1. Money doesn’t talk.
The consensus among observers was that there was just too much money involved for the fight not to happen.
The fighters were being guaranteed an equal split of $50 million upfront, plus a percentage of pay-per-view revenues that could have raised the pot to somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million.
That’s an awfully nice neighborhood to drive past without pulling over for a paltry 36-minutes to collect the large, overstuffed moneybags loitering on the street corners.
I guess money doesn’t always talk. Or maybe it does but sometimes there are just so many idiots yelling and screaming around it that no one is able to hear it.
2. There needs to be a single overseeing body in the sport of boxing.
Manny is promoted by both Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions. Floyd is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, but had authorized Golden Boy to negotiate the fight on his behalf.
So one of Manny’s promoters was negotiating on behalf of Manny’s other promoter who was negotiating on behalf of Floyd.
The fighters haggled over the specifics of adding a regulation to a fight overseen by a commission that has no authority to supervise or prohibit such a change in the regulations.
And we wonder why we’re left without a mega-fight, feeling like we’ve been simultaneously kicked in the teeth, gut, and jewel sack by a three-legged freak.
Power in the sport of boxing needs to be in the hands of a single organization—not splintered among promoters, state athletic commissions and miscellaneous sanctioning bodies.
3. That Manny Pacquiao is one popular dude—and not just in the Philippines.
If Barack Obama is sarcastically referred to as the Messiah, then Manny Pacquiao just may be God himself. And I’m not sure, but I think that would make Floyd Mayweather the devil.
I don’t know much about culture in the Philippines, but Filipino pride is a pretty amazing thing. That is a people who stick together and know what they believe.
Now I think I understand why Manny would rather pass up a $40 million payday than give a teaspoon of his blood—he could get twice that on Ebay.
4. There are some seriously passionate, angry, and insane fans out there.
Which one do you hate—Pedquiao or Gayweather?
Give the wrong answer to the person who asks that question and you may as well have hocked a fat loogie into the urn containing their grandmother’s ashes.
Let’s just get it over with and have all of the Mayweather fans wear red, the Pacquiao supporters wear blue, and start flashing signs, getting affiliation tats, and doing drive-bys.
It’s like we woke up one morning and found ourselves in a Jerry Springer boxing-themed Twilight Zone.
5. No matter how many times we, the fans, get screwed by the sport, we keep coming back.
Being a boxing fan is like being the wife of a mobster—you’re associated with a business filled with scumbags, you know you’re going to be cheated on, and you’re committed to it for life.
Having a fight the magnitude of Pacquiao vs. Mayweather wind up in a toe-tag is more than just another black eye for boxing—it’s the sport’s equivalent of Riddick Bowe having his scrotum used as a speed bag by Andrew Golata.
But, as always, we’ll stagger back to our corners, leer at the ring card girl, and somehow find a way to answer the bell for the next round.
Source: bleacherreport.com
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
As Pacquiao-Mayweather fails, boxing proves its own worst enemy
A picture is worth a thousand words. So let's make a visual out of the current state of boxing.
Close your eyes and remember. October 1993. Las Vegas. The land is needed more than the building, so they fill the venerable Dunes Hotel on the Strip with dynamite, push a button and it implodes.
January 2010. The good ol' USA. No dynamite, just stupidity and ego. Same thing happens. Boxing implodes.
Last Sunday, promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank announced that Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines will fight Joshua Clottey of Ghana. The fight will be March 13 in the Dallas Cowboys' new football stadium.
Later that same day, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions announced that Floyd Mayweather Jr. would fight an opponent to be determined. The fight will be March 13 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
Yes, these are the two premier boxers in their sport.
Yes, they were supposed to fight each other.
And yes, that fight was supposed to be on March 13.
The world anticipated that one. Wallets and checkbooks were open. Sponsors were lining up. The estimated $60 pay-per-view tab even seemed reasonable. The bout would put boxing on the front pages next to the likes of Lakers and Dodgers, and in the same breath with them on the nightly newscasts.
This was a big deal, and then it wasn't. The fight was off. Mayweather's camp implied that Pacquiao must be enhancing his performances with drugs because he got so big and so good so fast. Pacquiao, with no credible hint whatsoever of any such activity, was offended, eventually said he wanted no part of the Mayweather camp and even sued for defamation.
Keep in mind that each fighter was to be guaranteed $25 million, and the likely final take for each, with projected pay-per-view revenue, was closer to $40 million.
In the end, this was an impasse the size of the Grand Canyon.
Then boxing made it worse.
By announcing separate fights on the same date, they split everything in two, especially their fan base. Television networks would have to choose. HBO is the sport's cash cow and it now must choose, alienating whomever it rejects.
Even if the two shows come off at different times with a two-hour difference from Central to Pacific zones, few are likely to plunk down money to buy both. Sports editors, website editors and TV program directors are likely to look at this mess, look at their ever-dwindling budgets and keep their reporters at home.
In essence, boxing canceled a Super Bowl and replaced it with two lesser events at the same time on competing channels. Nice work.
What ever happened to "United we stand, divided we fall"? In boxing, it appears to be "Every man for himself and take the other guy down with you."
If you are looking for a winner in this non-fight fight, it is probably the Pacquiao side. His fight with Clottey has the possibility of being competitive. It also has the attraction of a shiny new venue. Plus, whatever media attention is available, it will go more to the current star, Pacquiao. He has been backing up the Brinks truck after each fight for the last several years, while Mayweather, already retired and unretired once, has been less active.
Pacquiao, and promoter Arum, were in much better financial standing to walk away from a mega-fight. Mayweather has made millions, but has also fought recently, at least in part, for the benefit of the Internal Revenue Service.
Arum was Mayweather's promoter for many years, and is not shy about telling people he never made money with Mayweather and that Mayweather walked away from him just as his career became financially viable. Mayweather is now managed by Al Haymon, with whom Arum has dealt over the years for many fights. They like each other like cattlemen like sheepherders.
Walking away from these guys had to bring Arum at least a tinge of satisfaction.
The possibility of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight later in the year will depend on several things, including Pacquiao's possible status as a congressman in the Philippines. If he is elected in May, he could conceivably do all his fighting henceforth in political chambers, not boxing rings.
Throughout this saga, Mayweather has acted badly, as is his wont. As recently as last week, with the fight and his likely $40-million payday falling apart around him, he issued a statement that used foul language and further insulted Pacquiao.
Ultimately, he trash-talked his way into the garbage bin.
The last word on this story will go to Golden Boy's Schaefer, who unwittingly summed it all up. Early on in the talks, he said, "If we can't make this fight, we are idiots."
Source: latimes.com
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Pacquiao, Mayweather deliver fans a final insult
It's bad enough that Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. aren't fighting each other on March 13, after both sides detonated boxing's version of a nuclear bomb and destroyed the biggest fight in the sport over a disagreement on the drug-testing procedures for the bout.
Now they -- and we -- are stuck with meaningless alternatives.
Shame on everyone involved. Shame, shame, shame.
The sport and its fans be damned, they said.
This wasn't just the destruction of any old fight. It was one of the biggest fights in history being pulled out from under millions of fans who were ready and willing -- excited, even -- to shell out hard-earned money while in the depths of a recession, just to see the two best fighters in the world throw down.
It was a fight that would have made boxing relevant again in the mainstream, even if briefly, and a great opportunity for the sport to capitalize on its great momentum of the past few years.
But that came to a grinding halt because of pettiness, ego and insanity on both sides.
After more than a month of holding the boxing world hostage while bickering over drug testing, they failed miserably. It is easily the most disappointing turn of events that I have covered in 10 years on this crazy beat.
And now it gets even worse: In the wreckage of the dead fight, the geniuses/babies at Top Rank (Pacquiao's promoter) and Golden Boy (which represents Mayweather) are again giving the finger to boxing fans by planning fights for their stars on the same day in competing pay-per-views.
They've already wounded boxing, so why not just jam the knife in a bit deeper, right?
Competing pay-per-views is just dumb, but Top Rank's Bob Arum -- who deserves a lot of the blame for Pacquiao-Mayweather going down in flames -- and Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer are just stubborn and arrogant enough to do it, no matter what damage it inflicts.
So Pacquiao is headed for Cowboys Stadium in Dallas to defend his welterweight belt against Joshua Clottey. If you can get past the Mayweather fight not happening (which I haven't yet), Pacquiao-Clottey is not a bad match, although it pales in comparison to a Mayweather bout. But it says something when the most interesting aspect of the bout is the stadium in which it will take place.
In fact, if you take a look at the poll that has been running on the ESPN.com boxing page for the last couple of days, it asks simply: "Will you watch the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at Cowboys Stadium?" The results are stunning. With more than 49,000 votes in early Wednesday evening (and still counting), it was 69-31 against watching the fight. If you examine the breakdown of the state-by-state vote, every state had voted in the majority against watching the fight except Hawaii, which has a large Filipino population.
That is just anecdotal evidence, of course, as it is not a scientific poll. But it's pretty clear that the sports public is extremely angry that Pacquiao and Mayweather are not fighting each other. The backlash against any other fight is enormous and deserved, something the promoters just do not understand yet, although they will when both pay-per-views tank miserably.
Mayweather, meanwhile, plans to fight the same night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and seems headed for a match with either Paulie Malignaggi or Nate Campbell. Both are good fighters, but neither bout is remotely compelling and beating either means nothing for Mayweather. They are both horrible mismatches. Let me repeat that, just in case you didn't get it the first time: They are both horrible mismatches. Even as non-pay-per-views, Mayweather against either opponent stinks. For a $50 fee to watch, it's grotesque.
If you think the ESPN.com poll numbers are bad for Pacquiao-Clottey, the numbers for a Mayweather-Malignaggi/Campbell poll should be much, much worse. Why? Because yet again, Mayweather, who claims to be the greatest fighter ever, would be facing a much smaller man with virtually zero chance to win. There's a shock. That's what Mayweather has systematically done since arriving at welterweight in 2005 -- duck the best opponents. At least Pacquiao has consistently challenged himself by facing bigger men. In Clottey, Pacquiao will be facing a man who poses some danger.
What it boils down to is this: Instead of fans clamoring to spend $60 for Pacquiao-Mayweather, they are stuck with two far lesser fights on the same night with a pay-per-view tab that will run $100 or so if they want to see both men in action. Hopefully, enough folks will reject both, which ought to teach both camps a lesson.
Only in boxing could those who are the de facto caretakers of the sport take a glorious event and dump all over it. What these guys needed more than mediator Daniel Weinstein's last-ditch effort to help them see their way through the drug-testing issue was group therapy.
One of the interesting elements in this depressing situation is how HBO will handle it. For the past several years, HBO PPV has handled Pacquiao and Mayweather fights. Now, it's faced with the cold reality of making a decision on which fighter and promoter it will support. Top Rank is prepared to go it alone with Pacquiao-Clottey, but it would like HBO's support. Golden Boy has been dependent on and enabled by HBO since its birth.
I know it's a rough situation because HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg ain't talkin' and he's ordered his staff not to talk either. They've got some serious decisions to make inside the ivory tower.
Greenburg doesn't want to alienate either fighter or promoter. Nor does he want to alienate Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (who is paying a roughly $6 million site fee to bring Pacquiao to his stadium), especially since Greenburg was the one who championed Pacquiao-Mayweather being held at Cowboys Stadium in the first place.
So what's going to happen? Pacquiao is going to fight Clottey because he wants to get in a bout before his campaign for political office in the Philippines get rolling. (Side note: Would you really want Pacquiao, a guy who once signed a contract with Top Rank and then accepted a bag full of cash from Golden Boy to also sign with that company, representing you in government? But I digress.)
Mayweather, who has no real opponent to fight on March 13, continues with plans to fight on that date, although he ought to wait until June and fight Shane Mosley (assuming Mosley beats Andre Berto on Jan. 30).
I don't know for sure what will happen other than, no matter what happens, there will be no winners.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Now they -- and we -- are stuck with meaningless alternatives.
Shame on everyone involved. Shame, shame, shame.
The sport and its fans be damned, they said.
This wasn't just the destruction of any old fight. It was one of the biggest fights in history being pulled out from under millions of fans who were ready and willing -- excited, even -- to shell out hard-earned money while in the depths of a recession, just to see the two best fighters in the world throw down.
It was a fight that would have made boxing relevant again in the mainstream, even if briefly, and a great opportunity for the sport to capitalize on its great momentum of the past few years.
But that came to a grinding halt because of pettiness, ego and insanity on both sides.
After more than a month of holding the boxing world hostage while bickering over drug testing, they failed miserably. It is easily the most disappointing turn of events that I have covered in 10 years on this crazy beat.
And now it gets even worse: In the wreckage of the dead fight, the geniuses/babies at Top Rank (Pacquiao's promoter) and Golden Boy (which represents Mayweather) are again giving the finger to boxing fans by planning fights for their stars on the same day in competing pay-per-views.
They've already wounded boxing, so why not just jam the knife in a bit deeper, right?
Competing pay-per-views is just dumb, but Top Rank's Bob Arum -- who deserves a lot of the blame for Pacquiao-Mayweather going down in flames -- and Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer are just stubborn and arrogant enough to do it, no matter what damage it inflicts.
So Pacquiao is headed for Cowboys Stadium in Dallas to defend his welterweight belt against Joshua Clottey. If you can get past the Mayweather fight not happening (which I haven't yet), Pacquiao-Clottey is not a bad match, although it pales in comparison to a Mayweather bout. But it says something when the most interesting aspect of the bout is the stadium in which it will take place.
In fact, if you take a look at the poll that has been running on the ESPN.com boxing page for the last couple of days, it asks simply: "Will you watch the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at Cowboys Stadium?" The results are stunning. With more than 49,000 votes in early Wednesday evening (and still counting), it was 69-31 against watching the fight. If you examine the breakdown of the state-by-state vote, every state had voted in the majority against watching the fight except Hawaii, which has a large Filipino population.
That is just anecdotal evidence, of course, as it is not a scientific poll. But it's pretty clear that the sports public is extremely angry that Pacquiao and Mayweather are not fighting each other. The backlash against any other fight is enormous and deserved, something the promoters just do not understand yet, although they will when both pay-per-views tank miserably.
Mayweather, meanwhile, plans to fight the same night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and seems headed for a match with either Paulie Malignaggi or Nate Campbell. Both are good fighters, but neither bout is remotely compelling and beating either means nothing for Mayweather. They are both horrible mismatches. Let me repeat that, just in case you didn't get it the first time: They are both horrible mismatches. Even as non-pay-per-views, Mayweather against either opponent stinks. For a $50 fee to watch, it's grotesque.
If you think the ESPN.com poll numbers are bad for Pacquiao-Clottey, the numbers for a Mayweather-Malignaggi/Campbell poll should be much, much worse. Why? Because yet again, Mayweather, who claims to be the greatest fighter ever, would be facing a much smaller man with virtually zero chance to win. There's a shock. That's what Mayweather has systematically done since arriving at welterweight in 2005 -- duck the best opponents. At least Pacquiao has consistently challenged himself by facing bigger men. In Clottey, Pacquiao will be facing a man who poses some danger.
What it boils down to is this: Instead of fans clamoring to spend $60 for Pacquiao-Mayweather, they are stuck with two far lesser fights on the same night with a pay-per-view tab that will run $100 or so if they want to see both men in action. Hopefully, enough folks will reject both, which ought to teach both camps a lesson.
Only in boxing could those who are the de facto caretakers of the sport take a glorious event and dump all over it. What these guys needed more than mediator Daniel Weinstein's last-ditch effort to help them see their way through the drug-testing issue was group therapy.
One of the interesting elements in this depressing situation is how HBO will handle it. For the past several years, HBO PPV has handled Pacquiao and Mayweather fights. Now, it's faced with the cold reality of making a decision on which fighter and promoter it will support. Top Rank is prepared to go it alone with Pacquiao-Clottey, but it would like HBO's support. Golden Boy has been dependent on and enabled by HBO since its birth.
I know it's a rough situation because HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg ain't talkin' and he's ordered his staff not to talk either. They've got some serious decisions to make inside the ivory tower.
Greenburg doesn't want to alienate either fighter or promoter. Nor does he want to alienate Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (who is paying a roughly $6 million site fee to bring Pacquiao to his stadium), especially since Greenburg was the one who championed Pacquiao-Mayweather being held at Cowboys Stadium in the first place.
So what's going to happen? Pacquiao is going to fight Clottey because he wants to get in a bout before his campaign for political office in the Philippines get rolling. (Side note: Would you really want Pacquiao, a guy who once signed a contract with Top Rank and then accepted a bag full of cash from Golden Boy to also sign with that company, representing you in government? But I digress.)
Mayweather, who has no real opponent to fight on March 13, continues with plans to fight on that date, although he ought to wait until June and fight Shane Mosley (assuming Mosley beats Andre Berto on Jan. 30).
I don't know for sure what will happen other than, no matter what happens, there will be no winners.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
UFC chief: Floyd blew fight vs Pacquiao
MANILA, Philippines -- Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White blamed Floyd Mayweather Jr. for ruining what might have been the biggest fight in recent boxing history with Filipino champion Manny Pacquiao.
