Money men trade blows to hook the match-up of the millennium

The Sydney Morning Herald

Promoters see Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather as the fight that will change the sport forever, writes GREG BISHOP.

The calls started two days after Manny Pacquiao bloodied and battered Miguel Cotto to capture his record seventh title in seven weight divisions.

They came from representatives of venues across the United States, from stadiums in Los Angeles, Texas, Louisiana and New York.

All were inquiring about hosting the match the boxing world most wants to watch – the undefeated Floyd Mayweather jnr in one corner and Pacquiao in the other.

Since Pacquiao finished off Cotto with a technical knockout in the 12th round on November 14, Pacquiao's promoters at Top Rank Boxing have heard from officials of the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants and the Jets, along with representatives for Cowboys Stadium in Texas, the Staples Centre in Los Angeles and the Superdome in New Orleans.

James Carville, once an adviser to president Bill Clinton, called on behalf of Louisiana. And a group of businessmen in Las Vegas, eager to retain the top fights, has proposed building a temporary arena on the Strip that would hold 30,000 fans.

Such is the interest for a fight that remains far from guaranteed. Top Rank cannot negotiate with sites until it has completed a deal between the fighters. But that has not stopped the stadiums from lining up.

"This fight is as much sought after as any fight probably since the first between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier," said Thomas Hauser, an author and the lead boxing writer for website SecondsOut.com.

"Lewis-Tyson, which was the last fight of this magnitude on the Richter scale, was a hot potato, but nobody wanted to deal with Tyson. This is different.

"If it happens, it will be one of those events that transcends boxing."

Representatives of Pacquiao and Mayweather met last Monday in Las Vegas and, by the time they had finished lunch, they had decided not to discuss negotiations publicly. Originally, Top Rank had hoped to stage the fight on March 13, 2010. But Freddie Roach, the trainer for Pacquiao, wanted to hold a longer training camp, for 10 weeks instead of eight weeks. Now, the target date is May 1.

For Pacquiao, Top Rank is only working on a fight with Mayweather, no others.

"Nobody would tolerate anything other than this fight," Bob Arum, the chairman of Top Rank, said over breakfast last week in New York. "Any other fight would do a terrible disservice to boxing. Everybody is talking about boxing right now. And everybody is talking about this fight."

Nobody knows exactly how long negotiations between the fighters will last. But because of bad blood between Mayweather and Arum and because of the amount of money involved, the negotiations could stretch for two months, as those between Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya did.

Once they make the fight a reality, promoters will work on selecting the site.

Hauser cited three reasons that worked heavily against New York's Yankee Stadium: a 14per cent loss of the purse in taxes, the possibility of rain and the lack of a local fan base for the fighters.

Last week, Arum seemed most intrigued by Cowboys Stadium (seating for 111,000, no state income tax), the Superdome (he spoke highly of Carville), and the temporary arena in Las Vegas, where he lives.

Arum said the potential site for the Vegas arena, where the Frontier Casino was once situated, was already properly wired for a fight.

"Business is business, but Vegas would have to have the leg up with us, because we're Vegas people," Arum said.

"On the other hand, it's our job to grow the revenue with these fighters. And we will do that."

Arum could accomplish that by hosting the fight outside Las Vegas or in a larger stadium to help increase boxing's audience.

He could boost revenue by charging $US2000 ($2200) for ringside seats, a price last levied for the Mayweather-De La Hoya match.

Arum also wants to add new sponsors. He has said a major soft drink company and a major fast-food chain sent representatives to Pacquiao's fight against Cotto.

That fight produced at least 1.25million pay-per-view buys, a figure that is rising as more results come back, according to Top Rank. Mayweather's fight against De La Hoya registered 2.4 million buys, the most of any non-heavyweight fight.

Pacquiao and Mayweather could top that number and split more than $100million. But first they need to agree on how to divide the money.

The promoters declined to comment on Tuesday, but later Arum said Top Rank favoured a 60-40 split in favour of Pacquiao. Mayweather has previously said he wanted the divide in his favour, at 65-35.

The sides are likely to meet somewhere near 50-50, setting up the fight almost everyone wants: Mayweather, with the reach, the counterpunches and the ability to fight while moving backwards, against Pacquiao, who keeps moving up in weight and knocking out the toughest fighters around.

"Everyone wants to get this done," Arum said last week.

