Chris Colbert and Roger Gutierrez are set for a main event fight on Showtime Championship Boxing on Saturday, Feb. 26, with the winner set to come away as the true recognized WBA champion at 130 lbs, with Gervonta Davis giving up their “super world” title belt, leaving only Gutierrez’s previously secondary “world” title strap recognized by the sanctioning body, at least for the time being.
Colbert (16-0, 6 KO) may technically be the challenger, but he’s also coming in the favorite and the A-side, which doesn’t bother Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KO), who has been an underdog winner before.
“There’s no better time than right now. This is my time and I’m going to dominate in this fight,” Colbert said in their virtual press conference. “Everybody that they put in front me that they say has power, they don’t hit hard at all. I end up walking them down and beating them up. I don’t expect anything different in this fight. I’m ready to win by any means necessary. I don’t care about looking pretty, I care about winning and dominating.
“He better make sure he brings the Mack truck, because I’m coming at him in this fight. If he can’t put me on my bike, then he’s going to be in trouble.”
The 25-year-old Brooklyn native admits he doesn’t really know a lot about Gutierrez, but says he expects a firefight.
“To be honest, I’ve never watched Gutierrez fight,” he said. “Shout out to him for earning the [WBA “regular”] belt, but I don’t care who he fights like. I have one job that night, and that’s to win by any means necessary.
“When I win this fight, I’m that guy. I’ve told you forever that I’m that guy. I was born that guy. I’m just going to continue to prove that and whatever comes next, comes next. Hopefully Gary Russell Jr can heal up and I can take that fight and put him into retirement.”
The 26-year-old Gutierrez, fighting out of Venezuela, says to forget about his two bouts with Rene Alvarado, a pair of decision wins in 2021 that got him into this position.
“Anything that you’ve seen from me against Alvarado, you can toss it out the window,” he said. “This is going to be a completely different fight. I’m going to have to adapt and I’m going to better than ever. This is going to be something you’ve never seen from me before.”
He added, “If he wants to stand there and go blow for blow, we’ll be ready. If he wants to use the ring, we’re ready to chase him down. We will have a plan no matter what. I’m going to be ready to leave the ring victorious. I’m focused on this fight, but if everything goes well, the name that I have in mind for a next opponent is Leo Santa Cruz.”