“I think [Floyd] blew this fight,” White said in a report by 5thRound.com.
“When another fighter starts dictating a drug test, first of all, Pacquiao’s never tested positive for any drug but Floyd’s going to make him go through drug testing? That’s ridiculous,” he said.
White was referring to Mayweather’s demand to have Pacquiao undergo an Olympic-style drug test, which, in effect, sent a message that the Filipino might have been using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). The demand led to the collapse in the negotiations and the cancellation of the fight.
The UFC chief earlier had a spat with the former pound-for-pound king in 2007 when Mayweather claimed mixed martial arts fighters can’t handle boxing.
White said that like other fight fans, he wants to see the Pacquiao-Mayweather match.
“I want to see this fight. I’m dying to see this fight.”
With regards to Mayweather’s random blood-testing demand, White said Floyd should have left the matter to the athletics commission to decide.
“That’s what the commission is there for,” commented White in another report by Sherdog.com.
“The athletic commission is there for the safety of the fighters. They drug test, they blood test, they do all those other things. For another fighter to be calling out another fighter for some type of blood work is [expletive] crazy. Just [expletive] train for the fight and fight; that’s what everybody wants to see,” he said.
The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight was supposed to take place on March 13. But since it was called off, the Pacquiao camp decided to take on Ghanaian Joshua Clottey on the same fight date.
Mayweather is also reportedly looking for an alternate opponent to compete with the Pacquiao-Clottey bout in Texas.
Moorer speaks out for Pacquiao
Former world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, who worked with Pacquiao and Freddie Roach for the Ricky Hatton fight, defended the Filipino from allegations he’s been using PEDs.
“Manny Pacquiao has that work ethic that a lot of boxers don't have these days and a lot of people are jealous and a lot of people are trying to make something out of it because they don't know what hard work and dedication is,” the former boxer said in a report by FightHype.com.
Moorer added that Pacquiao has the best chance of finally breaking Mayweather's unbeaten record. Mayweather hasn't lost in 40 fights.
“I haven't been in camp with Floyd Mayweather, but I feel that Manny Pacquiao would give Floyd Mayweather that one loss,” he said.
Pacquiao, the current World Boxing Organization welterweight champ, has 3 losses against 50 wins. But despite the losses, the Filipino is heralded as today’s top pound-for-pound boxer because of his exciting style of fighting.
Source: abs-cbnnews.com
“I think [Floyd] blew this fight,” White said in a report by 5thRound.com.
“When another fighter starts dictating a drug test, first of all, Pacquiao’s never tested positive for any drug but Floyd’s going to make him go through drug testing? That’s ridiculous,” he said.
White was referring to Mayweather’s demand to have Pacquiao undergo an Olympic-style drug test, which, in effect, sent a message that the Filipino might have been using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). The demand led to the collapse in the negotiations and the cancellation of the fight.
The UFC chief earlier had a spat with the former pound-for-pound king in 2007 when Mayweather claimed mixed martial arts fighters can’t handle boxing.
White said that like other fight fans, he wants to see the Pacquiao-Mayweather match.
“I want to see this fight. I’m dying to see this fight.”
With regards to Mayweather’s random blood-testing demand, White said Floyd should have left the matter to the athletics commission to decide.
“That’s what the commission is there for,” commented White in another report by Sherdog.com.
“The athletic commission is there for the safety of the fighters. They drug test, they blood test, they do all those other things. For another fighter to be calling out another fighter for some type of blood work is [expletive] crazy. Just [expletive] train for the fight and fight; that’s what everybody wants to see,” he said.
The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight was supposed to take place on March 13. But since it was called off, the Pacquiao camp decided to take on Ghanaian Joshua Clottey on the same fight date.
Mayweather is also reportedly looking for an alternate opponent to compete with the Pacquiao-Clottey bout in Texas.
Moorer speaks out for Pacquiao
Former world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, who worked with Pacquiao and Freddie Roach for the Ricky Hatton fight, defended the Filipino from allegations he’s been using PEDs.
“Manny Pacquiao has that work ethic that a lot of boxers don't have these days and a lot of people are jealous and a lot of people are trying to make something out of it because they don't know what hard work and dedication is,” the former boxer said in a report by FightHype.com.
Moorer added that Pacquiao has the best chance of finally breaking Mayweather's unbeaten record. Mayweather hasn't lost in 40 fights.
“I haven't been in camp with Floyd Mayweather, but I feel that Manny Pacquiao would give Floyd Mayweather that one loss,” he said.
Pacquiao, the current World Boxing Organization welterweight champ, has 3 losses against 50 wins. But despite the losses, the Filipino is heralded as today’s top pound-for-pound boxer because of his exciting style of fighting.
Source: abs-cbnnews.com
Boxers should not set rules, Viloria says
The buzz about the cancelled Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout maybe over for now, but Brian Viloria is not yet done rattling off his take in the dream match that was billed as the richest in boxing history.
In a free-wheeling chat with reporters Wednesday, the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight champion said Pacquiao made the right decision not to give into the demands of the Mayweather camp to conduct an Olympic-style of (random) blood testing – a kind of test beyond the ordinary.
The governing Nevada State Athletics only requires urine tests for the proposed March 13 fight in Las Vegas.
Both camps did not see eye to eye with the issue, prompting Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter to cancel the fight.
“It’s a shame for boxing that Mayweather had to go down to that point (demand a blood test). Boxers should not set laws or rules but rather abide by them,” Viloria said.
“I don’t see the point why fighters should demand ‘you have to do this and do that.’ The commission should have the authority and not the boxers dictating what another fighter needs to do.”
With the collapse of the negotiation, Pacquiao has been penciled to face Ghanaian Joshua Clottey whom he’ll face in an 80,000-capacity stadium in Dallas.
“Manny is the draw here. Mayweather thinks he’s the draw but nobody cares about him,” Viloria said.
Source: mb.com.ph
In a free-wheeling chat with reporters Wednesday, the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight champion said Pacquiao made the right decision not to give into the demands of the Mayweather camp to conduct an Olympic-style of (random) blood testing – a kind of test beyond the ordinary.
The governing Nevada State Athletics only requires urine tests for the proposed March 13 fight in Las Vegas.
Both camps did not see eye to eye with the issue, prompting Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter to cancel the fight.
“It’s a shame for boxing that Mayweather had to go down to that point (demand a blood test). Boxers should not set laws or rules but rather abide by them,” Viloria said.
“I don’t see the point why fighters should demand ‘you have to do this and do that.’ The commission should have the authority and not the boxers dictating what another fighter needs to do.”
With the collapse of the negotiation, Pacquiao has been penciled to face Ghanaian Joshua Clottey whom he’ll face in an 80,000-capacity stadium in Dallas.
“Manny is the draw here. Mayweather thinks he’s the draw but nobody cares about him,” Viloria said.
Source: mb.com.ph
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The depressing realization that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather fight is kaput is finally settling over the boxing community. As has been repo
The depressing realization that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather fight is kaput is finally settling over the boxing community. As has been reported by Dan Rafael at ESPN and a variety of other news outlets, it seems that Pacquiao will now be slated to face welterweight contender Joshua Clottey while Mayweather is working on lining up an opponent for himself.
Both fighters are still planning on using the proposed March 13 date, which means that instead of battling it out in the ring they will be battling it out on the balance sheets to see who draws more pay-per-view sales and possibly gains an upper hand in further negotiations should the fight ever rematerialize. Yes, it's likely that after having our strings pulled for the better part of two months, that a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao could still rise to the surface in September of this year.
For his part, potential Mayweather opponents have been rumored as Kermit Cintron and Paulie Malignaggi, although a handful of other fighters have been named as well. Mayweather's fight will still likely take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, while Pacquiao will take a trip down to the Palace in Dallas to fight in Jerry Jones's new Cowboys Stadium.
After all of the back and forth drama, the media ploys and what ultimately amounts to an epic failure on the part of all sides, one question remains in the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight cancellation fiasco.
Lots of people deserve a share of the blame for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather not getting made. Starting with those who deserve the most...
Bob Arum: Yes, he of, "Yesterday I lied, today I'm telling the truth," fame. Throughout the entire affair Pacquiao's promoter was more interested in taking shots at Floyd Mayweather and his camp, and trying to work over the media then to work out a deal. As Golden Boy representative Richard Schaefer repeatedly told media outlets that the fight could still get done and only small issues needed to be ironed out, Arum jumped at every opportunity to say the fight was dead.
Arum formerly promoted Mayweather, until their relationship turned sour and Mayweather bought his way out of the contract. Arum's stubborn refusal to work amiably with Mayweather when it would have benefited everyone involved was one of the driving factors of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight
Pacquiao Vs. Mayweather Comes to a Screeching Halt, Who's to Blame?
being tanked.
Manny Pacquiao: Boxers are superstitious people. That's why they have such rigid routines and it forms the basis of some of their courage to step into the ring and exchange thunderous shots to the face with one another. However, Pacquiao's superstitious belief that having his blood drawn would make him weak and his resulting refusal to adhere to the demands of Mayweather was the final boulder that could not be moved out of the way for the mega-fight to get made. Ultimately, if you are a clean fighter, why wouldn't you agree to have your blood taken for $50 million?
Floyd Mayweather: Accusing Pacquiao of taking steroids was a win-win media ploy for Mayweather... except if Pacquiao retaliated by refusing to take the tests and instead filing a lawsuit, which he did. For his part, Mayweather did compromise on many of the details of the bout, however at the end of the day his stance on Olympic drug testing instead of the typical commission-based tests gets the "he never wanted the fight anyway" tag thrown back in his face.
Fighting a junior welterweight contender such as Paulie Malignaggi while Pacquiao fights a welterweight contender would be further embarrassment. Not to mention, how can a fighter with the self-given nickname "Money", not cease his demand making, and let his fists do the talking for an absurdly rich payday?
Richard Schaefer: Despite being far less culpable than Arum, Schaefer could have come up with more creative negotiating strategies to get the fight made. Mayweather's camp agreed to a ludicrous $10 million fee for coming in overweight. Schaefer could have compromised on the blood testing demands of Mayweather and came back with a $10 million penalty for any pre or post fight positive test results.
There's more blame to go around too. Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach for his media sensationalism and constant interviews one minute approving the bout and the next minute deriding it; Mayweather's father Floyd Mayweather Sr. for getting the Pacquiao steroid allegations started; fans, promoters and networks for aimlessly allowing the charade to play itself out and on down the line.
Somebody, anybody, needed to step up - or suck it up - and do something to save this bout. Nobody did, and it's truly an atrocity for everybody involved. Long, drawn out and venomous negotiations are a common occurrence for major boxing contests, but traditionally, the fight always got made.
The fact that this one didn't is a monumental catastrophe for all parties involved. Maybe the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout happens in September. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe one of the two guys loses their interim bouts on March 13 and all of the glam and glitz falls off the contest. At this point though, who cares?
Source: associatedcontent.com
Both fighters are still planning on using the proposed March 13 date, which means that instead of battling it out in the ring they will be battling it out on the balance sheets to see who draws more pay-per-view sales and possibly gains an upper hand in further negotiations should the fight ever rematerialize. Yes, it's likely that after having our strings pulled for the better part of two months, that a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao could still rise to the surface in September of this year.
For his part, potential Mayweather opponents have been rumored as Kermit Cintron and Paulie Malignaggi, although a handful of other fighters have been named as well. Mayweather's fight will still likely take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, while Pacquiao will take a trip down to the Palace in Dallas to fight in Jerry Jones's new Cowboys Stadium.
After all of the back and forth drama, the media ploys and what ultimately amounts to an epic failure on the part of all sides, one question remains in the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight cancellation fiasco.
Lots of people deserve a share of the blame for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather not getting made. Starting with those who deserve the most...
Bob Arum: Yes, he of, "Yesterday I lied, today I'm telling the truth," fame. Throughout the entire affair Pacquiao's promoter was more interested in taking shots at Floyd Mayweather and his camp, and trying to work over the media then to work out a deal. As Golden Boy representative Richard Schaefer repeatedly told media outlets that the fight could still get done and only small issues needed to be ironed out, Arum jumped at every opportunity to say the fight was dead.
Arum formerly promoted Mayweather, until their relationship turned sour and Mayweather bought his way out of the contract. Arum's stubborn refusal to work amiably with Mayweather when it would have benefited everyone involved was one of the driving factors of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight
Pacquiao Vs. Mayweather Comes to a Screeching Halt, Who's to Blame?
being tanked.
Manny Pacquiao: Boxers are superstitious people. That's why they have such rigid routines and it forms the basis of some of their courage to step into the ring and exchange thunderous shots to the face with one another. However, Pacquiao's superstitious belief that having his blood drawn would make him weak and his resulting refusal to adhere to the demands of Mayweather was the final boulder that could not be moved out of the way for the mega-fight to get made. Ultimately, if you are a clean fighter, why wouldn't you agree to have your blood taken for $50 million?
Floyd Mayweather: Accusing Pacquiao of taking steroids was a win-win media ploy for Mayweather... except if Pacquiao retaliated by refusing to take the tests and instead filing a lawsuit, which he did. For his part, Mayweather did compromise on many of the details of the bout, however at the end of the day his stance on Olympic drug testing instead of the typical commission-based tests gets the "he never wanted the fight anyway" tag thrown back in his face.
Fighting a junior welterweight contender such as Paulie Malignaggi while Pacquiao fights a welterweight contender would be further embarrassment. Not to mention, how can a fighter with the self-given nickname "Money", not cease his demand making, and let his fists do the talking for an absurdly rich payday?
Richard Schaefer: Despite being far less culpable than Arum, Schaefer could have come up with more creative negotiating strategies to get the fight made. Mayweather's camp agreed to a ludicrous $10 million fee for coming in overweight. Schaefer could have compromised on the blood testing demands of Mayweather and came back with a $10 million penalty for any pre or post fight positive test results.
There's more blame to go around too. Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach for his media sensationalism and constant interviews one minute approving the bout and the next minute deriding it; Mayweather's father Floyd Mayweather Sr. for getting the Pacquiao steroid allegations started; fans, promoters and networks for aimlessly allowing the charade to play itself out and on down the line.
Somebody, anybody, needed to step up - or suck it up - and do something to save this bout. Nobody did, and it's truly an atrocity for everybody involved. Long, drawn out and venomous negotiations are a common occurrence for major boxing contests, but traditionally, the fight always got made.
The fact that this one didn't is a monumental catastrophe for all parties involved. Maybe the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout happens in September. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe one of the two guys loses their interim bouts on March 13 and all of the glam and glitz falls off the contest. At this point though, who cares?
Source: associatedcontent.com
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are foolish to throw away millions
PHILADELPHIA — Toward the end of every calendar year, the Darwin Awards document incidents of human behavior so preposterous that the only conclusion is that the winners never made it very far up the evolutionary ladder.
It’s only a week and a half into 2010, but my early nomination for a Darwin Award goes to everyone concerned with the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. megafight that has imploded into a million pieces, again leaving boxing fans to wonder whether those who control the sport are suicidal, stupid or perhaps a combination of both.
Incensed by claims from the Mayweather camp that his rise to superstardom was fueled by performance-enhancing drugs, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) has agreed in principle to a consolation-prize bout with Ghana’s Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on March 13, the date he was to have fought Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
With the possible intent of demonstrating that two wrongs somehow do make a right, Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) insists he also will fight on March 13, most likely against pitty-pat-punching Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KOs) at the MGM Grand.
The only thing more nonsensical than two spiteful guys willfully throwing away a payday of up to $40 million apiece, in a fight that almost certainly would have been the highest-grossing in boxing history, is the notion that they’ll go head-to-head on the same date in competing pay-per-view events. I now declare nominations for the top prize for this year’s Darwin Awards closed.
Of course, proponents of each fighter will insist that failure to reach an agreement falls to the other side. There have been, and will continue to be, assertions of who deserves to get the larger slice of the blame-game pie. But no one comes out of this smelling like a rose.
Former Philadelphia Daily News sports editor and veteran HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant has been around long enough to understand that most impasses are based less on principle than on ego and money. Elite fighters, by nature, are a self-centered lot.
"I think of negotiating as a kind of dominance in which both fighters are trying to show that they’re the man, they’re the stronger guy, they’re the one who can impose his will on the other guy and that this will somehow show up in the ring," Merchant said when asked for his thoughts on the collapse of Pacquiao-Mayweather for now and perhaps forever.
After both sides — Top Rank founder Bob Arum and his stepson, company president Todd duBoef, represent Pacquiao, while Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer stood in for Mayweather Promotions, which is not licensed to do business in Nevada — agreed to the date and MGM Grand site, Mayweather’s father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., and uncle-trainer, Roger Mayweather, began popping off about how Pacquiao had gone from skinny 106-pounder to ripped 147-pounder, thanks in large part to steroids.
Pacquiao, who never has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, said he was highly offended by claims his success was anything but all natural. The Mayweather camp then demanded both fighters submit to more stringent, Olympic-type drug testing administered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which includes random blood testing up to the day of an event.
