tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86366005981897158512024-02-19T23:01:27.998-08:00Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. News and Updates, Online Live Streaming, Pacquiao MayweatherPacquiao vs Mayweather, Pacquiao vs Mayweather News, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates, Pacquiao Mayweather 24/7 Episodes, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming, Pacquiao Mayweather Press Tour, Pacquiao Mayweather News, Pacquiao Mayweather Updates, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Photos, Pacquiao vs Mayweather VideosBLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.comBlogger262125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-33979276185410886822010-01-28T04:26:00.000-08:002010-01-28T04:27:25.244-08:00Floyd Mayweather: champ or chump?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwZGgTyUC1lNeMBz_n39JvfYVJuVf00UPf-fMHbDk42ny7FLjIkEXTGI7Zu9sgKKTJGCacEWzIz1hkvWc3A9r2XUa-ZJB2R0Pi4qeTvs2pAidXoHbwSVSuld7kljgn7WXpHcaBEnGCxfW/s1600-h/floydmayweater_jpg_595x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 109px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwZGgTyUC1lNeMBz_n39JvfYVJuVf00UPf-fMHbDk42ny7FLjIkEXTGI7Zu9sgKKTJGCacEWzIz1hkvWc3A9r2XUa-ZJB2R0Pi4qeTvs2pAidXoHbwSVSuld7kljgn7WXpHcaBEnGCxfW/s200/floydmayweater_jpg_595x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao Mayweather 24/7 Episodes, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, Pacquiao vs Mayweather News, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431766268418703714" /></a><br />by D.R. Foster January 28, 2010 <br /><br />You can never trust a skinny cook or a pretty palooka, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a real pretty palooka, indeed.<br /><br />That’s why I blame Mayweather for the collapse of the superfight between him and Manny Pacquiao, slated for March but scuttled this month for reasons that are still incomprehensible. The Fight, as it will henceforth be called, was set to be positively Balboan in its grandeur, matching as it would have one of the 10 best fighters in history (Mayweather) with a man who has a chance to join that list (Pacquiao). Rarely do the two best fighters in a given year—let alone a given decade—happen to fight around the same weight class. But with the unrelenting lameness of top heavyweight contenders gradually turning that division into a kind of homoerotic slow-dance, the boxing world has been increasingly interested in the more dynamic cluster of weight classes between featherweight (126 pounds) and middleweight (160 pounds). This is the sweet spot where our two heroes have earned their livings, where fighters are big enough to land haymakers but also still fast enough to dodge them.<br /><br />Floyd “Money” Mayweather is very much about the dodge, and is as good an embodiment of the distinction between a boxer and a mere puncher as there is. Undefeated in 40 professional fights, a six-time champion in five different weight classes, he is—despite his 25 knockouts—a predominantly defensive fighter. He lives and dies by the “shoulder roll” stance taught to him by Floyd Sr., his old man and on-again-off-again trainer. Lead arm high, chin tucked into his deltoid, trailing arm loose around his midsection, spinal column on a swivel: Face and guts thus protected, he pivots and moves with his opponents’ punches like Jay-Z brushing the dirt off his shoulder, his face always registering a kind of faintly amused surprise when their worst blows whiff a few inches in front of him. On offense, he is a genius tactician who doesn’t so much land counterpunches as meticulously place them. He plays to the points on the judges’ cards, and lets pretenders to his throne hurt themselves as much as he hurts them.<br /><br />Manny Pacquiao, in NovemberBut since Mayweather’s semi-retirement a couple of years ago, Pacquiao has topped most observers’ lists as his successor atop the sport. Pacquiao is a demi-god in his native Philippines—not just a boxer but also a credible national politician, an action-movie hero, and a pop star. Inside the ring, he’s a guerrilla, a banger, a stalker who chases his mark around with both hands flying. On his way to a record-setting seventh title in seven different weight classes, he bludgeoned Miguel Cotto, one of the toughest-chinned sons-of-a-bitch ever to don a pair of nylon shorts, so badly in the 12th round that the referee called the fight with just seconds left. He showed up for his match against Oscar De La Hoya shorter, smaller, and with less reach than his opponent—and beat him so badly that De La Hoya respectfully declined to come out of his corner in the ninth round and retired from boxing shortly thereafter.<br /><br />And everything seemed set for the great sword and the great shield of the boxing world to meet in Las Vegas on March 13, until the two fighters’ camps hit a snag on drug-testing policy. Mayweather wanted Pacquiao to agree to Olympics-style random blood testing up to and including the day of the fight, figuring that Pacquiao had to be doping to move so quickly and effortlessly up weight classes. (The irony was that this fleet movement is precisely what Mayweather had done years earlier.) Pacquiao, all machismo and superstition, read the demand as an insult to his honor, worried the tests dangling over his head would weaken him physically and psychically, and wanted no tests inside of 30 days before the fight. There was much public smack-talking and counteroffers were bandied, but talks finally collapsed a couple of weeks ago.<br /><br />In the end, it couldn’t have been all about blood tests. Mayweather knows damned well his opponent isn’t doping—Pacquiao had already agreed to a test immediately following the fight to show he had nothing to hide, and is so pissed at the implication behind Mayweather’s demands that he is suing for defamation.<br /><br />So what was it about? Money? Maybe. Boxing is so dirty that you’d be wise to go ahead and wash after reading this column. Fights always happen or don’t because the cigar-smoking, derby-wearing mustachioed men who pull the strings calculate that there is a nickel more to be made one way or the other. So it would make sense to wonder, as some have, whether calling the fight was a strategic tease, meant to ramp up excitement—and profits—for a second go in 2011.<br /><br />But how much more money could be out there? Both parties already stood to be made filthy, stinking rich by the fight—each side left a guaranteed $25 million on the table, and probably that same amount in Pay-Per-View fees.<br /><br />That leaves only one explanation for Mayweather’s stupid terms: pure, raw, incontinent fear. Mayweather is afraid of Manny Pacquiao—hell, who can blame him?—and the great genius of defensive boxing has maybe rightly decided that the best defense against Manny Pacquiao is never to step into the ring. <br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.avclub.com/newyork/articles/floyd-mayweather-champ-or-chump,37524/">avclub.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-48185549806303606752010-01-28T04:24:00.000-08:002010-01-28T04:25:59.154-08:00Manny Pacquiao: An Open Letter and Prayer for a Floyd Mayweather Showdown<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLo0wv4c3XP8XIS0uqxbM0Vfe-Xd2e1YdJVv0QzOwWRvF6LUzosDRyH3K7AYrmqGkQ8IIEKCqJ8Nn30REEZvRq92gGD_TifeNzmrmFsUJP6WnJAnYOGf6SnJhW4xG8I0jsvucjnSdUrAE9/s1600-h/pacquaio1_1556474c1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLo0wv4c3XP8XIS0uqxbM0Vfe-Xd2e1YdJVv0QzOwWRvF6LUzosDRyH3K7AYrmqGkQ8IIEKCqJ8Nn30REEZvRq92gGD_TifeNzmrmFsUJP6WnJAnYOGf6SnJhW4xG8I0jsvucjnSdUrAE9/s200/pacquaio1_1556474c1.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao Mayweather 24/7 Episodes, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, Pacquiao vs Mayweather News, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431765871981436258" /></a><br />By SJ Jarapa<br /><br />I sat motionless, hoping the silence would temper the mounting grief, which, through all means of madness, was caused by the euphoria that had pulled a pang in the hearts of millions worldwide, inside me. Then I seized the carton of a camel’s milk from across the table into my palms. It was cold, fresh from the fridge. I stared at it; contemplating if I would be the wiser should I choose to cleanse my depression with it.<br /><br />The space around me was dim and ominous, with every shadow appearing to dance by the flickering rays of the moon which seeped in from a distant wall of wrought iron and glass. They all seem to want to lunge at me, envelope me as if to make me part of their lonely universe. I wondered if they too were in anguish much as I am that Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, JR., will no longer fight on March 13.<br /><br />13…the number deemed more ill-omened than not by all has brought death to what was supposedly the greatest fight in boxing history – 13… how fitting, I said miserably in my head – in my distraught mental state.<br /><br />I caught myself and yanked my eyes back to the carton of camel’s milk lying prone with the innocence of a child in my hands. I looked at it with so much longing. What am I doing? Quack doctors had already cautioned against the liquid, comparing the beverage to a deadly mixture of snake venom, cognac, Alco-Gel, and urine. But my despair was forcing me to ignore their warnings. Am I really out to get smashed?<br /><br />I ripped the milk cap off. Oh saints forgive me for what I am about to do!<br /><br />I took a swig.<br /><br />So good…<br /><br />I chugged another mouthful then another, stopping only after a whole minute of hysterical chugging. Ah… how I forgot how great the intoxicating flavor of the nectar once enjoyed only by gods!<br /><br />Why was this happening? What on earth went so wrong that they chose not to praise each other anymore with a stellar exchange of their fistic talents? What did I and every soul in the world do to warrant such pain? I never should have kept my hopes up. It was too good to be true. I tipped my head back now to look up at the ceiling and remembered how perfect they were for each other.<br /><br />Dazzling, well in my imaginings, there stands in one towering peak, Floyd Mayweather, JR: Good looking, so refined, a real big spender – a graceful defensive genius.<br /><br />Another, seemingly shining with equal brilliance, standing in a crest of the same height and stature, Manny Pacquiao: Great smile, multilingual, a real superstar – a ferocious offensive genius.<br /><br />As I mused over and pondered with the scene further, the picture in my head began to sprout to life in the form of a mist that embellished on the ceiling a dreamlike illustration of the two boxers standing mere inches from each other, with Floyd Mayweather, JR., glowering at an intense but smiling Manny Pacquiao.<br /><br />Strange I thought.<br /><br />What was Floyd’s gaze doing so high in the sky like he was looking up at the much smaller Manny as if the man was a thousand leagues taller than he was, even though, they stood on equal measure?<br /><br />Perhaps he believes despite himself that Manny Pacquiao is the personification of a world he bears deep desires to have but cannot ever reach or touch since no matter how pure and splendid his own endowments are, he knows deep within him that it could be a world he might be forever barred from.<br /><br />And Manny… true to his character his gaze remained leveled on his fellow combatant for he neither sees no one below him nor does he sees anyone above him save God.<br /><br />My fantasy bubble snapped.<br /><br />God, I thought.<br /><br />Is Manny Pacquiao godlike or is he in fact a god?<br /><br />Hundreds of people think that is exactly what he is – as such seems the destiny of someone whose power to galvanize an immense entirety radically surpasses the boundaries of his own world. They swear by him, some would plunge in deep waters with him, even through, as history would prove, his many slip-ups and wrong doings.<br /><br />Fortunately, there are eyes around him which appear to far exceed the bands of those on the wrong. Their watch penetrates his conscience and it forces him to confront his mistakes, allowing him to set to right what was wronged and that… is the product of his humanity. Something his rival seems to lack. But given his tremendous force as a person, his enviable physical qualities as a fighter, his awe-inspiring authority over a people, all does not merit him the gift of infallibility. He does to the best of his ability to be what he can be for his people but he is far from perfect. What he deserves is to be seen as but a mere mortal for that is what he’ll always be.<br /><br />Manny Pacquiao is no god.<br /><br />The lips of the camel’s milk carton, without thinking, found its way to my mouth and while the lethal fluid gushed finely in my throat like there was no tomorrow, I mumbled. “I will pray for Manny but I will never pray to Manny.”<br /><br />I pulled away from the milk carton. Tipping it over, I learned the awful truth that it was empty.<br /><br />Anger swept over me.<br /><br />The drink that had kept me sane was gone. Paranoia clutched my chest, putting me in dread of what I might become without it. With long, heavy breaths, I permitted seconds, minutes, hours to pass, and tried to keep my bearings together. What do I do now? What can I do to fix this problem? Kidnap both men and force them to fight each other? No… that will not work. I rose from my chair and swiveled about with eyes a great bulge in search of answers that would clearly not be found anywhere in the chamber’s ever-increasing darkness. On the instant my incessant circling stopped, my eyes locked on the carton of milk. Then, in one swipe of lunacy, I crushed it with both hands and back-handed it to the floor. Next, my glare fixated on the wooden table with wrath ablaze in my pupils. I closed my fist and pitched it downwards at the table in full force. CRACK! I heard it break… not the table but my hand.<br /><br />The scream came thunderous only in my head for I refused to shriek out loud and risk losing face – with the girl next door being so hot and all…<br /><br />My eyes welled up, my body possessed by a frantic state of thrashing. Then I tripped and smacked the floor. My wailing was ever so hushed, my tears flooded out like a cosmetic facial mask that coated every inch of my face, even my groaning was in utter disbelief of the electrical pain that surged from my broken fist into my entire nervous system. After what seemed forever, my aching at last abated, and I started to relax in the fetal position.<br /><br />Then I laughed. My head was clear. Amazing how physical pain can wake your rational senses.<br /><br />I know now what to do.<br /><br />But first, something must be done to alleviate the milk’s sinister clout over my mental and physical fortitude. So like a bolt of sudden erection, I sprang up to my feet and got over to the refrigerator on the far end of the chamber in just .6 seconds. I heaved its door open. Light spilled from its rectangular interior and into the darkness beyond. What I found inside made my eyes sparkle with pure bliss. A bottle of cold beer sat, as lonely as I had been earlier, in the middle. Without delaying any further, I snatched the brew, its cold exterior freezing my palm. Then I closed the fridge’s door and glided right back out to the table. I made the cold bottled beer lie on its wooden surface. As I watch it lay there, I knew I was in love, it looked so beautiful to me. One problem, I noticed. I did not have an opener with me. But when I thought about it again, there was no problem at all. I broke into a stance and then Karate-chopped the bottle’s neck off Mr. Miyagi Style to give it a fine crater in which to drink from.<br /><br />I savored the scent of alcohol in gold.<br /><br />I will now write an open letter…<br /><br />Dear our beloved Manny Pacquiao,<br /><br />From the moment your fighting star soared the skies your nation fondly christened you as its modern day hero and you have always prided yourself with the designation. You are the fist of the Philippines – a hero of millions, the meek, the strong, the rich, and poor. So please show us the hero. Show your followers precisely what was it that they believed in. Show them the worth of their faith in you. I know the circumstance at hand is unwarranted, therefore unjust and extremely difficult to abide by… but since when did you cower from such a challenge – you who walked right through thorns and fire to feel the clouds?<br /><br />“People do not follow titles. They follow courage…”<br /><br />I forgot who said that (Mel Gibson?) but it sounds just right for how you have lived your life so far. It fits. Courage is the one aspect that sets you high above Floyd Mayweather, JR. When Lehlo Ledwaba wrestled you down and Marco Antonio Barrera fist-groped your sacred stones, you retaliated not in the same manner; instead, you punched back with great respect and honor for not only yourself but likewise for both your foes, regardless of their tactics, and your sport. No, I do not believe you have it in you to ever cheat boxing. But there are those who would say otherwise, those who would dare twist things to suit their own malicious hides.<br /><br />Do their allegations against you hold real grounds? Only you can prove them wrong. I know you are just navigating a way around the dangers in the seas to give them not a chance to mess with your training – your psyche come fight night. I am afraid, though, that you have so little choice this time. The court of public opinion is divided on your case. Many have laid unfair judgment upon you. When you say you are scared of needles they bend its meaning into something wicked.<br /><br />I know you meant the statement as a joke but in case you are indeed afraid of needles – here in my hand, a cold bottle of beer. Take it. It’s yours. It’ll help numb your fears… actually, you’ve got the money, get your own. No offense intended. I’m just too smitten by its frozen body to let it go… headless or not.<br /><br />Anyway brother… you are lucky, because, just as many believe in your innocence. But this will not be judged by the masses. They can neither punish nor vindicate you despite the breadth of their emotions. This innuendo has become so large to a point where it could potentially leak into everyone who carries your name and blood. Imagine what they could suffer from what it might bring in the future. Disapproving eyes born of unpleasant hearsays is often the cause of inner torment. You were right to file lawsuits against these people. But I don’t think the spite in the air will fade away even if you win your case.