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Tuesday 8 December 2009
Mayweather, Pacquiao bout shaping as biggest ever -- The Sydney Morning Herald
By JAMIE PANDARAM, The Sydney Morning Herald
FOR the first time this generation, the two best boxers on the planet will collide in a mega-event poised to break all viewing and earning records.
For Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, their March 13 showdown will be about dollars (US$25million [$27m] each guaranteed, with early pay-per-view predictions set to take each fighter above $US40m in total) and status as the best now, and probably the best ever.
It is as much a clash of styles as of profiles: a loud-mouthed, trash talking African-American hip-hop label owner known for betting $US30,000 a day; and a quietly-spoken, highly religious Filipino with political ambition who has reportedly given much of his money to impoverished countrymen.
At odds with their public images, it is Pacquiao who is aggressive and savage in the ring, while Mayweather is a defensive pugilist whose perfect record has been built on counter-punching and untouchable weaving.
Venues are lining up to host the fight, billed "The Superbowl of boxing", with Las Vegas the early favourite over the new 80,000-capacity Dallas Cowboys Stadium and New Orleans' Louisiana Superdome.
Pacquiao has yet to sign a formal contract for the fight but is said to be satisfied with the major points, and he pushed the March 13 date over a May 1 proposal because he intends to run for office in the Philippines.
A media conference will be held in the first fortnight of January to announce full details of the bout.
Not since the glory days of Sugar Ray Leonard's wars with Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran has the world seen the best pound-for-pound boxers in the ring.
More recently, Roy Jones jnr battled Bernard Hopkins but neither was at their peak in 1993, and managed to avoid a rematch while in their prime due to monetary squabbles.
Major names have captivated the boxing world, including Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Oscar De La Hoya. While they took on their best in their classes, they never came across a pound-for-pound great at their best.
De La Hoya came closest against Shane Mosley and Hopkins.
Never have two fighters like Mayweather and Pacquiao been so far superior to all other combatants in the game, and in roughly the same weight division, and agreed to terms.
It is as good as being able to play with a time machine to match Tyson against Muhammad Ali, Robinson against De La Hoya, Jones jnr against Hopkins pre-2003.
After the expected haggling, both fighters agreed to split the money 50-50, an unusual, incredible occurrence for any fight, let alone one of such magnitude. Both wanted a 60-40 split in their favour but in the end, taking a 10 per cent cut was still far too profitable than walking away from the table.
Mayweather will fight for Pacquaio's WBO welterweight title, which the Pacman won via a brutal beating of Miguel Cotto last month.
Pacquiao, 50-3 with 38 knockouts, has retired De La Hoya, probably retired Ricky Hatton with a two-round slaughter, and forced Cotto to concede he should retire at the end of next year. He assumed the throne of world's best when Mayweather retired last year, but the man nicknamed "Money" – his own creation – returned in fine form by defeating Juan Manuel Marquez in a classic exhibition of hurricane hand-speed.
Pacquiao is the only man in fight history to claim world titles over seven weight divisions. Mayweather has collected world titles in five.
Tickets for the events are estimated to cost between $US500 to $US2500 for a ringside seat, the most expensive for any fight, surpassing $US2400 for Tyson's 2002 clash with Lewis.
It is the pay-per-view subscriptions that will define the success of the bout, however, with analysts predicting it will be the most successful ever, overtaking Mayweather's contest against De La Hoya in 2007 of 2.4 million household purchases.
Greed and politics have long purged boxing, but for the first time in a very long time, all the major parties have done what is right for the sport and it's fans – even if they weren't thinking beyond their own bank accounts.
Source: smh.com.au
FOR the first time this generation, the two best boxers on the planet will collide in a mega-event poised to break all viewing and earning records.
For Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, their March 13 showdown will be about dollars (US$25million [$27m] each guaranteed, with early pay-per-view predictions set to take each fighter above $US40m in total) and status as the best now, and probably the best ever.
It is as much a clash of styles as of profiles: a loud-mouthed, trash talking African-American hip-hop label owner known for betting $US30,000 a day; and a quietly-spoken, highly religious Filipino with political ambition who has reportedly given much of his money to impoverished countrymen.
At odds with their public images, it is Pacquiao who is aggressive and savage in the ring, while Mayweather is a defensive pugilist whose perfect record has been built on counter-punching and untouchable weaving.
Venues are lining up to host the fight, billed "The Superbowl of boxing", with Las Vegas the early favourite over the new 80,000-capacity Dallas Cowboys Stadium and New Orleans' Louisiana Superdome.
Pacquiao has yet to sign a formal contract for the fight but is said to be satisfied with the major points, and he pushed the March 13 date over a May 1 proposal because he intends to run for office in the Philippines.
A media conference will be held in the first fortnight of January to announce full details of the bout.
Not since the glory days of Sugar Ray Leonard's wars with Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran has the world seen the best pound-for-pound boxers in the ring.
More recently, Roy Jones jnr battled Bernard Hopkins but neither was at their peak in 1993, and managed to avoid a rematch while in their prime due to monetary squabbles.
Major names have captivated the boxing world, including Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Oscar De La Hoya. While they took on their best in their classes, they never came across a pound-for-pound great at their best.
De La Hoya came closest against Shane Mosley and Hopkins.
Never have two fighters like Mayweather and Pacquiao been so far superior to all other combatants in the game, and in roughly the same weight division, and agreed to terms.
It is as good as being able to play with a time machine to match Tyson against Muhammad Ali, Robinson against De La Hoya, Jones jnr against Hopkins pre-2003.
After the expected haggling, both fighters agreed to split the money 50-50, an unusual, incredible occurrence for any fight, let alone one of such magnitude. Both wanted a 60-40 split in their favour but in the end, taking a 10 per cent cut was still far too profitable than walking away from the table.
Mayweather will fight for Pacquaio's WBO welterweight title, which the Pacman won via a brutal beating of Miguel Cotto last month.
Pacquiao, 50-3 with 38 knockouts, has retired De La Hoya, probably retired Ricky Hatton with a two-round slaughter, and forced Cotto to concede he should retire at the end of next year. He assumed the throne of world's best when Mayweather retired last year, but the man nicknamed "Money" – his own creation – returned in fine form by defeating Juan Manuel Marquez in a classic exhibition of hurricane hand-speed.
Pacquiao is the only man in fight history to claim world titles over seven weight divisions. Mayweather has collected world titles in five.
Tickets for the events are estimated to cost between $US500 to $US2500 for a ringside seat, the most expensive for any fight, surpassing $US2400 for Tyson's 2002 clash with Lewis.
It is the pay-per-view subscriptions that will define the success of the bout, however, with analysts predicting it will be the most successful ever, overtaking Mayweather's contest against De La Hoya in 2007 of 2.4 million household purchases.
Greed and politics have long purged boxing, but for the first time in a very long time, all the major parties have done what is right for the sport and it's fans – even if they weren't thinking beyond their own bank accounts.
Source: smh.com.au
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Khan eyes Marquez test -- Manchester Evening News
By James Robson, Manchester Evening News
AMIR Khan hopes to hijack Ricky Hatton's comeback by taking on Juan Manuel Marquez in 2010.
And after his non-contest with Dmitriy Salita, a fighter of Marquez' stature is exactly what the Bolton boxer needs if he is to truly "shock the world".
Hatton is already in discussions about a super clash with the Mexican, but Khan has made no secret of his desire to take on the 36-year-old.
It is precisely the type of bout he will require to convince the US public he is more than a product of slick marketing.
He may have gone some way to doing that with his sensational 76-second knockout of Salita on Saturday, but such was the nature of his devastating victory it is still impossible to know if the 22-year-old has completely ironed out the flaws that punctuated his early pro career.
But the signs are undoubtedly positive.
Under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, Khan has matured into a fighter capable of outrageous speed and blistering power.
In the peak of physical condition, the smart money says he will only get bigger and stronger as he continues to develop.
Outside the ring he looks the part too. Good looking, intelligent and respectful, he has all the tools to be a flag bearer for British boxing.
So what's the problem?
The problem is that exactly the same could have been said before his devastating defeat to Breidis Prescott last year.
Since then he has rebuilt his career admirably under the guidance of the sport's greatest sage.
But the fact remains that he is still to fight an opponent of note.
A cut earned him victory against a Marco Antonio Barrera who was well past his best, while Khan himself questioned Andreas Kotelnik's credentials as a world champion before relieving the Ukrainian of his WBA belt.
Salita was a mandatory challenger as the No.1 contender, but was nothing short of woeful.
Khan can do little more than knock down the opponents put in front of him - and he deserves considerable credit for the light work he made of someone who had no business being in the same ring as him.
But it will take so much more than that to back up Roach's lofty claims that he is a pound-for-pound No.1 in the making.
Given that such superlatives are coming from one of the most respected figures in the sport, does give them credence.
Argument
But the fact remains that the Kotelniks and Salitas of this world do little to endorse that argument.
If Khan wants to prove to America that he is the natural successor to Hatton, he will have to build up a record of victims that can back up that assertion.
And if his promoter Frank Warren is to sell his man across the Atlantic, he will know he needs an opponent that US audiences can get their teeth into.
Hatton remains the ideal scenario - but he represents an enormous gamble on Khan's part. Win and there will be inevitable claims that he could only beat a shot fighter. While defeat to the Hitman, who is at the end of his career, could also effectively end Khan's.
Roach remains convinced his man would be too fast for Hatton, and having already masterminded victory for Pacquiao, he may have a point.
But Khan has never been in the ring with someone of Hatton's class, so question marks will remain until he does.
Other potential opponents include the 35-year-old Jose Luis Castillo, who Hatton felled in 2006; Juan Diaz and Paulie Malignaggi - another Hatton victim.
Marquez ticks all the boxes when it comes to making a statement on the other side of the pond, which is why Hatton is so keen to take the fight on himself.
For all scepticism that surrounds Khan, a fervent Newcastle crowd proved there is genuine affection for him, and the hope that he is the real deal.
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
AMIR Khan hopes to hijack Ricky Hatton's comeback by taking on Juan Manuel Marquez in 2010.
And after his non-contest with Dmitriy Salita, a fighter of Marquez' stature is exactly what the Bolton boxer needs if he is to truly "shock the world".
Hatton is already in discussions about a super clash with the Mexican, but Khan has made no secret of his desire to take on the 36-year-old.
It is precisely the type of bout he will require to convince the US public he is more than a product of slick marketing.
He may have gone some way to doing that with his sensational 76-second knockout of Salita on Saturday, but such was the nature of his devastating victory it is still impossible to know if the 22-year-old has completely ironed out the flaws that punctuated his early pro career.
But the signs are undoubtedly positive.
Under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, Khan has matured into a fighter capable of outrageous speed and blistering power.
In the peak of physical condition, the smart money says he will only get bigger and stronger as he continues to develop.
Outside the ring he looks the part too. Good looking, intelligent and respectful, he has all the tools to be a flag bearer for British boxing.
So what's the problem?
The problem is that exactly the same could have been said before his devastating defeat to Breidis Prescott last year.
Since then he has rebuilt his career admirably under the guidance of the sport's greatest sage.
But the fact remains that he is still to fight an opponent of note.
A cut earned him victory against a Marco Antonio Barrera who was well past his best, while Khan himself questioned Andreas Kotelnik's credentials as a world champion before relieving the Ukrainian of his WBA belt.