During the past several weeks, Pacquiao filed a defamation suit against the Mayweathers, Golden Boy, Schaefer and the "Golden Boy" himself, Oscar De La Hoya. Various compromises were proposed and rejected, and now we are left with a mess of nothing, except, of course, pending litigation.
Is Pacquiao in the right? He’s never tested positive for any form of PED, so maybe his anger is justified.
Is Mayweather in the right? Shane Mosley, an executive and fighter for Golden Boy, tested clean for a matchup with De La Hoya, but later admitted to a grand jury he had injected himself with the doping agent EPO. If Mosley can beat the system, Team Mayweather contends, Pacquiao can, too.
A nine-hour mediation session last week with retired judge Daniel Weinstein failed to bridge the gap. In fact, the chasm appears to be widening.
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said random blood testing up to the day of the bout would weaken his fighter, the naturally smaller man. He also claims Mayweather insisted on it because he’s "scared" of the Filipino and doesn’t want to risk his undefeated record, no matter how many millions of dollars are at stake.
Ever the chest-thumping gangsta, Mayweather said in a prepared statement that fans will see through Pacquiao’s "smoke screens and lies."
Big talk, however, has never settled anything. As the Darwin Awards demonstrate, we have met the enemy and once again it is us.
Source: bostonherald.com
It’s only a week and a half into 2010, but my early nomination for a Darwin Award goes to everyone concerned with the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. megafight that has imploded into a million pieces, again leaving boxing fans to wonder whether those who control the sport are suicidal, stupid or perhaps a combination of both.
Incensed by claims from the Mayweather camp that his rise to superstardom was fueled by performance-enhancing drugs, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) has agreed in principle to a consolation-prize bout with Ghana’s Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on March 13, the date he was to have fought Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
With the possible intent of demonstrating that two wrongs somehow do make a right, Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) insists he also will fight on March 13, most likely against pitty-pat-punching Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KOs) at the MGM Grand.
The only thing more nonsensical than two spiteful guys willfully throwing away a payday of up to $40 million apiece, in a fight that almost certainly would have been the highest-grossing in boxing history, is the notion that they’ll go head-to-head on the same date in competing pay-per-view events. I now declare nominations for the top prize for this year’s Darwin Awards closed.
Of course, proponents of each fighter will insist that failure to reach an agreement falls to the other side. There have been, and will continue to be, assertions of who deserves to get the larger slice of the blame-game pie. But no one comes out of this smelling like a rose.
Former Philadelphia Daily News sports editor and veteran HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant has been around long enough to understand that most impasses are based less on principle than on ego and money. Elite fighters, by nature, are a self-centered lot.
"I think of negotiating as a kind of dominance in which both fighters are trying to show that they’re the man, they’re the stronger guy, they’re the one who can impose his will on the other guy and that this will somehow show up in the ring," Merchant said when asked for his thoughts on the collapse of Pacquiao-Mayweather for now and perhaps forever.
After both sides — Top Rank founder Bob Arum and his stepson, company president Todd duBoef, represent Pacquiao, while Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer stood in for Mayweather Promotions, which is not licensed to do business in Nevada — agreed to the date and MGM Grand site, Mayweather’s father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., and uncle-trainer, Roger Mayweather, began popping off about how Pacquiao had gone from skinny 106-pounder to ripped 147-pounder, thanks in large part to steroids.
Pacquiao, who never has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, said he was highly offended by claims his success was anything but all natural. The Mayweather camp then demanded both fighters submit to more stringent, Olympic-type drug testing administered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which includes random blood testing up to the day of an event.
During the past several weeks, Pacquiao filed a defamation suit against the Mayweathers, Golden Boy, Schaefer and the "Golden Boy" himself, Oscar De La Hoya. Various compromises were proposed and rejected, and now we are left with a mess of nothing, except, of course, pending litigation.
Is Pacquiao in the right? He’s never tested positive for any form of PED, so maybe his anger is justified.
Is Mayweather in the right? Shane Mosley, an executive and fighter for Golden Boy, tested clean for a matchup with De La Hoya, but later admitted to a grand jury he had injected himself with the doping agent EPO. If Mosley can beat the system, Team Mayweather contends, Pacquiao can, too.
A nine-hour mediation session last week with retired judge Daniel Weinstein failed to bridge the gap. In fact, the chasm appears to be widening.
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said random blood testing up to the day of the bout would weaken his fighter, the naturally smaller man. He also claims Mayweather insisted on it because he’s "scared" of the Filipino and doesn’t want to risk his undefeated record, no matter how many millions of dollars are at stake.
Ever the chest-thumping gangsta, Mayweather said in a prepared statement that fans will see through Pacquiao’s "smoke screens and lies."
Big talk, however, has never settled anything. As the Darwin Awards demonstrate, we have met the enemy and once again it is us.
Source: bostonherald.com
Two Rights Make a Wrong
Two wrongs don't make a right but sometimes two rights make a wrong. Witness the debacle about the Pacquiao-Mayweather mega bout -- the only fight that the public has demanded in years and a fight that has now been counted out. Why? How could boxing deliver such a vicious uppercut to itself?
As the story goes, and there are many narratives buzzing around, the contest was all but a done deal when Floyd Mayweather and company demanded Olympic-style drug testing. Pacquiao went ballistic and refused to comply. With perhaps the biggest bout on record hanging on the ropes, representatives for the two parties went into mediation but to no avail. Now Pacquiao has signed to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13, and in keeping with their strife, Mayweather is eager to match up with someone else on the same night.
As irritating as Mayweather can be, he was within reason and his rights to be concerned about the possibility of the Pac Man using performance enhancing drugs. After all, Pacquiao has leapt over weight classes as though they were puddles. He is the only fighter to win titles in seven different weight classes, prompting boxing historian Bert Sugar to tab him the "Evil Knievel" of boxing. To be sure, others have jumped divisions but none so many and while retaining, if not increasing, their punching power. Moreover, Pacquiao has been likened to Lance Armstrong in his supreme conditioning. His ability to workout for hours at very intense levels with little need for days off and recovery time are not the kind of stories to allay suspicions about PED.
While some commentators have accused Mayweather of groping for an excuse to excuse himself from a fight with Pacquiao, it is a fact that elite boxers have been going into the medicine cabinet. Some have been caught. Some haven't. By and large boxing does not have either the infrastructure or the financial means to demand rigorous random testing for every fight. Although Mayweather and his Golden Boy Promotions should not have approached the issue in such a public manner, their worries about the use of steroids or human growth hormone were understandable.
On the other hand, Pacquiao has never tested positive for anything and so from his point of view there was no reason to single him out for tests that go beyond what is required by the Nevada Boxing Commission. Assuming his innocence, Pacquiao is right to take serious umbrage at the implication that chemistry is responsible for his astounding accomplishments. He would also be right to do what he has done, namely, file a law suit against Floyd Mayweather and Golden Boy for defamation of character. But that is not the end of it.
With his exciting style and masterful technique, Pacquiao has single handedly scraped boxing off of the canvas. A one time street kid from the Philippines, he has become a national treasure and, according to Time, one of the most important people in the world. Pacquiao's popularity is in large part due to the fact that he is seen as a symbol of purity. Indeed, many Filipinos would prefer that he not seek political office (he is running for congress in the spring) because they believe that, no one, not even the mighty Pac Man, could avoid being corrupted in the political arena.
And yet with just a few comments, Floyd Mayweather has punched a hole in Pacquiao's image. If Pacquiao is to survive Mayweather's salvo and preserve his reputation, he needs to step forward and say that, while he is furious about the implication and is proceeding with the lawsuit, he will, for the good of boxing and his fans, submit to Olympic style testing.
The Pac Man has always crowed about his love of the sweet science and his followers, but does he have enough love to put aside his pride? If not, how are people to understand why he would storm away from 30 million dollars plus, and be willing to leave his legacy in Mark McGwire type tatters, just to avoid a few drug tests? Pacquiao has shown unprecedented toughness in the ring but he needs to show a different sort of toughness in order to get into the ring for the fight that his sport and fans demand.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
As the story goes, and there are many narratives buzzing around, the contest was all but a done deal when Floyd Mayweather and company demanded Olympic-style drug testing. Pacquiao went ballistic and refused to comply. With perhaps the biggest bout on record hanging on the ropes, representatives for the two parties went into mediation but to no avail. Now Pacquiao has signed to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13, and in keeping with their strife, Mayweather is eager to match up with someone else on the same night.
As irritating as Mayweather can be, he was within reason and his rights to be concerned about the possibility of the Pac Man using performance enhancing drugs. After all, Pacquiao has leapt over weight classes as though they were puddles. He is the only fighter to win titles in seven different weight classes, prompting boxing historian Bert Sugar to tab him the "Evil Knievel" of boxing. To be sure, others have jumped divisions but none so many and while retaining, if not increasing, their punching power. Moreover, Pacquiao has been likened to Lance Armstrong in his supreme conditioning. His ability to workout for hours at very intense levels with little need for days off and recovery time are not the kind of stories to allay suspicions about PED.
While some commentators have accused Mayweather of groping for an excuse to excuse himself from a fight with Pacquiao, it is a fact that elite boxers have been going into the medicine cabinet. Some have been caught. Some haven't. By and large boxing does not have either the infrastructure or the financial means to demand rigorous random testing for every fight. Although Mayweather and his Golden Boy Promotions should not have approached the issue in such a public manner, their worries about the use of steroids or human growth hormone were understandable.
On the other hand, Pacquiao has never tested positive for anything and so from his point of view there was no reason to single him out for tests that go beyond what is required by the Nevada Boxing Commission. Assuming his innocence, Pacquiao is right to take serious umbrage at the implication that chemistry is responsible for his astounding accomplishments. He would also be right to do what he has done, namely, file a law suit against Floyd Mayweather and Golden Boy for defamation of character. But that is not the end of it.
With his exciting style and masterful technique, Pacquiao has single handedly scraped boxing off of the canvas. A one time street kid from the Philippines, he has become a national treasure and, according to Time, one of the most important people in the world. Pacquiao's popularity is in large part due to the fact that he is seen as a symbol of purity. Indeed, many Filipinos would prefer that he not seek political office (he is running for congress in the spring) because they believe that, no one, not even the mighty Pac Man, could avoid being corrupted in the political arena.
And yet with just a few comments, Floyd Mayweather has punched a hole in Pacquiao's image. If Pacquiao is to survive Mayweather's salvo and preserve his reputation, he needs to step forward and say that, while he is furious about the implication and is proceeding with the lawsuit, he will, for the good of boxing and his fans, submit to Olympic style testing.
The Pac Man has always crowed about his love of the sweet science and his followers, but does he have enough love to put aside his pride? If not, how are people to understand why he would storm away from 30 million dollars plus, and be willing to leave his legacy in Mark McGwire type tatters, just to avoid a few drug tests? Pacquiao has shown unprecedented toughness in the ring but he needs to show a different sort of toughness in order to get into the ring for the fight that his sport and fans demand.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Monday, January 11, 2010
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in popularity race with bouts on same night
Instead, it will be a commercial battle, and one of popularity, as they race off for pay per view buys on the same night. I wouldn’t mind betting that both contests nosedive tin views - as fans around the world have been registering distaste at the shenanigans emerging from the saga.
On Friday night, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter at Top Rank, revealed that Pacquiao would defend the WBO welterweight title against former title holder Joshua Clottey - on March 13, at the NFL Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas.
Not to be outdone, by the end of the weekend, it was announced that Mayweather will fight at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on the same night. Talk about brinkmanship.
The MGM Grand was in the running to host the Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight before the collapse of the contest after a dispute between the camps on the drug testing protocol. Shame. It was only being touted, realistically enough, as the highest grossing fight in history. More importantly, it was, and remains, the defining fight of this generation of boxers. Egos and one-upmanship is only damaging the sport in this instance.
Instead of the proposed megafight, Mayweather is now looking at the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, Nate Campbell, or Kermit Cintron, although Richard Schaefer completely ruled out Matthew Hatton, the younger brother of former light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton.
"There is absolutely no truth to the rumors about Matthew Hatton. I can't tell you for sure who Floyd will fight, but I can tell you for sure it won't be Matthew Hatton," Schaefer told ESPN.com.
There is talk of Mayweather facing Shane Mosley, if Mayweather wins his March bout, although Mosley must also defeat the clever skills of Andre Berto in a welterweight unification fight on Jan 30. But the top of the boxing tree has itself in fine mess at the moment.
Source: telegraph.co.uk/
On Friday night, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter at Top Rank, revealed that Pacquiao would defend the WBO welterweight title against former title holder Joshua Clottey - on March 13, at the NFL Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas.
Not to be outdone, by the end of the weekend, it was announced that Mayweather will fight at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on the same night. Talk about brinkmanship.
The MGM Grand was in the running to host the Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight before the collapse of the contest after a dispute between the camps on the drug testing protocol. Shame. It was only being touted, realistically enough, as the highest grossing fight in history. More importantly, it was, and remains, the defining fight of this generation of boxers. Egos and one-upmanship is only damaging the sport in this instance.
Instead of the proposed megafight, Mayweather is now looking at the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, Nate Campbell, or Kermit Cintron, although Richard Schaefer completely ruled out Matthew Hatton, the younger brother of former light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton.
"There is absolutely no truth to the rumors about Matthew Hatton. I can't tell you for sure who Floyd will fight, but I can tell you for sure it won't be Matthew Hatton," Schaefer told ESPN.com.
There is talk of Mayweather facing Shane Mosley, if Mayweather wins his March bout, although Mosley must also defeat the clever skills of Andre Berto in a welterweight unification fight on Jan 30. But the top of the boxing tree has itself in fine mess at the moment.
Source: telegraph.co.uk/
Mayweather also fighting on March 13
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will still compete against each other on March 13, but not in the ring. Instead, they will be duking it out for pay-per-view buys.
Two days after Top Rank's Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, announced plans for Pacquiao to defend his welterweight title against former titlist Joshua Clottey on March 13, Mayweather is making plans to fight on the same night.
While Pacquiao will face Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, just outside of Dallas -- Arum concluded a deal with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Sunday -- Mayweather will face an opponent to be determined at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com on Sunday night.
"It's a date Golden Boy has had for a long time and nothing has changed," Schaefer said. "We have been talking to Team Mayweather to see who the opponent will be. I hope to have something to announce in the next few days."
The MGM Grand was supposed to host the Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight before it broke up for good on Friday over a month-long dispute between the camps on the drug testing protocol for a bout that many believed would be the highest grossing fight in history.
According to sources, Mayweather's list of potential opponents includes former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi and Golden Boy-promoted former lightweight titlist Nate Campbell, both smaller men than Mayweather, as well as former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron, who is a similar kind of opponent as Clottey is for Pacquiao. There is also a more remote possibility of Mayweather facing junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr., who has ties to Showtime, which may not want to let him walk away for a possible fight on rival HBO PPV.
One opponent Mayweather will not be facing is Matthew Hatton, the brother of former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton, whom Mayweather knocked out in a 2007 welterweight title fight. Reports in Matthew Hatton's native England indicate that he is under consideration.
However, Schaefer said that is not the case.
"There is absolutely no truth to the rumors about Matthew Hatton. I can't tell you for sure who Floyd will fight, but I can tell you for sure it won't be Matthew Hatton," Schaefer said.
With Pacquiao and Mayweather going their separate ways against lesser opponents on competing pay-per-view cards, HBO, which has broadcast both fighters' biggest bouts on pay-per-view, is in a position where it will have to make a choice on whether it will support one fighter over the other or neither.
The network has been mum on its plans for March 13, although Arum and Schaefer both told ESPN.com that they have spoken to the network about their fights. Arum is also prepared to put on his event as a Top Rank-produced pay-per-view.
It would be highly unusual for there to be pay-per-view cards on the same night featuring major stars in separate bouts, but that is exactly what could happen.
"It is unusual, but what can I do," Schaefer said. "It wasn't Floyd who walked away from the Pacquiao fight. There is nothing I can really say about it. I've had the date [March 13] for a long time. Initially it was for the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones fight [which won't come off because Jones was knocked out in a Dec. 2 interim bout]. You know what? It is what it is. I'm not getting excited about it anymore. I am sitting outside having a cigar and [expletive]. It is what it is.
"It's not good. Its not good for Pacquiao to go on that date, which we had for a long time. We had that date, end of story. So it's not good. How can it be good? It's not good for boxing. It's not good for boxing that Pacquiao and Mayweather are not fighting each other. I worked really hard to make that happen and it's not. And I am not belittling Pacquiao's fight with Clottey. It's OK. Hey, we have a piece of [the promotional contract of] Pacquiao. But is it ideal? No it's not. Is it the end of boxing? Is the world collapsing? No it is not. We all have to look to March 14. March 13 will pass and on March 14 boxing will still be there and there will be exciting fights, and nothing will change that."
Schaefer said he was unsure what HBO planned to do, but he hoped it would support Mayweather's bout.
"Nobody wants competing fights. HBO doesn't want it," he said. "Nobody in their clear mind can be happy about Mayweather fighting somebody else or Pacquiao fighting somebody else. But we all have to live with it and accept. I'm a boxing fan too and I am pissed off about what happened. Anyone who says anything different is lying. I wish there had been something I could do about it, so I am very frustrated and disappointed, but Floyd Mayweather will still fight."
