By Barry Mcguigan, Mirror.co.uk
The only detail to be decided in the match between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito is the location.
It won't be a concern for Pacquiao. Just tell him where and when and he will turn up. He doesn't even need to know who he is fighting, because he will take on all-comers.
That's why people love him and why some, including me, get so frustrated with Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
Everybody knows they will fight. And they also know that it is they who should be squaring up on November 13, not the Pacman and Margarito.
We may have to wait another 12 months for the richest fight in history, by which time Pacquiao will be one fight and one year older.
That might not seem much. It might not mean much. But then again, it could be all the difference in the world.
That calculation takes you right into the thinking and attitude of Mayweather, who will do everything within his power to ensure that if there is an advantage to be had, he gets it.
All that bluster about blood tests that forced the cancellation of the March date was set aside by Pacquaio agreeing to Mayweather's testing demands for the proposed November date.
What do we get from Mayweather? Prevarication and obfuscation, smoke and mirrors, contradicting messages designed to confuse.
The truth is if he had wanted to take the fight in November, he could have done. He flunked the challenge in my view. All you want from your heroes is for them to take a chance on level terms, not to fight with a stacked deck.
Mayweather fights only against opponents he knows he can beat. Pacquiao took huge risks against Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.
He made those decisions look ridiculously simple when the result was known. I would have lost my house on the Cotto fight.
That was the bout I thought was a step too far. What he did to Cotto staggered me in a way I did not think possible.
Mayweather may well be the most gifted technician of his generation, but the one thing he will never do is shock you.
And that is because he refuses to take a risk, to put his reputation on the line.
What is the point of schooling Juan Manuel Marquez, who fights Juan Diaz tonight at lightweight, which is arguably a division above his best? Mayweather weighed in at 146 against Marquez, who scaled 142. Ridiculous. The Pacman fought him six years ago at featherweight. They both tipped the scales at 125lbs.
The result was a proper contest and a brilliant fight.
The Margarito fight is at a catchweight 150lbs but still for the WBC light-middleweight title.
If Mayweather is hoping that Pacquiao gets caught up in a war, I'm not sure he will get his wish.
At 32, Margarito (left) is not the boxer who beat Cotto two years ago. He was well beaten by Shane Mosley subsequently and then was hit with a ban for taping his hands illegally.
The evidence points to Pacquiao, who is still fighting at a formidable level.
One thing is certain - any sign of decline will have Mayweather's people on the phone the next day.
He'll be ready to make the fight then, that's for sure.
Source: mirror.co.uk
Saturday 31 July 2010
Pacquiao-Margarito fight not coming to Las Vegas -- Las Vegas Review-Journal
By STEVE CARP, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Manny Pacquiao's next fight will not be in Las Vegas after all.
Citing an inability to get Antonio Margarito licensed in Nevada in a timely fashion, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum decided Friday to withdraw his request to have Margarito apply for a boxing license on the Aug. 9 agenda of the Nevada Athletic Commission. Arum was hoping to have Pacquiao face Margarito on Nov. 13 at the MGM Grand Garden.
The fight now appears headed to Cowboys Stadium
in Texas.
But first, Margarito will appear before the California State Athletic Commission at a special hearing on Aug. 18 in an attempt to work things out with that state after it revoked his license and suspended him for one year after hard inserts were found inside his hand wraps prior to his Jan. 24, 2009 fight with Shane Mosley in Los Angeles.
When Margarito appeared before the NAC on July 9, his request for a license was tabled by a 4-1 vote, with chairperson Pat Lundvall the lone dissenting vote.
Those who voted to table the request told Margarito to go back to California, where his suspension had expired on Feb. 10, and take care of business there. Then he would be welcome to return to Nevada to seek a license.
"Because time is running out, we can't wait for Nevada to make a decision so we have to think about moving the fight elsewhere," Arum, who promotes both fighters, said Friday. "The commission, other than Pat, have other views. We decided we can't engage them in trying to change their views, so we're taking it elsewhere."
After talking to Arum and learning of his decision, NAC executive director Keith Kizer sent an e-mail to the commissioners indicating Arum's intentions.
"He said he didn't want to wait," Kizer said. "That's his call. Obviously, you have to have both fighters licensed to fight here and I don't know that the commission would have put (Margarito) on the (Aug. 9) agenda."
Lundvall said: "I'm very disappointed that the state of Nevada didn't have the opportunity to bring a fight of this magnitude and this caliber to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is where this fight should have been held."
Economically, the loss of Pacquiao-Margarito will be a missed opportunity for the city, which thrives on these kind of big events that bring in high-rollers as well as fight fans from around the world. Millions of dollars in potential gaming and nongaming revenue will not be realized with the loss of the fight.
MGM officials would not comment on Arum's decision to move the fight from Las Vegas.
The likely place for the fight to land is Cowboys Stadium. The facility, which played host to Pacquiao's most recent fight on March 13 when he soundly defeated Joshua Clottey in front of more 50,000 fans, is available. The Cowboys play at the New York Giants on Nov. 14, the day after the fight.
Arum said Cowboys Stadium is in the mix and he has talked to owner Jerry Jones. However, he also said other venues have expressed interest.
"New York wants it. New Jersey wants it. Seattle wants it," Arum said. "But let's see what happens in California first."
According to Arum, the Association of Boxing Commissions will announce on Aug. 19, the day after Margarito's California hearing, whether other states can move forward and license him.
"It's a unique situation," Kizer said. "Obviously, the incident in California was a very serious one and the commission treated it as such. And if and when Mr. Margarito comes before the (NAC) again, I'm sure it will be a very serious hearing and they'll have to make a decision as to what to do.
"What happened in California was horrible, regardless of who was to blame for it -- whether it's one guy, two guys, or more than both guys -- it's a horrible situation. That's why he got the stiffest penalty possible by the California commission. This isn't something that's going to go away. This is going to haunt him the rest of his career -- as it should. Whether he can meet his burden is a different story."
However, Kizer said he understood Arum's position.
"Some of these big fights take months and months of preparation and promotion to happen, especially with a fighter who hasn't won a fight of significance in nearly two years," Kizer said, referring to Margarito. "I think most promoters, if not all promoters, would say their No. 1 choice is Las Vegas. We've certainly seen that over the last 20 years. But sometimes things don't go their way and they have to go to Plan B or Plan C."
Arum said he has plans to hold a fight card on Dec. 4 that would feature Miguel Cotto facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the main event. He would like to have that fight in Las Vegas but he said he has not made an offer to MGM officials.
"We don't have (Pacquiao-Margarito) for Nevada, so we have to think about another fight," Arum said.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
Manny Pacquiao's next fight will not be in Las Vegas after all.
Citing an inability to get Antonio Margarito licensed in Nevada in a timely fashion, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum decided Friday to withdraw his request to have Margarito apply for a boxing license on the Aug. 9 agenda of the Nevada Athletic Commission. Arum was hoping to have Pacquiao face Margarito on Nov. 13 at the MGM Grand Garden.
The fight now appears headed to Cowboys Stadium in Texas.When Margarito appeared before the NAC on July 9, his request for a license was tabled by a 4-1 vote, with chairperson Pat Lundvall the lone dissenting vote.
Those who voted to table the request told Margarito to go back to California, where his suspension had expired on Feb. 10, and take care of business there. Then he would be welcome to return to Nevada to seek a license.
"Because time is running out, we can't wait for Nevada to make a decision so we have to think about moving the fight elsewhere," Arum, who promotes both fighters, said Friday. "The commission, other than Pat, have other views. We decided we can't engage them in trying to change their views, so we're taking it elsewhere."
After talking to Arum and learning of his decision, NAC executive director Keith Kizer sent an e-mail to the commissioners indicating Arum's intentions.
"He said he didn't want to wait," Kizer said. "That's his call. Obviously, you have to have both fighters licensed to fight here and I don't know that the commission would have put (Margarito) on the (Aug. 9) agenda."
Lundvall said: "I'm very disappointed that the state of Nevada didn't have the opportunity to bring a fight of this magnitude and this caliber to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is where this fight should have been held."
Economically, the loss of Pacquiao-Margarito will be a missed opportunity for the city, which thrives on these kind of big events that bring in high-rollers as well as fight fans from around the world. Millions of dollars in potential gaming and nongaming revenue will not be realized with the loss of the fight.
MGM officials would not comment on Arum's decision to move the fight from Las Vegas.
The likely place for the fight to land is Cowboys Stadium. The facility, which played host to Pacquiao's most recent fight on March 13 when he soundly defeated Joshua Clottey in front of more 50,000 fans, is available. The Cowboys play at the New York Giants on Nov. 14, the day after the fight.
Arum said Cowboys Stadium is in the mix and he has talked to owner Jerry Jones. However, he also said other venues have expressed interest.
"New York wants it. New Jersey wants it. Seattle wants it," Arum said. "But let's see what happens in California first."
According to Arum, the Association of Boxing Commissions will announce on Aug. 19, the day after Margarito's California hearing, whether other states can move forward and license him.
"It's a unique situation," Kizer said. "Obviously, the incident in California was a very serious one and the commission treated it as such. And if and when Mr. Margarito comes before the (NAC) again, I'm sure it will be a very serious hearing and they'll have to make a decision as to what to do.
"What happened in California was horrible, regardless of who was to blame for it -- whether it's one guy, two guys, or more than both guys -- it's a horrible situation. That's why he got the stiffest penalty possible by the California commission. This isn't something that's going to go away. This is going to haunt him the rest of his career -- as it should. Whether he can meet his burden is a different story."
However, Kizer said he understood Arum's position.
"Some of these big fights take months and months of preparation and promotion to happen, especially with a fighter who hasn't won a fight of significance in nearly two years," Kizer said, referring to Margarito. "I think most promoters, if not all promoters, would say their No. 1 choice is Las Vegas. We've certainly seen that over the last 20 years. But sometimes things don't go their way and they have to go to Plan B or Plan C."
Arum said he has plans to hold a fight card on Dec. 4 that would feature Miguel Cotto facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the main event. He would like to have that fight in Las Vegas but he said he has not made an offer to MGM officials.
"We don't have (Pacquiao-Margarito) for Nevada, so we have to think about another fight," Arum said.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
Floyd Mayweather and promotional company face lawsuit of almost $62,000 for rental property -- Grand Rapids Press
By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press Floyd Mayweather and his promotional company have been sued for almost $62,000 in a lawsuit alleging they did not pay rent for a building space that housed Mayweather Promotions in Las Vegas.
The promotional company formally was evicted this week, although Mayweather’s adviser said it already had relocated primary operations to a different location.
The breach-of-contract lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Las Vegas District Court by TDF Investments and names the boxing star and his promotional company as defendants.According to the lawsuit, Mayweather Promotions signed a three-year lease for the space in July 2008, at rent of almost $10,800 monthly.
Ross Goodman, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of TDF Investments, on Friday said Mayweather Promotions met its rent obligations for more then a year “then just stopped paying” in February.
Mayweather’s attorney, Jeffrey Morse, said the dispute is a “typical landlord-tenant dispute” and that Mayweather Promotions quit paying rent and relocated operations because the property was unkempt.
“Floyd rented the space from the gentleman, the landlord, and was displeased about how the property was handled,” Morse said. “Floyd thought it was substandard. In order for Floyd to owe rent, the landlord must maintain the property in an acceptable standard, and that did not happen.
“It was Floyd’s decision to rent, and if the rent was due, Floyd would pay.”
Goodman countered that Mayweather did not respond to multiple communications from the landlord seeking back payment and never voiced concerns about the property’s upkeep.
He said the building is in “excellent condition” and that items belonging to Mayweather Promotions and still on site when the eviction was executed by the constable’s office were returned by the landlord.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's adviser, said Mayweather Promotions already had relocated its office before the action.
Mayweather, a Grand Rapids native, faces a much more substantive lawsuit in federal court in Las Vegas, where his archrival Manny Pacquiao has sued him and several members of Team Mayweather for alleged defamation of character.
