Adviser: Pacquiao to fight Mayweather in March - The Associated Press

The Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines — Manny Pacquiao is likely to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 13 after agreeing to a proposal from promoter Bob Arum on Friday.

Arum presented "what he thought was the best proposal he can bring" during a two-hour breakfast meeting with Pacquiao in Manila, said Michael Koncz, an adviser of the Philippine boxing idol.

"Manny has some additional requirements, requests, which Arum didn't think was a problem," Koncz said. "The requests of Manny were so realistic that Arum doesn't feel it's a problem and it's pretty much a done deal."

He said the contract still needs "fine tuning," declining to elaborate.

"We all believe that it will be done," he said.

In an interview with GMA television, Pacquiao said, "March 13 is OK."

"The difference between Floyd and others I have fought is that Floyd makes a lot of trash talk that should not be imitated by young people," he said.

Arum could not be reached for comment.

Koncz, who is in charge of Pacquiao's boxing promotion company in Nevada, said Pacquiao is "very comfortable" with the date.

Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in May 2010 elections and official campaigning won't start before April.

If the bout goes ahead, it will match two men regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighters.

Boxing fans have been looking forward to a super fight between Pacquiao and the undefeated Mayweather after the Filipino champion defeated Miguel Cotto last month.

The March 13 date comes four months after the Cotto fight — a shorter period of time than the six months after Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton. But Koncz said it will be enough time for Pacquiao to get back in shape.

"Nobody knows his body better than Manny," he said. "If Manny feels that that's plenty of time to rest and recover, then you know, he has to do what he feels is right."

He said Pacquiao "cannot train for more than seven weeks."

If the fight is made, there would likely be a Jan. 11 press conference in New York to announce it. The bout could be the richest ever, assuming pay-per-view projections are accurate.

Representatives of the Superdome in New Orleans and the new Dallas Cowboys' stadium have expressed interest in hosting the fight, as has the MGM Grand hotel-casino in Las Vegas, where the fighters have fought their biggest fights. There is also a proposal for a 30,000-seat temporary stadium on the Las Vegas Strip across from the Wynn resort.

Oddsmakers are already taking bets on the fight, with most making Mayweather a slight favorite.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Arum to meet with Floyd's camp once back in US - GMA News

GMANews.TV

Top Rank big boss Bob Arum heads back to the United States Saturday ready to bear the good news to the camp of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Arum said he plans to immediately resume negotiations with Golden Boy Promotions executive Richard Schaefer now that Manny Pacquiao personally agreed for a March 13 showdown with Mayweather Jr.

“My next step is to go back to the U.S. to meet with the Mayweather people to finalize all the arrangements," he said.

Schaefer is the person that the Mayweather camp allowed to negotiate the mouth-watering fight on their behalf.

In the event the bout is finalized for March 13, a major press conference will be held in January, although Arum said the traditional multi-city promotional tour to hype up the fight may be forego owing to time constraints.

At the same time, the 78-year old promoter urged Pacquiao’s opponent, candidate Roy Chongbian, who will be running against the pound-for-pound king for the lone congressional seat of Saranggani, to make the ultimate sacrifice.

“I think his opponent would do everybody a service to the great country of the Philippines by withdrawing from the race so it could take Manny’s mind off politics, but that’s just my opinion.

“I am not a Filipino and I can’t tell everyone what to do, but this guy Manny is running against should do everybody a favor," Arum added.

Pacquiao agreed to the proposed welterweight fight with the 32-year old Mayweather on March 13, now considered as one of boxing’s biggest fights ever.

Pacquiao and Arum met early in the day and talked about the bout that may well go down as the richest off all time, although Arum didn’t disclose what transpired during the talk other than say that “you can see a smile on my face and that means I am not disappointed."

The purse both fighters would be receiving have also remained undisclosed, but GMA 7 reporter Chino Trinidad bared Pacquiao is going to get not less than $30 million for the fight. – GMANews.TV

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Khan humble like Pacquiao: Khan v Salita not Jew v Muslim, says Brit - Telegraph.co.uk

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

Amir Khan is learning many things from Manny Pacquiao. That is serves a fighter well never to disrespect his opponent. It is one of the graces of the devastating fighting machine that is Pacman. Khan now wants to model himself on the iconic Filipino fighter, and following his mores when up on the dais is a good move. Long may that continue.