If Mayweather wins his March bout, Schaefer said he could next meet Shane Mosley, the welterweight champion (and Golden Boy partner) who first faces Andre Berto in a Jan. 30 unification fight. Before taking the fight with Berto, Mosley spent months trying to land a bout with either Mayweather or Pacquiao.
Source: espn.go.com
Two days after Top Rank's Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, announced plans for Pacquiao to defend his welterweight title against former titlist Joshua Clottey on March 13, Mayweather is making plans to fight on the same night.
While Pacquiao will face Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, just outside of Dallas -- Arum concluded a deal with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Sunday -- Mayweather will face an opponent to be determined at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com on Sunday night.
"It's a date Golden Boy has had for a long time and nothing has changed," Schaefer said. "We have been talking to Team Mayweather to see who the opponent will be. I hope to have something to announce in the next few days."
The MGM Grand was supposed to host the Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight before it broke up for good on Friday over a month-long dispute between the camps on the drug testing protocol for a bout that many believed would be the highest grossing fight in history.
According to sources, Mayweather's list of potential opponents includes former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi and Golden Boy-promoted former lightweight titlist Nate Campbell, both smaller men than Mayweather, as well as former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron, who is a similar kind of opponent as Clottey is for Pacquiao. There is also a more remote possibility of Mayweather facing junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr., who has ties to Showtime, which may not want to let him walk away for a possible fight on rival HBO PPV.
One opponent Mayweather will not be facing is Matthew Hatton, the brother of former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton, whom Mayweather knocked out in a 2007 welterweight title fight. Reports in Matthew Hatton's native England indicate that he is under consideration.
However, Schaefer said that is not the case.
"There is absolutely no truth to the rumors about Matthew Hatton. I can't tell you for sure who Floyd will fight, but I can tell you for sure it won't be Matthew Hatton," Schaefer said.
With Pacquiao and Mayweather going their separate ways against lesser opponents on competing pay-per-view cards, HBO, which has broadcast both fighters' biggest bouts on pay-per-view, is in a position where it will have to make a choice on whether it will support one fighter over the other or neither.
The network has been mum on its plans for March 13, although Arum and Schaefer both told ESPN.com that they have spoken to the network about their fights. Arum is also prepared to put on his event as a Top Rank-produced pay-per-view.
It would be highly unusual for there to be pay-per-view cards on the same night featuring major stars in separate bouts, but that is exactly what could happen.
"It is unusual, but what can I do," Schaefer said. "It wasn't Floyd who walked away from the Pacquiao fight. There is nothing I can really say about it. I've had the date [March 13] for a long time. Initially it was for the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones fight [which won't come off because Jones was knocked out in a Dec. 2 interim bout]. You know what? It is what it is. I'm not getting excited about it anymore. I am sitting outside having a cigar and [expletive]. It is what it is.
"It's not good. Its not good for Pacquiao to go on that date, which we had for a long time. We had that date, end of story. So it's not good. How can it be good? It's not good for boxing. It's not good for boxing that Pacquiao and Mayweather are not fighting each other. I worked really hard to make that happen and it's not. And I am not belittling Pacquiao's fight with Clottey. It's OK. Hey, we have a piece of [the promotional contract of] Pacquiao. But is it ideal? No it's not. Is it the end of boxing? Is the world collapsing? No it is not. We all have to look to March 14. March 13 will pass and on March 14 boxing will still be there and there will be exciting fights, and nothing will change that."
Schaefer said he was unsure what HBO planned to do, but he hoped it would support Mayweather's bout.
"Nobody wants competing fights. HBO doesn't want it," he said. "Nobody in their clear mind can be happy about Mayweather fighting somebody else or Pacquiao fighting somebody else. But we all have to live with it and accept. I'm a boxing fan too and I am pissed off about what happened. Anyone who says anything different is lying. I wish there had been something I could do about it, so I am very frustrated and disappointed, but Floyd Mayweather will still fight."
If Mayweather wins his March bout, Schaefer said he could next meet Shane Mosley, the welterweight champion (and Golden Boy partner) who first faces Andre Berto in a Jan. 30 unification fight. Before taking the fight with Berto, Mosley spent months trying to land a bout with either Mayweather or Pacquiao.
Source: espn.go.com
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Life after Mayweather for Pacquiao
MANNY PACQUIAO will fight Joshua Clottey instead of Floyd Mayweather Jnr on March 13.
Pacquiao's proposed mega fight with Mayweather bit the dust earier this week after the two camps failed to agree terms over blood testing.
And the Filipino has wasted no time in finding a new opponent.
His promoter Bob Arum said: "Clottey's a real strong, aggressive and hard punching African who poses a real test for Manny."
Pacquiao, 31, will defend his WBO welterweight title against Clottey in Las Vegas.
But Arum insists the Mayweather bout could still happen in the future — if Money drops his drug-testing demands.
The Top Rank supremo added: "There's always later in the year and there's next year, it's up to Mayweather.
"But if he starts this nonsense again with testing or anything then let him take a walk.
"We are not going to get into a debate with him ever again on stuff we know nothing about and that only regulators really can understand.
"We have commissions regulating this sport.
"If Mayweather wants any special testing he should address it to the commission that will have jurisdiction over the fight."
Clottey's last outing was a defeat against Miguel Cotto, who Pacquiao defeated in November.
The Ghanaian, 32, has lost three times in a 39-fight career.
Source: thesun.co.uk
Mayweather, Pacquiao Dueling Fights: HBO Sides With......?
By Rick Reeno
Based on the word going around, the failed Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather negotiations is creating an aftermath scenario where both fighters will headline separate pay-per-view events on March 13 - the very day that Pacquiao-Mayweather was tentatively scheduled to happen.
The wheels are in full motion for Pacquiao to defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey. Top Rank's Bob Arum flew to Texas on Saturday to finalize a venue deal with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Both of the fighters have agreed in principle and a finalized deal is expected in the next few days.
According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, Mayweather will also return on March 13 but at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Schaefer told several reporters - "no matter what, Floyd Mayweather will fight at the MGM Grand on March 13."
The real question, and the one question that most industry insiders want to know - is which event will HBO back. Pacquiao already has an opponent locked in, while Mayweather doesn't have a set replacement. Rumors of Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Hatton are out there but nothing has been confirmed or denied by Team Mayweather.
Top Rank will move forward with or without HBO. They consistently stage their own pay-per-events. Golden Boy does not. During the course of the day, I spoke to a few promoters with no connection to either fighter, and none of them expect Golden Boy to move foward on March 13 if HBO picks up Pacquiao-Clottey. One source believes Schaefer is bluffing on the date. Another source believes Schaefer is serious.
Another interesting angle is the battle of pay-per-view buyrates. Pacquiao-Clottey is going to be an action fight. Mayweather is going to need a real solid opponent to compete. Top Rank is interested in revisiting the Mayweather fight in a few months. We sat back in 2009 as both sides were arguing over which of the two fighters was the bigger pay-per-view draw and deserved the bigger piece of the money. That argument will resume in 2010 when both fighters return to pay-per-view.
The negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao was an absolute soap opera. The final buyrate numbers for both events will give us an indication, to an extent, on which fighter had a falling out with the general boxing public. We sat through several weeks of soap opera-style drama as both sides tried to make the fight.
Some of the mudslinging has been vicious. I have a very hard time believing that anyone affiliated with Pacquiao or Top Rank would be stupid enough to send an email requesting an agreement between both sides to hide any information resulting from a "positive test result" for performance enhancing drugs. If either side had possession of such an email, it would have come out by now or at the very least - someone would have quoted the exact language from the email. We've heard both sides quote language from internal text messages, emails and voicemail messages but nobody has been able to quote anything or present any proof that such an email actually exists.
I would have to say Pacquiao's career took the bigger hit from this entire mess with all of the allegations, rumors and the cloud of doubt that swirls above his head. And the mess is far from over. With Pacquiao's pending defamation suit against Golden Boy and several of the Mayweathers, there will be a lot more drama in the coming months.
Source: boxingscene.com
Based on the word going around, the failed Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather negotiations is creating an aftermath scenario where both fighters will headline separate pay-per-view events on March 13 - the very day that Pacquiao-Mayweather was tentatively scheduled to happen.
The wheels are in full motion for Pacquiao to defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey. Top Rank's Bob Arum flew to Texas on Saturday to finalize a venue deal with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Both of the fighters have agreed in principle and a finalized deal is expected in the next few days.
According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, Mayweather will also return on March 13 but at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Schaefer told several reporters - "no matter what, Floyd Mayweather will fight at the MGM Grand on March 13."
The real question, and the one question that most industry insiders want to know - is which event will HBO back. Pacquiao already has an opponent locked in, while Mayweather doesn't have a set replacement. Rumors of Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Hatton are out there but nothing has been confirmed or denied by Team Mayweather.
Top Rank will move forward with or without HBO. They consistently stage their own pay-per-events. Golden Boy does not. During the course of the day, I spoke to a few promoters with no connection to either fighter, and none of them expect Golden Boy to move foward on March 13 if HBO picks up Pacquiao-Clottey. One source believes Schaefer is bluffing on the date. Another source believes Schaefer is serious.
Another interesting angle is the battle of pay-per-view buyrates. Pacquiao-Clottey is going to be an action fight. Mayweather is going to need a real solid opponent to compete. Top Rank is interested in revisiting the Mayweather fight in a few months. We sat back in 2009 as both sides were arguing over which of the two fighters was the bigger pay-per-view draw and deserved the bigger piece of the money. That argument will resume in 2010 when both fighters return to pay-per-view.
The negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao was an absolute soap opera. The final buyrate numbers for both events will give us an indication, to an extent, on which fighter had a falling out with the general boxing public. We sat through several weeks of soap opera-style drama as both sides tried to make the fight.
Some of the mudslinging has been vicious. I have a very hard time believing that anyone affiliated with Pacquiao or Top Rank would be stupid enough to send an email requesting an agreement between both sides to hide any information resulting from a "positive test result" for performance enhancing drugs. If either side had possession of such an email, it would have come out by now or at the very least - someone would have quoted the exact language from the email. We've heard both sides quote language from internal text messages, emails and voicemail messages but nobody has been able to quote anything or present any proof that such an email actually exists.
I would have to say Pacquiao's career took the bigger hit from this entire mess with all of the allegations, rumors and the cloud of doubt that swirls above his head. And the mess is far from over. With Pacquiao's pending defamation suit against Golden Boy and several of the Mayweathers, there will be a lot more drama in the coming months.
Source: boxingscene.com
Mayweather's Blow Hits Below the Belt
It's been 17 years since Floyd Mayweather Jr. made his first imprint on the boxing world. It was at the 1993 National Golden Gloves Championships in Little Rock, Ark. He was 16 and won his weight class.
Mayweather weighed 106 pounds then.
Less than two years later in January 1995, a kid who unbeknownst to any of us then would become Mayweather's most stubborn nemesis, Manny Pacquiao, made a professional debut as a boxer in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. He was 16 and won a four-round decision against someone named Edmund Enting Ignacio.
Pacquiao weighed 106 pounds then.
How about that? Mayweather and Pacquiao were both 106-pound, 16-year-old pugilists.
But to hear Mayweather's camp tell it -- as led by Mayweather's loquacious father, Floyd Mayweather Sr. -- Mayweather Jr. basically has been a welterweight all of his life while Pacquiao has been hiding in a trainer's room hooked up to an intravenous feed of steroids to inflate his body over the years.
If ever there was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, it is Mayweather's camp accusing Pacquiao of being a steroids cheat, a charge that has cast a fight between the two -- something steeped in so much anticipation that it would be the richest prizefight in history -- into a sea of uncertainty.
Mayweather's camp, pointing its accusatory finger at Pacquiao, demanded Olympic-style, virtually-up-to-the-last-second blood testing for both combatants. Pacquiao's camp countered that it would agree to blood testing within 24 days of stepping into the ring. Mayweather's camp refused to budge. Now Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, said he is signing up Joshua Clottey as Pacquiao's opponent on the proposed March 13 date for Mayweather-Pacquiao. (This is the same Arum who, it can't be forgotten, said famously once: "Yesterday I was lying; Today I'm telling the truth.")
In a lot of ways, this is boxing as usual. One day a fight is on; the next day it is off. Most times the sticking point in negotiations is the share of the purse. Sometimes it is the size of the ring or the gloves.
Olympic-style blood testing for steroids is a new stumbling block, and it is understandable. This is the steroids era and stars of the ring haven't proven to be cleaner than stars of any other sports. Shane Mosley got busted as a client of the infamous BALCO business (the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative) that proved to be a Pandora's Box (spilling out were the world's supposed fastest man Tim Montgomery and his then-lover Marion Jones, baseball All-Stars Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds, et al.) of the steroids era. Evander Holyfield, who grew from a 177-pound light heavyweight to a 221-pound heavyweight champion, admitted he took steroids (unwittingly, of course) around 2004.
Accusing someone of cheating, however, is a new and below-the-belt attack. It's not in the same category as name-calling, which Muhammad Ali engaged in. That would explain why Pacquiao filed a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and his handlers for their thus far unsubstantiated claims that he's been juicing.
After all we've learned the past few years, though, no name would surprise me if it popped up on a performance-enhancing drug blotter, neither Pacquiao's nor, for that matter, Mayweather's. Both have grown nine weight classes, from light flyweight to welterweight, and have taken on and beaten Oscar De La Hoya, who has weighed as much as a middleweight, 160 pounds.
That is not to say that Mayweather has attained his greatness through the nefarious means he has alleged Pacquiao of getting to at this point in Pacquiao's career. I've never wondered for a second about Mayweather's rise to fame as arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter of his time. I have, however, often wondered why he's made it so difficult at times to make big fights happen. He was dismissive of Antonio Margarito when Margarito would have given him his biggest payday.
But I never thought twice about Pacquiao's ascendancy until Mayweather Sr. started calling out Pacquiao the last couple of months and his son didn't voice disagreement. (In the interest of full disclosure, I must state that at one time I was represented by one of Pacquiao's lawyers, Nick Kahn, and accepted a gift of two tickets to Pacquiao's second fight with Erik Morales during my brief hiatus from the regular writing business.) Upon further review, however, I found no more reason to wonder about Pacquiao unless I'm going to start looking at Mayweather with doubt, too.
For as history shows, Mayweather has made the exact same climb over nearly the same time period and with results similar to Pacquiao's, though not as spectacular. Mayweather hasn't run roughshod over seemingly bigger men as Pacquiao has, like an aged De La Hoya, who Pacquiao put into retirement, or Miguel Cotto, who Pacquiao turned into mincemeat.
Mayweather has put on as much as 44 pounds since he was 16 (he fought De La Hoya at 150 pounds); Pacquiao has put on as much as 38 pounds since he was the same age.
Mayweather was up to 131 pounds when he debuted as a pro in October 1996, just over three years after his first Golden Gloves title. Pacquiao didn't get up to 130 pounds until late 2005. Is slow gain not more natural than quick gain?
Mayweather has put on the bulk of his added weight -- 19 pounds -- since debuting as a pro. Being from an impoverished region of the Philippines, Pacquiao started boxing for dollars immediately.
It doesn't mean much that Pacquiao has never been busted for using banned performance-enhancing drugs. Few athletes own up to as much until they are found out. But that goes for Mayweather too. The only difference between the two is that Mayweather has sounded as if he's chomping at the bit to be tested and Pacquiao has sounded as if he's not so eager.
Does that mean Pacquiao has something to hide? Or is Mayweather just calling his bluff? I don't know.
All I know is that these two guys are a lot more similar than has been portrayed and the only cheating going on for certain is of the fans.
Source: kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com
Mayweather weighed 106 pounds then.
Less than two years later in January 1995, a kid who unbeknownst to any of us then would become Mayweather's most stubborn nemesis, Manny Pacquiao, made a professional debut as a boxer in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. He was 16 and won a four-round decision against someone named Edmund Enting Ignacio.
Pacquiao weighed 106 pounds then.
How about that? Mayweather and Pacquiao were both 106-pound, 16-year-old pugilists.
But to hear Mayweather's camp tell it -- as led by Mayweather's loquacious father, Floyd Mayweather Sr. -- Mayweather Jr. basically has been a welterweight all of his life while Pacquiao has been hiding in a trainer's room hooked up to an intravenous feed of steroids to inflate his body over the years.
If ever there was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, it is Mayweather's camp accusing Pacquiao of being a steroids cheat, a charge that has cast a fight between the two -- something steeped in so much anticipation that it would be the richest prizefight in history -- into a sea of uncertainty.
Mayweather's camp, pointing its accusatory finger at Pacquiao, demanded Olympic-style, virtually-up-to-the-last-second blood testing for both combatants. Pacquiao's camp countered that it would agree to blood testing within 24 days of stepping into the ring. Mayweather's camp refused to budge. Now Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, said he is signing up Joshua Clottey as Pacquiao's opponent on the proposed March 13 date for Mayweather-Pacquiao. (This is the same Arum who, it can't be forgotten, said famously once: "Yesterday I was lying; Today I'm telling the truth.")