Source: smh.com.au

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Inside Boxing: Suddenly, it's 'Money' who needs the big fight

By BOB HANNA, South Coast Today

Floyd "Money" Mayweather really has no choice now.

Prior to the Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao fight, there was considerable doubt a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown would ever happen. The modest Pacman felt, and still feels, no urgency to fight Mayweather simply because being No. 1 is not important to him. That would have allowed Mayweather the luxury of continuing his claim to the mythical pound-for-pound title without risking a loss to Pacquiao.

After all, did not Mayweather convincingly beat Juan Manuel Marquez, who had fought two wars with Pacquiao that could have gone either way? Plus there was still some doubt that Pacquiao could get past Cotto, a very good fighter who had already beaten some very good welterweights, including Shane Mosley.

But in the wake of Pacquiao's total annihilation of Cotto, it is a whole new ballgame. Ask 100 fight fans today who is the best pound-for-pound fighter and you'll get at least 99 votes for the Pacman.

Pacquiao didn't just pass the Cotto test, he knocked it (and Cotto) out of the ballpark. It started out as a competitive fight, but that lasted less then four rounds. Just when it looked like Cotto was coming on in the fourth, he was knocked down a second time by Pacquiao. The impact of that knockdown (after Cotto had landed his best shots without so much as a blink from Pacquiao) was written all over Cotto's face as he staggered to his feet, dazed and confused. This wasn't supposed to happen.

It was a mismatch from there on. His will broken, his confidence shattered, Cotto valiantly fought on but took a brutal beating before referee Kenny Bayless mercifully stopped the slaughter in the 12th.

The debate now is not about who is the best fighter on the planet, it's about where the Pacquiao stands among the all-time greats. He is being mentioned in the same breath as names like Armstrong, Robinson, Ali, Leonard ... that's not to say he's as good as those ring legends, but he's in that group.

Pacquiao insists he doesn't want to be compared with the great fighters of the past.

"I'm just doing my job, to give a good fight," he said. "My goal is to give happiness to all those who watch me."

"I'll compare him to those guys," said his trainer, Freddie Roach. "He is as good as any of them. He's the greatest fighter of his generation, that's for sure."

HBO commentator Larry Merchant probably summed it up best: "We knew going into the (Cotto) fight that Pacquiao was a great fighter, but he has exceeded our expectations yet again."

Like most great fighters, Pacquiao brings a unique style to the ring. He doesn't have the silky smoothness of a Robinson or Ali, who seemed to glide about the ring, their feet barely touching the canvas.

Pacquiao doesn't glide. He is perpetual motion, bouncing on the balls of his feet to a rhythm only he hears. Look at his legs and they seem almost out of proportion with the rest of his body. They are sturdy and muscular, not the spindly legs of so many small fighters. The footwork is important because it enables him to punch with power from seemingly impossible angles.

"I didn't know where the punches were coming from," said Cotto.

The punches come in incredibly swift combinations before he bounces out again to gauge the damage. The attacks are relentless, but measured, calculated, precise. He landed 43 percent of his punches overall against Cotto and 49 percent of his power shots, an extraordinarily high percentage.

Before the Cotto fight, Mayweather could still have made unrealistic demands on a Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight. He could have bided his time, waited for Pacquiao to retire or get lazy. The fight would have been on his terms. But that's all changed now.

Pacquiao is king and he doesn't need to fight Mayweather to prove it ... Mayweather now needs Pacquiao. A victory over the little Filipino is the only way Mayweather can regain the No. 1 spot and secure his niche in history among the all-time greats. And that's more important to Mayweather than it is for Pacquiao.

And that's why there will be a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown, probably in May or June, what could be the richest single event in the history of sports.

Truly a fight for the ages.

Bob Hanna covers boxing for The Standard-Times. Contact him at sports@s-t.com

Source: southcoasttoday.com

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Tracking Pacquiao v. Mayweather

By Raymundo Dioses, 411mania.com

It is currently 1:30 in the afternoon on Monday, November 23, 2009 and it was reported earlier today on ESPN.com that Top Rank's Bob Arum and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer will have lunch today at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada in attempts to negotiate Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao.

My gut assumption at this time is that there will be NO resolution today.

There is just too much pride, to much to argue about on both ends, and too little common ground for a nice, peaceful negotiation process that leads towards agreements for what is being said will be the biggest fight since Leonard v. Hearns or Frazier v. Ali. That's big company, and being such, the ‘fight before the fight' should be just as difficult, yet not at all entertaining.

