By George Willis, New York Post
Moments after Manny Pacquiao earned a 12th-round TKO over Miguel Cotto in November, boxing was at the forefront of general sports conversation again. Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports, practically was salivating at the prospect of a spring showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., arguably the biggest fight since Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield were in their prime.
“The boxing pubic and the sporting public want this fight to happen,” Greenburg said that night in a Las Vegas ballroom. “There are a lot of egos involved, but at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to making the fight. It just has to happen.”
Incredibly, what could be the richest fight is boxing history will not happen, at least not on March 13, the proposed date for the bout. An impasse on drug-testing procedures doomed the welterweight championship between the top pound-for-pound prize fighters. A last-ditch effort at mediation failed to reach an agreement, leaving each side blaming the other for the demise of the bout.
Though the fighters never got in the ring, there has been plenty of damage inflicted to their reputations and the sport. Pacquiao’s refusal to agree to Mayweather’s demand for random blood testing has left some suspicious the Filipino might have been using performance-enhancing drugs in capturing world titles in four different weight classes over the last two years.
Instead of being viewed as a special athlete who carried boxing at a time when Oscar De La Hoya was fading and Mayweather was in a brief retirement, Pacquiao is getting the Roger Clemens treatment in some circles — guilty until proven innocent.
Meanwhile, Mayweather’s reluctance to accept any of Pacquiao’s counteroffers have many wondering if he was looking for a way to protect his unbeaten record. The knock on Mayweather is that he will duck opponents that pose a credible threat — such as Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley and now Pacquiao. It’s a notion that is bound to gain more members to the choir, even though Mayweather issued a release blaming Pacquiao for not wanting the fight.
“First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his [butt],” Mayweather said.
Mayweather, however, insists on blood testing up until at least 14 days before the fight. But that’s something never before done in boxing. Pacquiao has passed all mandatory drug tests administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission before and after his previous fights, and the only reason why he is being tainted now is because the Mayweather camp made it an issue, even after saying fighting Pacquiao would be “easy work.”
Nonetheless, consenting to blood testing, Olympic-style or otherwise, would be a no-brainer for most any athlete looking at a $30-$40 million payday, but in the macho world of boxing and with the egos involved, being forced to agree to something that’s unprecedented was going to be difficult to achieve.
Mayweather recently said he is in the “check cashing” business, and if he were going to make $50 million he couldn’t lose no matter the outcome. Apparently, the fear of Pacquiao being on PEDs was greater than his confidence of victory.
The two sides likely will square off in a courtroom before they meet in the ring, with Pacquiao having filed a defamation lawsuit against the Mayweathers and Golden Boy Promotions for allegedly hurting his image.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, said he would like to match Pacquiao with junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman of Brooklyn, but Pacquiao’s camp is balking at that matchup fearing Foreman is too big at 154 pounds. Meanwhile, Mayweather reportedly is looking to fight Paulie Malignaggi, a former junior welterweight champion, also from Brooklyn.
george.willis@nypost.com
Source: nypost.com
Saturday 9 January 2010
Pacquiao's Adviser: Clottey in Dallas '98 Percent Done' -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, has agreed in principle to defend his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) belt against Joshua Clottey of Accra Ghana, on March 13 at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium on Mar, his adviser, Michael Koncz said on Saturday morning.
Pacquiao's Top Rank Promoter, CEO Bob Arum, and Top Rank president, Todd duBoef, Arum's stepson, are flying to Arlington, Texas, on Saturday morning where they expect "to close the deal," after watching the Dallas Cowboys- Philadelphia Eagles NFL playoff game "in the box of" Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, Arum told FanHouse on Friday.
"Clottey's manager [Vinny Scolpino] and his lawyer have signed off, and it's the same with Manny," said Arum, of Clottey, who is expected to fly back and arrive on Monday or Tuesday to his residence in the Bronx from Ghana.
Pacquiao-Clottey will take place instead of what was to be a historically lucrative megabout between 31-year-old Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) and 32-year-old, five-time king, Floyd Mayweather (40-0,25 KOs), that was scheduled for March 13 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand before the negotiations failed over a drug-testing controversy.
"We're 98 percent done negotiating for Manny to fight Joshua Clottey, but there are a couple of issues we're working out on the contract before Manny Pacquiao is ready to sign it," said Koncz, reached in the Philippines, where he is with the fighter.
"When we did Miguel Cotto, we negotiated cotto in one day, so yes, it's going to be done quickly," said Koncz, referring to Pacquiao's 12th-round TKO of the then-WBO titlist on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"It's just a matter of Manny answering one or two questions," said Koncz. "For all intense and purposes, it's a done deal."
In addition to Clottey, Koncz said that Pacquiao reviewed video of WBA and WBO lightweight (135 pounds) titlist Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), New York's junior welterweight (140 pounds) star, Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, five KOs), and, WBA junior middleweight king Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) of New York before settling on Clottey.
"To be honest with you, yesterday, the last time that we spoke, I even suggested to Manny that we even fight Humberto Soto, using the angle of revenge since Soto had knocked out Manny's brother," said Koncz, referring to the WBC super featherweight (130 pounds) champ, soto's June, 2007, seventh-round stoppage of Bobby Pacquiao.
"But Manny was fine with Clottey. He was at ringside and saw Clottey fight in person against Coto when we were in New York," said Koncz, of Clottey's 12-round, split-decision loss to Cotto in June.
"Quite frankly, Manny and I thought that Cotto had won that fight, and not Cotto," said Koncz. "But we were looking for something in which the styles would make an entertaining fight, and I think that their two styles will make for an entertaining fight."
The three losses for Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) were all to former world champions.
Clottey lead on all three cards in November of 1999, when he was mysteriously disqualified for a low blow -- during a time when the fighters were at a distance -- on the way to an 11th-round, disqualification Carlos Baldomir.
Clottey was ahead after four rounds of his December, 2006 loss over 12 rounds to Antonio Margarito before injuring both hands.
An interesting thing to watch for is whether any of those "couple of issues" Pacquiao and Koncz are "working out on the contract" call for Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) -- known to be a big welterweight who has been troubled, at times, with making weight -- to come in at a catchweight rather than the regular, standard, 147-pound required limit for the weight class.
Mayweather and Pacquiao had agreed to face each other at 147 pounds even, while Oscar De La Hoya and Cotto each fought Pacquiao after having weighed in at 145 pounds. De La Hoya said that dropping the pounds drained him. Cotto's weight was contracted to be 145.
Pacquiao, who stopped De La Hoya in eight rounds, weighed, 142, and, 144, respectively, against De La Hoya and Cotto.
Clottey has weighed more than 147 pounds for bouts 11 times during his career, twice, at 154.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, has agreed in principle to defend his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) belt against Joshua Clottey of Accra Ghana, on March 13 at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium on Mar, his adviser, Michael Koncz said on Saturday morning.
Pacquiao's Top Rank Promoter, CEO Bob Arum, and Top Rank president, Todd duBoef, Arum's stepson, are flying to Arlington, Texas, on Saturday morning where they expect "to close the deal," after watching the Dallas Cowboys- Philadelphia Eagles NFL playoff game "in the box of" Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, Arum told FanHouse on Friday.
"Clottey's manager [Vinny Scolpino] and his lawyer have signed off, and it's the same with Manny," said Arum, of Clottey, who is expected to fly back and arrive on Monday or Tuesday to his residence in the Bronx from Ghana.
Pacquiao-Clottey will take place instead of what was to be a historically lucrative megabout between 31-year-old Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) and 32-year-old, five-time king, Floyd Mayweather (40-0,25 KOs), that was scheduled for March 13 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand before the negotiations failed over a drug-testing controversy.
"We're 98 percent done negotiating for Manny to fight Joshua Clottey, but there are a couple of issues we're working out on the contract before Manny Pacquiao is ready to sign it," said Koncz, reached in the Philippines, where he is with the fighter.
"When we did Miguel Cotto, we negotiated cotto in one day, so yes, it's going to be done quickly," said Koncz, referring to Pacquiao's 12th-round TKO of the then-WBO titlist on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"It's just a matter of Manny answering one or two questions," said Koncz. "For all intense and purposes, it's a done deal."
In addition to Clottey, Koncz said that Pacquiao reviewed video of WBA and WBO lightweight (135 pounds) titlist Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), New York's junior welterweight (140 pounds) star, Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, five KOs), and, WBA junior middleweight king Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) of New York before settling on Clottey.
"To be honest with you, yesterday, the last time that we spoke, I even suggested to Manny that we even fight Humberto Soto, using the angle of revenge since Soto had knocked out Manny's brother," said Koncz, referring to the WBC super featherweight (130 pounds) champ, soto's June, 2007, seventh-round stoppage of Bobby Pacquiao.
"But Manny was fine with Clottey. He was at ringside and saw Clottey fight in person against Coto when we were in New York," said Koncz, of Clottey's 12-round, split-decision loss to Cotto in June.
"Quite frankly, Manny and I thought that Cotto had won that fight, and not Cotto," said Koncz. "But we were looking for something in which the styles would make an entertaining fight, and I think that their two styles will make for an entertaining fight."
The three losses for Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) were all to former world champions.
Clottey lead on all three cards in November of 1999, when he was mysteriously disqualified for a low blow -- during a time when the fighters were at a distance -- on the way to an 11th-round, disqualification Carlos Baldomir.
Clottey was ahead after four rounds of his December, 2006 loss over 12 rounds to Antonio Margarito before injuring both hands.
An interesting thing to watch for is whether any of those "couple of issues" Pacquiao and Koncz are "working out on the contract" call for Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) -- known to be a big welterweight who has been troubled, at times, with making weight -- to come in at a catchweight rather than the regular, standard, 147-pound required limit for the weight class.
Mayweather and Pacquiao had agreed to face each other at 147 pounds even, while Oscar De La Hoya and Cotto each fought Pacquiao after having weighed in at 145 pounds. De La Hoya said that dropping the pounds drained him. Cotto's weight was contracted to be 145.
Pacquiao, who stopped De La Hoya in eight rounds, weighed, 142, and, 144, respectively, against De La Hoya and Cotto.
Clottey has weighed more than 147 pounds for bouts 11 times during his career, twice, at 154.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Mayweather’s fear dooms a big fight -- Las Vegas Sun
By Robert Blanner, North Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has refused all attempts at compromise concerning drug testing for what was to be a megafight. Why? The answer is becoming abundantly clear: Mayweather values greatly his undefeated record and he is willing to forgo a $40 million-plus payday to preserve his record.
His fear of losing evidently outweighs the biggest payday in boxing history. Manny Pacquiao has agreed to the most extensive drug testing procedure in the history of boxing. Mayweather is not willing to compromise because he wants no part of Pacquiao.
There are no winners in Mayweather’s refusal to compromise. Las Vegas, the general public, Pacquiao’s camp as well as Mayweather’s camp are all shortchanged.
It is a shame that retired judge Daniel Weinstein couldn’t overcome Floyd’s fear of losing and convince him to accept the compromise Manny agreed to. Fear does have a price tag and, in Floyd’s case, it must be more than $40 million.
Source: lasvegassun.com
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has refused all attempts at compromise concerning drug testing for what was to be a megafight. Why? The answer is becoming abundantly clear: Mayweather values greatly his undefeated record and he is willing to forgo a $40 million-plus payday to preserve his record.
His fear of losing evidently outweighs the biggest payday in boxing history. Manny Pacquiao has agreed to the most extensive drug testing procedure in the history of boxing. Mayweather is not willing to compromise because he wants no part of Pacquiao.
There are no winners in Mayweather’s refusal to compromise. Las Vegas, the general public, Pacquiao’s camp as well as Mayweather’s camp are all shortchanged.
It is a shame that retired judge Daniel Weinstein couldn’t overcome Floyd’s fear of losing and convince him to accept the compromise Manny agreed to. Fear does have a price tag and, in Floyd’s case, it must be more than $40 million.
