Photos: Miguel Cotto vs. James Kirkland Media Tour

NEW YORK, NY - Five-Time World Champion Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) and James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) participated in a media tour with stops in New York City and Los Angeles to address the media on their upcoming showdown on Saturday, February 25 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Dubbed as “The Return”, the 12-round junior middleweight contest will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets priced at $304, $204, $154, $104, $79, $54 and $29 not including applicable service charges and taxes are available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at (800) 745-3000 and the AT&T Stadium box office.

Michael Yormark – Roc Nation President & Chief of Branding and Strategy

“On Feb. 25 at Ford Center at The Star, we will witness the big return of boxing legend Miguel Cotto. This is the first pay-per-view fight of the year and this will be Miguel Cotto’s 10th pay-per-view fight of his career. I know there has been some stories and comments out of the market, pre-holiday, regarding the pay-per-view status of this fight. Miguel Cotto has been a pay-per-view fighter for a long time. He is a pay-per-view fighter. This fight belongs on pay-per-view.

“We priced this fight very attractively, $49.95. We listened to consumers, we heard what they wanted to see. HBO heard what they wanted too which is why we priced it at $49.95, a great value proposition. Think about what this fight is going to be…action packed…and will probably end in a knock out. So people who buy this fight can anticipate a lot of action, hard punching and probably a knockout. That is what people what to see, that is what they are willing to investment their money in if they are confident that they are going to get it.

“James Kirkland is an aggressive and lethal opponent. The perfect opponent for Miguel Cotto. From the opening bell, you are going to see action. That is what this fight is all about. For as long as it lasts, it’s going to be a brawl and whoever wins this fight, will move on to a huge fight in 2017. So, there is a lot at stake here.

“It’s all about entertainment and it’s all about value proposition. We know that people want to see this fight. The local market place is telling us that. We have sold over 50% of our tickets during the holidays. Now typically as you know, people don’t usually buy tickets during the holiday but we ‘ve got a great partner in Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, who have really been promoting this fight, very aggressively. We’ve sold over 50% of the inventory with seven weeks to go so people are showing that they want to see this fight.

“We have a great relationship with Jerry Jones and the Cowboys organization through our client, Dez Bryant. We knew that Jerry was looking for a high profile event to bring as the first professional sporting event to The Star. Jerry also has an incredible passion for boxing. With all of the success that he had promoting with Oscar De La Hoya and the Canelo fight that took place at AT&T Stadium, we sat down with Jerry and his team and asked if he would be interested in doing this fight and he said absolutely. Let’s not forget that the Cowboys have the largest Hispanic following in the NFL. We know that is going to help us sell tickets; it already has. Jerry Jones is clearly one of the greatest promoters in the world whether it’s the Cowboys or any event that he brings into one of his venues. He is the best of the best and his marketing team is second to none. You add all of that together and you’ve got a great, no-lose combination. Then you have a great, action packed fight. This was the right venue at the right time, in the right market with the right partner.”

Cotto vs. Kirkland is a 12-round junior middleweight fight presented by Roc Nation Sports and Miguel Cotto Promotions and Ford Center at The Star, and is sponsored by Corona Extra. The event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.