Salita was a mandatory challenger as the No.1 contender, but was nothing short of woeful.
Khan can do little more than knock down the opponents put in front of him - and he deserves considerable credit for the light work he made of someone who had no business being in the same ring as him.
But it will take so much more than that to back up Roach's lofty claims that he is a pound-for-pound No.1 in the making.
Given that such superlatives are coming from one of the most respected figures in the sport, does give them credence.
Argument
But the fact remains that the Kotelniks and Salitas of this world do little to endorse that argument.
If Khan wants to prove to America that he is the natural successor to Hatton, he will have to build up a record of victims that can back up that assertion.
And if his promoter Frank Warren is to sell his man across the Atlantic, he will know he needs an opponent that US audiences can get their teeth into.
Hatton remains the ideal scenario - but he represents an enormous gamble on Khan's part. Win and there will be inevitable claims that he could only beat a shot fighter. While defeat to the Hitman, who is at the end of his career, could also effectively end Khan's.
Roach remains convinced his man would be too fast for Hatton, and having already masterminded victory for Pacquiao, he may have a point.
But Khan has never been in the ring with someone of Hatton's class, so question marks will remain until he does.
Other potential opponents include the 35-year-old Jose Luis Castillo, who Hatton felled in 2006; Juan Diaz and Paulie Malignaggi - another Hatton victim.
Marquez ticks all the boxes when it comes to making a statement on the other side of the pond, which is why Hatton is so keen to take the fight on himself.
For all scepticism that surrounds Khan, a fervent Newcastle crowd proved there is genuine affection for him, and the hope that he is the real deal.
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
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Pacquiao's Deal Improves; Georgia Dome Calls -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
There are at least two, new developments concerning the March 13, Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao megafight.
Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, will give his fighter a larger guaranteed purse than originally agreed upon, and Arum has been contacted by The Atlanta Falcons' Georgia Dome regarding the potential for being a site for the bout.
The Filipino icon's adviser, Michael Koncz, told FanHouse on Monday that Arum has sweetened the deal for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts), who earned his unprecedented seventh world title in as many weight classes with his 12th-round, technical knockout victory over then-WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champ Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14.
"Arum presented a package to us, and we did some minor modifications to it. One of the points that we brought up was the guaranteed purse," said Koncz, referring to their interaction during a two-hour meeting involving Pacquaio, Arum and himself, late last week.
"Bob came to us with an offer, we countered it, and we got what we requested," said Koncz. "That [purse] was the major one, and there were some minor issues -- not so much revolving around money, but with other aspects of the fight."
Although there are reports that the combatants agreed to a 50-50 split, and that Pacquiao, at least, was originally guaranteed $20 million -- plus their shares of any upside to to the pay per view revenue -- Koncz said that a gag order is in place for both sides and that, under the circumstances, it would be inappropriate to address any numbers.
There are also reports that Mayweather has been guaranteed at least $20 million, that his name will lead the promotion as, "Mayweather-Pacquiao," and that the revenue could push each side's earnings toward the $45 million mark.
"The only ones who know the figures are Manny, myself, Bob Arum, [Golden Boy Promotions'] Richard Schaefer and Floyd Mayweather. So there are other figures floating around out there that may or not be accurate," said Koncz, referring to Schaefer, who is representing Mayweather's side.
"In relation to any figures, I will not substantiate them," said Koncz. "There are gag orders in place, and I don't think that it's appropriate that any deals or negotiations should be negotiated in the press."
During Pacquiao's Q&A with FanHouse last week, Koncz said that Pacquiao has not yet signed a contract, but that the fighter had agreed to the terms of a clash with Mayweather on March 13, with each fighter being able to choose his own brand of eight ounce gloves, and at the welterweight (147-pound) category rather than at catchweight.
"I'm getting a number of calls from the media saying, 'Well, you guys didn't sign a contract, is the fight going to happen?' Of course it is going to happen," said Koncz.
"I think that I mentioned to you last week that we never sign a contract this early in the game," said Koncz. "As long as we have an agreement with Arum, it's always come through. The only thing that we have to worry about now is the location."
Upon Arum's return -- he was expected back on American soil on Sunday -- the promoter told FanHouse last week that he would relay the modified terms to Schaefer as early as Monday.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told FanHouse that the talks are, indeed, ongoing, and that the possibility exists that the deal could be announced as early as Tuesday -- the longtime promoter's 78th birthday.
Mayweather reportedly had agreed to terms early last week before Arum traveled to Manila for his meeting with Pacquiao and Koncz, who strongly believes that Mayweather will be on board.
"I don't see a problem with anything because [Golden Boy's] Richard Schaefer has been retained by Floyd to represent Mayweather throughout the negotiations, and the promotion, " said Koncz.
"The majority of the things that we discussed pertained only to our promoter -- not jointly to Top Rank and Golden Boy," said Koncz. "So that's why there's no concerns, and that's why we made agreements with Arum and that we're happy with. I think prabably the only thing that's left is the location."
Although Arum was contacted by The Atlanta Falcons' Georgia Dome on Monday, according to a scource, Las Vegas still appears to be the leading candidate for hosting the fight, particularly with its MGM Grand, The Thomas & Mack Center, and a 30,000-seat outdoor stadium that is being constructed.
Another solid possibility is The Dallas Cowboys' stadium, whose owner, Jerry Jones, will meet with Arum, Schaefer and HBO's Ross Greenburg on Thursday, Koncz said. There is also The New Orleans Superdome.
According to Wikipedia, however, The Georgia Dome, completed in 1992 at a cost of $214 million, was the world's largest domed structure until 1999, when London's Millennium Dome was built.
The Georgia Dome seated a record 75,982 for the 2008 SEC football championship game. It holds an average of around 71,228 for Atlanta Falcons' football games.
The Georgia Dome has housed about 75,000, and, 53,000, respectively, for concerts and basketball games when it is fully open. When sectioned off, it has seated around 40,000 for events such as basketball and gymnastics.
In addition, Georgia Dome regularly boasts eight Super Suites, 164 executive suites, a Penthouse Suite and 4,600 club seats, and features over 660 television monitors scattered about for fans who might not have the most favorable view of the fight.
If Mayweather-Pacquiao is made, as expected, there would likely be a Jan. 11 press conference in New York to announce it, followed by another, shortly thereafter, in New York, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times.
The bout could be the richest ever, based on the pay per view numbers generated by the fighters' most recent performances, and their cross-over appeal.
Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) has made appearances on Dancing With The Stars, defeated professional wrestling's, The Big Show, and will make an appearance Tuesday night on HBO's Joe Buck Live.
Pacquiao is running for congress in the Philippines, has been featured in The New York Times, graced the cover of Time Magazine, and made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he displayed his sense of humor and singing talents.
Named the recepient of the Gusi Peace Prize for his efforts in disaster relief during two recent typhoons in the Philippines, Pacquiao is in the midst of filming a superhero movie, WaPak Man, whose shooting should be complete on Dec. 9, with the movie to be released on Christmas.
Mayweather's split-decision victory over De La Hoya in May of 2007 sold a record 2.4 million, and his 10th-round knockout of Ricky Hatton generated 920,000 buys in May 2007.
Pacquiao-Cotto generated 1.25 million buys, according to Mark Taffet, HBO's senior vice president of pay per view.
With Mayweather's Sept. 19, unanimous decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, which resulted in 1.05 million buys, that marked the first time HBO pay per view recorded back-to-back fights exceeding a million buys.
Pacquiao-Cotto also marked the first time since 1999 that two, pay per view boxing events surpassed a million purchases, joining Felix Trinidad's controversial decision over Oscar De La Hoya, and, Lennox Lewis' disputed draw with Evander Holyfield.
Pacquiao's knockout of Oscar De La Hoya also registered 1.25 in December of 2008, and his second-round KO of Hatton in May drew 830,000 buys.
Pacquiao injured his right eardrum and his right hand, but told FanHouse that each should be "healthy" enough to fight Mayweather.
Pacquiao also said that neither filming the movie, nor his congressional campaign will interfere with his peparation.
Mayweather won't be discussing fight negotiation details on Joe Buck Live, his adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, told The Grand Rapids Press, the hometown newspaper of Mayweather, now a Las Vegas resident.
Mayweather "is not going to be talking about any fights. There's nothing to talk about," said Ellerbe. "Let them do the talking. When the time comes for Mr. Mayweather to talk, he'll be talking loud and clear."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
There are at least two, new developments concerning the March 13, Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao megafight.
Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, will give his fighter a larger guaranteed purse than originally agreed upon, and Arum has been contacted by The Atlanta Falcons' Georgia Dome regarding the potential for being a site for the bout.
The Filipino icon's adviser, Michael Koncz, told FanHouse on Monday that Arum has sweetened the deal for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts), who earned his unprecedented seventh world title in as many weight classes with his 12th-round, technical knockout victory over then-WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champ Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14.
"Arum presented a package to us, and we did some minor modifications to it. One of the points that we brought up was the guaranteed purse," said Koncz, referring to their interaction during a two-hour meeting involving Pacquaio, Arum and himself, late last week.
"Bob came to us with an offer, we countered it, and we got what we requested," said Koncz. "That [purse] was the major one, and there were some minor issues -- not so much revolving around money, but with other aspects of the fight."
Although there are reports that the combatants agreed to a 50-50 split, and that Pacquiao, at least, was originally guaranteed $20 million -- plus their shares of any upside to to the pay per view revenue -- Koncz said that a gag order is in place for both sides and that, under the circumstances, it would be inappropriate to address any numbers.
There are also reports that Mayweather has been guaranteed at least $20 million, that his name will lead the promotion as, "Mayweather-Pacquiao," and that the revenue could push each side's earnings toward the $45 million mark.
"The only ones who know the figures are Manny, myself, Bob Arum, [Golden Boy Promotions'] Richard Schaefer and Floyd Mayweather. So there are other figures floating around out there that may or not be accurate," said Koncz, referring to Schaefer, who is representing Mayweather's side.
"In relation to any figures, I will not substantiate them," said Koncz. "There are gag orders in place, and I don't think that it's appropriate that any deals or negotiations should be negotiated in the press."
During Pacquiao's Q&A with FanHouse last week, Koncz said that Pacquiao has not yet signed a contract, but that the fighter had agreed to the terms of a clash with Mayweather on March 13, with each fighter being able to choose his own brand of eight ounce gloves, and at the welterweight (147-pound) category rather than at catchweight.
"I'm getting a number of calls from the media saying, 'Well, you guys didn't sign a contract, is the fight going to happen?' Of course it is going to happen," said Koncz.
"I think that I mentioned to you last week that we never sign a contract this early in the game," said Koncz. "As long as we have an agreement with Arum, it's always come through. The only thing that we have to worry about now is the location."
Upon Arum's return -- he was expected back on American soil on Sunday -- the promoter told FanHouse last week that he would relay the modified terms to Schaefer as early as Monday.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told FanHouse that the talks are, indeed, ongoing, and that the possibility exists that the deal could be announced as early as Tuesday -- the longtime promoter's 78th birthday.
Mayweather reportedly had agreed to terms early last week before Arum traveled to Manila for his meeting with Pacquiao and Koncz, who strongly believes that Mayweather will be on board.
"I don't see a problem with anything because [Golden Boy's] Richard Schaefer has been retained by Floyd to represent Mayweather throughout the negotiations, and the promotion, " said Koncz.