<br /><br />It has to be you – you can end this with your vaunted left fist in Floyd Mayweather, JR’s mouth or you can choose to ignore it and let it build into something you cannot control. It’s your choice. But then I don’t have to tell you for you know well as we all do that with one punch, you can finish it all.<br /><br />If you have to go through his cowardly demands to greatly weaken you – go through it.<br /><br />Because there is an entire world that believes you will never let him win – never let him leave the ring on his toes. When the hour comes that you knock Floyd Mayweather, JR., out blind, deaf, and dumb, all life on Earth, in space, and Hell will know him as the fake who thought he had the upper hand.<br /><br />Manny Pacquiao, you are the re-embodiment of our ancestors’ enormous valor. What better way for you to leave the life of a warrior than to perform one final act of true courage – to save your name against all odds before they kill it? This in my heart I believe would be your life’s greatest act of heroism.<br /><br />And that my friend… was my best punch…<br /><br />I wish I could tell you to sleep on it…<br /><br />I drank the cold beer.<br /><br />And collapsed…<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.ringsidereport.com/?p=868">ringsidereport.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-30375442054844645852010-01-28T04:23:00.000-08:002010-01-28T04:24:45.655-08:00Freddie Roach exclusive: Mayweather so good Pacquiao would need ‘perfect fight’<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-SRO718YtTT-_g-T4eG3GMoFl-6cwIKOibXDgjYrmNhAz65jI5JOlNjxObJDBZco1tnUtjVreb2BPd9aTI2VAvpb9zaHQ3KMNfWXAF_2Ih4R1sW57cE3O0fauTHvLPf0RJnBBafpskjy/s1600-h/pacquaio1_1556474c1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-SRO718YtTT-_g-T4eG3GMoFl-6cwIKOibXDgjYrmNhAz65jI5JOlNjxObJDBZco1tnUtjVreb2BPd9aTI2VAvpb9zaHQ3KMNfWXAF_2Ih4R1sW57cE3O0fauTHvLPf0RJnBBafpskjy/s200/pacquaio1_1556474c1.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao Mayweather 24/7 Episodes, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, Pacquiao vs Mayweather News, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431765580407685250" /></a><br />Freddie Roach Telegraph Sport exclusive part five.<br /><br />Freddie Roach has been breaking down the style and technique employed by Floyd Mayweather, which has made him the unbeaten fighter he is today.<br /><br />Roach had begun his research on Mayweather before the planned super-fight between Pacquiao and the leading American boxer of today was derailed by rows and disagreements over drug-testing procedures.<br /><br />Roach told me: “I’d been looking at how Mayweather reacts against south paw fighters. There’s quite a difference to how he reacts with right handed fighters. He’s not that comfortable with the south paw stance. It gets him in a little trouble.”<br /><br />Yet Roach spelt out in clear terms the task facing Pacquiao should he meet Mayweather in a ring, later this year. “It’s more about his positive things that we have to stay away from.”<br /><br />“It’s a complicated game plan I was beginning to put together. You look at the way Floyd fights. If you put pressure on him, on the ropes, he rolls and ducks, and counters and if you get too aggressive, he’ll walk you so cleverly onto a counter punch. He’s not the most offensive fighter, not the most entertaining fighter, but he is great at what he does.”<br /><br />“Do we have to be ready for all of it ? Yes. It’s going to be a real, real, mental fight, and this is 100 per cent the biggest challenge Manny Pacquiao has ever faced.”<br /><br />Would Roach have done anything different to Mayweather’s style, if he had trained him? “A little bit more offence, because of his hand speed and abilities. I’d have got him to use it to his advantage more. I don’t think anyone trains Mayweather. He was born to fight. It is in his blood.”<br /><br />“There are not a lot of weaknesses. It has to be a special 36 minutes from Manny. We have to fight the perfect fight.”<br /><br />“It is hard thinking about it. When decisions haven’t yet been made. I think the fight has to happen. I think it will happen. It’s good for boxing, it is good for the world. If it doesn’t happen, we might go back into a recession in boxing again, because it is the fight which is anticipated. The public wants to see it, and I want to see it too.”<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/garethadavies/100005029/freddie-roach-exclusive-mayweather-so-good-pacquiao-would-need-%E2%80%98perfect-fight%E2%80%99/">blogs.telegraph.co.uk</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-31899065073997976232010-01-28T04:22:00.000-08:002010-01-28T04:23:27.165-08:00Move over Floyd, Manny Pacquiao is the new 'Money' of Boxing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCeI8Dx8BVhzs3jZG-JKLkQ9r6LEit_M1DJ2fM1QVfCdFbbyP_JpPtMJqol1Mdv63tCllkcKxRE2aqjBNcDlJstA0icgG5ECBh14d0KjZfFaCdlGywaNaI1lVH_gm3HlL1Ctl6kq7cnaGM/s1600-h/resized_manny_pacquiao_money.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCeI8Dx8BVhzs3jZG-JKLkQ9r6LEit_M1DJ2fM1QVfCdFbbyP_JpPtMJqol1Mdv63tCllkcKxRE2aqjBNcDlJstA0icgG5ECBh14d0KjZfFaCdlGywaNaI1lVH_gm3HlL1Ctl6kq7cnaGM/s200/resized_manny_pacquiao_money.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431765254509178562" /></a><br />Sacramento Fight Sports Examiner | Rick Rockwell<br /><br />2010 has signaled a new era for boxing. Manny Pacquiao has overtaken Floyd Mayweather Jr and other boxers to become boxing’s “Money”. For years, Floyd Mayweather Jr has used this moniker but now Manny has passed him up in talent, recent earnings and popularity according to boxing fans and BusinessWeek’s Top 100 most powerful athletes.<br /><br /><br />About the Top 100 Most Powerful Athletes List<br />The list was calculated by on-field metrics included athletes who scored the best on the field (or the rink, the greens, or the court) over a two-year period. The more popular the sport, the more weight those achievements garnered.<br /><br /><br />Manny and Floyd’s Rankings<br />Manny Pacquiao was ranked 72ndon the list while Floyd was ranked 91st. Pacquiao’s earnings was estimated at $39 million to Mayweather’s estimated earnings of 30.3 million. These estimated earnings included fight income and sponsors.<br /><br /><br />Popularity<br />In addition to the earnings, Manny’s popularity has soared over the last few years worldwide. But, it’s only been recently that American Boxing fans have started to notice and appreciate the amazing talents of Pacquiao. Dennis Farelly, of Rosemont, CA, “In 2009, Manny seemed to kick down America’s doors to say that he is the world's best boxer.”<br /><br /><br />Not only did he kick down the doors in America but he also knocked the “hotshot” UFC back in line. I for one thought that the UFC was going to overtake boxing by the end of 2010. However, I quickly learned that Pacquiao is great enough to keep boxing ahead of the UFC for at least another 2 years. Joseph Selek, Sacramento, Ca, “Manny Pacquiao has single handedly kept the UFC from overtaking boxing in the mainstream”.<br /> <br /><br />Pacquiao vs Clottey<br />My Examiner.com colleague, Michael Marley, shared some impressive numbers with us in his recent column regarding the upcoming fight and the all-time attendance mark for a boxing match in America. According to Marley, the Pacquiao and Clottey fight has already sold about 25,000 tickets and is on pace to potentially break the all-time American attendance mark of 63,315 from 1978 when fans watched Muhammad Ali defeat Leon Spinks in the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans,<br /> <br /><br />Talent<br />It’s not just the popularity and the income that makes Manny the new “Money” in boxing. It’s also his talent. When he steps into the ring, you know that you are going to be in for excitement and you know that you are going to witness God given abilities that we may never see the likes of again. <br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-21442-Sacramento-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2010m1d27-Move-over-Floyd-Manny-Pacquiao-is-the-new-Money-of-Boxing">Examiner.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-37195541551114656622010-01-28T04:19:00.000-08:002010-01-28T04:22:07.657-08:00De La Hoya not giving up on big fight<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEn4YK1nDFKMRL0Cu0sz47LU6Z2I4AmDrcdmKkr2QdGnMNiBnypIbnuXjE0uExpDVDL4KIwNnPYY6GcfPwcwC6_SIEbTmD1zbqw6-GiqN3O11av0lqMIVp3Cc9oM_s3IHXlfynmKQM0Q5/s1600-h/oscar-de-la-hoya.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 138px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEn4YK1nDFKMRL0Cu0sz47LU6Z2I4AmDrcdmKkr2QdGnMNiBnypIbnuXjE0uExpDVDL4KIwNnPYY6GcfPwcwC6_SIEbTmD1zbqw6-GiqN3O11av0lqMIVp3Cc9oM_s3IHXlfynmKQM0Q5/s200/oscar-de-la-hoya.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao Mayweather 24/7 Episodes, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, Pacquiao vs Mayweather News, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431764897589282626" /></a><br />(CNN) -- Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya has revealed that despite their feud outside the ring -- he has not given up trying to convince Manny Pacquiao to fight his client Floyd Mayweather.<br /><br />"That fight has to happen," said De La Hoya at a news conference to promote another fight.<br /><br />"It's too big not to happen. We just have to cross one hurdle at a time," added the American of the proposed world welterweight bout which fell through earlier this month in a drug-testing dispute.<br /><br />Mayweather and Pacquiao almost cut a deal this month, but claimed they could not agree on a 10-day gap in the timing of drug tests prior to their proposed March 13 bout.<br /><br />"The public will hopefully make him change his mind," De La Hoya added. "Why would you not want to earn $40 million dollars? Why would you not want to show the public that all this speculation is nonsense? Be the one to stand up and say it."<br /><br />Filipino Pacquiao, boxing's pound-for-pound king, is currently scheduled to square off against Joshua Clottey at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas on March 13.<br /><br />Meanwhile, De La Hoya also said that Mayweather and Shane Mosley are in talks to possibly meet on May 1 in Las Vegas.<br /><br />Meanwhile, WBA heavyweight champion David Haye has confirmed he will make the first defence of his belt against American John Ruiz in Manchester in April.<br /><br />The Briton claimed the title when he defeated Russian giant Nikolay Valuev in Nuremberg in November and now former WBA champion Ruiz at the MEN Arena on April 3.<br /><br />"It's been 10 years since the heavyweight championship has been fought in Britain and everyone knows I had to go to Germany to take the title away from Nikolay Valuev," Haye told a press conference.<br /><br />"Now it's time to showcase my skills again in front of the great British public," added the 29-year-old.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/01/27/boxing.delahoya.pacquiao.mayweather/">edition.cnn.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-90819433431882583682010-01-28T04:16:00.000-08:002010-01-28T04:19:42.191-08:00FLOYD JR: DOES DEFENSE MAKE ONE GREAT?January 27th, 2010 By Pedro Fernandez<br /><br />DEFENSIVE FIGHTERS EASILY FORGOTTEN!<br /><br />San Francisco, CA- It seems the majority of the boxing world is not enamored with the manner in which Floyd Mayweather Jr. takes care of his business. Having handpicked every opponent since he left 135 lbs, Floyd has raised the bar, at least when it comes to stinking the joint out! All this being said, when was the last time a master of pugilistic defense was considered great? Historians that I approached on this had only one Hall of Fame response, that being Willie Pep.<br /><br />OFFENSIVE FIGHTERS EASILY REMEMBERED!<br /><br />Fighters like the late Arturo Gatti, limited in the skill department, brought nothing but offense to a fist fight. If you look at Arturo’s fan base it was a smorgasbord of ethnic groups from all over the world. Floyd Mayweather on the other hand, an African American, seems to attract nothing but his peeps! Unlike Gatti, Manny Pacquiao, Mickey Ward, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns, this group attracted all colors and denominations while Floyd doesn’t.<br /><br />DEFENSIVE FIGHTERS EASILY FORGOTTEN II<br /><br />Being a defensive master in the squared circle of boxing is not what fans clamor for. Rather than watch someone slip a shot, boxing fans are more inclined to like the guy who threw the shot, not blocked it. Let it be said, “Floyd Mayweather is a great defensive fighter.” That title may fill his pockets with gold bullion, but it will only continue to alienate the majority of fans following the sport.<br /><br />Pedro Fernandez<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://ringtalk.com/floyd-mayweather-does-defense-make-one-great#more-6360">ringtalk.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-28678733489724478782010-01-27T17:04:00.000-08:002010-01-27T17:06:41.815-08:00Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather - The Fight That never was<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C9akooehebM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C9akooehebM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Like many boxing fans around the world I find it hard to explain just how much I was looking forward to the Pacquiao – Mayweather fight. Not since Bernard Hopkins vs. Felix Trinidad in 2001 had I anticipated such a fight, Pacquiao had the P4P crown, a crown relinquished by undefeated Floyd Mayweather when he entered temporary retirement in 2007.<br /><br />May 2007 In the highest grossing fight of all time pound for pound King Floyd Mayweather Jr overcomes Oscar De La Hoya in a split decision point’s victory to capture the WBC super welterweight title.<br /><br />Dec 2007 In the battle dubbed someone’s 0 must go; Floyd Mayweather Jr surgically breaks down Manchester’s Ricky Hatton, forcing the British brawler to suffer his first defeat.<br /><br />The undefeated Floyd Mayweather announces his retirement from the sport, stating he has nothing left to prove.<br /><br />Dec 2008 Former Flyweight champion Manny Pacquiao climbs to the welterweight division for the first time to face Oscar De La Hoya, and retires the Golden boy at the end of round 8. Oscar has not fought since.<br /><br />May 2009 In a possible fight of the year candidate, Manny Pacquiao brutally dethrones Ricky Hatton as the Light Welterweight champion of the world and solidifies his status as the number one pound for pound fighter in the absence of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Hatton has not fought since.<br /><br />Sept 2009 the imminent return of Floyd Mayweather, saw him face the man who gave Manny Pacquiao two of the toughest fights of his career. The undersized Juan Manuel Marquez was out of his depth from the opening bell against an imposing Mayweather, and suffered a heavy one sided point’s defeat.<br /><br />Nov 2009 Pacquiao puts to bed any doubts regarding his ability to compete with a legitimate welterweight. As Manny Pacquiao gave his post fight interview after his destruction of Miguel Cotto, you could hear the chants of "Mayweather" coming from those in attendance at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. The crowd were responding to the question put to him during his ringside interview. The fight seemed inevitable; especially seeing how well the pound for pound king had just took apart a true welterweight.<br /><br />We all know the circus that developed over the next few months, in short the fight could not be made. The promoters denied us the most anticipated fights in years, as if that was not enough they delivered one last slap in the face of every boxing fan when they planned rival pay-per-view cards on March 13th, in the hope the circus continued with all the drama that would proceed with fans comparing the PPV numbers. <br /><br />We can blame the promoters and justifiably, but the fighters themselves are not without blame. When all is said and done it comes down to the fighter as it’s he who can make the fight happen. Can you Imaging Aaron Pryor - Alexis Arguello walking away from such a fight. What if Julio Cesar Chavez never gave Meldrick Taylor the opportunity in 1994. Or any of the famous battles between the infamous quartet of Hagler, Duran, Leonard and Hearns during the 80’s who moved heaven and earth to get in the ring with each other. It’s time today’s fighters ditched the suits and laced em’ up.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.theboxinghistorian.com/news/6104_ftnw.html">theboxinghistorian.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-49294073353917610302010-01-15T06:25:00.000-08:002010-01-15T06:28:08.870-08:00The Floyd Mayweather - Manny Pacquiao Fallout Begins To Haunt Boxing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OkRggOnPrU2IeoNINPwRPkA_2Ehh4UYiYViLIl7ezMQm7xjrO0NjTm_o6NJJ1USWZBeKU8Ca6eqa4NRouuWNjSzVzwCp0luIwyDF4YJjVlOs4mD1N3DPWTaBuvscU4H3-cWbXABYSqnW/s1600-h/box_a_mayweather2_inline_300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OkRggOnPrU2IeoNINPwRPkA_2Ehh4UYiYViLIl7ezMQm7xjrO0NjTm_o6NJJ1USWZBeKU8Ca6eqa4NRouuWNjSzVzwCp0luIwyDF4YJjVlOs4mD1N3DPWTaBuvscU4H3-cWbXABYSqnW/s200/box_a_mayweather2_inline_300.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather News" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426973207046387586" /></a><br />Written by Tim Starks <br />Friday, 15 January 2010 00:12<br /><br />night-of-the-living-dead-posterWe're not supposed to be saying the zed-word, I know. We did the autopsy of Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao and we'd begun moving on. But a development like this -- it doesn't just get buried, never to surface again. This is the kind of thing that hangs around for a while, and we're going to have to live with it, even if it's dead.<br />Pacquiao Mayweather 24/7 Episodes, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, Pacquiao vs Mayweather News, Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Str<br />The rehashing continues, and some of it is worth visiting. The projecting what will happen next continues, and it, too, is worth visiting. There are news developments to consider; there are ways in which we should maybe be thinking about how the media -- which includes myself -- and we, as fans of the sport, could do better.<br /><br />Be forewarned: This is rambling material that borders on free association. It is befitting a flood of information and fallout for which patterns are only just emerging, of opinions expressed and trends manifested that are scattershot.