Source: lasvegassun.com
USADA's Travis Tygart on Blood-Testing, Steroids, Boxing -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, was initially brought in to oversee the Olympic-style, random blood-testing that was at the center of the controversy leading to the demise of the negotiations -- and, presumably, the most lucrative boxing match in history -- between WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king and seven-division titlist, Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, and five-time champion, Floyd Mayweather, of Las Vegas, that was slated for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Now, however, it appears that Mayweather-Pacquiao is off, indefinitely, as Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) appears to be all-but signed up to defend against Joshua Clottey of Accra, Ghana, at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium on March 13, and Mayweather, reportedly targeted for a matchup with 140-pound, pure-boxer, Paulie Malignaggi, of New York, at the MGM Grand on the same night.
USADA's blood-testing effort was to be used for the first time ever in boxing, in general, and, by The Nevada Athletic Commission, in particular, since the sport has only used urinalysis to detect the use of steroids and other illegal drugs.
Tygart spoke to FanHouse recently concerning the differences between blood and urinalysis checking, the effects of anabolic steroids in combat sports, as well as what he believes is a need to impliment the procedure in boxing, among other things, in this ensuing Q&A.
FanHouse: Can you break down the differences between the effectiveness of drug-detection between urinalysis and blood-testing?
Travis Tygart: There's a host of significant and potent performance enhancing drugs that only blood will detect. Those include human growth hormone [HGH]; HBOC -- and that is synthetic hemoglobin; transfusions; certain forms of EPO, such as Mircera, which is essentially a designer EPO.
So those are a few of the specific drugs. There is also a different technique, which is known as parameter testing, which is done by the blood, or biological passport testing. Essentially, what it does is that it does not detect a specific drug like HGH.
But it looks at a host of parameters or biological markers that are natural to everyone's body. And over time -- if you look at those for an individual -- over time, you can see variability or fluctuations in those naturally occurring markers that we all have.
And if you see fluctuations to a certain degree, you can conclusively determine that those fluctuations were caused by nothing other than drug use, and certain categories of drug use. Not necessarily a specific drug, but categories of drug use.
I think that it's fair to say that there are several, very potent, performance enhancing drugs that only blood can detect, and there is an entirely different method of detecting broader categories of drug use through parameter testing that is done with the blood.
FH: What would it have taken to meld an inaugural blood-testing procedure into place for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight in terms of logistics and cost, considering it never has been used by the Nevada State Athletic Commission?
Tygart: Cancel one day of mediation or one state commission meeting, and you've paid for it. It's not cost-prohibitive, particularly, given this kind of a fight, and the money that's being exchanged in the hands. It's not a money issue.
The issue is whether there enough familiarity with the benefits of an Olympic-style, USADA-run, testing program to want to do it. Is this slightly more intrusive? Sure.
Does it mean that you have to be available for blood and urinalysis testing, which might interrupt your ability to go out to dinner at the set time you wanted? Or watch the television that you might want to watch? Possibly.
But it's a slight inconvenience that 3,000-plus athletes, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- including holidays -- whole-heartedly agree to because they know that that slight inconvenience is worth the benefit of having all of the competitors tested by an effective program.
FH: Has there ever been a movement to create a national testing policy for boxing?
Tygart: There's been no real legs to be one in the states, but there certainly needs to be one. Hopefully this fight happens. But if it doesn't happen because one athlete is demanding the highest level of testing, then that's good for clean athletes, and clean athletes' voices ought to be heard.
Hopefully the states as well as the various organizations will finally listen to clean athletes and put in an effective program. That's what happened in the Olympic movement. The clean athletes finally said, 'Enough, we're tired of losing to cheaters, and we don't want to endanger our health to cheaters. So we want change.'
And we know -- and the world knows -- that having independent entities running gold standard practices is what we demand. And we're willing to live with a little inconvenience, and we might even be willing to live with a little less money and prizes, if we feel that it's being run fairly, uniformly and under the best practices.'
FH: Does this request by the Mayweather camp give you enough of a platform to push for random blood-testing inclusion in boxing for the future?
Tygart: There were numerous conversations that we had with both camps on the detail of what it would take for us to be involved in this. There was a cart-blanche, 'We want USADA to do it. We've gotten familiar with the program. We understand its pluses and minor inconveniences.'
'There are 3,000-plus athletes around the U.S. who are at the top of their game making more money or equal to the money that these guys do, who are subject to it, and it works for them, and they're the best that there is, and that's what we want.'
Particularly given a sport like boxing where not only does a cheater potentially win a prize, but a cheater can cause physical harm to someone else too, particularly if they're doped up. And that element of the discussion has gotten lost. And I think that that's unfortunate.
But I think that there's a real safety and health concern that we all want to be cognizant about. What I can say is that our program does not in any way inconvenience any athlete's -- including a boxer's -- ability to prepare or train for their fight.
So it's hard for me to understand -- and this is not a specific comment about any of the fighters involved here -- but it's hard for me to understand why any athlete wouldn't want the same program that all of our Olympic athletes have.
That is, if they understand these issues, and they're familiar with the programs, and they're educated on the mild inconvenience, and they appreciate the importance of a level playing field.
FH: How might the desired effects that a boxer may want to achieve manifest itself in a boxer during a fight?
Tygart: Take a real-life example. Look at Shane Mosley and his doping program that was reported by a number outlets when he was involved with BALCO. He used both a designer steroid as well as blood enhancing products like EPO. This is a good anecdote as to how these drugs translate very well for boxers.
What you want with that combination of steroids and blood enhancing product is that you want to be the best pound-for-pound, with that lean muscle mass, and to be the strongest competitor that you can be. Whether that means that you are at 180, 170, 210.
Various forms of steroids and human growth hormone are going to allow you to do that. If you want lean muscle mass and be light, you're going to want a lot of HGH. You're going to cut weight, but that weight is going to be lean muscle mass.
It's not going to be fat. It's going to be the strongest pound-for-pound that you can get inside of your frame at that weight.
FH: What about gaining weight?
Tygart: Similarly, that's the football players. If you want to go from a buck-70, to a buck-85, and still have lean muscle mass, and strength, that's what you're going to do is some cycles of steroids. You then couple that. You can go from 140, to 160, or 145 to 155, whatever the case may be.
And there are different versions, whether you're talking a Deca [Deca-Durabolin,] or a Winnie [Winstrol,] or a Stanozolol. I testified out there for the California Athletic Commission for an MMA fighter. They had three cases they were dealing with and I was just there to define general policies.
One of them was caught for a classic cocktail that you would want to have. It was one of the fighters. It was lean muscle mass. Everybody on the streets and in the gym knows that if you're in a weight category and in competition, in a combat sport -- whether its judo, or boxing, or karate, or tai kwan do -- that's a classic cocktail that you would use.
When you're cutting weight, it will give you the lean muscle mass that you need, to have as much strength, pound-for-pound, as you can at that weight classification -- whether it's lower for you or higer for you. And then you have those that will just build muscle.
The combination of those strength-type, pound-for-pound strength drugs, which would include the anabolic steroids and the human growth hormones, the insulin, and then you couple that with the blood-doping-type drugs -- the HBOC, the designer, or the regular EPOs -- that then is going to give you the endurance to go along with that strength in late rounds of events.
So, while you might not think of EPO being all that appealing to boxers, that's what allegedly Mosely was doing out of BALCO. And that makes perfectly good sense to us, because that's going to give you the kind of endurance you need in a late round in a hotly-contested and fought boxing match.
It's also going to greatly improve your ability to train. So there is also this sort of recovery training issue and what's it going to do for you on fight night. And it's significant.
FH: Is it deserved that Floyd Mayweather has taken a lot of criticism for asking for this?
Tygart: Any time that a clean athlete steps up and reaches out to USADA, we're going to support them. And I think that means trying to convince all of those who have decision-making abilities to have the best policies in place to give that clean athlete the fairest opportunity to compete on a clean playing field.
So if the state of Nevada, the state of California, the organizations of boxing, and whoever else is truly interested and will listen to their athletes, then we're going to be standing by those clean atletes and pushing for the best policies.
So, regardless of what happens with this particular fight, hopefully that is the legacy that will come from this. Hopefully, these organizations will finally wake up and put in the kind of policies that they need to protect their clean athletes.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, was initially brought in to oversee the Olympic-style, random blood-testing that was at the center of the controversy leading to the demise of the negotiations -- and, presumably, the most lucrative boxing match in history -- between WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king and seven-division titlist, Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, and five-time champion, Floyd Mayweather, of Las Vegas, that was slated for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Now, however, it appears that Mayweather-Pacquiao is off, indefinitely, as Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) appears to be all-but signed up to defend against Joshua Clottey of Accra, Ghana, at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium on March 13, and Mayweather, reportedly targeted for a matchup with 140-pound, pure-boxer, Paulie Malignaggi, of New York, at the MGM Grand on the same night.
USADA's blood-testing effort was to be used for the first time ever in boxing, in general, and, by The Nevada Athletic Commission, in particular, since the sport has only used urinalysis to detect the use of steroids and other illegal drugs.
Tygart spoke to FanHouse recently concerning the differences between blood and urinalysis checking, the effects of anabolic steroids in combat sports, as well as what he believes is a need to impliment the procedure in boxing, among other things, in this ensuing Q&A.
FanHouse: Can you break down the differences between the effectiveness of drug-detection between urinalysis and blood-testing?
Travis Tygart: There's a host of significant and potent performance enhancing drugs that only blood will detect. Those include human growth hormone [HGH]; HBOC -- and that is synthetic hemoglobin; transfusions; certain forms of EPO, such as Mircera, which is essentially a designer EPO.
So those are a few of the specific drugs. There is also a different technique, which is known as parameter testing, which is done by the blood, or biological passport testing. Essentially, what it does is that it does not detect a specific drug like HGH.
But it looks at a host of parameters or biological markers that are natural to everyone's body. And over time -- if you look at those for an individual -- over time, you can see variability or fluctuations in those naturally occurring markers that we all have.
And if you see fluctuations to a certain degree, you can conclusively determine that those fluctuations were caused by nothing other than drug use, and certain categories of drug use. Not necessarily a specific drug, but categories of drug use.
I think that it's fair to say that there are several, very potent, performance enhancing drugs that only blood can detect, and there is an entirely different method of detecting broader categories of drug use through parameter testing that is done with the blood.
FH: What would it have taken to meld an inaugural blood-testing procedure into place for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight in terms of logistics and cost, considering it never has been used by the Nevada State Athletic Commission?
Tygart: Cancel one day of mediation or one state commission meeting, and you've paid for it. It's not cost-prohibitive, particularly, given this kind of a fight, and the money that's being exchanged in the hands. It's not a money issue.
The issue is whether there enough familiarity with the benefits of an Olympic-style, USADA-run, testing program to want to do it. Is this slightly more intrusive? Sure.
Does it mean that you have to be available for blood and urinalysis testing, which might interrupt your ability to go out to dinner at the set time you wanted? Or watch the television that you might want to watch? Possibly.
But it's a slight inconvenience that 3,000-plus athletes, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- including holidays -- whole-heartedly agree to because they know that that slight inconvenience is worth the benefit of having all of the competitors tested by an effective program.
FH: Has there ever been a movement to create a national testing policy for boxing?
Tygart: There's been no real legs to be one in the states, but there certainly needs to be one. Hopefully this fight happens. But if it doesn't happen because one athlete is demanding the highest level of testing, then that's good for clean athletes, and clean athletes' voices ought to be heard.
Hopefully the states as well as the various organizations will finally listen to clean athletes and put in an effective program. That's what happened in the Olympic movement. The clean athletes finally said, 'Enough, we're tired of losing to cheaters, and we don't want to endanger our health to cheaters. So we want change.'
And we know -- and the world knows -- that having independent entities running gold standard practices is what we demand. And we're willing to live with a little inconvenience, and we might even be willing to live with a little less money and prizes, if we feel that it's being run fairly, uniformly and under the best practices.'
FH: Does this request by the Mayweather camp give you enough of a platform to push for random blood-testing inclusion in boxing for the future?