That lawsuit relates to allegations that Mayweather and others close to him wrongly accused Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs.
E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
No way to sugarcoat this: Mayweather fears Pacquiao -- CBS Sports
By Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com
There's no other way to say this. Mayweather has a chance, directly in front of him, to make grand history. He can shut up doubters, display true mastery and etch his place into boxing lore by staging one of the great sporting events of all time. Instead of running to this opportunity, he's scurrying away from it.
Over the last several days I've had conversations with various people within boxing and no one understands why Mayweather is avoiding Pacquiao. His tactics outside the ring are as dumbfounding as they are in it.
What many in boxing believe is that Mayweather is nervous about Pacquiao and Mayweather is also enjoying his fame a little too much.
Mayweather is becoming Strayweather, a fighter more concerned about the arid glitter of celebrity than fighting the best possible opponent. He's a ship at sea and doesn't seem to care that there are numerous ports in sight.
The closest thing to a pseudo-defense of Mayweather I'm hearing is that ducking Pacquiao is part of an elaborate plan by Mayweather to increase interest -- and subsequently the money -- surrounding the fight. That, of course, would not be atypical Mayweather behavior. No one plays the media and boxing public for bigger dupes than him.
Yet the overall opinion in boxing seems to be Mayweather's concern is Pacquiao's smart brutality is an even match for his skilled quickness.
Who are we to say that a man who fights for a living is, well, afraid to fight? But Mayweather is leaving even his most strident supporters speechless with his recent game of running.
The irony is I think Mayweather would win and it wouldn't be as close as some believe. Mayweather's hand speed is still daunting and though Pacquiao is a solid boxer, he's mostly a slugger. Pacquiao is red-fanged but Mayweather would out-technique him. Apparently, I have more faith in Mayweather than Mayweather does.
Mayweather's refusal to fight Pacquiao runs contrary to everything we know about professional athletes. Imagine the New Orleans Saints getting to the Super Bowl but refusing to play Indianapolis because they feared the Colts? Or Kobe Bryant not wanting to beat LeBron James? Or Mary Ann thinking she wasn't prettier than Ginger?
What Mayweather is doing remains one of the most unusual stories in sports today. It trumps Pitino, T.O. and almost all other summer silliness because we're seeing an elite athlete refuse to be great.
Most in boxing thought we'd have a fight set by now, particularly after Pacquiao reportedly agreed to more stringent performance enhancing drug testing. There have been charges and counter charges about who is ducking who, but it's clear now that Mayweather is the one doing the running.
Pacquiao has moved on and will fight someone else in the fall while Strayweather runs in the opposite direction.
Many of history's great fighters didn't duck other greats or if they did, they didn't for long. Sugar Ray Robinson had 200 fights, sometimes with numerous fights in one year. Mayweather is proving more the exception to this rule.
Mayweather is also proving to be something I never thought I'd see.
Scared.
Source: cbssports.com
He is possibly the best pure athlete today. Yet, despite his great physical prowess, he looks scared. He looks like a frightened man
.
. Floyd Mayweather usually appears gorged with bravado and his perpetually functioning ego can power a thousand cities, but these days his courage could seemingly fit neatly into a pair of a girl's dancing slippers as he continues to dodge Manny Pacquiao.
There's no other way to say this. Mayweather has a chance, directly in front of him, to make grand history. He can shut up doubters, display true mastery and etch his place into boxing lore by staging one of the great sporting events of all time. Instead of running to this opportunity, he's scurrying away from it. Over the last several days I've had conversations with various people within boxing and no one understands why Mayweather is avoiding Pacquiao. His tactics outside the ring are as dumbfounding as they are in it.
What many in boxing believe is that Mayweather is nervous about Pacquiao and Mayweather is also enjoying his fame a little too much.
Mayweather is becoming Strayweather, a fighter more concerned about the arid glitter of celebrity than fighting the best possible opponent. He's a ship at sea and doesn't seem to care that there are numerous ports in sight.
The closest thing to a pseudo-defense of Mayweather I'm hearing is that ducking Pacquiao is part of an elaborate plan by Mayweather to increase interest -- and subsequently the money -- surrounding the fight. That, of course, would not be atypical Mayweather behavior. No one plays the media and boxing public for bigger dupes than him.
Yet the overall opinion in boxing seems to be Mayweather's concern is Pacquiao's smart brutality is an even match for his skilled quickness.
Who are we to say that a man who fights for a living is, well, afraid to fight? But Mayweather is leaving even his most strident supporters speechless with his recent game of running.
The irony is I think Mayweather would win and it wouldn't be as close as some believe. Mayweather's hand speed is still daunting and though Pacquiao is a solid boxer, he's mostly a slugger. Pacquiao is red-fanged but Mayweather would out-technique him. Apparently, I have more faith in Mayweather than Mayweather does.
Mayweather's refusal to fight Pacquiao runs contrary to everything we know about professional athletes. Imagine the New Orleans Saints getting to the Super Bowl but refusing to play Indianapolis because they feared the Colts? Or Kobe Bryant not wanting to beat LeBron James? Or Mary Ann thinking she wasn't prettier than Ginger?
What Mayweather is doing remains one of the most unusual stories in sports today. It trumps Pitino, T.O. and almost all other summer silliness because we're seeing an elite athlete refuse to be great.
Most in boxing thought we'd have a fight set by now, particularly after Pacquiao reportedly agreed to more stringent performance enhancing drug testing. There have been charges and counter charges about who is ducking who, but it's clear now that Mayweather is the one doing the running.
Pacquiao has moved on and will fight someone else in the fall while Strayweather runs in the opposite direction.
Many of history's great fighters didn't duck other greats or if they did, they didn't for long. Sugar Ray Robinson had 200 fights, sometimes with numerous fights in one year. Mayweather is proving more the exception to this rule.
Mayweather is also proving to be something I never thought I'd see.
Scared.
Source: cbssports.com
Margarito camp starts fight preparation -- Manila Bulletin
By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin
The moment Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum made the announcement that Manny Pacquiao's next fight will be against Antonio Margarito, the Mexican’s trainer, Robert Garcia, immediately gathered all of the Filipino icon’s fights on video.
"Since I learned about the fight I’ve been watching Manny Pacquiao’s fights, from when he got knocked out in the beginning of his career, to his loss against (Erik) Morales (in March 2005) and all the other fights were he beat everybody else," Garcia told the leading boxing website fightnews.
"We’ve been studying all those fights and I think we’ll come in with a great plan and a great strategy to beat him," said Garcia, whose former clients include ex-world champion Brian Viloria.
As Arum tries his best to get the best deal out of the interested parties, Garcia is making himself busy coming up with the blueprint for Pacquiao's downfall.
Source: mb.com.ph
The moment Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum made the announcement that Manny Pacquiao's next fight will be against Antonio Margarito, the Mexican’s trainer, Robert Garcia, immediately gathered all of the Filipino icon’s fights on video.
"Since I learned about the fight I’ve been watching Manny Pacquiao’s fights, from when he got knocked out in the beginning of his career, to his loss against (Erik) Morales (in March 2005) and all the other fights were he beat everybody else," Garcia told the leading boxing website fightnews.
"We’ve been studying all those fights and I think we’ll come in with a great plan and a great strategy to beat him," said Garcia, whose former clients include ex-world champion Brian Viloria. Pacquiao and Margarito will slug it out for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) super-welterweight title on November 13 at a venue that will soon be determined, according to Arum.
Vying to host the much-awaited return of Pacquiao are Las Vegas, Dallas, Monterrey in Mexico and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Arum said he would know by next week which city will secure the rights to stage the bout.
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi
is said to be very keen in getting the fight and is going all-out in pleasing Pacquiao's ultra-luxurious taste.
is said to be very keen in getting the fight and is going all-out in pleasing Pacquiao's ultra-luxurious taste.As Arum tries his best to get the best deal out of the interested parties, Garcia is making himself busy coming up with the blueprint for Pacquiao's downfall.
Source: mb.com.ph
Pacquiao sister wanted for illegal gambling racket -- AFP
AFP
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines — Philippine police said Friday that a sister of boxing hero Manny Pacquiao was involved in running an illegal gambling
racket, after detaining 25 people in a raid on her home.
A police vice squad detained the 25 and seized evidence, including gambling materials and cash, in Thursday's raid on the home of Pacquiao's elder sister, Isidra Paglinawan, said local police chief inspector Leo Sua.
Pacquiao, the seven-time world champion elected to a seat in the Philippine parliament this year, personally watched as police searched the house in the southern port city of General Santos, but vowed not to interfere.
He said the detained people were bet collectors for the illegal racket, in which bettors place wagers on the last two digits of the winning ticket of the Philippine lottery.
Police seized 33,000 pesos (about 721 dollars) in suspected bets, said Sua, who led the raid. He said police would ask state prosecutors to file illegal gambling charges in court against Paglinawan and the 25 other suspects.
Sua said police were searching for Paglinawan.
Pacquiao told reporters Friday he was attending his father's birthday party when police raided Paglinawan's house next door.
He said he would ask the police to investigate whether his sister was indeed a "masiao" operator.
"I will not interfere. Let the law take its course," boxing's "pound-for-pound" king said.
Betting in an illegal numbers game or allowing one's property to be used for such a game is punishable by up to six years in prison.
Working for an illegal gambling operation, or actually running it, carries jail terms of between eight and 20 years.
The well-appointed houses of Pacquiao's parents and five siblings are tourist attractions in the otherwise depressed General Santos district of San Isidro, where Pacquiao grew up in poverty.
The sister sought by police and her husband have no known permanent jobs.
However it is well known in the neighbourhood that Pacquiao, now one of the world's richest sportsmen, gave his relatives the houses and large amounts of seed money to start their own businesses.
His winnings from boxing as well as his commercial endorsements last year made Pacquiao the world's sixth-highest paid athlete, with earnings of 40 million dollars, according to Forbes magazine.
During the election campaign in May, aides of Pacquiao's rival for the local parliamentary seat alleged that the boxer's family were "masiao" operators.
Pacquiao publicly denied the allegations during the campaign.
Pacquiao is expected to fight Mexico's Antonio Margarito for the vacant World Boxing Council junior middleweight championship on November 13.
He had wanted to fight undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Junior in what would have been boxing's richest ever draw, but protracted negotiations appeared to have fallen through.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.
Source: google.com
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines — Philippine police said Friday that a sister of boxing hero Manny Pacquiao was involved in running an illegal gambling
racket, after detaining 25 people in a raid on her home.A police vice squad detained the 25 and seized evidence, including gambling materials and cash, in Thursday's raid on the home of Pacquiao's elder sister, Isidra Paglinawan, said local police chief inspector Leo Sua.
Pacquiao, the seven-time world champion elected to a seat in the Philippine parliament this year, personally watched as police searched the house in the southern port city of General Santos, but vowed not to interfere.A lower court in General Santos ordered the raid as part of a crackdown on an illegal numbers game known as "masiao", but Paglinawan, 34, was not at home, Sua told reporters.
Police seized 33,000 pesos (about 721 dollars) in suspected bets, said Sua, who led the raid. He said police would ask state prosecutors to file illegal gambling charges in court against Paglinawan and the 25 other suspects.
Sua said police were searching for Paglinawan.
Pacquiao told reporters Friday he was attending his father's birthday party when police raided Paglinawan's house next door.
He said he would ask the police to investigate whether his sister was indeed a "masiao" operator.
"I will not interfere. Let the law take its course," boxing's "pound-for-pound" king said.
Betting in an illegal numbers game or allowing one's property to be used for such a game is punishable by up to six years in prison.
Working for an illegal gambling operation, or actually running it, carries jail terms of between eight and 20 years.
The well-appointed houses of Pacquiao's parents and five siblings are tourist attractions in the otherwise depressed General Santos district of San Isidro, where Pacquiao grew up in poverty.
The sister sought by police and her husband have no known permanent jobs.
However it is well known in the neighbourhood that Pacquiao, now one of the world's richest sportsmen, gave his relatives the houses and large amounts of seed money to start their own businesses.
