***
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Floyd only has himself to blame -- The Sun
By GAVIN GLICKSMAN, The Sun
FREDDIE ROACH claims Floyd Mayweather only has himself to blame for the collapse of his mega fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather and the Filipino were due to clash on March 13 but negotiations broke down after Money insisted on random blood testing in the build-up to the bout.
The undefeated American still intends to box on the original date and Pacquiao has agreed to face Joshua Clottey in Dallas on the same night.
But while Roach insists his fighter is simply moving on with his career, the legendary trainer believes Mayweather never wanted the showdown.
He said: "Life goes on without Mayweather. He wouldn't agree to a limit of 14 days before the fight for the blood testing.
"We did our best to appease him but he wouldn't go along with it. Mayweather's people agreed to it but he wouldn't.
"I don't think he wants to fight Manny. It was a smoke screen for him to say no.
"I want to beat this guy's ass, believe me, but he won't give us the opportunity.
"We will fight him any day of the week but he doesn't make the rules."
Team Mayweather believe Pacquiao refused to agree to random testing as his performance is enhanced by drugs.
But Roach claims the pound-for-pound king has nothing to hide.
He added: "There are always doubters out there but Manny is clean.
"He has passed every drug test in the world."
Clottey is likely to pose one of the stiffest tests of Paquiao's career when they collide at Cowboys Stadium.
The Ghanaian is desperate to get his hands on Pac Man's WBO welterweight title after failing in previous attempts to win the belt from Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito.
And Pacquiao admits he is in for a hard night's work.
He said: "It's going to be a good fight. Clottey is a good fighter, a top fighter, and he is bigger than me.
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"I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus."
Clottey, who lost three times in his 39-fight career, insists he is not simply 'filling in' for Mayweather.
And the 32-year-old cannot wait to step in the ring with the man currently considered to be the best fighter on the planet.
He said: "This is going to be a hell of a fight — I love Manny.
"If you throw punches at him, he will throw back at you. I know what I'm going to face."
Source: thesun.co.uk
FREDDIE ROACH claims Floyd Mayweather only has himself to blame for the collapse of his mega fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather and the Filipino were due to clash on March 13 but negotiations broke down after Money insisted on random blood testing in the build-up to the bout.
The undefeated American still intends to box on the original date and Pacquiao has agreed to face Joshua Clottey in Dallas on the same night.
But while Roach insists his fighter is simply moving on with his career, the legendary trainer believes Mayweather never wanted the showdown.
He said: "Life goes on without Mayweather. He wouldn't agree to a limit of 14 days before the fight for the blood testing.
"We did our best to appease him but he wouldn't go along with it. Mayweather's people agreed to it but he wouldn't.
"I don't think he wants to fight Manny. It was a smoke screen for him to say no.
"I want to beat this guy's ass, believe me, but he won't give us the opportunity.
"We will fight him any day of the week but he doesn't make the rules."
Team Mayweather believe Pacquiao refused to agree to random testing as his performance is enhanced by drugs.
But Roach claims the pound-for-pound king has nothing to hide.
He added: "There are always doubters out there but Manny is clean.
"He has passed every drug test in the world."
Clottey is likely to pose one of the stiffest tests of Paquiao's career when they collide at Cowboys Stadium.
The Ghanaian is desperate to get his hands on Pac Man's WBO welterweight title after failing in previous attempts to win the belt from Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito.
And Pacquiao admits he is in for a hard night's work.
He said: "It's going to be a good fight. Clottey is a good fighter, a top fighter, and he is bigger than me.
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"I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus."
Clottey, who lost three times in his 39-fight career, insists he is not simply 'filling in' for Mayweather.
And the 32-year-old cannot wait to step in the ring with the man currently considered to be the best fighter on the planet.
He said: "This is going to be a hell of a fight — I love Manny.
"If you throw punches at him, he will throw back at you. I know what I'm going to face."
Source: thesun.co.uk
ED GRANEY: Mayweather would be dope not to put Mosley to stiff test -- Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Shane Mosley today is the intern trying to land a full-time gig, the freshman quarterback told to carry the senior starter's helmet, the student with failing grades and no extra credit work completed.
He has no leverage.
The fight everyone wants to see (Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao) isn't happening for now; the fight some wanted to see but not enough to warrant pay-per-view status (Mosley-Andre Berto) is off, the tragedy in Haiti having taken from Berto at least eight family members; and the fight Mosley has wanted for years (himself against Mayweather) is reportedly being made for early May.
If it happens and Mosley is finally able to face Mayweather in a ring at the MGM Grand for a reason other than acting desperate as he did after a Mayweather pummeling of Juan Manuel Marquez in September, the man who is an admitted steroid user needs to stand at the front of whatever drug testing protocol is agreed upon for the fight.
Mosley needs to reach above and beyond standard procedure.
Mayweather needs to push those limits.
Otherwise, why aren't we preparing to watch Mayweather-Pacquiao?
You don't reach the elite professional status of Mayweather without deflecting much daily criticism, and you can add the term hypocrite to the undefeated champion's file if he doesn't demand at least the same level of stringent blood testing of Mosley as he did Pacquiao.
He should actually demand much more.
I'll always believe Mayweather's insistence that Pacquiao agree to random blood testing was more gamesmanship than any confidence the Filipino champion would test positive for performance-enhancing drugs (he never has). I'll always contend the entire charade was about Mayweather trying to get into Pacquiao's head.
It worked, but not to the point Mayweather hoped, the megafight that could earn each man $40 million still more dream than reality today with no assurance it will ever happen.
But you can't stand on the soap box (one covered with HBO logos) and maintain someone you suspect of taking PEDs adhere to random testing and not do the same with a guy who in 2007 admitted to using them during his career, to taking designer steroids ''the clear'' and ''the cream,'' who was linked in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative scandal to blood oxygen-enhancer EPO.
Mosley cheated. He swears to this day he was misled by others, but that doesn't change the fact he was on the stuff.
Opportunity, then, exists for both fighters. Mayweather can strengthen his claims about wanting to prove his sport clean and that his requests of Pacquiao came from a sincere place by demanding Mosley agree to random blood tests right up until the fight.
Mosley couldn't question it. He couldn't publicly seek compromise. He couldn't do anything but champion such strict guidelines or risk appearing a known user with more to hide.
It's a great fight, one many have imagined for years. It's not near the compelling matchup Mayweather-Pacquiao would be, despite the spin already being dispensed. But his perfect record and five division titles has limited whom Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) would even consider opposing, and thank goodness some of the names reported earlier weren't serious.
I'm not even sure Mayweather would need to work a day to beat Paulie Malignaggi or Matthew Hatton. He definitely wouldn't need a trainer, perhaps good news should Uncle Roger's legal case on felony battery charges not be decided.
But you figure Little Floyd could play a few hours at the tables, make it rain a little, bet some baseball games and then run up to the arena to easily beat some of the stiffs that have been proposed.
Not against Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), a three-time division champion. Mosley could win the fight. I don't think he would. But it's possible.
It will be interesting to see how negotiations run given that Mosley is represented by Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather has worked with the company to the point that it spoke for him when trying to make the Pacquiao deal, interesting to discover if Oscar De La Hoya is so quick to hold his fighter (Mosley) to the same Olympic-style random testing procedures he knocked Pacquiao for refusing. I won't hold my breath on that last part.
Interesting to see if Mayweather assumes just as tough a position, or perhaps an even tougher one when proposing the drug testing protocol to Mosley's camp as he did with Pacquiao and Top Rank.
Interesting to see if Mayweather really is concerned about the sport's reputation or if hypocrisy will define his actions.
Shane Mosley? He shouldn't have much of a say in any of it.
It happens when you have the leverage of an intern.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He also can be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on "The Sports Scribes" on KDWN (720 AM) and www.kdwn.com.
Source: lvrj.com
Shane Mosley today is the intern trying to land a full-time gig, the freshman quarterback told to carry the senior starter's helmet, the student with failing grades and no extra credit work completed.
He has no leverage.
The fight everyone wants to see (Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao) isn't happening for now; the fight some wanted to see but not enough to warrant pay-per-view status (Mosley-Andre Berto) is off, the tragedy in Haiti having taken from Berto at least eight family members; and the fight Mosley has wanted for years (himself against Mayweather) is reportedly being made for early May.
If it happens and Mosley is finally able to face Mayweather in a ring at the MGM Grand for a reason other than acting desperate as he did after a Mayweather pummeling of Juan Manuel Marquez in September, the man who is an admitted steroid user needs to stand at the front of whatever drug testing protocol is agreed upon for the fight.
Mosley needs to reach above and beyond standard procedure.
