Plenty of respect but 'it's going to be a war'

FRIDAY, OCT. 12: It was more like a hippie lovefest than a pre-fight trash talking hype machine.

But make no mistake, come Saturday night Teresa Perozzi and Tori Nelson are going to leave it all in the ring as they try to unify the WBA and WBC middleweight titles.

At a press conference yesterday afternoon at the Fairmont Southampton — which will also be hosting the fight — the pair heaped praise upon one another, but they were very clear they had one goal — win the belts.

Perozzi said: “I wanted to step up and I’ve been impressed with Tori, with what little I’ve seen.

“When I retire, which is probably not too far down the road, I want to say I fought tough competition. I am just grateful she has come here because a lot of people don’t like to come other people’s homes, but I respect that about her.

“When the bells goes, we’re both going to (try to) win. But I feel a connection to her because she has heart. She has determination. She’s a mother; she works two jobs. She is not here for a payday and a vacation and I respect that. It’s going to be a great fight.

Faith

“Without faith I am nothing. God is my everything. Boxing choose me as I wanted to be a state trooper, but God had a different plan for me. I know that I am following him, I am going to be successful.”

Nelson said: “I want to thank Teresa for the nice things that she said. It’s real classy and respectful and I thank you for that.”

Nelson’s manager Craig Fladager said: “People think you have to have a press conference where people threaten each other, have bad blood and trash talk, but I guarantee you these two girls, with the class that they have — it’s going to be a war, but you don’t have to hate each other.

Refreshing

“This is refreshing and I want to thank Teresa but it won’t have to take away from the effort of the girls.”

Perozzi had her own words of thanks and hinted that retirement is not too far away in the future.

“I just want to make my coach, my family and everybody proud. I know I’ll do my best, no matter what the outcome is. I am going to give my best.”

She said fight in front of the home crowd makes her feel a bit nervous but once the bell goes ding, she is ready to rumble.

Perozzi said she is hoping this will help give boxing a higher profile in Bermuda and get it back where it belongs.

I just hope this finally is getting boxing back where it belongs.

“I’m on my way out. I’m not trying to be a 40 year old something grandmother doing this. I said I was going out with a bang on my 40th birthday so hopefully by then we really would have made something happen in Bermuda.”

The All or Nothing fight card includes 10 bouts, some of which are kickboxing.

It also features Jennifer Salinas versus Karen Dulin in a featured match. Salinas has a record of 12-0 while Dulin is 2-1.

The other featured bout is Sentwali Woolridge versus Daniel Kechego.

The doors open at 7pm with the first scheduled bout at 8pm.

Tickets are available at www.ptix.bm and are $65 for general admission and $95 for ringside seating.