In a lot of ways, this is boxing as usual. One day a fight is on; the next day it is off. Most times the sticking point in negotiations is the share of the purse. Sometimes it is the size of the ring or the gloves.
Olympic-style blood testing for steroids is a new stumbling block, and it is understandable. This is the steroids era and stars of the ring haven't proven to be cleaner than stars of any other sports. Shane Mosley got busted as a client of the infamous BALCO business (the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative) that proved to be a Pandora's Box (spilling out were the world's supposed fastest man Tim Montgomery and his then-lover Marion Jones, baseball All-Stars Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds, et al.) of the steroids era. Evander Holyfield, who grew from a 177-pound light heavyweight to a 221-pound heavyweight champion, admitted he took steroids (unwittingly, of course) around 2004.
Accusing someone of cheating, however, is a new and below-the-belt attack. It's not in the same category as name-calling, which Muhammad Ali engaged in. That would explain why Pacquiao filed a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and his handlers for their thus far unsubstantiated claims that he's been juicing.
After all we've learned the past few years, though, no name would surprise me if it popped up on a performance-enhancing drug blotter, neither Pacquiao's nor, for that matter, Mayweather's. Both have grown nine weight classes, from light flyweight to welterweight, and have taken on and beaten Oscar De La Hoya, who has weighed as much as a middleweight, 160 pounds.
That is not to say that Mayweather has attained his greatness through the nefarious means he has alleged Pacquiao of getting to at this point in Pacquiao's career. I've never wondered for a second about Mayweather's rise to fame as arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter of his time. I have, however, often wondered why he's made it so difficult at times to make big fights happen. He was dismissive of Antonio Margarito when Margarito would have given him his biggest payday.
But I never thought twice about Pacquiao's ascendancy until Mayweather Sr. started calling out Pacquiao the last couple of months and his son didn't voice disagreement. (In the interest of full disclosure, I must state that at one time I was represented by one of Pacquiao's lawyers, Nick Kahn, and accepted a gift of two tickets to Pacquiao's second fight with Erik Morales during my brief hiatus from the regular writing business.) Upon further review, however, I found no more reason to wonder about Pacquiao unless I'm going to start looking at Mayweather with doubt, too.
For as history shows, Mayweather has made the exact same climb over nearly the same time period and with results similar to Pacquiao's, though not as spectacular. Mayweather hasn't run roughshod over seemingly bigger men as Pacquiao has, like an aged De La Hoya, who Pacquiao put into retirement, or Miguel Cotto, who Pacquiao turned into mincemeat.
Mayweather has put on as much as 44 pounds since he was 16 (he fought De La Hoya at 150 pounds); Pacquiao has put on as much as 38 pounds since he was the same age.
Mayweather was up to 131 pounds when he debuted as a pro in October 1996, just over three years after his first Golden Gloves title. Pacquiao didn't get up to 130 pounds until late 2005. Is slow gain not more natural than quick gain?
Mayweather has put on the bulk of his added weight -- 19 pounds -- since debuting as a pro. Being from an impoverished region of the Philippines, Pacquiao started boxing for dollars immediately.
It doesn't mean much that Pacquiao has never been busted for using banned performance-enhancing drugs. Few athletes own up to as much until they are found out. But that goes for Mayweather too. The only difference between the two is that Mayweather has sounded as if he's chomping at the bit to be tested and Pacquiao has sounded as if he's not so eager.
Does that mean Pacquiao has something to hide? Or is Mayweather just calling his bluff? I don't know.
All I know is that these two guys are a lot more similar than has been portrayed and the only cheating going on for certain is of the fans.
Source: kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com
Mayweather to blame for Manny Pacquiao debacle
Now that the scheduled March 13 megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. officially is kaput, "Pac-Man" has moved on to a meeting with Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium on the same day. You can thank Team Mayweather for that.
"Pretty Boy" Floyd and his advisors, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, managed to execute one of the biggest blunders in boxing history -- throwing $40 million in the toilet over an allegation. They were pompous, arrogant, self-serving and laughably detached from reality, and they severely miscalculated Team Pacquiao's fortitude.
Now they're backpedaling faster than Uncle Floyd against Chavez Ê-- still believing the showdown can be saved. It can't.
Team Floyd: you blew it.
Big time.
Vegas or bust
First, there was the issue of venue. Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and the HBO brass were to meet with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in early December about the possibility of staging the fight at the new Cowboys Stadium.
The meeting -- which included a tour of the $1.2 billion dollar facility -- was set. All three parties had agreed to take a look.
Then, the day before they were to arrive in Dallas, Schaefer pulled out -- citing reasons that didn't even make sense. It became apparent that Schaefer's interests were in Las Vegas, and that the fight would happen there, or nowhere.
Despite the fact that staging Pacquiao-Mayweather in Cowboys Stadium would bring unprecedented national and international attention to a sport that sorely needed it -- Schaefer, Mayweather, De La Hoya and the rest of the pugilistic "Three Stooges" didn't care.
So, the MGM Grand in Vegas was chosen as the site.
A flustered Arum vented, but rolled with the punches.
Then, right about the time negotiations appeared to be complete, Schaefer and Mayweather started this drug-testing nonsense.
They insisted specifically on Olympic-style drug testing -- which calls for blood to be drawn randomly in the weeks and days leading up to the fight. Originally, Pacquiao said no to the blood tests. Then he relented, allowing for blood to be drawn two months prior, one month prior and immediately after the fight.
Mayweather -- somehow still taking someone's misguided advice seriously -- said no.
The bottom line is that nothing had been proven. And therefore, if you're proud like Pacquiao -- why should you concede to anything? ÊWhy would you allow an opponent to dictate the terms of the drug test and irresponsibly fling unfounded allegations at you in public?
Pacquiao later filed a lawsuit against Golden Boy claiming defamation.
And, since it was Mayweather's team that demanded the fight be held in Las Vegas, why isn't the well-respected Nevada State Athletic Commission dictating the drug protocol? Why hadn't Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style drug testing in his previous fights in Las Vegas?
Senseless
The biggest question is this: how can Mayweather -- who is reportedly in financial straits after well-documented IRS trouble -- balk at the prospect of $40 million guaranteed?
Pacquiao can earn big money elsewhere because he's exciting and he's the biggest name in the sport. Mayweather needs another big name to be relevant because he's about as thrilling as a test pattern. It's a point his crack advising team has failed to pound home.
Mayweather's not scared. He's just being advised by a comedy troupe. The extent to which Golden Boy has mucked this up is epic.
Let's just hope Mayweather stops taking this sage advice and wises up in time to make the fight a reality one day.
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at maguilarnew@yahoo.com
Source: elpasotimes.com
"Pretty Boy" Floyd and his advisors, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, managed to execute one of the biggest blunders in boxing history -- throwing $40 million in the toilet over an allegation. They were pompous, arrogant, self-serving and laughably detached from reality, and they severely miscalculated Team Pacquiao's fortitude.
Now they're backpedaling faster than Uncle Floyd against Chavez Ê-- still believing the showdown can be saved. It can't.
Team Floyd: you blew it.
Big time.
Vegas or bust
First, there was the issue of venue. Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and the HBO brass were to meet with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in early December about the possibility of staging the fight at the new Cowboys Stadium.
The meeting -- which included a tour of the $1.2 billion dollar facility -- was set. All three parties had agreed to take a look.
Then, the day before they were to arrive in Dallas, Schaefer pulled out -- citing reasons that didn't even make sense. It became apparent that Schaefer's interests were in Las Vegas, and that the fight would happen there, or nowhere.
Despite the fact that staging Pacquiao-Mayweather in Cowboys Stadium would bring unprecedented national and international attention to a sport that sorely needed it -- Schaefer, Mayweather, De La Hoya and the rest of the pugilistic "Three Stooges" didn't care.
So, the MGM Grand in Vegas was chosen as the site.
A flustered Arum vented, but rolled with the punches.
Then, right about the time negotiations appeared to be complete, Schaefer and Mayweather started this drug-testing nonsense.
They insisted specifically on Olympic-style drug testing -- which calls for blood to be drawn randomly in the weeks and days leading up to the fight. Originally, Pacquiao said no to the blood tests. Then he relented, allowing for blood to be drawn two months prior, one month prior and immediately after the fight.
Mayweather -- somehow still taking someone's misguided advice seriously -- said no.
The bottom line is that nothing had been proven. And therefore, if you're proud like Pacquiao -- why should you concede to anything? ÊWhy would you allow an opponent to dictate the terms of the drug test and irresponsibly fling unfounded allegations at you in public?
Pacquiao later filed a lawsuit against Golden Boy claiming defamation.
And, since it was Mayweather's team that demanded the fight be held in Las Vegas, why isn't the well-respected Nevada State Athletic Commission dictating the drug protocol? Why hadn't Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style drug testing in his previous fights in Las Vegas?
Senseless
The biggest question is this: how can Mayweather -- who is reportedly in financial straits after well-documented IRS trouble -- balk at the prospect of $40 million guaranteed?
Pacquiao can earn big money elsewhere because he's exciting and he's the biggest name in the sport. Mayweather needs another big name to be relevant because he's about as thrilling as a test pattern. It's a point his crack advising team has failed to pound home.
Mayweather's not scared. He's just being advised by a comedy troupe. The extent to which Golden Boy has mucked this up is epic.
Let's just hope Mayweather stops taking this sage advice and wises up in time to make the fight a reality one day.
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at maguilarnew@yahoo.com
Source: elpasotimes.com
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Mayweather puts blame on Pacquiao for failure to work out deal
A day after Manny Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, blamed Floyd Mayweather for scuttling the mediation and negotiations for their proposed March 13 megafight, declaring that "Floyd Mayweather walked away. the fight is off," Mayweather lashed out at Pacquiao and his promoter.
In a statement released Thursday, Mayweather said, "Throughout this whole process I have remained patient but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them," he said.
"First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk a—."
Arum, reached by phone Thursday, responded by saying, "Now that the fight's off, he wants to whip his punk a—. That's a real manly statement."
Mayweather explained in his statement that before the mediation, his team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight. "But it was rejected," he said.
"I am still proposing the 14-day window but (Pacquiao) is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests."
Arum said, "Floyd Mayweather can say whatever he now wants to say, but his actions over the last several weeks demonstrate that he didn't want to get in the ring against Pacquiao. He made excuse after excuse, and when put to the test, he chose to flee rather than fight.
"I've been in this business for almost 50 years. I've handled some of the greatest Hall of Fame fighters — Ali, Foreman, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Leonard — they argue about this, they argue about that, but every fighter agrees to be bound by the rules and regulations of the athletic commission in which the fight is to take place. That's been the historic basis for this sport, and I made a terrible, terrible mistake at trying to appease this egomaniac kid.
"When he started with the special blood-testing, we should've told him 'goodbye, forget about it, if you want to fight, the fight's in Nevada, the commission will regulate it.' You don't appease. I made a fundamental mistake. In order to get this fight the public wanted, I appeased an egomaniac by talking to him about blood testing. And that was stupid on my part."
Arum had said Wednesday night he couldn't discuss the sticking point in the mediation with retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein in Los Angeles. But going in, Arum had said the biggest issue was the drug testing, as well as a demand by Pacquiao for an apology from Mayweather's side for saying that Pacquiao had taken performance-enhancing drugs. He said Thursday that Pacquiao agree to urine tests any time leading up to the fight and afterwards, and orginally agree to blood tests no closer than 30 days from the fight, then moved it to 24 days out.
Weinstein issued a statement Thursday that said, among other things, that "Both parties participated in the mediation in good faith. Both parties participated in many hours of negotiation, with a number of proposals issued by each side and carefully considered by the parties and their representatives."
Weinstein said he himself "did not formulate, recommend or issue a Mediator's Proposal. The Mediator did not make an evaluation or finding that any one of the many proposals considered by the parties was the correct protocol."
He went on to say that "Any attempt to characterize the mediation process as an acceptance or rejection by any of the parties of a mediator's or an arbiter's proposal or of any specific proposal is false.
d. In the end, the parties could not agree on a testing protocol acceptable to all."
Arum refused to accept any blame for the failure of mediation. "The fight's off not because of us, not even because of (Mayweather's) people —he was represented by Golden Boy Promotions — it's because of (Floyd) personally."
"It's not surprising. I always felt that he wasn't going to do the fight. He knows Manny will beat him. Mayweather's never stepped into the ring with a guy he had any question but that he was going to beat.
"That's why there's never been a (Shane) Mosley, there's never been a (Antonio) Margarito, there never was a (Miguel) Cotto, and there's no Pacquiao.
"Floyd Mayweather is a coward. He will never fight anyone that will remotely give him a tough fight."
Mayweather, not surprisingly, saw it a completely different way.
"In my opinion it is Manny Pacquiao and his team who are denying the people a chance to see the biggest fight ever," Mayweather said. "I know the people will see through their smokescreens and lies. I am ready to fight and sign the contract. Manny needs to stop making his excuses, step up and fight."
Both Mayweather and Pacquiao figured to make $25 million to $40 million for the fight, which was supposed to take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Arum said Pacquiao will now look at fighting undefeated Israeli WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman either March 13 or March 20 in Las Vegas. "We're going to check out all the sites tomorrow," Arum said.
Mayweather has talked about fighting WBO light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas on March 13.
Mayweather's manager, Leonard Ellerbe, said Thursday night he hopes the fight will eventually be made.
"I'm hopeful that we can come to an agreement," Ellerbe said. "Floyd has made one heck of a compromise. They wanted 30 (days), we didn't want any, Floyd met him in the middle. Isn't that a significant compromise?
"Boxing has a wonderful opportunity to take the sport back to the mainstream. Millions upon millions of people will watch this fight, and you have a fighter who thinks he's the best, and a guy who knows he's the best. (Floyd's) been the best for over a decade now. And he has an unblemished record.
"The ball is in Manny Pacquiao's court now. We'll see what happens."
Arum had said Wednesday night that the fight will never happen. Thursday, he softened that stance a bit. "Maybe we'll revisit it in the fall," he said. "At that time, I won't make the same stupid mistake I made before. I'll tell him, 'you want to fight Pacquiao, it's under the rules and regulations of the Nevada Commission.' Period. End of story."
Source: usatoday.com
In a statement released Thursday, Mayweather said, "Throughout this whole process I have remained patient but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them," he said.
"First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk a—."
Arum, reached by phone Thursday, responded by saying, "Now that the fight's off, he wants to whip his punk a—. That's a real manly statement."
Mayweather explained in his statement that before the mediation, his team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight. "But it was rejected," he said.
"I am still proposing the 14-day window but (Pacquiao) is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests."
Arum said, "Floyd Mayweather can say whatever he now wants to say, but his actions over the last several weeks demonstrate that he didn't want to get in the ring against Pacquiao. He made excuse after excuse, and when put to the test, he chose to flee rather than fight.
"I've been in this business for almost 50 years. I've handled some of the greatest Hall of Fame fighters — Ali, Foreman, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Leonard — they argue about this, they argue about that, but every fighter agrees to be bound by the rules and regulations of the athletic commission in which the fight is to take place. That's been the historic basis for this sport, and I made a terrible, terrible mistake at trying to appease this egomaniac kid.
"When he started with the special blood-testing, we should've told him 'goodbye, forget about it, if you want to fight, the fight's in Nevada, the commission will regulate it.' You don't appease. I made a fundamental mistake. In order to get this fight the public wanted, I appeased an egomaniac by talking to him about blood testing. And that was stupid on my part."
Arum had said Wednesday night he couldn't discuss the sticking point in the mediation with retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein in Los Angeles. But going in, Arum had said the biggest issue was the drug testing, as well as a demand by Pacquiao for an apology from Mayweather's side for saying that Pacquiao had taken performance-enhancing drugs. He said Thursday that Pacquiao agree to urine tests any time leading up to the fight and afterwards, and orginally agree to blood tests no closer than 30 days from the fight, then moved it to 24 days out.
Weinstein issued a statement Thursday that said, among other things, that "Both parties participated in the mediation in good faith. Both parties participated in many hours of negotiation, with a number of proposals issued by each side and carefully considered by the parties and their representatives."
Weinstein said he himself "did not formulate, recommend or issue a Mediator's Proposal. The Mediator did not make an evaluation or finding that any one of the many proposals considered by the parties was the correct protocol."
He went on to say that "Any attempt to characterize the mediation process as an acceptance or rejection by any of the parties of a mediator's or an arbiter's proposal or of any specific proposal is false.
d. In the end, the parties could not agree on a testing protocol acceptable to all."
Arum refused to accept any blame for the failure of mediation. "The fight's off not because of us, not even because of (Mayweather's) people —he was represented by Golden Boy Promotions — it's because of (Floyd) personally."
"It's not surprising. I always felt that he wasn't going to do the fight. He knows Manny will beat him. Mayweather's never stepped into the ring with a guy he had any question but that he was going to beat.
"That's why there's never been a (Shane) Mosley, there's never been a (Antonio) Margarito, there never was a (Miguel) Cotto, and there's no Pacquiao.
"Floyd Mayweather is a coward. He will never fight anyone that will remotely give him a tough fight."
Mayweather, not surprisingly, saw it a completely different way.
