CONFERENCE CALL QUOTES KIMBO SLICE & TANK ABBOTT, PROMOTER GARY SHAW Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008
In a long-awaited, much-anticipated grudge match that figures to be an absolute slugfest, the incredibly popular PRIDE of Perrine, Fla., and hometown hero, Kimbo Slice, will face David “Tank’’ Abbott, of Huntington Beach, Calif., in the main event Saturday, Feb. 16, on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).
It will be the second professional MMA fight for Kimbo, the legendary Internet street fighter and YouTube sensation who scored a smashing 19-second, first-round knockout in his Street-to-Elite debut. “With these hands I can part the sea. With these hands I feed the family,’’ Kimbo said.
Tank, of Huntington Beach, Calif., is a feared knockout artist and notorious bad boy and trash-talker. A veteran who has never turned down a fight, Tank has called out Kimbo on numerous occasions, including after Kimbo’s EliteXC and MMA debut in November. Tank is supremely confident he will send home Kimbo and his fans unhappy.
Tickets for a spectacular 10-bout event start at $35 and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com and at the BankUnited Box Office at the University of Miami.
Opening Comments:
SHAW: Thank you for being on this conference call with me, with Kimbo and the Huntington Beach (Calif.) Bad Boy, Tank Abbott. We also have Ken Hershman from SHOWTIME with us.
This is going to be a great, great event in Florida on Feb. 16.
I want to thank Ken, and I want to thank SHOWTIME for putting this on the air on premium cable. It was originally scheduled to be on pay?per?view. But thanks to Kimbo and Tank … it's not all about ripping off fans, it's about giving the fans some great fights on television.
We're really excited about this card. Besides Kimbo and Tank, we have Antonio “Big Foot’’ Silva, who I believe may be the best heavyweight in the world. Kimbo tells me that's not so, but that time will come for him as well. Kimbo’s got a big fight. He's got to get past Tank Abbott with a big reputation and a big punch.
We're really, really excited about this event. It's going to be a great promotion. It's at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami. Doors will open at 6 p.m. (ET), fights will go on at 7 p.m.
Tickets are from $35 up to $700. I appreciate everyone being on the call. I'm going to turn it over to Kimbo to say a few words. Then I'm going to turn it over to Tank to say a few words, and we'll get right to your questions.