Shine Fights upcoming “Worlds Collide” event has been gaining plenty of momentum leading up to fight night May 15. They have a superb line-up and a great card in store for fight fans.
At their press conference in New York City, the historical upcoming event got a double shot of nitrous to increase that momentum.
Thursday’s press conference at Victor’s Cafe was quite a turbulent experience and really increased the ever growing bad blood between the main event fighters, UFC veteran Din Thomas and former boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga.
Din Thomas has been very vocal about his discontent with the perceived disrespect many in the boxing community have been giving his beloved sport of mixed martial arts.
He recently told Todd Jackson, “I’m a boxing fan and I like boxing, but the ones that have been talking trash, it hurts my heart. Because I’ve been fans of these guys for a long time, Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, and these guys talking all this garbage.”
Thomas went on to say,
“Saying stuff like MMA is a bunch of gay guys rolling around, and we can’t fight or whatever. I’m like you need to have a little bit more respect, because if you feel like that’s all we are, you need to step up and prove it. And I will fight them all in one day to be honest with you. One after the other I will choke each one of them out, Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, and we can start with Mayorga.”
Mayorga has equally been very vocal about what he feels he can accomplish as he crosses over to MMA. He has been very blunt discussing his bad intentions towards Thomas. Mayorga brings with him a one-of-a-kind brand of machismo and flare. It showed tremendously when the two met face to face.
Spectators had to take notice when Thomas walked in rocking a t-shirt that read, “I’m Din Thomas: Google me.” By the way, Google him. He is a phenomenal fighter. This obvious shot aimed at Mayorga set the former boxing champ off.
This ignited a fuse that led to the explosion of a powder keg of aggression between the two fighters.
Mayorga lashed out at Thomas telling the mixed martial arts veteran “You haven’t been hit by your father the way I am going to hit you.” There is trash talk, then there is bad blood, and these two have been chomping at the bit to get at each other and finally got their chance.
The intensity in the room could be cut with a knife as the two engaged in a Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs “Suga” Rashad Evans back and forth trash talk session. The chit-chat ended with Mayorga blowing a puff of cigarette smoke in Thomas’ face which prompted a shove by the mixed martial artist.
As usual in a press conference face-off, a little physical push and shove is not uncommon between two fighters with this much ill content for one another. It happens all the time in combat sports. Rarely though, does it erupt as it did between these two.
After the shoving and what not had died down and people dropped their defense alert level, Ricardo just couldn’t resist and lashed out at Thomas with a quick punch that visibly rattled him. It didn’t take long for everyone to realize this one was going south quickly and the party was broken up.
After things settled down a bit, the press conference was over and those in attendance picked their jaws up off the floor. This is quite a turn of events for a bout that has very heavy implications as it is. A seasoned and elite mixed martial artist entering a cage with a seasoned championship elite boxer is more than enough drama.
It is events like this press conference that are truly the icing on the cake. It adds a new layer of drama to an event that already brings with it a high level of intensity for both the MMA and the boxing worlds. There is a lot at stake in the eyes of the casual fan who believes their styles are superior.
Even with the two sides feverishly arguing their points it was Shine Fights matchmaker Ron Foster who shed some really thought provoking commentary on the upcoming event between the two fighters from two different worlds set to collide May 15.
Foster stated,
“You’re going to have all your boxing fans say I can’t wait for a real boxer to go out there and knockout an MMA guy, and you have your MMA fans who say I can’t wait to see this boxer get smashed by an MMA guy. At the end of the day people should want to see a good fight. And whoever wins wins; it could be a win win for both sports.”
He went on to talk about Shine’s hopes for a positive result regardless of the outcome. “Hopefully these people, they watch these fights, they might come to watch a boxer beat an MMA fighter, and they might leave and they might say hey MMA is really good. Hopefully, they leave wanting to come back and see more. I think it’s going to be really good. I’m really excited about this card.”
Well said Ron, and believe it when it is said, you are definitely not the only one who feels that way. Many many people on both sides of the fence can not wait to see their sport represented by these two high intensity, highly skilled fighters. How could it not be a great event?
To see a clip of the press conference click here .
