LOU DIBELLA ALL IN ON THE CHARLO BROTHERS! 

Congrats on a great show at the Barclay’s Center the other night, can you give us some thoughts on the card FROM TOP TO BOTTOM?(laughs) The undercard was exactly what it we knew it was going to be. It was entertaining, people started coming in early because the fights were quality. We peaked at almost 14,000 people which was beyond the success we expected. It’s showing that we’ve really built a franchise with Brooklyn Boxing and a card like this where Showtime puts on three quality fights featuring up and coming star fighters leading into the main event is sensational. The main event was a crossroads match between AB and Vargas, both of them came into the ring with a real point to make and that fight wound up being super competitive. I don’t think many people argued with the draw, it was an exciting fight with ebbs and flows and it was overall a great, great night for boxing in New York.

Lou DiBella: “I had no problem with the decision. I wasn’t scoring every single round, but I thought Vargas controlled the beginning of the fight, Broner took over at the end, but I gave the last round to Vargas and I have no issue with the draw.”

LD: “Hugo is a good fighter, but his chin had been checked before so I knew the knockout was a possibility, but the Charlo brothers take no prisoners. They go out there with bad intentions and a chip on their shoulder and they want to produce early. Jermall is an offensive machine, he really is. From the standpoint of quick overwhelming offense, he probably brings it more than anybody in the middleweight division and you can say that this early because it’s been consistent with what he brought to 154 too. I mean the guy is an offensive machine. He’s a very physically strong fighter and a devastating puncher with accuracy. He’s also a closer and if he senses you’re hurt or on your back foot then he really goes after you. If you look at the social media banter, I believe he made a big statement on the show.”

LD: “No. Golovkin is going to be looking at Canelo in September then he’s got the IBF mandatory due, Charlo is the WBC mandatory and I can’t see him looking to fight any other dangerous middleweights right now. I think they’re going to play with each other for a while. Golovkin won the first fight and they jobbed him, if Canelo wins a close fight this time I don’t expect to see them do anything other than fight each other.”

LD: “I think it would be pretty cool. I think it would be great to have them both on the same event. They’ve got a brand, they’re twins, they’ve got attitude, they’re charismatic no matter what anybody may think of them. I’m telling you G, they’re very charismatic guys and it’s hard to take your eyes of what they’re doing and they’ve got this edge that a lot of people interpret as anger, but I don’t think it’s anger, I think it’s passion. They fight like they’ve got a chip on their shoulder because they know how good they are. I think part of it is also they understand their power as entertainers and these guys are as entertaining as it gets in boxing right now. I’m sold on the Charlo brothers, I think they bring an intensity most guys don’t bring and I think boxing fans are receptive to it. I certainly think they could headline, I also think it’s time for them to have their own event.”

LD: “The little bastard is a really good fighter. (laughs) He’s got really fast hands and he’s no joke. He’s very accurate, he’s a very, very skilled kid. He’s really very good and he’s got fast hands and he’s pretty fundamentally sound. I actually thought an I said this on social media, that both Broner and Davis looked to be somewhat improved after working with Kevin Cunningham.”

LD: “That’s correct and we saw a Tank Davis that was sharp from the first bell with accurate shots. He was focused, in shape and he didn’t struggle at all to make the weight. Sometimes with Broner could get caught up with some of the things that he says, but he was in great shape and there’s no question he was in control for the second half of the fight. I give a lot of credit to Kevin Cunningham for doing a really good job with both guys.”

LD: “I’m looking forward to that show, there’s going to be a lot of talent on that show and local talent on that show with Mykquan Williams and Shelly Vincent. We’ve got George Kambosos on the card and many people believe he’s the best young fighter out of Austrailia right now. He’s a lightweight with a tremendous amount of tenacity in the ring. He’s an offensive minded guy, he’s a volume puncher, very active. I think he’s got the potential to have a really strong following over here. He’s an interesting kid, he’s shredded and tatted up, but as a young kid he was bullied a lot and that’s what turned him into a fighter. It’s why he pursued this game and now he’s an anti-bullying advocate, which I am very familiar with because of my experience with Sergio Martinez. Kambosos was bullied because of the poverty he grew up in and he was overweight, but you look at him now and you’d never see a kid that was overweight. He’s just an really interesting cat and I can’t wait for him to make his American debut on that card.”

LD: “Sometime over the summer.”

LD: “Sometime this summer.”

LD: “I’m not going to comment on it because we’re still in court. The process continues, it wasn’t a final judgement. I think everybody interested should get a copy of the decision and read it. It’s public record and I think it’s something interesting for people to read. It’s an indication of how problematic the whole testing system is, the rules that handle it and the way it’s governed as well. Drug testing in boxing is a mess, even when you get positive tests.”