His winnings from boxing as well as his commercial endorsements last year made Pacquiao the world's sixth-highest paid athlete, with earnings of 40 million dollars, according to Forbes magazine.
During the election campaign in May, aides of Pacquiao's rival for the local parliamentary seat alleged that the boxer's family were "masiao" operators.
Pacquiao publicly denied the allegations during the campaign.
Pacquiao is expected to fight Mexico's Antonio Margarito for the vacant World Boxing Council junior middleweight championship on November 13.
He had wanted to fight undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Junior in what would have been boxing's richest ever draw, but protracted negotiations appeared to have fallen through.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.
Source: google.com
Thursday 29 July 2010
The Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather JR Meltdown: Where the Fault Lies -- Ringside Report
By Geno McGahee, Ringside ReportI think it’s safe to say that the boxing world is about as disappointed as it can be at this moment. The fight that everyone wanted has fallen through. Bob Arum was quick to note a missed deadline for Floyd Mayweather, JR., to agree to a fight with Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao, while Team Mayweather contended that there was never even a negotiation taking place. RSR can confirm that there was, and now the picture may be coming clear.
Floyd Mayweather, JR., 41-0, 25 KO’s, has had the reputation of being a businessman first, and a fighter second. When tests would arise that may challenge his unblemished record, he has often bowed out, citing different reasons. When Antonio Margarito was in line for a shot at Mayweather, JR., he declined, stating that it was not a marketable fight. Kostya Tszyu showed interest that was never reciprocated. Mayweather, much like he does in the ring, picks his spots, and there is no real reason at this point why he cannot fight Pacquiao…at least on the surface.
Manny Pacquiao, 51-3-2, 38 KO’s, has appeared to be a fighter first, businessman secondly, although most would contend that he lost the number of Juan Manuel Marquez when he nearly beat him on two occasions. There was no need to tempt fate again. He has made a name for himself as a fearless brawler, that enjoys being in fights. He is quick and has great timing, and is just the opponent to test the impregnable defense of Mayweather, JR. The people want this fight. They want the fight more than any other fight in boxing over the last ten years, but it’s not happening. Let’s explore the reasons.Roger Mayweather
The last thing that you want to do when you are going into the biggest fight of you life is to switch trainers. It has been evident time and time again that there is an adjustment period when fighters move from trainer to trainer because all are different and you can see a fighter do different things depending on what they are being taught. Roger Mayweather, the trainer of Floyd Mayweather, JR., is in quite a bit of trouble after beating up a woman and choking her out. He will hopefully be locked up for a while, but what’s good for humanity may not be good for boxing. Without Roger, this fight will not proceed and this is, I’m assuming, the big reason why this fight is not happening.
Sabotage
The sly Bob Arum may not have clean hands here. Pacquiao may have five more fights in him before he calls it a day and should he fight Floyd, he would most likely lose, and his marketability may plummet because of it. If he should fight some recognizable names in fights that he should easily win, it might make that much more money over the course of time.
Despite the objections of Luis Resto returning to the ring, Bob Arum had no problem bringing back Antonio Margarito, a fighter of similar offense. He had loaded gloves. He knew he had loaded gloves and he and his trainer were loading them for some time. Prior to the discovery, Margarito went on a spree of destruction, plowing over the opposition with the bricks he had on his hands, but when he went into a fight without the Plaster of Paris on his hands, he was dominated and left in a heap by an old Shane Mosley. The fact is: Margarito + plaster in gloves = top fighter. Margarito – plaster in gloves = mediocrity.
The positive thing that has come out of Margarito’s bad ways has been his appeal as a bad boy of boxing and Arum knows that he can sell him as an opponent for Pacquiao and people may actually think it’s a competitive fight. Even if they didn’t, Mike Tyson sold fights just on the “I wonder what he’s going to do,” factor. Margarito may have that same appeal.
On November 13th, we will see Margarito in the ring with Pacquiao and we will see the “PacMan” pummel him into early submission, and Arum will laugh all the way to the bank. This bird is in the hand is better than the two in the bush. Arum’s interest may have been in this route then the shot at Floyd, where he could lose his cash cow.
Better Safe than Sorry
There is a widespread contention by the Pacnuts that Floyd Mayweather, JR., is afraid to fight Manny Pacquiao. They would probably say the same thing about Wladimir Klitschko…but you have to take what blind groupie fans say with a grain of salt. I have seen articles by “writers,” which just about anyone can be a writer that has a laptop and an email address, jumping on this contention as well. You have to cut through the garbage here and draw your own conclusions and amazingly, they may not be that far off the mark.
When you look at the career of Mayweather, it is very impressive, but when he established himself as the man to beat, he began to play it safer then he did throughout his early career. The fight with Pacquiao would be his toughest, on paper, since his fight with Diego Corrales in 2001. He has beaten a lot of good fighters, but few were in their prime when they eventually met.
Boxing is a business and sometimes not doing what the public wants is better in the long run, but with the money on the table for this fight, it’s hard to imagine Floyd not wanting it, unless he has some trepidation. The two fights where Floyd was hurt were against Zab Judah and DeMarcus Corley, both southpaws. Pacquiao is a more complete fighter than either Judah or Corley and would not stop punching. Floyd had issues with Jose Luis Castillo. There may be some major concern about fighting Pacquiao from Floyd, and it may not be worth the gamble when he could fight anyone else and make great money in the process.
A big problem, really, is that Floyd has nothing to prove. When he fought Corrales, he was an unknown to most of boxing and he needed to put together some signature wins to establish himself. Now he is known worldwide and win or lose to Pacquiao, they have a spot reserved for him at the Hall of Fame. He is always working on his own terms and will not be dictated to, no matter how much the fans are begging for the fight.
One More Power Play
When the fight was all but set, Floyd Mayweather, JR., demanded specific steroid testing for Pacquiao, which was quickly refused and just as quickly, the fight fell apart. Time passed, and they sat down again to speak and that was ironed out, but once again, the fight evaporated and Floyd went on vacation. Is this a power play by Money Mayweather?
There is no question that both men are a draw, but PPV buys proves that Floyd is the “Money” going into this fight. He knows that the fans want to see him tested and know that no other fighter can do it but Pacquiao. He also probably realizes that Margarito or a Miguel Cotto rematch would not put a blemish on the record of his future foe and therefore, they are not a threat to him. He can come back at any time and say: “I agree to fight” and it will be on for the 13th of November.
Floyd is the master of mental warfare and this could be another example of it. It’s hard to imagine it is, but it’s certainly a possibility. We will find out in the near future because the fans are feeling shunned and are losing interest. They are refusing to salivate over food they will never get.
Who’s to Blame
The blame has to fall, at this point, on Floyd Mayweather, JR. If he wanted the fight, he would have the fight and it would be based mostly on his terms. Pacquiao, by all indications wants the fight. He wants to be the undisputed best in boxing but he has to beat Floyd in order to be that. I’m interested to see what happens with Roger Mayweather. Should he come out of his legal troubles in decent shape and ready to train, will the fight be on? I believe that this is the biggest obstacle and once it’s out of the way, let’s hope that we have the mega fight that we all want.
Source: ringsidereport.com
Antonio Margarito applies to California for reinstated boxing license -- Los Angeles Times
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
Disciplined boxer Antonio Margarito on Wednesday filed an application to have his license to fight reinstated by the California State Athletic Commission, more than 17 months since it was revoked when officials confiscated "loaded" hand wraps from the Tijuana fighter before his failed world welterweight title defense at Staples Center in January 2009.
Margarito's promoter, Bob Arum, told The Times, "We've asked for this to be heard on an expedited basis," before the commission's next scheduled meeting Sept. 20 in Los Angeles
.
Margarito has agreed to fight Manny Pacquiao Nov. 13 at a site yet to be determined. Arum doesn't want Margarito to fight Pacquiaio in California, but when the promoter sought to have Margarito re-licensed in Nevada earlier this month, commissioners there ruled to table their decision until Margarito first attempted to have his appeal heard where the license was originally stripped.
A Pacquiao-Margarito bout would challenge the May Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley bout to emerge as the most lucrative fight of the year, and Arum said he feels obligated to give his home state Nevada a shot at landing the bout.
However, the promoter said Wednesday that "a half dozen states have said they will grant us a license without a decision by California," not including Nevada. The favorites among other U.S. destinations are believed to be Texas, where Pacquiao drew a crowd of 51,000 for a March bout against lesser-known Joshua Clottey, and Atlantic City, N.J., which would cater to the big gamblers who've descended upon Las Vegas in Pacquiao's prior fights there.
Margarito, who returned to fighting in May in a bout in Mexico, has since fired his suspended trainer, Javier Capetillo, who claimed at the February 2009 California commission meeting that plaster-coated pads ended up inside Margarito's hand wraps accidentally, and that the former two-time world welterweight champion had no knowledge of wrongdoing.
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
Disciplined boxer Antonio Margarito on Wednesday filed an application to have his license to fight reinstated by the California State Athletic Commission, more than 17 months since it was revoked when officials confiscated "loaded" hand wraps from the Tijuana fighter before his failed world welterweight title defense at Staples Center in January 2009.
Margarito's promoter, Bob Arum, told The Times, "We've asked for this to be heard on an expedited basis," before the commission's next scheduled meeting Sept. 20 in Los Angeles
.A Pacquiao-Margarito bout would challenge the May Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley bout to emerge as the most lucrative fight of the year, and Arum said he feels obligated to give his home state Nevada a shot at landing the bout.However, the promoter said Wednesday that "a half dozen states have said they will grant us a license without a decision by California," not including Nevada. The favorites among other U.S. destinations are believed to be Texas, where Pacquiao drew a crowd of 51,000 for a March bout against lesser-known Joshua Clottey, and Atlantic City, N.J., which would cater to the big gamblers who've descended upon Las Vegas in Pacquiao's prior fights there.
Margarito, who returned to fighting in May in a bout in Mexico, has since fired his suspended trainer, Javier Capetillo, who claimed at the February 2009 California commission meeting that plaster-coated pads ended up inside Margarito's hand wraps accidentally, and that the former two-time world welterweight champion had no knowledge of wrongdoing.
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
Mayweather exposed as chicken -- Yahoo! Sports
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg released a four-paragraph, five-sentence statement Monday which cast doubt upon the veracity of Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Mayweather’s best friend, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe; Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and which forever eliminated any doubt about Mayweather’s intention: He’s ducking Manny Pacquiao.
There can be no other rational explanation.
Welcome to “Mayweather in Wonderland,” where they try to convince you that up is down, the grass is blue and the sky is green. Never mind that Mayweather has tarnished, perhaps forever, his legacy as one of the best boxers of all time. Given his disinclination to fight Pacquiao, it’s hard to regard him as the best fighter of his own time.
Mayweather was nowhere to be found on Monday, still on vacation, apparently oblivious to the millions of boxing fans desperate to hear a word about his intentions. If Mayweather cared about his legacy, if he cared about the sport that has made him rich and famous, he wouldn’t have been invisible the last few weeks while allowing Ellerbe to spew a lot of mumbo jumbo.
Mayweather and his cronies attempted to insinuate that Top Rank chairman Bob Arum was being deceitful when he said he’d been negotiating for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight with Greenburg serving as the middle man. Greenburg and Arum have not had the strongest of relationships, while Greenburg has an extraordinarily cozy relationship with Golden Boy. If Arum were lying, their frequently contentious history together suggests that Greenburg would have called him on it immediately.
Greenburg, though, clearly sided with Arum, when he said, in part, “I had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2nd … “
That’s what Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, has steadfastly claimed for weeks. On June 30, Arum told Yahoo! Sports that “all issues were resolved” and that the only outstanding matter was whether Mayweather wanted to fight in 2010 or 2011. Arum then set a July 16, 11:59 p.m. deadline on Mayweather to accept the deal. On a conference call in the early morning hours of July 17, Arum announced the deadline had passed without word from Mayweather and that he was pursuing a fight for Pacquiao with either Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto.