The nearest the two fighters (Khan-Salita) came to insulting each other head-to-head here in Newcastle this week was talk of “guys with beards” not being able to fight (from Freddie Roach, half in jest ) and pointy chins (Khan’s, according to Salita) which made fighters chinny.

And, thankfully, religious undertones have been kept at bay. Click on video for Khan’s view on that…

Salita has some interesting points. “I’m from an old school gym and back in the day they didn’t really have tapes so people would go to fights and they would judge a fighter on his physical characteristics.The stereotype is that if a guy has a pointy chin it means he has a weak chin.

“Amir is a good fighter, but we will take care of business on Saturday. I should have fought Andreas Kotelnik, but Amir got that chance and that was the business of boxing.”

“It was frustrating for me and I believe I would have been World Champion because I would have beat him, but Amir got in front of me and took the title. Now I’ll take it off him. I’ve seen weaknesses and I will exploit them.”

Khan’s reply to his chin is now a stock one. “The dodgy chin is just something I have to live with because I’ve made some mistakes in my career. He says I’ve got a pointy chin, but if I knock him out on Saturday night does that mean he has got a weak chin? The only thing people have got on me is I’ve been knocked down before, but time will tell.”

It was then that Roach interjected. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” retorted Roach. “That’s why we have films nowadays and if he is going to start that then I’ve got to say, guys with beards can’t fight.”

“Dimitry is a very nice man, he is a gentleman. He came to my gym for a while. He’s a good fighter, a good solid boxer. He’s such a nice guy so it’s hard to say bad things about him, but guys with beards can’t fight.

“We have a great game plan. I can’t see it going the distance, Amir will knock him out at some point. I have a lot of confidence in Amir, he is looking great and he is punching better than ever.”

Salita was clearly unhappy with the comments. But will he be able to turn that into ammunition when the two meet. Unlikely.

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

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Arum gives a 'smile' on Pacman-Mayweather bout - ABS-CBN

abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA -- Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he expects to make a formal announcement about the negotiations for the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight early next week.

“I met with Manny this morning… it was positive,” Arum said during the announcement of a tie up between Top Rank and ABS-CBN Broadcasting network Friday afternoon.

“You guys can interpret that anyway you want,” said Arum. “But you see a smile on my face so I'm not disappointed [with the Pacquiao meeting].”

The seasoned promoter said he will be leaving for the US on Sunday so that he can finalize all the arrangements with Mayweather’s camp to finally seal the deal and announce the mega-fight.

“Now my job is to go back to the United States, sit with Richard Schaefer (CEO of Golden Boy Promotions) and the Mayweather people… so that we can make an announcement in a short term,” said Arum.

“My goal is that we can make a preliminary announcement sometime next week,” he added.

Mum on details

When asked about the details of his meeting with Pacquiao, Arum said he has an agreement with the Mayweather camp that they won’t discuss details to the media “until we're ready to make an announcement.”

Arum said they plan to hold the fight on March 13.

Mayweather has reportedly acceded to terms for a welterweight title fight with the Filipino superstar at 147 lbs.

Fight fans are clamoring for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight to settle who among both boxers should rightfully be called the pound-for-pound king.

Mayweather, who won six boxing titles in five weight classes, was the best pound-for-pound fighter until he “temporarily retired from the sport in June 2008.

Pacquiao, then the No. 2 pound-for-pound, succeeded Mayweather’s throne en route to winning his seventh world title in seven weight divisions last month.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

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Video: I can see a knock-out in the fight, says Amir Khan

Boxing New World



Credit to betfredsport

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Video: Khan and Salita exchange words ahead of fight

Boxing News World



Credit to betfredsport

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Dmitriy Salita claims he's got Amir Khan running scared - Mirror.co.uk

By David Anderson, Mirror.co.uk

Dmitriy Salita claims he's got Amir Khan running scared.

The New Yorker says Khan's camp are full of bravado ahead of tomorrow's showdown because they are worried about the WBA lightwelterweight king's chances.

Salita described as "b******s" Khan's claim that he's had the best training camp ever and said he has had to take a back seat while Freddie Roach prepared Manny Pacquiao for his clash with Miguel Cotto.

