Artur Beterbiev, the Russian-born puncher who\u00a0moved to Montreal nearly a decade ago to begin his professional career, will finally get the chance to defend his titles in his adopted hometown. Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs), boxing’s only world champion with a 100 percent knockout rate, will defend his WBC and IBF light heavyweight titles against 2012 U.S. Olympian Marcus Browne this Friday at Bell Centre in Montreal.<\/p>\n
Browne (24-1, 16 KOs), who once held an interim world title, returned to the ring in April with a 10-round decision over Denis Grachev. He lost his interim belt in August 2019 via technical decision to Jean Pascal, which came off the heels of his career-best victory over Badou Jack. Browne, in his first bout outside of the United States, hopes to stun Beterbiev, who is upwards of an 11-1 betting favorite.<\/p>\n
Beterbiev unified world titles in October 2019 with a 10th-round TKO over Oleksandr Gvozdyk and returned to action in March with a 10th-round stoppage\u00a0over Adam Deines.<\/p>\n
At Wednesday’s\u00a0press conference, this is what the main event\u00a0fighters and their trainers had to say.<\/p>\n
Artur Beterbiev<\/b><\/p>\n
“We are ready. We had a good training camp, and I am ready to show my best on Friday night.”<\/p>\n
Marc Ramsay (Beterbiev’s Trainer)<\/b><\/p>\n
“I\u2019m very enthusiastic about this fight. It\u2019s been a long time since we have been able to defend the titles in front of a crowd in Montreal, and we look forward to that. It\u2019s been a great training camp. We\u2019ve seen Marcus before, so we know his strengths and weaknesses, and you will see what happens on Friday night.”<\/p>\n
Marcus Browne\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
“We trained hard for the fight. He\u2019s a tough customer, but on Friday night, we are changing the narrative.”<\/p>\n
“I wouldn\u2019t be here if I didn\u2019t believe, and come Friday night, you will see. I\u2019m tired of talking.\u00a0I want to fight.”<\/p>\n
Derrick James (Browne’s Trainer)<\/b><\/p>\n
“We\u2019re very happy to be here. I found out when we got here that Marcus was a huge underdog,\u00a0and we embrace that. This will be a historic fight. After Marcus wins the title, it will make me the only trainer in history to have three unified champions at the same time:\u00a0Marcus Browne, Jermell Charlo, and Errol Spence.”<\/p>\n
“I know who I am. I know Marcus will do what I ask him to do. When he came to me, he was already a good fighter and I just helped him build on that. I believe in myself, and I believe in Marcus.”<\/p>\n
Friday, December 17, 2021<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n