<br /><br />The Blame Game<br /><br />There was some complaining in the comments section of a recent blog entry I did that the media somehow helped kill Mayweather-Pacquiao, and I've still not heard anyone give a good explanation of how. It's certainly not always covered itself in glory -- I'll get to that in a second -- but there has been some good reporting on the whole affair, and some of the best came from Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports and Dan Rafael of ESPN. In recent days, both have written columns that appropriately condemn all sides. But they've also shed light on the situation.<br /><br />Rafael, on what's next for both men:<br /><br />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... 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... 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.<br /><br />All right, so all he did was report on the results of a poll, but I hadn't noticed it, so it was news to me. What does the poll say? It says that Pacquiao and Mayweather have done such severe damage to the sport, and to themselves, that nobody wants to see them fight.<br /><br />Iole, meanwhile, offers up compelling evidence that Mayweather either never really cared about random blood testing, the final sticking point on the fight, or else his team was woefully ill-informed about how performance-enhancing drugs work:<br /><br />Mayweather eventually compromised and was willing to set a blood-testing cutoff date 14 days before the bout, but that move was hollow. Several experts have told Yahoo! Sports that there are numerous performance-enhancing drugs, notably EPO, that clear the system in 2-4 days. As a result, a 14-day testing cutoff would have been useless.<br /><br />That's real reporting, right there. Rafael and Iole both got into the nitty gritty of reporting the negotiations for this fight, and Iole in particular did a lot of fact-checking with real authorities on the topics at the center of debate. And these two men, the ones who I think covered this failure, came away with the same conclusion: Everyone -- Mayweather, Pacquaio, their teams -- was to blame. Rafael called the two key promoters, Top Rank and Golden Boy, "babies." The key promoters and managers, Iole said, "look like oafish boobs."<br /><br />There are still people trying to pin the blame for what went wrong on one party or another. Dana White, who has grown on me as he has taken a more sensible public stance toward boxing, blamed Mayweather this week. Tim Smith blamed Pacquiao. And so on and so on. I respect that; it can come off as wishy-washy to blame everyone. But read the Iole and Rafael pieces, and see if you don't come to the conclusion I did earlier this week: There's blame enough for all parties to go around.<br /><br />Bernard Fernandez, another veteran boxing writer, nominated everyone involved for a Darwin Award for walking away from that cash. And I agree; I think less of the intelligence of all sides after this. But while I think this Steve Kim piece flirts with glamorizing promoter Bob Arum's foolishness, I think it also sheds some important light on how Arum thought of it all. In Arum, we see pettiness, disdain for boxing fans and a figure who is more contemptible than commendable. But Arum sees himself differently. Per Kim (complete with funky punctuation):<br /><br />Arum is at the stage of his life- especially when it comes to individuals he doesn’t particularly care for- that he’d rather hurt them, then help himself sometimes.<br /><br />That's the caliber of person who maintains influence in boxing, friends. That's how someone thinks he's a big winner -- when he gets a kind of spiteful revenge on someone who rubs him the wrong way rather than enriching his bank account or giving his customers what they want. And it's all over the place. This business is loaded up with people who care only for their agendas, no matter how anti-fan or childish (Arum had the nerve this week to refer to Oscar De La Hoya's name-calling in his direction as "schoolyard" stuff; he was right, but it's not as if Arum has ever behaved like anything other than a child).<br /><br />I can't be any clearer. There are no winners here, no matter how many write-ups explain who came out of this ahead. Maybe Arum doesn't care if he's reviled. Maybe Pacquiao feels like he stood on principle, or Mayweather feels good about himself because he can try to explain how it wasn't his fault he avoided another tough fight, or whatever. But only in a perverse sense of "victory" does Arum or anyone here "win." Everyone in this whole debacle comes off more loathed than before, less respected and regarded as "oafish boobs" and "babies." If they get any personal pleasure out of what they've done, then I pity them.<br /><br />Bad Coverage, Bad Behavior<br /><br />That's not to say there hasn't been some bad reporting. Some really bad reporting, in fact. The boxing media isn't exactly loaded up with journalists who adhere to strict standards or pay much attention to whether what they're writing is fair or has any principled role in holding the sport's powers to account. I tend to be hard on the media forces who are good, the Ring mags or Thomas Hausers, which I've been feeling bad about, because they're often the ones that get closest to reporting things out best. For instance, Ring has commissioned an investigative reporter to get into the whole steroids debate from the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations. That's good stuff.<br /><br />But the best folks are often the ones who give credibility to shoddy information by virtue of reporting it. Observe the recent suspect reporting by Teddy Atlas, the ESPN broadcaster, and Tim Smith, the New York Daily News journo. Both are highly credible. So what they did in recent weeks highlighting alleged questions asked by the Pacquiao camp during negotiations about what would happen if Pacquiao tested positive for any PEDs had to be taken seriously. David P. Greisman of BoxingScene (open link with caution) recently did a good job raising important criticisms about Smith and Atlas delivering those reports the way they did. I'd like to second those points and raise some additional ones. In neither case did Atlas or Smith give even the vaguest hint of who their source was. It's one thing to use unnamed sources, but you usually need to provide some kind of information about where that sources sympathies lie, unless you have several of differing allegiances providing identical information. But both only quoted a single source, although Atlas initially said "sources." I've not worked at a single newspaper in my life -- and I've worked at a good number -- where you could quote one unnamed source, especially without giving some information to the reader about that person's bias, that paints someone in a highly negative light. Both Atlas and Smith should have strongly considered not reporting what they did under the circumstances. They also could help things by explaining in greater detail why they did what they did, but the one interview Atlas has done about this, at Boxingtalk, interviewer Greg Leon didn't ask any of the key questions, like these or the ones Greisman raised about whether Atlas saw the alleged e-mails himself. Sigh.<br /><br />Generally speaking, we all would have been better off had no one reported the inflammatory, baseless allegations of Floyd Mayweather, Sr. that Pacquiao was on steroids. What the Mayweather camp was akin to an old trick in politics. George Kimball recalled a version of it thusly, from the early days of one of our presidents' political careers:<br /><br />"Why don't we start a rumor that he [copulates with] sheep?" proposed the politician.<br /><br />This was a bit over the top, even for Lyndon Johnson. The future president leapt to his feet and said, incredulously, "But you know Joe Bob don't [copulate with] sheep!"<br /><br />"Yeah," replied the congressman, "but watch what happens when the son of a bitch has to stand up and deny it!"<br /><br />I don't think journalism, let alone boxing journalism, has ever figured out how to handle stories like this. Mayweather said this in many places, and it was so sensational plenty of people wanted to write about it. I tried not writing about it at all, recognizing that the introduction of it into the discussion would have the exact effect it did on Joe Bob. But after a while, the media helped turn it into an "issue," and it couldn't be ignored. I felt compelled to respond to it, and by discussing it at all, it gave validity to the idea that it was worth rebutting. But this is as close as I come to thinking the media helped kill Mayweather-Pacquiao. And it was entirely predictable. It surely wasn't as damaging as anything anybody else I blamed did.<br /><br />There has been a coarsening of the debate over the course of this fight being made and its fallout that comes from fans. Maybe the media as a messenger could have done a better job of filtering, but fans' hostilities has poisoned the atmosphere immensely. (A note on media/fan hybrids [I'm kind of one of them]: They have done their own damage to the atmosphere. I understand why people got mad at Atlas because of his on-air claims, and I understand this Examiner blogger, Dennis Guillermo, sticking up for fellow Examiner blogger Michael Marley when Atlas badmouthed Marley. I do not understand this piece calling Atlas "Teddy (Bundy) Atlas," thereby comparing him to a notorious rapist, necrophiliac and serial killer, then trying to rebut the notion from Atlas that Internet boxing writing is "dirty." Atlas is wrong to generalize so, but as rebuttals go, Guillermo's wasn't a success. I'd like to recommend the Examiner raise its standards for writers it will accept in their maniacal quest to get links from Pacland.)<br /><br />There have been comments on this site lately about how the media contributed to the toxic negotiations. And I hate to pick on Pacquiao fans in particular, but too many of them who leave comments on this site and elsewhere are responsible for some of the most toxic rhetoric in the sport. I recently had to delete a comment from a Pacquiao fan calling Mayweather a "nigger," and it wasn't the first time. Too many of them have, in an attempt to jab at Mayweather, made remarks about him eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. Maybe they don't realize it, but it's a racial stereotype of some heft in the United States. Pacfans: You cannot repeatedly claim to be victims of racism when so many of you delve so frequently into racism. And this says nothing of the homophobia so many of you spew, with you're "Mayweather is acting gay" and "Gayweather" remarks. You can say it means something different in the Philippines, but this is an American website and in America, that's homophobia; you can't claim Americans don't understand your culture, then trample the norms of ours. And there is a constant leveling of baseless, unproven accusations from Pacquiao fans at everyone who isn't Pacquiao -- that a commenter is lying about having a Filipino wife, or that I hate Pacquiao (I am a fan) or anything else under the sun. You can't complain about Mayweather lobbing baseless accusations at Pacquiao if you lob baseless accusations yourself. And if it seems like I'm picking on Pacquiao fans to exclusion -- and believe me, as a Pacquiao fan myself, I know that not all of them do these things -- you should know that while fans of other fighters sometimes indulge in similar behavior, the vast majority of the ugly, inappropriate comments left on this site are from Pacquiao fans from the Philippines. Consider if that's the reputation you want to have on the international boxing scene.<br /><br />I am strongly contemplating deleting more comments than I do now and banning users, because I can only stomach so much of it. You've been warned. End civility lecture.<br /><br />What's Next<br /><br />OK, so: Pacquiao's opponent is settled March 13 -- Joshua Clottey at welterweight. That didn't keep Juan Manuel Marquez from claiming that Pacquiao is scared of him, when really the problem was that Marquez demanded the exact same conditions of Pacquiao that Mayweather did and Pacquiao rejected, but at a fraction of the potential windfall of cash. My love of Marquez is well-known, but, uh... dude says some things that make him sound like an arrogant dolt sometimes. There's no way around it.<br /><br />That means Mayweather's opponent remains the only unsettled point in the whole fallout in the immediate future. There is a movement afoot to get Mayweather to fight Paul Williams, if he insists on a dueling pay-per-view March 13. It's a sound proposal, and one I've already advanced. But I just want to second that. Williams' people would take that fight in a second. It's noteworthy that Mayweather's team has weighed in on just about every potential opponent for Mayweather other than Williams. Also noteworthy is that Gary Shaw, promoter of junior welterweight Timothy Bradley, says he never heard from Golden Boy about a Mayweather fight. So even among the two best options that have been reported as under consideration, one was a front. The other is Kermit Cintron, and he made his public case for the fight here. The other major options, both completely unattractive, have also made their public cases: Nate Campbell -- colorfully offering to have testicle hairs plucked for drug testing between rounds -- and Paulie Malignaggi, who's always colorful and engaging himself.<br /><br />You might think of this as "looking ahead," to focus on both men's next opponents, but as long as they insist on fighting on the same day, we can't help but reflect on what might have been. Mayweather and Pacquiao may not fight in the ring, but they'll be fighting for pay-per-view buys. And then how each man does will be scrutinized vis-a-vis who might have the upper hand if negotiations resume. There was a BoxingScene report that Mayweather wants the March 13 date because he wants to fight Shane Mosley in June, which would be pretty soon for a guy who typically takes six month breaks or more between fights, so I'm not sure I am convinced that's real.<br /><br />Another reason I'm having trouble looking ahead is that everything that's going on now is colored by the tremendous disappointment I have about this incident. When boxing has been keeping its house more or less in order, I look at the bad things that surface as the exception to the rule. Now that boxing has blown its biggest opportunity in 20 years or more, all I see is the bad. Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik's fight with Williams was always going to be hard to make, but in light of the failure of Mayweather-Pacquiao, two dummies fighting over whether it would be a 50-50 split just comes off as more of boxing doing stupid junk. Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones, Jr. II (light heavyweight) was in danger of happening even before Mayweather-Pacquiao, but it suddenly seems like a trend of boxing promoters not giving fans what they want to sign a fight that matches up a 45-year-old and a 41-year-old who's coming off a 1st round knockout loss and then put it on pay-per-view.<br /><br />And, you know, have a look around what others are reporting about boxing these days. There's a dark shadow over the sport now. When Arum is rooting for the return of hated rival Don King, you know things have gotten depressing.<br /><br />Source: <a href="ttp://queensberry-rules.com/2010-articles/january/the-floyd-mayweather-manny-pacquiao-fallout-begins-to-haunt-boxing.html">queensberry-rules.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-50059240076059668302010-01-15T06:22:00.000-08:002010-01-15T06:25:04.254-08:00Consistency about blood testing looms as a mandatory for Mayweather<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRtPxFS46fEqtbKYDATZg-FfSBgRZ0W9q8WYwEYIBLd1iK9uVL8fCu6YcqMAUnbXzOujI9eymloO35yIn7Um34YLBtpuYVSKB_AdocKhL-7V9Rev0nf4gn4CSx_DSnvLaCrBG70rhyphenhyphenQRni/s1600-h/floyd-mayweather2-150x150.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRtPxFS46fEqtbKYDATZg-FfSBgRZ0W9q8WYwEYIBLd1iK9uVL8fCu6YcqMAUnbXzOujI9eymloO35yIn7Um34YLBtpuYVSKB_AdocKhL-7V9Rev0nf4gn4CSx_DSnvLaCrBG70rhyphenhyphenQRni/s200/floyd-mayweather2-150x150.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426972086426542658" /></a><br />by Norm Frauenheim on 14 January 2010<br /><br />There’s been plenty of speculation about whom Floyd Mayweather Jr. could or should fight in the wake of abortive talks for a showdown with Manny Pacquiao, yet no talk about whether Mayweather will continue to demand Olympic-style blood-testing.<br /><br />Let’s just say that the demand is a mandatory defense.<br /><br />Without it, Pacquiao, Bob Arum, Freddie Roach and a gallery full of critics have a compelling reason to say that blood-testing was a just a ruse that allowed Mayweather to sidestep a threat to his unbeaten record from the Filipino, who now faces a dangerous date against Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Dallas. With it, Mayweather can claim a measure of consistency that says the demand was not just a convenient feint.<br /><br />It’s fair to argue that Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer asked for comprehensive blood-testing at the wrong time and in the wrong venue. First, they should have introduced the idea to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the regulatory agency for a fight that had been planned for March 13 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.<br /><br />Pacquiao, Arum and Roach still might have said no-no-no, but they would have had to scream their complaints to a body that is supposed to regulate and not negotiate.<br /><br />At the very least, the demand was confrontational in talks ruled, first and foremost, by egos easily insulted, usually suspicious and always seeking an edge. If Mayweather doesn’t stand by the demand in possible negotiations for a fight with Timothy Bradley or Paulie Malignaggi or Paul Williams, then it looks as if he were singling out Pacquiao despite the Filipino’s clean record of tests in Nevada, California and Texas.<br /><br />Drug tests for a boxing license in Nevada or any other state are as outdated as a pay-phone. Then again, so are other tests, which always seems to be a split-second late or a home run short of the latest in performance-enhancing technology.<br /><br />Mark McGwire finally admitted the obvious a few days ago when he said he used steroids. Gee, ya think. The biggest headline in that news story should have been McGwire’s stated belief that he thinks the performance-enhancers didn’t help him hit those record-setting 70 homers in 1998. Maybe, he thinks that only the ball was juiced. Dick Pound, a former president of the World Anti- Doping Agency, ripped major-league baseball. Arum had suggested that baseball oversee testing for Pacquiao-Mayweather instead of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.