Mayweather needs to push those limits.
Otherwise, why aren't we preparing to watch Mayweather-Pacquiao?
You don't reach the elite professional status of Mayweather without deflecting much daily criticism, and you can add the term hypocrite to the undefeated champion's file if he doesn't demand at least the same level of stringent blood testing of Mosley as he did Pacquiao.
He should actually demand much more.
I'll always believe Mayweather's insistence that Pacquiao agree to random blood testing was more gamesmanship than any confidence the Filipino champion would test positive for performance-enhancing drugs (he never has). I'll always contend the entire charade was about Mayweather trying to get into Pacquiao's head.
It worked, but not to the point Mayweather hoped, the megafight that could earn each man $40 million still more dream than reality today with no assurance it will ever happen.
But you can't stand on the soap box (one covered with HBO logos) and maintain someone you suspect of taking PEDs adhere to random testing and not do the same with a guy who in 2007 admitted to using them during his career, to taking designer steroids ''the clear'' and ''the cream,'' who was linked in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative scandal to blood oxygen-enhancer EPO.
Mosley cheated. He swears to this day he was misled by others, but that doesn't change the fact he was on the stuff.
Opportunity, then, exists for both fighters. Mayweather can strengthen his claims about wanting to prove his sport clean and that his requests of Pacquiao came from a sincere place by demanding Mosley agree to random blood tests right up until the fight.
Mosley couldn't question it. He couldn't publicly seek compromise. He couldn't do anything but champion such strict guidelines or risk appearing a known user with more to hide.
It's a great fight, one many have imagined for years. It's not near the compelling matchup Mayweather-Pacquiao would be, despite the spin already being dispensed. But his perfect record and five division titles has limited whom Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) would even consider opposing, and thank goodness some of the names reported earlier weren't serious.
I'm not even sure Mayweather would need to work a day to beat Paulie Malignaggi or Matthew Hatton. He definitely wouldn't need a trainer, perhaps good news should Uncle Roger's legal case on felony battery charges not be decided.
But you figure Little Floyd could play a few hours at the tables, make it rain a little, bet some baseball games and then run up to the arena to easily beat some of the stiffs that have been proposed.
Not against Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), a three-time division champion. Mosley could win the fight. I don't think he would. But it's possible.
It will be interesting to see how negotiations run given that Mosley is represented by Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather has worked with the company to the point that it spoke for him when trying to make the Pacquiao deal, interesting to discover if Oscar De La Hoya is so quick to hold his fighter (Mosley) to the same Olympic-style random testing procedures he knocked Pacquiao for refusing. I won't hold my breath on that last part.
Interesting to see if Mayweather assumes just as tough a position, or perhaps an even tougher one when proposing the drug testing protocol to Mosley's camp as he did with Pacquiao and Top Rank.
Interesting to see if Mayweather really is concerned about the sport's reputation or if hypocrisy will define his actions.
Shane Mosley? He shouldn't have much of a say in any of it.
It happens when you have the leverage of an intern.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He also can be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on "The Sports Scribes" on KDWN (720 AM) and www.kdwn.com.
Source: lvrj.com
If Floyd Mayweather decides to fight Shane Mosley, he must make same demand he did of Manny Pacquiao -- New York Daily News
By Tim Smith, New York Daily News
The decision by Andre Berto to pull out of his welterweight unification match against Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on Jan. 30 has presented Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Mosley a unique opportunity to advance their sport into a realm where most professional sports dare to tread - performance-enhancing drug testing through the random sampling of blood and urine.
Because of the tragedy in Haiti and Berto's concerns over missing relatives and friends in the earthquake-ravaged country, he pulled out of the fight, leaving Mosley with an opening on his dance card. And because negotiations broke down for a fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao over the issue of random blood testing for PEDs, Mayweather also has an opening.
It is a marriage of convenience that could take place in Las Vegas on May 1 or May 8. And it is a marriage that could yield exceptional fruits for both fighters with regard to their credibility.
Since Mayweather demanded that Pacquiao be subjected to Olympic-style drug testing, he must make the same request of Mosley, who by his own admission before a federal grand jury has taken designer steroids called the "clear" and the "cream" and used EPO, a blood-enhancing agent that is supposed to increase stamina.
If Mayweather doesn't make the same demands of Mosley, then his demands of Pacquiao will ring hollow and look like a ploy to get underneath the Filipino's skin for some questionable psychological advantage. If Mosley refuses to undergo those testing procedures, then he falls under the same suspicion as Pacquiao.
Mayweather and Mosley both need to step forward and say that they are willing to undergo such testing because they want to advance the sport of boxing beyond the norm when it comes to testing for PEDs. It will strike a blow for what Mayweather called "a level playing field," which is why he deemed it necessary to request it of Pacquiao in their contract negotiations for the fight.
Mosley never tested positive for steroids, although he underwent the same testing procedures all boxers go through in Nevada, California and New York. However, those commission tests of urine only aren't random and are mostly conducted after fights. They aren't the gold standard for catching serious drug cheats.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao made a date at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13, the first boxing match at the $1.2 billion stadium.
Source: nydailynews.com
The decision by Andre Berto to pull out of his welterweight unification match against Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on Jan. 30 has presented Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Mosley a unique opportunity to advance their sport into a realm where most professional sports dare to tread - performance-enhancing drug testing through the random sampling of blood and urine.
Because of the tragedy in Haiti and Berto's concerns over missing relatives and friends in the earthquake-ravaged country, he pulled out of the fight, leaving Mosley with an opening on his dance card. And because negotiations broke down for a fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao over the issue of random blood testing for PEDs, Mayweather also has an opening.
It is a marriage of convenience that could take place in Las Vegas on May 1 or May 8. And it is a marriage that could yield exceptional fruits for both fighters with regard to their credibility.
Since Mayweather demanded that Pacquiao be subjected to Olympic-style drug testing, he must make the same request of Mosley, who by his own admission before a federal grand jury has taken designer steroids called the "clear" and the "cream" and used EPO, a blood-enhancing agent that is supposed to increase stamina.
If Mayweather doesn't make the same demands of Mosley, then his demands of Pacquiao will ring hollow and look like a ploy to get underneath the Filipino's skin for some questionable psychological advantage. If Mosley refuses to undergo those testing procedures, then he falls under the same suspicion as Pacquiao.
Mayweather and Mosley both need to step forward and say that they are willing to undergo such testing because they want to advance the sport of boxing beyond the norm when it comes to testing for PEDs. It will strike a blow for what Mayweather called "a level playing field," which is why he deemed it necessary to request it of Pacquiao in their contract negotiations for the fight.
Mosley never tested positive for steroids, although he underwent the same testing procedures all boxers go through in Nevada, California and New York. However, those commission tests of urine only aren't random and are mostly conducted after fights. They aren't the gold standard for catching serious drug cheats.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao made a date at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13, the first boxing match at the $1.2 billion stadium.
Source: nydailynews.com
Boxing at Cowboys Stadium has nice ring to it for Jerry Jones -- Boston Herald
By Tobias Xavier Lopez, McClatchy Newspapers
ARLINGTON, Texas — When Manny Pacquiao looked down at the crowd from Jerry Jones’ personal suite at Cowboys Stadium, it looked strangely reminiscent of a Roman Emperor in the ancient Coliseum.
The comparisons to the Roman Coliseum continued throughout Tuesday’s news conference to formally announce Pacquiao’s March 13 welterweight title bout against Joshua Clottey.
"It was always in my mind that right here on the star we could put a ring," Jones said. "And the best fighters in the world could come out and fight and their fans support them."
Deep-voiced ring announcer Michael Buffer likened Cowboys Stadium to the Roman Coliseum and compared the fighters to gladiators of a different era.
During the news conference that resembled a football pregame show, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum suggested Cowboys Stadium could replace Madison Square Garden or Caesar’s Palace as the "new Mecca of boxing."
Despite the magnitude of Cowboys Stadium and the sideshow filled with pyrotechnics and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, the proverbial elephant in the room still demanded attention.
This fight serves as a substitute only after the failure of promoters to agree on drug testing stipulations between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Jones pointed out the fact that had that fight taken place then, it would have happened in Las Vegas and not at Cowboys Stadium.
"I’m proud to have this fight," Jones said. "Pacquiao is who I wanted. The different dynamics of the other fight played out best for us."
Pacquiao spoke briefly about Mayweather and said the fight could still happen later this year.
"For me, I wanted to fight him, but he had a lot of reasons," he said. "That’s why the fight was canceled."
While boxing fans clamored for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, Pacquiao’s iconic trainer Freddy Roach said Clottey presents a better matchup.