The casual fan cares not for the evils of the negotiation process. Yet the factors in making a high profile fight the fan knows not (there's a little Yoda vocabulary for you). Fighters throw punches over what size gloves they will throw punches with, the size of the ring, the weight issues, (which insiders believe will be a HUGE issue with this fight), who will make their entrance first to which ring corner they will be in.

The fight signing process is one of the most grueling of the major competitive sports, and this one could prove to be one of the worst the sport has seen.

What both sides need to realize is just how important this fight is to the sport of boxing. It is the biggest fight to be made right now, could drive boxing to epic proportions and stands to make both sides gobs upon gobs upon gobs of money. So what's a gob or two between making boxing history?

Promoter Bob Arum has his open distaste for Mayweather, yet stated last week that he will not let that get in the way of the fight getting done.

"The only reason I want this Mayweather fight is because the public wants it so badly," Arum said. "Boxing is on a real, real roll right now and I don't want to do anything to get it off that. But if that doesn't matter to him, OK, it doesn't matter to him. I have no problem.

"But I would feel I cheated the sport I've worked in for so long if I stood in the way of this fight happening. Because of that, I'll do everything in my power to try to make it happen. Do I really want this happening, though? Other than that, the answer is no," said Arum.

On the other side, Golden Boy Promotions' Richard Schaefer, who has spearheaded negotiations for Mayweather's last three fights, will do the same for this one after being given the green light by Mayweather himself last week. Schaefer seems to respect the fight and its possible history making aspects by likening the fight to basketball stars Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant going up against each other in their primes.

It will be interesting to see which promoters let their fighters influences bleed through in negotiations. Does Richard Schaefer have an astronomical number that was given to him by Mayweather for Arum, which Arum will laugh at and disagree to? Will Arum stick to his guns and try to secure a 60/40 split for Pacquiao?

It will be interesting to see what develops in the following days. In all fairness, the fight is not expected to actually be signed this week. Pacquiao is currently on vacation, so most likely will not be near a fax machine to pen down his name to a contract. It is my prediction that we will not see a final signing until the year 2010. So what could develop this week are solid steps and agreements to make the biggest fight in years for a sport that has seen its rise in the past few years, and could continue that run in 2010.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 2:24 p.m.

Still no word on the 'mega super duper blockbuster fight' to be. Yesterday it hit ESPN's news ticker that the negotiations for Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio have begun, and if done, will be slated for early 2010.

One positive sign is that the talks began yesterday, and didn't END. Both sides apparently have passed phase one, and probably are etching out the specifics. There was talk that both sponsors Pepsi and Subway have expressed interest in the fight. When you get sponsors like that, there is only one thing to do: Make the fight.

So where does our generations most important fight happen? Does it necessarily need to be staged in Las Vegas, where Pacquiao's previous six fights and Mayweather's previous five fights were held? Does it need to be at the MGM Grand, where both fighter's last three fights have been?

The talk was that Vegas had proposed a temporary 30,000 seat outdoor venue to hold the fight, which would be better than a Vegas Casino, which stretches to put sixteen or seventeen thousand fans in attendance. Why not double that number, which would double the gate?

Even more interesting, why not make it in a major stadium? I wouldn't mind any stadium, and talks have been about the Dallas Cowboys new stadium, yet why not choose the Los Angeles Coliseum, where college footballs USC Trojans play? Each game is a sellout and houses, get ready for this number for those of you not familiar with Southern California, 100,000 fans. Now I'm no mathematician, I prefer words to numbers, yet if the minimum of $50 is charged per ticket to the fight, it would guarantee at least a $5 million dollar gate.

Yet more important than that, it would give 100,000 boxing fan's a chance to say that they were at the biggest fight of our generation.

Wednesday November 25, 2009 2:45 p.m.

There is still no official word that a deal has been signed to the fight to end all fights. Although I didn't expect the fight to be signed this week, it is still a positive sign to see that the negotiations went past day one. It has been said that both promotional companies, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions are under a "gag order", as TR's Bob Arum defined it. Which is fine, because the negotiations are still under way, which is a good sign. If the negotiations falter, or stop altogether, you can expect some type of leak that would get out to the media. So far, so good for Pacquiao v. Mayweather in 2010.