Ellerbe, though, released a statement on July 19 that was the beginning of the end for Team Mayweather’s credibility. Ellerbe disputed that talks had even taken place. “Here are the facts,” the statement read. “Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying.”
That led many in the media to quickly assail Arum’s credibility and for Schaefer and De La Hoya to issue self-righteous comments backing Ellerbe and denying negotiations had ever taken place.
And they would have won this silly game had it ended there and had Greenburg not entered the fray. Arum insisted he was telling the truth, but few seemed to believe him. They didn’t, that is, until Greenburg released his brief, simple, but truly remarkable statement.
In it, he said, “Fights like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao are significant because of these fighters’ ability to connect with sports fans around the world. It’s unfortunate that it won’t happen in 2010. I had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2nd, carefully trying to put the fight together. Hopefully, someday this fight will happen. Sports fans deserve it.”
Here’s what sports fans deserve: They deserve better than to waste their hard-earned money on “Money,” who acts as if he’s invented the sport. Mayweather’s a brilliant talent who never seems to let one forget it, who behaves as if he should be able to dictate terms and others should gratefully accept it because he said so.
Let him play in his fantasy world. Boxing doesn’t need him. And, truth be told, he’s wrong about his value.
Mayweather has sold more pay-per-views against common opponents than Pacquiao and his gates for those fights have been bigger. But Pacquiao’s Nov. 14 bout with Cotto at the MGM had a far greater economic impact upon the city of Las Vegas than either of Mayweather’s and the Nevada Gaming Control Board attributed casinos’ best performance in 22 months in November 2009 to the presence of the Pacquiao-Cotto bout and the high-rolling Asian gamblers who spent loads of money.
Despite apparently being caught red-handed when Greenburg released his statement, Ellerbe’s only response on the record was, “I hear his statement and I stand by my statement.” But he then attempted to insinuate that comments Mayweather made at a June 2 Make-a-Wish event in Las Vegas should have been taken by the media that he never planned to fight Pacquiao this year.
“At this particular time, Floyd Mayweather is taking probably a year off, a couple of years off from the sport of boxing,” Mayweather said at the charity event. “I don’t really know what the future holds for Floyd Mayweather at this particular time, but I’ll probably take a couple of years off.”
Saying one “probably” is going to take a year off is a lot different than releasing a statement or holding a media conference and announcing one’s retirement. Yet, Ellerbe attempted to intimate that Mayweather’s statement to sports director Chris Maathuis of KLAS-TV in his gym at a charity event was a definitive announcement.
What muddied the waters even more was De La Hoya apparently lying to Univision on June 11. In a televised Spanish-language interview, De La Hoya said of a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, “I think right now we are very, very close in finalizing the contracts. I can’t talk right now in detail about the negotiations but I will say that we are very close.”
The comments caused quite a stir when they were made, but Schaefer dismissed them. He insisted De La Hoya had been misquoted. But when those pesky reporters actually went and had Spanish experts translate the recording, it turned out that De La Hoya wasn’t misquoted.
So the Golden Boy tried a different tactic on Monday. He told Robert Morales of BoxingScene.com, “I think I said it because I get the question so many times that, obviously, I was fed up and tired of it and I just said like, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s gonna get made.’ ”
Essentially, De La Hoya on Monday admitted to lying on June 11, though it’s uncertain how his June 11 comments would have helped end the questioning he wanted to avoid. Given that he said a deal was close, that would only seem to make the scrutiny greater, no lesser. Had he said there were no talks – which he’s now insisting is the truth – and that the fight was not going to happen, no one would have had reason to keep asking him.
No one is going to ask any more. How can anyone support someone with Mayweather’s arrogance, who cares so little about the fans who made him rich beyond his wildest dreams that he won’t even consider the fight they want more than any other?
Mayweather has run from his biggest challenge. The fans, even those who have ardently supported him through the years, will surely remember that. And the next time he dares to compare himself to one of boxing’s all-time greats, such as Sugar Ray Robinson or Sugar Ray Leonard, they’ll scoff.
He can’t hold a candle to either.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg released a four-paragraph, five-sentence statement Monday which cast doubt upon the veracity of Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Mayweather’s best friend, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe; Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and which forever eliminated any doubt about Mayweather’s intention: He’s ducking Manny Pacquiao.
There can be no other rational explanation.Mayweather was nowhere to be found on Monday, still on vacation, apparently oblivious to the millions of boxing fans desperate to hear a word about his intentions. If Mayweather cared about his legacy, if he cared about the sport that has made him rich and famous, he wouldn’t have been invisible the last few weeks while allowing Ellerbe to spew a lot of mumbo jumbo.
Mayweather and his cronies attempted to insinuate that Top Rank chairman Bob Arum was being deceitful when he said he’d been negotiating for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight with Greenburg serving as the middle man. Greenburg and Arum have not had the strongest of relationships, while Greenburg has an extraordinarily cozy relationship with Golden Boy. If Arum were lying, their frequently contentious history together suggests that Greenburg would have called him on it immediately.
Greenburg, though, clearly sided with Arum, when he said, in part, “I had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2nd … “
That’s what Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, has steadfastly claimed for weeks. On June 30, Arum told Yahoo! Sports that “all issues were resolved” and that the only outstanding matter was whether Mayweather wanted to fight in 2010 or 2011. Arum then set a July 16, 11:59 p.m. deadline on Mayweather to accept the deal. On a conference call in the early morning hours of July 17, Arum announced the deadline had passed without word from Mayweather and that he was pursuing a fight for Pacquiao with either Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto.
Ellerbe, though, released a statement on July 19 that was the beginning of the end for Team Mayweather’s credibility. Ellerbe disputed that talks had even taken place. “Here are the facts,” the statement read. “Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying.”
That led many in the media to quickly assail Arum’s credibility and for Schaefer and De La Hoya to issue self-righteous comments backing Ellerbe and denying negotiations had ever taken place.
And they would have won this silly game had it ended there and had Greenburg not entered the fray. Arum insisted he was telling the truth, but few seemed to believe him. They didn’t, that is, until Greenburg released his brief, simple, but truly remarkable statement.
In it, he said, “Fights like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao are significant because of these fighters’ ability to connect with sports fans around the world. It’s unfortunate that it won’t happen in 2010. I had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2nd, carefully trying to put the fight together. Hopefully, someday this fight will happen. Sports fans deserve it.”
Here’s what sports fans deserve: They deserve better than to waste their hard-earned money on “Money,” who acts as if he’s invented the sport. Mayweather’s a brilliant talent who never seems to let one forget it, who behaves as if he should be able to dictate terms and others should gratefully accept it because he said so.
Let him play in his fantasy world. Boxing doesn’t need him. And, truth be told, he’s wrong about his value.
Mayweather has sold more pay-per-views against common opponents than Pacquiao and his gates for those fights have been bigger. But Pacquiao’s Nov. 14 bout with Cotto at the MGM had a far greater economic impact upon the city of Las Vegas than either of Mayweather’s and the Nevada Gaming Control Board attributed casinos’ best performance in 22 months in November 2009 to the presence of the Pacquiao-Cotto bout and the high-rolling Asian gamblers who spent loads of money.
Despite apparently being caught red-handed when Greenburg released his statement, Ellerbe’s only response on the record was, “I hear his statement and I stand by my statement.” But he then attempted to insinuate that comments Mayweather made at a June 2 Make-a-Wish event in Las Vegas should have been taken by the media that he never planned to fight Pacquiao this year.
“At this particular time, Floyd Mayweather is taking probably a year off, a couple of years off from the sport of boxing,” Mayweather said at the charity event. “I don’t really know what the future holds for Floyd Mayweather at this particular time, but I’ll probably take a couple of years off.”Saying one “probably” is going to take a year off is a lot different than releasing a statement or holding a media conference and announcing one’s retirement. Yet, Ellerbe attempted to intimate that Mayweather’s statement to sports director Chris Maathuis of KLAS-TV in his gym at a charity event was a definitive announcement.
What muddied the waters even more was De La Hoya apparently lying to Univision on June 11. In a televised Spanish-language interview, De La Hoya said of a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, “I think right now we are very, very close in finalizing the contracts. I can’t talk right now in detail about the negotiations but I will say that we are very close.”
The comments caused quite a stir when they were made, but Schaefer dismissed them. He insisted De La Hoya had been misquoted. But when those pesky reporters actually went and had Spanish experts translate the recording, it turned out that De La Hoya wasn’t misquoted.
So the Golden Boy tried a different tactic on Monday. He told Robert Morales of BoxingScene.com, “I think I said it because I get the question so many times that, obviously, I was fed up and tired of it and I just said like, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s gonna get made.’ ”
Essentially, De La Hoya on Monday admitted to lying on June 11, though it’s uncertain how his June 11 comments would have helped end the questioning he wanted to avoid. Given that he said a deal was close, that would only seem to make the scrutiny greater, no lesser. Had he said there were no talks – which he’s now insisting is the truth – and that the fight was not going to happen, no one would have had reason to keep asking him.
No one is going to ask any more. How can anyone support someone with Mayweather’s arrogance, who cares so little about the fans who made him rich beyond his wildest dreams that he won’t even consider the fight they want more than any other?
Mayweather has run from his biggest challenge. The fans, even those who have ardently supported him through the years, will surely remember that. And the next time he dares to compare himself to one of boxing’s all-time greats, such as Sugar Ray Robinson or Sugar Ray Leonard, they’ll scoff.
He can’t hold a candle to either.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
Mundine demands pre-bout drug-testing of opponents -- Sydney Morning Herald
By BRAD WALTER, The Sydney Morning Herald
ANTHONY MUNDINE has followed the lead of Floyd Mayweather jnr, the pound-for-pound superstar he eventually wants to fight, by insisting on Olympics-style drugs testing for his WBA junior middleweight world title eliminator bout against Ryan Waters.
Mundine, who hopes the fight against the WBA's No.7-ranked junior middleweight can propel him to a shot at Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito, intends to demand all future opponents undergo three blood tests for drugs before their bouts.
''I want to set a precedent in boxing here and clean up the sport,'' Mundine said. ''I just feel that in the past there have been some fighters who have had some enhancement. I am not going to name names but I feel that they couldn't take the punishment and respond the way they did. I just feel that some guys will go to any lengths to beat me and if that is by taking drugs and enhancing their bodies illegally, then they will do that, because that is how much it means to them.''
Mayweather sparked controversy earlier this year. His refusal to back down on his demands that Manny Pacquiao undergo three blood tests before their bout resulted in one of the most eagerly awaited fights in boxing history not going ahead.
Mundine said that Waters had agreed to the stringent drug-testing and his next scheduled opponent, The Contender Australia champion Garth Wood, would do the same.
''I want to be drugs-tested,'' Mundine said. ''I've never been Olympic-style drugs-tested except when I fought in Germany, but I want both blood tests and urine tests. I don't want them on steroids, I don't want them on stanozolol, I don't want them on EPO [erythropoietin]. I want them to be even, I want them to be just like me. I work hard.''
Waters, who is also rated No.5 in the WBO's junior middleweight rankings, has been unbeaten since June 2006 and views the bout with Mundine as his opportunity to secure a world title fight.
''In this half of the world [the southern hemisphere] I am the strongest light middleweight getting around and I will show everyone that on September 15,'' Waters said.
Mundine said the fight was a stepping stone to a fourth world title in a third weight division. ''Ryan is world-rated by two sanctioning bodies, he is No.7 in the WBA and I am No.2, so we've got two boxers ranked in the top 10 in the world fighting an eliminator to be the next in line for a shot at the world title,'' he said.
The main preliminary bout will pit Australia's top-rated heavyweight, Alex Leapai, against Britain's Danny Williams, who famously scored a fourth-round knockout of Mike Tyson in 2004.
Source: smh.com.au
ANTHONY MUNDINE has followed the lead of Floyd Mayweather jnr, the pound-for-pound superstar he eventually wants to fight, by insisting on Olympics-style drugs testing for his WBA junior middleweight world title eliminator bout against Ryan Waters.