Tygart: There were numerous conversations that we had with both camps on the detail of what it would take for us to be involved in this. There was a cart-blanche, 'We want USADA to do it. We've gotten familiar with the program. We understand its pluses and minor inconveniences.'
'There are 3,000-plus athletes around the U.S. who are at the top of their game making more money or equal to the money that these guys do, who are subject to it, and it works for them, and they're the best that there is, and that's what we want.'
Particularly given a sport like boxing where not only does a cheater potentially win a prize, but a cheater can cause physical harm to someone else too, particularly if they're doped up. And that element of the discussion has gotten lost. And I think that that's unfortunate.
But I think that there's a real safety and health concern that we all want to be cognizant about. What I can say is that our program does not in any way inconvenience any athlete's -- including a boxer's -- ability to prepare or train for their fight.
So it's hard for me to understand -- and this is not a specific comment about any of the fighters involved here -- but it's hard for me to understand why any athlete wouldn't want the same program that all of our Olympic athletes have.
That is, if they understand these issues, and they're familiar with the programs, and they're educated on the mild inconvenience, and they appreciate the importance of a level playing field.
FH: How might the desired effects that a boxer may want to achieve manifest itself in a boxer during a fight?
Tygart: Take a real-life example. Look at Shane Mosley and his doping program that was reported by a number outlets when he was involved with BALCO. He used both a designer steroid as well as blood enhancing products like EPO. This is a good anecdote as to how these drugs translate very well for boxers.
What you want with that combination of steroids and blood enhancing product is that you want to be the best pound-for-pound, with that lean muscle mass, and to be the strongest competitor that you can be. Whether that means that you are at 180, 170, 210.
Various forms of steroids and human growth hormone are going to allow you to do that. If you want lean muscle mass and be light, you're going to want a lot of HGH. You're going to cut weight, but that weight is going to be lean muscle mass.
It's not going to be fat. It's going to be the strongest pound-for-pound that you can get inside of your frame at that weight.
FH: What about gaining weight?
Tygart: Similarly, that's the football players. If you want to go from a buck-70, to a buck-85, and still have lean muscle mass, and strength, that's what you're going to do is some cycles of steroids. You then couple that. You can go from 140, to 160, or 145 to 155, whatever the case may be.
And there are different versions, whether you're talking a Deca [Deca-Durabolin,] or a Winnie [Winstrol,] or a Stanozolol. I testified out there for the California Athletic Commission for an MMA fighter. They had three cases they were dealing with and I was just there to define general policies.
One of them was caught for a classic cocktail that you would want to have. It was one of the fighters. It was lean muscle mass. Everybody on the streets and in the gym knows that if you're in a weight category and in competition, in a combat sport -- whether its judo, or boxing, or karate, or tai kwan do -- that's a classic cocktail that you would use.
When you're cutting weight, it will give you the lean muscle mass that you need, to have as much strength, pound-for-pound, as you can at that weight classification -- whether it's lower for you or higer for you. And then you have those that will just build muscle.
The combination of those strength-type, pound-for-pound strength drugs, which would include the anabolic steroids and the human growth hormones, the insulin, and then you couple that with the blood-doping-type drugs -- the HBOC, the designer, or the regular EPOs -- that then is going to give you the endurance to go along with that strength in late rounds of events.
So, while you might not think of EPO being all that appealing to boxers, that's what allegedly Mosely was doing out of BALCO. And that makes perfectly good sense to us, because that's going to give you the kind of endurance you need in a late round in a hotly-contested and fought boxing match.
It's also going to greatly improve your ability to train. So there is also this sort of recovery training issue and what's it going to do for you on fight night. And it's significant.
FH: Is it deserved that Floyd Mayweather has taken a lot of criticism for asking for this?
Tygart: Any time that a clean athlete steps up and reaches out to USADA, we're going to support them. And I think that means trying to convince all of those who have decision-making abilities to have the best policies in place to give that clean athlete the fairest opportunity to compete on a clean playing field.
So if the state of Nevada, the state of California, the organizations of boxing, and whoever else is truly interested and will listen to their athletes, then we're going to be standing by those clean atletes and pushing for the best policies.
So, regardless of what happens with this particular fight, hopefully that is the legacy that will come from this. Hopefully, these organizations will finally wake up and put in the kind of policies that they need to protect their clean athletes.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Mayweather camp not giving up on superfight -- Yahoo! Sports
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer was desperately trying to reignite talks Friday to salvage the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight even as Pacquiao’s chief adviser said the Filipino superstar is “hours away” from signing a contract to fight Joshua Clottey.
Since the start of negotiations for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight began in mid-November, Mayweather demanded random, Olympic-style drug testing administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which would have meant that both fighters were subject to random blood and urine testing up to and including the day before the proposed March 13 fight. Pacquiao rejected the offer, agreeing to unlimited urine tests but demanding that any blood tests be cut off no later than 30 days before the fight.
The sides had quickly agreed on most points in the negotiations and the drug-testing dispute has been the only sticking point in the last month in an attempt to make the bout between the men widely regarded as the top two fighters in the world.
The highly anticipated bout seemed to be going down the drain Friday afternoon as Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz told Yahoo! Sports by telephone from the Philippines that “we’ve moved on and are getting ready to sign a contract to fight Clottey.”
Schaefer, whose company is representing Mayweather in the talks, said Friday he isn’t sure Pacquiao is aware that Mayweather agreed to cut off testing 14 days before the fight and to have it administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Bruce Binkow, the chief marketing officer of Golden Boy Promotions, on Dec. 30 offered a 14-day cutoff as a compromise via instant message to Top Rank president Todd duBoef, who replied on Dec. 31 that “14 is no good.”
Schaefer said he believes the fight can be salvaged over the weekend and the first step is making certain that Pacquiao is aware of Mayweather’s 14-day offer. “There are reports [on the Internet] that Manny is not aware of this and we want to make certain that he knows what Floyd has agreed to do,” Schaefer said.
However, Koncz said he was informed of the offer by promoter Bob Arum and that he brought it directly to Pacquiao, who would not even consider it. Koncz said Pacquiao was very firm in his decision.
“Bob called and told us about the 14 days and I brought that to Manny and he said, ‘I told you, we’re not agreeing to that,’ and that was pretty much it,” Koncz said.
Schaefer called Mayweather’s offer “a very fair, very reasonable compromise solution” and said Mayweather is still eager to fight Pacquiao on March 13. Both Schaefer and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe have denied speaking to any potential other opponents, though Mayweather has been linked through numerous published reports with Paulie Malignaggi.
“We’ve focused solely on getting a fight done with Manny Pacquiao and that’s it,” Ellerbe said.
But Arum said he contacted MGM Grand officials about staging a Pacquiao-Clottey fight in its arena on that date and said he was told the MGM was holding it for a Mayweather-Malignaggi fight. Arum said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is sending his private plane to Las Vegas on Saturday to pick up he and duBoef to bring them to Dallas, where they will attend the Cowboys’ playoff game with the Philadelphia Eagles and discuss staging the March 13 bout in Cowboys Stadium.
Schaefer, though, said he hoped he could revive talks over the weekend because he feels a deal is reachable. Arum scoffed at the talk and said no one from Mayweather’s side had contacted anyone from Top Rank on Friday with the idea of reopening talks.
It is too important for the sport, Schaefer said, to exhaust all possibilities before moving on to other options.
“It would be a disservice to boxing to consider any other names when we still have a few days where we could come to a deal,” Schaefer said. “We still do have a few days here and I’m hopeful it won’t take Manny Pacquiao a few days to respond. We’re ready to split this in the middle and other than this, everything else is ready to go.”
Ellerbe said the drug-testing procedure will be a part of every fight Mayweather is involved in for the rest of his career.
That will likely make it impossible to resurrect talks for a fight with Pacquiao in the fall. Koncz said Pacquiao made several major concessions, such as agreeing for the fight to be called “Mayweather-Pacquiao” in the U.S. instead of the other way around, that he won’t make if negotiations are reopened for a fight later in the year.
“Manny would be willing to fight Mayweather, but the tenor of negotiations would be a lot different in the future,” Koncz said. “Manny was very accommodating before, because he wanted to get this fight done and to satisfy the fans, who wanted it very much. Billing is important to Manny, but he gave that up to accommodate Mayweather’s ego because [Manny] wants to go out as the best fighter there ever was and, clearly, Mayweather is one of the best.
“But given what happened, Manny won’t make those concessions if they come back to us.”
Dr. Don H. Catlin, the head of the Los Angeles-based non-profit Anti-Doping Research, Inc., said a 24-day cutoff for blood testing is not sufficient to prevent abuse. One of the concerns with such a long blood-testing cutoff prior to the date of competition would be the potential use of Erythropoietin, or EPO.
But Catlin said that wouldn’t be the only concern if there were a 24-day cutoff imposed.
“If you have a 24-day window that’s free, with no testing, you can take whatever you want and you’re not going to get caught, end of story,” Catlin said. “[Urine testing] does matter, yes, but they’re not going to catch everything by urine testing alone. What you would do is to take Mircera [a type of EPO], which is available and which is not easy to detect in urine and away you go. You need a blood test.”
Arum said he understands that commissions may request additional testing of Pacquiao in the future because of the controversy raised during talks for a Mayweather fight, but he said neither he nor Pacquiao would have an issue with it.
Arum said an athletic commission would treat the fighters properly. Pacquiao believes he’ll be weakened by giving blood too close to an event. And while there is no medical evidence to back his claim, it could harm him psychologically.
“It’s the commission and if you have confidence in the commission, you will agree to abide by whatever they request,” Arum said. “But you know they’ll take the phobia of the fighters, and so forth, into account whenever they order what tests they deem appropriate.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer was desperately trying to reignite talks Friday to salvage the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight even as Pacquiao’s chief adviser said the Filipino superstar is “hours away” from signing a contract to fight Joshua Clottey.
Since the start of negotiations for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight began in mid-November, Mayweather demanded random, Olympic-style drug testing administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which would have meant that both fighters were subject to random blood and urine testing up to and including the day before the proposed March 13 fight. Pacquiao rejected the offer, agreeing to unlimited urine tests but demanding that any blood tests be cut off no later than 30 days before the fight.
The sides had quickly agreed on most points in the negotiations and the drug-testing dispute has been the only sticking point in the last month in an attempt to make the bout between the men widely regarded as the top two fighters in the world.
The highly anticipated bout seemed to be going down the drain Friday afternoon as Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz told Yahoo! Sports by telephone from the Philippines that “we’ve moved on and are getting ready to sign a contract to fight Clottey.”
Schaefer, whose company is representing Mayweather in the talks, said Friday he isn’t sure Pacquiao is aware that Mayweather agreed to cut off testing 14 days before the fight and to have it administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Bruce Binkow, the chief marketing officer of Golden Boy Promotions, on Dec. 30 offered a 14-day cutoff as a compromise via instant message to Top Rank president Todd duBoef, who replied on Dec. 31 that “14 is no good.”
Schaefer said he believes the fight can be salvaged over the weekend and the first step is making certain that Pacquiao is aware of Mayweather’s 14-day offer. “There are reports [on the Internet] that Manny is not aware of this and we want to make certain that he knows what Floyd has agreed to do,” Schaefer said.
However, Koncz said he was informed of the offer by promoter Bob Arum and that he brought it directly to Pacquiao, who would not even consider it. Koncz said Pacquiao was very firm in his decision.
“Bob called and told us about the 14 days and I brought that to Manny and he said, ‘I told you, we’re not agreeing to that,’ and that was pretty much it,” Koncz said.
Schaefer called Mayweather’s offer “a very fair, very reasonable compromise solution” and said Mayweather is still eager to fight Pacquiao on March 13. Both Schaefer and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe have denied speaking to any potential other opponents, though Mayweather has been linked through numerous published reports with Paulie Malignaggi.
“We’ve focused solely on getting a fight done with Manny Pacquiao and that’s it,” Ellerbe said.