Yahoo Sports! reported that Las Vegas is seeking to make the fight in their town, as Las Vegas political consultant Sig Rogich is heading a group proposing a 30,000-seat outdoor stadium on, Las Vegas Boulevard where the New Frontier Hotel once stood.

I was talking to a friend last night, and I brought up staging the fight at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where you can get 100,00o fans to watch the fight. He didn't like the idea, and stated that they would even lose money if they did that.

Which is true, in retrospect. Las Vegas doesn't have the worldwide appeal of Las Vegas, and the city where both fighters last 9 fights have been also has the muster of other casino within an arms length of each other that can increase revenue to other casinos. The Coliseum wouldn't have any other appeal other than well, being the Coliseum. It was a good idea at the time, and hey, I had other people in mind, and would still like the fight to be in a place where over 16 or 17 thousand people can attend and prices start at 30 or 40 dollars instead of 150.

The main discussion in boxing will be this fight. It will remain the main topic until it is made. Which is a good thing. It is exciting to think about how much attention boxing will receive with this fight. There will be more segments on ESPN, and will most likely trickle down attention to the other fights happening in the sport.

Mayweather and Pacquaio needs to be made, not just for those two fighters, but for boxing as a whole.

Francisco Rodriguez, a hero in death

Boxing lost yet another fighter this week, as Chicago's Francisco Rodriguez succumbed to a brain injury suffered in a 10th round loss to Teon Kennedy.

Rodriguez, (14-3-1, 8 KOs) was a junior featherweight, was 25 years old and was lovingly nicknamed "Paco".

Rodriguez will become a hero in death, as the fighter was a donor, and will touch the lives of at least eight people through the "Gift of Life" donor program, including his own uncle.

"We just learned that Paco and our uncle are a match," Alex Rodriguez, Francisco's brother, said in a statement. "Our uncle has been on the waiting list for a kidney transplant for a long, long time. So although we've tragically lost Paco, we're able to give this incredible gift of life to another family member.

Four undefeated Mexican prospects, two Olympics, one magic night in boxing

This weekend John Molina Jr. will face Martin Honorio for the NABF lightweight championship in Temecula, California.

Molina, (18-0, 14KO) is a vastly talented lightweight, has recently came under the tutelage of famed trainer Joe Goossen. For Molina, it will be the biggest fight of his career thus far, and for the first time is scheduled in the main event on a Showtime televised card.

"I can't wait for Nov. 28. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas," said Molina, who is trained by Joe Goossen and turned pro on March 31, 2006. "I know I always say it's my ‘launching pad,' but this is really it. This is my coming-out party.

2008 Olympic teammates Shawn Estrada, (6-0, 6KO) and Javier Molina, (2-0, 2KO) will be featured in separate bouts.

Also on the card is super bantamweight Rico Ramos, (13-0, 8KO's) taking on Alejandro Perez.

THROUGH MY EYES

All props are due to Andre Ward, who baffled Mikkel Kessler this past weekend for the WBA title and a great first outing for Ward in the Super Six tournament. Ward was an underdog heading into the bout, yet will be the favored fighter in his next two Super Six fights against Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell. That could lead to a pretty strong lead in points heading into the final rounds of the tournament. If memory serves right, this writer picked Ward to win the whole thing, right? Check… The Andrade v. Bute rematch should be a pretty good scrap on Saturday. I'll be covering the Temecula card that night, but us writers on press row will keep our ears to the ground to hear the results of that one… Man, it sure seems like this year went by fast. It was overall a very good year for boxing… The 30,000 seat outdoor venue sounds great for Pacquiao v. Mayweather, and will bring back memories of the Ceasers Palace hosting their fights in an outdoor setting… Timothy Bradley will face Lamont Peterson in a battle of undefeated junior light weights on December 12 in what could be a late candidate for Fight of the Year…

Source: 411mania.com

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A comeback? Pac it in! The name's Ricky not Rocky and there'll be no Hollywood ending

By Barry Mcguigan, mirror.co.uk

I don't regret a thing in my career, not even retirement at 28.

Would Ricky Hatton say the same if he goes ahead with his comeback? It is not a wise move. Hatton has nothing to prove. He enjoyed a fine career as one of the most successful British boxers of all time.

He does not need the money or the adulation. What is one more win after that victory over Kostya Tszyu? In the fullness of time that is the kind of performance for which he will be remembered.

If he were to beat Juan Manuel Marquez it would not make the defeats to Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao any less withering.

