Tonight (January 22nd) at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, junior welterweight contenders Petros Ananyan and Subriel Matías meet in a twelve-round rematch on Showtime. Recently, Matias sat for an
extended interview with Boxingtalk to discuss his 2020 decision loss to Ananyan. Now fight day is upon us, and here is what Matias (17-1) and Ananyan (16-2-2) had to say at the final press conference earlier this week:
SUBRIEL MATIAS
“This is a great opportunity for me to show the world who I am. I’m so excited that my mom is here to watch me fight for the first time in the U.S. I’m excited and I’m ready. Saturday is showtime.
“On Saturday you’re going to see my improvements. All of the questions about me and about what happened in the first fight, they’re going to be answered in this fight.
“It’s either him or me, but one of us is getting knocked out. I need to make this a big victory to redeem myself and my career.
“I’ve always promised my mother since we started boxing that I’m going to buy her a home of her own. I haven’t done that yet, but I promise I’m going to fulfill that promise.
“Everyone knows how I fight and that I’m a fan-friendly fighter. That’s not going to change, but I’m so much better in so many ways and I’m going to display my skills in this fight.”
PETROS ANANYAN
“This fight is a very good opportunity for me. I’m ready to give everyone a big fight. I have to thank Matias, because he’s giving me this chance to fight him again on a big stage like this.
“Everyone knows it’s been difficult through the pandemic and I’ve been wanting this fight throughout the whole time. I promise I’m going to be ready on Saturday night. I’ve been waiting for a long time for this one.
“I’m just taking it one step at a time. I want to be world champion one day, but those fights don’t matter to me yet. It’s all about this fight on Saturday night.
“I believe in my heart that I’m ready. I just love to fight. Knockout or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to show my skills and give it my all to win this fight. This is the kind of fight that boxing needs.”
