MANILA, Philippines – International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Lennox Lewis said it is possible for seven-division champion Manny Pacquiao to hand Floyd Mayweather, Jr. his first career loss when they clash next year.
Lewis, a former heavyweight champion, thinks that WBO welterweight champion Pacquiao (50-3-2, with 38 knockouts) can probably match the “amazing” speed and defense of the undefeated Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs).
“I'd say that Manny is one of two guys who have a chance to beat Floyd,” Lewis told Michael Marley of Examiner.com.
The other fighter is WBA welterweight super champion Shane Mosley, he noted. “I can't think of anybody else who could even possibly beat Mayweather,” commented Lewis whose professional record was 41-2-1 (with 32 KOs).
As for the Pacquiao-Mayweather clash, Lewis commented: “It should be a great thing for boxing when he [Mayweather] and Pacquiao fight.”
The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, which is set to take place on March 13, will be officially announced on January in a press conference in the United States.
Top Rank Promotions big boss Bob Arum, the promoter of Pacquiao, confirmed to ABS-CBN News that both fighters agreed on a 50-50 purse split.
Word war
Meanwhile, it is expected that more exchanges of tirades between the camps of Pacquiao and Mayweather will happen as the mega fight approaches.
Pacquiao’s adviser, Mike Koncz, said that the American boxer should go to church.
“Floyd Mayweather simply has to go to church regularly to know where the Filipino’s vaunted strength and power come from,” Koncz told Nick Giongco of FightNews.com.
Koncz, meantime, had no violent reaction to Team Mayweather’s demand for an Olympic-style drug testing for both fighters.
“It’s amusing… There’s no problem with that but if he wants to get an answer right away, he better visit the church so he’d know why,” he remarked.
Coach Freddie Roach, meanwhile, said he will allow Pacquiao to go through random drug testing if Mayweather will undergo the same type of testing.
“Yeah, we’ll do it but they have to do it as well. Manny fights clean. If they’ll do it, then we’ll do it,” Roach told Abac Cordero of The Philippine Star. “I don’t have any problem with that. But no blood tests close to the fight. They can take urine tests.”
Fair fight
Mayweather’s adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, earlier clarified that the American fighter had nothing to do with such demand. It was he and another adviser, Al Hayman, who made such decision.
“And this is not Floyd saying this. This is me and Al. This is one of the biggest fights in the history of the sport and the fans deserve it to be fair,” Ellerbe told David Mayo of The Grand Rapids Press.
“It’s not a one-way thing, it’s both fighters who are subject to testing,” he added.
Mayweather’s father, Floyd Sr., earlier alleged that Pacquiao was taking performance-enhancing drugs as he rose to fame and soared in ascending weight divisions.
Pacquiao has repeatedly denied the allegations. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) confirmed this to Sports Illustrated (SI.com), saying that Pacquiao tested negative for steroids before and after his Nov. 14 fight against Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas.
SI.com also reported that it was the 10th time Pacquiao turned in clean tests in Nevada.
“I’m not going to get into that… But people can read between the lines. Al and I made sure this will be implemented. It is going to be done,” commented Ellerbe.
Source: abs-cbnnews.com
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
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Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao
their just making negative issues on pacman, their just afraid of him the way he box they want to win unfairly by blood test and other stuff their bunch of cowards let the committee handle it they know their jobs, men mayweather will be knock out like hatton . lol!!!!!!!!!!!!
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