<br /><br />“What has emerged in the whole baseball mess is that drug use is widespread and that even the best players are involved – and still MLB is whistling past the graveyard,’’ Pound said in an e-mail quoted by the Associated Press. “If you notice, McGwire talks about steroids and HGH (and many other doping substances). These MLB positions are not indicators of a real attempt to solve the drug use problem in baseball.’’<br /><br />Pound didn’t mention boxing. Then again, he also didn’t mention Marion Jones, who went to jail for lying under oath about performance-enhancers, yet never tested positive for one after the sprinter won five medals at the Sydney Olympics.<br /><br />There is no reliable test. But there is consistency and that’s the only way for Mayweather to defend himself, no matter who he fights. If he and Bradley or Malignaggi or Williams or whoever take the blood-tests, it will be that much harder for Pacquiao to just say no. Without that consistency, Mayweather will be left with only a hidden agenda.<br /><br />A month for champs<br /><br />Muhammad Ali turns 68 Sunday. Ali plans to celebrate in his hometown, Louisville, before returning next week to his residence in Phoenix.<br /><br />Speaking of birthdays, there are many to celebrate in January. Ali’s old bitter rival, Joe Frazier, turned 66 on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Another Ali rival, George Foreman, turned 61 last Sunday, Jan. 10. Bernard Hopkins is 45 today, Friday, Jan. 15.<br /><br />Notes, quotes, anecdotes<br /><br />· A potential prospect, Jose Benavidez, a 17-year-old junior-welterweight from Phoenix, gets his first pro tests Saturday night in Las Vegas against Steve Cox (1-0) of Independence, Mo., on a Top Rank card featuring junior-middleweight Vanes Martiroysan versus Kassim Ouma at the Hard Rock. Benavidez, a national Golden Gloves champion, got some YouTube attention for the way he handled himself against Amir Kahn in sparring a couple of months ago at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.<br /><br />· News item: James Toney, a former quarterback, is trying to talk his way into a UFC bout and former NFL running back, Herschel Walker has been training for mixed-martial arts. Reaction: A Toney-Walker date in a cage can’t be too far away.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.15rounds.com/consistency-about-blood-testing-looms-as-a-mandatory-for-mayweather-011510/">15rounds.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-73061665224241434872010-01-15T05:56:00.000-08:002010-01-15T06:22:21.285-08:00Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather J^: One of Many Bgxing Tragedies and Controversies of 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXAFWAkHQUnjgz6BuF79W93RTscEzP8uJjy6mWA3LPielJGIzN_0MSVHttprMOpAYu05-zPinUVhI-Wd2yYrf_Cei9wlkVwpdORWFhJb0h9PGU86XXsZnNz5f4_T86hAXI5ojQiOzGi8E/s1600-h/Mannypac1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXAFWAkHQUnjgz6BuF79W93RTscEzP8uJjy6mWA3LPielJGIzN_0MSVHttprMOpAYu05-zPinUVhI-Wd2yYrf_Cei9wlkVwpdORWFhJb0h9PGU86XXsZnNz5f4_T86hAXI5ojQiOzGi8E/s200/Mannypac1.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather News" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426965478419293522" /></a><br />Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather JR: One of Many Boxing Tragedies and Controversies of 2009<br />By Geno McGahee-January 15, 2010<br /><br />It’s very rare that you get a year in boxing like 2009. It was a year that saw the unexpected in a sport where you learn to expect just that. It came in like a lion and left like a lion and we are all still recovering from the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather, JR., fall out. Consider this a year in review, covering the negative things that have transpired in the sport, and let’s see if the sport moved forward or fell back.<br /><br />Tragic July<br /><br />On July 1st, the world was informed that former 3-Time World Champion Alexis Arguello had committed suicide, but a cloud of mystery surrounds it. The story at the time was that he had shot himself through the heart, but foul play is not ruled out and those that knew him personally, believe that it was a murder. Arguello was remembered for his wars with Aaron Pryor and his relentless style in the ring.<br /><br />Ten days after the death of Arguello, the boxing world lost another champion. Fan favorite Arturo “Thunder” Gatti was found dead in a hotel in Brazil. His wife, Amanda Rodrigues, was immediately suspected and brought in, but then released and the death was ruled a suicide. Much like Arguello’s death, there is a lot of mystery that surrounds this and there has been a lot of demand from the Gatti family to be more thorough and open with the investigation. This may be one of those deaths that are forever shrouded in mystery.<br /><br />They say that it “comes in threes” and on July 25th, Vernon “The Viper” Forrest would be murdered, shot to death at a gas station in Atlanta, Georgia. Forrest was robbed at gunpoint and then retrieved his own gun, partaking in a shoot out, unaware that the shooter had a partner waiting in the wings. Forrest was shot in the back several times and killed. He was the man that beat a prime Shane Mosley on two occasions and was back in the mix with the WBC Super Welterweight Title around his waist.<br /><br />Hands of Plaster<br /><br />Antonio Margarito was on top of the world. Considered the “most avoided fighter” on the planet, it seemed like justice when he stopped the undefeated Miguel Cotto in a high profile fight. He was seen as the every day man, the working man, and proved that hard work and persistence paid off, but there was more at play. On January 24th, Margarito took on Sugar Shane Mosley, but something about the hand wraps struck Team Mosley funny and when the wraps were later tested, Plaster of Paris was detected. Margarito was entering the ring with loaded gloves. Justice was served as Margarito was knocked out by Mosley and then banned from the sport. He claimed no knowledge and then Bob Arum showed just what a scumbag he is when he announced that a white kid would have never been banned. Margarito is set to return and Mexico has welcomed him with open arms. Maybe he will have to kill somebody to convince them that he shouldn’t be boxing.<br /><br />Poor Loser<br /><br />Roy Jones, JR., all set to take on Bernard Hopkins in a pay per screw to top all pay per screws had to get by the lightly regarded Danny Green, but the cruiserweight power-puncher caught the faded Jones and scored a first round stoppage. That threw a wrench in the works for the PPV rematch with Hopkins, but this is boxing, and never underestimate the greed of Hopkins or the ego of Jones. Jones cried foul and said that Green loaded his gloves, releasing letters to boxing publications and trying to erase the publics’ memory of him hitting the floor and being stopped in one. As word got around about the potential loaded gloves, Hopkins and Jones signed to fight and now it is set for an April Pay Per View. Jones, JR., created doubt about his loss…enough to finagle this upcoming rematch. It is exactly what is wrong with boxing.<br /><br />Steroid Scandals<br /><br />On January 21st, Shane Mosley was still fighting the charges that he used steroids prior to his 2003 rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley would admit using them and insiders claim that he used them for quite a while. Luckily for Sugar Shane, the Margarito hand wrap scandal took the focus off his misdeeds.<br /><br />On November 9th, Kermit Cintron stated on e radio show thap he believed that Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao was on steroids because of his body structure and jump in weight.<br /><br />On November 23rd, Floyd Mayweather, SR., made the claim as well that Pacquiao was on steroids.<br /><br />On December 3rd, Shannon Briggs came back after a short hiatus from the sport to score a first round knockout over Marcus McGee. It was later turned to a no decision after Briggs tested positive for an illegal substance. Team Briggs claimed it to be asthma medication. Others point to performance enhancing drugs. The jury is still out.<br /><br />On December 26th, Floyd Mayweather, JR., publicly expressed his concern that his future opponent, Pacquiao, was on steroids and demanded different testing, which was refused by Team Pacquiao.<br /><br />On December 30th, Manny Pacquiao files a lawsuit against Floyd Mayweather, JR., and SR., for defamation of character, calling them “liars,” and stating that “liars go to hell.”<br /><br />Note: On January 8th, 2010, Teddy Atlas would announce on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights that he received inside information that he trusted concerning emails from Team Pacquiao to Team Mayweather, asking what the penalty would be should Manny test positive for steroids.<br /><br />The Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather super showdown was the talk of the boxing world and we watched as week by week and day by day, it fell apart. It was a black eye for the sport in the year 2009, especially if it should ever come out that the biggest star in boxing is using illegal drugs to get an edge on the competition.<br /><br />Mike Tyson … Can’t Forget Him<br /><br />Mike Tyson has become a new man…well, sort of. After a make up with Evander Holyfield, a new documentary exposing his personal life and inner feelings, and a possible return to the sport, he made the news again on November 11th, in an all too familiar way. Tyson had a physical altercation with a paparazzi in a LA airport. The charges were later dropped but it still made worldwide news and may give us an indication that he has a long way to go before he’s the new man he claims to be.<br /><br />The year 2009 had more drama than most. We had the steroid scandals, murders, and loaded gloves, but we also had some great things like the Showtime Super Six Tournament, launched in 2009, cruiserweights invading the heavyweight division, and a lot of great fights. 2009 was a mixed bag for the boxing fan but delivered what we have come to love: the drama of the sport, both inside and outside of the ring.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://ringsidereport.com/rsr/news.php?readmore=2547">ringsidereport.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-821705954874247562010-01-15T05:55:00.000-08:002010-01-15T06:24:36.799-08:00As Pacquiao-Mayweather fails, boxing proves its own worst enemyPosted at 05:31 PM on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010<br />By BILL DWYRE - Los Angeles Times <br /><br />LOS ANGELES -- A picture is worth a thousand words. So let's make a visual out of the current state of boxing.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />January 2010. The good ol' USA. No dynamite, just stupidity and ego. Same thing happens. Boxing implodes.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><br />Yes, these are the two premier boxers in their sport.<br /><br />Yes, they were supposed to fight each other.<br /><br />And yes, that fight was supposed to be on March 13.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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 them for defamation.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />In the end, this was an impasse the size of the Grand Canyon.<br /><br />Then boxing made it worse.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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, Web site editors and TV program directors are likely to look at this mess, look at their ever-dwindling budgets and keep their reporters at home.<br /><br />In essence, boxing canceled a Super Bowl and replaced it with two lesser events at the same time on competing channels. Nice work.<br /><br />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."<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Walking away from these guys had to bring Arum at least a tinge of satisfaction.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Ultimately, he trash-talked his way into the garbage bin.<br /><br />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."<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/national/story/1782166.html">fresnobee.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-91123189208336106372010-01-15T05:54:00.000-08:002010-01-15T05:55:47.080-08:00Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Let Boxing Down<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFA59RnlYXNVe8Wta-l_PkLbl4tDByCUlas1cNBz-OsOI78WWREfOVXejd6TEHT9fUQGjNca9QQx32Wry3qZmkhFh1U7oG4F8XlNSKXazEqNDJtUmg0r0R9SVoSuLByC0Idlom10_YGdJL/s1600-h/6a0115709f071f970b012876d77b22970c-400wi.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFA59RnlYXNVe8Wta-l_PkLbl4tDByCUlas1cNBz-OsOI78WWREfOVXejd6TEHT9fUQGjNca9QQx32Wry3qZmkhFh1U7oG4F8XlNSKXazEqNDJtUmg0r0R9SVoSuLByC0Idlom10_YGdJL/s200/6a0115709f071f970b012876d77b22970c-400wi.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao Mayweather 24/7 Episodes" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426964876731951538" /></a><br />by Bryan Brennan on Jan 15, 2010 8:32:30 AM<br />Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao A little over a month ago, I firmly believed the state of boxing was changing for the better. Thanks to the pressure of mixed martial arts (MMA), the demand from fans and the overall talent in boxing, great fights were being forced to happen, pay-per-views were diminishing and boxing fans were turning their frowns upside down.<br /><br />The two best pound-for-pound fighters were planning to square off in March, and some fantastic fights were just over the horizon. I don't know about you, but my glass was full of optimism for the future of the sport.<br /><br />Then, they did it to us again. Shame on us for falling for it.<br /><br />The megafight between Manny Pacquiao (50-3, 38 KO) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KO) was announced on Dec. 8, and negotiations seemed to be moving along quite smoothly. The only wrinkle was the venue. I don’t think anybody really cared where it ended up, just as long as it ended up, period. Unfortunately for the fans, it just plain ended.<br /><br />Rumors started to surface around the holidays that Pacquiao and Mayweather were having issues over the blood testing. Then, just in time for the new year, we were all informed that the situation was bad enough that the fight may not happen. Around the time we were all tired of hearing about it, the nail in the coffin came from Bob Arum, who declared, "The fight is off."<br /> <br />What was such a nice outlook for 2010 has now turned bleak.<br /><br />Pacquiao will take on a tough contender in Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KO) at Cowboys Stadium on March 13. This is a solid fight and a very intriguing matchup for Pacman. Clottey is no pushover and drove both Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO) and Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KO) to the brink. Clottey is an extremely dangerous, sturdy and capable fighter.<br /><br />The fight, however, will most likely land on PPV, and to me, that is no way to apologize to the fans for blowing what could have been the biggest fight in the recent history of the game. <br /><br />To make things worse, Golden Boy Promotions announced that Floyd Mayweather is making plans to fight an undetermined opponent March 13 at the MGM Grand -- most likely PPV, of course. So instead of the greatest fighters in the world punishing each other in the ring, they will be inflicting damage on our wallets.<br /><br />This is an outcome that doesn’t just disappoint fans, but fellow boxers and the sport itself. The ramifications can be felt all the way down to the local level. Chris Traitti (8-1, 5 KO), a native of Quincy, Mass., who is fighting Jan. 22 at The Roxy in Boston, summed up how many fight fans feel: “The worst thing that could’ve happened to boxing was losing that fight, especially right now with boxing being in the state that it’s in.”<br /><br />Simeon Dunwell (10-1, 3 KO), from Peabody, Mass., is fighting on the same card and also had nothing but negative feelings about the collapse.<br /><br />“You ask me, I think they’re both scared of each other,” Dunwell said. “It should happen. They could make so much money, and it’s good for boxing. ... That’s why boxing is going down. ... MMA is coming up.” <br /> <br />Halfway through January, my glass of optimism is already springing a leak from my aggravation with Golden Boy, Arum and the three-ring circus that is the Mayweathers. <br /><br />To add to the insult of dueling PPVs, Golden Boy has announced that even though Roy Jones was stopped in the first round by Danny Green back in December, they will be going forward with a Jones-Bernard Hopkins rematch. The fight is tentatively slated for April 17 at the Mandalay Bay Casino, and of course, it will be shown on PPV. <br /> <br />In the end, boxing has been through tough times before and will go through tough times again, but Traitti puts it plain and simple: “It’s too bad that fight didn’t happen, because boxing needed it -- bad.” <br /><br />Hopefully, by the end of the year, Pacquiao and Mayweather will put aside their petty differences and realize they aren’t just fighting each other. They are fighting to keep a drowning sport relevant. <br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.nesn.com/2010/01/manny-pacquiao-and-floyd-mayweather-let-boxing-down.html">nesn.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-66286805090580148452010-01-15T05:52:00.000-08:002010-01-15T05:54:05.059-08:00Pulse of a Nation: The boxing public speaks out on Floyd Mayweather’s list of possible opponents<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZbxHZIzk4M3mTjIlcV2Y6ZhOhjA5TrwwTWLuKe9QQe-Zfg3M-16q4DZcU4SydU4PsylySnL_hlG2j6t-Yy8sDcsfvSOdw8FVVMnIVI6vgMHkjZwK0FOKe6MPn46VAI6lRzd5N2UyA89N/s1600-h/BIO_Floyd(3).jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 158px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZbxHZIzk4M3mTjIlcV2Y6ZhOhjA5TrwwTWLuKe9QQe-Zfg3M-16q4DZcU4SydU4PsylySnL_hlG2j6t-Yy8sDcsfvSOdw8FVVMnIVI6vgMHkjZwK0FOKe6MPn46VAI6lRzd5N2UyA89N/s200/BIO_Floyd(3).jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426964479863492658" /></a><br />Las Vegas Boxing ExaminerChris Robinson<br /><br />When the reality set in that the proposed Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout was no longer an immediate option, the public was far from shy in voicing their opinion on the fallout. While some people took sides blaming both men for the fight falling through, others simply pondered what the future held for two of the world’s most talented and accomplished fighters.