Robert Easter, Javier Fortuna, Marcus Browne & Adam Kownacki Media Conference Call Transcript & Audio Recording Lou DiBella Thanks for joining us. Greetings from the blizzard in New York City. I know that Marcus Browne and Adam Kownacki are both local right now, so they’re experiencing this insanity with me, and I guess a lot of you are also. So we’re going to try to warm up this blizzard afternoon and talk boxing for a little bit. Errol Spence versus Lamont Peterson, terrific fight Saturday, January 20, 2018 on SHOWTIME, 9 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT, presented by Premier Boxing Champions and of course at the beautiful Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Tickets for the event are priced starting at 50 bucks, and they can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, the box office at Barclays Center or by calling 800-745-3000. We have a terrific undercard, and we’re going to talk to the principals on that undercard on this call. We’re going to start with two gentlemen that are going to be in two fights that are going to start our televised evening off on SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel and SHOWTIME Boxing’s Facebook page. Marcus Browne, 20-0, 15 KOs in Staten Island, New York, coming off a sensational knockout of Seanie Monaghan, rated Number 3 by the WBC, 7 by the WBA, 6 by the IBF, 4 by the WBO. One of the rising stars at light heavyweight, making his 12th appearance at the Barclays Center and pretty much fighting and waiting out his chance for a huge fight and a world title fight that will be coming, I think, shortly in 2018. But first he’s got to get past the tough Francy Ntetu. Ntetu is 17-1. His only loss was at the Barclays Center in a hotly contested bout with David Benavidez, the WBC 168-pound champion. The fight was stopped very controversially. Ntetu is a legitimate guy and a guy that’s going to try to test Marcus Browne. But in getting in the ring with Marcus Browne, he’s getting in with one of the very, very best in the world. Marcus, want to say a couple words? Marcus Browne Thank you guys. How you doing? Most importantly, I’m just honored to be able to continue my career on the undercard with guys like Robert Easter, Jr., Adam, myself, and a couple other young fighters. I know Francy’s a very tough, tough live game guy and we’re prepared for that. And we’re prepared for what he brings to the table. Come January 20, I just can’t wait to go to work, show my skills and continue that march towards the world title. This is a guy that that’s definitely going to test me. He’s definitely going to be there all night and we got to convince him to not be there. That’s the plan. L. DiBella Thanks Marcus. Marcus has really been one of the cogs of the BROOKLYN BOXING® program at Barclays Center. This will be Marcus’s 12th appearance at Barclays Center. So he’s one of the fighters that’s brought the most in the building. The other fighter on the stream telecast is one of the up-and- coming young heavyweights in the world. He’s already got a huge fan base with Polish fans and Polish-American fans. He’s got a history as a New York Golden Gloves fighter and a young fighter that’s been developed in the New York area, Adam Kownacki, 16-0, 13 KOs, out of Brooklyn. Born in Lomza, Poland and he moved to Brooklyn with his family when he was 7-years old. Two-time Golden Gloves champion, rated Number 13 by the WBC. In his last fight, he had a sensational four-round knockout of world title challenger Artur Szpilka. That was on the same show that Marcus fought at at the Nassau Coliseum. On the 20th of January, he’s going to take on a tough kid Iago Kiladze, Number 15 in the IBF. Kiladze is 26-1 with 18 KOs. This is really another step in the road for Adam toward a heavyweight championship opportunity. Adam? Adam Kownacki Thanks for the introductions Lou. I can’t wait to get back in the rings on January 20. I would say I’m very hard. I’m ready to shine and prove that I belong with the best heavyweights in the world. This fight will take me one step closer to being heavyweight champion of the world. I’ll prove it once again on January 20 that we’re ready to fight with these top-notch heavyweights. I’ll keep climbing up the ranks. Q Adam, how much do you feel that your win against Szpilka kind of legitimized you in being a heavyweight contender and show people that you might be ready for a title shot? A. Kownacki I think I showed that I’m ready to shine at the bigger stage. It took Deontay Wilder ten rounds to take Szpilka out of there. It took me four. So that was a big statement, and I’ll continue to improve on that statement on January 20. Q Obviously Deontay Wilder fights a lot at Barclays Center. It’s a place where you’ve also fought a lot. He’s probably going to fight there on March 3. But how much have you thought about the possibility of somewhere down the line maybe you challenging Deontay for the WBC title there? A. Kownacki My goal is to be world champion. Whoever has the title, that’s who I want. If it’s Deontay, then it’s Deontay. Q Marcus, what do you know about your opponent specifically since I know you just got him secured a couple weeks ago? But what have you been able to find out about him and what he brings to the table? M. Browne He’s a real scrappy guy in the category of a Sakio Bika kind of. He’ll make a fight ugly if you allow him to do it. Another thing is he throws a high line of punches and he’s real crafty. He may not look like what he seems in the ring on tape. So I’m just prepared and ready for whatever he brings that night. And I’m just ready to implement our game plan that we have in order to break him down. Q Marcus, you obviously had a very good 2017 with some spectacular wins on your record. How important is it for you to kind of start this year off in a similar way and build toward a title shot later in the year? M. Browne It’s super important because at the end of the day this is the first actual big card of the year. I have to put the light heavyweights out there on notice that I’m here and I’m not playing. Q Marcus is there one guy more than the other that you want to fight or is it just whoever gives you the opportunity to fight for the title? M. Browne No, no one guy more than the other. I’m just ready and willing and waiting my turn for whoever gives me the chance at fighting. And I have no picks. I ain’t got no favorites right now. It is what it is. I’m at the point where you either eat or get ate, and I’m ready to eat. Q Hey Lou, can you speak on how far Marcus has come and maybe where he’s now in position to get a title shot later this year? L. DiBella I think when you look at the light heavyweight division there’s a tremendous demand for quality contenders, guys capable of taking on the top of the division. It’s sort of a division that’s got a little bit heavy at the top and there aren’t a lot of Marcus Brownes. Marcus is one of the elite prospects in the division. But he’s past the point of prospects. He’s really at the point of contender right now just waiting for the biggest fight out there to materialize. There’s some big light heavyweight fights on the horizon. Some of them I think will be announced fairly soon. I think in 2018 Marcus is going to get that huge opportunity. He deserves it because he’s really in that handful of top guys. There are the champions and there’s like a handful of other guys out there. And those guys are all going to be competing in the next year and Marcus is going to get that opportunity. He’s also a professional. He knows he has to take care of business on January 20. Ntetu, who’s moving up in weight for this chance, really doesn’t have anything to lose. So Marcus can’t look past that. He’s just going to go out there, do his thing. He knows that the title shot is waiting for him later this year. Q Can you speak on what Adam showed in the Szpilka fight, especially getting rid of him the way that he did and kind of opening some people’s eyes in that fight? L. DiBella I love Adam as a fighter. I’ve always loved Adam as a fighter. He’s a tremendously skilled boxer for a heavyweight. His natural build is not like King Kong.