"You can't dance at two different weddings," said the challenger at yesterday's head-to-head press conference at Newcastle's St James' Park.

"That's not my opinion, it's a fact. I'm just making observations anybody can see.

"Khan's whole camp has been aggressive and that's not Freddie's nature.

"That make me think the aggression is to make up for something that is lacking in the camp. I've been around forever and this kind of thing doesn't get to me. I've seen little things about their camp, which don't make sense - like the conditioning.

"He says he's had his best camp ever, but his conditioning coach was only there for the last month because he was in the Philippines with Pacquiao.

"Your hardcore conditioning core work needs to be there eight to 12 weeks before the fight, not the last month when you're just running."

Unbeaten Salita, 27, also accused Khan of disrespecting him by looking past him and said Roach is filling his man's head with "fairy tales".

"I hear all this post-Salita talk about coming to America and it gives me extra incentive," he said. "I've 100 per cent respect for Freddie Roach, but he has been talking this fight up a lot.

"Freddie is telling Amir fairy tales and it up to me to put Amir to sleep."

Roach, who was wearing a Newcastle shirt and sat just a few feet away from Salita, replied: "They're not fairy tales, they're the truth."

Salita was determined to wind Khan up going into their clash at the Metro Radio Arena and even made the bizarre claim his opponent has a glass jaw due to a pointed chin.

"I come from an old-school gym where back in the days before tapes you would look at a guy and make a decision," he said. "The stereotype was that guys with pointy chins were chinny."

Roach hit back at the bearded Salita, saying: "Does that means guys with beards can't fight? That's ridiculous."

Khan's camp also tried to unnerve Salita. with Frank Warren claiming he may have to shave his beard to comply with British boxing regulations. "The regulations here don't let anyone fight with beards, but it's up to the Board of Control," said Warren.

A bemused Salita replied: "If I have to trim it, I will."

Source: mirror.co.uk

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Roach: Manny Pacquiao is a machine but needs 12-week camp for Mayweather - Telegraph.co.uk

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

Freddie Roach, in Newcastle, England, where he is overseeing Amir Khan’s WBA 140lb title defence against Dmitriy Salita here on Saturday night, insists that his Filipino dynamo “is a machine” but revealed at the head to head news conference that he would rather see Manny Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather in May than March 2010.

“We’re going to need a 12-week camp for Mayweather, because we need to look at all the possibilities and work everything out for this fight,” Roach told me. “The March date would be too early. It has got to be May.”

As to Pacquiao being “a machine”, Roach said: “I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of great fighters. From day 1 until now everything we’ve worked on has come into play. He’s a dangerous guy at this point in his life. He’s a machine. You wind him up, and let him go. He’s different. How many guys can go from 112lbs to 147lbs and still be competitive. He’s a throwback. Guys like him come once in a lifetime.”

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

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PACQUIAO MEETS WITH ARUM - Philboxing.com

By Dong Secuya, Philboxing.com

Words coming from Manila indicate that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has finally met with his promoter Bob Arum at the New World Renaissance Hotel in Makati more than an hour ago (13:00 Manila time).

While the world awaited with bated breath, Arum was left wondering the whole day yesterday if he will be able to meet his prized ward to discuss the biggest fight in boxing, Pacquiao vs Mayweather, when Pacquiao, after arriving in Manila from General Santos yesterday afternoon, snubbed his promoter and went directly to a location to shoot the remaining scenes of his upcoming movie 'Wapakman'.

Pacquiao emerged from the hotel room composed and relaxed after the meeting with Arum but would not say what was agreed, if any, according to the source.

Arum has scheduled a press conference with ABS-CBN this afternoon to announce the partnership between Arum's company, Top Rank, and Philippine network giant ABS-CBN. It is expected that Arum will also announce what had transpired with his meeting with the Filipino boxing hero.

Source: philboxing.com

Sky Sports Video: Jim Watt on Dmitry Salita

Boxing News World

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Salita says size matters - Sky Sports

Sky Sports



Dmitriy Salita believes he is destined to win the world title against Amir Khan on Saturday night, live on Sky Box Office.