"Action-wise, both guys will come to fight," Roach said. "Mayweather’s a talented guy, but he puts people to sleep, and he runs and he runs and runs."
Up-and-coming Dallas fighter Roberto Marroquin (11-0) has an undercard bout, but the rest of the card has not been determined. Arum introduced Marroquin as the official fighter of the Dallas Cowboys.
Saturday, March 13
Cowboys Stadium, Arlington
The WBO Welterweight Championship (147 pounds)
—Champion Manny "PacMan" Pacquiao, 31, (50-3-2, 38 KOs); General Santos City, Philippines.
—Challenger Joshua "Grand Master" Clottey, 32, (35-3, 21KOs); ranked No. 1 WBO; No. 4 WBA, Accra, Ghana
Tickets: On sale Saturday at 10 a.m. CST for $50-$700 at the Cowboys Stadium box office, ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000.
Pay Per View: $49.95
Source: news.bostonherald.com
ARLINGTON, Texas — When Manny Pacquiao looked down at the crowd from Jerry Jones’ personal suite at Cowboys Stadium, it looked strangely reminiscent of a Roman Emperor in the ancient Coliseum.
The comparisons to the Roman Coliseum continued throughout Tuesday’s news conference to formally announce Pacquiao’s March 13 welterweight title bout against Joshua Clottey.
"It was always in my mind that right here on the star we could put a ring," Jones said. "And the best fighters in the world could come out and fight and their fans support them."
Deep-voiced ring announcer Michael Buffer likened Cowboys Stadium to the Roman Coliseum and compared the fighters to gladiators of a different era.
During the news conference that resembled a football pregame show, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum suggested Cowboys Stadium could replace Madison Square Garden or Caesar’s Palace as the "new Mecca of boxing."
Despite the magnitude of Cowboys Stadium and the sideshow filled with pyrotechnics and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, the proverbial elephant in the room still demanded attention.
This fight serves as a substitute only after the failure of promoters to agree on drug testing stipulations between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Jones pointed out the fact that had that fight taken place then, it would have happened in Las Vegas and not at Cowboys Stadium.
"I’m proud to have this fight," Jones said. "Pacquiao is who I wanted. The different dynamics of the other fight played out best for us."
Pacquiao spoke briefly about Mayweather and said the fight could still happen later this year.
"For me, I wanted to fight him, but he had a lot of reasons," he said. "That’s why the fight was canceled."
While boxing fans clamored for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, Pacquiao’s iconic trainer Freddy Roach said Clottey presents a better matchup.
"Action-wise, both guys will come to fight," Roach said. "Mayweather’s a talented guy, but he puts people to sleep, and he runs and he runs and runs."
Up-and-coming Dallas fighter Roberto Marroquin (11-0) has an undercard bout, but the rest of the card has not been determined. Arum introduced Marroquin as the official fighter of the Dallas Cowboys.
Saturday, March 13
Cowboys Stadium, Arlington
The WBO Welterweight Championship (147 pounds)
—Champion Manny "PacMan" Pacquiao, 31, (50-3-2, 38 KOs); General Santos City, Philippines.
—Challenger Joshua "Grand Master" Clottey, 32, (35-3, 21KOs); ranked No. 1 WBO; No. 4 WBA, Accra, Ghana
Tickets: On sale Saturday at 10 a.m. CST for $50-$700 at the Cowboys Stadium box office, ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000.
Pay Per View: $49.95
Source: news.bostonherald.com
Cowboys Stadium perfect place to launch Pacquiao-Clottey prefight hype -- Sacramento Bee
By GIL LEBRETON, McClatchy Newspapers
ARLINGTON, Texas -- For the fighters' introductions, the dial on the fog machine was cranked up to "11."
There were shooting flames and guys running with flags that shot sparklers.
There were the world famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, presumably having all called in sick from their not-quite-so-famous day jobs.
And to introduce them all was Michael Buffer, the man with the eternal tan who trademarked the phrase, "Let's get ready to rummmmmmm-ble!!!!" That guy.
The new Cowboys Stadium was made for events like this, events where the adjectives were 72 feet high and all in high-definition, events where the sizzle just totally inundated the steak.
No less than Bob Arum, the legendary boxing promoter who's worked with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, was moved to say, "Let me tell you. Nobody does it like this organization. This place is really spectacular. The big screen is awesome. This was an event."
And as Arum himself said, appropriately framing the occasion, "And this was just a press conference. People are going to kick themselves for not being here."
No, it isn't the hoped-for mega-showdown of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. But Pacquaio and Ghana-born Joshua Clottey are a good, big-time boxing start for the house that Jerry Jones built.
"I feel like a football player," Pacquiao said, standing on a stage at the 50-yard line.
Arum, who just turned 78, likened the upcoming (March 13) bout to the 1966 fight between Ali and Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome. The hype for that fight centered more around the then-new Astrodome than the ring matchup, Arum recalled.
"This is not Mayweather," Arum said, "but it's a better fight. If this kid comes to fight, it's going to be a real test for Manny. He's so much bigger."
Ticket prices for the March 13 fight will range from $700 down to $50. Arum is excited about being able to offer what he called "reasonable prices"' for a world-class boxing show.
The stadium will use its basketball configuration for the bout. The uppermost deck will not be opened, and the video board, as it was Tuesday, will be lowered to 30 feet over the ring.
"Everyone gets a ringside seat," as Arum put it.
The idea of putting big-time boxing inside of his new stadium was hatched a long time ago, Jones said. Before he bought the Cowboys, Jones once put on boxing matches in his native Arkansas.
Longtime Texas boxing promoter Lester Bedford began working with the Jones family to help make it happen. Their first idea was to have the stadium host Oscar De La Hoya's final fight.
They thought they had the big one - the undefeated Mayweather against Pacquiao, the man considered to be "pound-for-pound, the world's best fighter." But even after the bidding escalated to $25 million, Mayweather wouldn't agree to the fight.
"This is a very good consolation prize," Bedford said. "This is what's good for boxing - a stadium fight. This is what's going to keep boxing going."
With the gate reasonably priced, more people - with a younger demographic - will be exposed to big-time boxing. Cowboys Stadium could be the venue that hatches the next generation of boxing fans.
"This will be something special," Arum told the crowd of around 1,500 who attended Tuesday's event. "Just like Madison Square Garden was the mecca of boxing in the 1950s and '60s, just like Caesars Palace was the mecca of boxing in the '70s, '80s and on into the '90s, believe you me, with your help, Cowboys Stadium will become in this century the mecca of boxing."
While the cheerleaders high-kicked and Buffer gave them his signature rollllllll-ing introductions, Pacquiao and Clottey emerged from the man-made fog and joined the group onstage.
"To think," Jones said, "they're going to see them 72 feet high."
Deviating from the script, Buffer noted, "Ladies and gentlemen, in my 28 years of doing this, there's never been a press conference like this."
I'll second that. But when boxing meets Jerry Jones, we should have expected a sizzle-fest like this.
"I've known Bob Arum for a long time," Bedford said, "and I've known Oscar De La Hoya, Don King and have worked for all of them. But none can match Jerry Jones."
Floyd Mayweather doesn't know what he missed.
Source: sacbee.com
***
ARLINGTON, Texas -- For the fighters' introductions, the dial on the fog machine was cranked up to "11."
There were shooting flames and guys running with flags that shot sparklers.
There were the world famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, presumably having all called in sick from their not-quite-so-famous day jobs.
And to introduce them all was Michael Buffer, the man with the eternal tan who trademarked the phrase, "Let's get ready to rummmmmmm-ble!!!!" That guy.
The new Cowboys Stadium was made for events like this, events where the adjectives were 72 feet high and all in high-definition, events where the sizzle just totally inundated the steak.
No less than Bob Arum, the legendary boxing promoter who's worked with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, was moved to say, "Let me tell you. Nobody does it like this organization. This place is really spectacular. The big screen is awesome. This was an event."
And as Arum himself said, appropriately framing the occasion, "And this was just a press conference. People are going to kick themselves for not being here."
No, it isn't the hoped-for mega-showdown of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. But Pacquaio and Ghana-born Joshua Clottey are a good, big-time boxing start for the house that Jerry Jones built.
"I feel like a football player," Pacquiao said, standing on a stage at the 50-yard line.
Arum, who just turned 78, likened the upcoming (March 13) bout to the 1966 fight between Ali and Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome. The hype for that fight centered more around the then-new Astrodome than the ring matchup, Arum recalled.
"This is not Mayweather," Arum said, "but it's a better fight. If this kid comes to fight, it's going to be a real test for Manny. He's so much bigger."