"The majority of the things that we discussed pertained only to our promoter -- not jointly to Top Rank and Golden Boy," said Koncz. "So that's why there's no concerns, and that's why we made agreements with Arum and that we're happy with. I think prabably the only thing that's left is the location."
Although Arum was contacted by The Atlanta Falcons' Georgia Dome on Monday, according to a scource, Las Vegas still appears to be the leading candidate for hosting the fight, particularly with its MGM Grand, The Thomas & Mack Center, and a 30,000-seat outdoor stadium that is being constructed.
Another solid possibility is The Dallas Cowboys' stadium, whose owner, Jerry Jones, will meet with Arum, Schaefer and HBO's Ross Greenburg on Thursday, Koncz said. There is also The New Orleans Superdome.
According to Wikipedia, however, The Georgia Dome, completed in 1992 at a cost of $214 million, was the world's largest domed structure until 1999, when London's Millennium Dome was built.
The Georgia Dome seated a record 75,982 for the 2008 SEC football championship game. It holds an average of around 71,228 for Atlanta Falcons' football games.
The Georgia Dome has housed about 75,000, and, 53,000, respectively, for concerts and basketball games when it is fully open. When sectioned off, it has seated around 40,000 for events such as basketball and gymnastics.
In addition, Georgia Dome regularly boasts eight Super Suites, 164 executive suites, a Penthouse Suite and 4,600 club seats, and features over 660 television monitors scattered about for fans who might not have the most favorable view of the fight.
If Mayweather-Pacquiao is made, as expected, there would likely be a Jan. 11 press conference in New York to announce it, followed by another, shortly thereafter, in New York, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times.
The bout could be the richest ever, based on the pay per view numbers generated by the fighters' most recent performances, and their cross-over appeal.
Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) has made appearances on Dancing With The Stars, defeated professional wrestling's, The Big Show, and will make an appearance Tuesday night on HBO's Joe Buck Live.
Pacquiao is running for congress in the Philippines, has been featured in The New York Times, graced the cover of Time Magazine, and made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he displayed his sense of humor and singing talents.
Named the recepient of the Gusi Peace Prize for his efforts in disaster relief during two recent typhoons in the Philippines, Pacquiao is in the midst of filming a superhero movie, WaPak Man, whose shooting should be complete on Dec. 9, with the movie to be released on Christmas.
Mayweather's split-decision victory over De La Hoya in May of 2007 sold a record 2.4 million, and his 10th-round knockout of Ricky Hatton generated 920,000 buys in May 2007.
Pacquiao-Cotto generated 1.25 million buys, according to Mark Taffet, HBO's senior vice president of pay per view.
With Mayweather's Sept. 19, unanimous decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, which resulted in 1.05 million buys, that marked the first time HBO pay per view recorded back-to-back fights exceeding a million buys.
Pacquiao-Cotto also marked the first time since 1999 that two, pay per view boxing events surpassed a million purchases, joining Felix Trinidad's controversial decision over Oscar De La Hoya, and, Lennox Lewis' disputed draw with Evander Holyfield.
Pacquiao's knockout of Oscar De La Hoya also registered 1.25 in December of 2008, and his second-round KO of Hatton in May drew 830,000 buys.
Pacquiao injured his right eardrum and his right hand, but told FanHouse that each should be "healthy" enough to fight Mayweather.
Pacquiao also said that neither filming the movie, nor his congressional campaign will interfere with his peparation.
Mayweather won't be discussing fight negotiation details on Joe Buck Live, his adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, told The Grand Rapids Press, the hometown newspaper of Mayweather, now a Las Vegas resident.
Mayweather "is not going to be talking about any fights. There's nothing to talk about," said Ellerbe. "Let them do the talking. When the time comes for Mr. Mayweather to talk, he'll be talking loud and clear."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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Floyd Mayweather's appearance on HBO's 'Joe Buck Live' won't include fight details -- Grand Rapids Press
By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press
Floyd Mayweather appears Tuesday night on HBO’s "Joe Buck Live," although the topics could make for an interesting song and dance.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s adviser, said the fighter "is not going to be talking about any fights," a reference to the ongoing negotiations for a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on March 13.
"There’s nothing to talk about," Ellerbe said. "Let them do the talking. When the time comes for Mr. Mayweather to talk, he’ll be talking loud and clear."
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
Floyd Mayweather appears Tuesday night on HBO’s "Joe Buck Live," although the topics could make for an interesting song and dance.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s adviser, said the fighter "is not going to be talking about any fights," a reference to the ongoing negotiations for a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on March 13.
"There’s nothing to talk about," Ellerbe said. "Let them do the talking. When the time comes for Mr. Mayweather to talk, he’ll be talking loud and clear."
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
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The Demise Ricky Hatton’s -- Ringside Report
By Jeff Stoyanoff, Ringside Report
There is always context to consider in any decision. After watching Manny Pacquiao manhandle a tremendous welterweight in Miguel Cotto, the loss that Ricky Hatton suffered at the hands of Pacquiao may no longer seem so troublesome. At this point, it doesn’t seem as though anyone has any answers for the combination of speed, power, and aggressiveness of Pacquiao, even top welters. So, Hatton making a comeback shouldn’t seem like such a stretch. Surely losing to the two best fighters of his generation shouldn’t be the end of a career for Hatton. Yet, those losses mean precisely that. Ricky Hatton’s career is over. It isn’t what happened in those fights that spell the end for Hatton as anyone can lose to a truly great fighter. Rather, it’s a trio of other fights that tell the tale of his diminishing skills in the ring.
The greatness of Mayweather and Pacquiao has blinded us to the noticeable slippage that has already occurred with Hatton. Floyd and Manny would have almost certainly handled Hatton regardless of when those fights occurred, so focusing on those fights doesn’t always provide the best insight into Hatton’s demise. Rather, one might take a look at some of Hatton’s other recent fights which took place against men who are not destined to be remembered as all time greats. By all rights, Hatton was beaten by Luis Collazo in May of 2006. Hatton gutted out a unanimous decision, but Collazo was very effective. Hatton was never really able to back up Collazo and by the second half of the fight it was Collazo who was clearly roughing up Hatton. Hatton remained aggressive throughout, but it was more and more ineffective aggression as the fight wore on. This fight should have provided a glimpse of Hatton’s eventual showdown with Mayweather as Floyd seem to dissect and eventually manhandle Hatton in a similar and decidedly more efficient manner when they met 19 months later. Hatton’s fight with Collazo was at 147 pounds which was a weight that Hatton never carried well. As such, his ineffectiveness might have been mitigated by that fact alone. Still, Hatton was starting slip and the Collazo fight provided the first look at Hatton’s fall. Collazo, the bigger man, made Hatton look slow and plodding for much of the fight particularly in the later rounds as Hatton wore down trying to impose his will on a bigger man. More and more Hatton took to simply walking straight in and Collazo predictably had little trouble landing. Nonetheless after the close win over Collazo, Hatton came back to score solid wins over Juan Urango and Jose Luis Castillo before dropping his eventual showdown with Mayweather. The Collazo fight was just the beginning of Hatton’s fall.
After losing to Mayweather, Hatton returned to the Junior Welterweight Division where he struggled to get passed Juan Lazcano. Although the scorecards would show a wide decision for Hatton, the bout itself would tell a vastly different story. Hatton struggled throughout and in round 10 Hatton was clearly dazed by a Lazcano left hook. With Hatton clearly still hurt, the referee elected to halt the action to allow Hatton to tie his shoes. It was beyond fortuitous for Hatton who survived the round and went on to win the fight. Lazcano was a text book example of the kind of solid fighter on which Hatton had built his stellar career. Lazcano could fight but he wasn’t a truly great fighter by any stretch. Fighters like that had always been relatively easy prey for Hatton. Even a cursory look at his record will show a multitude of solid fighters who had suffered one sided losses in their encounters with Hatton. With the exception of Kostya Tszyu, Hatton may not have had a long list of career defining great wins, but he had always given strong performances in many fights against good, solid fighters. That is until he faced Lazcano. What was just beginning to show against Collazo was now becoming more pronounced against Lazcano as Hatton seemed slower both in terms of movement and hand speed. The decline was in full effect.
In Hatton’s next fight he took on Paulie Malignaggi. Going in to that fight, Malignaggi had recorded 5 KO’s in 26 fights with his last one coming over five years previous. That very well may have been the most telling dynamic in the fight. Hatton did seem to be more effective offensively as he chased Malignaggi relentlessly utilizing his recently rediscovered jab to break down his man and gain the 11th round stoppage. However, Hatton was countered all night by Malignaggi who had little difficulty finding the range against Hatton’s ever more suspect defense. The reality is, had Malignaggi possessed more power it might have been a vastly more competitive fight. Hatton was now simply walking straight in much of the time, but this time his opponent could not make him pay. His next opponent could as we all saw firsthand.
One can never know if Hatton ever could have been more competitive against Mayweather and Pacquiao, perhaps yes, probably no. What seems less debatable is that Hatton should have performed better against Collazo, Lazcano, and Malignaggi. These fights give the greatest evidence of his decline. Yet, the reason that Hatton should pass on the idea of continuing his career has less to do with the slippage itself and more to do with the reasons for that slippage. Hatton has fallen off and he is not coming back. Here are some things to consider.
The Decline of The Hitman
Hatton is not only on the decline, but it is steep and irreversible. At first glance, it might appear as though Hatton has a long way to go in his career at the tender age of 31. However, Hatton is an ancient fighter at 31. It is widely known that Hatton has a penchant for packing on the weight between fights. Obviously, that is his prerogative and nobody can blame him for that decision. Who doesn’t like beer and fried food? Still, Ricky Hatton makes his living as an athlete and he is an exceptional one which is why he was able to overcome such a destructive pattern for so long. Constantly putting on weight and then taking it off to make an unnatural weight (as any weight in boxing is) will ultimately weaken anyone’s body, especially that of a top athlete. The difference between peak condition and being a little slower might only take the form of a split second decline in reaction speed. But, how long do you think it takes for a Manny Pacquiao right hand to get to your chin? When we talk about getting into the ring with professional fighters we are dealing in split seconds. Hatton has abused his body and it has taken a toll on his quickness and reflexes in the ring. Hatton’s reflexes have slipped, but even worse is the undeniable fact that Hatton’s reflexes won’t be returning.
Furthermore, Hatton is a consummate pressure fighter. Although Hatton is thought of as a bull at 140 pounds, he is actually quite average in size, even a little small. Hatton’s reach is a modest 65 inches. That short reach is part of the reason that he was such an effective fighter on the inside for much of his career. However, it also made it imperative that he get on the inside in order to be effective. This is the area where one can see the steepest decline in Hatton. A few years ago, Hatton had all of his natural quickness. It was that quickness rather than well honed defensive skills that allowed Hatton to close the gap on his opponents without absorbing too much damage. Getting on top of his opponents so quickly in turn drove Hatton’s offensive pressure in the ring. In the past couple of years, Hatton has clearly lost a measure of that quickness. Ricky Hatton’s hold on success in the ring was real, but ultimately tenuous. The loss of that quickness exposed his deficiencies on defense causing him to absorb more clean shots. As Hatton began to take more punches he was unable to close the distance as effectively as before which naturally stifled his offensive attack.