But Arum said he contacted MGM Grand officials about staging a Pacquiao-Clottey fight in its arena on that date and said he was told the MGM was holding it for a Mayweather-Malignaggi fight. Arum said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is sending his private plane to Las Vegas on Saturday to pick up he and duBoef to bring them to Dallas, where they will attend the Cowboys’ playoff game with the Philadelphia Eagles and discuss staging the March 13 bout in Cowboys Stadium.
Schaefer, though, said he hoped he could revive talks over the weekend because he feels a deal is reachable. Arum scoffed at the talk and said no one from Mayweather’s side had contacted anyone from Top Rank on Friday with the idea of reopening talks.
It is too important for the sport, Schaefer said, to exhaust all possibilities before moving on to other options.
“It would be a disservice to boxing to consider any other names when we still have a few days where we could come to a deal,” Schaefer said. “We still do have a few days here and I’m hopeful it won’t take Manny Pacquiao a few days to respond. We’re ready to split this in the middle and other than this, everything else is ready to go.”
Ellerbe said the drug-testing procedure will be a part of every fight Mayweather is involved in for the rest of his career.
That will likely make it impossible to resurrect talks for a fight with Pacquiao in the fall. Koncz said Pacquiao made several major concessions, such as agreeing for the fight to be called “Mayweather-Pacquiao” in the U.S. instead of the other way around, that he won’t make if negotiations are reopened for a fight later in the year.
“Manny would be willing to fight Mayweather, but the tenor of negotiations would be a lot different in the future,” Koncz said. “Manny was very accommodating before, because he wanted to get this fight done and to satisfy the fans, who wanted it very much. Billing is important to Manny, but he gave that up to accommodate Mayweather’s ego because [Manny] wants to go out as the best fighter there ever was and, clearly, Mayweather is one of the best.
“But given what happened, Manny won’t make those concessions if they come back to us.”
Dr. Don H. Catlin, the head of the Los Angeles-based non-profit Anti-Doping Research, Inc., said a 24-day cutoff for blood testing is not sufficient to prevent abuse. One of the concerns with such a long blood-testing cutoff prior to the date of competition would be the potential use of Erythropoietin, or EPO.
But Catlin said that wouldn’t be the only concern if there were a 24-day cutoff imposed.
“If you have a 24-day window that’s free, with no testing, you can take whatever you want and you’re not going to get caught, end of story,” Catlin said. “[Urine testing] does matter, yes, but they’re not going to catch everything by urine testing alone. What you would do is to take Mircera [a type of EPO], which is available and which is not easy to detect in urine and away you go. You need a blood test.”
Arum said he understands that commissions may request additional testing of Pacquiao in the future because of the controversy raised during talks for a Mayweather fight, but he said neither he nor Pacquiao would have an issue with it.
Arum said an athletic commission would treat the fighters properly. Pacquiao believes he’ll be weakened by giving blood too close to an event. And while there is no medical evidence to back his claim, it could harm him psychologically.
“It’s the commission and if you have confidence in the commission, you will agree to abide by whatever they request,” Arum said. “But you know they’ll take the phobia of the fighters, and so forth, into account whenever they order what tests they deem appropriate.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
Pacquiao, Clottey reach deal to fight March 13 at Cowboys Stadium -- Sports Illustrated
By Chris Mannix, SI.com
As representatives from Golden Boy Promotions work feverishly to keep a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao megafight alive, Pacquiao has reached an agreement in principle to defend his WBO welterweight title against former title holder Joshua Clottey on March 13, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told SI.com.
The fight between Pacquiao and Clottey will likely take place at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
Arum and Top Rank have been embroiled in contentious negotiations with Mayweather and representatives from Golden Boy Promotions, which is representing Mayweather. At issue is drug testing: Mayweather is insisting on random blood testing before the fight while Pacquiao will submit to unlimited urine testing -- all that is required by the Nevada commission -- but only agree to blood testing 30 days before the fight.
Earlier this week, the two sides agreed to mediation by retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein. During the mediation, Pacquiao agreed to blood testing up to 24 days before the fight. Mayweather refused and, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, countered with a 14-day testing window.
Schaefer told SI.com on Friday that he believed Pacquiao was never told of the 14 day offer. He referred to an Internet report where Pacquiao and his representatives denied that Mayweather had offered to reduce the testing window to 14 days before the fight. Schaefer said he had text messages between Golden Boy's Chief Marketing Officer Bruce Binkow and Top Rank President Todd DuBoef during this week's mediation discussing the 14-day window.
Arum, however, says Pacquiao has known about the 14 days since Jan. 1 and said he had an email exchange between DuBoef and Pacquiao's advisor, Michael Koncz, that prove that Pacquiao had received the offer and rejected it.
"That offer was rejected a long time ago," said Arum. "It was off the table. They are just trying to get under Manny's skin. It serves no purpose than to aggravate Manny Pacquiao."
Arum scoffed at the notion that the fight could be saved, indicating that neither he nor anyone in his company had been in contact with anyone from Mayweather's camp. " If they are negotiating, they are negotiating with themselves," said Arum. "We aren't talking to them."
Schaefer said Arum approached him on Thursday to discuss the possibility of making a third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. But the discussions went nowhere because besides insisting on a 50-50 split, Marquez also asked for the same level of drug testing as Mayweather. Schaefer also said that while he had not spoken to Shane Mosley about a future fight with Pacquiao, it was likely that Mosley would also require blood testing before any fight with Pacquiao.
Arum said he would no longer consider any form of testing beyond what the state commission requires for any future fight with Pacquiao -- including Mayweather.
"This is beyond stupid," said Arum. "That was my biggest mistake, allowing any of this to happen. I should have said no. We're not revisiting [blood testing]. We're not negotiating with these punks anymore. If Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao down the road, he will have to go by the testing the state commission asks for. If not, life goes on."
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
As representatives from Golden Boy Promotions work feverishly to keep a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao megafight alive, Pacquiao has reached an agreement in principle to defend his WBO welterweight title against former title holder Joshua Clottey on March 13, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told SI.com.
The fight between Pacquiao and Clottey will likely take place at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
Arum and Top Rank have been embroiled in contentious negotiations with Mayweather and representatives from Golden Boy Promotions, which is representing Mayweather. At issue is drug testing: Mayweather is insisting on random blood testing before the fight while Pacquiao will submit to unlimited urine testing -- all that is required by the Nevada commission -- but only agree to blood testing 30 days before the fight.
Earlier this week, the two sides agreed to mediation by retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein. During the mediation, Pacquiao agreed to blood testing up to 24 days before the fight. Mayweather refused and, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, countered with a 14-day testing window.
Schaefer told SI.com on Friday that he believed Pacquiao was never told of the 14 day offer. He referred to an Internet report where Pacquiao and his representatives denied that Mayweather had offered to reduce the testing window to 14 days before the fight. Schaefer said he had text messages between Golden Boy's Chief Marketing Officer Bruce Binkow and Top Rank President Todd DuBoef during this week's mediation discussing the 14-day window.
Arum, however, says Pacquiao has known about the 14 days since Jan. 1 and said he had an email exchange between DuBoef and Pacquiao's advisor, Michael Koncz, that prove that Pacquiao had received the offer and rejected it.
"That offer was rejected a long time ago," said Arum. "It was off the table. They are just trying to get under Manny's skin. It serves no purpose than to aggravate Manny Pacquiao."
Arum scoffed at the notion that the fight could be saved, indicating that neither he nor anyone in his company had been in contact with anyone from Mayweather's camp. " If they are negotiating, they are negotiating with themselves," said Arum. "We aren't talking to them."
Schaefer said Arum approached him on Thursday to discuss the possibility of making a third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. But the discussions went nowhere because besides insisting on a 50-50 split, Marquez also asked for the same level of drug testing as Mayweather. Schaefer also said that while he had not spoken to Shane Mosley about a future fight with Pacquiao, it was likely that Mosley would also require blood testing before any fight with Pacquiao.
Arum said he would no longer consider any form of testing beyond what the state commission requires for any future fight with Pacquiao -- including Mayweather.
"This is beyond stupid," said Arum. "That was my biggest mistake, allowing any of this to happen. I should have said no. We're not revisiting [blood testing]. We're not negotiating with these punks anymore. If Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao down the road, he will have to go by the testing the state commission asks for. If not, life goes on."
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Pacquiao may have found replacement for Mayweather -- Los Angeles Times
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still pushing for a mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao, but key people around Pacquiao said Friday the Filipino star fighter's focus has shifted to a replacement foe, Joshua Clottey.
"If you concede to whatever Mayweather wants, that's giving him an edge," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said Friday. "We're bigger than Mayweather. We don't need him. We don't work for him.
"So, the way I feel now, we'll go fight Clottey, then we'll fight the winner of [Shane] Mosley and [Andre] Berto."
Welterweight Clottey (35-3) lost a close 2009 fight to Miguel Cotto, who was subsequently defeated by Pacquiao via a 12th-round technical knockout in November. "It'll be a tough fight, not an easy fight, but better than some of the other names that were being thrown around," Roach said.
Behind the scenes, however, there is still movement in the Pacquiao and Mayweather camps to try to bridge the dividing line in their negotiations over when pre-fight random blood tests for performance-enhancing drugs should stop.
Pacquiao agreed to a blood test 24 days before a Mayweather bout planned for March 13 in Las Vegas, and another sample immediately after the bout. Mayweather wants the final blood test to come 14 days before the fight. "Isn't that reasonable?" asked Mayweather promoter, Richard Schaefer.
And Clottey, one Pacquiao confidant admitted, is a high-risk, low-dollar fight.
So there is a push to pitch Mayweather's blood test plan to Pacquiao once more before he arrives back in the U.S. to begin training Monday at Roach's Hollywood gym. Roach also said, "Mayweather can still say he's OK with the 24 days, and the fight's back on, right?"
That's not the case, according to Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum. "We have moved on. We don't want to talk about Mayweather anymore until the fall."
Schaefer is urging Mayweather-Pacquiao talks to continue, admitting a deal needs to be struck soon because of training schedules. Schaefer said, "the fight is so publicized, and being asked for by the public that it doesn't need our usual promotional push."
Arum's response: "He wants talks to continue. Who is he going to be talking to?"
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still pushing for a mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao, but key people around Pacquiao said Friday the Filipino star fighter's focus has shifted to a replacement foe, Joshua Clottey.
"If you concede to whatever Mayweather wants, that's giving him an edge," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said Friday. "We're bigger than Mayweather. We don't need him. We don't work for him.
"So, the way I feel now, we'll go fight Clottey, then we'll fight the winner of [Shane] Mosley and [Andre] Berto."
Welterweight Clottey (35-3) lost a close 2009 fight to Miguel Cotto, who was subsequently defeated by Pacquiao via a 12th-round technical knockout in November. "It'll be a tough fight, not an easy fight, but better than some of the other names that were being thrown around," Roach said.
Behind the scenes, however, there is still movement in the Pacquiao and Mayweather camps to try to bridge the dividing line in their negotiations over when pre-fight random blood tests for performance-enhancing drugs should stop.
Pacquiao agreed to a blood test 24 days before a Mayweather bout planned for March 13 in Las Vegas, and another sample immediately after the bout. Mayweather wants the final blood test to come 14 days before the fight. "Isn't that reasonable?" asked Mayweather promoter, Richard Schaefer.
And Clottey, one Pacquiao confidant admitted, is a high-risk, low-dollar fight.
So there is a push to pitch Mayweather's blood test plan to Pacquiao once more before he arrives back in the U.S. to begin training Monday at Roach's Hollywood gym. Roach also said, "Mayweather can still say he's OK with the 24 days, and the fight's back on, right?"
That's not the case, according to Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum. "We have moved on. We don't want to talk about Mayweather anymore until the fall."
Schaefer is urging Mayweather-Pacquiao talks to continue, admitting a deal needs to be struck soon because of training schedules. Schaefer said, "the fight is so publicized, and being asked for by the public that it doesn't need our usual promotional push."
Arum's response: "He wants talks to continue. Who is he going to be talking to?"