Ticket prices for the March 13 fight will range from $700 down to $50. Arum is excited about being able to offer what he called "reasonable prices"' for a world-class boxing show.
The stadium will use its basketball configuration for the bout. The uppermost deck will not be opened, and the video board, as it was Tuesday, will be lowered to 30 feet over the ring.
"Everyone gets a ringside seat," as Arum put it.
The idea of putting big-time boxing inside of his new stadium was hatched a long time ago, Jones said. Before he bought the Cowboys, Jones once put on boxing matches in his native Arkansas.
Longtime Texas boxing promoter Lester Bedford began working with the Jones family to help make it happen. Their first idea was to have the stadium host Oscar De La Hoya's final fight.
They thought they had the big one - the undefeated Mayweather against Pacquiao, the man considered to be "pound-for-pound, the world's best fighter." But even after the bidding escalated to $25 million, Mayweather wouldn't agree to the fight.
"This is a very good consolation prize," Bedford said. "This is what's good for boxing - a stadium fight. This is what's going to keep boxing going."
With the gate reasonably priced, more people - with a younger demographic - will be exposed to big-time boxing. Cowboys Stadium could be the venue that hatches the next generation of boxing fans.
"This will be something special," Arum told the crowd of around 1,500 who attended Tuesday's event. "Just like Madison Square Garden was the mecca of boxing in the 1950s and '60s, just like Caesars Palace was the mecca of boxing in the '70s, '80s and on into the '90s, believe you me, with your help, Cowboys Stadium will become in this century the mecca of boxing."
While the cheerleaders high-kicked and Buffer gave them his signature rollllllll-ing introductions, Pacquiao and Clottey emerged from the man-made fog and joined the group onstage.
"To think," Jones said, "they're going to see them 72 feet high."
Deviating from the script, Buffer noted, "Ladies and gentlemen, in my 28 years of doing this, there's never been a press conference like this."
I'll second that. But when boxing meets Jerry Jones, we should have expected a sizzle-fest like this.
"I've known Bob Arum for a long time," Bedford said, "and I've known Oscar De La Hoya, Don King and have worked for all of them. But none can match Jerry Jones."
Floyd Mayweather doesn't know what he missed.
Source: sacbee.com
***
Pacquiao tabs Clottey, jabs Mayweather -- ESPN
By Calvin Watkins, ESPNDallas.com
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The fight everybody wants will not come to the biggest football stadium in the NFL.
So instead of watching Manny Pacquiao take on Floyd Mayweather for some sort of welterweight title, the $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium will host a Joshua Clottey-Pacquiao fight.
The announcement of Pacquiao-Clottey for the WBO welterweight title came Tuesday in front of 500 fans seated two stories above the field.
When the fight happens March 13, promoter Bob Arum believes 40,000 fans will watch it. HBO will put the fight on pay-per-view to showcase Pacquiao, one of its biggest stars.
The sad part is that it doesn't help boxing. All it does it make the Pacquiao people take shots at Mayweather for not agreeing to a fight that had the potential to be one of the highest-grossing events in the history of the sport.
"It's a better fight to be honest with you," Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said of the Clottey fight. "Action-wise, both guys come to fight, and Mayweather is a talented guy [but] he puts people to sleep and he runs and runs and runs."
The stumbling block of a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was the scheduling of blood testing. Mayweather believes Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs. Pacquiao said he felt insulted to be accused of taking PEDs.
"I feel bad. I'm a very honest person," said Pacquiao, who denied taking performance-enhancing drugs. "I'm a nice guy. They are accusing me of drugs. I don't know what that is. I feel bad."
Mayweather wanted Pacquiao to do take a blood test 14 days before the fight instead of 24 days.
"It seemed to us after a particular point that Mayweather didn't want to do the fight," Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said. "At the end, we had compromised this stupid blood testing down to 24 [days] and he was staying at 14 [days], and if he wanted to do the fight, what the hell difference does it make, 14 to 24? It was just to be a bully and have his way, and he lost the fight."
As for the Clottey fight, Pacquiao is the favorite and will get the rock star treatment in Texas. He was introduced last as he walked through the same tunnel the Dallas Cowboys use to take the field to a loud ovation from large group of Filipino fans.
Pacquiao wore a Cowboys jersey, and team owner and general manager Jerry Jones even presented him with one of his Super Bowl rings.
The boxer felt special in this massive stadium that can expand to 100,000, if needed. He should win this fight against a tough fighter in Clottey. Then again, that's what Pacquiao is supposed to do.
And while Pacquiao takes on Clottey, the man people want to see him fight will take on Shane Mosley sometime in the spring.
It will be interesting if Mayweather asks Mosley to take a blood test in the same manner that he asked Pacquiao.
"The answer is I don't think these stipulations are good for boxing," Arum said. "I know Shane at one point used performance-enhancing drugs, but I know Shane and I really think he's a good man. I don't think that he does that anymore. Shane fought two of my fighters, [Miguel] Cotto and [Antonio] Margarito, and I never once [questioned if Mosley used drugs]. I don't believe it."
It's a shame Clottey gets lost in a fight such as this, because he can fight a little bit. His three losses are to Cotto, Margarito and to Carlos Baldomir.
"This will be a tough fight," Pacquio said.
Yes, and in Texas people will come and support the first fight in Cowboys Stadium. But it won't be the fight we all want to see.
Calvin Watkins covers the boxing for ESPN Dallas. You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his weekly mailbag.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The fight everybody wants will not come to the biggest football stadium in the NFL.
So instead of watching Manny Pacquiao take on Floyd Mayweather for some sort of welterweight title, the $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium will host a Joshua Clottey-Pacquiao fight.
The announcement of Pacquiao-Clottey for the WBO welterweight title came Tuesday in front of 500 fans seated two stories above the field.
When the fight happens March 13, promoter Bob Arum believes 40,000 fans will watch it. HBO will put the fight on pay-per-view to showcase Pacquiao, one of its biggest stars.
The sad part is that it doesn't help boxing. All it does it make the Pacquiao people take shots at Mayweather for not agreeing to a fight that had the potential to be one of the highest-grossing events in the history of the sport.
"It's a better fight to be honest with you," Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said of the Clottey fight. "Action-wise, both guys come to fight, and Mayweather is a talented guy [but] he puts people to sleep and he runs and runs and runs."
The stumbling block of a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was the scheduling of blood testing. Mayweather believes Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs. Pacquiao said he felt insulted to be accused of taking PEDs.
"I feel bad. I'm a very honest person," said Pacquiao, who denied taking performance-enhancing drugs. "I'm a nice guy. They are accusing me of drugs. I don't know what that is. I feel bad."
Mayweather wanted Pacquiao to do take a blood test 14 days before the fight instead of 24 days.
"It seemed to us after a particular point that Mayweather didn't want to do the fight," Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said. "At the end, we had compromised this stupid blood testing down to 24 [days] and he was staying at 14 [days], and if he wanted to do the fight, what the hell difference does it make, 14 to 24? It was just to be a bully and have his way, and he lost the fight."
As for the Clottey fight, Pacquiao is the favorite and will get the rock star treatment in Texas. He was introduced last as he walked through the same tunnel the Dallas Cowboys use to take the field to a loud ovation from large group of Filipino fans.
Pacquiao wore a Cowboys jersey, and team owner and general manager Jerry Jones even presented him with one of his Super Bowl rings.
The boxer felt special in this massive stadium that can expand to 100,000, if needed. He should win this fight against a tough fighter in Clottey. Then again, that's what Pacquiao is supposed to do.
And while Pacquiao takes on Clottey, the man people want to see him fight will take on Shane Mosley sometime in the spring.
It will be interesting if Mayweather asks Mosley to take a blood test in the same manner that he asked Pacquiao.
"The answer is I don't think these stipulations are good for boxing," Arum said. "I know Shane at one point used performance-enhancing drugs, but I know Shane and I really think he's a good man. I don't think that he does that anymore. Shane fought two of my fighters, [Miguel] Cotto and [Antonio] Margarito, and I never once [questioned if Mosley used drugs]. I don't believe it."
It's a shame Clottey gets lost in a fight such as this, because he can fight a little bit. His three losses are to Cotto, Margarito and to Carlos Baldomir.
"This will be a tough fight," Pacquio said.
Yes, and in Texas people will come and support the first fight in Cowboys Stadium. But it won't be the fight we all want to see.
Calvin Watkins covers the boxing for ESPN Dallas. You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his weekly mailbag.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Pacquiao Honors Injured Friend, Fighter 'Z' Gorres -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Even as a focused Manny Pacquiao entered the ring at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for an eventual 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto, the seven-division champion's thoughts drifted to fellow Filipino fighter ZC "Z" Oliveros Gorres, who lay struggling for his life on a hospital bed as a result of injuries suffered in a bout 24 hours earlier.