It isn’t that Hatton has no skills in the ring. One can’t win as many fights as he has without solid skills in the ring. However, like many pressure fighters, Hatton employed a physical style whose success was incumbent in large part upon his physical gifts. Once again, don’t look so much at the fights with Mayweather and Pacquiao as their greatness is a variable which cannot be defined in this problem. Rather, look at Collazo, Lazcano, and Malignaggi and then consider Hatton’s previous record. These were the kinds of guys against whom he had had success for his entire career. Should Hatton have eaten so many shots against those guys? Clearly, he was not the same fighter. Once again, the news is bad for Hatton. The quickness is not coming back. From this point on, it’s less head movement and fewer angles with more walking straight in, slowly. He can’t simply will his gifts to return.
Finally, consider that Hatton is only going to return against a top opponent. Jack Dempsey was once accosted as he came out of his restaurant in New York. Two men came up and demanded Dempsey’s wallet. Dempsey went into his crouch and a few seconds later both men were on the ground from a couple of shots to the body by Dempsey. Both men refused to get up until the police arrived. The story is hardly shocking until you consider that Dempsey was in his seventies when this happened. Ricky Hatton will always know how to fight, but right now he is not dealing with just some guy off the street, he is considering a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez is not Mayweather or Pacquiao, but he is a hall of fame fighter. Hatton, clearly diminished by a grueling career, will simply not have the defense to contend with the punches that will be coming from Marquez. This is a case of split seconds and the decline of Hatton will be the story. If Hatton is absorbing numerous shots from the types of guys he used to beat, and horrible, one sided beatings from great fighters, then one can only surmise that the result here will be at least somewhere in between, and unfortunately all of the above results are bad for Hatton.
History and The Hitman
Right now, Hatton’s stature in boxing is a little down. His two one sided losses in his biggest fights are burned in our minds and it makes it hard to realize how good he was. Hatton was clearly overmatched by both Mayweather and Pacquiao, but consider this. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao are incredible fighters and quite possibly the two best fighters of their generation regardless of weight. There are a ridiculous amount of truly exceptional fighters in a given generation and these two might be the best, and they fought Hatton at their absolute best, when they were in the prime of their careers. Conversely, Hatton fought one fight at Welterweight which was always a bad weight for him and the other fight when he was definitely passed his prime. Would the results have been different? Considering the pedigree of Mayweather and Pacquiao, it would be hard to imagine that the outcomes would have changed, but under different circumstances, Hatton being more competitive should not represent a considerable strain on the imagination of an objective boxing fan.
In time, these facts will return to us and when we consider Hatton we will remember that he went 45-0 against a number of good, solid fighters and that he suffered two losses to all time greats who were fighting at their peak when they entered the ring against him. Ricky Hatton is contending with something that most of us can scarcely imagine as he contemplates a life without boxing. It must be hard to walk away from a place where one has enjoyed so much success, but Hatton is already gone. Every punch he takes now is not just dangerous and unnecessary. Every needless punch he takes now makes it harder for all of us to remember what a special fighter he was then.
Source: ringsidereport.com
There is always context to consider in any decision. After watching Manny Pacquiao manhandle a tremendous welterweight in Miguel Cotto, the loss that Ricky Hatton suffered at the hands of Pacquiao may no longer seem so troublesome. At this point, it doesn’t seem as though anyone has any answers for the combination of speed, power, and aggressiveness of Pacquiao, even top welters. So, Hatton making a comeback shouldn’t seem like such a stretch. Surely losing to the two best fighters of his generation shouldn’t be the end of a career for Hatton. Yet, those losses mean precisely that. Ricky Hatton’s career is over. It isn’t what happened in those fights that spell the end for Hatton as anyone can lose to a truly great fighter. Rather, it’s a trio of other fights that tell the tale of his diminishing skills in the ring.
The greatness of Mayweather and Pacquiao has blinded us to the noticeable slippage that has already occurred with Hatton. Floyd and Manny would have almost certainly handled Hatton regardless of when those fights occurred, so focusing on those fights doesn’t always provide the best insight into Hatton’s demise. Rather, one might take a look at some of Hatton’s other recent fights which took place against men who are not destined to be remembered as all time greats. By all rights, Hatton was beaten by Luis Collazo in May of 2006. Hatton gutted out a unanimous decision, but Collazo was very effective. Hatton was never really able to back up Collazo and by the second half of the fight it was Collazo who was clearly roughing up Hatton. Hatton remained aggressive throughout, but it was more and more ineffective aggression as the fight wore on. This fight should have provided a glimpse of Hatton’s eventual showdown with Mayweather as Floyd seem to dissect and eventually manhandle Hatton in a similar and decidedly more efficient manner when they met 19 months later. Hatton’s fight with Collazo was at 147 pounds which was a weight that Hatton never carried well. As such, his ineffectiveness might have been mitigated by that fact alone. Still, Hatton was starting slip and the Collazo fight provided the first look at Hatton’s fall. Collazo, the bigger man, made Hatton look slow and plodding for much of the fight particularly in the later rounds as Hatton wore down trying to impose his will on a bigger man. More and more Hatton took to simply walking straight in and Collazo predictably had little trouble landing. Nonetheless after the close win over Collazo, Hatton came back to score solid wins over Juan Urango and Jose Luis Castillo before dropping his eventual showdown with Mayweather. The Collazo fight was just the beginning of Hatton’s fall.
After losing to Mayweather, Hatton returned to the Junior Welterweight Division where he struggled to get passed Juan Lazcano. Although the scorecards would show a wide decision for Hatton, the bout itself would tell a vastly different story. Hatton struggled throughout and in round 10 Hatton was clearly dazed by a Lazcano left hook. With Hatton clearly still hurt, the referee elected to halt the action to allow Hatton to tie his shoes. It was beyond fortuitous for Hatton who survived the round and went on to win the fight. Lazcano was a text book example of the kind of solid fighter on which Hatton had built his stellar career. Lazcano could fight but he wasn’t a truly great fighter by any stretch. Fighters like that had always been relatively easy prey for Hatton. Even a cursory look at his record will show a multitude of solid fighters who had suffered one sided losses in their encounters with Hatton. With the exception of Kostya Tszyu, Hatton may not have had a long list of career defining great wins, but he had always given strong performances in many fights against good, solid fighters. That is until he faced Lazcano. What was just beginning to show against Collazo was now becoming more pronounced against Lazcano as Hatton seemed slower both in terms of movement and hand speed. The decline was in full effect.
In Hatton’s next fight he took on Paulie Malignaggi. Going in to that fight, Malignaggi had recorded 5 KO’s in 26 fights with his last one coming over five years previous. That very well may have been the most telling dynamic in the fight. Hatton did seem to be more effective offensively as he chased Malignaggi relentlessly utilizing his recently rediscovered jab to break down his man and gain the 11th round stoppage. However, Hatton was countered all night by Malignaggi who had little difficulty finding the range against Hatton’s ever more suspect defense. The reality is, had Malignaggi possessed more power it might have been a vastly more competitive fight. Hatton was now simply walking straight in much of the time, but this time his opponent could not make him pay. His next opponent could as we all saw firsthand.
One can never know if Hatton ever could have been more competitive against Mayweather and Pacquiao, perhaps yes, probably no. What seems less debatable is that Hatton should have performed better against Collazo, Lazcano, and Malignaggi. These fights give the greatest evidence of his decline. Yet, the reason that Hatton should pass on the idea of continuing his career has less to do with the slippage itself and more to do with the reasons for that slippage. Hatton has fallen off and he is not coming back. Here are some things to consider.
The Decline of The Hitman
Hatton is not only on the decline, but it is steep and irreversible. At first glance, it might appear as though Hatton has a long way to go in his career at the tender age of 31. However, Hatton is an ancient fighter at 31. It is widely known that Hatton has a penchant for packing on the weight between fights. Obviously, that is his prerogative and nobody can blame him for that decision. Who doesn’t like beer and fried food? Still, Ricky Hatton makes his living as an athlete and he is an exceptional one which is why he was able to overcome such a destructive pattern for so long. Constantly putting on weight and then taking it off to make an unnatural weight (as any weight in boxing is) will ultimately weaken anyone’s body, especially that of a top athlete. The difference between peak condition and being a little slower might only take the form of a split second decline in reaction speed. But, how long do you think it takes for a Manny Pacquiao right hand to get to your chin? When we talk about getting into the ring with professional fighters we are dealing in split seconds. Hatton has abused his body and it has taken a toll on his quickness and reflexes in the ring. Hatton’s reflexes have slipped, but even worse is the undeniable fact that Hatton’s reflexes won’t be returning.
Furthermore, Hatton is a consummate pressure fighter. Although Hatton is thought of as a bull at 140 pounds, he is actually quite average in size, even a little small. Hatton’s reach is a modest 65 inches. That short reach is part of the reason that he was such an effective fighter on the inside for much of his career. However, it also made it imperative that he get on the inside in order to be effective. This is the area where one can see the steepest decline in Hatton. A few years ago, Hatton had all of his natural quickness. It was that quickness rather than well honed defensive skills that allowed Hatton to close the gap on his opponents without absorbing too much damage. Getting on top of his opponents so quickly in turn drove Hatton’s offensive pressure in the ring. In the past couple of years, Hatton has clearly lost a measure of that quickness. Ricky Hatton’s hold on success in the ring was real, but ultimately tenuous. The loss of that quickness exposed his deficiencies on defense causing him to absorb more clean shots. As Hatton began to take more punches he was unable to close the distance as effectively as before which naturally stifled his offensive attack.
It isn’t that Hatton has no skills in the ring. One can’t win as many fights as he has without solid skills in the ring. However, like many pressure fighters, Hatton employed a physical style whose success was incumbent in large part upon his physical gifts. Once again, don’t look so much at the fights with Mayweather and Pacquiao as their greatness is a variable which cannot be defined in this problem. Rather, look at Collazo, Lazcano, and Malignaggi and then consider Hatton’s previous record. These were the kinds of guys against whom he had had success for his entire career. Should Hatton have eaten so many shots against those guys? Clearly, he was not the same fighter. Once again, the news is bad for Hatton. The quickness is not coming back. From this point on, it’s less head movement and fewer angles with more walking straight in, slowly. He can’t simply will his gifts to return.
Finally, consider that Hatton is only going to return against a top opponent. Jack Dempsey was once accosted as he came out of his restaurant in New York. Two men came up and demanded Dempsey’s wallet. Dempsey went into his crouch and a few seconds later both men were on the ground from a couple of shots to the body by Dempsey. Both men refused to get up until the police arrived. The story is hardly shocking until you consider that Dempsey was in his seventies when this happened. Ricky Hatton will always know how to fight, but right now he is not dealing with just some guy off the street, he is considering a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez is not Mayweather or Pacquiao, but he is a hall of fame fighter. Hatton, clearly diminished by a grueling career, will simply not have the defense to contend with the punches that will be coming from Marquez. This is a case of split seconds and the decline of Hatton will be the story. If Hatton is absorbing numerous shots from the types of guys he used to beat, and horrible, one sided beatings from great fighters, then one can only surmise that the result here will be at least somewhere in between, and unfortunately all of the above results are bad for Hatton.