Mundine, who hopes the fight against the WBA's No.7-ranked junior middleweight can propel him to a shot at Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito, intends to demand all future opponents undergo three blood tests for drugs before their bouts.
''I want to set a precedent in boxing here and clean up the sport,'' Mundine said. ''I just feel that in the past there have been some fighters who have had some enhancement. I am not going to name names but I feel that they couldn't take the punishment and respond the way they did. I just feel that some guys will go to any lengths to beat me and if that is by taking drugs and enhancing their bodies illegally, then they will do that, because that is how much it means to them.''
Mayweather sparked controversy earlier this year. His refusal to back down on his demands that Manny Pacquiao undergo three blood tests before their bout resulted in one of the most eagerly awaited fights in boxing history not going ahead.
Mundine said that Waters had agreed to the stringent drug-testing and his next scheduled opponent, The Contender Australia champion Garth Wood, would do the same.
''I want to be drugs-tested,'' Mundine said. ''I've never been Olympic-style drugs-tested except when I fought in Germany, but I want both blood tests and urine tests. I don't want them on steroids, I don't want them on stanozolol, I don't want them on EPO [erythropoietin]. I want them to be even, I want them to be just like me. I work hard.''
Waters, who is also rated No.5 in the WBO's junior middleweight rankings, has been unbeaten since June 2006 and views the bout with Mundine as his opportunity to secure a world title fight.
''In this half of the world [the southern hemisphere] I am the strongest light middleweight getting around and I will show everyone that on September 15,'' Waters said.
Mundine said the fight was a stepping stone to a fourth world title in a third weight division. ''Ryan is world-rated by two sanctioning bodies, he is No.7 in the WBA and I am No.2, so we've got two boxers ranked in the top 10 in the world fighting an eliminator to be the next in line for a shot at the world title,'' he said.
The main preliminary bout will pit Australia's top-rated heavyweight, Alex Leapai, against Britain's Danny Williams, who famously scored a fourth-round knockout of Mike Tyson in 2004.
Source: smh.com.au
"Super Welterweight Title Fight" Super Disappointment -- Miami Herald
By Lyle Fitzsimmons, Sports Network
Maybe it's the travel lag...and/or my general grumpiness.
Because after a seven-day stretch that's included more than 2,000 road miles over four states and two time zones - not to mention a pair of multi-hour plane rides, stays in three hotels and what seemed like 100 hours of convention events - I'm a little short on patience.
So when I began making notes to create this week's column in the lobby of yet another lodging establishment in lovely Macon, Ga. - free wireless coverage at La Quinta Inns & Suites rocks, by the way - I was already on the prowl for someone to tear into.
With that as an objective, boxing rarely disappoints.
And this time around, it's the same-old chorus on a brand-new song.
Much as he did this time last year with news he'd face Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight championship, Filipino phenomenon Manny Pacquiao is commandeering headlines this week with the choice of his next title-fight opponent - Antonio Margarito.
According to multiple reports, Pacquiao will meet the disgraced former 147- pound kingpin on Nov. 13 in either Nevada or Mexico, pending Margarito's eventual status in Las Vegas after would-be locker room shenanigans with Shane Mosley 18 months ago.
The debate on whether Margarito should fight at all is still a lively one.
And because no one outside of he and his closest teammates really knows what happened in the back rooms at Staples Center a year ago January, I'll defer to the judgment of the Nevada commission to make a correct call after examining the evidence.
If they say he deserves a license, let him fight here.
If not, let him slink back to Mexico and do it on home turf.
Makes no difference to me. And the show goes on regardless.
Rather, my beef lies with the other machinations Bob Arum and Co. are poised to employ while billing Pacquiao-Margarito a "WBC super welterweight championship" fight.
The fact Arum created any scenario in which the reigning WBO welterweight champion meets a man two fights from elite status ensures a lead SportsCenter placement come mid-November.
The best at 147 is chasing history against a man considered dominant not long ago.
That without question is a good thing.
But like last year when it aimed for Cotto's crown, Team Pacquiao is mandating a dubious catch-weight provision to have the men fight well below the established limit for the division - four pounds, to be exact - which has long been 154 pounds.
Then a reigning welterweight champion, Cotto was contracted to defend at 145.
In competing for a super welter title, Margarito is now being held to 150.
And 12 months later...the taste it leaves is no less bitter.
Especially considering the revived frenzy the bout creates to tag Pacquiao a throwback and label his recent weight-rising dominance superior to Henry Armstrong in the 30s and 40s.
Only a fool would contend that Manny's not great.
In fact, it takes far less than a genius - whether "Pactard" or "Flomo" - to see he's an all-timer bound for deservedly special treatment at Canastota.
But no matter how many belts he adds, wrong remains wrong.
And if you don't agree, simply take a closer look.
Even if nothing had preceded it at lower weights, Pacquiao's climb to elite status at 130 pounds with his win over Juan Manuel Marquez - albeit a close and controversial one - was evidence enough to prove legitimate pound-for- pound prowess.
Since then, though, it's sometimes gotten a little murky.
While recounting breathless history, remember the title climb to 135 pounds was not made against an incumbent three-belt champ who'd beaten the previous No. 1, but with a more favorable match in David Diaz - then only the WBC claimant - as heavy bag of choice.
A brutal shellacking of Oscar De La Hoya six months later was impressive and rightfully earned Manny kudos. Lest I forget, I chose De La Hoya by easy KO going in and never dreamed an upset would have approached the destruction Pacquiao unleashed.
But the Golden Boy's imprudent weight loss - 145 pounds?!? - casts at least some shadow.
And an oft-unmentioned reality is Oscar's seven-year absence from the division hardly makes any conqueror - even a streaking Pacquiao - an Armstrong-like claimant to the throne.
Had De La Hoya lost to Steve Forbes at 147 a fight earlier, no one would have called the former "Contender" participant the division's new terror. But because he's the "it" guy, anything Manny touches - even a guy whose last win at 147 came in 2001 - turns to gold.
At 140, no plausible denial applies to Pacquiao's blitz of Ricky Hatton, whom he clearly defeated to establish himself as the new top man.
But the subsequent slight rise to meet Cotto at stand-in weight re-opens a can of worms similar to the one following the match with a shrunken Oscar.
And let's not even mention Josh Clottey, shall we?
For those unaware, history shows "Homicide Hank" used no such loopholes.
When he won the featherweight title in 1937, his foe weighed 126. When he copped the welterweight title in 1938, he conceded several pounds and won double-digit rounds on all cards. And when he took the lightweight title just three months later, he weighed 134.
"Fighter of the Decade" laurels notwithstanding, Pac's not approached those feats.
It's not even close.
But it is pretty simple.
If Manny wants to weigh 150 pounds while attempting to claim another title, so be it.
And if Margarito chooses to slim down in competing against him, that's fine, too.
But fudging established rules to orchestrate big events is wrong. And it removes any legitimacy existent when comparing Pacquiao's laudable exploits to Armstrong's legendary ones.
I understand his cash cow status allows leverage and I understand Margarito is free to walk, but it'd sure be nice to hear purists break sweats on tirades over title-bout replicas like they do while likening flimsy imitations to true multi-division trailblazers of decades past.
As for the fight itself, Margarito's got no chance. Plaster or no plaster.
Pacquiao in 8.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This week's title-fight schedule:
SATURDAY IBF junior bantamweight title - Tepic, Mexico Simphiwe Nongqayi (champion) vs. Alberto Rosas (No. 1 contender) Nongqayi (16-0-1, 6 KO): Second title defense; Third fight in Mexico (2-0, 0 KO) Rosas (31-5, 25 KO): First title fight; Six wins in 11 fights after 25-0 start Fitzbitz says: "The South African is hardly a dominant champion, but he'll be good enough here." Nongqayi by decision
WBA/WBO lightweight title - Las Vegas, Nev. Juan Manuel Marquez (WBA/WBO champion) vs. Juan Diaz (No. 8 WBA/No. 3 WBO contender) Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO): First WBA/WBO title defenses; Stopped Diaz in nine rounds in 2009 Diaz (35-3, 17 KO): Twelfth title fight (9-2, 4 KO); Former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion at 135 Fitzbitz says: "Marquez was better last time. He's better this time. Similar result." Marquez by decision
Vacant WBO middleweight title - Las Vegas, Nev. Daniel Jacobs (No. 1 contender) vs. Dmitry Pirog (No. 2 contender) Jacobs (20-0, 17 KO): First title fight; Two fights at or below middleweight limit (2-0, 1 KO) Pirog (16-0, 13 KO): First title fight; First fight in North America Fitzbitz says: "They say Jacobs is the real deal. I'll believe for now until proven wrong." Jacobs by decision
Last week's picks: 1-1 Overall picks record: 210-73 (74.2 percent)
Lyle Fitzsimmons is a veteran sports columnist who's written professionally since 1988 and covered boxing since 1995. His work is published in print and posted online for clients in North America and Europe. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him at www.twitter.com/fitzbitz.
Source: miamiherald.com
Maybe it's the travel lag...and/or my general grumpiness.
Because after a seven-day stretch that's included more than 2,000 road miles over four states and two time zones - not to mention a pair of multi-hour plane rides, stays in three hotels and what seemed like 100 hours of convention events - I'm a little short on patience.
So when I began making notes to create this week's column in the lobby of yet another lodging establishment in lovely Macon, Ga. - free wireless coverage at La Quinta Inns & Suites rocks, by the way - I was already on the prowl for someone to tear into.
With that as an objective, boxing rarely disappoints.
And this time around, it's the same-old chorus on a brand-new song.
Much as he did this time last year with news he'd face Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight championship, Filipino phenomenon Manny Pacquiao is commandeering headlines this week with the choice of his next title-fight opponent - Antonio Margarito.
According to multiple reports, Pacquiao will meet the disgraced former 147- pound kingpin on Nov. 13 in either Nevada or Mexico, pending Margarito's eventual status in Las Vegas after would-be locker room shenanigans with Shane Mosley 18 months ago.
The debate on whether Margarito should fight at all is still a lively one.
And because no one outside of he and his closest teammates really knows what happened in the back rooms at Staples Center a year ago January, I'll defer to the judgment of the Nevada commission to make a correct call after examining the evidence.
If they say he deserves a license, let him fight here.
If not, let him slink back to Mexico and do it on home turf.
Makes no difference to me. And the show goes on regardless.
Rather, my beef lies with the other machinations Bob Arum and Co. are poised to employ while billing Pacquiao-Margarito a "WBC super welterweight championship" fight.
The fact Arum created any scenario in which the reigning WBO welterweight champion meets a man two fights from elite status ensures a lead SportsCenter placement come mid-November.
The best at 147 is chasing history against a man considered dominant not long ago.
That without question is a good thing.
But like last year when it aimed for Cotto's crown, Team Pacquiao is mandating a dubious catch-weight provision to have the men fight well below the established limit for the division - four pounds, to be exact - which has long been 154 pounds.
Then a reigning welterweight champion, Cotto was contracted to defend at 145.
In competing for a super welter title, Margarito is now being held to 150.
And 12 months later...the taste it leaves is no less bitter.
Especially considering the revived frenzy the bout creates to tag Pacquiao a throwback and label his recent weight-rising dominance superior to Henry Armstrong in the 30s and 40s.
Only a fool would contend that Manny's not great.
In fact, it takes far less than a genius - whether "Pactard" or "Flomo" - to see he's an all-timer bound for deservedly special treatment at Canastota.
But no matter how many belts he adds, wrong remains wrong.
And if you don't agree, simply take a closer look.
Even if nothing had preceded it at lower weights, Pacquiao's climb to elite status at 130 pounds with his win over Juan Manuel Marquez - albeit a close and controversial one - was evidence enough to prove legitimate pound-for- pound prowess.
Since then, though, it's sometimes gotten a little murky.
While recounting breathless history, remember the title climb to 135 pounds was not made against an incumbent three-belt champ who'd beaten the previous No. 1, but with a more favorable match in David Diaz - then only the WBC claimant - as heavy bag of choice.