The Ukrainian-born New Yorker has been around boxing all his life and believes his background could be the key to victory in Newcastle.

The 27-year-old, who made his debut more than eight years ago, insists he has the experience to overcome the raw talent of the current WBA light-welterweight champion.

"I've been around great boxers since I was a little kid, I always knew this moment would come," he said at Thursday's press conference. "I've worked very hard to be number one contender, for my opportunity.

"I was supposed to fight Andriy Kotelnik a few times before, but he (Khan) got the opportunity and I feel that the beautiful WBA belt belongs to me.

"I have worked very hard, trained in isolation, obviously this time it was more intense, and longer - all the hard work is going to pay off.

"I did 100-120 rounds sparring. I trained 12 weeks for this fight, the first four in New York and then we moved camp to the Pocono's Mountains.

"I boxed with some bigger guys, some fast guys, and got a really good mix in."


Matured

Salita also believes he has a natural size and weight advantage over Khan, who will be having just his second fight at 140lbs since moving up from lightweight.

"He's never really fought a true junior welterweight. Before I got the fight there was talk of him fighting Erik Morales and I guess the plan was for him to grow into the weight.

"I've been a junior-welterwight since I was 17 years old and I just feel over the last few months I've matured into my manpower physically and mentally and Saturday night we'll see that."

That said, Salita has done most of his boxing at a lower level than Khan and admits Saturday's showdown represents the biggest test of his career.

"There is no doubt that Amir is the best fighter that I've fought. I've gone into training camp knowing that, and obviously it would be foolish of me not to think that way," he said.

"I have watched a few of Amir's fights, I've seen some of th changes he's made with Freddie, but we have a gameplan and come Saturday night I'll let my fists do the talking."

Source: skysports.com

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Arum: No final date on Manny megabout - The Philippine Star

By Abac Cordero, The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines - As the world awaits his decision regarding his next fight, Manny Pacquiao was busy rushing the final scenes of his upcoming movie “Wapakman” in Manila yesterday.

The greatest boxer in the planet today arrived in Manila from Gen. Santos City at around 1 p.m. but instead of seeing his promoter, Bob Arum, he donned his “Wapakman” costume and faced the cameras.

Arum took a very long flight from Las Vegas and arrived in Manila yesterday morning. But as of presstime he has yet to sit down with his fighter.

Arum is in town to present to Pacquiao the details of his possible fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and if the reigning pound-for-pound champion could do the fight on March 13 or May 1.

The Top Rank president also clarified upon his arrival in Manila that it may be “premature and inaccurate” to say that a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight on March 13 is already sealed.

He holds a press conference this afternoon with officials of giant TV network ABS-CBN which recently struck a deal with Top Rank Promotions.

There are two dates, March 13 and May 1, being considered for what should be the biggest fight in recent history, but the 2010 national elections in the Philippines, where Pacquiao is eyeing a congressional seat in Sarangani in Mindanao, is standing in the way.

“If Manny fights on March 13, it means he should be training two months before that. He might have a hard time focusing because he’d be thinking about the elections,” said the boxer’s lawyer, Franklin Gacal.

Gacal the other day told The STAR that Pacquiao had already decided to fight Mayweather, or whoever it may be, after the May elections.

“But you know Manny. There could be changes. The last thing he said, however, is that he doesn’t want to fight as soon as March 13 or May 1. As of today, nothing has changed. He wants to focus on the elections,” said Gacal.

Pacquiao, according to his lawyer, might meet Arum late last night or today. Even Gacal has yet to talk to Arum who, according to reports, has struck a deal with the Mayweather camp regarding a fight even if no contract has been signed yet.

Freddie Roach, the Filipino’s chief trainer, is not too cool on a March fight if it’s Mayweather. He said they need more time to prepare if it’s the undefeated American they’re going to face next.

Aside from the elections, Pacquiao’s birthday on Dec. 17, the Christmas holidays, Jinkee Pacquiao’s birthday on the first week of January and a planned family vacation will make it difficult for the boxer to agree on a March 13 fight with Mayweather.

Because if he does, it means he should be in serious training by the second week of January.

“Again, it may be very difficult for Manny to train for Mayweather and thinking of the elections – unless he is running unopposed,” said Gacal.

Source: philstar.com

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