History and The Hitman
Right now, Hatton’s stature in boxing is a little down. His two one sided losses in his biggest fights are burned in our minds and it makes it hard to realize how good he was. Hatton was clearly overmatched by both Mayweather and Pacquiao, but consider this. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao are incredible fighters and quite possibly the two best fighters of their generation regardless of weight. There are a ridiculous amount of truly exceptional fighters in a given generation and these two might be the best, and they fought Hatton at their absolute best, when they were in the prime of their careers. Conversely, Hatton fought one fight at Welterweight which was always a bad weight for him and the other fight when he was definitely passed his prime. Would the results have been different? Considering the pedigree of Mayweather and Pacquiao, it would be hard to imagine that the outcomes would have changed, but under different circumstances, Hatton being more competitive should not represent a considerable strain on the imagination of an objective boxing fan.
In time, these facts will return to us and when we consider Hatton we will remember that he went 45-0 against a number of good, solid fighters and that he suffered two losses to all time greats who were fighting at their peak when they entered the ring against him. Ricky Hatton is contending with something that most of us can scarcely imagine as he contemplates a life without boxing. It must be hard to walk away from a place where one has enjoyed so much success, but Hatton is already gone. Every punch he takes now is not just dangerous and unnecessary. Every needless punch he takes now makes it harder for all of us to remember what a special fighter he was then.
Source: ringsidereport.com
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Promoters progressing as if Mayweather-Pacquiao a done deal -- Los Angeles Times
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
It's on.
That's how promotional teams for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are progressing, even if there has been no official announcement that the super-fight scheduled for March 13 has been formally inked by both men.
That official announcement is being crafted as we speak, a promotional source told The Times on Monday, even if Pacquiao hasn't signed his name on either a final contract or even a deal memo that his promoter Top Rank typically uses before working out smaller, but important, details.
"He hasn't signed a napkin," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told The Times on Saturday, a point another source familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about the talks told The Times on Monday. Pacquiao might not officially sign until early January, the source said.
Still, that source said the verbal commitment by Pacquiao was so strong to Arum while the promoter visited the boxer in the Philippines last week that promoters are operating as if "it's done."
A Los Angeles news conference is being planned for sometime during the first two weeks of January, two days after the boxers first appear jointly in New York.
Already, there's been verbal agreements on the guaranteed purse money, with each receiving in excess of $20 million, with pay-per-view "upside" making pay days greater than $40 million possible, those familiar with the negotiations say.
Additionally, at this hour, the fight will be promoted by Top Rank as "Mayweather-Pacquiao," with each fighter allowed to choose their own brand of eight-ounce gloves before battling for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title that Pacquiao won Nov. 14 with a 12th-round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto.
Without discussing any specifics of negotiations, Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe gave The Times an indication of why the undefeated fighter's name will be listed first in the promotion.
"Floyd's the best fighter in the world, hands down," Ellerbe said.
The debate about that opinion is this bout's best selling point.
Pacquiao, ready to win a second consecutive fighter-of-the-year award, has retired Oscar De La Hoya, knocked out Ricky Hatton in two rounds and battered the naturally bigger Cotto in his last three fights.
So often, Mayweather (40-0) boasts punching speed, fitness and defensive wizardry that trumps his opponents. That will be greatly tested by Pacquiao, whose exhaustive workout routines are legendary and whose insistence to bring massive pressure have made him boxing's first-ever seven-division world champion.
Las Vegas oddsmakers have established the bout as pick-em in the sports books.
When Pacquiao met with Arum, a source said, the boxer's enthusiasm about the fight was hinged not only on the thumbs-up by his trainer Freddie Roach to accept it but Pacquiao's own comparisons between his punishment of De La Hoya versus Mayweather's more tentative split-decision triumph over the "Golden Boy" 19 months earlier.
"Manny's coming right at him," the promotional source said.
Pacquiao has told Top Rank to send him videos of fights in which Mayweather has been especially troubled, including his ninth-round TKO of Emanuel Augustus in 2000, his unanimous decision over DeMarcus Corley in 2004 and his unanimous decision over Zab Judah in 2006.
Meanwhile, Arum, Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer and HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg are scheduled to visit Dallas Cowboys Stadium owner Jerry Jones on Thursday to inspect if that NFL stadium could host the fight.
The thinking by those trying to get the fight out of Las Vegas -- including possible interest by Atlanta's Georgia Dome -- is that it's "bigger than boxing," on a scale with Ali-Frazier III and other mega-fights, one Dallas fight promoter said.
No matter if the bout is staged in Dallas or Las Vegas, pay-per-view sales are what mostly interest the promoters, and the fact they're so close to finalizing a boxing Super Bowl has visions of riches dancing in their heads.
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
It's on.
That's how promotional teams for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are progressing, even if there has been no official announcement that the super-fight scheduled for March 13 has been formally inked by both men.
That official announcement is being crafted as we speak, a promotional source told The Times on Monday, even if Pacquiao hasn't signed his name on either a final contract or even a deal memo that his promoter Top Rank typically uses before working out smaller, but important, details.
"He hasn't signed a napkin," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told The Times on Saturday, a point another source familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about the talks told The Times on Monday. Pacquiao might not officially sign until early January, the source said.
Still, that source said the verbal commitment by Pacquiao was so strong to Arum while the promoter visited the boxer in the Philippines last week that promoters are operating as if "it's done."
A Los Angeles news conference is being planned for sometime during the first two weeks of January, two days after the boxers first appear jointly in New York.
Already, there's been verbal agreements on the guaranteed purse money, with each receiving in excess of $20 million, with pay-per-view "upside" making pay days greater than $40 million possible, those familiar with the negotiations say.
Additionally, at this hour, the fight will be promoted by Top Rank as "Mayweather-Pacquiao," with each fighter allowed to choose their own brand of eight-ounce gloves before battling for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title that Pacquiao won Nov. 14 with a 12th-round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto.
Without discussing any specifics of negotiations, Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe gave The Times an indication of why the undefeated fighter's name will be listed first in the promotion.
"Floyd's the best fighter in the world, hands down," Ellerbe said.
The debate about that opinion is this bout's best selling point.
Pacquiao, ready to win a second consecutive fighter-of-the-year award, has retired Oscar De La Hoya, knocked out Ricky Hatton in two rounds and battered the naturally bigger Cotto in his last three fights.
So often, Mayweather (40-0) boasts punching speed, fitness and defensive wizardry that trumps his opponents. That will be greatly tested by Pacquiao, whose exhaustive workout routines are legendary and whose insistence to bring massive pressure have made him boxing's first-ever seven-division world champion.
Las Vegas oddsmakers have established the bout as pick-em in the sports books.
When Pacquiao met with Arum, a source said, the boxer's enthusiasm about the fight was hinged not only on the thumbs-up by his trainer Freddie Roach to accept it but Pacquiao's own comparisons between his punishment of De La Hoya versus Mayweather's more tentative split-decision triumph over the "Golden Boy" 19 months earlier.
"Manny's coming right at him," the promotional source said.
Pacquiao has told Top Rank to send him videos of fights in which Mayweather has been especially troubled, including his ninth-round TKO of Emanuel Augustus in 2000, his unanimous decision over DeMarcus Corley in 2004 and his unanimous decision over Zab Judah in 2006.
Meanwhile, Arum, Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer and HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg are scheduled to visit Dallas Cowboys Stadium owner Jerry Jones on Thursday to inspect if that NFL stadium could host the fight.
The thinking by those trying to get the fight out of Las Vegas -- including possible interest by Atlanta's Georgia Dome -- is that it's "bigger than boxing," on a scale with Ali-Frazier III and other mega-fights, one Dallas fight promoter said.
No matter if the bout is staged in Dallas or Las Vegas, pay-per-view sales are what mostly interest the promoters, and the fact they're so close to finalizing a boxing Super Bowl has visions of riches dancing in their heads.
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
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Putting Mayweather-Pacquiao outside Nevada is lunacy -- Examiner.com
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
They are, by critical acclaim, the two best boxers on the planet.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will be in a boxing "Super Bowl" when they finally fight on March 13.
They deserve no less than a level playing field, or more accurately, a square ring with a referee and three judges who are the best available.
Boxing plays with dynamite if it uses a hometown referee like Marlon Wright, the Montreal ref who robbed Libradao Andrade of a title winning KO over Lucian Bute. Or if a Gale Van Hoy (Texas) is allowed to render a competely baseless scorecard like he did in the Paulie Malignaggi-Juan Diaz bout in Houston. Ditto for clueless Pierre Benoist (New Jersey) with his ridiculous 119-110 vote for Paul Williams over Sergio Martinez.
That's why Mayweather-Pacquiao must take place under the auspices of the most stringent boxing commission on the planet.
That's why this mega bout belongs in Nevada, and not in Texas, where both camps know that the best available officials will be chosen to work this historic fight.
Nevada lays claim to the best referee (Kenny Bayless) and to the most active, most well seasoned judges extant.
I don't recall the Mayweather camp ever having any sort of "beef" with Nevada officiating, do you?
As for Pacman, yes he had a legit complaint back in 2004 when NSAC judge Bert Clements blew it in not calling him a 10-6 winner of the opening round against Juan Manuel Marquez.
You will recall that Manny floored the Mexican counterpuncher thrice in that frame and the other two judges did mark their cards correctly while Clements made it, 10-7.
Aside from that miscue, Pacquiao has been rendered competent work from judges and referees under the NSAC banner.
Now if someone wants to assure us that four officials picked by Nevada will be used in Jerry Jones football playpen for the Cowboys, that's another story.
But Dickie Cole, who rules the Texas commission with an iron hand but no velvet glove, won't agree to that.
And he will, as a good father should, insist that his son, referee Laurence Cole, be the third man in the ring.
As for Texas picking the judges, well let's not forget the reason there is a Diaz-Malignaggi rematch happening on neutral turf (Chicago) on HBO this Saturday night.
To his credit, Malignaggi predicted he would be be the screwee BEFORE the fight. Mouthy Paulie was entitled to his I told you so's afterwards.
Putting Mayweather-Pacquiao anywhere outside the Nevada state limits is inviting disaster.
If there's one thing I think the Mayweather and Pacman camps can totally agree on, this is it.
Mayweather-Pacquiao must land in Las Vegas.
That way, the world is put on notice that only Manny and Floyd will decide the outcome.
'Nuff said.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
They are, by critical acclaim, the two best boxers on the planet.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will be in a boxing "Super Bowl" when they finally fight on March 13.
They deserve no less than a level playing field, or more accurately, a square ring with a referee and three judges who are the best available.
Boxing plays with dynamite if it uses a hometown referee like Marlon Wright, the Montreal ref who robbed Libradao Andrade of a title winning KO over Lucian Bute. Or if a Gale Van Hoy (Texas) is allowed to render a competely baseless scorecard like he did in the Paulie Malignaggi-Juan Diaz bout in Houston. Ditto for clueless Pierre Benoist (New Jersey) with his ridiculous 119-110 vote for Paul Williams over Sergio Martinez.
That's why Mayweather-Pacquiao must take place under the auspices of the most stringent boxing commission on the planet.
That's why this mega bout belongs in Nevada, and not in Texas, where both camps know that the best available officials will be chosen to work this historic fight.
Nevada lays claim to the best referee (Kenny Bayless) and to the most active, most well seasoned judges extant.
I don't recall the Mayweather camp ever having any sort of "beef" with Nevada officiating, do you?
As for Pacman, yes he had a legit complaint back in 2004 when NSAC judge Bert Clements blew it in not calling him a 10-6 winner of the opening round against Juan Manuel Marquez.