A brutal shellacking of Oscar De La Hoya six months later was impressive and rightfully earned Manny kudos. Lest I forget, I chose De La Hoya by easy KO going in and never dreamed an upset would have approached the destruction Pacquiao unleashed.
But the Golden Boy's imprudent weight loss - 145 pounds?!? - casts at least some shadow.
And an oft-unmentioned reality is Oscar's seven-year absence from the division hardly makes any conqueror - even a streaking Pacquiao - an Armstrong-like claimant to the throne.
Had De La Hoya lost to Steve Forbes at 147 a fight earlier, no one would have called the former "Contender" participant the division's new terror. But because he's the "it" guy, anything Manny touches - even a guy whose last win at 147 came in 2001 - turns to gold.
At 140, no plausible denial applies to Pacquiao's blitz of Ricky Hatton, whom he clearly defeated to establish himself as the new top man.
But the subsequent slight rise to meet Cotto at stand-in weight re-opens a can of worms similar to the one following the match with a shrunken Oscar.
And let's not even mention Josh Clottey, shall we?
For those unaware, history shows "Homicide Hank" used no such loopholes.
When he won the featherweight title in 1937, his foe weighed 126. When he copped the welterweight title in 1938, he conceded several pounds and won double-digit rounds on all cards. And when he took the lightweight title just three months later, he weighed 134.
"Fighter of the Decade" laurels notwithstanding, Pac's not approached those feats.
It's not even close.
But it is pretty simple.
If Manny wants to weigh 150 pounds while attempting to claim another title, so be it.
And if Margarito chooses to slim down in competing against him, that's fine, too.
But fudging established rules to orchestrate big events is wrong. And it removes any legitimacy existent when comparing Pacquiao's laudable exploits to Armstrong's legendary ones.
I understand his cash cow status allows leverage and I understand Margarito is free to walk, but it'd sure be nice to hear purists break sweats on tirades over title-bout replicas like they do while likening flimsy imitations to true multi-division trailblazers of decades past.
As for the fight itself, Margarito's got no chance. Plaster or no plaster.
Pacquiao in 8.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This week's title-fight schedule:
SATURDAY IBF junior bantamweight title - Tepic, Mexico Simphiwe Nongqayi (champion) vs. Alberto Rosas (No. 1 contender) Nongqayi (16-0-1, 6 KO): Second title defense; Third fight in Mexico (2-0, 0 KO) Rosas (31-5, 25 KO): First title fight; Six wins in 11 fights after 25-0 start Fitzbitz says: "The South African is hardly a dominant champion, but he'll be good enough here." Nongqayi by decision
WBA/WBO lightweight title - Las Vegas, Nev. Juan Manuel Marquez (WBA/WBO champion) vs. Juan Diaz (No. 8 WBA/No. 3 WBO contender) Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO): First WBA/WBO title defenses; Stopped Diaz in nine rounds in 2009 Diaz (35-3, 17 KO): Twelfth title fight (9-2, 4 KO); Former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion at 135 Fitzbitz says: "Marquez was better last time. He's better this time. Similar result." Marquez by decision
Vacant WBO middleweight title - Las Vegas, Nev. Daniel Jacobs (No. 1 contender) vs. Dmitry Pirog (No. 2 contender) Jacobs (20-0, 17 KO): First title fight; Two fights at or below middleweight limit (2-0, 1 KO) Pirog (16-0, 13 KO): First title fight; First fight in North America Fitzbitz says: "They say Jacobs is the real deal. I'll believe for now until proven wrong." Jacobs by decision
Last week's picks: 1-1 Overall picks record: 210-73 (74.2 percent)
Lyle Fitzsimmons is a veteran sports columnist who's written professionally since 1988 and covered boxing since 1995. His work is published in print and posted online for clients in North America and Europe. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him at www.twitter.com/fitzbitz.
Source: miamiherald.com
Wednesday 28 July 2010
Bob Arum on Antonio Margarito, Floyd Mayweather, Negotiations -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
In this Q&A, Top Rank Promotions' Bob Arum responded to a recent statement by HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg that supported Arum's own assertion that negotiations took place for a mega-bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather's camp -- Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya -- has stated there were no negotiations.
Arum also defended the right of Antonio Margarito to face Pacquiao for the WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) title potentially outside of the United States even though Margarito is not licensed to fight in America stemming from a hand-wrapping scandal. Margarito served a year-long suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission.
In a new development, Arum said that he is "considering Nevada, Texas and New Jersey as well as Monterrey, Mex." for the Nov. 13 Pacquiao-Margarito fight, adding, "we're going to weigh everything by the end of the week and decide where we're going."
"In New Jersey, we would have it at Boardwalk Hall. In Texas, we would consider the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and in Las Vegas, it would be the MGM Grand Arena," said Arum. "I'm optimistic in all three states."
Abu Dhabi still is an outside consideration as well, although Arum said, "that doesn't appear to me at this point in time as being something reasonably that will happen."
What do you have to say about Ross Greenburg's statement?
Ross Greenburg's statement reflects exactly what I went through and what I talked about at the midnight conference call. That's exactly what I said. You remember that I said that I negotiated through Ross Greenburg, and Al Haymon was on the other side. We were negotiating through Greenburg and that's what Greenburg said.
Now, it's as simple as that. And for these people to deny anything ever took place is ludicrous. You don't see Haymon denying anything. Richard Schaefer, I think, has demonstrated that he is not to be trusted. He plays fast and loose with the truth.
What are your thoughts on Oscar De La Hoya initially saying that the deal was close to being done in one interview, and then, saying the negotiations never took place in another?
Oscar is an advertisement for this movie that's coming out this Friday night that's called, 'Dinner for Schmucks.' Oscar is not the brightest penny on the block. Anybody who pays any mind to what Oscar De La Hoya says is not very bright either.
So that's why you have Oscar De La Hoya once summarizing the negotiations for Mexican television like he did at first. And I thought that he did a pretty good job. That was my understanding of where the negotiations were.
And then for him to say, 'Well, I just said those things to get somebody off my back,' and 'there were no negotiations.' I mean, what are you saying? Why did you go through this situation where you had such an elaborate answer to describe the negotiations, and then you tossed it off and said there were no negotiations. I mean, that's a lie.
Do you think that after all of this that a Mayweather-Pacquiao matchup can ever be negotiated and that the fight will ever be made?
We'd have to find some other way. This way did not work. We'd have to find some other way which has a better opportunity to work. Right now, I don't know what that better way is. But between now and next year, maybe something will occur to me.
How much do you think that Floyd Mayweather's past with you as his former promoter has to do with the way the negotiations went?
I don't think that it has anything to do with it. I really don't. I think that Floyd didn't want to fight and the people around him wanted him to fight. You know, it didn't have anything to do with Bob Arum.
Switching to Pacquiao-Margarito, that fight, reportedly, would be at a catch weight of 150 pounds?
That's correct.
What do you tell people, including Oscar De La Hoya, who might be saying that Antonio Margarito should not be licensed and does not deserve this opportunity against Manny Pacquiao?
Let me tell you something, these are people who don't know any of the facts. They should read the record of the California State Athletic Commission, which shows clearly that Margarito didn't know what was happening, and that these pads that were inserted into his hand wraps were not something that he would naturally catch.
The idea that these pads were Plaster of Paris inserts is absolutely bull****. They're making that up, and that appears nowhere in the record. There is all of this misinformation out there that people like Oscar De La Hoya eagerly cling to because he's a man who has no discernment.
I mean, he doesn't read and he doesn't study. And anybody who has studied that record can not say that Antonio Margarito was complicit in what happened. You can not say that from the record. That being said, California applied the standard of 'he's the boxer, and he's the captain of his ship,' and therefore his license should be revoked.
That was the wrong standard in California, although it is the standard in Nevada. That's a technicality. But he served his time. This was never meant to be a life sentence.
I understand that what could delay a California hearing and potentially keep Antonio Margarito from being licensed there is his lawsuit claiming lack of due process. Is there any chance that he'll drop his lawsuit against California?
I talked to the lawyers about that. That's not a decision that I would make. And the lawyers are not advising him to drop it because when you read the appellate papers, he is the favorite to win and reverse that case.
In other words, I can see the judge throwing out the fact that his license was revoked and showing that there is no blemish on his record. They shouldn't be able to deprive him of that [hearing]. He's not suing anybody for monetary damages.
I mean, this is America, and you have a right to be heard.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
In this Q&A, Top Rank Promotions' Bob Arum responded to a recent statement by HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg that supported Arum's own assertion that negotiations took place for a mega-bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather's camp -- Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya -- has stated there were no negotiations.
Arum also defended the right of Antonio Margarito to face Pacquiao for the WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) title potentially outside of the United States even though Margarito is not licensed to fight in America stemming from a hand-wrapping scandal. Margarito served a year-long suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission.
In a new development, Arum said that he is "considering Nevada, Texas and New Jersey as well as Monterrey, Mex." for the Nov. 13 Pacquiao-Margarito fight, adding, "we're going to weigh everything by the end of the week and decide where we're going."
"In New Jersey, we would have it at Boardwalk Hall. In Texas, we would consider the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and in Las Vegas, it would be the MGM Grand Arena," said Arum. "I'm optimistic in all three states."
Abu Dhabi still is an outside consideration as well, although Arum said, "that doesn't appear to me at this point in time as being something reasonably that will happen."
What do you have to say about Ross Greenburg's statement?
Ross Greenburg's statement reflects exactly what I went through and what I talked about at the midnight conference call. That's exactly what I said. You remember that I said that I negotiated through Ross Greenburg, and Al Haymon was on the other side. We were negotiating through Greenburg and that's what Greenburg said.
Now, it's as simple as that. And for these people to deny anything ever took place is ludicrous. You don't see Haymon denying anything. Richard Schaefer, I think, has demonstrated that he is not to be trusted. He plays fast and loose with the truth.
What are your thoughts on Oscar De La Hoya initially saying that the deal was close to being done in one interview, and then, saying the negotiations never took place in another?
Oscar is an advertisement for this movie that's coming out this Friday night that's called, 'Dinner for Schmucks.' Oscar is not the brightest penny on the block. Anybody who pays any mind to what Oscar De La Hoya says is not very bright either.
So that's why you have Oscar De La Hoya once summarizing the negotiations for Mexican television like he did at first. And I thought that he did a pretty good job. That was my understanding of where the negotiations were.
And then for him to say, 'Well, I just said those things to get somebody off my back,' and 'there were no negotiations.' I mean, what are you saying? Why did you go through this situation where you had such an elaborate answer to describe the negotiations, and then you tossed it off and said there were no negotiations. I mean, that's a lie.
Do you think that after all of this that a Mayweather-Pacquiao matchup can ever be negotiated and that the fight will ever be made?
We'd have to find some other way. This way did not work. We'd have to find some other way which has a better opportunity to work. Right now, I don't know what that better way is. But between now and next year, maybe something will occur to me.
How much do you think that Floyd Mayweather's past with you as his former promoter has to do with the way the negotiations went?
I don't think that it has anything to do with it. I really don't. I think that Floyd didn't want to fight and the people around him wanted him to fight. You know, it didn't have anything to do with Bob Arum.
Switching to Pacquiao-Margarito, that fight, reportedly, would be at a catch weight of 150 pounds?
That's correct.
What do you tell people, including Oscar De La Hoya, who might be saying that Antonio Margarito should not be licensed and does not deserve this opportunity against Manny Pacquiao?
Let me tell you something, these are people who don't know any of the facts. They should read the record of the California State Athletic Commission, which shows clearly that Margarito didn't know what was happening, and that these pads that were inserted into his hand wraps were not something that he would naturally catch.
The idea that these pads were Plaster of Paris inserts is absolutely bull****. They're making that up, and that appears nowhere in the record. There is all of this misinformation out there that people like Oscar De La Hoya eagerly cling to because he's a man who has no discernment.