"In my opinion it is Manny Pacquiao and his team who are denying the people a chance to see the biggest fight ever," Mayweather said. "I know the people will see through their smokescreens and lies. I am ready to fight and sign the contract. Manny needs to stop making his excuses, step up and fight."
Both Mayweather and Pacquiao figured to make $25 million to $40 million for the fight, which was supposed to take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Arum said Pacquiao will now look at fighting undefeated Israeli WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman either March 13 or March 20 in Las Vegas. "We're going to check out all the sites tomorrow," Arum said.
Mayweather has talked about fighting WBO light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas on March 13.
Mayweather's manager, Leonard Ellerbe, said Thursday night he hopes the fight will eventually be made.
"I'm hopeful that we can come to an agreement," Ellerbe said. "Floyd has made one heck of a compromise. They wanted 30 (days), we didn't want any, Floyd met him in the middle. Isn't that a significant compromise?
"Boxing has a wonderful opportunity to take the sport back to the mainstream. Millions upon millions of people will watch this fight, and you have a fighter who thinks he's the best, and a guy who knows he's the best. (Floyd's) been the best for over a decade now. And he has an unblemished record.
"The ball is in Manny Pacquiao's court now. We'll see what happens."
Arum had said Wednesday night that the fight will never happen. Thursday, he softened that stance a bit. "Maybe we'll revisit it in the fall," he said. "At that time, I won't make the same stupid mistake I made before. I'll tell him, 'you want to fight Pacquiao, it's under the rules and regulations of the Nevada Commission.' Period. End of story."
Source: usatoday.com
Pacquiao, Clottey reach deal to fight March 13 at Cowboys Stadium
WASHINGTON -- As representatives from Golden Boy Promotions work feverishly to keep a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao megafight alive, Pacquiao has reached an agreement in principle to defend his WBO welterweight title against former title holder Joshua Clottey on March 13, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told SI.com.
The fight between Pacquiao and Clottey will likely take place at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
Arum and Top Rank have been embroiled in contentious negotiations with Mayweather and representatives from Golden Boy Promotions, which is representing Mayweather. At issue is drug testing: Mayweather is insisting on random blood testing before the fight while Pacquiao will submit to unlimited urine testing -- all that is required by the Nevada commission -- but only agree to blood testing 30 days before the fight.
Earlier this week, the two sides agreed to mediation by retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein. During the mediation, Pacquiao agreed to blood testing up to 24 days before the fight. Mayweather refused and, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, countered with a 14-day testing window.
Schaefer told SI.com on Friday that he believed Pacquiao was never told of the 14 day offer. He referred to an Internet report where Pacquiao and his representatives denied that Mayweather had offered to reduce the testing window to 14 days before the fight. Schaefer said he had text messages between Golden Boy's Chief Marketing Officer Bruce Binkow and Top Rank President Todd DuBoef during this week's mediation discussing the 14-day window.
Arum, however, says Pacquiao has known about the 14 days since Jan. 1 and said he had an email exchange between DuBoef and Pacquiao's advisor, Michael Koncz, that prove that Pacquiao had received the offer and rejected it.
"That offer was rejected a long time ago," said Arum. "It was off the table. They are just trying to get under Manny's skin. It serves no purpose than to aggravate Manny Pacquiao."
Arum scoffed at the notion that the fight could be saved, indicating that neither he nor anyone in his company had been in contact with anyone from Mayweather's camp. " If they are negotiating, they are negotiating with themselves," said Arum. "We aren't talking to them."
Schaefer said Arum approached him on Thursday to discuss the possibility of making a third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. But the discussions went nowhere because besides insisting on a 50-50 split, Marquez also asked for the same level of drug testing as Mayweather. Schaefer also said that while he had not spoken to Shane Mosley about a future fight with Pacquiao, it was likely that Mosley would also require blood testing before any fight with Pacquiao.
Arum said he would no longer consider any form of testing beyond what the state commission requires for any future fight with Pacquiao -- including Mayweather.
"This is beyond stupid," said Arum. "That was my biggest mistake, allowing any of this to happen. I should have said no. We're not revisiting [blood testing]. We're not negotiating with these punks anymore. If Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao down the road, he will have to go by the testing the state commission asks for. If not, life goes on."
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
The fight between Pacquiao and Clottey will likely take place at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
Arum and Top Rank have been embroiled in contentious negotiations with Mayweather and representatives from Golden Boy Promotions, which is representing Mayweather. At issue is drug testing: Mayweather is insisting on random blood testing before the fight while Pacquiao will submit to unlimited urine testing -- all that is required by the Nevada commission -- but only agree to blood testing 30 days before the fight.
Earlier this week, the two sides agreed to mediation by retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein. During the mediation, Pacquiao agreed to blood testing up to 24 days before the fight. Mayweather refused and, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, countered with a 14-day testing window.
Schaefer told SI.com on Friday that he believed Pacquiao was never told of the 14 day offer. He referred to an Internet report where Pacquiao and his representatives denied that Mayweather had offered to reduce the testing window to 14 days before the fight. Schaefer said he had text messages between Golden Boy's Chief Marketing Officer Bruce Binkow and Top Rank President Todd DuBoef during this week's mediation discussing the 14-day window.
Arum, however, says Pacquiao has known about the 14 days since Jan. 1 and said he had an email exchange between DuBoef and Pacquiao's advisor, Michael Koncz, that prove that Pacquiao had received the offer and rejected it.
"That offer was rejected a long time ago," said Arum. "It was off the table. They are just trying to get under Manny's skin. It serves no purpose than to aggravate Manny Pacquiao."
Arum scoffed at the notion that the fight could be saved, indicating that neither he nor anyone in his company had been in contact with anyone from Mayweather's camp. " If they are negotiating, they are negotiating with themselves," said Arum. "We aren't talking to them."
Schaefer said Arum approached him on Thursday to discuss the possibility of making a third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. But the discussions went nowhere because besides insisting on a 50-50 split, Marquez also asked for the same level of drug testing as Mayweather. Schaefer also said that while he had not spoken to Shane Mosley about a future fight with Pacquiao, it was likely that Mosley would also require blood testing before any fight with Pacquiao.
Arum said he would no longer consider any form of testing beyond what the state commission requires for any future fight with Pacquiao -- including Mayweather.
"This is beyond stupid," said Arum. "That was my biggest mistake, allowing any of this to happen. I should have said no. We're not revisiting [blood testing]. We're not negotiating with these punks anymore. If Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao down the road, he will have to go by the testing the state commission asks for. If not, life goes on."
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
After the Dust Has Settled – Pacquiao Still in Control
Right now, boxing fans are feeling like a victim of Ashton Kutcher’s old television show Punk’d.
Since Nov. 14, better known as the night that Manny Pacquiao scored an electrifying 12th- round TKO win over Miguel Cotto, anybody that follows the sport has had their appetite whetted by the mouth watering prospect of seeing a showdown between the world’s two top pound-for-pound boxers – Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
But with the negotiations for that fight now having imploded like the demolition of The Sands Casino in Las Vegas, boxing fans are left with nothing more than a cloud of dust as they try to make sense of what it all means and what will be next for both Pacquiao and Mayweather.
By any measure one wishes to use, there is no doubt that Pacquiao and Mayweather are ranked #1 and #2 – in that order.
Pacquiao is the best boxer on the planet and Mayweather is further down behind him – lower on the list in second place.
Never mind that Pacquiao is ranked #1 in the ratings by every reputable boxing publication or Internet boxing Web site in existence and that he has been honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America as the fighter of the year for the past two years in a row.
What is probably more important is that Manny is also #1 at the box office. And in the sport of boxing, better known as the business of boxing, that is his most significant achievement.
It is Pacquiao that draws fans in droves to his live events. For comparison purposes, Pacquiao’s recent bout against Miguel Cotto attracted a standing room only crowd of over 16,000 to the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Less than two months earlier, Mayweather met Juan Manuel Marquez at the same venue and they failed to draw a paid attendance of 13,000 to a relatively subdued affair.
Ticket brokers and scalpers were able to charge upwards of ten thousand dollars for one Pacquiao vs. Cotto ringside ticket. The Mayweather-Marquez fight was lucky to get half that amount for the same seat. The MGM Grand was forced to offer special packages to attract customers to the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight – everything from discounted fight tickets, free meals and free limousine rides to and from McCarran International Airport. On the other hand, Pacquiao vs. Cotto was sold out weeks in advance and the night of the fight brought the city of Las Vegas to a virtual standstill.
Mayweather calls himself "Money" – but it is Pacquiao that attracted more fans this year to Las Vegas. It is also Pacquiao that caused more fans to push the pay-per-view buy buttons on their television remote control. His fight against Cotto earned nearly $14 million more in pay-per-view revenue than Mayweather’s fight against Marquez.
So, since boxing fans will not have the matter settled as to who the best boxer on the planet is with a match-up of skills between Pacquiao and Mayweather – the only other measurable manner available to them is the rankings of the various organizations that keep track of such things - and the latest box office receipts.
Using both of those measuring sticks, it is Pacquiao that easily comes out on top.
Mayweather and his supporters will point to his 2007 fights against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton as evidence of his supremacy on the pay-per-view front. However, the De La Hoya fight was nearly three years ago. The world was a different place then; money and credit were easy come and easy go. People thought nothing of making a weekend trip to Vegas or dropping a Grant on the pay-per-view. In the world economy of 2009, where funds were sparse, and folks searched for value in their entertainment dollar, they spent more in person and via their TV screens to see Manny Pacquiao.
Promoters spent an astonishing $20 million on marketing costs for the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight. The fight was also broadcast in 170 movie theaters around the country – yet Pacquiao still attracted more fans.
In the day and age of the Internet, any Web-site publisher will tell you that when a Manny Pacquiao news item or feature appears on their site, it is a good day for them in terms of the all important page views. Ask a boxing magazine publisher who sells more copies when Pacquiao or Mayweather appear on their cover and they will tell you that the Pinoy idol is "bank".
Mayweather and his backers will counter with the argument that both of his fights against De La Hoya and Hatton drew more than Pacquiao’s did – but again – we’re talking about numbers going on nearly three years ago.
Boxing would probably best be known as a sport of "What have you done for me lately?"
Using that simple question, it is Pacquiao that is clearly the more personable fighter/celebrity. Devoted fans flock to him, they smile, they pose, they rush to get an autograph or a picture.
Mayweather’s highly publicized open workout at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood in the days before his bout against Marquez barely drew a crowd of 200 people. On the other hand, in the same town, just around the corner and down the street, Pacquiao attracts that many people every single day to watch him simply walk in and out of Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym.
Whether one wishes to blame the non-happening of the Pac-May fight on Pacquiao’s refusal to submit to Mayweather’s demand for the unheard of Olympic style drug testing is their prerogative. However, they should remember that based on the most recent accomplishments it is Manny that is universally regarded as the best boxer on the planet, Manny that is the more popular person with the public and Manny that is the recent box-office champion.
Based on all of that – it is Pacquiao that was clearly in the drivers’ seat of the failed negotiations. It is also Pacquiao that clearly sits atop the boxing world as 2010 gets underway. For Mayweather to lay claim to anything he will have to get in the ring, fight and beat a contender of consequence and perhaps win a title. It will be the only way to turn the tide in his favor.
In the Corners
The latest news is that Pacquiao will likely face the always tough, durable and rugged Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. The Ghanaian is perhaps the toughest and one of the most avoided welterweights in the world. I will say that unless Pacquiao is totally focused he will not beat Clottey, who is a larger man who can take a great punch. Clottey will likely be a middleweight by the time he steps into the ring on fight night and he has a tight defense...Meanwhile, rumors persist that Mayweather will meet the smaller and light punching Paulie Malignaggi - or even worse – Matthew Hatton, the limited younger brother of Ricky. My view is that since Mayweather needs to make a statement of supremacy and gain more leverage in any potential future negotiations for a Pacquiao fight, that he should face the winner of the Jan. 30 Shane Mosley vs. Andre Berto title fight…Nice to see the return of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights as well as the upcoming new series on FOX Sports. Who says boxing is dead?
Source: boxingscene.com
Since Nov. 14, better known as the night that Manny Pacquiao scored an electrifying 12th- round TKO win over Miguel Cotto, anybody that follows the sport has had their appetite whetted by the mouth watering prospect of seeing a showdown between the world’s two top pound-for-pound boxers – Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
But with the negotiations for that fight now having imploded like the demolition of The Sands Casino in Las Vegas, boxing fans are left with nothing more than a cloud of dust as they try to make sense of what it all means and what will be next for both Pacquiao and Mayweather.
By any measure one wishes to use, there is no doubt that Pacquiao and Mayweather are ranked #1 and #2 – in that order.
Pacquiao is the best boxer on the planet and Mayweather is further down behind him – lower on the list in second place.
Never mind that Pacquiao is ranked #1 in the ratings by every reputable boxing publication or Internet boxing Web site in existence and that he has been honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America as the fighter of the year for the past two years in a row.
What is probably more important is that Manny is also #1 at the box office. And in the sport of boxing, better known as the business of boxing, that is his most significant achievement.
It is Pacquiao that draws fans in droves to his live events. For comparison purposes, Pacquiao’s recent bout against Miguel Cotto attracted a standing room only crowd of over 16,000 to the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Less than two months earlier, Mayweather met Juan Manuel Marquez at the same venue and they failed to draw a paid attendance of 13,000 to a relatively subdued affair.
Ticket brokers and scalpers were able to charge upwards of ten thousand dollars for one Pacquiao vs. Cotto ringside ticket. The Mayweather-Marquez fight was lucky to get half that amount for the same seat. The MGM Grand was forced to offer special packages to attract customers to the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight – everything from discounted fight tickets, free meals and free limousine rides to and from McCarran International Airport. On the other hand, Pacquiao vs. Cotto was sold out weeks in advance and the night of the fight brought the city of Las Vegas to a virtual standstill.
Mayweather calls himself "Money" – but it is Pacquiao that attracted more fans this year to Las Vegas. It is also Pacquiao that caused more fans to push the pay-per-view buy buttons on their television remote control. His fight against Cotto earned nearly $14 million more in pay-per-view revenue than Mayweather’s fight against Marquez.
So, since boxing fans will not have the matter settled as to who the best boxer on the planet is with a match-up of skills between Pacquiao and Mayweather – the only other measurable manner available to them is the rankings of the various organizations that keep track of such things - and the latest box office receipts.
Using both of those measuring sticks, it is Pacquiao that easily comes out on top.
Mayweather and his supporters will point to his 2007 fights against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton as evidence of his supremacy on the pay-per-view front. However, the De La Hoya fight was nearly three years ago. The world was a different place then; money and credit were easy come and easy go. People thought nothing of making a weekend trip to Vegas or dropping a Grant on the pay-per-view. In the world economy of 2009, where funds were sparse, and folks searched for value in their entertainment dollar, they spent more in person and via their TV screens to see Manny Pacquiao.
Promoters spent an astonishing $20 million on marketing costs for the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight. The fight was also broadcast in 170 movie theaters around the country – yet Pacquiao still attracted more fans.
In the day and age of the Internet, any Web-site publisher will tell you that when a Manny Pacquiao news item or feature appears on their site, it is a good day for them in terms of the all important page views. Ask a boxing magazine publisher who sells more copies when Pacquiao or Mayweather appear on their cover and they will tell you that the Pinoy idol is "bank".
Mayweather and his backers will counter with the argument that both of his fights against De La Hoya and Hatton drew more than Pacquiao’s did – but again – we’re talking about numbers going on nearly three years ago.
Boxing would probably best be known as a sport of "What have you done for me lately?"
Using that simple question, it is Pacquiao that is clearly the more personable fighter/celebrity. Devoted fans flock to him, they smile, they pose, they rush to get an autograph or a picture.
Mayweather’s highly publicized open workout at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood in the days before his bout against Marquez barely drew a crowd of 200 people. On the other hand, in the same town, just around the corner and down the street, Pacquiao attracts that many people every single day to watch him simply walk in and out of Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym.
Whether one wishes to blame the non-happening of the Pac-May fight on Pacquiao’s refusal to submit to Mayweather’s demand for the unheard of Olympic style drug testing is their prerogative. However, they should remember that based on the most recent accomplishments it is Manny that is universally regarded as the best boxer on the planet, Manny that is the more popular person with the public and Manny that is the recent box-office champion.
Based on all of that – it is Pacquiao that was clearly in the drivers’ seat of the failed negotiations. It is also Pacquiao that clearly sits atop the boxing world as 2010 gets underway. For Mayweather to lay claim to anything he will have to get in the ring, fight and beat a contender of consequence and perhaps win a title. It will be the only way to turn the tide in his favor.
In the Corners
The latest news is that Pacquiao will likely face the always tough, durable and rugged Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. The Ghanaian is perhaps the toughest and one of the most avoided welterweights in the world. I will say that unless Pacquiao is totally focused he will not beat Clottey, who is a larger man who can take a great punch. Clottey will likely be a middleweight by the time he steps into the ring on fight night and he has a tight defense...Meanwhile, rumors persist that Mayweather will meet the smaller and light punching Paulie Malignaggi - or even worse – Matthew Hatton, the limited younger brother of Ricky. My view is that since Mayweather needs to make a statement of supremacy and gain more leverage in any potential future negotiations for a Pacquiao fight, that he should face the winner of the Jan. 30 Shane Mosley vs. Andre Berto title fight…Nice to see the return of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights as well as the upcoming new series on FOX Sports. Who says boxing is dead?