The 27-year-old Gorres, who, like Pacquiao, is a southpaw, collapsed in the ring after having put the finishing touches on a one-sided, 10-round unanimous decision victory over Luis Melendez at the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel.
Gorres (31-2-2, 17 knockouts) was discovered to have suffered a blood clot in his brain. He underwent two major surgeries on his skull at Las Vegas' University Medical Center.
Although Gorres is now walking and talking as part of his recovery, he will never fight again.
"It is a miracle that he is OK, but he is a fighter and a friend," said Pacquiao. "That's why I want to help him, and we are going to do some sort of event for him in Las Vegas very soon."
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) spoke to FanHouse on Monday night from Texas, shortly after landing there in preparation for a Tuesday press conference at Cowboys Stadium, where he will make the first defense of his WBO crown against Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, on March 13.
The event was attended by Dallas Cowboys' owner, Jerry Jones, as well as Top Rank promoter, Bob Arum, who handles both Pacquiao and Clottey.
On Wednesday, the press tour will take Pacquiao and Clottey to New York's Madison Square Garden. Their clash will be televised on HBO pay-per-view.
"We're going to hold a fundraiser for Z Gorres in Las Vegas at the Wynn Hotel, although we haven't picked a date yet," said Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser, who arrived in New York with the champion on Sunday night from the Philippines.
"The arrangements will be made through [Top Rank Promoter] Bob Arum's office, and the money that we'll be raising will go to his personal account in the Philippines," said Koncz. "We've known Z a long time. Not only is Z Gorres a boxer under Manny Pacquiao Promotions, but he's a personal friend of Manny's."
After the press tour, Pacquiao will begin preparing for Clottey with trainer Freddie Roach at his Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif.
The 32-year-old Clottey will be the largest opponent Pacquiao will have faced. Pacquiao's bouts with Cotto and Oscar de La Hoya were fought at catch weights of 145 pounds; Pacquiao will face the muscular challenger at the 147-pound welterweight ceiling.
"He's going to be a tough opponent. He's strong, and a good fighter and bigger than me. So I'm training hard for this fight, and we're going to study him hard," said Pacquiao. "We're basically studying for his bullying style. We'll have enough time to learn and study some techniques that we can use in the fight."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Even as a focused Manny Pacquiao entered the ring at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for an eventual 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto, the seven-division champion's thoughts drifted to fellow Filipino fighter ZC "Z" Oliveros Gorres, who lay struggling for his life on a hospital bed as a result of injuries suffered in a bout 24 hours earlier.
The 27-year-old Gorres, who, like Pacquiao, is a southpaw, collapsed in the ring after having put the finishing touches on a one-sided, 10-round unanimous decision victory over Luis Melendez at the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel.
Gorres (31-2-2, 17 knockouts) was discovered to have suffered a blood clot in his brain. He underwent two major surgeries on his skull at Las Vegas' University Medical Center.
Although Gorres is now walking and talking as part of his recovery, he will never fight again.
"It is a miracle that he is OK, but he is a fighter and a friend," said Pacquiao. "That's why I want to help him, and we are going to do some sort of event for him in Las Vegas very soon."
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) spoke to FanHouse on Monday night from Texas, shortly after landing there in preparation for a Tuesday press conference at Cowboys Stadium, where he will make the first defense of his WBO crown against Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, on March 13.
The event was attended by Dallas Cowboys' owner, Jerry Jones, as well as Top Rank promoter, Bob Arum, who handles both Pacquiao and Clottey.
On Wednesday, the press tour will take Pacquiao and Clottey to New York's Madison Square Garden. Their clash will be televised on HBO pay-per-view.
"We're going to hold a fundraiser for Z Gorres in Las Vegas at the Wynn Hotel, although we haven't picked a date yet," said Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser, who arrived in New York with the champion on Sunday night from the Philippines.
"The arrangements will be made through [Top Rank Promoter] Bob Arum's office, and the money that we'll be raising will go to his personal account in the Philippines," said Koncz. "We've known Z a long time. Not only is Z Gorres a boxer under Manny Pacquiao Promotions, but he's a personal friend of Manny's."
After the press tour, Pacquiao will begin preparing for Clottey with trainer Freddie Roach at his Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif.
The 32-year-old Clottey will be the largest opponent Pacquiao will have faced. Pacquiao's bouts with Cotto and Oscar de La Hoya were fought at catch weights of 145 pounds; Pacquiao will face the muscular challenger at the 147-pound welterweight ceiling.
"He's going to be a tough opponent. He's strong, and a good fighter and bigger than me. So I'm training hard for this fight, and we're going to study him hard," said Pacquiao. "We're basically studying for his bullying style. We'll have enough time to learn and study some techniques that we can use in the fight."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Pacquiao, Clottey to rumble at Cowboys Stadium -- Forbes
By JAIME ARON, Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Guys wearing jeans and cowboy hats ran through dry ice and past the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, sparklers firing from the tips of the flagpoles they carried.
Michael Buffer gave his signature introduction, the music blared, the highlights rolled and, finally - walking through the same tunnel the Cowboys use to enter and exit their home turf - out came boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.
No, this wasn't a test run for Pacquiao's March 13 welterweight fight against Joshua Clottey in the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium.
This was merely the news conference kicking off the hype for a bout being billed as "The Event."
"This is going to be the Super Bowl of boxing," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.
Not really. That would've been the hoped-for matchup between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which was scuttled after Mayweather outlined a drug testing plan Pacquiao wouldn't accept.
Had that fight come together, it would have been in Las Vegas. So as far as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is concerned, things worked out just fine.
"It did," Jones said, smiling. "This gave us an opening. We were very aggressive. We were pretty quick to make a deal."
Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum was smitten by the stadium during negotiations for a possible Pacquaio-Mayweather fight. Arum returned for a Cowboys playoff game, sitting near former President George W. Bush in Jones' box.
Arum has promoted fights at the Astrodome and at Yankee Stadium. He predicts Cowboys Stadium "will have a big role in boxing for years to come."
"I have never, ever seen anything like it," Arum said. "There is nothing in the world like this place. It just blows you away."
The stadium is hosting the NBA All-Star Game next month and will host the Super Bowl next year. A Final Four is on the way, as is a Notre Dame football game. It's also in the running as a World Cup soccer site, should that event come to the United States.
Still, for all that it has going for it, the building is right off an interstate highway in a suburb midway between Dallas and Fort Worth. There's a nearby amusement park and some strip centers, none of which will ever be confused with the Las Vegas Strip.
But money talks and Jones believes he can make it financially worthwhile for fighters. His goal is to host up to four or five fights a year, "once we establish that we are the place to fight and have the kind of stature that we want to have." He used Madison Square Garden as a comparison.
For this fight, the Cowboys are planning to sell around 40,000 seats, offering tickets on all but the highest decks.
There's no decision yet on whether they will have the standing-room only tickets that have been so popular for other events since the stadium opened last summer. Considering the HBO pay-per-view will cost $49.95, it would be a heck of a deal to pay that much to watch on the stadium's enormous video boards, while also being in the building.
Jones vowed that fight night will be even splashier than the news conference.
"We're going to make this one of the most interesting fights to view that there's ever been," he said. "It'll have everything to do with the flexibility of this board right above the ring. We're going to have some fun with it."
The fight itself should be pretty good, too.
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) is widely considered the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the world. In November, he beat Miguel Cotto, who beat Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last summer. However, that fight was a split decision that many felt should've gone to Clottey, a native of Ghana who lives in New York.
The boxers praised each other during Tuesday's event. They also were gushing over the facility and the glitzy news conference.
"I like the introduction," Pacquiao said. "I'm surprised. I feel like I'm a ... football player!"
Soon enough, he looked like one.
Jones presented Pacquiao with a No. 3 jersey featuring his name on the back. Clottey received a No. 13 jersey.
The significance? It's shorthand for the date of the bout: 3-13.
Jones already has gotten ticket requests from former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells. Jones and Barry Switzer have gone to fights together, so he'll probably ask for a seat, too.
Parcells, though, is the biggest fight fan of the bunch. In fact, Jones once looked into investing in Pacquiao's career.
"Bill really encouraged me to meet with the guy who had Pacquiao," Jones said. "I had him come in and sit down and talk about backing Pacquiao. You could see his potential at that time."
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Source: forbes.com
***
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Guys wearing jeans and cowboy hats ran through dry ice and past the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, sparklers firing from the tips of the flagpoles they carried.