I mean, he doesn't read and he doesn't study. And anybody who has studied that record can not say that Antonio Margarito was complicit in what happened. You can not say that from the record. That being said, California applied the standard of 'he's the boxer, and he's the captain of his ship,' and therefore his license should be revoked.
That was the wrong standard in California, although it is the standard in Nevada. That's a technicality. But he served his time. This was never meant to be a life sentence.
I understand that what could delay a California hearing and potentially keep Antonio Margarito from being licensed there is his lawsuit claiming lack of due process. Is there any chance that he'll drop his lawsuit against California?
I talked to the lawyers about that. That's not a decision that I would make. And the lawyers are not advising him to drop it because when you read the appellate papers, he is the favorite to win and reverse that case.
In other words, I can see the judge throwing out the fact that his license was revoked and showing that there is no blemish on his record. They shouldn't be able to deprive him of that [hearing]. He's not suing anybody for monetary damages.
I mean, this is America, and you have a right to be heard.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Naked Floyd Mayweather: Tide's gone out on Manny Pacquiao fight -- Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
It would be appropriate if the vacationing Floyd Mayweather was splashing in the aquamarine waters off Puerto Rico right now because the bombshell revelation from HBO Tuesday made me think of a beachy quote.
“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
The email HBO chieftain Ross Greenburg sent to The Los Angeles Times has brought us to the low tide situation which reveals, beyond all doubt, that Mayweather and his acolytes have been swimming without their trunks.
I've taken my foot off the pedal in slamming Mayweather in recent weeks but now my hand is forced. And my feet also.
Time to put the pedal to the metal.
Mayweather, who portrays himself as boxing's Emperor, has no clothes.
There can be no excuses now that veteran broadcasting exeuctive Greenburg has backed up Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum's persistent stance that those representing the Pinoy Idol made every effort to make the Super Bout for Nov. 13.
In his terse but telling statement, Greenburg concedes there will be no Manny-Floyd fight at least in this calendar year.
So now it is, to switch to tennis parlance, game, set and match in Pacman's favor.
We still don't know, although Greenburg implies that he began trying to bring the two parties together on May 2, the day after L'il Floyd scored his little victory over old man Sugar Shane Mosley, whether there was any sort of meaningful response to the Pacquiao demands.
But, know this and know it well, Greenburg would have loved to have delivered the blockbuster for his employer.
The flimsy excuses, such as the one about Mayweather fearing that his uncle-trainer Roger might be serving prison time at fight time, don't wash, either.
A fighter who calls himself “Money” wouldn't let his crazy uncle's absence stand between him and a $40 million cash bonanza.
So what are we left with?
Pacquiao now cannot be blamed for moving on to Antonio Margarito and neither can Arum.
HBO is off the hook on the basis on having made more than a good faith effort to bring the parties to contract.
Golden Boy still can't explain why Oscar de la Hoya said on national TV the fight was “very close” to being made into a reality or why Richard Schaefer was like a broken record refusing all public comment and making reference to a gag order.
Maybe Oscar should be bound and Richard should be gagged. But I don't want to get either hinky or kinky here.
There will be no comment from Mayweather puppet master Al Haymon and, by now, you can bet that Floyd's sidekick Leonard Ellerbe has had duct tape placed over his mouth.
It was Ellerbe who prodded Greenburg into public comment by questioning the prime cable network sports president's veracity in the first place.
Bad move, Laughing Lenny, bad move.
Where will Mayweather go next?
I might suggest a nudist colony where trunks are verboten and not optional.
Mayweather could not be any more exposed now if he strolled nude through Times Square at high noon.
He's the self-styled Emperor of Boxing, all right. And he's got no clothes.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
It would be appropriate if the vacationing Floyd Mayweather was splashing in the aquamarine waters off Puerto Rico right now because the bombshell revelation from HBO Tuesday made me think of a beachy quote.
I think it was business genius/billionaire Warren Buffet who said it best when he said:
“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
The email HBO chieftain Ross Greenburg sent to The Los Angeles Times has brought us to the low tide situation which reveals, beyond all doubt, that Mayweather and his acolytes have been swimming without their trunks.I've taken my foot off the pedal in slamming Mayweather in recent weeks but now my hand is forced. And my feet also.
Time to put the pedal to the metal.
Mayweather, who portrays himself as boxing's Emperor, has no clothes.
There can be no excuses now that veteran broadcasting exeuctive Greenburg has backed up Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum's persistent stance that those representing the Pinoy Idol made every effort to make the Super Bout for Nov. 13.
In his terse but telling statement, Greenburg concedes there will be no Manny-Floyd fight at least in this calendar year.
So now it is, to switch to tennis parlance, game, set and match in Pacman's favor.
We still don't know, although Greenburg implies that he began trying to bring the two parties together on May 2, the day after L'il Floyd scored his little victory over old man Sugar Shane Mosley, whether there was any sort of meaningful response to the Pacquiao demands.
But, know this and know it well, Greenburg would have loved to have delivered the blockbuster for his employer.
The flimsy excuses, such as the one about Mayweather fearing that his uncle-trainer Roger might be serving prison time at fight time, don't wash, either.
A fighter who calls himself “Money” wouldn't let his crazy uncle's absence stand between him and a $40 million cash bonanza.
So what are we left with?
Pacquiao now cannot be blamed for moving on to Antonio Margarito and neither can Arum.
HBO is off the hook on the basis on having made more than a good faith effort to bring the parties to contract.
Golden Boy still can't explain why Oscar de la Hoya said on national TV the fight was “very close” to being made into a reality or why Richard Schaefer was like a broken record refusing all public comment and making reference to a gag order.
Maybe Oscar should be bound and Richard should be gagged. But I don't want to get either hinky or kinky here.
There will be no comment from Mayweather puppet master Al Haymon and, by now, you can bet that Floyd's sidekick Leonard Ellerbe has had duct tape placed over his mouth.
It was Ellerbe who prodded Greenburg into public comment by questioning the prime cable network sports president's veracity in the first place.
Bad move, Laughing Lenny, bad move.
Where will Mayweather go next?
I might suggest a nudist colony where trunks are verboten and not optional.
Mayweather could not be any more exposed now if he strolled nude through Times Square at high noon.
He's the self-styled Emperor of Boxing, all right. And he's got no clothes.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Pacquiao v Margarito. Please Don't Reward a Scoundrel! -- Huffington Post
By Johnny Benjamin, Huffington Post
He fights all comers and always without question gives the fans their monies worth. To this I say -- Thank you and much respect, Sir.
![The Philippines: Your Private Islands [VHS]](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00004XPJ4&tag=boxnewwor-20)
But his team's decision to fight Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13th has me scratching my head.
For all but one fighter on the planet Manny is doing a great favor to any fighter by presenting them with a contract to fight him. He is truly blessing them... and the entire boxing world (including that fighter) knows it.
Why... Why... Why would Manny Pacquiao bless a fighter like Antonio Margarito?
Margarito was exposed, before the Mosley fight, loading his hand wraps with plaster of Paris, the white stuff that orthopedic surgeons (like me) have traditionally used to make those heavy casts. This was not merely a violation of the rules but potentially placed his opponent in a life-threatening or altering situation.
Can you imagine a professionally trained fighter beating someone with two plaster casts?
He was suspended from boxing in the US for one-year but continued to fight internationally as if he did nothing wrong.
This is the same man (and I use that word begrudgingly) that pummeled Miguel Cotto into bloody submission with what many now suspect were similarly tainted hand wraps.
Why Team Pacquiao would now bless such a scoundrel can only be reasonably explained by greed and should be considered an embarrassment to his proud family name.
Manny Pacquiao you are a better man than that! Please don't let your honorable legacy be tainted by rewarding Antonio Margarito.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Manny Pacquiao is without a doubt one of the greatest fighters in the history of professional boxing. His talent in the ring may only be surpassed by his enormous generosity and love of the people of his native Philippine Islands
. Many people can learn something very valuable from Manny Pacquiao
. Many people can learn something very valuable from Manny PacquiaoHe fights all comers and always without question gives the fans their monies worth. To this I say -- Thank you and much respect, Sir.
But his team's decision to fight Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13th has me scratching my head. A fight with Manny Pacquiao is a gift from heaven. The opportunity, media exposure and financial win-fall are life altering and truly the chance of a lifetime. With rare exception win, lose or draw the guaranteed pay day is usually more than most fighters will make in their entire career... not to mention a single fight.
For all but one fighter on the planet Manny is doing a great favor to any fighter by presenting them with a contract to fight him. He is truly blessing them... and the entire boxing world (including that fighter) knows it.
Why... Why... Why would Manny Pacquiao bless a fighter like Antonio Margarito?
Margarito was exposed, before the Mosley fight, loading his hand wraps with plaster of Paris, the white stuff that orthopedic surgeons (like me) have traditionally used to make those heavy casts. This was not merely a violation of the rules but potentially placed his opponent in a life-threatening or altering situation.
Can you imagine a professionally trained fighter beating someone with two plaster casts?
He was suspended from boxing in the US for one-year but continued to fight internationally as if he did nothing wrong.
This is the same man (and I use that word begrudgingly) that pummeled Miguel Cotto into bloody submission with what many now suspect were similarly tainted hand wraps.
Why Team Pacquiao would now bless such a scoundrel can only be reasonably explained by greed and should be considered an embarrassment to his proud family name.
Manny Pacquiao you are a better man than that! Please don't let your honorable legacy be tainted by rewarding Antonio Margarito.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Like Sugar Ray Leonard, Manny Pacquiao bullies foes before fight -- Examiner.com
By Michael Marley, Examiner.comIs Manny Pacquiao a boxing bully with his demands, both quickly acquiesced to by first Miguel Cotto and now Antonio Margarito, for a catch weight requirement to fight the Pinoy Idol?
Now that he's fully installed and acting as the Congressmanny from poverty stricken but scenic Sarangani, you might say that it is legislative privilege for Pacman to extra such weight concessions from opponents.
Or you might analyze it as yet another example of the rich and powerful lording it over the relatively weak and economically deprived.
I see all viewpoints, really, and there is no denying that, as the world's most popular fighter (Floyd Mayweather being the most notorious), Pacquiao and his cohorts are simply exercising the Golden Rule in getting the disgraced Mexican fighter to agree to a 150 pound weight limit.I should add that is four pounds less than the limit for the vacant WBC super welterweight crown they will be contesting in Las Vegas or Monterrey, Mexico.
It should not be overlooked that, with a weigh in at 4 pm on a Friday and then a bout Saturday night at about 8 pm, “Margocheato” will have ample opportunity to bulk up and figures to enter the ring massively outsizing Pacquiao.
Margarito enjoys a nearly six inch height advantage and has a five inch reach edge over the betting favorite from General Santos City. I figure the Robert Garcia-trained Margarito to go into the ring weighing close to 160 pounds, thus making him a middleweight and a tall, muscular middleweight to boot.
If anyone can smile at Pacy's demands, it would be my old friend Sugar Ray Leonard.
Born Ray Charles Leonard, this American ring hero has already predicted that Pacman will win this bout and added that he like, the rest of us, is savoring a Manny-Floyd confrontation.
But it was Leonard and his cagey lawyer/de facto manager Mike Trainer who wrote the book on using the Golden Rule—meaning he who brings the gold makes the rules—to put foes at various disadvantages.
Classic example of that was when wrestling impresario Vince McMahon Jr. tried his hand at boxing promotion.
“Mr. McMahon” cut a deal with the Leonard camp for a PPV bout at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in one of the many Leonard comeback bouts.
The handpicked opponent was, quite literally, a fair-haired Canadian boy named Donny Lalonde.
Adroitly managed by author-boxing guy Dave Wolf, Lalonde's record was built on bums of all descriptions.
In fact, back when ESPN voice Teddy Atlas trained him, a no hoper foe did not show up for a bout off TV in Kentucky.
Thinking quickly, the wily Wolf substituted a Lalonde pal, who had never had a single amateur or pro bout, as the new opponent. Needless to say, Lalonde was compassionate, stopping his bosom buddy in one round.