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
Old names could damage Boxing -- ESPN Star
ESPN Star
PA Sport's Mark Staniforth talks about unwanted comebacks in boxing.
Given its age-old propensity for shooting itself in the foot, it ought to come as no surprise that the general enthusiasm for boxing's prospects in 2010 have been hijacked before the first month of the new decade is out.
The sport has been rightly basking in its unexpected resurgence to counter the emerging giant of Mixed Martial Arts with a whole series of 2009 fights big and rich enough to crank it back to the top of the pay-per-view scale.
This year promises much of the same, with Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao set to clash in one of the richest fights of all time, despite the continued anti-hype over a supposed drug-test row.
Of almost equal importance, this new year could see the crowning of the first truly undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, if David Haye makes good on his promise to cut a swathe through the Klitschko brothers.
But lurking behind the promise of the pay-per-view megastars are the kind of fights which make many observers despair for the sport, as has-beens and never-quite-weres seek to make the most of the sport's economic upturn.
Nobody will ever doubt the contribution Evander Holyfield has made to his sport in the course of a stellar career which peaked with his extraordinary 11th round knockout of Mike Tyson in November 1996.
Holyfield's last true day in the spotlight came three years later, when he lost a rematch with Lewis with the undisputed title at stake, hastening what many expected to be an heroic retirement.
His decline is mapped in his record since: three dismal mauls with John Ruiz, successive defeats to Chris Byrd, James Toney and Larry Donald, a cynically rewarded WBO title shot in 2007 resulting in a one-sided loss to Sultan Ibragimov.
In a division bereft of marketable names, Holyfield was picked up again for a December 2008 shot at Nikolai Valuev, and dredged up enough spirit to restore his belief that he could once again claim a major portion of the heavyweight crown.
Plenty of doctors have told him otherwise, but health concerns tend to become a secondary consideration when you are rumoured to have squandered enough of your millions to be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
But in boxing there is always someone, somewhere willing to wring the last few dollars out of a famous former champion, just look at the rogue states who scrambled over each other to promote Mike Tyson's comebacks when Nevada and New York said no.
Thus Holyfield is heading to Kampala, Uganda to face former fringe champion Francois Botha in February, in a fight given world heavyweight title billing by the spurious World Boxing Foundation.
'The Rumble In The Jungle' it is not. Botha, 41, last fought at the top level when he was stopped by Vladimir Klitschko in 2002. He retired for five years then returned, and drew his last fight in October against nine-fight novice Pedro Carrion.
The WBFs heavyweight title history reads like a who-isn't of the division. The lowest of many low points was surely Joe Bugner's ridiculous retirement win over fellow veteran James 'Bonecrusher' Smith in Australia in 1998.
Subsequent champions included South African Mike Bernardo, Uzbek journeyman Alexander Jacob, Dutchman Richel Hersisia and the man he handed onto Audley Harrison, who needs no introduction.
"I am very much looking forward to going to Uganda and I expect a tough fight against Francois Botha", said Holyfield, predictably. "I am going to win and I will cherish the WBF world title."
Following on from last week's list of fights the boxing world ought to want to see in 2010, Holyfield versus Botha supposedly set for an 80,000-capacity outdoor stadium tops the list of fights that shouldn't happen. Here are some more:
BERNARD HOPKINS v ROY JONES Jnr
At 44, Hopkins continues to produce performances which defy the critics. Jones does not. He was clattered by Danny Green in one round last time out. Amazingly, some talk as if the long-term rematch between Hopkins and Jones can still happen.
AMIR KHAN v
BREIDIS PRESCOTT
Everyone wants the chance to avenge a defeat. But while Khan-Prescott II could be hyped to the hilt, the reality is that Prescott proved in his recent defeat to Kevin Mitchell that he is little more than a one-shot merchant who got lucky.
RICKY HATTON v ANYONE
The Hatton comeback is happening. We can only wish that it wasn't. Hatton looked dangerously shot not just against Pacquiao, but in the final minutes against Juan Lazcano. His comeback will do nothing but tarnish his considerable legacy.
Source: espnstar.com
PA Sport's Mark Staniforth talks about unwanted comebacks in boxing.
Given its age-old propensity for shooting itself in the foot, it ought to come as no surprise that the general enthusiasm for boxing's prospects in 2010 have been hijacked before the first month of the new decade is out.
The sport has been rightly basking in its unexpected resurgence to counter the emerging giant of Mixed Martial Arts with a whole series of 2009 fights big and rich enough to crank it back to the top of the pay-per-view scale.
This year promises much of the same, with Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao set to clash in one of the richest fights of all time, despite the continued anti-hype over a supposed drug-test row.
Of almost equal importance, this new year could see the crowning of the first truly undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, if David Haye makes good on his promise to cut a swathe through the Klitschko brothers.
But lurking behind the promise of the pay-per-view megastars are the kind of fights which make many observers despair for the sport, as has-beens and never-quite-weres seek to make the most of the sport's economic upturn.
Nobody will ever doubt the contribution Evander Holyfield has made to his sport in the course of a stellar career which peaked with his extraordinary 11th round knockout of Mike Tyson in November 1996.
Holyfield's last true day in the spotlight came three years later, when he lost a rematch with Lewis with the undisputed title at stake, hastening what many expected to be an heroic retirement.
His decline is mapped in his record since: three dismal mauls with John Ruiz, successive defeats to Chris Byrd, James Toney and Larry Donald, a cynically rewarded WBO title shot in 2007 resulting in a one-sided loss to Sultan Ibragimov.
In a division bereft of marketable names, Holyfield was picked up again for a December 2008 shot at Nikolai Valuev, and dredged up enough spirit to restore his belief that he could once again claim a major portion of the heavyweight crown.
Plenty of doctors have told him otherwise, but health concerns tend to become a secondary consideration when you are rumoured to have squandered enough of your millions to be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
But in boxing there is always someone, somewhere willing to wring the last few dollars out of a famous former champion, just look at the rogue states who scrambled over each other to promote Mike Tyson's comebacks when Nevada and New York said no.
Thus Holyfield is heading to Kampala, Uganda to face former fringe champion Francois Botha in February, in a fight given world heavyweight title billing by the spurious World Boxing Foundation.
'The Rumble In The Jungle' it is not. Botha, 41, last fought at the top level when he was stopped by Vladimir Klitschko in 2002. He retired for five years then returned, and drew his last fight in October against nine-fight novice Pedro Carrion.
The WBFs heavyweight title history reads like a who-isn't of the division. The lowest of many low points was surely Joe Bugner's ridiculous retirement win over fellow veteran James 'Bonecrusher' Smith in Australia in 1998.
Subsequent champions included South African Mike Bernardo, Uzbek journeyman Alexander Jacob, Dutchman Richel Hersisia and the man he handed onto Audley Harrison, who needs no introduction.
"I am very much looking forward to going to Uganda and I expect a tough fight against Francois Botha", said Holyfield, predictably. "I am going to win and I will cherish the WBF world title."
Following on from last week's list of fights the boxing world ought to want to see in 2010, Holyfield versus Botha supposedly set for an 80,000-capacity outdoor stadium tops the list of fights that shouldn't happen. Here are some more:
BERNARD HOPKINS v ROY JONES Jnr
At 44, Hopkins continues to produce performances which defy the critics. Jones does not. He was clattered by Danny Green in one round last time out. Amazingly, some talk as if the long-term rematch between Hopkins and Jones can still happen.
AMIR KHAN v
BREIDIS PRESCOTT
Everyone wants the chance to avenge a defeat. But while Khan-Prescott II could be hyped to the hilt, the reality is that Prescott proved in his recent defeat to Kevin Mitchell that he is little more than a one-shot merchant who got lucky.
RICKY HATTON v ANYONE
The Hatton comeback is happening. We can only wish that it wasn't. Hatton looked dangerously shot not just against Pacquiao, but in the final minutes against Juan Lazcano. His comeback will do nothing but tarnish his considerable legacy.
Source: espnstar.com
Arum wants to bring fight to Arlington -- ESPN
By Calvin Watkins, ESPNDallas.com
Boxing promoter Bob Arum said he and Top Rank president Todd duBoef will visit Cowboys Stadium for the Cowboys-Eagles game on Saturday night with the hopes of bringing a Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight to Arlington on March 13.
Cowboys spokesperson Brett Daniels said the organization would have no comment regarding a possible fight between Pacquiao-Clottey in Arlington.
Arum said he will talk with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Sunday to work out the specifics of the bout.
Arum is moving on with a Clottey fight because he was unable to finalize a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout, which was also scheduled for March 13 in Las Vegas.
"Not now," Arum said of a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao bout. "It's a possibility later in the year bur we're not going through that blood stuff again."
A proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao bout was called off on Wednesday night by Arum after mediation failed to resolve their issues over drug-testing protocol.
Mayweather maintained Thursday night that he still wanted to fight Pacquiao. The final issue in the negotiation for the megafight was drug testing.
"First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass," Mayweather said in a statement on Thursday. "Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight. But it was rejected. I am still proposing the 14-day window but he is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests."
Pacquiao and Mayweather had agreed to unlimited random urine testing, but Mayweather also insisted on random blood testing, even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, requires only urine testing.
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) didn't want blood testing but later relented and agreed to three blood tests: one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would have taken place next week, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) would be subject to the same testing procedures.
When they could not come to an agreement, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, turned to a mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, who had successfully mediated a series of disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy in 2007.
But after nine hours in mediation on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., and further attempts to come to a resolution on Wednesday failed, the fight was pronounced dead by the Pacquiao camp.
Now, Arum has moved on with a fight with Clottey at Cowboys Stadium. Arum believes they can get 40,000 fans to attend the bout.
"It's a helluva fight," Arum said.
Clottey's manager, Vinny Scolpino, told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael that he spoke to Arum,on Friday about the fight's details but would only confirm a "seven-figure" purse.
"Josh is ecstatic about it," Scolpino said. "I think we can get this done in a couple of days. He's coming home [to New York from Ghana] on Monday."
Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last fought in a split decision loss to welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto on June 13, a fight many believed Clottey won.
"It's the biggest payday he ever made in his life," Scolpino told ESPN.com. "He should be doing flips. It's a huge opportunity."
Clottey had last been slated to fight Carlos Quintana on Dec. 5. But that undercard bout was called off when Kelly Pavlik pulled out of the main event against Paul Williams with a lingering hand injury.
Information from ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael was used in this report.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Boxing promoter Bob Arum said he and Top Rank president Todd duBoef will visit Cowboys Stadium for the Cowboys-Eagles game on Saturday night with the hopes of bringing a Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight to Arlington on March 13.
Cowboys spokesperson Brett Daniels said the organization would have no comment regarding a possible fight between Pacquiao-Clottey in Arlington.
Arum said he will talk with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Sunday to work out the specifics of the bout.
Arum is moving on with a Clottey fight because he was unable to finalize a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout, which was also scheduled for March 13 in Las Vegas.
"Not now," Arum said of a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao bout. "It's a possibility later in the year bur we're not going through that blood stuff again."
A proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao bout was called off on Wednesday night by Arum after mediation failed to resolve their issues over drug-testing protocol.
Mayweather maintained Thursday night that he still wanted to fight Pacquiao. The final issue in the negotiation for the megafight was drug testing.
"First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass," Mayweather said in a statement on Thursday. "Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight. But it was rejected. I am still proposing the 14-day window but he is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests."
Pacquiao and Mayweather had agreed to unlimited random urine testing, but Mayweather also insisted on random blood testing, even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, requires only urine testing.
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) didn't want blood testing but later relented and agreed to three blood tests: one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would have taken place next week, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) would be subject to the same testing procedures.
When they could not come to an agreement, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, turned to a mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, who had successfully mediated a series of disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy in 2007.
But after nine hours in mediation on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., and further attempts to come to a resolution on Wednesday failed, the fight was pronounced dead by the Pacquiao camp.
Now, Arum has moved on with a fight with Clottey at Cowboys Stadium. Arum believes they can get 40,000 fans to attend the bout.
"It's a helluva fight," Arum said.