Michael Buffer gave his signature introduction, the music blared, the highlights rolled and, finally - walking through the same tunnel the Cowboys use to enter and exit their home turf - out came boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.
No, this wasn't a test run for Pacquiao's March 13 welterweight fight against Joshua Clottey in the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium.
This was merely the news conference kicking off the hype for a bout being billed as "The Event."
"This is going to be the Super Bowl of boxing," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.
Not really. That would've been the hoped-for matchup between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which was scuttled after Mayweather outlined a drug testing plan Pacquiao wouldn't accept.
Had that fight come together, it would have been in Las Vegas. So as far as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is concerned, things worked out just fine.
"It did," Jones said, smiling. "This gave us an opening. We were very aggressive. We were pretty quick to make a deal."
Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum was smitten by the stadium during negotiations for a possible Pacquaio-Mayweather fight. Arum returned for a Cowboys playoff game, sitting near former President George W. Bush in Jones' box.
Arum has promoted fights at the Astrodome and at Yankee Stadium. He predicts Cowboys Stadium "will have a big role in boxing for years to come."
"I have never, ever seen anything like it," Arum said. "There is nothing in the world like this place. It just blows you away."
The stadium is hosting the NBA All-Star Game next month and will host the Super Bowl next year. A Final Four is on the way, as is a Notre Dame football game. It's also in the running as a World Cup soccer site, should that event come to the United States.
Still, for all that it has going for it, the building is right off an interstate highway in a suburb midway between Dallas and Fort Worth. There's a nearby amusement park and some strip centers, none of which will ever be confused with the Las Vegas Strip.
But money talks and Jones believes he can make it financially worthwhile for fighters. His goal is to host up to four or five fights a year, "once we establish that we are the place to fight and have the kind of stature that we want to have." He used Madison Square Garden as a comparison.
For this fight, the Cowboys are planning to sell around 40,000 seats, offering tickets on all but the highest decks.
There's no decision yet on whether they will have the standing-room only tickets that have been so popular for other events since the stadium opened last summer. Considering the HBO pay-per-view will cost $49.95, it would be a heck of a deal to pay that much to watch on the stadium's enormous video boards, while also being in the building.
Jones vowed that fight night will be even splashier than the news conference.
"We're going to make this one of the most interesting fights to view that there's ever been," he said. "It'll have everything to do with the flexibility of this board right above the ring. We're going to have some fun with it."
The fight itself should be pretty good, too.
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) is widely considered the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the world. In November, he beat Miguel Cotto, who beat Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last summer. However, that fight was a split decision that many felt should've gone to Clottey, a native of Ghana who lives in New York.
The boxers praised each other during Tuesday's event. They also were gushing over the facility and the glitzy news conference.
"I like the introduction," Pacquiao said. "I'm surprised. I feel like I'm a ... football player!"
Soon enough, he looked like one.
Jones presented Pacquiao with a No. 3 jersey featuring his name on the back. Clottey received a No. 13 jersey.
The significance? It's shorthand for the date of the bout: 3-13.
Jones already has gotten ticket requests from former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells. Jones and Barry Switzer have gone to fights together, so he'll probably ask for a seat, too.
Parcells, though, is the biggest fight fan of the bunch. In fact, Jones once looked into investing in Pacquiao's career.
"Bill really encouraged me to meet with the guy who had Pacquiao," Jones said. "I had him come in and sit down and talk about backing Pacquiao. You could see his potential at that time."
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Source: forbes.com
***
Video: Pacquiao-Clottey Press Conference at Dallas Cowboys Stadium
Boxing News World
Click the link below to watch Pacquiao-Clottey press conference at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey announce their fight at Cowboys Stadium.
Click the link below to watch Pacquiao-Clottey press conference at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey announce their fight at Cowboys Stadium.
Video: Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey and Jerry Jones talk about the fight
Pacquiao, Clottey are looking forward to rumbling at Cowboys Stadium on March 13 -- Los Angeles Times
By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Standing under the world's largest high-definition television and surrounded by Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey were all smiles Tuesday for the announcement of their welterweight fight.
The March 13 bout will be the first boxing match at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium.
If the news conference was any indication, the fight is sure to have plenty of sizzle.
Both fighters were overwhelmed by the surrounding. Pacquiao laughed and said he felt like a football player. He ended up looking like one, too, as each fighter was given his own Cowboys jersey.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Source: latimes.com
***
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Standing under the world's largest high-definition television and surrounded by Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey were all smiles Tuesday for the announcement of their welterweight fight.
The March 13 bout will be the first boxing match at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium.
If the news conference was any indication, the fight is sure to have plenty of sizzle.
Both fighters were overwhelmed by the surrounding. Pacquiao laughed and said he felt like a football player. He ended up looking like one, too, as each fighter was given his own Cowboys jersey.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Source: latimes.com
***
Pacquiao forgets Mayweather, gears up for Clottey bout -- Reuters
Reuters
Pacquiao, the Filipino winner of world championships in an unprecedented seven different weight classes, takes on the former world champion from Ghana on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium, the new $1.2 billion home of the NFL team.
The highly-anticipated Las Vegas showdown between Mayweather and Pacquiao, the two men considered the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, was scrubbed earlier this month when they could not agree on a drug testing protocol for the bout.
Celebrated by the appearance of former boxing champions, former Cowboys Super Bowl champion players, and the pom-pom waving Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Pacquiao and Clottey took the podium at midfield of the stadium to herald what is being promoted as "The Event."
"Amazing. I feel like I'm a football player," Pacquiao said after entering the stadium through a smoke filled tunnel and a gauntlet of cheerleaders.
"It's going to be a good fight. Clottey, he's a good fighter, a top fighter and he's bigger than me. I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus."
Clottey added: "This fight is going to be a hell of a fight. I love Manny Pacquiao. He is one of my favorite fighters.
"He's a throwback fighter. If you throw at him, he'll throw back at you. I know what I'm going to face."
The 31-year-old Pacquiao, winner of his last 11 bouts over the last four years that brought him titles in four different divisions, has a record of 50-3-2.
Clottey, 32, has a mark of 35-3.
The Ghanaian lost the WBO welterweight title in a 12-round split decision to Miguel Angel Cotto, who subsequently relinquished the crown to Pacquiao.
Welcomed by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to the stadium informally known as "Jerry's House," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said: "This is going to be the Super Bowl of boxing."
The 100,000-capacity Cowboys Stadium is expected to seat about 40,000 for the bout, with fans in the distant seats able to follow the ring action on a huge 72-foot high definition screen.
(Writing by Larry Fine in New York, Editing by Justin Palmer)
Source: reuters.com
Pacquiao, the Filipino winner of world championships in an unprecedented seven different weight classes, takes on the former world champion from Ghana on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium, the new $1.2 billion home of the NFL team.
The highly-anticipated Las Vegas showdown between Mayweather and Pacquiao, the two men considered the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, was scrubbed earlier this month when they could not agree on a drug testing protocol for the bout.
Celebrated by the appearance of former boxing champions, former Cowboys Super Bowl champion players, and the pom-pom waving Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Pacquiao and Clottey took the podium at midfield of the stadium to herald what is being promoted as "The Event."
"Amazing. I feel like I'm a football player," Pacquiao said after entering the stadium through a smoke filled tunnel and a gauntlet of cheerleaders.
"It's going to be a good fight. Clottey, he's a good fighter, a top fighter and he's bigger than me. I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus."
Clottey added: "This fight is going to be a hell of a fight. I love Manny Pacquiao. He is one of my favorite fighters.
"He's a throwback fighter. If you throw at him, he'll throw back at you. I know what I'm going to face."
The 31-year-old Pacquiao, winner of his last 11 bouts over the last four years that brought him titles in four different divisions, has a record of 50-3-2.
Clottey, 32, has a mark of 35-3.
The Ghanaian lost the WBO welterweight title in a 12-round split decision to Miguel Angel Cotto, who subsequently relinquished the crown to Pacquiao.
Welcomed by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to the stadium informally known as "Jerry's House," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said: "This is going to be the Super Bowl of boxing."
The 100,000-capacity Cowboys Stadium is expected to seat about 40,000 for the bout, with fans in the distant seats able to follow the ring action on a huge 72-foot high definition screen.
(Writing by Larry Fine in New York, Editing by Justin Palmer)
Source: reuters.com
Mosley-Mayweather good, but still second-best -- ESPN
By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com
Your weekly random thoughts …
As soon as Shane Mosley's welterweight unification fight with Andre Berto was canceled -- understandably, because Berto lost numerous family members in the Haiti earthquake and isn't prepared to go forward with the fight during this heartbreaking time -- the possibility of Mosley defending against Floyd Mayweather Jr. immediately came up.