<br /><br />Pacquiao didn’t waste much time in making headlines of his own with the announcement that he would be facing off with former IBF Welterweight champion Joshua Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on the 13th. A matchup with Clottey is no easy task and Pacquiao was accordingly given respect for choosing such a credible opponent. Now the attention has turned to the Las Vegas based Mayweather, who has yet to finalize who exactly his next foe will be.<br /><br />Such names as former champions Kermit Cintron, Paulie Malignaggi, and Nate Campbell have been thrown into the mix. On a lesser and more excruciating note, Matthew Hatton’s name has been tossed around as well but we can only hope that talk will subside. Former Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight champion Paul Williams, now campaigning at 160 pounds, has also come forward with his insistence that he would be willing and able to drop to the Welterweight limit for a face off with Floyd.<br /><br />Hopefully in the coming days more news will spread and we will get a better handle on who exactly Mayweather will be facing in his near future. To get a further feel for how the public feels about Mayweather’s current list of possible opponents I decided to take a trip online and visit some of the busiest boxing forums on the net. Speaking bluntly, this is what the public is saying…<br /><br /><br />(Dominicano Soy! @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“I have a serious dislike for Cintron but he is better then nothing. I still prefer Bradley.”<br /><br />(Lenzo @ EastSideBoxing.com)…<br />“Don't count on Mayweather fighting any of the top and currently prime names, he never does. SSM is the true WW champ anyway and Floyd has had years of opportunity to make it happen. Same with PW. Floyd is much safer against Matthew Hatton or Paulie. Floyd shouldn't play with the big boys. I'd rather watch a boring sitcom before I watch Floyd / Paulie.”<br /><br />(lb 4 lb @ BoxingFanatics.com)…<br />“Personally I think PW beats the overrated Mayweather. Floyd isn't nearly as good as the mythical level he now resides at. People really forget how close he came to losing to a lesser version of ODLH in a fight where Floyd’s main concern seemed to be not losing rather than trying to win.<br /><br />Floyd's opponent is still up in the air but looks to be either Malignaggi or Matthew Hatton who is just terrible enough to actually allow Floyd to fight someone who resides at 147. We're all proud of you Floyd, that takes guts.”<br /><br />(Iron Beach @ BadLeftHook.com)…<br />“If Mosley shines in his fight with Berto, betcha’ Floyd goes back to his story ‘bout SSM duckin’ him years ago hes lost some fights and on….and on…plus after Pac-Clottey, maybe Pac-Mosley, and Pac gets outta’ the game after that. Becomes a full time politician, part time movie and singin’ star. Peace!!”<br /><br />(Assim Ali @ TheSweetScience.com)…<br />“there is 1 reason why Paulie should fight Mayweather and that’s because they both have speed but Mayweather has more power just look at his KO record compared to Paulie's, and there is 1 reason why he should not fight him and that’s because Mayweather will dominate him in a fight. the next opponent for Mayweather should be Pacquiao which I would love to see in December if not earlier or Shane Mosley, then we'll see if Mayweather is the best. credit to Floyd he’s my favorite boxer but I want to see him fight better competition like Mosley or Pacquiao or maybe even Cotto.”<br /><br />(DrewWoodside @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“Sergio Martinez is so much more deserving of this fight.”<br /><br />(MNBoxingFan-Sean @ EastSideBoxing.com)…<br />“If Floyd fights Mosley than it'll be more of the same steroid talk nonsense, but Mosley will take the tests because he's with GBP and would want to put the gossip about his steroid use to bed. Plus I think Shane would beat Floyd! If Floyd wants to fight Malignaggi or Matthew Hatton than he should just retire. Fighting Hatton and Malignaggi would mean nothing... not to mention both would be boring and very one sided. The only fighter out there that Floyd could fight now is Cotto, but because Cotto is with Top Rank we'll never see it. Paul Williams is to big now so he's not coming back down. Margarito is possibly done and a cheater so who would want to fight him? Berto would get destroyed. Nope... Floyd should've stayed retired, but the way he spends money he'll be fighting bums in parking lots if that’s what it takes to keep up his lifestyle.”<br /><br />(ny123 @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“Cintron is a true Welterweight with serious one punch KO power. this is not a Mayweather-Pac fight but this might be Floyd's toughest Welterweight fight yet and although Kermit gets a lot of hate on this site because of his questionable toughness he is a top 10 Welterweight and Jr mw who is a good fighter”<br /><br />(Jason @ TheSweetScience.com)…<br />“I have no interest in Mayweather-Malignaggi, although I don't blame Paulie for lobbying for the fight. It's his best payday. But there will be tremendous backlash against Floyd and his handlers if this fight comes off. It's been said a thousand times on this site, and I'll say it again: Floyd needs to fight a legitimate welterweight, not a blown-up and feather-fisted Malignaggi, to be taken seriously at this juncture. Even Cintron will do. Although make no mistake, I'm not bubbling with joy at the prospect of Mayweather-Cintron, but at least the guy's a welterweight. And moreover, Cintron would be hands-down the best guy that Floyd's fought (in his respective weight class) since the Castillo rematch in 2002.”<br /><br />(Rebel @ BoxingFanatics.com)…<br />“The Queen B. vs. Paulie is a total sham. Mayweather will once again force a 140 lbr to move up to welterweight. Paulie has no punch and he's not as good as he looked against Juan Diaz. Mayweather will bitch slap him en route to a TKO within 9 rounds.”<br /><br />(JKaisen41 @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“NOBODY, I repeat NOBODY will fight Williams from the 147 division... No Mosley, No Pacquiao, No Cotto etc. and Mayweather won't either.”<br /><br />(Muzse @ BoxingFanatics.com)…<br />“Floyd definitely gets the worse treatment on this..."like I said before" any fight short of Pac or the winner of Berto-Mosley makes Floyd the bitch in this.<br /><br />I have a feeling nothing will be formally announced until after Berto-Mosley...if Berto wins, sign Floyd up...if Mosley wins...Paulie gets the call.<br /><br />Floyd has no interest in challenging himself.<br /><br />The fault lies at the feet of HBO...”<br /><br />(Kok123 @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“I want Campbell.”<br /><br />(Zocalo @ BadLeftHook.com)…<br />“Cintron is Phillip Ndou 2.0… and we all saw how that went out and it is even worse because everyone doubts Cintron’s desire and heart.”<br /><br />(CrazyLegs77 @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“Mayweather probably doesn’t want the fight with Williams’s size and reach but it could be a good time to do it as Williams was just battered for 12 rounds and would have to go from 160+ down to 147 by March so may be a good idea for Floyd to take him up on his offer. Not to mention Floyd boxing skills are far superior but I don’t think he could KO Williams and he’d be pressured all night so could be bad news but who knows.”<br /><br />(fight fan @ TheSweetScience.com)…<br />“I hope Mayweather takes a fight with Malignaggi. It will prove Mayweather ducked the fight. Seriously if you know boxing, you have to respect both of these guys for what they do. I've been a boxing fan for more than 20 years. But Mayweather and Malignaggi belong on ESPN or HBO for free. They are PPV caliber fighters. Would you pay for something you already know is going to happen? Would you pay for someone to win a fucking decision? HELL NO! If I put up $60 for a PPV I want Drama, Something worth my money. Not two guys who will dance around the ring all 12 rounds. Boxing is considered a fight. Fight's need a finish. Malignaggi can't offer a finish so he will never be respected. Plain & Simple.”<br /><br />(M@nny @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“Whatever, he aint fighting Kermit. He'll end up fighting Paulie or Matthew, watch.”<br /><br />(George @ TheSweetScience.com)…<br />“Paulie got beaten badly by both Cotto and Hatton at 140 lbs.. Deep inside, he and his team know that he can no longer capture any title at 140 lbs.. Hence he had to go down to the lighter 135 lbs. just to get a title. But even at that division, he aint the best unless he faces and beat Valero. But of course, he'll do a PBF and duck Valero at all cost. So how the hell will he have any chance of being any threat against Pacquiao or PBF or anyone at 147 lbs.? Paulie (Poly the talkative parrot), you're nothing but a LOSER. Winners always persevere at their weight division to better themselves then move up, NOT DOWN!”<br /><br />(DLT @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“It’s not like I want Bradley but out of all the fighters proposed, he is clearly the best. I don’t want Bradley to lose to Floyd either. I don’t think he's fully ready yet but I don’t think he even comes close to winning even when he's fully healthy. I think Collazo may be the better option but Bradley is the much more sexy pick. However, if I had my choice of them all it would be Cintron because I think Floyd needs to face that size & strength before jumping in the ring with a Mosley.<br /><br />On top of that I want to see how he fights Cintron. If he's on some Baldomir bike type shit then he's going to struggle with any real WW but if he lets his hands go and puts on a show then I know he is ready. I have always said that I don’t think Floyd fought Cotto & Margarito simply because he didn’t feel he was big & strong enough while entering the ring at only 146-148 pounds at WW back then. Even though he shutout Baldy, you could tell that he didn’t feel comfortable with the size & strength. Now though I think he is a good 5-7 pounds heavier and older so I think that could make a big difference in how he feels now against the big boys.”<br /><br />(Radam G – Hmmm @ TheSweetScience.com)…<br />“Paulie is a loudmouthed-no-fighting bum. I'll be glad when he fights a live boxer and get crushed again like the whupping that Miguel Cotto put on him. Paulie does everything wrong and it comes out wrong. He has just been matched against the none-hurting-his-arse opponents. First, he doesn't deserve a fight with Mayweather or any of the top five dawgs at light welter -- and not definitely not at welterweight. Good thing that Mayweather will not fight this bum, because he will revealed Paulie as chump -- lower than a bum -- a pure tomato can!”<br /><br />(NATAS206 @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“Could you imagine if Cintron slipped a big power shot and KO'd Floyd? The world would explode.<br /><br />On the real this fight is better than Campbell, but I don't see this one being very competitive.<br /><br />On the plus side though WHEN HAS CINTRON EVER FAILED AT BRINGING SOME DRAMA?!?!? The answer is NEVER! Either he's crying his eyes out against Margarito, he fakes a hand injury against some bum or he's getting hit by phantom headbutts. Whatever the case, Cintron fights are ALWAYS entertaining, no matter what.<br /><br />If Floyd is boxing his ears off I could see a complete self destruction by Kermit by the 7th or 8th round, something to go down in the history books! Maybe he'll start crying and throw the stool at Floyd between rounds or something like that hahaha”<br /><br />(Khoy @ 411Mania.com)…<br />“I'm really thinking that Paulie Malignaggi and Kermit Cintron jive with Mayweather regarding the accusations about Manny simply becuz they know they will have a chance to get a crack of Mayweather and have a chance to the have the biggest pay day of their entire career. Come to think of it?...maybe they all protected Mayweather Jr's zero lost, think so?...Mayweather got a deal with Kermit and Paulie, maybe, for him to have some sort of way out...”<br /><br />(South318 @ BoxingScene.com)…<br />“Williams/Mayweather is not happening.<br /><br />1. Al Haymon will not allow this.<br />2. PBF knows this is way too big of a risk...hard fight.”<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-22973-Las-Vegas-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m1d14-Pulse-of-a-Nation-The-boxing-public-speaks-out-on-Floyd-Mayweathers-list-of-possible-opponents">Examiner.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-65308617902771414282010-01-15T05:47:00.000-08:002010-01-15T05:52:39.209-08:00Who Is Responsible for the Pacquiao-Mayweather Cancellation?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpVzcZJ1gVho8hpqVaNJWgKa0Pvr78lCv5DEfU6XLzTHrBIaK-r0KxjlrJpTkbVeUytc86lE9AwyuxizyCnDiZNGNYxQZvrPtKLphKN_x0DtUUcBcOQjpul3sUxJ29JFLOYz5dFNLsC3C/s1600-h/floyd-mayweather1_1_1_1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 139px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpVzcZJ1gVho8hpqVaNJWgKa0Pvr78lCv5DEfU6XLzTHrBIaK-r0KxjlrJpTkbVeUytc86lE9AwyuxizyCnDiZNGNYxQZvrPtKLphKN_x0DtUUcBcOQjpul3sUxJ29JFLOYz5dFNLsC3C/s200/floyd-mayweather1_1_1_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426964080561507026" /></a><br />Published: Jan 14 2010 by: Scott Levinson<br /><br />The blame for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather mega-fight must fall at Mayweather’s feet<br /><br />The biggest boxing event of our era is off. Crestfallen fans now scramble to make sense of this fiasco, attempting to figure out how two men can walk away from the richest fight of their lives.<br /><br />While situations such as this are seldom black and white, this writer feels the blame should be laid on the doorstep of Floyd Mayweather. The fight was on the verge of being signed. How to divide the money, the common hanging point in a superfight negotiation, had been hashed out. Then, suddenly, the issue of drug testing comes up. If not for that, the fight would be signed right now and we would be covering press conferences instead of this sad aftermath of a failed negotiation.<br /><br />At the end of the day, the fighters themselves must take responsibility for career transgressions. While both Mayweather and Pacquiao’s management played a role in this, any fallout reflects on the fighters. We don’t look back to the early 90’s and say Rock Newman avoided Lennox Lewis, we say Riddick Bowe avoided him. The fighters themselves must ultimately take responsibility for their career trajectories.<br /><br />Here are some reasons why Floyd must accept responsibility for this failed negotiation:<br />The Powerlessness of Suspicions<br /><br />I have suspicions. They live in my head and I have no evidence. If I had evidence, they wouldn’t be suspicions, they would be facts. Should any importance be given to my suspicions? Absolutely not. Why? They are unsupported thoughts.<br /><br />My suspicions impose zero responsibility on those I suspect to prove me wrong.<br /><br />Imagine the precedent this would set. Anybody suspected of something should have to prove otherwise? Even if I had people who agreed with me, suspicion is suspicion. Facts are facts. The grand-canyon sized gulf between suspicion and fact seems to have been lost on a great number of boxing fans that blame Pacquiao for this fight falling apart.<br /><br />If I suspect guilt on the part of a person, does the burden of proof shift to the accused? In what part of the world does this practice exist? Not in Vegas. A person could choose to ignore my suspicions, and I would be no closer to establishing his guilt. I would also have no right to be offended. Nobody owes me an explanation based simply on suspicions or assumptions devoid of evidence.<br /><br />A few years ago, someone stole some pieces of jewelry from me. My neighbor’s son is a drug addict. I suspected he might have stolen the jewelry. I decided to let it go. But if I demanded to search his room, and he declined, would that alone justify me thinking he was guilty? If he ignored my accusations, would I have a right to then assume he did it? The answer must be no. At the end of the day, all I had were my suspicions, which add up to precisely nothing.<br /><br />The only times suspicions carry any weight are when those in power hold them. If my boss who suspects I am stealing office supplies asks to see my bag, I might feel compelled to acquiesce to his demands. He is, after all, my boss. If a colleague made the same request, my response would not be so accommodating.<br /><br />In other words…<br />Floyd Has no Authority<br /><br />Mayweather attempted to become the first participant of a sport to simultaneously play the role of a commissioner. The amount of fans who have not gotten their heads around this is startling. Floyd Mayweather has no right to make any such drug testing demands. Like every other fighter, he is subject to the rules of the commission he fights under.<br /><br />This fight is not happening because Manny didn’t cater to all of Mayweather’s demands. Lost in this is the fact that Manny did agree to the most thorough drug testing given to a pro fighter in the history of boxing. But it wasn’t enough to meet the demands that had no right to be made in the first place.<br /><br />Imagine a world of sports where participants can call shots based on suspicions. What if a baseball team suspected another team of using corked bats? Before the game, they demand that all bats be confiscated and put through a battery of tests to determine their legitimacy. When the accused team tells them to forget it, what should happen? The answer is nothing. They had no right to levy demands in the first place. That’s what Bud Selig is there for. Let him officiate the sport and let the participants play. The line must remain clear.<br />Floyd’s Role of Anti-Drug Crusader<br /><br />It simply does not ring true. While he has criticized those in the past caught for steroid use, a little trash talk is not enough to become a respected voice on the topic. In 40 fights, he has never made such demands on any other opponent. During an 18-month retirement—he didn’t make a peep about drug testing. Then at the precipice of signing for his biggest fight, he throws out the drug testing issue. Like a rock.<br /><br />If Floyd were as genuine about his concern about performance enhancing drugs as he wants everyone to believe, why did he not broach the subject at any point in his 13-year pro career? Why did he not once contact the proper authorities and make an effort to change drug-testing policy? He waited to be on the cusp of signing for his landmark fight to bring up the issue of drug testing?<br /><br />I would applaud Floyd’s concerns if he didn’t use them solely to stonewall the biggest fight of this generation.