It really happened and the proof is in Lalonde's record on Boxrec.
This was Aug. 12, 1986, at the Ashland Armory and Frank "Candy Man" Walters, with zero ring time on his resume, was also outweighed 10 pounds by Lalonde.
Lalonde's pal ring career began and ended with that single round or portion thereof. This was the emergency beginning and end of the Minot, South Dakota, guy's career.
Let's not say this "fight" was fixed, let's be nice and say it was "prearranged."
It wasn't Atlas' idea, he didn't like it but he went along with the program.
Atlas would later split with Wolf and Lalonde and was not in the Winnipeg Bomber's corner or in his pocket (Lalonde earned $5 millon) when he fought superstar Leonard.
A disgruntled Atlas told me, and I quoted him in The New York Post, that manager and fighter phonies and cited their respective coiffures.
At the time, Wolf wore an awful hairpiece while Lalonde was a shimmering blond.
Only Donny's hairdresser knew for sure but you didn't have to be a carpet expert to see that Wolf was wearing a rug.
“One dyes it and the other one buys it,” Atlas chortled.
But I digress as is so customary in this column.
Lalonde seemed to be a perfect patsy for Leonard especially after he won the WBA light heavyweight title by knocking out New Yorker Eddie Davis in Trinidad.
The stage was set for Leonard to add not one but two weight class crowns to his collection.
But Lalonde may not have read the script because he almost ruined the party.
One thing the Leonard camp glossed over was that Lalonde, a fitness and nutrition freak, packed a hure punch which could make you lose your lunch.
I know, I was there at ringisde.
Next: Blond Bomber Lalonde Shocks The World.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Floyd Mayweather Jr. camp responds to HBO, Arum comments -- Los Angeles Times
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles TimesHours after the president of HBO Sports said he had negotiated with both sides in an effort to make a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. mega-fight on Nov. 13, Mayweather's lead adviser again denied the claim.
"Floyd is his own boss, calling his own shots," Leonard Ellerbe told The Times on Monday night.HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg said in a prepared statement earlier Monday that he indeed had discussed the fight with representatives of both Pacquiao and Mayweather in an effort to make a bout that would match the repeat fighter of the year from the Philippines with unbeaten Mayweather.
The mediation failed, and Pacquiao proceeded to a replacement fight against Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 at a site to be determined. The bout will be for the vacant WBS super-welterweight title, possibly Pacquiao's record eighth weight-division world title.
Ellerbe has said someone, either Arum or Greenburg, is "lying" if they believe Mayweather has participated in negotiations to fight. That point was effectively repeated Monday by Richard Schaefer, the Golden Boy Promotions executive who had been called upon in the past to assist Mayweather in fight negotiations.
Ellerbe said neither Mayweather nor his representatives ever entered into anything beyond cursory conversation with Greenburg. Ellerbe said Mayweather was doing what he had been since defeating Shane Mosley on May 1: taking time off to enjoy his life, his family and participate in other personal functions, as he said in this independent video June 2.
"This whole thing is getting blown out of proportion," Ellerbe said. "Floyd made it clear what his intentions were, after the fight ... and again in an interview last week. He's on vacation.
"Obviously, the parties making these statements need to understand what the term 'negotiation' really means. Calling to ask Floyd what he's thinking about doing is not a negotiation. How ... can you have a negotiation when the principal has made it clear he's not interested in doing anything at this time."
That certainly doesn't sit well with the boxing public, which has clamored for Mayweather-Pacquiao, but it should be noted "Money" earned about $65 million in two fights, in the September 2009 bout against Juan Manuel Marquez and the Mosley bout.
Ellerbe said he wasn't worried about Arum's claims that it's "unpardonable" to "lie to the press," as he said Ellerbe had done in previously insisting there were no negotiations. There's no love lost between Mayweather and his former promoter.
"I pay absolutely no attention to what Arum says," Ellerbe said. "He's just bitter because Floyd left him to become his own boss and has gone on to make $125 million since."
So when will Mayweather fight again? Apparently, whenever he wakes up one day and decides to. "When the time is right, it'll be right," Ellerbe said. "It'll be very simple."
That'll be something to see, after one prior collapsed negotiation in January and now this month's failed whatever-you-want-to-call-it.
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
Tuesday 27 July 2010
HBO's Greenburg says there WERE negotiations -- The Ring
By Michael Rosenthal, The Ring
Bob Arum, the promoter of Manny Pacquiao, said last week that he negotiated with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a proposed Nov. 13 fight through HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg.
Leonard Ellerbe, one of Mayweather's advisors, then issued a bizarre statement claiming no negotiations ever took place. That was corroborated by Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, with which Mayweather is affiliated.
Now Greenburg releases a short statement on Monday evening saying he did in fact act as a go-between in negotiations with the two sides.The statement:
“Fights like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao are significant because of these fighters’ ability to connect with sports fans around the world. It’s unfortunate that it won’t happen in 2010. I had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2nd, carefully trying to put the fight together. Hopefully, someday this fight will happen. Sports fans deserve it.”
You be the judge.
Source: ringtv.com
Time for Pacquiao to stop cheating history by inventing weight classes -- Sports Illustrated
By Jake Donovan, BoxingScene.comAnother event, another catch ... weight, that is.
Nothing but disappointment and grumbling has been expressed in the wake of yet another failed attempt to match Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Manny Pacquiao, universally regarded as the two best fighters in the world today.
In a perfect world, a worthy alternative would be offered with at least the promise of something greater waiting in the wings. Instead, we get whatever promoters and networks elect to feed us.
Rather than a matchup to determine who's the best active fighter (and welterweight) in the world, we get a repeat of what we were already asked to pay for last year: Team Pacquiao inventing another weight class for the sake of chasing history.From the moment promoter Bob Arum revealed in his after-hours conference call more than a week ago that the options for Pacquiao's next opponent were limited to two of his own fighters, it was clear that the final choice would come down to the one more willing to bend over and take it however the Vegas-based promotional company wanted to give it to them.
Arum stated on the call that he was confident that a deal could be reached within 10 days, though also claiming that negotiations had never yet begun with either Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito -- the two finalists in this year's Pacquiao opposition sweepstakes.
The comment was peculiar considering that Pacquiao -- for all of his charm, humility and in-ring greatness -- has proven in recent years to be a bear to deal with at the negotiating table. Deals to face Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya all dragged on until the last possible minute, with all three fights in limbo at one point or another before being finalized.
At the heart of most negotiating complications is money, but the deal struck with Cotto went well beyond that. The sales pitch for their November 2009 showdown was Pacquiao pursuing a title in a record seventh weight class, just months after having become the only fighter in boxing history to capture lineal world championships in four separate divisions.
The biggest hang-up most had with the manner in which he was gunning for Cotto's title was his unwillingness to honor the actual welterweight limit. Cotto held his ground for as long as he could, demanding that the fight either takes place at 147 pounds for his title -- or at Pacquiao's suggested catchweight of 145 but without the alphabet hardware at stake.
With nobody looking out for his best interests -- Arum promotes both sides but was never going to tell Pacquiao to back down -- Cotto eventually gave in, agreeing to the catchweight and accepting the payday that came with title fight.
We are now at the same exact point, only the circumstances are far more suspect.
Without a deal in place, Arum has already claimed on the record that Margarito -- who has now emerged as the frontrunner to face Pacquiao on Nov. 13 -- is willing to concede to Team Pacquiao's demand for a catchweight of 150 pounds. That's a full four pounds beneath the junior welterweight limit.
If it were for any given fight, it wouldn't be much of an issue -- the weight or the fight itself. More than a few fans and media members have voiced their displeasure over Margarito being rewarded with a big payday while still being without a license to box in the United States. Those same outspoken critics have called for his banishment after being caught with loaded hand wraps prior to the eventual beatdown he would catch from Shane Mosley in their January 2009 fight. More so than the act itself, what doesn't sit right with most is Mararito's tendency to stop just short of accepting full responsibility for what took place that night whenever pressed.
But all of that stuff merely casts Margarito as the villain when the deal to face Pacquiao in November is finalized.
A villain is precisely what has been missing from Pacquiao's last several promotions. That's all the more reason why a showdown with Mayweather -- who has perfected the role of Public Enemy No. 1 for any given event in recent years -- would've resulted in the most lucrative prizefight ever.
You can argue that De La Hoya wore the black hat when he faced Pacquiao in December 2008, simply from the perspective of his having spent the past 11 years at 147 or higher while calling out a fighter who at the time had never fought heavier than 135. It was the first time in years that Pacquiao entered the fight as a considerable underdog, making it that much easier to root for him and only adding to the promotion.
Since then, the choice of opponents have hardly been the type of cats that you love to hate -- Ricky Hatton, of whom there's only one; Cotto, whom most either love or are simply indifferent two; and Joshua Clottey, who -- even if you dislike him -- never carried with the fans that level of interest to significantly add to any promotion.
From that perspective alone, Margarito serves a purpose -- one more reason to root for Pacquiao, one more reason to hate Margarito, one more reason to buy the pay-per-view event.
That was never going to happen with a Cotto rematch; if anything, it would detract from Pacquiao's popularity. Arum's sales pitch that Cotto brings enough to the table to make a second fight enticing never went very far; the lopsided beating is still far too fresh in everyone's memory -- as is the lousy undercard that preceded the main event.
Even worse, any record books that would recognize Pacquiao as an eight-division world champion -- had he won -- would've shown two wins over Cotto at two separate weight classes, neither of which would've come at the true divisional limit.
Sadly, part of that statement will still read true after Nov. 13, should he get by Margarito.
At stake for this event will be a belt that was vacated by Sergio Martinez -- to be contended by two fighters who between them account for zero notable wins at the 154-pound limit.
Margarito's most recent fight came at the junior middleweight limit, taking a 10-round decision over fringe contender Roberto Garcia. Prior to that fight, it was six years since he fought at the weight -- dropping a decision to Daniel Santos in their September 2004 rematch -- and even longer since he won a fight above welterweight.
In other words, nothing to earn the right to challenge for a title of any kind.
While Pacquiao arguably earns the right to fight for the belt of his choosing on social status alone, it's been more than two years since he's fought for any title sanctioned by the alphabet group who will recognize the winner of this fight as their junior middleweight champion. That fight for Pacquiao came three weight classes south, against David Diaz for a lightweight belt.
Pacquiao won that fight with ease, but never defended the belt or even returned to 135. That win came on the heels of his rematch win over Juan Manuel Marquez for the lineal junior lightweight championship, only to bolt from that division immediately after the fight.
His two-round blowout over Hatton for the lineal junior welterweight crown remains his only fight to date at the 140-pound weight limit. Several publications (including BoxingScene.com) continue to recognize him as the champion, even though he hasn't fought at the weight in more than a year, nor is it likely that he ever drops back down below the welterweight division.
In fact, for all of his belt-collecting in recent years, his 12-round whitewash over Clottey earlier this year marked the first successful title defense at any weight since he campaigned as the world featherweight champion more than six years ago.
Now, one fight into his welterweight reign, he eyes a belt in yet another division.
He doesn't want to pursue it the old-fashioned way -- by earning it -- or even by pursuing one of its many other beltholders, but instead by cherry-picking his way towards a vacant title ... in a fight where the participants could potentially weigh no heavier than four pounds below the actual divisional limit.
The demands for last year's Cotto fight -- while not universally embraced -- were at least somewhat forgiven, considering the fact that Pacquiao was at least facing a recognized beltholder.
But there are only so many times that a fighter and his team can keep dipping into the same well and expect his paying audience to come along for the ride.
Pacquiao's history-making run in recent years has proven that he's capable of sustaining his greatness even as he adds pounds to his frame and challenges himself in the ring against top-notch fighters.
But in the wake of failing to make a fight happen with Mayweather, and considering that there are plenty of other fighters in and around the welterweight division against whom the fans would much rather see him, the time has come for Manny Pacquiao and his handlers to stop cheating history.
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
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