On January 28th, 2017 at the MGM Grand in Las
Vegas, Dejan Zlaticanin defends his WBC Lightweight title against former Pound for Pound star Mikey Garcia. This is Zlaticanin’s first defense of the vacant WBC
title that he won in June of last year against Franklin Mamani. Dejan took some time out of his busy training camp to answer a couple of quick questions about his upcoming title defense against Mikey Garcia:
How has your life changed since winning the WBC title in June of last year?
DZ:
So far, I
have not financially benefited in terms of support from my country.
The only
thing that changed is that I have succeeded in becoming the second person from
former Yugoslavia to win the championship. Everything else remained the same
besides the fact that the title made me the world champion. In the past, I’ve
received various acknowledgements, but some of them were more significant to me
personally. For example, I’ve had postal stamps issued with my character and received
Best Athlete awards from the Town of Podgorica and Sports Journalists’
Association of Montenegro in 2016. However, the recognition of being the best
in Montenegro never came from the Montenegrin Olympic Committee. The Committee claimed
that current regulations did not allow them to award the Best Athlete Award to
a professional boxer.
You have previously told me that you wanted to make a strong and lasting impression for the American
viewers. After having your first fight on American soil in Alabama, you are now
defending your title on the biggest stage in boxing, at the MGM Grand in Las
Vegas against Mikey Garcia. How hungry are you to defend your title successfully on January 28th?
DZ: In fact,
this is a great chance to leave a lasting impression in the United States. I am
fighting against a boxer who is very well known in the United States and I want
to win more than ever. I will give him hell in the ring.
Every
boxer’s dream is to fight in the MGM Arena and I have had that dream as well. I
am very excited and extremely honored for the opportunity to be one of the
stars that night.
What do you know about Mikey Garcia as a fighter and are you doing anything differently in your preparation for your first title defense?
DZ:
I know
Mikey. He hits hard and he has good timing, but not so much when it comes to
his defense. It will be an interesting fight.
Now, I
can’t really say if I would change anything, it all depends on the situation
inside the ring. No one can know for sure what would be the right thing to do.
Tactic is applied with respect to the situation inside the ring. Maybe he will
fight upfront, maybe he decides to fight from a distance. My job is to find a
way through to his head.
How is your training camp going and where are you training?
DZ: I
wouldn’t talk much about how I am preparing. I am training hard; my sparring is
hard, etc. I have my training sessions in one of the boxing clubs in Long
Beach, working with Slobodan Andjelica and Jose Benavidez.
Garcia has only had one fight in almost three years; do you
think he’s stepping up in competition too fast fighting against a boxer of your
quality? How important do you think his inactivity will be for this fight?
DZ:
How
significant will it be that he has not had a fight in three years remains to be
seen. Garcia is a longstanding and well known boxing family. Whether this was a
mistake or not should be left for them to decide. The only important thing for me is to hurt
him as much as possible inside the ring.
Lastly, with the fight just weeks away, do you have any message for the fans and for Mikey Garcia?
DZ: My
message to the fans is that they will enjoy the fight and see Garcia’s first defeat
on January 28.
My
message to Garcia is for him to know that I will give him hell inside the ring.
I am not afraid of him and I am not one of those who will succumb to his
stature and awe. He will definitely get to feel that on January 28 and he better
hit as hard as he can because I am going all the way.