Source: boxingscene.com
Pacquiao-Clottey Bout for W.B.O. Title
Manny Pacquiao will put his W.B.O. welterweight title on the line against the Ghanaian Joshua Clottey in March after talks for a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. fizzled, Pacquiao’s promoter said. The fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather broke down when negotiations between the sides hit a snag over Mayweather’s demand for a rigorous dope-testing procedure. Clottey beat Zab Judah for the I.B.F. welterweight title in August 2008 and lost a split decision to Miguel Cotto last June.
Source: nytimes.com
Source: nytimes.com
Friday, January 8, 2010
LAWYER EXAMINES PACQUIAO LAWSUIT
DON’T TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS….
Pittsburgh, PA- Much as you and I would prefer to bloviate about an actual fight between the world’s two best, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) and Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs), we’re stuck talking about the defamation suit filed this week by Pacquiao against Mayweather, his father Floyd, Sr., uncle/trainer Roger, Mayweather Promotions, and Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya and CEO Richard Schafer. I’ll take off my boxing analyst hat and put on the lawyer cap so as not to discuss the appropriateness within the sport of one boxer suing another for something he said, and I’ll just stick to the (sigh!) civil complaint and legal process.
… YOU TAKE ‘EM TO COURT
In what often reads as a press release, Pacquiao’s twelve page suit alleges that the Mayweathers, De La Hoya and Schafer besmirched his reputation by claiming or insinuating that he ingests performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). In order to prove that their statements were defamatory, Pacquiao must show that they were intentionally or recklessly false and that they caused harm to his reputation. The amount of monetary damages Pacquiao receives would be based upon the harm caused, how much money Pacquiao’s out due to the comments in light of his extraordinary wealth, and any money needed to punish the defendants in order to get them and others to refrain from further comments. Because Pacquiao is a celebrity – i.e., a “public figure” – it’s not enough for him to show that the statements are in error, he must also show they were maliciously made.
BUT WHO TO SUE?
Interestingly, Golden Boy Promotions is not a defendant; not surprisingly, neither are uncle Jeff Mayweather nor boxers Kermit Cintron and Paulie Malignaggi, other Pacquiao accusers. In order to be found liable, defamatory statements must either be directly attributed to each defendant, or they must be responsible for them by requesting or authorizing them. Therefore, little Floyd can’t be held liable for something his dad said unless it was under his direction, and so on. As you can see, then, the legal path Pacquiao’s team must weave will be circuitous and somewhat tedious, as in many lawsuits. Not only must Manny show the claims are false (and that could get interesting), he must show they were malicious, who said them, and under whose direction or permission.
WON’T BE LIKE THE PEOPLE’S COURT
Expect the defense to move for dismissal of the claims, where they allege that the complaint on its face doesn’t even merit a jury trial; however, like most pre-trial requests for dismissal, this one won’t likely succeed, meaning that a jury trial circus is in the cards if all involved don’t come to their senses, or unless this is just a P.R. stunt. After tons of discovery requests, depositions, motions and Mayweather legal bills, jury trial would likely not commence for at least a couple years if not more, which can seem like an eternity in the boxing world.
WHAT (I HOPE) THIS IS REALLY ABOUT
If not to gain leverage in their mega-fight negotiations by eliciting an apology from team Mayweather along with say-so and perceived moral superiority about the method of drug testing, Top Rank chief Bob Arum will at least use this opportunity to attempt to jostle Golden Boy’s financial piece of the Pacman. Expect any negotiations in that regard or about a potential bout this year to include Pacquiao dropping this complaint. If that happens, you can take comfort in the knowledge that our discourse will move away from the courts and back to the ring. In the meantime, I’ll find some comfort in knowing that at least I didn’t have to write about the only thing worse than this lawsuit: the Pacman vs. Yuri Foreman! (If that debacle does go off, can I be the first to suggest that it’s entitled “The Chase.” Arum can pretend like that’s a reference to Manny’s quest for yet another division’s title, but we’d know what it really means.)
Brian Gorman
Note: Mr. Gorman is a practicing attorney practicing in “The Steel City.”
Source: ringtalk.com
Pittsburgh, PA- Much as you and I would prefer to bloviate about an actual fight between the world’s two best, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) and Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs), we’re stuck talking about the defamation suit filed this week by Pacquiao against Mayweather, his father Floyd, Sr., uncle/trainer Roger, Mayweather Promotions, and Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya and CEO Richard Schafer. I’ll take off my boxing analyst hat and put on the lawyer cap so as not to discuss the appropriateness within the sport of one boxer suing another for something he said, and I’ll just stick to the (sigh!) civil complaint and legal process.
… YOU TAKE ‘EM TO COURT
In what often reads as a press release, Pacquiao’s twelve page suit alleges that the Mayweathers, De La Hoya and Schafer besmirched his reputation by claiming or insinuating that he ingests performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). In order to prove that their statements were defamatory, Pacquiao must show that they were intentionally or recklessly false and that they caused harm to his reputation. The amount of monetary damages Pacquiao receives would be based upon the harm caused, how much money Pacquiao’s out due to the comments in light of his extraordinary wealth, and any money needed to punish the defendants in order to get them and others to refrain from further comments. Because Pacquiao is a celebrity – i.e., a “public figure” – it’s not enough for him to show that the statements are in error, he must also show they were maliciously made.
BUT WHO TO SUE?
Interestingly, Golden Boy Promotions is not a defendant; not surprisingly, neither are uncle Jeff Mayweather nor boxers Kermit Cintron and Paulie Malignaggi, other Pacquiao accusers. In order to be found liable, defamatory statements must either be directly attributed to each defendant, or they must be responsible for them by requesting or authorizing them. Therefore, little Floyd can’t be held liable for something his dad said unless it was under his direction, and so on. As you can see, then, the legal path Pacquiao’s team must weave will be circuitous and somewhat tedious, as in many lawsuits. Not only must Manny show the claims are false (and that could get interesting), he must show they were malicious, who said them, and under whose direction or permission.
WON’T BE LIKE THE PEOPLE’S COURT
Expect the defense to move for dismissal of the claims, where they allege that the complaint on its face doesn’t even merit a jury trial; however, like most pre-trial requests for dismissal, this one won’t likely succeed, meaning that a jury trial circus is in the cards if all involved don’t come to their senses, or unless this is just a P.R. stunt. After tons of discovery requests, depositions, motions and Mayweather legal bills, jury trial would likely not commence for at least a couple years if not more, which can seem like an eternity in the boxing world.
WHAT (I HOPE) THIS IS REALLY ABOUT
If not to gain leverage in their mega-fight negotiations by eliciting an apology from team Mayweather along with say-so and perceived moral superiority about the method of drug testing, Top Rank chief Bob Arum will at least use this opportunity to attempt to jostle Golden Boy’s financial piece of the Pacman. Expect any negotiations in that regard or about a potential bout this year to include Pacquiao dropping this complaint. If that happens, you can take comfort in the knowledge that our discourse will move away from the courts and back to the ring. In the meantime, I’ll find some comfort in knowing that at least I didn’t have to write about the only thing worse than this lawsuit: the Pacman vs. Yuri Foreman! (If that debacle does go off, can I be the first to suggest that it’s entitled “The Chase.” Arum can pretend like that’s a reference to Manny’s quest for yet another division’s title, but we’d know what it really means.)
Brian Gorman
Note: Mr. Gorman is a practicing attorney practicing in “The Steel City.”
Source: ringtalk.com
Floyd Mayweather's adviser: Bob Arum's misleading of public over negotiations 'childish'
Floyd Mayweather’s adviser railed against Manny Pacquiao’s promoter for what he called a misinformation campaign after the proposed March 13 Mayweather-Pacquiao fight fell apart.
Leonard Ellerbe said Bob Arum intentionally has tried to mislead the public throughout negotiations, including omitting information that the Mayweather camp proposed a 14-day window before the fight when there would be no blood testing.
“Arum is trying to trick the public into thinking there was no compromise at all,” Ellerbe said. “He never mentioned that a 14-day compromise was offered -- and rejected -- prior to mediation.
“I think it’s more than a fair compromise, particularly since, realistically, it’s not an issue that should be compromised on at all.”
Ellerbe also disputed a media report in which Arum was quoted as saying two key members of Mayweather’s negotiating team -- business adviser Al Haymon and Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions -- tried to talk the Grand Rapids native into accepting the Pacquiao side’s compromise proposal of a 24-day window with no blood testing before the fight.
“It’s a childish, amateurish attempt by Bob Arum to divide and conquer,” Ellerbe said. “It’s absolutely not true. It never happened. It’s a lie.”
Ellerbe said he still is hopeful a deal could be struck to preserve the fight proposal, although there is no dialogue between the camps and that wish appears less likely by the hour.
“I said last week that Manny Pacquiao has surrounded himself with smart people but I have to retract that statement,” he said. “They’re not very smart people at all, because Manny Pacquiao is going to wake up, another deal is going to be presented to him, and he’s going to say, ‘What? I’m not going to make eight figures?’
“If there’s an award for bonehead decision making of the year, we all know who that award gets presented to.”
Ellerbe stressed that Mayweather wants the fight and that the 14-day window his team proposed was middle ground between the random testing right up until fight night that it wanted, and the 30-day window Pacquiao initially agreed to accept.
“The bottom line is that what we’ve been proposing all along is random, Olympic-style drug testing,” Ellerbe said. “Why would the guy refuse random blood and urine testing? Why?”
Source: mlive.com
Leonard Ellerbe said Bob Arum intentionally has tried to mislead the public throughout negotiations, including omitting information that the Mayweather camp proposed a 14-day window before the fight when there would be no blood testing.
“Arum is trying to trick the public into thinking there was no compromise at all,” Ellerbe said. “He never mentioned that a 14-day compromise was offered -- and rejected -- prior to mediation.
“I think it’s more than a fair compromise, particularly since, realistically, it’s not an issue that should be compromised on at all.”
Ellerbe also disputed a media report in which Arum was quoted as saying two key members of Mayweather’s negotiating team -- business adviser Al Haymon and Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions -- tried to talk the Grand Rapids native into accepting the Pacquiao side’s compromise proposal of a 24-day window with no blood testing before the fight.
“It’s a childish, amateurish attempt by Bob Arum to divide and conquer,” Ellerbe said. “It’s absolutely not true. It never happened. It’s a lie.”
Ellerbe said he still is hopeful a deal could be struck to preserve the fight proposal, although there is no dialogue between the camps and that wish appears less likely by the hour.
“I said last week that Manny Pacquiao has surrounded himself with smart people but I have to retract that statement,” he said. “They’re not very smart people at all, because Manny Pacquiao is going to wake up, another deal is going to be presented to him, and he’s going to say, ‘What? I’m not going to make eight figures?’
“If there’s an award for bonehead decision making of the year, we all know who that award gets presented to.”
Ellerbe stressed that Mayweather wants the fight and that the 14-day window his team proposed was middle ground between the random testing right up until fight night that it wanted, and the 30-day window Pacquiao initially agreed to accept.
“The bottom line is that what we’ve been proposing all along is random, Olympic-style drug testing,” Ellerbe said. “Why would the guy refuse random blood and urine testing? Why?”
Source: mlive.com
http://www.examiner.com/x-34564-New-England-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m1d7-Massachusetts-Boxing-Commissioner-Thinks-Mayweather-is-Ducking-Pacquiao
In wake of the Manny Pacquiao - Floyd Mayweather negotiations apparently having fallen through, Massachusetts state boxing commissioner Dan Fitzgerald has weighed in on the issues halting the fight from being made. Namely, the issue of drug testing.
"I do believe that certain boxers, however, Muhammad Ali being one of the masters at it, will say or do things to gain a psychological advantage before a match, and Mayweather is known for that. Frankly, I do not think that Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao, or anyone else for that matter, where Mayweather believes he may lose. I have told you before that Mayweather will never fight Paul Williams or Shane Mosley no matter what promoters promise to pay him. Because Mayweather does not need the money, I would not be surprised if he was thinking along the following lines: Mayweather knows he would come in over weight (something for which he has a reputation), that he would have to pay a substantial fine (something that we know and that Mayweather certainly knows that the Nevada Commission is quite capable of imposing), a fine anywhere from $5-10 million dollars, and that he would end up netting the same amount as he would any other fighter, but one that he knows he could beat. So, why fight Pacquiao? Rather than go through all of that, what does Mayweather do? He postures a little, raises an obscure issue that no one can prove or disprove, (it is very difficult to prove a negative), gets the fight cancelled, argues "I told you so," and comes away claiming he won without ever having to fight the guy. I am not saying that is what he is doing or going to do, but that scenario is a thousand times more likely than someone like Pacquiao cheating. No wonder Pacquiao sued him."
Fitzgerald is no stranger to weighing in on controversial topics related to Pacquiao. In 2008, he publicly opposed the Pacquaio - Oscar De La Hoya welterweight fight being approved because he felt it would be a mismatch due to the size difference between the two fighters.
Of course the perceived smaller man, Pacquiao, pounded De La Hoya en route to a 8th round TKO in that fight. Pacquiao weighed in at 148 pounds unofficially on the night of the fight to De La Hoya's 147. This would later lead Fitzgerald to joke, "well I was right that the bigger man would win."
In regards to the issue of drug testing that is holding up that Pacquiao - Mayweather fight from happening, Fitzgerald said the following in an email.
"I would find it extremely difficult to believe that Freddie Roach, a man well known for his integrity in this sport, would allow himself to be associated with any boxer who cheats."
Nevertheless, Fitzgerald feels there is always the possibility that a fighter could be trying to get a competitive edge.
"When judges instruct juries on the law during a trial, for example, they always make a point to explain to the jury that anything is possible, and there exists a chance for anything, however remote those possibilities or chances may be."
When asked if he feels Olympic style drug testing, which is what the Mayweather camp is asking for in this fight, be implemented on a more regular basis in boxing, Fitzgerald had the following to say.
"I know that some substances can only be detected in blood where others can be detected in both urine and blood. One of the ways to keep people from abusing or cheating any system is to keep changing the system. If a Commission or an Olympic Committee or any other regulatory body always conducts tests at a specific time period before or after any contest whether it be a fight, an Olympic event, or an audit, it gives potential cheaters a specific time frame to work around. This is why broad discretionary language in one's regulations regarding testing really helps."
Whether you agree with Fitzgerald or not, one thing we can all agree on is we hope this fight eventually happens.
Source: examiner.com
"I do believe that certain boxers, however, Muhammad Ali being one of the masters at it, will say or do things to gain a psychological advantage before a match, and Mayweather is known for that. Frankly, I do not think that Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao, or anyone else for that matter, where Mayweather believes he may lose. I have told you before that Mayweather will never fight Paul Williams or Shane Mosley no matter what promoters promise to pay him. Because Mayweather does not need the money, I would not be surprised if he was thinking along the following lines: Mayweather knows he would come in over weight (something for which he has a reputation), that he would have to pay a substantial fine (something that we know and that Mayweather certainly knows that the Nevada Commission is quite capable of imposing), a fine anywhere from $5-10 million dollars, and that he would end up netting the same amount as he would any other fighter, but one that he knows he could beat. So, why fight Pacquiao? Rather than go through all of that, what does Mayweather do? He postures a little, raises an obscure issue that no one can prove or disprove, (it is very difficult to prove a negative), gets the fight cancelled, argues "I told you so," and comes away claiming he won without ever having to fight the guy. I am not saying that is what he is doing or going to do, but that scenario is a thousand times more likely than someone like Pacquiao cheating. No wonder Pacquiao sued him."
Fitzgerald is no stranger to weighing in on controversial topics related to Pacquiao. In 2008, he publicly opposed the Pacquaio - Oscar De La Hoya welterweight fight being approved because he felt it would be a mismatch due to the size difference between the two fighters.
Of course the perceived smaller man, Pacquiao, pounded De La Hoya en route to a 8th round TKO in that fight. Pacquiao weighed in at 148 pounds unofficially on the night of the fight to De La Hoya's 147. This would later lead Fitzgerald to joke, "well I was right that the bigger man would win."
In regards to the issue of drug testing that is holding up that Pacquiao - Mayweather fight from happening, Fitzgerald said the following in an email.
"I would find it extremely difficult to believe that Freddie Roach, a man well known for his integrity in this sport, would allow himself to be associated with any boxer who cheats."
Nevertheless, Fitzgerald feels there is always the possibility that a fighter could be trying to get a competitive edge.
"When judges instruct juries on the law during a trial, for example, they always make a point to explain to the jury that anything is possible, and there exists a chance for anything, however remote those possibilities or chances may be."
When asked if he feels Olympic style drug testing, which is what the Mayweather camp is asking for in this fight, be implemented on a more regular basis in boxing, Fitzgerald had the following to say.