You will recall that Manny floored the Mexican counterpuncher thrice in that frame and the other two judges did mark their cards correctly while Clements made it, 10-7.
Aside from that miscue, Pacquiao has been rendered competent work from judges and referees under the NSAC banner.
Now if someone wants to assure us that four officials picked by Nevada will be used in Jerry Jones football playpen for the Cowboys, that's another story.
But Dickie Cole, who rules the Texas commission with an iron hand but no velvet glove, won't agree to that.
And he will, as a good father should, insist that his son, referee Laurence Cole, be the third man in the ring.
As for Texas picking the judges, well let's not forget the reason there is a Diaz-Malignaggi rematch happening on neutral turf (Chicago) on HBO this Saturday night.
To his credit, Malignaggi predicted he would be be the screwee BEFORE the fight. Mouthy Paulie was entitled to his I told you so's afterwards.
Putting Mayweather-Pacquiao anywhere outside the Nevada state limits is inviting disaster.
If there's one thing I think the Mayweather and Pacman camps can totally agree on, this is it.
Mayweather-Pacquiao must land in Las Vegas.
That way, the world is put on notice that only Manny and Floyd will decide the outcome.
'Nuff said.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
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'the Desert Storm' Faces a Tough Mandatory -- SecondsOut.com
By Steve Kim, SecondsOut.com
Timothy Bradley completes what has been quite an eventful 2009 on Saturday night at the Agua Caliente Casino (Showtime 9 pm, ET/PT) in Rancho Mirage, California, when he defends his WBO jr. welterweight strap against mandatory challenger, Lamont Peterson. And folks, this isn’t a Patrick Charpentier or Amir Khan, Peterson is no mis-mandatory. More than one boxing insider is tabbing Peterson to take Bradley’s belt.
And you don’t have to tell Bradley, who will be fighting near his hometown of Palm Springs, that Peterson is quite the legitimate challenge.
"Absolutely, styles make fights and we’re definitely preparing ourselves for his advantages, he’s taller," admitted Bradley, who has to overcome Peterson’s height and reach."But like I said to everybody before I’m a tall mans worst nightmare. I’ve been fighting big guys my whole career, my whole life basically and I don’t have a problem with big guys. It’s the smaller guys that give me the problems. But he’s going to try to establish his jab and try to move and keep me at bay. He’s going to have me in his face to deal with because I’m going to come in shape and I’m bringing the leather, I’m bringing the punches, I’m going to be in his face all night. I’m not going to fade.
"One thing I notice about Lamont is that he fights in spurts. He’s not consistent enough and I’m going to be consistent that night."
Is ’consistent’ another way of saying ’pressure’?
"Pressure, consistency, I’m going to keep going, I’m going to keep going and he’s going to have to stop me,"said Bradley, who comes with a mark of 24-0."That means a lot of pressure, applying a lot of pressure. It depends on what he brings because Lamont can fight on the inside, he can fight on the outside, also. So we’re going to be making so many adjustments in that fight. He’s coming forward, I might be boxing, when he’s backing up, I might be coming forward. We’re going to be constantly fighting in that ring. But it’s going to be a battle of conditioning. I know Lamont’s going to come in really good shape, too. But I think it’s going to be determination and will and whoever is the smartest man that night and can establish their game plan."
Bradley respects Peterson’s all-around skills, he knows that his smooth, upright boxing can give him problems. He is familiar with him as they both came out of the same amateur class.
"I never faced him," Bradley recalled,"but he weighed a lot less than I did. So I always fought in a heavier weight class than he did. He fought at like 140, 141 and I fought at 152 pounds. But we traveled on the U.S. team together, went to a couple of different countries together, Germany, France, traveled on the train with him, played cards. So he knows me pretty well, he was in every national tournament I was. He was one of the top guys. I know he’s definitely a force and he’s definitely looking to make a name for himself on December 12Th. It’s my job to stop him."
Since defeating Junior Witter for the WBC title in May of 2008 in Nottingham, England, he has faced nothing but quality opposition. After handily defusing ’the Cherry Bomb’, Edner Cherry that September, he began this year by attempting to unify the titles against WBO titlist, Kendall Holt, at the Bell Centre in Montreal in April.
At the end of the first, he was looking up at the lights and the Stanley Cup banners of the Montreal Canadiens as he was decked by a blistering Holt left-hook.
Bradley says of that experience,"Oh, man, I was just basically like, wow. This was the first time I had been down. I was like,’I need to get back into this fight. I’m down two rounds.’ I went back to my corner, my corner, they didn’t freak out, they were very professional. They said,’You gotta get back to the game plan. The knockdown happened and lets go to work.’ And that’s what we did. I just went out real hard and just got aggressive and I said,’I’ve gotta make up two rounds, now, I’m behind.’"
"I was just hoping Timmy got up because it was a spectacular shot," said his co-promoter, Gary Shaw."And the first thing that went through my mind was when I saw him getting up is,’Wow, my guys got some chin.’ And y’know everybody says when you get a good fighter, they go,’Well, he hasn’t been tested, his chin has never been tested.’ I normally don’t subscribe to that- I hope my fighter ends his career never getting tested. But I thought that was a huge test for Tim Bradley. And the fact that he got up, the fact that he had his mind when he took a knee himself, I thought that was pretty clever."
Over the course of the next ten frames, he simply out-worked and out-gutted Holt with his tenacity and toughness. He had built up enough of an advantage that he was still ahead on points after touching the canvas again in the 12Th and final round. Before the fight, Holt had derided Bradley as being an inexperienced and green fighter on the world-class level. But after Bradley had dusted himself off after his initial knockdown, he seemed to shy away from the fight.
"He hit me with his best punch and I was still in his face. I got up from his best shot that he could possibly land all night and it just frustrated him a little bit," Bradley explained."It’s like,’Man, this guy keeps coming, he’s so determined.’ I was in his face, even though he can punch pretty hard, I was just so determined and he wasn’t going to get me outta there. I was determined to win."
That fight was followed up by the disappointing conclusion against Nate Campbell over the summer at the Agua Caliente that saw the fight prematurely halted by a clash of heads that rendered Campbell unable to continue after three rounds. That bout was eventually ruled a ’no-contest.’
But with a win over Peterson, Bradley can start to make a strong case for himself as the premiere 140-pounder on the planet.
"I feel that I’m definitely one of the best. I don’t feel I am the best, yet." Bradley states." Even though I proved myself against the best opponents in the world. But I feel that at this point in my career I just want to fight the best opponents in the world. It really doesn’t matter to me, I want to fight the best fighters in the world. I get past Lamont Peterson, we’ll look forward to fighting a star in this division, maybe a Ricky Hatton will come back and fight somebody, fight myself, or Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather. I just want the biggest names in my division to make a name for myself."
Well, I’m told that Pacquiao and Mayweather have other plans as of this moment. As for facing ’the Hitman’, he’d have no problems facing him in Manchester.
"Absolutely, absolutely, Manchester, England, I got a lot of fans in England," he says with a laugh, referring to his victory over Witter."That’s where I won my first world title. So I have a lot of fans over there. I’m willing to travel over and definitely face Ricky Hatton in his hometown, wherever it is, it doesn’t matter. Like I said, I just want to face the best fighters in the world. Give me an opportunity to fight the best fighters in the world and watch me beat’em."
The wheels are in motion already to get Bradley a marquee bout in 2010, according to Shaw, who tells Maxboxing,"I’ve already been speaking to Frank Warren and Showtime on a conference call about doing an Amir Khan fight. So that’s a fight I’d like to do. I’ve spoken to Hatton’s father, but at that point they didn’t know if he was going to come out of retirement or not, to do a Hatton fight. I mean, those are the two biggest fights. If Juan Manuel Marquez wants to fight at ’40, that’s a big fight. There’s the winner of Paulie Malignaggi-Juan Diaz, so there’s a whole array of fighters out there for Tim to fight."
That is, if he can get past Peterson on Saturday night.
DARCHINYAN
Also on this Showtime doubleheader is Vic Darchinyan, who moves back down to jr. bantamweight, after his disappointing loss over the summer to then-IBF bantamweight titlist, Joseph Agbeko. He will be facing Tomas Rojas in defense of his WBC jr. bantamweight title and his WBA ’super’ championship.
"I think Vic can fight at both ’15 and ’18," said Shaw, who also promotes ’the Raging Bull’ of Australia."I just thought that he fought a terrible fight against Agbeko, I think if you spoke to him today, he would agree that he was hard-headed. He just wanted to knock him out. He didn’t fight a smart fight. Agbeko used his head, as he proved not only against Vic but Yonnhy Perez. They both needed sutures. So I think he can still be competitive at 118 and we know for sure he’s competitive at 115."
They say in boxing, never say never. Which is the case again, as a rematch against one Nonito Donaire- Shaw’s former client, who he had promised would never, ever face Darchinyan in a return bout- could be in the offing." Well, I’ve already asked the WBA that if we win this fight, which I believe we will, to call for a purse bid," said Shaw. Donaire, won the interim portion of the WBA title over the summer when he decisioned Rafael Concepcion." I’m tired of Donaire saying that Vic doesn’t want to fight him- and I really shouldn’t blame that on Donaire, a lot of of the Filipino press and all that, and the fans say that Vic doesn’t want to fight him- so lets get it on once and for all. Let’s get the rematch on.
"It’s the biggest fight that Donaire could have. It will get him back on TV, which he’s been missing and let’s see he can do what he did the first time or if it was just a fluke."
Donaire is scheduled to face Gerson Guerrero in mid-February, so if this fight can be consummated look for it took take place in the early summer of 2010.
THE U
I’ll be out at the Agua Caliente Casino but I have to admit, I thought long and hard about just staying home this upcoming Saturday night. And no, not because HBO has their own ’Boxing After Dark’ featuring the rematch between Diaz-Malignaggi from Chicago, but because ESPN’s ’30 for 30’ series continues with ’the U’, which is an in-depth look at the Miami Hurricanes of the 1980’s that revolutionized the game of college football- and really the hip-hop culture in sports- for that matter.
Judging by the previews I’ve seen, where there is plenty of army fatigues, touchdown dances, Luther Campbell and Jimmy Johnson, this two-hour feature which is produced by a pair of University of Miami grads, Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman, looks like a winner. This duo also did ’Cocaine Cowboys’- which was not about the Dallas Cowboys of the 90’s- but the drug culture that infiltrated South Florida in the ’70 and ’80’s.
There will never, ever be another era quite like this one in college football. Those renegade Canes truly were one-of-a-kind and they ran roughshod over anyone that stepped in their path. My DVR will be working overtime on Saturday night. Being the sentimental sort that I am, I might even shed a tear or three.
But fellas, one question, did the Japanese, sit down and have dinner.....
SQUARE KO’S
It wasn’t the best week for Square Ring, which not only saw it’s signature fighter, Roy Jones, get stopped in one frame in Australia by Danny Green. But their ignominious week was capped off when Dmitriy Salita, was stopped in 76 seconds by Amir Khan for the WBA jr. welterweight title on Saturday in Newcastle, England.
How Salita was ever put as the mandatory challenger is beyond me. His record was the very definition of soft and built-up. And while Peterson is an example of the system working, as it relates to the ranking system of the sanctioning organizations and mandatory contenders, Salita, was/is an example of why so many deride it. The bottom line is that he had no business being rated in the top ten- much less number one- and he was hopelessly out-classed.