Clottey's manager, Vinny Scolpino, told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael that he spoke to Arum,on Friday about the fight's details but would only confirm a "seven-figure" purse.
"Josh is ecstatic about it," Scolpino said. "I think we can get this done in a couple of days. He's coming home [to New York from Ghana] on Monday."
Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last fought in a split decision loss to welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto on June 13, a fight many believed Clottey won.
"It's the biggest payday he ever made in his life," Scolpino told ESPN.com. "He should be doing flips. It's a huge opportunity."
Clottey had last been slated to fight Carlos Quintana on Dec. 5. But that undercard bout was called off when Kelly Pavlik pulled out of the main event against Paul Williams with a lingering hand injury.
Information from ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael was used in this report.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Amir Khan fired by prospect of facing Ricky Hatton -- The Herald
Bert Mitchell, Herald Scotland
There are fights in every boxer’s career that come at conflicting times but offer the chance of a career-defining legacy.
At 23, and coming off the back of an impressive first-round knock-out of New York’s Dimitry Salita in the first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title, Amir Khan’s career is still on an upward trajectory but the same can’t be said of Ricky Hatton, who was outclassed when he fought Manny Pacquiao last summer.
Although Hatton has yet to confirm if he will climb into the ring again, word is he will and Khan says the thought of not squaring up to the former world light-welterweight champion would leave him feeling unfulfilled.
The lure of world-class domestic battles are usually compelling. Epic encounters such as Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank, Eubank v Joe Calzaghe and Frank Bruno v Lennox Lewis illustrate their attraction but first Khan, the Olympic silver medallist, must overcome a mandatory defence against the unbeaten Argentine, Marcos Maidana, although he admits the name of Hatton is the one he most wants on his cv.
“I would hate to get to the end of my career and look back at it and not have had the chance to fight Ricky Hatton. I still think Ricky has a bit left in him and I think he also has something he wants to prove to himself after the defeat by Pacquiao.
“Obviously, I have a mandatory defence of my WBA title to make and Ricky probably would want a warm-up fight but maybe later in the year it could happen. It would be the type of fight that would be great at an outdoor venue like one of the big football grounds.”
The severity of the beating inflicted on Hatton by Pacquiao was such it is hard to see how the mental scars suffered by the former champion have not left Hatton vulnerable to another painful defeat.
Styles make fights and such has been the improvement in Khan under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, the American trainer, that it is hard to arrive at any other conclusion than Hatton is made for him at this stage of their respective careers.
Khan’s fragile jaw may still be an issue, but first an opponent has to find it and he can deploy his fists with a speed that is second possibly only to Pacquiao, while also having belatedly acquired a tight defence. All this means that the likely conclusion of such a meeting would leave Hatton broken and beaten inside the distance.
But still it is a mouthwatering match and, what’s more, Khan agrees. “I think I would beat Ricky and I also believe that maybe his style is good for me and the way I box. But Ricky is a proud fighter and he would maybe see a fight with me as a great way to go out on a high. We are at different stages in our careers and maybe the timing would be better for me than it would be for him but that is the way it sometimes goes in boxing. Fighters cross each other at different stages in their careers but I think it would make for a great fight.
“I think I would have the edge in reach and speed while Ricky would be looking to cut the space down and get to work on the inside, but I think I could catch him on the way in. But who knows. We have different styles and I think that is what would make it a great fight.”
Of course, Khan had a controversial fight with Scotland’s Willie Limond, in July 2007, when he appeared to be in contact with the canvas for far longer than the permitted 10 seconds in round six before stopping Limond at the end of round eight.
Magnanimous and typically dignified, Khan believes Limond gave him one of his hardest fights and believes the Glaswegian’s courageous performance has had a detrimental effect on his subsequent career.
Khan said: “I feel sorry for Willie Limond, I really do. He gave me a really tough fight in 2007. I found him to be a clever fighter who was very hard to hit cleanly and also very accurate with his own punching.
“He was very good at throwing a punch and not leaving himself open for a counter. I have no idea why he hasn’t had an opportunity to fight for the British title so far, other than that no-one wants to fight him because of all the trouble he gave me.
“If he is going to be nominated for a shot at the British title then it is no more than he deserves and overdue. I have no doubt Willie is good enough to win it and maybe to go on and win a European title. I wish him good luck.”
Source: heraldscotland.com
There are fights in every boxer’s career that come at conflicting times but offer the chance of a career-defining legacy.
At 23, and coming off the back of an impressive first-round knock-out of New York’s Dimitry Salita in the first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title, Amir Khan’s career is still on an upward trajectory but the same can’t be said of Ricky Hatton, who was outclassed when he fought Manny Pacquiao last summer.
Although Hatton has yet to confirm if he will climb into the ring again, word is he will and Khan says the thought of not squaring up to the former world light-welterweight champion would leave him feeling unfulfilled.
The lure of world-class domestic battles are usually compelling. Epic encounters such as Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank, Eubank v Joe Calzaghe and Frank Bruno v Lennox Lewis illustrate their attraction but first Khan, the Olympic silver medallist, must overcome a mandatory defence against the unbeaten Argentine, Marcos Maidana, although he admits the name of Hatton is the one he most wants on his cv.
“I would hate to get to the end of my career and look back at it and not have had the chance to fight Ricky Hatton. I still think Ricky has a bit left in him and I think he also has something he wants to prove to himself after the defeat by Pacquiao.
“Obviously, I have a mandatory defence of my WBA title to make and Ricky probably would want a warm-up fight but maybe later in the year it could happen. It would be the type of fight that would be great at an outdoor venue like one of the big football grounds.”
The severity of the beating inflicted on Hatton by Pacquiao was such it is hard to see how the mental scars suffered by the former champion have not left Hatton vulnerable to another painful defeat.
Styles make fights and such has been the improvement in Khan under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, the American trainer, that it is hard to arrive at any other conclusion than Hatton is made for him at this stage of their respective careers.
Khan’s fragile jaw may still be an issue, but first an opponent has to find it and he can deploy his fists with a speed that is second possibly only to Pacquiao, while also having belatedly acquired a tight defence. All this means that the likely conclusion of such a meeting would leave Hatton broken and beaten inside the distance.
But still it is a mouthwatering match and, what’s more, Khan agrees. “I think I would beat Ricky and I also believe that maybe his style is good for me and the way I box. But Ricky is a proud fighter and he would maybe see a fight with me as a great way to go out on a high. We are at different stages in our careers and maybe the timing would be better for me than it would be for him but that is the way it sometimes goes in boxing. Fighters cross each other at different stages in their careers but I think it would make for a great fight.
“I think I would have the edge in reach and speed while Ricky would be looking to cut the space down and get to work on the inside, but I think I could catch him on the way in. But who knows. We have different styles and I think that is what would make it a great fight.”
Of course, Khan had a controversial fight with Scotland’s Willie Limond, in July 2007, when he appeared to be in contact with the canvas for far longer than the permitted 10 seconds in round six before stopping Limond at the end of round eight.
Magnanimous and typically dignified, Khan believes Limond gave him one of his hardest fights and believes the Glaswegian’s courageous performance has had a detrimental effect on his subsequent career.
Khan said: “I feel sorry for Willie Limond, I really do. He gave me a really tough fight in 2007. I found him to be a clever fighter who was very hard to hit cleanly and also very accurate with his own punching.
“He was very good at throwing a punch and not leaving himself open for a counter. I have no idea why he hasn’t had an opportunity to fight for the British title so far, other than that no-one wants to fight him because of all the trouble he gave me.
“If he is going to be nominated for a shot at the British title then it is no more than he deserves and overdue. I have no doubt Willie is good enough to win it and maybe to go on and win a European title. I wish him good luck.”
Source: heraldscotland.com
Pacquiao camp shifts focus to Clottey -- ESPN
ESPN.com
With his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. all but off, Manny Pacquiao has instead agreed to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13 at a site to be determined, Pacquiao's camp said Friday.
Clottey's manager told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael that he spoke to Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, on Friday about the fight's details but would only confirm a "seven-figure" purse.
"Josh is ecstatic about it," Vinny Scolpino told ESPN.com. "I think we can get this done in a couple of days. He's coming home [to New York from Ghana] on Monday."
The Pacquiao-Mayweather bout, which had also been tentatively set for March 13, was called off Wednesday night by Arum after mediation failed to resolve their issues over drug-testing protocol.
Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last fought in a split decision loss to welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto on June 13, a fight many believed Clottey won.
"It's the biggest payday he ever made in his life," Scolpino told ESPN.com. "He should be doing flips. It's a huge opportunity."
Trainer Freddie Roach first told ESPN's Brian Kenny of Pacquiao's plan Friday afternoon, before Arum confirmed the news to The Associated Press.
Clottey had last been slated to fight Carlos Quintana on Dec. 5. But that undercard bout was called off when Kelly Pavlik pulled out of the main event against Paul Williams with a lingering hand injury.
Mayweather maintained Thursday night that he still wanted to fight Pacquiao. The final issue in the negotiation for the megafight was drug testing.
"That would have been a tremendous fight. I wanted to see it," Scolpino said. "But this is boxing. It's crazy."
Pacquiao and Mayweather had agreed to unlimited random urine testing, but Mayweather also insisted on random blood testing, even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, requires only urine testing.
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) didn't want blood testing but later relented and agreed to three blood tests: one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would have taken place next week, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) would be subject to the same testing procedures.
When they could not come to an agreement, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, turned to a mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, who had successfully mediated a series of disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy in 2007.
But after nine hours in mediation on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., and further attempts to come to a resolution on Wednesday failed, the fight was pronounced dead by the Pacquiao camp.
Information from ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael was used in this report.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
With his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. all but off, Manny Pacquiao has instead agreed to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13 at a site to be determined, Pacquiao's camp said Friday.
Clottey's manager told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael that he spoke to Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, on Friday about the fight's details but would only confirm a "seven-figure" purse.
"Josh is ecstatic about it," Vinny Scolpino told ESPN.com. "I think we can get this done in a couple of days. He's coming home [to New York from Ghana] on Monday."
The Pacquiao-Mayweather bout, which had also been tentatively set for March 13, was called off Wednesday night by Arum after mediation failed to resolve their issues over drug-testing protocol.
Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last fought in a split decision loss to welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto on June 13, a fight many believed Clottey won.
"It's the biggest payday he ever made in his life," Scolpino told ESPN.com. "He should be doing flips. It's a huge opportunity."
Trainer Freddie Roach first told ESPN's Brian Kenny of Pacquiao's plan Friday afternoon, before Arum confirmed the news to The Associated Press.
Clottey had last been slated to fight Carlos Quintana on Dec. 5. But that undercard bout was called off when Kelly Pavlik pulled out of the main event against Paul Williams with a lingering hand injury.
Mayweather maintained Thursday night that he still wanted to fight Pacquiao. The final issue in the negotiation for the megafight was drug testing.
"That would have been a tremendous fight. I wanted to see it," Scolpino said. "But this is boxing. It's crazy."
Pacquiao and Mayweather had agreed to unlimited random urine testing, but Mayweather also insisted on random blood testing, even though the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, requires only urine testing.
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) didn't want blood testing but later relented and agreed to three blood tests: one during the week of the kickoff news conference, which would have taken place next week, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) would be subject to the same testing procedures.
When they could not come to an agreement, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, turned to a mediator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, who had successfully mediated a series of disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy in 2007.
But after nine hours in mediation on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., and further attempts to come to a resolution on Wednesday failed, the fight was pronounced dead by the Pacquiao camp.
Information from ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael was used in this report.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Pacquiao will fight Clottey instead of Mayweather -- BBC Sport
BBC Sport
Manny Pacquiao will fight Ghana's Joshua Clottey in March instead of bitter rival Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Plans for the pair to meet fizzled out this week after a row over Mayweather's demands for random blood and urine sampling in the build-up to their bout.
Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum said a fight at some point against Mayweather had not been totally ruled out.
"There's always later in the year and next year, it's up to Mayweather," said the Top Rank impresario.