"I know that some substances can only be detected in blood where others can be detected in both urine and blood. One of the ways to keep people from abusing or cheating any system is to keep changing the system. If a Commission or an Olympic Committee or any other regulatory body always conducts tests at a specific time period before or after any contest whether it be a fight, an Olympic event, or an audit, it gives potential cheaters a specific time frame to work around. This is why broad discretionary language in one's regulations regarding testing really helps."
Whether you agree with Fitzgerald or not, one thing we can all agree on is we hope this fight eventually happens.
Source: examiner.com
Pacquiao rejects Foreman for fight
Israeli boxing sensation Yuri Foreman's chance of fighting world pound for pound champion Manny Pacquiao was ended on Thursday after Pacquiao's camp rejected Foreman as a potential opponent to replace Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Foreman, the 29-year-old who won the WBA super welterweight title in November, is represented by Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum and had been considered a potential opponent for the March 13 slot vacated when negotiations between Pacquiao and Mayweather broke down on Wednesday.
The LA Times reported that Pacquiao's US business manager Michael Koncz said, "Manny's concerned about Foreman's height. We'll go through the entire [welterweight and junior welterweight] categories and see what we can come up with."
However, the Israeli, who lived in Haifa from the ages of 10 to 19 and now resides in New York, was still proud to have been turned down.
"It's a real honor the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world doesn't want to fight me," Foreman said. "Aside from winning the world title, this is the greatest compliment I've gotten in boxing."
"We would have liked [Pacquiao] but it didn't work out," Foreman spokesman Dovid Efune told The Jerusalem Post. "But we know that everything that God does has a purpose."
Source: jpost.com
Foreman, the 29-year-old who won the WBA super welterweight title in November, is represented by Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum and had been considered a potential opponent for the March 13 slot vacated when negotiations between Pacquiao and Mayweather broke down on Wednesday.
The LA Times reported that Pacquiao's US business manager Michael Koncz said, "Manny's concerned about Foreman's height. We'll go through the entire [welterweight and junior welterweight] categories and see what we can come up with."
However, the Israeli, who lived in Haifa from the ages of 10 to 19 and now resides in New York, was still proud to have been turned down.
"It's a real honor the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world doesn't want to fight me," Foreman said. "Aside from winning the world title, this is the greatest compliment I've gotten in boxing."
"We would have liked [Pacquiao] but it didn't work out," Foreman spokesman Dovid Efune told The Jerusalem Post. "But we know that everything that God does has a purpose."
Source: jpost.com
Once again, boxing knocks itself out
Boxing’s ability to destroy its image rivals that of Tiger Woods. The only difference is boxing has more practice at it.
For the past decade or so, the men who run the sport have been on a constant campaign of self-immolation, finally doing to boxing what the Mafia could not when they controlled it. They made it irrelevant in the eyes of many sports fans and even more sports editors.
Yet as Bernard Hopkins once said, “As long as you got ghettos, you’ll have boxing,” and so boxing has survived relentless efforts to ruin itself. The past year saw the latest resurgence in interest led by Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino wunderkind who has won world titles in seven weight classes and, before his last fight, was the subject of major features in Time magazine and the New York Times [NYT] - two journalistic entities that long ago forgot the sport existed.
With interest again growing, record numbers were expected to pay to watch a March 13 showdown between Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world until Pacquiao usurped him during Mayweather’s 21-month self-imposed ring exile.
But amid projections of $200 million in revenue, a record live gate at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas and the possibility of shattering the all-time pay-per-view record of 2.44 million buys set by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya two years ago, the fight collapsed yesterday. Not over greed, which is the usual culprit in boxing, but rather over Pacquiao’s refusal to submit to random drug testing insisted by Mayweather.
The final collapse came after a nine-hour mediation effort Tuesday in which Pacquiao agreed to be tested three times, including immediately after the fight and within 24 days of it. Only problem was the 24-day test is required by the Nevada Athletic Commission and most experts believe random testing is the only way to catch the use of performance-enhancers.
Mayweather refused the proposal, costing each fighter an estimated $30 million to $40 million and leading Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, to claim Mayweather never wanted the fight.
“Manny accepted what was on the table and Mayweather rejected it,” Arum told ESPN. “(Mayweather manager Al) Haymon and (Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard) Schaefer tried to convince Floyd and he wouldn’t agree to it. . . . He never wanted the fight.”
The mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, issued a statement last night refuting some of Arum’s claims, saying he was forced to do so because both sides agreed to confidentiality and, if it was broken, Weinstein was to set the record straight.
“Various articles have appeared in the press purporting to characterize the substance and outcome of the Mayweather-Pacquiao mediation and the negotiations between the parties,” his statement read. “Many of the reports are incorrect. Any attempt to characterize the mediation process as an acceptance or rejection by any of the parties of a mediator’s or an arbiter’s proposal or of any specific proposal is false. In the end, the parties could not agree on a testing protocol acceptable to all.”
Pacquiao filed a defamation lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Nevada against the Mayweather entourage claiming they accused him of using PEDs. Where that will lead no one knows, but if it leads where Roger Clemens ended up, Pacquiao may rue the day he was talked into it.
Mayweather, meanwhile, made his first public pronouncement last night, saying in a statement: “Throughout this whole process I have remained patient, but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them.
“First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass. Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight, but it was rejected even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cutoff. The truth is he just doesn’t want to take the tests.”
A fight the world wanted has now become just another war of words that continued when Pacquiao issued a statement insisting it wasn’t his fault even though he’s the one refusing to be tested effectively.
In the wake of this, Arum has proposed Pacquiao fight 154-pound champion Yuri Foreman, while Mayweather may fight ex-140-pound champion Paulie Malignaggi.
To quote Bill Belichick, “Not what we’re looking for.”
Source: bostonherald.com
For the past decade or so, the men who run the sport have been on a constant campaign of self-immolation, finally doing to boxing what the Mafia could not when they controlled it. They made it irrelevant in the eyes of many sports fans and even more sports editors.
Yet as Bernard Hopkins once said, “As long as you got ghettos, you’ll have boxing,” and so boxing has survived relentless efforts to ruin itself. The past year saw the latest resurgence in interest led by Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino wunderkind who has won world titles in seven weight classes and, before his last fight, was the subject of major features in Time magazine and the New York Times [NYT] - two journalistic entities that long ago forgot the sport existed.
With interest again growing, record numbers were expected to pay to watch a March 13 showdown between Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world until Pacquiao usurped him during Mayweather’s 21-month self-imposed ring exile.
But amid projections of $200 million in revenue, a record live gate at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas and the possibility of shattering the all-time pay-per-view record of 2.44 million buys set by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya two years ago, the fight collapsed yesterday. Not over greed, which is the usual culprit in boxing, but rather over Pacquiao’s refusal to submit to random drug testing insisted by Mayweather.
The final collapse came after a nine-hour mediation effort Tuesday in which Pacquiao agreed to be tested three times, including immediately after the fight and within 24 days of it. Only problem was the 24-day test is required by the Nevada Athletic Commission and most experts believe random testing is the only way to catch the use of performance-enhancers.
Mayweather refused the proposal, costing each fighter an estimated $30 million to $40 million and leading Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, to claim Mayweather never wanted the fight.
“Manny accepted what was on the table and Mayweather rejected it,” Arum told ESPN. “(Mayweather manager Al) Haymon and (Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard) Schaefer tried to convince Floyd and he wouldn’t agree to it. . . . He never wanted the fight.”
The mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, issued a statement last night refuting some of Arum’s claims, saying he was forced to do so because both sides agreed to confidentiality and, if it was broken, Weinstein was to set the record straight.
“Various articles have appeared in the press purporting to characterize the substance and outcome of the Mayweather-Pacquiao mediation and the negotiations between the parties,” his statement read. “Many of the reports are incorrect. Any attempt to characterize the mediation process as an acceptance or rejection by any of the parties of a mediator’s or an arbiter’s proposal or of any specific proposal is false. In the end, the parties could not agree on a testing protocol acceptable to all.”
Pacquiao filed a defamation lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Nevada against the Mayweather entourage claiming they accused him of using PEDs. Where that will lead no one knows, but if it leads where Roger Clemens ended up, Pacquiao may rue the day he was talked into it.
Mayweather, meanwhile, made his first public pronouncement last night, saying in a statement: “Throughout this whole process I have remained patient, but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them.
“First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass. Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight, but it was rejected even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cutoff. The truth is he just doesn’t want to take the tests.”
A fight the world wanted has now become just another war of words that continued when Pacquiao issued a statement insisting it wasn’t his fault even though he’s the one refusing to be tested effectively.
In the wake of this, Arum has proposed Pacquiao fight 154-pound champion Yuri Foreman, while Mayweather may fight ex-140-pound champion Paulie Malignaggi.
To quote Bill Belichick, “Not what we’re looking for.”
Source: bostonherald.com
ARUM SLAMS MAYWEATHER’S LATEST 14 DAY BLOOD TEST PROPOSAL
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has slammed the latest proposal by Floyd Mayweather Jr asking pound-for-pound king and boxing hero Manny Pacquiao to agree to a blood test, 14 days before their planned March 13 mega fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Arum told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that “after the horses leave the barn and they rejected Manny’s 24 days offer he now comes up with the 14 days which is totally unacceptable” although Mayweather, in a statement on boxingscene.com claimed that “before the mediation my team proposed a 14 day, no blood-testing window leading up to the fight and it was rejected”
However, Team Pacquiao vehemently disputed Mayweather’s claim even as we learned that no such proposal was offered even during the mediation talks let alone before.
Mayweather said he is still proposing the 14-day window but that Pacquiao is still unwilling to agree to it, “even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests.”
Here again Team Pacquiao said it was a falsehood since they had agreed to bring forward the cutoff date to 24 from the original 30 for the blood test proposed by the Mayweather camp.
Arum stressed that the Mayweather proposal was made after the mediation efforts of former federal judge Daniel Weinstein had failed to get the two sides to agree on a cutoff date and the blood testing procedure pointing out that “this is not a swap thing among a bunch of kids.”
Arum made it clear that the initial position of Pacquiao was that he would agree to a blood test one day before the kickoff press conference, a second test 30 days before the fight and a third in the dressing room immediately after the fight.
He said “we agreed to go to 24 days before the fight for the blood test but he rejected it and that’s it. It's over.”
Arum feels that since Mayweather has been getting a bad press where the majority are blaming him for the collapse of a fight that millions wanted to happen, he is trying to turn things around but that “it's not working.”
In typical fashion Mayweather in his statement said "First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass.”
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz branded the Mayweather statement as “both humorous and ludicrous all in one.” Koncz revealed it he had been told by experts that any performance enhancing drugs “will be in your blood 40 days before the fight or the day after the fight. Whatever is there is there for that time period. So what the hell does 14 days have to do with it? Nothing other than to irritate Manny knowing that he has whatever, a fear or a superstition of extracting blood less than 30 days.”
With Arum insisting that the fight is off and blaming Mayweather for the failure of the mediation efforts of retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, Team Pacquiao is moving ahead to schedule a good, competitive fight either on March 13 or 20 in Las Vegas.
The original proposal for Pacquiao to go after an eighth world title against 154 pound champion Yuri Foreman has been turned down by Pacquiao himself simply because Foreman is much taller than him besides being much heavier. Australia’s Michael Katsidis was also ruled out as nothing more than a tune-up fight with no real value and would be hard to market.
Koncz said while a possible trilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez was “thrown into the mix” he had discussed it with Pacquiao Friday morning before they flew to Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City and they agreed that “the entertainment value I don’t think is there. Manny has nothing to prove by fighting Marquez because we beat him twice. If he fights him ten times, all ten fights will end in controversy because of the styles of the two fighters for some reason, they happen. There is no entertainment value there. They fought twice and couldn’t beat the 430,000 pay-per-view numbers.”
As for Paulie Malignaggi who has joined the Mayweather chorus in alleging that Pacquiao is on some performance enhancing drug Koncz said “the fans will boo throughout because he will jab and run.”
The top choice subject to Pacquiao’s approval, is Joshua Clottey who many people believe beat Miguel Cotto in their WBO title fight but lost the decision. Koncz told us that he doesn’t wish to emphasize that it's Clottey right now because no decisions have been made although he did admit that Clottey is “a good enough fighter and Manny and I both think he beat Cotto and I think he is marketable. But we have to work on the financial terms” even as he didn’t foresee a problem since Clottey is promoted by Top Rank.
Retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein who spent nine hours on Tuesday with representatives of Pacquiao and Mayweather in an effort to break the impasse over blood testing issued a statement to set the record straight in which he stated: a. Both parties participated in the mediation in good faith. Both parties participated in many hours of negotiation, with a number of proposals issued by each side and carefully considered by the parties and their representatives. b. The Mediator himself did not formulate, recommend or issue a Mediator's Proposal. The Mediator did not make an evaluation or finding that any one of the many proposals considered by the parties was the correct protocol. C. Any attempt to characterize the mediation process as an acceptance or rejection by any of the parties of a mediator's or an arbiter's proposal or of any specific proposal is false and d In the end, the parties could not agree on a testing protocol acceptable to all.
Source: philboxing.com
Arum told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that “after the horses leave the barn and they rejected Manny’s 24 days offer he now comes up with the 14 days which is totally unacceptable” although Mayweather, in a statement on boxingscene.com claimed that “before the mediation my team proposed a 14 day, no blood-testing window leading up to the fight and it was rejected”
However, Team Pacquiao vehemently disputed Mayweather’s claim even as we learned that no such proposal was offered even during the mediation talks let alone before.
Mayweather said he is still proposing the 14-day window but that Pacquiao is still unwilling to agree to it, “even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests.”
Here again Team Pacquiao said it was a falsehood since they had agreed to bring forward the cutoff date to 24 from the original 30 for the blood test proposed by the Mayweather camp.
Arum stressed that the Mayweather proposal was made after the mediation efforts of former federal judge Daniel Weinstein had failed to get the two sides to agree on a cutoff date and the blood testing procedure pointing out that “this is not a swap thing among a bunch of kids.”
Arum made it clear that the initial position of Pacquiao was that he would agree to a blood test one day before the kickoff press conference, a second test 30 days before the fight and a third in the dressing room immediately after the fight.
He said “we agreed to go to 24 days before the fight for the blood test but he rejected it and that’s it. It's over.”
Arum feels that since Mayweather has been getting a bad press where the majority are blaming him for the collapse of a fight that millions wanted to happen, he is trying to turn things around but that “it's not working.”
In typical fashion Mayweather in his statement said "First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass.”
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz branded the Mayweather statement as “both humorous and ludicrous all in one.” Koncz revealed it he had been told by experts that any performance enhancing drugs “will be in your blood 40 days before the fight or the day after the fight. Whatever is there is there for that time period. So what the hell does 14 days have to do with it? Nothing other than to irritate Manny knowing that he has whatever, a fear or a superstition of extracting blood less than 30 days.”
With Arum insisting that the fight is off and blaming Mayweather for the failure of the mediation efforts of retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, Team Pacquiao is moving ahead to schedule a good, competitive fight either on March 13 or 20 in Las Vegas.
The original proposal for Pacquiao to go after an eighth world title against 154 pound champion Yuri Foreman has been turned down by Pacquiao himself simply because Foreman is much taller than him besides being much heavier. Australia’s Michael Katsidis was also ruled out as nothing more than a tune-up fight with no real value and would be hard to market.
Koncz said while a possible trilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez was “thrown into the mix” he had discussed it with Pacquiao Friday morning before they flew to Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City and they agreed that “the entertainment value I don’t think is there. Manny has nothing to prove by fighting Marquez because we beat him twice. If he fights him ten times, all ten fights will end in controversy because of the styles of the two fighters for some reason, they happen. There is no entertainment value there. They fought twice and couldn’t beat the 430,000 pay-per-view numbers.”
As for Paulie Malignaggi who has joined the Mayweather chorus in alleging that Pacquiao is on some performance enhancing drug Koncz said “the fans will boo throughout because he will jab and run.”
The top choice subject to Pacquiao’s approval, is Joshua Clottey who many people believe beat Miguel Cotto in their WBO title fight but lost the decision. Koncz told us that he doesn’t wish to emphasize that it's Clottey right now because no decisions have been made although he did admit that Clottey is “a good enough fighter and Manny and I both think he beat Cotto and I think he is marketable. But we have to work on the financial terms” even as he didn’t foresee a problem since Clottey is promoted by Top Rank.
Retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein who spent nine hours on Tuesday with representatives of Pacquiao and Mayweather in an effort to break the impasse over blood testing issued a statement to set the record straight in which he stated: a. Both parties participated in the mediation in good faith. Both parties participated in many hours of negotiation, with a number of proposals issued by each side and carefully considered by the parties and their representatives. b. The Mediator himself did not formulate, recommend or issue a Mediator's Proposal. The Mediator did not make an evaluation or finding that any one of the many proposals considered by the parties was the correct protocol. C. Any attempt to characterize the mediation process as an acceptance or rejection by any of the parties of a mediator's or an arbiter's proposal or of any specific proposal is false and d In the end, the parties could not agree on a testing protocol acceptable to all.
Source: philboxing.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao