A press conference took place Wednesday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn as Floyd Mayweather along with several New York boxing “ambassadors” signified the return of boxing to New York by announcing the WBC/IBF super middleweight world championship unification fight featuring Badou Jack against James DeGale that will take place Saturday, January 14 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and live on SHOWTIME.

Photo: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

Also announced on Wednesday and featured on the telecast is undefeated IBF jr lightweight world champion Jose “Sniper” Pedraza taking on unbeaten rising contender Gervonta “The One” Davis.

Here is what the participants had to say Wednesday:

Photo: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

Badou Jack: “I think this will be an exciting fight. I’m going to give it my all and he’s going to give it his all. This is a bigger fight than anything we’ve been a part of. He’s going to turn it up and so will I. Now it’s me and DeGale. All the other fights are in the past. We’ve had different results against the same fighters. But none of that matters, it’s time to fight…I like being the underdog. If I’m the underdog in this fight, then that’s perfect for me. There won’t be any excuses when I beat him.”

James DeGale: “It’s here. The big one. The best fighting the best. Number one against number two. Badou Jack is a very good fighter. He doesn’t do anything spectacular, but he’s a compete fighter…Me and Badou Jack are two different fighters. I think I’m going to beat him wide on the scorecards or stop him.”

Photo: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

Jose Pedraza: “I’m thankful to everyone here and my people from New York who I know will be supporting me on fight night…If Davis says he has to be killed to be beaten, then he’s going to have to go down. I’m undefeated and I will remain undefeated after January 14. I know Davis is a strong kid, but he isn’t on my level. I am looking to dominate this fight.”

Gervonta Davis: “There’s nothing Pedraza can bring to the ring that I haven’t seen before. I’ve been battle-tested inside the ring and outside the ring. He’s going to have to kill me to retain his title. I’m coming home a champion. There’s no doubt about it…I’m going to steal the show on January 14. I’m going to get Pedraza out of there and then work to unify the division against the other champs.”