It's the obvious fight. Mosley needs a dance partner, and Mayweather also needs one. Besides, it's a huge fight.
Let's just hope the sides can make it happen (probably for early May) and not get bogged down in the ego and stupidity that killed Mayweather's fight with Manny Pacquiao, which was supposed to be on March 13.
If you ask me, there are three superfights in boxing. One is Pacquiao-Mayweather, which is by far the biggest. The other two are Mosley-Mayweather and Pacquiao-Mosley.
So while Pacquiao moves on to face Joshua Clottey -- the next-best available welterweight for him to fight -- Mosley and Mayweather hopefully will come together.
Mosley-Mayweather is a fight I've wanted to see for many years, going back to the late 1990s when Mayweather was the junior lightweight champ and Mosley was the lightweight champ. But Mosley didn't stick around at 135 pounds waiting for Mayweather; he jumped all the way up to welterweight to lure a prime Oscar De La Hoya into the ring.
As much as I like Mosley-Mayweather, though, remember one thing: It's still second-best. Pacquiao-Mayweather was, and still is, the biggest fight out there.
• Not sure what to make of some phone calls I received Monday night: Informed sources said that even though Berto planned to withdraw from the fight because of his family situation, his adviser, Al Haymon, who also happens to handle Mayweather, made a deal for Berto to get paid (either by the Golden Boy/Mosley side or Mayweather or both) to step aside to allow for Mosley-Mayweather (a much bigger fight than Mosley-Berto) to be put together. One reason it sounded plausible is because, according to a source familiar with the Mosley-Berto contract, the deal had a rescheduling clause in it, in the event either guy had to delay the fight. That clause was not exercised. Perhaps a payment to Berto made that go away.
• With Mayweather off March 13, it should come as zero surprise that HBO PPV and Top Rank struck a deal for the network to produce and distribute the Pacquiao-Clottey card on March 13. There never was any way in the world that a Mayweather fight would have actually gone on the same night against another opponent, as had been insisted upon by Golden Boy, which is promoting Mayweather. HBO's Ross Greenburg and Mark Taffet had to let the craziness play out, and now it has. Pacquiao gets March 13. Mayweather will go some other time. All's well that ends well -- except for the fact that we still aren't getting Pacquiao-Mayweather. And don't think that I or millions of boxing fans are going to forget that any time soon.
• Example 5,879 on why boxing often leaves me scratching my head: Mosley slaughtered Antonio Margarito in January 2009 in a huge victory. Margarito later had his license revoked for at least a year for trying to load his gloves before the fight, yet he may wind up back in the ring before Mosley. Top Rank, which believes Margarito will be licensed in Texas, plans to put him on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard. Mosley, meanwhile, hasn't fought since beating Margarito and probably won't fight until the spring now that his fight with Berto is off. Crazy.
• Promoter Don King always seems to wait until the last minute to secure sites for his cards. King, however, has found a home for the March 6 HBO show headlined by the Devon Alexander-Juan Urango junior welterweight unification fight. It will take place at the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut. He landed the site with about seven weeks before the fight. By King's standards, that's an eternity.
• You may not like watching John Ruiz fight/hold, but it made a lot of sense for Golden Boy to sign him because it also promotes David Haye, which means Golden Boy will control a piece of the heavyweight title regardless of who wins their April fight. And then Golden Boy can give the winner of Haye-Ruiz to Bernard Hopkins, assuming he beats Roy Jones Jr. (which he should). As long as HBO doesn't let Ruiz anywhere near one of Golden Boy's dates on the network, everything will be just fine.
• Regardless of whether he got a buyout, I'm glad Jermain Taylor withdrew from the Super Six tournament. Nobody wants to see the guy get hurt. But I found it pretty weak that while thanking everyone in his statement announcing his withdrawal that he left out promoter Lou DiBella, who had been an integral part of Taylor's career from day one. Although DiBella had resigned a couple of weeks earlier over concerns about Taylor's health, he deserved more from Taylor than to be ignored as though he never existed. Taylor won the undisputed middleweight championship and made many millions of dollars, and he has DiBella to thank for being a major reason it happened.
• Times may be tough for some promoters, but Top Rank keeps rolling along. Bob Arum's company will promote 11 cards in the next 10 weeks. The marathon begins with an excellent HBO card in New York on Saturday night when featherweight titlist Steven Luevano defends against junior featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez in the main event, and runs nonstop through a Fox Sports Net card on March 27. In all, there is one HBO card, one combo "Latin Fury"/"Pinoy Power" pay-per-view card, eight FSN cards and the centerpiece of it all: the Pacquiao-Clotty HBO PPV card. Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman is going to be awfully busy for the next couple of months.
• I don't know about you, but between the return of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" a couple of weeks ago and the regularity of the new "Top Rank Live" series on FSN, I'm a pretty happy camper when it comes to the basic cable offerings. Unfortunately, it's a miserably slow start for HBO and Showtime. With regard to the new Top Rank series, I thought the debut card headlined by Vanes Martirosyan's extremely competitive fight with Kassim Ouma was excellent. Hopefully, shows like it will be the norm and not the exception.
Let's also hope that Top Rank won't be destroying another network's taste for boxing as it did when it got the keys to the castle from Versus and then burned it down. I think Arum understands, although you never know. At least he's saying the right things.
Here's what he had to say recently when I asked him about the FSN series and reminded him of the disaster he was responsible for at Versus: "We f---ed up Versus. If we don't learn from the mistakes we made at Versus, then this series will go down the drain. Versus was not something we are proud of. It just went off the tracks. We didn't pay attention to it. I admit that. This is different. Now we brought a guy on, Carl Moretti, whose first responsibility is that series."
• After the 2009 awards stories came out a few weeks ago, I was asked by several Fight Freaks to name my biggest robbery of the year. I'd have to go with two of them. Ali Funeka got absolutely hosed when he got a draw against Joan Guzman. Same goes for Sergio Martinez, who got an inconceivable draw against Kermit Cintron, who really had been knocked out earlier in the fight until referee Frank Santore made one of the worst calls I have ever seen and allowed the fight to continue.
• So Evander Holyfield's fight with Frans Botha in Uganda had been postponed from Jan. 16 to Feb. 20. Anyone shocked? Hopefully, the farce will wind up being canceled.
• Ron Scott Stevens, who was unceremoniously dumped as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission in July 2008 (even though he apparently had done a fine job) has always had interests outside boxing. One of them is theater. Stevens has written and produced an off-Broadway play called "The Cutting Den." Its three-week run opens Feb. 4 at the Soho Playhouse. Publicist Donald Tremblay described the play as being about a Brooklyn barbershop fronting for a gambling parlor. One of the interesting notes about the play is that former middleweight titlist Doug DeWitt, who has been acting since the end of his boxing career in 1992, has one of the lead roles.
• DVD pick of the week: I received some DVDs from a buddy of mine the other day. One fight he sent was one that I have on VHS but in crappy condition. The DVD of this original ABC broadcast, however, was in stunning condition, which made it all the more enjoyable watching one of the greatest heavyweight slugfests ever. It was George Foreman's epic five-round brawl with Ron Lyle from Jan. 24, 1976, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. It was Foreman's first sanctioned fight in more than a year (he had done some exhibitions) following his knockout loss to Muhammad Ali, and Foreman barely survived. Lyle hurt Foreman in the first round and dropped him twice in the fourth round. But Foreman also dropped Lyle in the incredible fourth before knocking him out in the fifth. It's a truly awesome fight.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Your weekly random thoughts …
As soon as Shane Mosley's welterweight unification fight with Andre Berto was canceled -- understandably, because Berto lost numerous family members in the Haiti earthquake and isn't prepared to go forward with the fight during this heartbreaking time -- the possibility of Mosley defending against Floyd Mayweather Jr. immediately came up.
It's the obvious fight. Mosley needs a dance partner, and Mayweather also needs one. Besides, it's a huge fight.
Let's just hope the sides can make it happen (probably for early May) and not get bogged down in the ego and stupidity that killed Mayweather's fight with Manny Pacquiao, which was supposed to be on March 13.
If you ask me, there are three superfights in boxing. One is Pacquiao-Mayweather, which is by far the biggest. The other two are Mosley-Mayweather and Pacquiao-Mosley.
So while Pacquiao moves on to face Joshua Clottey -- the next-best available welterweight for him to fight -- Mosley and Mayweather hopefully will come together.