<br />Floyd’s Flippancy over His Legacy<br /><br />When the signature boxing talent of the time says, “Legacy don’t pay bills,” then I guess we should expect his aversion to fighting top fighters. After wins at 130 and 135 over Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, his M.O. seems to be to skirt the challenges of worthy and dangerous opponents. Over four years ago, he entered the welterweight division. His entrance came just before the explosion of talent making 147 the best division in the game. He mopped up the remnants of the inglorious Spinks-Judah-Baldomir era.<br /><br />Since that era, such standout fighters as Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Andre Berto, and Manny Pacquiao have risen to the top of the division. These guys can now be called division mainstays, and Floyd has yet to face any of them. In a relatively brief time in the division, Pacquiao’s resume at 147 is already more compelling than Floyd’s. If he beats Clottey, it will be even more so.<br /><br />Yet Floyd continues to claim he is the greatest of all time, even as we are approaching a decade since he has fought a prime and dangerous opponent in his own weight class. Not to say all his bouts have been easy. He should receive moderate props for beating Baldomir (the linear welterweight champion at the time), still-dangerous Zab Judah, Oscar De La Hoya, and undefeated Ricky Hatton.<br /><br />But when reflecting on the deeds of past greats and all the dangerous fights Floyd has avoided, it leaves knowledgeable fans with an empty feeling. No one is saying he should go the Sugar Ray Leonard-route and fight four Hall of Famers in a two-year stretch, but to go several years without even facing a top-five guy in your division is inexcusable for a fighter making the grandiose claims of greatness that Floyd makes.<br /><br />If Floyd’s avoidance of top foes was merely a notion before, it has now become a full-fledged universal truth. Look at it this way—name one other modern top fighter with a dozen years of world title fights under his belt who has never once been an underdog? That alone speaks volumes of Floyd’s aversion to risk. He had a chance to erase two big problems in his life with one fight—his financial problems and his waning legitimacy as an all-time great. At the cusp of the signing, he sabotaged the whole thing.<br />Does Floyd Have Ulterior Motives?<br /><br />It just might be that this is all a ruse by Camp Mayweather, and they never intended to fight Pacquiao this year. To make demands only a commission can make, Team Mayweather is either guilty of gross hubris or possibly something even more calculating. Maybe they reflected that Manny is absolutely peaking while Floyd has had one bout in over two years. By forcing the drug-testing issue, they afforded their man more time to get in the groove while smearing the reputation of his only rival for the #1 pound-for-pound spot.<br /><br />In addition, they perhaps want to give Manny a little time to decline. They might figure Manny will be unable to operate at this fever pitch for much longer. While Mayweather is older, Manny has been through more in the ring, due largely to his higher caliber of opposition. Camp Mayweather might be thinking a few more fights against top welterweights will send Manny heading down the proverbial hill that awaits all boxers.<br /><br />This may all seem unfathomable until one reflects on the very calculated nature of Mayweather’s brain trust. Throughout his career, he has been put in one low-risk/high reward scenario after the next against fighters with rabid followings, managing to become the #1 guy in the sport without ever facing a top five pound-for-pound entrant. It takes a certain amount of clever orchestration to manage that.<br /><br />Along those same lines, we cannot ignore the reality that bad blood sells. While a huge mega-fight now, if Pacquiao-Mayweather were allowed to simmer for another year in the broth of trash talk, it would become even bigger. Perhaps this is not a reason for Floyd’s camp to cause a collapse in negotiations, but maybe it made it onto their list of overall considerations.<br /><br />You never know what’s going on in people’s heads. Perhaps Camp Mayweather just threw out these accusations to ruffle the feathers of Pacquiao, and then became stuck to them. Rather than abandon the issue and lose face, they just stuck right on with it, using the above reasons as justification.<br />Could I Be Wrong?<br /><br />A few things have crossed my mind to make me question my stance on this topic. The first being that Manny conceivably could have just said, “Screw it, I’ll take the tests.” Sure, Floyd has no right to make the demands in the first place, but Manny did agree to take some blood tests. Whether it is 14 days or 28 days, what difference does it make? It is a tiny bit suspicious. But you know where I stand on suspicions.<br /><br />The bottom line is that Manny agreed to become the most tested fighter of all time. No one has ever taken even three blood tests for a pro fight before. So you can’t really say he is running from the tests. For Mayweather to be appeased, Manny must almost roll over like a dog for him. There’s pride involved here. Manny is the top draw in the game, and if you were in the same position you may very well be inclined to say “forget this guy, let’s fight someone else.” This stance wouldn’t be motivated so much by the fear of getting caught as much as it would be driven by the effrontery displayed by the Mayweather camp.<br /><br />If Manny were on performance-enhancing drugs, then his motivation here would be very different. I would have almost preferred that he just refused to take blood tests altogether. The fact that he agreed to some form of it, but just not exactly the way Mayweather wanted it, makes his “refusal based on principle” perspective a little sketchier to me. It would be like if the kid I suspected stole my jewelry allowed me to search his home, but just not his closet. That’s way more suspicious than just outright denying me a search.<br /><br />Again, I stress: this world we be a lot worse off if we were all governed by an “I think you’re (insert accusation here) so prove me wrong” policy.<br />Final Thoughts<br /><br />Time will ultimately decide this matter. If Manny is later proven to have taken performance-enhancing drugs, Floyd will be vindicated. Any of the perceived mistakes some feel he has made during this negotiation will be put to rest. Whether rightfully or not, he will be given credit as one of the first to see through the BS.<br /><br />If no proof ever surfaces showing Manny is guilty of what Floyd accuses him of, Floyd’s legacy will have a huge stain on it. It would decrease in value like a white cashmere sweater with a red blotch on it. It’s not as if there isn’t already a strong vibe swirling around boxing circles that Floyd has spent the bulk of his prime avoiding dangerous fights. If you add to that the troubling component that he created a fake issue to duck his signature fight, then you can kiss his legacy goodbye.<br /><br />But this isn’t the future. This is right now. And as of right now, Manny has to answer only to the commissions of the places where he fights, not to Team Mayweather. To determine the public agenda of a fighter based solely on the suspicions of his biggest rival is beyond ridiculous.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.proboxing-fans.com/who-is-responsible-for-the-pacquiao-mayweather-cancellation_011410/">proboxing-fans.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-27016078261816425622010-01-07T20:38:00.000-08:002010-01-07T20:39:05.238-08:00Massachusetts Boxing Commissioner Thinks Mayweather is Ducking Pacquiao!New England Boxing Examiner | Peter Czymbor<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><br />"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."<br /> <br /><br />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.<br />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."<br />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.<br /> <br /><br />"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."<br />Nevertheless, Fitzgerald feels there is always the possibility that a fighter could be trying to get a competitive edge.<br /> <br /><br />"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."<br /> <br /><br />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.<br /> <br /><br />"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."<br /><br /><br />Whether you agree with Fitzgerald or not, one thing we can all agree on is we hope this fight eventually happens.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-34564-New-England-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m1d7-Massachusetts-Boxing-Commissioner-Thinks-Mayweather-is-Ducking-Pacquiao">Examiner.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-79033819191613524322010-01-07T20:35:00.000-08:002010-01-07T20:38:27.655-08:00Floyd Mayweather's adviser: Bob Arum's misleading of public over negotiations 'childish'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwm8RsW8EOYQ3s6ooHmTcBsbeENeqmoZl2WMnxpzW3pJbsFeFNrb8a33xdRpafAZWBPPNMg8BfFMyejTSpk18n4D_LlfJj8BQu9_mu6tarWYPVnpwb5y4lIUmEDyJjbVlTC6Xl8KK_XwSr/s1600-h/leonard-ellerbe-07jpg-e025ad386db83504_medium.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwm8RsW8EOYQ3s6ooHmTcBsbeENeqmoZl2WMnxpzW3pJbsFeFNrb8a33xdRpafAZWBPPNMg8BfFMyejTSpk18n4D_LlfJj8BQu9_mu6tarWYPVnpwb5y4lIUmEDyJjbVlTC6Xl8KK_XwSr/s200/leonard-ellerbe-07jpg-e025ad386db83504_medium.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather News" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424223664143459058" /></a><br />By David Mayo | The Grand Rapids Press<br />January 07, 2010, 10:35PM<br /><br />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.<br /><br />“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.<br /><br />“I think it’s more than a fair compromise, particularly since, realistically, it’s not an issue that should be compromised on at all.”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />“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.”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />“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?’<br /><br />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.<br /><br />“If there’s an award for bonehead decision making of the year, we all know who that award gets presented to.”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />“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?”<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.mlive.com/mayweather/index.ssf/2010/01/floyd_mayweathers_adviser_mann.html">mlive.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-54334228505388862552010-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:002010-01-07T17:05:33.249-08:00Arum: "Mayweather is Scared To Death of Pacquiao"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtK52ptJv1mB7sW02Pw9QSEb933ne6V26I9Wf2nL7a76OM7K9NXReflplhKUWWg8uYYF2zHk9io1vLaPvtqtN9wdsvzrDAUIs00ER5BUW_ZhxoKo-6sqRPp060LhWGffRitZkPrbHQZmFp/s1600-h/87893669.jpg.15055.0_feature.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtK52ptJv1mB7sW02Pw9QSEb933ne6V26I9Wf2nL7a76OM7K9NXReflplhKUWWg8uYYF2zHk9io1vLaPvtqtN9wdsvzrDAUIs00ER5BUW_ZhxoKo-6sqRPp060LhWGffRitZkPrbHQZmFp/s200/87893669.jpg.15055.0_feature.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424168820414609362" /></a><br />By Ronnie Nathanielsz<br /><br />The planned March 13 super fight between boxing hero and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and former No.1 Floyd Mayweather Jr is off after Mayweather chickened out despite Pacquiao accepting a compromise proposal to bring the blood test closer to the fight date from his original 30 day cutoff period to 24.<br /><br />The Mayweather camp had demanded that Pacquiao undergo random blood tests to be conducted by the US Anti Doping Agency following unsubstantiated allegations that he was on performance enhancing drugs. The Pacquiao camp originally indicated it was ready to submit to blood tests one day before the kickoff press conference, 30 days before the fight and immediately after the fight in his dressing room stating that if Pacquiao was on any illegal substance it would surely show up in the post-fight test.<br /><br />After the Mayweather handlers claimed Pacquiao had blood extracted from him 14 days before the Ricky Hatton fight in May 2009 as shown on the HBO 24/7 pre-fight series to put holes in his position of a 30-day deadline, Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com produced documents to show the blood test shown on HBO was actually done 24 days before the fight which Pacquiao agreed to as a compromise to help get the fight done.<br /><br />Despite the mediation efforts of retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein who spent nine hours with both parties on Tuesday, nothing was apparently achieved except that both sides were placed under a gag order which prevented them from talking.<br /><br />Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has steadfastly refused to divulge details of what transpired behind the closed doors of Judge Weinstein’s Santa Monica office except to confirm on Thursday (Manila Time) that the fight was off even as he blamed Mayweather for the collapse of a fight which millions of boxing fans around the world wanted.<br /><br />Arum maintained that Mayweather’s refusal “established what I have always believed and that is that Mayweather never wanted to fight Manny because he was scared to death” which is what trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning expert Alex Ariza had said from the very beginning when they claimed Pacquiao would give Mayweather “a bad beating.”<br /><br />Arum revealed that Pacquiao is likely to fight for his eighth world title in an eighth weight division against 154 pound champion Yuri Foreman . The renowned promoter who handles Foreman said “ Yuri is ready and I’ll check to get confirmation with Manny,” indicating that should it push through the fight would be held on March 13 or 20 also in Las Vegas. <br /><br />Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz said that the immensely popular Filipino southpaw who has won every conceivable award in boxing and was recently featured on the cover of Time Magazine with a five-page spread said he was “disappointed at not being able to give the fans what they wanted and claimed Mayweather used this (blood testing) as an excuse to get out of the fight and we’ll just have to move on.”<br /><br />Koncz himself posed the question “how does Mayweather go around claiming he is the best pound-for-pound fighter and the best fighter if he is not willing to engage the people’s choice as the best fighter?” noting that Pacquiaohas also been endorsed by Ring Magazine and numerous other boxing publications and internet sites as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today.. Koncz added “this is all a sham.”<br /><br />Pacquiao’s concern over blood being extracted too close to the fight stems from his experience before the first fight with Erik “El Terrible” Morales in March 19, 2005 when he was forced to have a blood test a couple of days before the fight after his medical records were allegedly lost in transmission.<br /><br />However, a video tape from our personal archives of a heated discussion on the issue showed that the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission at that time, Marc Ratner, pointed out that the blood test submitted had been taken in January which was too long before the fight and the NSAC commission set a cut-off of 30 days and emphasized that if Pacquiao refused to take the blood test the fight would have to be called off. Pacquiao reluctantly took the test and later said he had a headache and felt dizzy and attributed that to the extraction of blood too close to the fight which he lost on points.<br /><br />It appears that Pacquiao’s original 30-day cut-off jibed with the requirements of the NSAC which has jurisdiction over the fights in Las Vegas and whose authority Pacquiao and his handlers want respected, which Mayweather, by demanding that the USADA undertake the tests refuses to do. Koncz pointed out that even when the chairman of the NSAC asked Pacquiao to take a urine test in the Philippines over which the Commission has no jurisdiction he took the test which was done by a doctor of the Philippine Olympic Committee, accredited by the World Anti Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee.<br /><br />Insidesports.ph, Standard Today, Viva Sports and BoxingScene.com understand that the Mayweather handlers led by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Mayweather’s top adviser Al Hayman had tried to convince the fighter to agree to the 24-day blood test proposal which Pacquiao had agreed to and which medical experts had said was more than sufficient to detect any traces of performance enhancing drugs, but they were turned down by Mayweather resulting in the fight being called off. <br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=24534&utm_source=bleacherreport.com">boxingscene.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-26307283438792153332010-01-07T17:01:00.000-08:002010-01-07T17:03:22.021-08:00Pacquiao vs. Mayweather Fight Is Off: What Happened?By Dan Rafael<br />ESPN.com<br /><br />The much-anticipated showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, tentatively scheduled for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has collapsed, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.<br /><br />"The fight's off," Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, said from Las Vegas.<br /><br />The fight died after a last-ditch attempt at mediation between Top Rank and Golden Boy, which represents Mayweather, failed in an effort to determine the drug-testing protocol.<br /><br />Pacquiao had agreed to move off his hard-line stance of refusing a blood test inside 30 days before the fight, but Mayweather wouldn't budge off his desire for random testing all the way until the fight, Arum said. Nor would Mayweather agree to a public apology for remarks he made accusing Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs, Arum said.<br /><br />"I am very disappointed that we could not make this fight for the fans and I am angered because of the false accusations from Golden Boy and the Mayweather camp that I used some type of drugs, and that is why I have instructed our American lawyers to proceed with the lawsuit to clear my name," Pacquiao said in a statement.<br /><br /> “<br /><br /> Arum Manny accepted what was on the table and Mayweather rejected it. Haymon and Schaefer tried to convince Floyd all [Tuesday night] and [Wednesday] and he wouldn't agree to it. He didn't want the fight. He never wanted the fight. I always knew the fight wouldn't happen.