And who is to say he will put away Marquez at 140lb? We shouldn't forget that Marquez almost beat Pacquiao, took him to the wire in two barnburners at featherweight and superfeather.

Hatton would not be meeting Marquez on the terms engineered by Mayweather, who had it all his own way at 147lb.

I t ' s a tough fight, an unnecessary risk. Pacquiao was a natural end, if not the fairytale finish he wanted.

That's life. My last fight was against Jim McDonnell. The bout was stopped in the fourth round after I suffered a cut in the third.

The magic had disappeared.

I wasn't in this game to be a journeyman. I didn't want to campaign several notches below my best.

I know where that ends. You end up being cannon fodder for up-and-coming kids. I did not want that for me.

I thought at the time that I had trained as hard as I ever had, but I realise now that I no longer had the passion.

To be honest, it was not a hard decision to get out, even though there were plenty telling me that I retired too soon.

Yes, it would have been brilliant to have gone on to another world title shot. That's how Rocky did it. But the real world is not like that.

One assumes Hatton still has the desire or he would not put his hand up for the punishing training regime.

Hatton gives himself more work than most in that area.He never really did much between f i g h t s. H e w a s n e v e r particularly disciplined about diet and lifestyle.

This left him with plenty to do to get in shape for fights. As he progressed this got harder and harder.

He will have to ship three stone-plus if he is to go through with a bout against Marquez. That in itself takes it out of you.

Add in the rounds and rounds of training and sparring and that amounts to a whole lot of punishment for an eager young thruster, never mind an old hand like Hatton.

I would imagine Hatton spars more than 100 rounds in preparation for a title fight. That takes its toll. It eats away at your resilience.

Two years ago, before he fought Mayweather, I argued in this column that Hatton's career had a maximum of 18 months to run.

Pretty Boy Floyd and the Pacman underlined the point in Technicolor. The world has moved on, Ricky. It is time for you to do the same with pride.

Source: mirror.co.uk

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Tired champ happy with result

By Kittipong Thongsombat, Bangkok Post

Oledong Sithsamerchai said he was pleased to have retained his title but admitted he faded badly down the stretch.

"I felt exhausted after the ninth round and I was also surprised with how powerful Juan was," said the 24-year-old.

"I injured my left foot in training and that flared up in the sixth round and affected my performance too.

"I know I need to work on my power and also get in better shape next time."

Juan Palacios' manager Mario Garcia was fuming after the fight and said he wanted a rematch arranged outside Thailand.

Garcia said he thought Oledong had benefitted from lax refereeing, which had allowed the Thai to win unfairly.

"It wasn't a fight, it was a dance," said Garcia.

"Oledong was holding all the time and running around and the referee should have done something.

"We want a rematch but we want it in the USA or in Nicaragua because this wasn't fair."

Garcia said Palacios had boxed to a gameplan but that he was thwarted by Oledong's actions.

"We knew Juan had to be aggressive and that Oledong couldn't punch hard enough to keep him off," he said.

"But we didn't expect the referee to stop Juan from fighting.

"He couldn't land his punches because the Thai just kept holding, holding, holding all the time.

"That's not boxing."

Oledong said that wasn't his problem."I can't control the referee so what he does is up to him," said the champion.

"I am just happy to get the victory."

Source: bangkokpost.com

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Pacquiao-Mayweather Talks Progressing

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

Negotiations for the mega-bout between Floyd "Money" Mayweather and Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao have been ongoing, with Golden Boy promotions' Richard Schaefer and Top Rank's Bob Arum representing each of the fighters considered pound-for-pound boxing's best, according to a source close to the process.

Arum is on vacation in Aspen, Colorado, and Schaefer also is on vacation.

However, their talks are slated to continue "on Monday at the earliest, and nothing is going to move any needle until then," the source said.

HBO has proposed a date of May 1 for the fight, which has not yet been discussed with Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts).

Although several sites have been broached, the bout is a natural for Las Vegas, where Kevin Lole of Yahoo! Sports reports that construction of a 30,000-seat, outdoor stadium is being considered.

Pacquiao, 30, is coming off of a historic beat-down of Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) on Nov. 14, a 12th-round knockout which earned him the WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title -- his record seventh crown in as many weight classes.

The 32-year-old Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) was last in the ring on Sept. 19, when he scored a lopsided, unanimous decision over Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs).

