I can’t wait until April 9th. This is actually the first time I’ve been out in an actual training camp. I mean it’s been quite a few years already, so I think you’re going to see a whole different Robert Guerrero this fight.”
“Michael is a tough fighter. I mean he comes to fight every fight. It’s going to take a lot to beat him. You’ve got to be well prepared. You’ve got to train hard. Everything has to be right throughout the camp, you know, the food, everything you do. You can’t leave no stone unturned and that’s what I’m doing. I’m excited about it, because this is truly a fan’s fight right here where you’re going to see two guys go at it and give it their all.”
James Kirkland: “I want to start this off by letting everybody know God has been good to me. I give all honors and glory to God right now for giving me this opportunity, being able to talk to you all and get not a second chance, but more like a third chance as far as my criminal background. No longer is that ever going to be a problem again, because I’m not going to let it take any action in my life any more.”
“I got to let everybody know, man, being with Kenny Adams and with Chris and starting a new training camp away from my baseline has been beautiful. Kenny Adams, he knows all of the ropes. He’s worked with tons of world champions and he’s just adding. We’re putting a package together as far as with this training to be unstoppable and just working hard, hitting the gym as much as possible.”
“Yes, I love to fight, I love the thrill of action, a person wanting to try to take advantage-what’s the word?-try to bring all that he can bring to you in the ring. I just love a fight and someone wanting to come in this training camp and being with Kenny Adams and he’s giving me how to sit down all the punches, how to be able to keep my defense to a certain ability, but not lose my offense at the same time. It’s just nice, man, as far as switching my environment, from being in a negative environment and then coming to a positive environment as far as switching friends and changing up my whole lifestyle and eventually bringing my family down here, it’s just wonderful.”
