Ryan Garcia vs Rukiya Anpo press conference quotes
Hard-hitting boxing superstar “King” Ryan Garcia and Japanese kickboxing sensation Rukiya Anpo went face-to-face at a press conference in Beverly Hills on Tuesday ahead of their special exhibition showdown presented by RIZIN and FANMIO taking place Monday, December 30 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT (U.S. date and time) live from Tokyo, Japan.
The event is co-promoted by RIZIN and FANMIO, and available worldwide on FANMIO PPV, excluding Japan. End-of-year combat sports have a proud and storied history in Japan, with huge events taking place around New Year’s Eve annually. Garcia vs. Anpo will add to that much-celebrated tradition as FANMIO helps bring it to worldwide audiences with one of America’s biggest boxing stars, Garcia.
The fascinating contrast of styles will be fought at 153-pounds, with full boxing rules implemented across eight two-minute rounds.
The pay-per-view presentation will be available for purchase worldwide at FANMIO.com/PPV, excluding Japan. Fans can also purchase through the FANMIO App, which is available globally via smart televisions and mobile devices via Apple iOS and tvOS devices, Android Mobile, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, Vizio Smart TV, Google TV and Chromecast.
Tuesday’s press conference saw the two combatants verbally spar throughout the proceedings, with each promising a KO victory on December 30. Here is what the press conference participants had to say Tuesday:
RYAN GARCIA
“He tried to knock out Manny Pacquiao and it pissed me off, so now I have to teach him a lesson and teach him how to box. He’s got some size and he’s real excited right now, but I’m gonna have to settle him down and knock him out. We’re gonna put a whooping on this boy.
“His energy is definitely waking me up. I was ready to enjoy the festivities but now he’s waking the dragon up. I’m definitely looking to knock him out now.
“He’s a young fighter who was trying to make a statement against a legend in Manny Pacquiao. That rubbed me the wrong way and now I’m here to show him someone in his prime with speed and power.
“I beat up a pound-for-pound champion, and you are not at that level. You’re gonna get a whooping. You’re not good, you’re just big. I’m gonna knock you out in front of the world. You may think this is Hollywood, but this is for real. You’re gonna see who the ‘King’ is.
“He’s gonna be the bigger man in that ring. We had to give him something to give him hope. We’re going to adjust and ultimately my skills are going to put me over the top. He’s training like this is a world title fight, so we can’t take this lightly.
“I went to Japan this summer to watch Manny Pacquiao and I’m excited to be going back there for this amazing event. Japan is one of the sports capitals of the world and I can’t wait to be there and meet the fans.”
RUKIYA ANPO
“Hello America! Today I have something I’d like to say directly to Ryan. We know that Ryan likes to make excuses, miss weight and lacks professionalism. He’s got no sportsmanship and no respect. Yet he dares to call himself ‘King’. On fight day I will show him that we fight for honour and legacy. I bring the real Samurai spirit and will show him exactly where he belongs.
“As a professional, you have to put on a fun and entertaining fight for the fans. I regret that I couldn’t finish Manny Pacquiao. That’s what we train to do in every fight. I have even more motivation this time and I will knock him out and finish Ryan Garcia as a professional.
“He says he doesn’t know who I am, but he will find out on fight day. I will put everything into this fight because I believe in myself and know I will win. I will announce Rukiya Anpo to the global audience.
“He’s got a world-class left hook, I’ll give him that. I’ll be aware of it and I’ll be ready for it. He’s unpolished and gets sloppy and over the course of the fight I’ll take advantage of that.
“I know how big of an opportunity this is and I know what’s at stake. But I’m not satisfied just being here. I want to show everything I can do in this fight and I won’t be satisfied until I knock him out. I want to take my name to the next level because of what I do in the ring.
“He better be grateful to me, I gave him this opportunity. I’ve fought in front of 50,000 people, he doesn’t know what he’s in for.
“I feel he’s been very disrespectful to the sport. He’s a fake ‘King’.
DERRICK JAMES, Garcia’s Trainer
“My focus is on making sure Ryan comes into the ring the best that he can be and ready to get the job done. That’s what it’s all about and that’s what we’re here to do.
“I always say that it’s not about how you view your opponent, it’s about how they view you. He obviously sees Ryan as a great threat, so he’s gonna come out and fight. We have to be prepared for that and match how hard he’s gonna train for this.”
TAKEYUKI NAKAO, Anpo’s Trainer
“My job is to make sure my fighter is prepared to have his hand raised, no matter who they’re facing. I’m making sure that Rukiya prepares well and that he’s ready to win this fight.
“We have everything perfectly prepared for this fight. We don’t know what his speed will be like until we fight, but we can take care of that with positioning and angles.”
HENRY GARCIA, Garcia’s Father
“My son has the skills to go to another level. We’re going to be really prepared for this fight and I hope that Anpo is ready, because we definitely will be.”
NOBUYUKI SAKAKIBARA, Founder & CEO of Rizin Fighting Federation
“We are very excited to announce Ryan Garcia vs. Rukiya Anpo to fight fans around the world. I believe this will be the most watched Rizin event at the end of the year because of all this star power. New Year’s Eve combat sports are a great tradition in Japan and we are so excited to be able to bring two superstars together for this fight.
“I want to thank Solomon Engel from Fanmio for being a great co-promoter. Together we are working to bring an environment so that we can bring the fight of the century to the entire world.”
SOLOMON ENGEL, CEO of Fanmio
“Ryan and Anpo is going to be a great matchup and we’re very excited about working with Rizin for this event and into the future. This is going to be a very entertaining fight. Ryan has incredible skills and Anpo is a sizeable fighter, so we think the combination is going to be electric.”