Amid 90-degree temperatures and sweltering humidity Wednesday in Hollywood, Florida, the final press conference for the biggest ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" telecast in years, featuring unbeaten Edison "Pantera" Miranda (25-0, 22 KOs) against "The Battersea Bomber" Howard Eastman (40-3, 34 KOs) in an IBF middleweight eliminator, only served to heat things up even more.

Eastman thanked his team and the event's organizers, and wished his opponent good luck in the bout. "We're all here here to make money," he said. "This is a business. Let's go out and take care of business."

The mood was not so cordial, however, from the Miranda side of the dais. Miranda's co-manager Steve Benbasat set the tone when he said, "Mr. Eastman seems like a very nice gentleman, but I will say I hope to God he has a resume prepared outside of the boxing career because his career will be ended by Pantera on March 24."

Miranda stated, "Leon [Margules] made me upset when he put Howard Eastman [up here] to talk. Howard Eastman did not come here to talk he came here to take punishment from Pantera Miranda....He came here to fight with me and I'm going to put him in retirement."

Then turning to Eastman, Miranda continued, "Mr. Eastman, I want to know what your excuse is today once I knock you out. Please start talking. I'm 25 years old, I'm hungry, I want to get a title shot. C'mon give me an excuse. What are you going to use on Friday once I knock you out?"

He added, "He fought Bernard Hopkins. Bernard Hopkins is not a man that likes to trade shots. He's not a man who likes to commit himself. I like to commit myself. I like to fight. I came here to fight. And I don't know what he's going to do once I hit him with my rock because he's going to go down."

Following that verbal volley, it was decided to keep the fighters separated while posing for photos.

After the press conference, Eastman didn't wish to comment on Miranda's statements