"But if he starts this nonsense again with testing or anything then let him take a walk.
"We are not going to get into a debate with him ever again on stuff that we know nothing about and that only regulators really can understand.
"We have commissions who regulate this sport. If [Mayweather Jr] wants any special testing he should address it to the commission that will have jurisdiction over the fight."
Arum insisted that Clottey, who beat Zab Judah for the IBF welterweight title in August 2008, will be a tough opponent for Philippines star Pacquiao.
"He's a real strong, aggressive and hard punching African and he poses a real test for Manny," he said.
Arum added that a location for the fight for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight belt would be decided next week.
Clottey, 32, lost a split decision to Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto last June. He has a 35-3-0 record, with 20 wins by knockouts.
Pacquiao stopped Cotto in Las Vegas in November to become a five-weight, five-time world champion.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
Manny Pacquiao will fight Ghana's Joshua Clottey in March instead of bitter rival Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Plans for the pair to meet fizzled out this week after a row over Mayweather's demands for random blood and urine sampling in the build-up to their bout.
Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum said a fight at some point against Mayweather had not been totally ruled out.
"There's always later in the year and next year, it's up to Mayweather," said the Top Rank impresario.
"But if he starts this nonsense again with testing or anything then let him take a walk.
"We are not going to get into a debate with him ever again on stuff that we know nothing about and that only regulators really can understand.
"We have commissions who regulate this sport. If [Mayweather Jr] wants any special testing he should address it to the commission that will have jurisdiction over the fight."
Arum insisted that Clottey, who beat Zab Judah for the IBF welterweight title in August 2008, will be a tough opponent for Philippines star Pacquiao.
"He's a real strong, aggressive and hard punching African and he poses a real test for Manny," he said.
Arum added that a location for the fight for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight belt would be decided next week.
Clottey, 32, lost a split decision to Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto last June. He has a 35-3-0 record, with 20 wins by knockouts.
Pacquiao stopped Cotto in Las Vegas in November to become a five-weight, five-time world champion.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
Pacquiao camp says fight with Clottey set for March -- Reuters
Reuters
WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will put his title on the line against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey in March after talks for a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. fizzled out this week, the Filipino's promoter said on Friday.
The planned fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr. broke down when negotiations between the two sides hit a snag over the American's demand for a rigorous dope testing procedure.
Pacquiao's new opponent beat Zab Judah of the United States for the IBF Welterweight title in August 2008 and lost a split decision to Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto last June.
"This is a better fight," Bob Arum of Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "(Clottey's) a real strong, aggressive and hard punching African from Ghana and he poses a real test for Manny."
Arum said a location for the fight would be decided on Monday.
News of the Pacquiao-Clottey bout pours cold water over talk that a match with Mayweather, which was expected to be one of boxing's biggest revenue-producing fights, could be salvaged in time for March.
Mayweather Jr. had issued a statement on Thursday that said he still wanted to fight Pacquiao, but Arum said any possible fight between the two sides would have to wait.
"There's always later in the year and there's next year, it's up to Mayweather. But if he starts this nonsense again with testing or anything then let him take a walk," said Arum.
"We are not going to get into a debate with him ever again on stuff that we know nothing about and that only regulators really can understand."
Mayweather's camp had called for random blood and urine sampling prior to and after the proposed fight with Pacquiao in March.
Pacquiao agreed to have blood taken for testing before the initial media conference and immediately after the fight but would not agree to have blood drawn within 30 days of the bout.
The commission that would have overseen the fight in Las Vegas only requires urine testing.
"We have commissions who regulate this sport, if (Mayweather Jr.) wants any special testing he should address it to the commission that will have jurisdiction over the fight," said Arum.
(Writing by Frank Pingue; Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
Source: reuters.com
WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will put his title on the line against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey in March after talks for a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. fizzled out this week, the Filipino's promoter said on Friday.
The planned fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr. broke down when negotiations between the two sides hit a snag over the American's demand for a rigorous dope testing procedure.
Pacquiao's new opponent beat Zab Judah of the United States for the IBF Welterweight title in August 2008 and lost a split decision to Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto last June.
"This is a better fight," Bob Arum of Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "(Clottey's) a real strong, aggressive and hard punching African from Ghana and he poses a real test for Manny."
Arum said a location for the fight would be decided on Monday.
News of the Pacquiao-Clottey bout pours cold water over talk that a match with Mayweather, which was expected to be one of boxing's biggest revenue-producing fights, could be salvaged in time for March.
Mayweather Jr. had issued a statement on Thursday that said he still wanted to fight Pacquiao, but Arum said any possible fight between the two sides would have to wait.
"There's always later in the year and there's next year, it's up to Mayweather. But if he starts this nonsense again with testing or anything then let him take a walk," said Arum.
"We are not going to get into a debate with him ever again on stuff that we know nothing about and that only regulators really can understand."
Mayweather's camp had called for random blood and urine sampling prior to and after the proposed fight with Pacquiao in March.
Pacquiao agreed to have blood taken for testing before the initial media conference and immediately after the fight but would not agree to have blood drawn within 30 days of the bout.
The commission that would have overseen the fight in Las Vegas only requires urine testing.
"We have commissions who regulate this sport, if (Mayweather Jr.) wants any special testing he should address it to the commission that will have jurisdiction over the fight," said Arum.
(Writing by Frank Pingue; Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
Source: reuters.com
Mayweather promoter argues for compromise, but Pacquiao promoter says fight dead -- The Canadian Press
By Greg Beacham, The Canadian Press
While Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s camp believes his prospective bout with Manny Pacquiao can be saved, Pacquiao's promoter says he's moving on.
After six weeks of contentious negotiations failed to produce a compromise on Mayweather's insistence on stringent drug testing for the bout, Pacquiao has made plans to fight welterweight Joshua Clottey in mid-March, Top Rank boss Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Friday.
"This is crazy. We've moved on," Arum said.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who works with Mayweather, isn't ready to give up. He's worried Top Rank hasn't told Pacquiao that the potential richest fight in boxing history could be saved if the Filipino star would agree to take a blood test for performance-enhancing drugs 14 days before the proposed March 13 bout - just 10 days later than Pacquiao already agreed.
"I am hopeful that this fight can still happen," Schaefer told the AP. "No matter what, Floyd Mayweather will fight at the MGM Grand (in Las Vegas) on March 13. I hope the man across that ring will be Manny Pacquiao."
Schaefer was angered when Arum came out of the camps' mediation hearing Tuesday blaming Mayweather for the fight's collapse, saying Mayweather wouldn't agree to a final blood test 24 days before the bout. Schaefer claims Top Rank turned down a compromise of 14 days on New Year's Eve, but he isn't sure whether Pacquiao - who's at home in the Philippines - was involved in that decision.
Both fighters stand to make much more than US$25 million apiece from the much-anticipated bout.
"If they don't want to do the fight, they should have said it a long time ago and not messed around," Schaefer said. "Anything Bob states (about the mediation) is wrong, and there are absolute lies."
That's almost exactly the sentiment of Arum two days earlier, when he said Mayweather turned down a mediation deal setting the blood test at 24 days before the bout. Schaefer said there never was such a deal.
Arum said he relayed the 14-day proposal to Pacquiao's camp in the Philippines and was turned down.
"We did transmit it to (Pacquiao adviser) Michael Koncz," Arum said. "We can't say what went on the mediation. We're not permitted to, but if it ever came out what happened in the mediation, it would make all of this an absurdity. Manny Pacquiao was informed and rejected it as it happened, and we communicated to (Golden Boy executive Bruce) Binkow that it was a nonstarter."
No matter who's right, the negotiations have turned personal and poisonous between the two dominant American boxing promotional companies.
Arum and Mayweather, who worked together earlier in Mayweather's career, traded blows through the media this week, with Arum calling Mayweather "a psychological coward" and criticizing Schaefer, who said he heard about Arum's insults through his children.
"He has a tremendous dislike for Floyd and Oscar (De La Hoya) and myself," Schaefer said. "It's unbelievable and frankly embarrassing for me and my kids."
Schaefer said Mayweather's newfound insistence on stringent drug testing is grounded in Mayweather's desire to "add an extra level of protection for fighters" throughout the sport, though he didn't say why Mayweather chose to make that stand before this particular fight. Pacquiao filed a lawsuit against Mayweather's camp last month, claiming several members had defamed him by intimating he uses performance-enhancing drugs.
Yet Mayweather has long been outspoken against steroids in sports, criticizing Sugar Shane Mosley for what Mosley claims was inadvertent use of performance-enhancing drugs before a 2003 bout.
"Bob says this kind of testing wasn't done 40 years ago? Well, a lot of things weren't done 40 years ago," Schaefer said. "If this fight happens or doesn't happen, it's going to be the catalyst to bring new levels of protection. We want to lead the charge here. It's a safety issue."
Schaefer said Mayweather will insist on similarly stringent drug tests for whoever is chosen as his opponent on March 13. Paulie Malignaggi had been rumoured to be the top candidate to fight Mayweather if the Pacquiao deal collapsed.
Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Source: Google News
While Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s camp believes his prospective bout with Manny Pacquiao can be saved, Pacquiao's promoter says he's moving on.
After six weeks of contentious negotiations failed to produce a compromise on Mayweather's insistence on stringent drug testing for the bout, Pacquiao has made plans to fight welterweight Joshua Clottey in mid-March, Top Rank boss Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Friday.
"This is crazy. We've moved on," Arum said.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who works with Mayweather, isn't ready to give up. He's worried Top Rank hasn't told Pacquiao that the potential richest fight in boxing history could be saved if the Filipino star would agree to take a blood test for performance-enhancing drugs 14 days before the proposed March 13 bout - just 10 days later than Pacquiao already agreed.
"I am hopeful that this fight can still happen," Schaefer told the AP. "No matter what, Floyd Mayweather will fight at the MGM Grand (in Las Vegas) on March 13. I hope the man across that ring will be Manny Pacquiao."
Schaefer was angered when Arum came out of the camps' mediation hearing Tuesday blaming Mayweather for the fight's collapse, saying Mayweather wouldn't agree to a final blood test 24 days before the bout. Schaefer claims Top Rank turned down a compromise of 14 days on New Year's Eve, but he isn't sure whether Pacquiao - who's at home in the Philippines - was involved in that decision.
Both fighters stand to make much more than US$25 million apiece from the much-anticipated bout.
"If they don't want to do the fight, they should have said it a long time ago and not messed around," Schaefer said. "Anything Bob states (about the mediation) is wrong, and there are absolute lies."
That's almost exactly the sentiment of Arum two days earlier, when he said Mayweather turned down a mediation deal setting the blood test at 24 days before the bout. Schaefer said there never was such a deal.
Arum said he relayed the 14-day proposal to Pacquiao's camp in the Philippines and was turned down.
"We did transmit it to (Pacquiao adviser) Michael Koncz," Arum said. "We can't say what went on the mediation. We're not permitted to, but if it ever came out what happened in the mediation, it would make all of this an absurdity. Manny Pacquiao was informed and rejected it as it happened, and we communicated to (Golden Boy executive Bruce) Binkow that it was a nonstarter."
No matter who's right, the negotiations have turned personal and poisonous between the two dominant American boxing promotional companies.
Arum and Mayweather, who worked together earlier in Mayweather's career, traded blows through the media this week, with Arum calling Mayweather "a psychological coward" and criticizing Schaefer, who said he heard about Arum's insults through his children.
"He has a tremendous dislike for Floyd and Oscar (De La Hoya) and myself," Schaefer said. "It's unbelievable and frankly embarrassing for me and my kids."
Schaefer said Mayweather's newfound insistence on stringent drug testing is grounded in Mayweather's desire to "add an extra level of protection for fighters" throughout the sport, though he didn't say why Mayweather chose to make that stand before this particular fight. Pacquiao filed a lawsuit against Mayweather's camp last month, claiming several members had defamed him by intimating he uses performance-enhancing drugs.
Yet Mayweather has long been outspoken against steroids in sports, criticizing Sugar Shane Mosley for what Mosley claims was inadvertent use of performance-enhancing drugs before a 2003 bout.