Marquez has drawn with and lost to Pacquiao, whom Marquez still believes that he has twice beaten in disputed bouts. Mayweather was Fighter Of The Year in 2007, and Pacquiao Fighter Of The Year in 2008.

They are, without a doubt, boxing's two biggest draws.

"This fight is huge, and I don't know if the sky is the limit," said HBO sports programming head honcho, Ross Greenburg. "This is on the Super Bowl level, and it should be treated that way. We have to do it the right way and take it to another level."

Pacquiao-Cotto drew 1.25 million pay-per-view buys, the highest-performing boxing pay-per-view event in 2009, and "the biggest event of the year for pay-per-view from the standpoint of revenue generated," according to Arum.

Pacquiao-Cotto produced $70 million in pay-per-view revenue, a figure that included 650,000 purchases from cable homes, another 600,000 from satellite and telephone company services, and a record 110,000 from Cotto's native Puerto Rico alone.

Pacquiao-De La Hoya also generated 1.25 million buys, and Pacquiao-Hatton 830,000.

Mayweather-De La Hoya sold a record 2.4 million, Mayweather-Marquez, 1.05 million, and Mayweather-Hatton, 920,000.

In addition to Marquez, Mayweather and Pacquiao have two other notable common opponents in Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton -- each of whom they defeated in back-to-back contests.

In May and December of 2007, Mayweather earned a split-decision over De La Hoya, and stopped Hatton in the 10th round.

Then, in December 2008 and May 2009, Pacquiao stopped De La Hoya and Hatton in the eighth and second rounds, respectively.

Mayweather contends that his victories were more impressive over all three of their common opponents, and argues that he dominated Marquez who twice fought tooth-and-nail with Pacquiao.

Also, Mayweather believes that Hatton, who lost for the first time in 44 bouts against him, was not the same against Pacquiao after being stopped for the first time in his career.

In addition, Mayweather believes that Hatton, then trained by his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., was being transitioned from a brawling style to that of a boxing style, and, thus, a somewhat confused fighter who could not successfully execute his dad's gameplan.

De La Hoya, said Mayweather, fought him at a more natural weight of 154 pounds, while he "was a dead man" after struggling to make 145 pounds against Pacquiao.

De La Hoya told FanHouse that he agreed with Mayweather, saying, "I lost the fight" with Pacquiao before getting into the ring.

Pacquiao supporters say that the Filipino star was simply more impressive in his victories over De La Hoya and Hatton, and that Marquez -- who had not fought above 135 pounds before facing Mayweather -- was simply too small against Mayweather.

Since losing a unanimous decision to Erik Morales in March 2005, Pacquiao is 11-0, with eight knockouts, including four consecutive stoppages against David Diaz, De La Hoya, Hatton and Cotto.

That run includes having twice avenged the loss to Morales by 10th-, and, third-round knockouts, respectively, in January and November 2006, respectively.

Arum, who once promoted both De La Hoya and Mayweather, has called Pacquiao "the best fighter that I've ever seen -- and that includes Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard, and Marvin Hagler."

The name of Mayweather was chanted as the man desired as Pacquiao's next opponent by the crowd of more than 16,200 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the aftermath of Pacquiao's victory over Cotto.

But Mayweather insists that he has not heard Pacquiao personally call him out.

"They are all talking for him, but Manny Pacquiao has yet to say he wants to fight me. If he wants to fight me, all he has to do is step up to the plate," said Mayweather, in a statement issued by his media company.

"Manny Pacquiao is the fighter, and every time someone asks him if he wants to fight me, he says it is up to his promoter, or he's going to take a vacation, or whatever the answer is," said Mayweather.

"I have yet to hear him actually say, 'yes I want to fight Mayweather,'" said Mayweather. "We are the fighters, and if one fighter is talking about fighting another fighter, then they should just come out and say it."

As for Mayweather's assertion that Pacquaio has never called him out, FanHouse.com scoured its files and found this quote published in April of 2009 -- nearly a month before Pacquiao stopped Hatton and prior to Mayweather's officially announcement of his return to the ring to face Marquez.

"I think [Mayweather] is going to fight again. He's not really retired," Pacquiao told Michael David Smith.

"For me, if I'm Floyd, I would fight a tune-up and then fight me," said Pacquiao. "That's for me, but I don't know what his plan is. He might want to fight me right away."

Pacquiao may not have come right out and said, "I want to fight Floyd Mayweather," but what he did say was pretty close -- wasn't it?

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

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