<br /> ” -- Top Rank chief and<br /> Manny Pacquiao promotor Bob Arum <br /><br />Arum said Pacquiao would move on and likely fight junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman on March 13 or March 20.<br /><br />The fight was to have been on HBO PPV, a sure blockbuster many believed would break the all-time pay-per-view record of 2.44 million buys set by Mayweather's 2007 fight with Oscar De La Hoya, who owns Golden Boy Promotions. But Arum said he had informed HBO PPV boss Mark Taffet that the fight was off.<br /><br />Had the fight done the monster numbers organizers expected, it would have likely generated in the neighborhood of $200 million with the fighters receiving roughly $40 million apiece.<br /><br />Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy and the point person for the company on the negotiations, did not return multiple messages.<br /><br />The sides had negotiated every point of the deal except for the drug testing procedures. The fighters agreed to unlimited random urine testing, but Mayweather insisted on random blood testing as well, even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would regulate the fight, requires only urine testing.<br /><br />Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) didn't want any blood testing but had agreed to take three blood tests: one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would have taken place next week; one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight; and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) would have been subject to the same testing procedures.<br /><br />When they could not come to an agreement on the drug testing, they enlisted the aid of a mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, who successfully mediated a series of disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy, which represents Mayweather, in June of 2007. At the center of the problem was ownership of the promotional rights to Pacquiao, who had signed contracts with both companies before eventually pledging his loyalty to Top Rank. Under the settlement, Top Rank got Pacquiao's contract with Golden Boy retaining a small percentage.<br /><br />With lawyers at their side, Top Rank's Arum, company president Todd duBoef, Golden Boy's Schaefer and De La Hoya, along with Mayweather adviser Al Haymon, spent nine hours in mediation on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif.<br /><br />The sides struck a deal during the marathon session Tuesday, but it was contingent on getting the fighters to sign off, Arum said.<br /><br />On Wednesday, they were back in their offices -- Golden Boy in Los Angeles and Top Rank in Las Vegas -- and worked the phones with their clients while still under Weinstein's gag order not to talk to the media.<br /><br />Arum said Pacquiao agreed to ease his demands on the drug testing window but Mayweather wouldn't.<br /><br />Arum said Pacquiao agreed to shorten the window for a blood test to 24 days before the fight. In order to receive a Nevada boxing license, Pacquiao took the standard annual blood test 24 days before his May 2009 fight with Ricky Hatton.<br /><br />"Manny accepted what was on the table and Mayweather rejected it," Arum said. "Haymon and Schaefer tried to convince Floyd all [Tuesday night] and [Wednesday] and he wouldn't agree to it. He didn't want the fight. He never wanted the fight. I always knew the fight wouldn't happen."<br /><br />The drug testing became a major issue when Floyd Mayweather Sr., the father of the fighter, made several public remarks accusing Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs without a shred of proof. Mayweather Jr. later made similar remarks about Pacquiao using PEDs, even though Pacquiao denies it and has never failed a drug test.<br /><br />"When the fight was offered, Manny accepted it with no hesitation," Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz told ESPN.com from the Philippines, where he was with Pacquiao. "We're not surprised. We saw this coming once they started this drug bull----. It was a way for them to get out of the fight. I don't think Mayweather expected Manny to accept the challenge so quickly."<br /><br />The accusations led Pacquiao to file a defamation lawsuit last week in Nevada U.S. District Court against Mayweather Jr., Schaefer, Golden Boy president De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather and Mayweather Promotions.<br /><br />"The guys who should be most disappointed in the fight being off are Schaefer and De La Hoya because they went along with this guy [Mayweather] and ended up with gatz and a big lawsuit," Arum said.<br /><br />Said Koncz: "We agreed to move the drug testing to 24 days under the supervision of the Nevada commission and Mayweather still wouldn't budge. So now what we've done is give up maybe $40 million to take a stand for Manny's principles. We will proceed with the lawsuit in an effort to clear his name and tarnished image. Even if they make a public apology it's not enough. Now they'll have to prove to a judge that Manny is on drugs, which they won't be able to do because he's not. Manny is pissed off because he feels Floyd is a chicken and because he tarnished his reputation. This is about principle. We have nothing to hide."<br /><br />Golden Boy also risks losing its share in Pacquiao's contract, Arum said.<br /><br />"There's an arbitration which calls for them to lose any percentage of Manny's promotional contract, something we asked for and had postponed, but now it will go forward," Arum said. "We did that two weeks ago before Manny filed his lawsuit. It's binding arbitration. Our request was for Golden Boy to forfeit its interest in Pacquiao's contract based on the fact that they had demeaned Pacquiao with their remarks [alleging he used PEDs] and that it violated the [2007] agreement between Pacquiao, Top Rank and Golden Boy."<br /><br />Arum now plans on moving forward with Pacquiao facing Foreman, who won his 154-pound title on the Nov. 14 undercard of Pacquiao's 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto to win a welterweight belt. Pacquiao would move up in weight to try to win a title in his eighth division. Pacquiao already holds the record, having won titles in seven divisions.<br /><br />Mayweather could also still fight on another date in March, potentially against former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi.<br /><br />"We're going to talk to the MGM because they're out of a fight," Arum said.<br /><br />Arum added that the fight could also wind up at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas or perhaps in Dallas, where Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a strong pitch to bring Pacquiao-Mayweather to his new stadium.<br /><br />Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b2lBK">ESPN.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-1992359460344736522010-01-05T00:24:00.000-08:002010-01-05T00:27:00.251-08:00Top Rank vs Golden Boy - bloody war to be renewed?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmwg681NjqjyXgxlVD17GP0PHY-QHqcGrTT9hzaEkIMBF5HQvb53LdYLT4VuYk6v8DD4T0aVXygcoeFr95kTuTbZLq9bio73R4p2DEF7fyyI4VqfNsUrtcoLc0z74PsMVuJy82u6JoXMa/s1600-h/arum-schaefer_070724_300w.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmwg681NjqjyXgxlVD17GP0PHY-QHqcGrTT9hzaEkIMBF5HQvb53LdYLT4VuYk6v8DD4T0aVXygcoeFr95kTuTbZLq9bio73R4p2DEF7fyyI4VqfNsUrtcoLc0z74PsMVuJy82u6JoXMa/s200/arum-schaefer_070724_300w.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423169169594316994" /></a><br />LA Boxing Examiner | Ricardo Lois<br /><br />Tuesday Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions are going to sit down with an arbitrator, break bread, and hopefully finalize a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.<br /><br />Want to buy a nice piece of real estate in Death Valley?<br /><br />Though millions of boxing fans across the globe hope that a bout will be sign, sealed, and delivered for March 13, I know a few people who will cross their fingers and toes hoping the bout completely falls apart.<br /><br />Paulie Malignaggi and Yuri Foreman have both been mentioned as possible opponents to replace Floyd and make the payday of their careers. <br /><br />Do you think Paulie and Yuri are wishing they were flies on the wall of the office where this power meeting will take place?<br /><br />Sure Malignaggi might think Pacquiao is a cheat, but that will not keep him from fighting the Filipino and while making a million dollars or two. Imagine all of the artificial braids and waxing creams Paulie can purchase with that sort of loot?<br /><a href="http://www.directorslive.com/video/2385/Paulie-Malignaggi-calls-Manny-Pacquiao-a-cheater">[Click here to listen to Paulie Malignaggi make very serious accusations regarding Pacquiao]</a><br /><br />Foreman might have no pop in his fists, but he is a like-able lad and holds a title which could prove to be Pacquiao's eighth in eight divisions. Nobody said Pacquiao was looking for quality in the quantity of his crowns. Foreman vs. Pacquiao? The average Joe might think Big George is coming back out of retirement.<br /><a href="http://www.directorslive.com/video/2626/Pacquiao-Foreman-A-Closer-Look-into-the-154-Pound-Champ">[Watch a video interview with possible Pacquiao foe, Yuri Foreman]</a><br /><br />But more than the negative cosmic energy members of Team Foreman and Team Malignaggi will be sending out to California tomorrow, something else could derail the negotiations tomorrow; the huge egos and bad blood that will be in the room.<br /><br />Bob Arum (Top Rank) and Richard Schaefer (Golden Boy), with their respective legal counsels, will try to iron out a feud that has roots in Pacquiao jumping ship from Golden Boy to Top Rank when he was a free agent.<br /><br />Remember the brief case full of cash given to Manny Pacquiao by De La Hoya? Remember Pacquiao signing with Top Rank, though he had signed with Golden Boy? Remember the legal battle that followed, only to be squashed with both promotions sharing Pacquiao's promotional rights?<br /><br />With the ill feelings of that conflict still fresh in the minds of these boxing promotional behemoths, they must iron out the issues of the drug testing for Pacquiao - Mayweather, and discuss the defamation law suit filed by Pacquiao against Schaefer, Oscar De La Hoya, Roger Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather, and his father Senior.<br /><br />Oh and also on the table, discussions of Golden Boy's financial stake in Pacquiao's career.<br /><br />A lot is on the agenda, enough to sink THE fight, the ONLY fight boxing fans want to see during 2010 involving Pacquiao and Mayweather.<br /><br />Don't look for the war to end tomorrow, but for the first blood to spill in a long, drug out rekindled feud between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2850-LA-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m1d4-Top-Rank-vs-Golden-Boy--bloody-war-to-be-renewed#">Examiner.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-91257404524794936202010-01-05T00:22:00.000-08:002010-01-05T00:24:32.359-08:00Pacquiao-Mayweather mediator assesses the situation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-qHkMWzoGU1fcu9s7i0QQ6jN_HcJEmL-YmOXIXEb6R5RQlGfqDgSytGs9v6lW0vBXoveMFEJwzpOTGo5sSwuTJgUFjGBQXSt7Ff2gGsgiKA9-dkCYNt6xUVK2BMBf0QWKn1SUgi5Cw70/s1600-h/6a00d8341c630a53ef012876a76ae1970c-500wi.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-qHkMWzoGU1fcu9s7i0QQ6jN_HcJEmL-YmOXIXEb6R5RQlGfqDgSytGs9v6lW0vBXoveMFEJwzpOTGo5sSwuTJgUFjGBQXSt7Ff2gGsgiKA9-dkCYNt6xUVK2BMBf0QWKn1SUgi5Cw70/s200/6a00d8341c630a53ef012876a76ae1970c-500wi.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423168682783858002" /></a><br />The mediator who on Tuesday will attempt to resolve the conflicts in negotiations to stage a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. mega-fight March 13 in Las Vegas released a prepared statement Monday saying he's "satisfied all parties are negotiating in good faith."<br /><br />Retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein is scheduled to preside over the mediation Tuesday in Santa Monica. Weinstein previously bridged the gap in another major divide, bringing promoters Top Rank and Golden Boy together in 2007, a union that helped create several major fights.<br /><br />Pacquiao, who fights for Top Rank, and Mayweather Jr., who is being handled in these negotiations by Golden Boy, are split most divisively on how to settle a drug-testing protocol. Mayweather's camp originally pushed for both fighters to be subject to random blood tests through fight week. Pacquiao responded harshly to that request, ultimately suing Mayweather and his representatives for defamation for comments that the Filipino star said implied he has used performance-enhancing drugs.<br /><br />Pacquiao has accepted random urine testing through fight night, and immediately after the bout, as done by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.<br /><br />"I ... have been asked by representatives of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather to mediate certain disputes that have arisen in connection with the negotiation of a bout between the two fighters," Weinstein said in his prepared statement, a copy of which was read to The Times.<br /><br />Both sides are operating under a gag order until the mediation is concluded, Weinstein announced.<br /><br />"Neither side is insisting on pre-conditions, and both sides will present their positions in an effort to resolve the dispute," Weinstein said in his statement.<br /><br />The urgency of a resolution this week is considered critical, since the promoters previously said they were planning to stage news conferences in New York and Los Angeles starting next week. Both fighters also typically train for eight weeks before their bouts.<br /><br />Pacquiao-Mayweather would be a fight for a world welterweight belt, but is also an anticipated showdown between the men considered to be the world's top two boxers. Mayweather is 40-0, and Pacquiao is poised to win a second consecutive fighter of the year award, having disposed of Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.<br /><br />The bout could become the richest in the history of the sport.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/01/manny-pacquiao-floyd-mayweather-jr-boxing-1.html">latimes.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-17253636045978571932010-01-05T00:19:00.000-08:002010-01-05T00:22:56.717-08:00Pacquiao, Mayweather agree to mediator<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVv1fzYErkovEuCmd6G3mLjyO8o4hPxlB0TPxUgyl8htnkQxfWtoOXIHBNK1lmjR0bjFNyBiss2gRh5A0SpV_tKMLuW1IfsD8cMWCrLBXMdQbIB-WIxmRh78i8W9yasoKU2dGJYmzOi39/s1600-h/pacquiao-vs-mayweather.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 123px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVv1fzYErkovEuCmd6G3mLjyO8o4hPxlB0TPxUgyl8htnkQxfWtoOXIHBNK1lmjR0bjFNyBiss2gRh5A0SpV_tKMLuW1IfsD8cMWCrLBXMdQbIB-WIxmRh78i8W9yasoKU2dGJYmzOi39/s200/pacquiao-vs-mayweather.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Updates" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423168077860837634" /></a><br />By Dan Rafael<br />ESPN.com<br /><br />With time running out to save a potential March 13 megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., the camps are heading to mediation on Tuesday in an effort to work out their differences.<br /><br />Mediator Daniel Weinstein will preside over the meeting in Santa Monica, Calif. Weinstein, a retired federal judge, also mediated the acrimonious dispute that kept Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter, and Golden Boy, which represents Mayweather, from doing fights together for almost two years.<br /><br />"We're going into mediation," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, told ESPN.com. "This guy was successful resolving our nutty problem before and hopefully he can be successful this time. He's a guy who is a big fight fan and loves the sport, and I found him last time to be a delight to deal with. Everybody did."<br /><br />In a statement Monday to ESPN.com, Weinstein said the sides accepted the mediation without any conditions.<br /><br />"After discussions with representatives of all parties I am satisfied that the parties are approaching the mediation in good faith," he said. "Neither side is insisting on pre-conditions to its participation in the mediation, and both sides will present their positions in an effort to resolve the dispute."<br /><br />At the time of the previous mediation, the companies had several ongoing lawsuits, including the one at the center of the bad blood: ownership of the promotional rights to Pacquiao, who had signed contracts with both companies before eventually pledging his loyalty to Top Rank.<br /><br />When the disputes were settled in June 2007, Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer both credited Weinstein's steady hand for getting them to reach an accord. Under the global settlement, Top Rank retained Pacquiao's promotional rights with Golden Boy receiving a percentage of Top Rank's profit from his future bouts.<br /><br />The hope is that Weinstein can once again help the sides see their way through what has become an increasingly nasty battle in an effort to finalize the bout between welterweight titlist Pacquiao and Mayweather, the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, in a fight many believe will break the pay-per-view record of 2.44 million buys. Mayweather's 2007 fight with Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya set the record.<br /><br />Weinstein said both sides have agreed not to comment until after they meet with him.<br /><br />AOL Fanhouse first reported the mediation plans Sunday night.<br /><br />Top Rank and Golden Boy have agreed on all points on the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight except for one: The protocol for drug testing.<br /><br />Even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, doesn't require blood testing, Mayweather has insisted on random blood testing. Both sides have already agreed to unlimited random urine testing.<br /><br />Pacquiao has refused training camp-long random blood testing, agreeing only to three tests, one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would take place in the next week or so if they finalize the fight, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight and a final test in his dressing room after the fight.<br /><br />Mayweather would be subject to the same testing procedures.<br /><br />One issue sure to be discussed in front of the mediator is the impact of the defamation lawsuit Pacquiao filed last week in Nevada U.S. District Court against Mayweather Jr., Schaefer, De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather and Mayweather Promotions.