"Bob says this kind of testing wasn't done 40 years ago? Well, a lot of things weren't done 40 years ago," Schaefer said. "If this fight happens or doesn't happen, it's going to be the catalyst to bring new levels of protection. We want to lead the charge here. It's a safety issue."
Schaefer said Mayweather will insist on similarly stringent drug tests for whoever is chosen as his opponent on March 13. Paulie Malignaggi had been rumoured to be the top candidate to fight Mayweather if the Pacquiao deal collapsed.
Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Source: Google News
Pacquiao, Clottey near deal to fight on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium -- Sports Illustrated
By Chris Mannix, SI.com
Manny Pacquiao has reached an agreement to defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey on March 13, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told SI.com.
Pacquiao, who has been involved in contentious negotiations with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the past month, abandoned negotiations with Mayweather on Wednesday and has been actively seeking other opponents. Among the opponents that were considered were Juan Manuel Marquez, Yuri Foreman and Michael Katsidis.
Arum says Pacquiao-Clottey will likely be held at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. A delegation from Top Rank will fly to Texas this weekend to finalize an agreement with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
"We're on the same page," Arum said.
The contracts will be signed by Pacquiao and Clottey sometime next week. Pacquiao is currently training in the Philippines while Clottey is traveling to the U.S. from Africa and will arrive on Tuesday.
Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs), a Ghana transplant and Bronx native, last fought in a controversial split-decision loss to Miguel Cotto on June 13 at Madison Square Garden. That fight was for Cotto's WBO welterweight title, which the Puerto Rican surrendered to Pacquaio in November.
Representatives for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) pronounced the Mayweather negotiations dead Wednesday after a last-ditch mediation session with retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein in Santa Monica, Calif., failed to yield any resolution.
But Mayweather released a statement Thursday expressing hope the fight could be salvaged.
"Throughout this whole process I have remained patient, but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them. Mayweather said. "I am ready to fight and sign the contract. Manny needs to stop making his excuses, step up and fight."
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Manny Pacquiao has reached an agreement to defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey on March 13, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told SI.com.
Pacquiao, who has been involved in contentious negotiations with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the past month, abandoned negotiations with Mayweather on Wednesday and has been actively seeking other opponents. Among the opponents that were considered were Juan Manuel Marquez, Yuri Foreman and Michael Katsidis.
Arum says Pacquiao-Clottey will likely be held at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. A delegation from Top Rank will fly to Texas this weekend to finalize an agreement with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
"We're on the same page," Arum said.
The contracts will be signed by Pacquiao and Clottey sometime next week. Pacquiao is currently training in the Philippines while Clottey is traveling to the U.S. from Africa and will arrive on Tuesday.
Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs), a Ghana transplant and Bronx native, last fought in a controversial split-decision loss to Miguel Cotto on June 13 at Madison Square Garden. That fight was for Cotto's WBO welterweight title, which the Puerto Rican surrendered to Pacquaio in November.
Representatives for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) pronounced the Mayweather negotiations dead Wednesday after a last-ditch mediation session with retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein in Santa Monica, Calif., failed to yield any resolution.
But Mayweather released a statement Thursday expressing hope the fight could be salvaged.
"Throughout this whole process I have remained patient, but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them. Mayweather said. "I am ready to fight and sign the contract. Manny needs to stop making his excuses, step up and fight."
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey in Dallas Could Replace Mayweather -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Seven-division titlist Manny Pacquaio could defend his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) belt against perennial contender Joshua Clottey on March 13, most likely at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told FanHouse Friday afternoon.
"That's what we're working on right now, and that's what it looks like it's going to be," said Arum, Pacquiao's promoter. "We're looking to finalize things with Joshua Clottey, and we're hoping to have it done in a couple of hours."
A native of Accra, Ghana, Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) is a big-bodied, sinewy, accurate-punching welterweight with a resolute chin who has been often avoided because of his durability.
Clottey was last in the ring in June, where he lost a disputed 12-round split-decision to Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round on Nov. 14.
Pacquiao-Clottey would replace the originally-scheduled matchup between the 31-year-old Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) of the Philippines, and 32-year-old five-time champion Floyd Mayweather (40-0,25 KOs), of Las Vegas, that was slated for March 13 at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
But Arum said that the negotiations for the highly-anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao bout, which reportedly could have earned upwards of $40 million for both fighters, have been mired in a holdup over the implementation of blood and urinalysis drug-testing for both combatants.
Mayweather's camp, represented in the negotations by Golden Boy Promotions, has indicated that it wanted each fighter to be open to random blood testing up to 14 days before the fight as well as afterward -- a compromise on its original assertion that it wanted checking all the way up to the bout.
Pacquiao's camp did not want to have blood drawn any closer than 24 days before the fight.
The Mayweather-Pacquiao talks failed on Wednesday after two days of mediation.
Parties for Arum's Top Rank -- including his stepson, Todd duBoef, and CEO Richard Schaefer -- and Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, met for nine hours on Tuesday with their lawyers present in the Santa Monica office of federal judge and mediator Daniel Weinstein.
On Wednesday, the discussions took place with the Top Rank participants in their offices, and the Golden Boy reps in theirs, and still were not resolved.
But Schaefer told The Los Angeles Times.that he is still hopeful that a compromise can be reached.
"We're still trying to get Mayweather-Pacquiao done for March 13, and we've heard Manny has made claims that the position of Floyd willing to end blood tests 14 days before the fight was never communicated to him," Schaefer, told The Times. "Mayweather wants to split it down the middle to 14 days. Isn't that reasonable?"
Prior to Clottey, newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) of New York was considered as a replacement for Mayweather.
But the 5-foot-6 Pacquiao, who would be after his eighth crown in as many weight classes against Foreman, preferred not to face Foreman citing a height disadvantage against the 5-11 New Yorker. Pacquiao made his decision after having watched videos of Foreman.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Seven-division titlist Manny Pacquaio could defend his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) belt against perennial contender Joshua Clottey on March 13, most likely at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told FanHouse Friday afternoon.
"That's what we're working on right now, and that's what it looks like it's going to be," said Arum, Pacquiao's promoter. "We're looking to finalize things with Joshua Clottey, and we're hoping to have it done in a couple of hours."
A native of Accra, Ghana, Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) is a big-bodied, sinewy, accurate-punching welterweight with a resolute chin who has been often avoided because of his durability.
Clottey was last in the ring in June, where he lost a disputed 12-round split-decision to Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round on Nov. 14.
Pacquiao-Clottey would replace the originally-scheduled matchup between the 31-year-old Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) of the Philippines, and 32-year-old five-time champion Floyd Mayweather (40-0,25 KOs), of Las Vegas, that was slated for March 13 at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
But Arum said that the negotiations for the highly-anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao bout, which reportedly could have earned upwards of $40 million for both fighters, have been mired in a holdup over the implementation of blood and urinalysis drug-testing for both combatants.
Mayweather's camp, represented in the negotations by Golden Boy Promotions, has indicated that it wanted each fighter to be open to random blood testing up to 14 days before the fight as well as afterward -- a compromise on its original assertion that it wanted checking all the way up to the bout.
Pacquiao's camp did not want to have blood drawn any closer than 24 days before the fight.
The Mayweather-Pacquiao talks failed on Wednesday after two days of mediation.
Parties for Arum's Top Rank -- including his stepson, Todd duBoef, and CEO Richard Schaefer -- and Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, met for nine hours on Tuesday with their lawyers present in the Santa Monica office of federal judge and mediator Daniel Weinstein.
On Wednesday, the discussions took place with the Top Rank participants in their offices, and the Golden Boy reps in theirs, and still were not resolved.
But Schaefer told The Los Angeles Times.that he is still hopeful that a compromise can be reached.
"We're still trying to get Mayweather-Pacquiao done for March 13, and we've heard Manny has made claims that the position of Floyd willing to end blood tests 14 days before the fight was never communicated to him," Schaefer, told The Times. "Mayweather wants to split it down the middle to 14 days. Isn't that reasonable?"
Prior to Clottey, newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) of New York was considered as a replacement for Mayweather.
But the 5-foot-6 Pacquiao, who would be after his eighth crown in as many weight classes against Foreman, preferred not to face Foreman citing a height disadvantage against the 5-11 New Yorker. Pacquiao made his decision after having watched videos of Foreman.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
More arguing over Pacquiao-Mayweather -- Los Angeles Times
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
The promoter for Floyd Mayweather Jr. told The Times today he wants to make sure Manny Pacquiao understands the difference between the mega-fight happening or not is the matter of Pacquiao submitting to a blood test 10 days later than his camp has already accepted.
"We're still trying to get Mayweather-Pacquiao done for March 13, and we've heard Manny has made claims that the position of Floyd willing to end blood tests 14 days before the fight was never communicated to him," Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer told The Times.
Pacquiao's representatives say they agreed during a mediation session this week to have the Filipino star submit to a blood test 24 days before the fight, and another immediately after the fight was over.
Originally, Mayweather said he wanted both fighters to be subjected to random blood tests for performance-enhancing drugs all the way until fight night. Pacquiao later declined to take a blood draw less than 30 days before the fight.
"Mayweather wants to split it down the middle to 14 days," Schaefer said. "Isn't that reasonable?"
The question was put to Pacquiao's promoter.
"We had a [mediation] deal based on 24 days, but we said it's all off the table if [Mayweather representatives] get a no from Floyd, and they got a no," Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said. "So the train has left the station. We have moved on. We don't want to talk about Mayweather anymore until the fall."
Arum went as far as saying he's going to match Pacquiao against another welterweight fighter in his company, Joshua Clottey, on March 13 at a venue he wouldn't disclose but is reportedly Thomas and Mack arena in Las Vegas.
Schaefer is urging Mayweather-Pacquiao talks to continue, admitting a deal needs to be struck soon because of training schedules. Schaefer said "the fight is so publicized and being asked for by the public that it doesn't need our usual promotional push."
When told that, however, Arum replied, "He wants talks to continue. Who is he going to be talking to?"
Asked if Pacquiao knows the fight can be saved by agreeing to the 14-day deal, Arum barked, "Are you crazy?" and hung up the phone.
-- Lance Pugmire
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
The promoter for Floyd Mayweather Jr. told The Times today he wants to make sure Manny Pacquiao understands the difference between the mega-fight happening or not is the matter of Pacquiao submitting to a blood test 10 days later than his camp has already accepted.
"We're still trying to get Mayweather-Pacquiao done for March 13, and we've heard Manny has made claims that the position of Floyd willing to end blood tests 14 days before the fight was never communicated to him," Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer told The Times.
Pacquiao's representatives say they agreed during a mediation session this week to have the Filipino star submit to a blood test 24 days before the fight, and another immediately after the fight was over.
Originally, Mayweather said he wanted both fighters to be subjected to random blood tests for performance-enhancing drugs all the way until fight night. Pacquiao later declined to take a blood draw less than 30 days before the fight.
"Mayweather wants to split it down the middle to 14 days," Schaefer said. "Isn't that reasonable?"
The question was put to Pacquiao's promoter.
"We had a [mediation] deal based on 24 days, but we said it's all off the table if [Mayweather representatives] get a no from Floyd, and they got a no," Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said. "So the train has left the station. We have moved on. We don't want to talk about Mayweather anymore until the fall."
Arum went as far as saying he's going to match Pacquiao against another welterweight fighter in his company, Joshua Clottey, on March 13 at a venue he wouldn't disclose but is reportedly Thomas and Mack arena in Las Vegas.
Schaefer is urging Mayweather-Pacquiao talks to continue, admitting a deal needs to be struck soon because of training schedules. Schaefer said "the fight is so publicized and being asked for by the public that it doesn't need our usual promotional push."
When told that, however, Arum replied, "He wants talks to continue. Who is he going to be talking to?"
Asked if Pacquiao knows the fight can be saved by agreeing to the 14-day deal, Arum barked, "Are you crazy?" and hung up the phone.
-- Lance Pugmire
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
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