As for Square Ring, well, I guess now they can focus all their attention on the burgeoning career of BJ Flores.
FURTHER REVIEW
While everyone is up in arms over the 119-110 scorecard rendered by one Pierre Benoist, that unfortunately has cast a dark shadow over the spirited clash between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez this past weekend in Atlantic City, I found it interesting that the other two judges, Lynne Carter and Julie Lederman, both gave round one- where both fighters were knocked down- to Paul Williams by a score of 10-9. Benoist, ironically, scored that round even.
Interesting, since it seemed like of the two knockdowns, Martinez’s was much cleaner of a punch and did more damage of the two. Carter had Williams up 115-113 and Lederman had it a draw at 114-114, both very reasonable scores, this bout was closely contested anyway you look at it.
But if that round is flipped for Martinez, this fight becomes a spit decision draw.
Lou DiBella was relatively placid about the decision on early Sunday morning and talked of making sure his man, Martinez, would get back on HBO as soon as possible, with or without Williams, who was pretty banged up. But as he finally got wind of the official scorecards from the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, ’Mt Saint’ DiBella erupted in the afternoon.
Simply put, he had one of his classic volcanic outbursts. Good thing no kids were nearby. Young and innocent ears shouldn’t have had to have listened to the diatribe that I got to hear. But I can’t say that I blame him, either.
CHAVEZ JR
It was announced that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. had tested positive for the banned substance, Flurosemide, in the wake of his ten round victory over Troy Rowland on the Pacquiao-Cotto undercard on November 14Th.
Flurosemide is a diuretic and can be used as a masking agent for other illegal performance enhancing drugs. Looking at the physique of Chavez, I’ll make the assumption he’s not on HGH or steroids, but he certainly has had problems at the scales. But seriously, if you’re going to use this stuff, shouldn’t your body at least look like the one of a professional prizefighter? But then again, even with these substances, you still need a good work ethic to go along with them.
Don’t know what the penalty will be for Junior, but I hope it’s severe enough that he’s not anywhere near the Pacquiao-Mayweather undercard. This is becoming more and more of a fraudulent career.
FINAL FLURRIES
Speaking of built up records, couldn’t you just see Carson Jones exposing Tyrone Brunson from a mile away?...For the record, I thought Mauricio Herrera deserved the nod against Mike Anchondo on ShoBox...The job of game-planning and then making adjustments by Bama head man, Nick Saban, is one of the finest jobs of coaching I have ever seen. Like him or not, the man can flat out coach’em up. For the Tide, he could be the modern day Bear Bryant....Cincy-Pitt, might have been the best college football game I saw in 2009....Hey Charlie Weis, what did Carmelo Anthony say? No snitchin!! Why throw throw Pete Carroll under the bus for your ineptitude?...For the record, I think TCU should be in the national title game.....Are the days of Chris Arreola being at 250 a thing of the past? Funny thing was, he didn’t look all that bad at 263 against Brian Minto...The last edition of ’the Main Event’ featured Tim Bradley and Chris Arreola. Coming up this week will be Malignaggi and Peterson....Any questions or comments, you can email me at k9kim@yahoo.com.....Twitter.com/stevemaxboxing....
Source: secondsout.com
Timothy Bradley completes what has been quite an eventful 2009 on Saturday night at the Agua Caliente Casino (Showtime 9 pm, ET/PT) in Rancho Mirage, California, when he defends his WBO jr. welterweight strap against mandatory challenger, Lamont Peterson. And folks, this isn’t a Patrick Charpentier or Amir Khan, Peterson is no mis-mandatory. More than one boxing insider is tabbing Peterson to take Bradley’s belt.
And you don’t have to tell Bradley, who will be fighting near his hometown of Palm Springs, that Peterson is quite the legitimate challenge.
"Absolutely, styles make fights and we’re definitely preparing ourselves for his advantages, he’s taller," admitted Bradley, who has to overcome Peterson’s height and reach."But like I said to everybody before I’m a tall mans worst nightmare. I’ve been fighting big guys my whole career, my whole life basically and I don’t have a problem with big guys. It’s the smaller guys that give me the problems. But he’s going to try to establish his jab and try to move and keep me at bay. He’s going to have me in his face to deal with because I’m going to come in shape and I’m bringing the leather, I’m bringing the punches, I’m going to be in his face all night. I’m not going to fade.
"One thing I notice about Lamont is that he fights in spurts. He’s not consistent enough and I’m going to be consistent that night."
Is ’consistent’ another way of saying ’pressure’?
"Pressure, consistency, I’m going to keep going, I’m going to keep going and he’s going to have to stop me,"said Bradley, who comes with a mark of 24-0."That means a lot of pressure, applying a lot of pressure. It depends on what he brings because Lamont can fight on the inside, he can fight on the outside, also. So we’re going to be making so many adjustments in that fight. He’s coming forward, I might be boxing, when he’s backing up, I might be coming forward. We’re going to be constantly fighting in that ring. But it’s going to be a battle of conditioning. I know Lamont’s going to come in really good shape, too. But I think it’s going to be determination and will and whoever is the smartest man that night and can establish their game plan."
Bradley respects Peterson’s all-around skills, he knows that his smooth, upright boxing can give him problems. He is familiar with him as they both came out of the same amateur class.
"I never faced him," Bradley recalled,"but he weighed a lot less than I did. So I always fought in a heavier weight class than he did. He fought at like 140, 141 and I fought at 152 pounds. But we traveled on the U.S. team together, went to a couple of different countries together, Germany, France, traveled on the train with him, played cards. So he knows me pretty well, he was in every national tournament I was. He was one of the top guys. I know he’s definitely a force and he’s definitely looking to make a name for himself on December 12Th. It’s my job to stop him."
Since defeating Junior Witter for the WBC title in May of 2008 in Nottingham, England, he has faced nothing but quality opposition. After handily defusing ’the Cherry Bomb’, Edner Cherry that September, he began this year by attempting to unify the titles against WBO titlist, Kendall Holt, at the Bell Centre in Montreal in April.
At the end of the first, he was looking up at the lights and the Stanley Cup banners of the Montreal Canadiens as he was decked by a blistering Holt left-hook.
Bradley says of that experience,"Oh, man, I was just basically like, wow. This was the first time I had been down. I was like,’I need to get back into this fight. I’m down two rounds.’ I went back to my corner, my corner, they didn’t freak out, they were very professional. They said,’You gotta get back to the game plan. The knockdown happened and lets go to work.’ And that’s what we did. I just went out real hard and just got aggressive and I said,’I’ve gotta make up two rounds, now, I’m behind.’"
"I was just hoping Timmy got up because it was a spectacular shot," said his co-promoter, Gary Shaw."And the first thing that went through my mind was when I saw him getting up is,’Wow, my guys got some chin.’ And y’know everybody says when you get a good fighter, they go,’Well, he hasn’t been tested, his chin has never been tested.’ I normally don’t subscribe to that- I hope my fighter ends his career never getting tested. But I thought that was a huge test for Tim Bradley. And the fact that he got up, the fact that he had his mind when he took a knee himself, I thought that was pretty clever."
Over the course of the next ten frames, he simply out-worked and out-gutted Holt with his tenacity and toughness. He had built up enough of an advantage that he was still ahead on points after touching the canvas again in the 12Th and final round. Before the fight, Holt had derided Bradley as being an inexperienced and green fighter on the world-class level. But after Bradley had dusted himself off after his initial knockdown, he seemed to shy away from the fight.
"He hit me with his best punch and I was still in his face. I got up from his best shot that he could possibly land all night and it just frustrated him a little bit," Bradley explained."It’s like,’Man, this guy keeps coming, he’s so determined.’ I was in his face, even though he can punch pretty hard, I was just so determined and he wasn’t going to get me outta there. I was determined to win."
That fight was followed up by the disappointing conclusion against Nate Campbell over the summer at the Agua Caliente that saw the fight prematurely halted by a clash of heads that rendered Campbell unable to continue after three rounds. That bout was eventually ruled a ’no-contest.’
But with a win over Peterson, Bradley can start to make a strong case for himself as the premiere 140-pounder on the planet.
"I feel that I’m definitely one of the best. I don’t feel I am the best, yet." Bradley states." Even though I proved myself against the best opponents in the world. But I feel that at this point in my career I just want to fight the best opponents in the world. It really doesn’t matter to me, I want to fight the best fighters in the world. I get past Lamont Peterson, we’ll look forward to fighting a star in this division, maybe a Ricky Hatton will come back and fight somebody, fight myself, or Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather. I just want the biggest names in my division to make a name for myself."
Well, I’m told that Pacquiao and Mayweather have other plans as of this moment. As for facing ’the Hitman’, he’d have no problems facing him in Manchester.
"Absolutely, absolutely, Manchester, England, I got a lot of fans in England," he says with a laugh, referring to his victory over Witter."That’s where I won my first world title. So I have a lot of fans over there. I’m willing to travel over and definitely face Ricky Hatton in his hometown, wherever it is, it doesn’t matter. Like I said, I just want to face the best fighters in the world. Give me an opportunity to fight the best fighters in the world and watch me beat’em."
The wheels are in motion already to get Bradley a marquee bout in 2010, according to Shaw, who tells Maxboxing,"I’ve already been speaking to Frank Warren and Showtime on a conference call about doing an Amir Khan fight. So that’s a fight I’d like to do. I’ve spoken to Hatton’s father, but at that point they didn’t know if he was going to come out of retirement or not, to do a Hatton fight. I mean, those are the two biggest fights. If Juan Manuel Marquez wants to fight at ’40, that’s a big fight. There’s the winner of Paulie Malignaggi-Juan Diaz, so there’s a whole array of fighters out there for Tim to fight."
That is, if he can get past Peterson on Saturday night.
DARCHINYAN
Also on this Showtime doubleheader is Vic Darchinyan, who moves back down to jr. bantamweight, after his disappointing loss over the summer to then-IBF bantamweight titlist, Joseph Agbeko. He will be facing Tomas Rojas in defense of his WBC jr. bantamweight title and his WBA ’super’ championship.
"I think Vic can fight at both ’15 and ’18," said Shaw, who also promotes ’the Raging Bull’ of Australia."I just thought that he fought a terrible fight against Agbeko, I think if you spoke to him today, he would agree that he was hard-headed. He just wanted to knock him out. He didn’t fight a smart fight. Agbeko used his head, as he proved not only against Vic but Yonnhy Perez. They both needed sutures. So I think he can still be competitive at 118 and we know for sure he’s competitive at 115."
They say in boxing, never say never. Which is the case again, as a rematch against one Nonito Donaire- Shaw’s former client, who he had promised would never, ever face Darchinyan in a return bout- could be in the offing." Well, I’ve already asked the WBA that if we win this fight, which I believe we will, to call for a purse bid," said Shaw. Donaire, won the interim portion of the WBA title over the summer when he decisioned Rafael Concepcion." I’m tired of Donaire saying that Vic doesn’t want to fight him- and I really shouldn’t blame that on Donaire, a lot of of the Filipino press and all that, and the fans say that Vic doesn’t want to fight him- so lets get it on once and for all. Let’s get the rematch on.
"It’s the biggest fight that Donaire could have. It will get him back on TV, which he’s been missing and let’s see he can do what he did the first time or if it was just a fluke."