<br /><br />In the suit, Pacquiao alleges they made false and defamatory statements and sullied his reputation by accusing him of taking performance-enhancing drugs. Pacquiao denies he has ever used PEDs and has never failed a drug test.<br /><br />If mediation fails, and the fight does not get made, Arum said he will match Pacquiao with junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman, whom he also promotes, on March 20 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas so Pacquiao could attempt to win a title in a record eighth weight division.<br /><br />Mayweather could still fight on March 13 at the MGM and potentially face former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi.<br /><br />Dan Rafael in the boxing writer for ESPN.com.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4794912">ESPN.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-5726962258621579082010-01-05T00:17:00.000-08:002010-01-05T00:19:28.036-08:00Mayweather-Pacquiao deal will be sealed now<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4v3TKjGQdx2Fmn9OrkHM3rHUXP5nSP_v31A0kk7fVwSYI99p2Nu5oSgHWeWxfTZ9WKoLciwziYBFiQ3ZSiKFzAFqPzlBTMgvA9mRFTTdef289UgTG1MtUxdvlemnJ5uDTMe1Qj1c8Qfc/s1600-h/resized_pac76786.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4v3TKjGQdx2Fmn9OrkHM3rHUXP5nSP_v31A0kk7fVwSYI99p2Nu5oSgHWeWxfTZ9WKoLciwziYBFiQ3ZSiKFzAFqPzlBTMgvA9mRFTTdef289UgTG1MtUxdvlemnJ5uDTMe1Qj1c8Qfc/s200/resized_pac76786.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423167279984029090" /></a><br />NY Boxing Examiner | Michael Marley<br /><br />No more histrionics. No mas with the promotional blather.<br /><br />All the public wants to hear from the opposing sides, after they sit down at the Santa Monica conference table of familiar mediator and former Federal Judge Daniel Weinstein, is that the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight has been made.<br /><br />I told you on Saturday that "Frankenfight" had been jolted back to life like the movie monster.<br /><br />(Click here to get the inside info on potential Pacquio opponent junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman.)<br /><br /><br />Me, I’m not going out on a limb, really. I am just like the experienced weatherman who can see from the satellite charts that a cold front is blowing from Canada and that temperatures will be well below freezing.<br />So I predict that snow is coming. And the end of the snow job between Pacman promoter Bob Arum and Golden Boy’s Richie Rich Schaefer is near if not already here.<br /><br />Let me put it another way. They say money talks, right, so it follows logically that $40 million for Manny and the same for the tax problem plagued Mayweather screams.<br /><br />Arum wasn’t just whistling Dixie when he told me on his Saturday afternoon departure from his Cabo San Lucas “working vacation” spot that the opposing parties were ready for a sitdown in front of the highly persuasive Weinstein.<br /><br />Don’t overlook the trust he has going for him on both sides of the table from his Solomonic settling of the dueling Pacquiao contracts issue a few years ago.<br /><br />They can make this fight, they will now make this fight.<br /><br /><br />I think I will be attending a Money May-Pacman New York press conference next Tuesday or Wednesday.<br /><br />Businessmen make deals and they don’t leave that kind of money on the table.<br /><br />We need only look to the recent Fox settlement with Time Warner Cable to see how the big boys of business (do any of them live in a “Big Boy Mansion” like L’il Floyd?) make deals when it looks like the plug is about to get pulled.<br /><br />Fox demanded one dollar per TV subscriber, a buck for every home getting its various video offerings. Time Warner Cable offered 70 cents less. Despite the huge gap in the demand and the offer, they made a deal at the 23rd hour, averting Fox disconnecting from Time Warner systems.<br /><br />Is the Mayweather-Pacquiao fiasco any different? The ultimate settlement, in which Arum tries to completely get de la Hoya’s corportate hands out of Megamanny’s pockets, is Item B.<br /><br />That solution can be delayed or deferred.<br /><br />Item A, with the public appetite at an all time high, is making Floyd-Manny. It’s no biggie if the bout gets pushed back from March to May, maybe they will need the additional lead time, maybe not.<br /><br />The only issue preventing the fight from being reduced to contracts is the random blood testing.<br /><br />All they have to do is reach agreement as to a prefight cutoff date for such testing. Both boxers are already subject to random urine testing.<br /><br />I mean, how difficult, how mind-straining can it be? Arum wants the last prefight random blood test to occur no later than 30 days before the fight, Mayweather’s team can counter with a 14 day, a 10 day or a one week cutoff date.<br /><br />The ground is fertile for agreement because the earth is so rich.<br /><br />Oh, yeah, lest we forget…there is one other nagging issue.<br /><br />The lawsuit filed by Pacquiao in Las Vegas based on the unfounded allegations of drug cheating is not that problematic.<br /><br />To get his mitts on $40, I am sure even a cursory public apology by the Golden Boys dumps that complaint into File 13 meaning the nearest wastebasket.<br /><br />The preliminaries are finished, folks.<br /><br />Maybe Weinstein can lock these egomaniacs into the conference room.<br /><br />He can let them out when they yell, “We made the match!”<br /><br />That’s a shout that will be heard round the world.<br /><br />The love of money by all involved will crush everything else.<br /><br />It always does.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-5699-NY-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m1d4-MayweatherPacquiao-deal-will-be-sealed-now">Examiner.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-18673835007539384042010-01-05T00:16:00.000-08:002010-01-05T00:17:46.084-08:00HOW TO CHANGE THE TONE OF PACQUIAO-MAYWEATHER<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA83RDxLpRlN93lU5LTLljnou8FllJF7IMERWSMb1BxHZuF34ChzYP-8CfYZ-u6iqIy6HMJPVKxoIIN2Bzbb6sqyQsadpLYpUb_T3cmngb_Z4Qw8-8vIKKEf-4qtSSi_Mtpguu1syHqxJ-/s1600-h/floydmayweather2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 175px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA83RDxLpRlN93lU5LTLljnou8FllJF7IMERWSMb1BxHZuF34ChzYP-8CfYZ-u6iqIy6HMJPVKxoIIN2Bzbb6sqyQsadpLYpUb_T3cmngb_Z4Qw8-8vIKKEf-4qtSSi_Mtpguu1syHqxJ-/s200/floydmayweather2.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather News" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423166937370463266" /></a><br />By G. Leon<br /><br />If the representation of Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao are successful in their attempt to mediate their way to a resolution that leads to both fighters signing a contract, there's only one way to ensure that the event maximizes its potential in a positive manner that benefits the entire sport of boxing. From this point on, BOTH FIGHTERS AND THEIR CAMPS MUST decline to comment on any questions pertaining to steroids, performance enhancing drugs or any tests they might be conducting for that matter.<br /><br />Believe me, if everyone went mum on the issue and declined to comment, while interjecting a positive spin on things, it would become a non-factor before you know it.<br /><br />However, advertising the issue on HBO's 24/7 would be extremely counter-productive to what the foundation of what this event is supposed to stand for and that's the two best boxers in the world fighting for pound for pound supremacy.<br /><br />HBO needs to be conscious of its role to control what they choose to air during the weeks leading into the fight because of the ripple effect it can have on their ratings for future cards.<br /><br />If the first interview or comments made by either of the parties following tomorrow's mediation has a nucleus of negativity, then everyone should stop wasting each other's and our time watching this deal, which shouldn't have been difficult to close once Mayweather agreed to parity, turn into a sad sad commentary on the state of the sport we love.<br /><br />This is THE last ditch effort to save the March 13 mega-fight. If things are not worked out tomorrow, Mayweather and Pacquiao will head in different directions making September 2010 the earliest possibility for what we demand to be supplied.<br /><br />Boxing fans keep your fingers crossed and hopefully everything takes a turn for the better more quickly than it took a turn for the worse.<br /><br />Again, at the risk of sounding redundant, if they get it together, declining to comment on the negative topics Team Mayweather went public with, would be in everyone's best interest.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://boxingtalk.com/pag/article.php?aid=19025">boxingtalk.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-85636942585231374232010-01-05T00:14:00.000-08:002010-01-05T00:16:38.539-08:00Mayweather-Pacquiao Should be Finalized this Week...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4wJ-3Zpdgte6E0h6EZHRwG4ljCm4Ic-2J1PbhzBPGujO04bHhNXGF7je6NqYQsqzRjf53hOZ2AJdSvwLMQsDm_qX4B25JaWcQWxmiLR_2sm713jzKdI230wwylCyodT-fZ498MD2MpE_F/s1600-h/pacquiao-mayweather-fight.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 131px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4wJ-3Zpdgte6E0h6EZHRwG4ljCm4Ic-2J1PbhzBPGujO04bHhNXGF7je6NqYQsqzRjf53hOZ2AJdSvwLMQsDm_qX4B25JaWcQWxmiLR_2sm713jzKdI230wwylCyodT-fZ498MD2MpE_F/s200/pacquiao-mayweather-fight.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather Online Live Streaming" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423166574263048530" /></a><br />by John Chavez<br /><br />Jan 04, 2010 -<br />Play time is over for all parties involved.<br /> <br />Yes, it was slightly amusing to observe the verbal bashing taking place from both sides as to why the other camp did or didn't want the fight but after the outcry of public disapproval, it looks as though the smokescreen has lifted.<br /> <br />Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao is a fight that needs to take place soon and it needs to be signed now.<br /> <br />(Click here for a look at Yuri Foreman as a potential Pacquiao opponent.)<br /> <br />As the economy continues to struggle, flounder, and fizzle in it's continuous downward spiral, as each month passes, less and less fanatics out there struggling to make rent will possess the disposable income in order to purchase the mega-fight. Apparently this week Team Mayweather and Team Pacquiao will be meeting face to face via a mediator Judge Daniel Weinstein.<br /> <br />Boxing loves drama but it can tend to go overboard with certain antics and turn the casual viewer off which is exactly what took place the last several weeks.<br /> <br />With Mayweather hinting at Pacquiao's usage of performance enhancing drugs and Pacquiao in-turn filing a defamation lawsuit against all parties involved with the "Pretty Boy", it left the public scratching their heads wondering where boxing took a wrong turn.<br /> <br />If I've learned anything having hovered around the boxing world for several years now, it's that plenty of complete and utter morons are employed within the sweet science by making very simple tasks ridiculously painful and difficult.<br /> <br />It's amusing but frustrating to say the least as it's a true rarity when anything positive gets done within the sport.<br /> <br />This week the fight will get signed, next week will be the press conferences in New York and Los Angeles, and March 13, 2010 will be the day boxing lounges on that warm piece of the sidewalk it rarely gets to sit on...<br /> <br />Greed will drive this fight to get made and there is nobody greedier than the two parties meeting this week.<br /> <br />Source: <a href="http://www.theboxingtruth.com/article.php?id=1362">theboxingtruth.com</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636600598189715851.post-83710973275382314162010-01-05T00:12:00.000-08:002010-01-05T00:14:57.487-08:00Why Pacquiao-Mayweather is still odds-on to take place this spring<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AMeuOnIyPmSrDnlClqR7zJ0P57jg8Z_XwPPFCIl8F6_h2hpp_DFsUrYy2iY2cqZagCQN9ld2ng7UdiCAkhK3rTlqoGmuVNaq9qOMasoMJHT2kxQLoAsTQR9UaqhWmDooov2jboYqNGfV/s1600-h/Manny-Pacquiao-poses-with-001.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AMeuOnIyPmSrDnlClqR7zJ0P57jg8Z_XwPPFCIl8F6_h2hpp_DFsUrYy2iY2cqZagCQN9ld2ng7UdiCAkhK3rTlqoGmuVNaq9qOMasoMJHT2kxQLoAsTQR9UaqhWmDooov2jboYqNGfV/s200/Manny-Pacquiao-poses-with-001.jpg" border="0" alt="Pacquiao vs Mayweather News" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423165944311622434" /></a><br />Posted by Kevin Mitchell<br /><br />Any bookmaker framing odds on the chances of Manny Pacquiao fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, this spring or summer might have it at close to even money this morning.<br /><br />The reasons are these: Floyd, one of life's great gamblers, has already pushed Manny too far in their drawn-out blood feud, and he needs the money more than the little guy. I think the Mayweathers are cracking.<br /><br />Six weeks ago, when negotiations for the 13 March fight started, Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's closest business adviser, said: "If the fight happens, Floyd deserves the lion's share of the purse."<br /><br />This is a standard negotiating posture, one that led Bob Arum, representing Pacquiao, to point out to him that only the egos of the negotiators could scupper the promotion.<br /><br />To everyone's amazement, within days Mayweather agreed to split the $50m purse down the middle and cut a deal on the pay-per-view take. That was when I figured he was more desperate for the fight than Pacquiao was – and when they decided on the next stage of their negotiating strategy.<br /><br />Just before Christmas they tried to rattle Pacquiao by demanding he take random blood tests for performance-enhancing drugs, knowing he didn't like giving blood, especially in the last month of training. He did it before, against Erik Morales (promoted at the time by Oscar De La Hoya), and lost. They were also putting in place what they thought was the perfect excuse: if Pacquiao refused the blood tests and won the fight, Mayweather could claim again he was on the juice.<br /><br />But Pacquiao fashioned an even better counter. When he announced last week he was suing Mayweather, his father and uncle, as well as their business associates Richard Schaefer and De La Hoya, for defamation, claiming they portrayed him as a drug cheat, he challenged them to back down.<br /><br />They have not yet done that, but they are nervous.<br /><br />Ellerbe, who doesn't give many interviews, told Fanhouse.com yesterday, "From day one, I've never accused Manny Pacquaio of anything. All that I've said is that we want to ensure that there is a level playing field."<br /><br />This, clearly, is unsustainable nonsense. If he is not accusing Pacquiao of anything, why ask him to take tests they have never demanded of any of Mayweather's previous 40 opponents? There is no logic in the Mayweathers' position – unless they believe Pacquiao is taking performance-enhancing drugs.<br /><br />If they have proof of that beyond gym scuttlebutt, you would imagine they'd produce it. Or would they? Because, to do so would not only wreck Pacquiao's career but a pay-day north of $40m for Mayweather, as well as big bunce for his partners.<br /><br />Pacquiao, if he is innocent, will know they have no evidence and so will have to compromise. If he is guilty, he will be reasonably certain they won't wreck the promotion by providing the proof. He also knows Mayweather, who called him out in the first place, really wants the fight. He has some serious tax bills to pay, and loves a bet. The signs are encouraging.<br /><br />Ellerbe said yesterday, "We're still ready, willing and able to make a deal. We feel that this is the biggest fight in the history of boxing. We want to give this fight to the fans."<br /><br />Of course they do.<br /><br />And, not only do they want to make a pay-per-view killing, the biggest in the history of the sport by a factor of possibly two, they want to avoid punitive damages of "tens of millions" above the headline $75,000 Pacquiao is suing them for. Those big zeroes are the estimate of Pacquiao's celebrity attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, and any gambler would do well not to ignore him. He has form.<br /><br />If Pacquiao extracts an apology from Mayweather and agrees to a suitable form of drug testing, all will be well. Otherwise, he will take the legal action the whole way. I have no idea if he will win in court – but neither does Mayweather, and I reckon his legal advisers will be telling him to think hard about bailing out of this one.<br /><br />Given this is boxing, there has to be another twist – and the most mysterious of all is that Golden Boy owns a slice of Pacquiao, who signed with it in 2006. This inspired Top Rank to sue GBP, which counter-sued. They now each have a bit of Manny, a curiosity that has yet to be resolved.<br /><br />It is not just a boxing match between Pacquiao and Mayweather, the two best practitioners in the world; it is a willy-waving contest between a whole cast of players: Arum and De La Hoya, for a start. The Golden Boy boxed for Arum – until they fell out, naturally. Nor does Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, get on with Mayweather Sr. In fact Mayweather Jr is not crazy about De La Hoya, who lost to him in 2007 but out-earned him by $58m to $25m. Oscar then sacked his trainer – Freddie Roach. The Borgias have got nothing on this lot.<br /><br />Ellerbe told Fanhouse.com, "We checked our egos at the door" when they started talks. I don't think so. The fight game is all about egos. It's why they are in this mess in the first place.<br /><br />There is an outside chance, of course, that this absurd row is a publicity scam of towering genius, one that ensures maximum interest from outside the hardcore boxing community, punters who will push the pay-per-view numbers past three million and make everyone concerned considerably richer.<br /><br />It might not have begun like that. But, as in life, what started as a cock-up born of animus has become a war, and it plainly suits both sides to milk it until they settle. It is getting a lot of ink.<br /><br />So if the fighters, alongside Arum, Ellerbe, Schaefer and De La Hoya, gather this week – let's say Wednesday – to announce the war is over, it would not surprise me in the least. I'd put the odds at about 4‑6.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/jan/04/floyd-mayweather-manny-pacquiao-vegas">guardian.co.uk</a>BLOGGERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10363447787566639883noreply@blogger.com0