Angulo vs Lara: Final press conference quotes

ALFREDO ANGULO

"I want to thank everybody involved for this opportunity. I've always wanted to fight a great Cuban fighter. I never had the opportunity before, but now I do. I know some people were surprised that I took this fight, but I've always wanted to fight the best. Why fight a guy who isn't ranked?

"I've worked extremely hard for this. I'm ready to fight. Lara is a great boxer with a lot of skills. I know I can't let him dictate the pace or fight his fight.

"If you want to know how I'm going to do it, how I'm going to make him fight my fight, buy a ticket or tune in on SHOWTIME. Whether he comes to fight, or comes to run, I'll see him in the ring on Saturday."

ERISLANDY LARA

"I'm very happy to be in this fight against Angulo and I want to thank America for the opportunity to fight this Saturday.

"I've done tremendous work and I'm ready to fight. I'm focused on this fight and only this fight. Angulo is a good, strong fighter, one of the best in the division, so there is no way I'm taking him lightly. This is a great fight for fans, a chance to see two of the best 154-pounders in the world.

"The key in this fight for me is to work and put consistent damage on him. I want to be the clear-cut winner of every round.

"This will be the fourth time in my last six fights that I am fighting a top-10 contender. I keep proving myself fight in and fight out."

VIRGIL HUNTER, Angulo's Trainer

"With Alfredo it's really about his conditioning right now. You're looking at a guy who was incarcerated for seven months. He was unable to workout or exercise or do anything physical. That leads to a lot of deterioration, especially for a prizefighter. Then you have the mental side of it where you have the head guy telling you you'll never get out of there.

"The concentration has been with the conditioning. You can't teach much if he's not in the condition to apply it, so the conditioning has been first and foremost and our priority."

RONNIE SHIELDS, Lara's Trainer

"We've trained very hard and are ready. This is what we do for a living so of course we're ready.

"Erislandy Lara is a boxer, that's what he does. I think he's going to surprise Angulo with the way he can punch. He's a pure boxer. Angulo says, ‘He should be a man and stand up and fight.' That's what he wants. He wants to fight his fight. I'm sorry to tell him that he's going to have to fight our fight.