Former two-division world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery (33-1, 25 KOs) and Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (21-3, 17 KOs) faced off at the final press conference for their WBC super bantamweight eliminator on Saturday at Fox Theater Pomona and streamed on DAZN.

Luis Nery: “It’s going to be a great fight. Azat is a great fighter. I have been watching him for a long time. He is a strong fighter – he throws punches and has resilience in the ring and has never been knocked out before. These are the types of challenges that I like to have that make me a better fighter.”

Azat Hovhannisyan: “I am in good shape, I had a very good training camp. Everything is very good. We are ready for February 18. I know Luis Nery. He is a good fighter with a good left hand. I have a great new coach named Julian Chua. We are ready to put on a good show.”

Oscar De La Hoya: “This main event fight was made by the actual fighters positioning themselves, and putting themselves in this place. This is an eliminator for the WBC – we have the #1 and #2 fighting each other which is unheard of in boxing these days – but that’s what Luis Nery and Azat Hovhannisyan bring to the table. They are old school, they are fighters who understand exactly what it takes to become a world champion. It’s never an easy road. But winning, and going down that road and performing gets you to the big prize of winning a world title.”