ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Top Rank Boxing is coming to Tingley Coliseum on August 10. The card will be headlined by the IBF featherweight title fight between Angelo Leo and Luis Alberto Lopez, but it will also have a battle between two of the best local prospects to come out of New Mexico.
Matthew Griego (14-0, 10 KO) and Abraham Perez (10-0, 5 KO) will fight for the IBF USBA flyweight title fight. The upcoming bout between them is being dubbed as the “Duke City Civil War”, and it has a similar feel to the great rivalry back in 1997 when Johnny Tapia and Danny Romero fought in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Yeah, its the same division and everything and it has the vibe, but I don’t think there will ever be a fight to live up with that, you know the biggest fight in New Mexico ever. You know, I have had a lot of comparisons to Johnny and of course there will never be another Johnny and there will never be another Danny Romero, there is Matthew Griego and there is Abraham Perez and we are on our way to making big things happen for the state of New Mexico as far as boxing”, said Matthew “Diamond Boy” Griego.
The local boxing community is already going wild for this bout between Griego and Perez. “Its already kind of blowing up, I mean people are picking sides, and people are happy that it is happening and there are even some people that are sad that it is happening. One of us has to move forward and one of us won’t, and it’s going to be a great show for New Mexico. Like I said, the boxing fans are going crazy over this one and it’s going to be a big fight”, said Griego.
Both of these fighters come in with undefeated records and with both growing up in Albuquerque they already know each other very well. Griego and Perez even sparred with each other in the past. “I mean, it’s been a while since we have sparred, maybe a couple of years but it was always good work. Me and him were always good work. He is an awkward fighter that throws some awkward combinations and awkward shots, we are going to get ready for whatever he brings and I want to go in and prove to everybody what I can do and that I am the best out of here and that’s the plan”, said Griego.
This bout will be nationally broadcast on ESPN, and this will be the first nationally televised fight for Matthew Griego. He understands that this will be the biggest fight of his career, as it gives him exposure and sets him up on a solid path towards a World Title.
“I have always talked about getting the opportunity to fight on TV and getting the opportunity to get people to see me, well I am able to do it in my hometown and our turf. I am hungry, I am ready to go and I have a huge why, my kids and my family. So, I am ready to lay it all on the line for them and I think that is one of the big advantages that I have is that my why is just so much bigger than his. I mean, some people say it’s a disadvantage to have kids, well I think it is an advantage. Thinking about them makes me work so much harder than I ever have in my life. So, its time for me to go show what I can do and then go capture some bigger titles after this”, said Griego.