Mosley-Mayweather is a fight I've wanted to see for many years, going back to the late 1990s when Mayweather was the junior lightweight champ and Mosley was the lightweight champ. But Mosley didn't stick around at 135 pounds waiting for Mayweather; he jumped all the way up to welterweight to lure a prime Oscar De La Hoya into the ring.
As much as I like Mosley-Mayweather, though, remember one thing: It's still second-best. Pacquiao-Mayweather was, and still is, the biggest fight out there.
• Not sure what to make of some phone calls I received Monday night: Informed sources said that even though Berto planned to withdraw from the fight because of his family situation, his adviser, Al Haymon, who also happens to handle Mayweather, made a deal for Berto to get paid (either by the Golden Boy/Mosley side or Mayweather or both) to step aside to allow for Mosley-Mayweather (a much bigger fight than Mosley-Berto) to be put together. One reason it sounded plausible is because, according to a source familiar with the Mosley-Berto contract, the deal had a rescheduling clause in it, in the event either guy had to delay the fight. That clause was not exercised. Perhaps a payment to Berto made that go away.
• With Mayweather off March 13, it should come as zero surprise that HBO PPV and Top Rank struck a deal for the network to produce and distribute the Pacquiao-Clottey card on March 13. There never was any way in the world that a Mayweather fight would have actually gone on the same night against another opponent, as had been insisted upon by Golden Boy, which is promoting Mayweather. HBO's Ross Greenburg and Mark Taffet had to let the craziness play out, and now it has. Pacquiao gets March 13. Mayweather will go some other time. All's well that ends well -- except for the fact that we still aren't getting Pacquiao-Mayweather. And don't think that I or millions of boxing fans are going to forget that any time soon.
• Example 5,879 on why boxing often leaves me scratching my head: Mosley slaughtered Antonio Margarito in January 2009 in a huge victory. Margarito later had his license revoked for at least a year for trying to load his gloves before the fight, yet he may wind up back in the ring before Mosley. Top Rank, which believes Margarito will be licensed in Texas, plans to put him on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard. Mosley, meanwhile, hasn't fought since beating Margarito and probably won't fight until the spring now that his fight with Berto is off. Crazy.
• Promoter Don King always seems to wait until the last minute to secure sites for his cards. King, however, has found a home for the March 6 HBO show headlined by the Devon Alexander-Juan Urango junior welterweight unification fight. It will take place at the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut. He landed the site with about seven weeks before the fight. By King's standards, that's an eternity.
• You may not like watching John Ruiz fight/hold, but it made a lot of sense for Golden Boy to sign him because it also promotes David Haye, which means Golden Boy will control a piece of the heavyweight title regardless of who wins their April fight. And then Golden Boy can give the winner of Haye-Ruiz to Bernard Hopkins, assuming he beats Roy Jones Jr. (which he should). As long as HBO doesn't let Ruiz anywhere near one of Golden Boy's dates on the network, everything will be just fine.
• Regardless of whether he got a buyout, I'm glad Jermain Taylor withdrew from the Super Six tournament. Nobody wants to see the guy get hurt. But I found it pretty weak that while thanking everyone in his statement announcing his withdrawal that he left out promoter Lou DiBella, who had been an integral part of Taylor's career from day one. Although DiBella had resigned a couple of weeks earlier over concerns about Taylor's health, he deserved more from Taylor than to be ignored as though he never existed. Taylor won the undisputed middleweight championship and made many millions of dollars, and he has DiBella to thank for being a major reason it happened.
• Times may be tough for some promoters, but Top Rank keeps rolling along. Bob Arum's company will promote 11 cards in the next 10 weeks. The marathon begins with an excellent HBO card in New York on Saturday night when featherweight titlist Steven Luevano defends against junior featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez in the main event, and runs nonstop through a Fox Sports Net card on March 27. In all, there is one HBO card, one combo "Latin Fury"/"Pinoy Power" pay-per-view card, eight FSN cards and the centerpiece of it all: the Pacquiao-Clotty HBO PPV card. Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman is going to be awfully busy for the next couple of months.
• I don't know about you, but between the return of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" a couple of weeks ago and the regularity of the new "Top Rank Live" series on FSN, I'm a pretty happy camper when it comes to the basic cable offerings. Unfortunately, it's a miserably slow start for HBO and Showtime. With regard to the new Top Rank series, I thought the debut card headlined by Vanes Martirosyan's extremely competitive fight with Kassim Ouma was excellent. Hopefully, shows like it will be the norm and not the exception.
Let's also hope that Top Rank won't be destroying another network's taste for boxing as it did when it got the keys to the castle from Versus and then burned it down. I think Arum understands, although you never know. At least he's saying the right things.
Here's what he had to say recently when I asked him about the FSN series and reminded him of the disaster he was responsible for at Versus: "We f---ed up Versus. If we don't learn from the mistakes we made at Versus, then this series will go down the drain. Versus was not something we are proud of. It just went off the tracks. We didn't pay attention to it. I admit that. This is different. Now we brought a guy on, Carl Moretti, whose first responsibility is that series."
• After the 2009 awards stories came out a few weeks ago, I was asked by several Fight Freaks to name my biggest robbery of the year. I'd have to go with two of them. Ali Funeka got absolutely hosed when he got a draw against Joan Guzman. Same goes for Sergio Martinez, who got an inconceivable draw against Kermit Cintron, who really had been knocked out earlier in the fight until referee Frank Santore made one of the worst calls I have ever seen and allowed the fight to continue.
• So Evander Holyfield's fight with Frans Botha in Uganda had been postponed from Jan. 16 to Feb. 20. Anyone shocked? Hopefully, the farce will wind up being canceled.
• Ron Scott Stevens, who was unceremoniously dumped as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission in July 2008 (even though he apparently had done a fine job) has always had interests outside boxing. One of them is theater. Stevens has written and produced an off-Broadway play called "The Cutting Den." Its three-week run opens Feb. 4 at the Soho Playhouse. Publicist Donald Tremblay described the play as being about a Brooklyn barbershop fronting for a gambling parlor. One of the interesting notes about the play is that former middleweight titlist Doug DeWitt, who has been acting since the end of his boxing career in 1992, has one of the lead roles.
• DVD pick of the week: I received some DVDs from a buddy of mine the other day. One fight he sent was one that I have on VHS but in crappy condition. The DVD of this original ABC broadcast, however, was in stunning condition, which made it all the more enjoyable watching one of the greatest heavyweight slugfests ever. It was George Foreman's epic five-round brawl with Ron Lyle from Jan. 24, 1976, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. It was Foreman's first sanctioned fight in more than a year (he had done some exhibitions) following his knockout loss to Muhammad Ali, and Foreman barely survived. Lyle hurt Foreman in the first round and dropped him twice in the fourth round. But Foreman also dropped Lyle in the incredible fourth before knocking him out in the fifth. It's a truly awesome fight.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Photos: Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey News Conference at Dallas Cowboys Stadium
Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, waves during a news conference about his March 13 bout against Joshua Clottey, a native of Ghana, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao (C) is surrounded by the media after a news conference announcing his upcoming World Welterweight Championship boxing match against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Sharp (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BOXING)
WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao (L) and his challenger Joshua Clottey (R) pose for photos with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders after a news conference announcing the upcoming World Welterweight Championship boxing match at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Sharp (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BOXING)
Boxers Manny Pacquiao, left, of the Philippines, and Joshua Clottey, of Ghana, right, pose with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders during a news conference announcing their fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. Pacquiao and Clottey will fight March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao (C) poses with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (L) after a news conference announcing the upcoming World Welterweight Championship boxing match against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Sharp (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BOXING)
Manny Pacquiao, left, of the Philippines, and Joshua Clottey, of Ghana, right, pose with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders during a news conference announcing their fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. Pacquiao and Clottey will fight March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao poses for photos after a news conference announcing his upcoming World Welterweight Championship boxing match against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Sharp (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BOXING)
Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, left, and Joshua Clottey, of Ghana, right, pose with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at a news conference at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. Pacquiao and Clottey will fight March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, left, and Joshua Clottey, of Ghana, right, pose with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, center, during a news conference at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. Pacquiao and Clottey will fight March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
Trainer Freddie Roach enters a news conference announcing the fight with Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. Pacquiao and Clottey will fight March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, center, shows Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, right, his Cowboys jersey as Joshua Clottey, of Ghana, left, looks on during a news conference announcing their fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. Pacquiao and Clottey will fight March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao (C) greets fans before a news conference announcing his upcoming World Welterweight Championship boxing match against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Sharp (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BOXING)
WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao addresses fans and the media during a news conference announcing his upcoming World Welterweight Championship boxing match against Joshua Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Sharp (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BOXING)
Source: Yahoo! News
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