Donaire is scheduled to face Gerson Guerrero in mid-February, so if this fight can be consummated look for it took take place in the early summer of 2010.
THE U
I’ll be out at the Agua Caliente Casino but I have to admit, I thought long and hard about just staying home this upcoming Saturday night. And no, not because HBO has their own ’Boxing After Dark’ featuring the rematch between Diaz-Malignaggi from Chicago, but because ESPN’s ’30 for 30’ series continues with ’the U’, which is an in-depth look at the Miami Hurricanes of the 1980’s that revolutionized the game of college football- and really the hip-hop culture in sports- for that matter.
Judging by the previews I’ve seen, where there is plenty of army fatigues, touchdown dances, Luther Campbell and Jimmy Johnson, this two-hour feature which is produced by a pair of University of Miami grads, Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman, looks like a winner. This duo also did ’Cocaine Cowboys’- which was not about the Dallas Cowboys of the 90’s- but the drug culture that infiltrated South Florida in the ’70 and ’80’s.
There will never, ever be another era quite like this one in college football. Those renegade Canes truly were one-of-a-kind and they ran roughshod over anyone that stepped in their path. My DVR will be working overtime on Saturday night. Being the sentimental sort that I am, I might even shed a tear or three.
But fellas, one question, did the Japanese, sit down and have dinner.....
SQUARE KO’S
It wasn’t the best week for Square Ring, which not only saw it’s signature fighter, Roy Jones, get stopped in one frame in Australia by Danny Green. But their ignominious week was capped off when Dmitriy Salita, was stopped in 76 seconds by Amir Khan for the WBA jr. welterweight title on Saturday in Newcastle, England.
How Salita was ever put as the mandatory challenger is beyond me. His record was the very definition of soft and built-up. And while Peterson is an example of the system working, as it relates to the ranking system of the sanctioning organizations and mandatory contenders, Salita, was/is an example of why so many deride it. The bottom line is that he had no business being rated in the top ten- much less number one- and he was hopelessly out-classed.
As for Square Ring, well, I guess now they can focus all their attention on the burgeoning career of BJ Flores.
FURTHER REVIEW
While everyone is up in arms over the 119-110 scorecard rendered by one Pierre Benoist, that unfortunately has cast a dark shadow over the spirited clash between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez this past weekend in Atlantic City, I found it interesting that the other two judges, Lynne Carter and Julie Lederman, both gave round one- where both fighters were knocked down- to Paul Williams by a score of 10-9. Benoist, ironically, scored that round even.
Interesting, since it seemed like of the two knockdowns, Martinez’s was much cleaner of a punch and did more damage of the two. Carter had Williams up 115-113 and Lederman had it a draw at 114-114, both very reasonable scores, this bout was closely contested anyway you look at it.
But if that round is flipped for Martinez, this fight becomes a spit decision draw.
Lou DiBella was relatively placid about the decision on early Sunday morning and talked of making sure his man, Martinez, would get back on HBO as soon as possible, with or without Williams, who was pretty banged up. But as he finally got wind of the official scorecards from the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, ’Mt Saint’ DiBella erupted in the afternoon.
Simply put, he had one of his classic volcanic outbursts. Good thing no kids were nearby. Young and innocent ears shouldn’t have had to have listened to the diatribe that I got to hear. But I can’t say that I blame him, either.
CHAVEZ JR
It was announced that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. had tested positive for the banned substance, Flurosemide, in the wake of his ten round victory over Troy Rowland on the Pacquiao-Cotto undercard on November 14Th.
Flurosemide is a diuretic and can be used as a masking agent for other illegal performance enhancing drugs. Looking at the physique of Chavez, I’ll make the assumption he’s not on HGH or steroids, but he certainly has had problems at the scales. But seriously, if you’re going to use this stuff, shouldn’t your body at least look like the one of a professional prizefighter? But then again, even with these substances, you still need a good work ethic to go along with them.
Don’t know what the penalty will be for Junior, but I hope it’s severe enough that he’s not anywhere near the Pacquiao-Mayweather undercard. This is becoming more and more of a fraudulent career.
FINAL FLURRIES
Speaking of built up records, couldn’t you just see Carson Jones exposing Tyrone Brunson from a mile away?...For the record, I thought Mauricio Herrera deserved the nod against Mike Anchondo on ShoBox...The job of game-planning and then making adjustments by Bama head man, Nick Saban, is one of the finest jobs of coaching I have ever seen. Like him or not, the man can flat out coach’em up. For the Tide, he could be the modern day Bear Bryant....Cincy-Pitt, might have been the best college football game I saw in 2009....Hey Charlie Weis, what did Carmelo Anthony say? No snitchin!! Why throw throw Pete Carroll under the bus for your ineptitude?...For the record, I think TCU should be in the national title game.....Are the days of Chris Arreola being at 250 a thing of the past? Funny thing was, he didn’t look all that bad at 263 against Brian Minto...The last edition of ’the Main Event’ featured Tim Bradley and Chris Arreola. Coming up this week will be Malignaggi and Peterson....Any questions or comments, you can email me at k9kim@yahoo.com.....Twitter.com/stevemaxboxing....
Source: secondsout.com
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WWE News: Batista spends a week overseas promoting new energy drink, boxing-related friendly feud vs. Triple H -- PWTorch.com
By James Caldwell, PWTorch.com
While the WWE wrestlers were split between Iraq and house shows in the Southern U.S., Batista was in the Philippines last week promoting a new energy drink he is endorsing.
Batista is of Filipino descent and he grabbed headlines in national newspapers declaring that Filipino star boxer Manny Pacquiao will defeat Floyd Mayweather in the March 2010 fight.
Batista told reporters that he'll talk trash with Triple H leading up to the fight. Hunter endorsed Mayweather this past summer prior to Mayweather defeating Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas after Mayweather guest-hosted WWE Raw.
Caldwell's Analysis: WWE's marketing push for WrestleMania 26 would be greatly enhanced if WWE can hitch their wagon to the build-up to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which takes place two weeks before WrestleMania. The right strategy would be to book Triple H vs. Batista for WrestleMania in a re-match from WrestleMania 21 when Batista won his first World Title. Stay tuned.
Source: pwtorch.com
While the WWE wrestlers were split between Iraq and house shows in the Southern U.S., Batista was in the Philippines last week promoting a new energy drink he is endorsing.
Batista is of Filipino descent and he grabbed headlines in national newspapers declaring that Filipino star boxer Manny Pacquiao will defeat Floyd Mayweather in the March 2010 fight.
Batista told reporters that he'll talk trash with Triple H leading up to the fight. Hunter endorsed Mayweather this past summer prior to Mayweather defeating Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas after Mayweather guest-hosted WWE Raw.
Caldwell's Analysis: WWE's marketing push for WrestleMania 26 would be greatly enhanced if WWE can hitch their wagon to the build-up to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which takes place two weeks before WrestleMania. The right strategy would be to book Triple H vs. Batista for WrestleMania in a re-match from WrestleMania 21 when Batista won his first World Title. Stay tuned.
Source: pwtorch.com
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Manny Pacquiao fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr likely to be most lucrative in history -- Telegraph.co.uk
By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
The event, which is scheduled for March 13 next year in Las Vegas or Dallas, will also be the most important boxing event for 25 years.
The super-fight would almost certainly break the existing record of 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, which is held by Mayweather for his fight against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
That match, between Mayweather, then the pound-for-pound king, and De La Hoya, the sport's most popular fighter, eclipsed the buy mark of 1.99 million, set by the 1997 Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight championship 'ear-bite' rematch, and the revenue record of $112 million, set by the 2002 Lennox Lewis-Tyson heavyweight title fight.
Mayweather against De La Hoya made $120 million in pay-per-view revenue. Overall, with gate receipts, Pacquiao-Mayweather could creep up to the $200 million mark.
Promoter Bob Arum, of Top Rank, left Manila on Sunday, after a three-day visit in which he relayed an offer from Mayweather. Both fighters are guaranteed $25 million, before their shares in pay per view revenue.
The fight could easily gross $100 million which, if it catches fire in the mainstream, could rise to $150 million. Arum insists the boxers' signatures "are a formality", but it is not so. The venue is yet to be decided, but at least the weight is set at 147lb, and at welterweight, that suits Mayweather.
The fight pitches Pacquiao, boxing's star of the moment, against Mayweather, the bad boy unbeaten incumbent, who has permitted the rise of Pacquiao into the same stratosphere after a 21-month absence from prize fighting.
Under trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao has progressed from brawler to fighting machine. Pacquiao has gone from a world champion at 112lb to beating the best at 147lb, maintaining his speed and power.
Mayweather, who at 32 is two years older than Pacquiao, is still unbeaten, and is the most gifted fighter of this generation, but the templates are also set. In one corner, the cocky, brash bad boy, played by Mayweather, opposite the humble man from the shanty town in the Philippines in Pacquiao.
It is on a par with the biggest fights in history – an unbeaten future Hall of Famer, who is in the line of accession of the great slick American boxers, following Sugar Ray Leonard and Pernell Whitaker, against a Filipino idol with poiltical ambitions. Pacquiao's rags to riches tale could even elevate him from pauper to the President of a nation. It was the fight of a generation. And it had to be made.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
The event, which is scheduled for March 13 next year in Las Vegas or Dallas, will also be the most important boxing event for 25 years.
The super-fight would almost certainly break the existing record of 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, which is held by Mayweather for his fight against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
That match, between Mayweather, then the pound-for-pound king, and De La Hoya, the sport's most popular fighter, eclipsed the buy mark of 1.99 million, set by the 1997 Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight championship 'ear-bite' rematch, and the revenue record of $112 million, set by the 2002 Lennox Lewis-Tyson heavyweight title fight.
Mayweather against De La Hoya made $120 million in pay-per-view revenue. Overall, with gate receipts, Pacquiao-Mayweather could creep up to the $200 million mark.
Promoter Bob Arum, of Top Rank, left Manila on Sunday, after a three-day visit in which he relayed an offer from Mayweather. Both fighters are guaranteed $25 million, before their shares in pay per view revenue.
The fight could easily gross $100 million which, if it catches fire in the mainstream, could rise to $150 million. Arum insists the boxers' signatures "are a formality", but it is not so. The venue is yet to be decided, but at least the weight is set at 147lb, and at welterweight, that suits Mayweather.
The fight pitches Pacquiao, boxing's star of the moment, against Mayweather, the bad boy unbeaten incumbent, who has permitted the rise of Pacquiao into the same stratosphere after a 21-month absence from prize fighting.
Under trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao has progressed from brawler to fighting machine. Pacquiao has gone from a world champion at 112lb to beating the best at 147lb, maintaining his speed and power.
Mayweather, who at 32 is two years older than Pacquiao, is still unbeaten, and is the most gifted fighter of this generation, but the templates are also set. In one corner, the cocky, brash bad boy, played by Mayweather, opposite the humble man from the shanty town in the Philippines in Pacquiao.
It is on a par with the biggest fights in history – an unbeaten future Hall of Famer, who is in the line of accession of the great slick American boxers, following Sugar Ray Leonard and Pernell Whitaker, against a Filipino idol with poiltical ambitions. Pacquiao's rags to riches tale could even elevate him from pauper to the President of a nation. It was the fight of a generation. And it had to be made.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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