Alicia Napoleon: I’m ready for whatever my opponent has

Heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder and unbeaten contender Luis Ortiz participated in an open to the public media workout Wednesday as they near their main event showdown this Saturday, March 3 live on SHOWTIME from Barclays Center, the home of BROOKLYN BOXING™, and presented by Premier Boxing Champions.

Also participating in Wednesday’s workout and opening the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT were super middleweight contenders Andre Dirrell and Jose Uzcategui, who meet in a rematch for an interim 168-pound world title in the co-feature.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and TGB Promotions, start at $50 and are on sale now. To purchase tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, or call 800-745-3000. Tickets for the event can also be purchased at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center.

Undercard fighters participating in Wednesday’s workout were Long Island’s Alicia Napoleon, who fights for a women’s super middleweight world title on Saturday night, and Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins, who enters the ring for a welterweight fight.

Wilder was joined for his portion of the workout by “The Young Jamaican Trainer” Demarjay Smith, known for his motivational Instagram videos and appearances on “The Ellen Degeneres Show”. Smith had some words of inspiration for Wilder before he began his workout.

“You are the real deal,” said Smith. “You are strength no weakness. You are the shark of the ocean. You believed every day, you achieved and you became it.”

The event also featured unbeaten star Marcus Browne from Staten Island, who gave a boxing tutorial for local children from Gleason’s Give a Kid a Dream, BOXER Inc., Children of Promise and the Atlas Cops and Kids Foundation.

ALICIA NAPOLEON

“I’m grateful to have this opportunity fighting on this big card. It’s amazing to have this new challenge in my professional career. I’m going to set the tone Saturday night.

“I’m a big believer in making dreams come true and doing whatever it takes to get to the top. I have a great team that I’m so grateful for and they’ve elevated my skill to get to this level.

“At the end of the day I have to be the best that I can be. Camp was gruesome. It was a lot of hard work. I’m going to be ready for anyone on Saturday night.

“I’m definitely ready to fight Claressa Shields. That’s something I want. She’s not the only fighter with skills, there are a lot of us out there and it takes all of us to create an empire for women’s boxing.

“I’m ready for whatever my opponent has. She has a respectable record but no matter what, I’m going to prepare myself to be at my very best on fight night.”