NEW YORK CITY - On Thursday afternoon at The Refinery Hotel Rooftop Lounge in Manhattan, WBA/IBO Middleweight World Champion Gennady Golovkin and top rated challenger Curtis Stevens held court for their final press conference in front of a massive crowd of local media.

Master of ceremonies for the press conference was Hall of Fame Ring Announcer Michael Buffer. Below are select quotes from the participants

CURTIS STEVENS

“Thanks very much to HBO, Madison Square Garden, Main Events, K2 and GGG Promotions, I’m ready to become the middleweight champion of the world.”

“Come Saturday night, I’m gonna **** Gennady Golovkin up!”

GENNADY GOLOVKIN

‘Thanks very much to my team, Abel and Tom.

“I have just one question for you Stevens, ‘are you serious’”?

TOM LOEFFLER (K2 Promotions)

“This event has truly taken on a life of it’s own since it was announced.”

“It’s terrific to be back at “The Mecca of Boxing” promoting this event.”

KATHY DUVA (Main Events)

“It’s good to be back at Madison Square Garden working with Joel Fisher and his team. They’re fabulous to work with and we’re looking forward to an exciting event.”

MIKE PEREZ

‘Thanks very much to everyone for making this possible, I can’t wait until Saturday night. I hope everyone enjoys the fight.”

 

SAMPSON LEWKOWICZ (Sampson Promotions LLC)

“We were offered the fight and the next day we agreed to it. They offered five other fighters the opportunity to fight Mike Perez, but we accepted right away.”

 

MAGOMED ABDUSALAMOV

“This is a great opportunity and I’m looking forward to putting on a great show on Saturday night.”

ABOUT “GOLOVKIN VS. STEVENS”:

Golovkin vs. Stevens is a 12-round bout for Golovkin’s WBA and IBO Middleweight World Championship, presented by K2 Promotions in association with Main Events, GGG Promotions and Madison Square Garden. In the HBO televised co-feature, undefeated heavyweights Mike Perez and Magomed Abdusalamov will clash in a 10-round bout presented in association with Sampson Boxing LLC.