By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press
The biggest issue with Floyd Mayweather's inevitable tongue-wagging at Shane Mosley has taken the form of the older, more experienced fighter accepting it exactly how he should. If Mosley keeps it up 10 more days, he wins round one, even if the scorecards never reflect it.
This stretch run to the welterweight megafight coincides with the period when Mayweather believes his deflating debating often wins fights before opening bell.
And so it has, against some weak-minded opponents, most notably the late Diego Corrales and the late Arturo Gatti, both of whom withered under the verbal assault and mentally were beaten in huge fights long before absorbing the follow-up physical beatdowns.
As for Mosley, he takes the sticks-and-stones approach to Mayweather's schtick-and-drone strategy, blanching neither at the May 1 fight's magnitude, nor Mayweather's biting platitudes.
The sniping has taken a recognizable form, as in every big Mayweather fight.
Steroids, which Mosley used for a brief period in 2003 -- unwittingly, he claims -- are at the center of it.
Yet, Mosley dismisses that as the 7-year-old non-issue it is, which in turn provides him some immunity to the Grand Rapids native's rants, which he said are designed "to get a reaction out of you and see what happens, see what you do."
"That's probably part of his plan, or his strategy, before the fight -- the fighting before the fight," Mosley said. "He just says what's on top of his head to get a reaction out of you. If he gets a reaction out of you, he's done a good job. He's won."
No Mayweather opponent ever assessed the pre-fight tactic better.
Against the lesser opposition of his past, Mayweather limited the chatter to his own greatness.
Against better opponents, he brought out heavier weaponry by finding a painful truth and picking the scab like a playground bully.
When it works, he wins.
His constant harping about beating Corrales "on behalf of battered women everywhere," with the Californian facing a trial that sent him to prison for a year, had that fight won long before the five-knockdown virtuoso.
Mayweather's repeated claim that Gatti was a "straight-up bum" who earned their fight with wins against second-tier opponents and undue support from HBO led the promoter to demand separate pre-fight press conferences -- and when Mayweather crashed Gatti's, the fight effectively ended before the six-round assault began.
Against Zab Judah, Mayweather focused on how Don King was taking virtually the challenger's entire paycheck. When the fight soured, Judah sparked a foul-filled brouhaha, prompting an array of suspensions and fines.
Against Oscar De La Hoya, the focus was how Floyd Mayweather Sr., who trained De La Hoya for six years, jumped camps when the big fight materialized.
Mosley has interacted with Mayweather enough outside the ring to know that his opponent isn't the same with cameras off and a big fight not forthcoming.
"You probably can see some good qualities that Floyd has," he said. "He can charm up a little bit and be more friendly, whatever. It's just that when the fight happens, he just starts getting a little crazy and goes back to the things he's used to doing."
Mosley has taken minor shots of his own, confined to the fight's outcome, particularly his oft-repeated vow of a knockout victory, as part of a pick-his-spots strategy on countering Mayweather's mouth, which he described as "check him here or there, get him back to thinking."
Mostly, his approach is to treat the steroid rant dismissively, ignore the rest and wait for fight night to respond -- something many other Mayweather foes should have done.
"I know that me not reacting to his antics, that's just me blocking all that stuff out and wanting to fight," Mosley said. "I don't really care about the different things that are being said, because that doesn't matter. What matters is the fight and what happens in the fight. So that's my whole interest and I kind of block all that other stuff out."
E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Kostya Tszyu rates Vic Darchinyan as Australia's best boxer -- FOXSports
By Max Abbott, foxsports.com.au
Boxing legend Kostya Tszyu rates Vic Darchinyan as Australia's best pound-for-pound boxer, despite the recent success of Danny Green and Anthony Mundine.
Speaking on the Fox Sports News' Long Lunch, Tszyu said that Darchinyan had proven that he could fight on the world stage.
"He is fighting not in his territory," Tszyu said.
"He is fighting in the States on US television and I think from that point of view he is a bigger star than Danny or Anthony."
Tszyu also hinted that his decorated boxing career may not be over, suggesting that a big enough offer could lure him back into the ring.
"Something big, something (with) big interest that I would talk to my family and they will say ‘look Kostya you are not ready to retire, do it’ and then I will say yeah I will," he said.
"Maybe fight against big names, maybe, that can be exciting,"
"We’ll see this weekend Floyd Mayweather against Shane Mosely, this can be good challenge for me, you never know."
Despite Australia’s recent boxing success, Tszyu said more financial support was needed from the government to allow the sport to continue to flourish.
"We have to create a system where kids can train for free.
"If we do this then more kids come for boxing, more kids going to go away from the street
"It is important for us to do it."
Tszyu suggested maybe he might night need to push envelope in parliament to get the wheels in motion.
"Maybe one day I go and put the suit and tie on and go and do it," he said.
Source: foxsports.com.au
Boxing legend Kostya Tszyu rates Vic Darchinyan as Australia's best pound-for-pound boxer, despite the recent success of Danny Green and Anthony Mundine.
Speaking on the Fox Sports News' Long Lunch, Tszyu said that Darchinyan had proven that he could fight on the world stage.
"He is fighting not in his territory," Tszyu said.
"He is fighting in the States on US television and I think from that point of view he is a bigger star than Danny or Anthony."
Tszyu also hinted that his decorated boxing career may not be over, suggesting that a big enough offer could lure him back into the ring.
"Something big, something (with) big interest that I would talk to my family and they will say ‘look Kostya you are not ready to retire, do it’ and then I will say yeah I will," he said.
"Maybe fight against big names, maybe, that can be exciting,"
"We’ll see this weekend Floyd Mayweather against Shane Mosely, this can be good challenge for me, you never know."
Despite Australia’s recent boxing success, Tszyu said more financial support was needed from the government to allow the sport to continue to flourish.
"We have to create a system where kids can train for free.
"If we do this then more kids come for boxing, more kids going to go away from the street
"It is important for us to do it."
Tszyu suggested maybe he might night need to push envelope in parliament to get the wheels in motion.
"Maybe one day I go and put the suit and tie on and go and do it," he said.
Source: foxsports.com.au
Tszyu hints at boxing return -- FightNews
By Craig Watt, FightNews.com
Former undisputed Jr-welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu
was a special guest on the Long Lunch today in Australia on Fox Sports News. During a twenty minute interview he hinted that he may be enticed into a ring return – if the right opportunity came along. He stated, “I have not officially retired – even after the loss to Ricky Hatton I have never stated that I am retired from the sport completely. I have not ruled out a return to the boxing ring but the opportunity would have to be right. It would have to be something big. It would take me about six months to get myself back into shape to compete again so it would have to be something different. A fight against big named boxers would be the only thing that would excite me to push my body into the pain. Let’s look at this weekend’s boxing fight between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosely – that would be a good challenge for me to fight the winner. Also Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter in the world and he is in my division. You never know what can happen in boxing but it is these types of fights that could entice me back to the boxing ring.” Tszyu has not fought since his 11th round retirement to Ricky Hatton in Manchester in 2006 and has spent recent years developing boxing gyms for young fighters in his native Russia.
Source: fightnews.com
Former undisputed Jr-welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu was a special guest on the Long Lunch today in Australia on Fox Sports News. During a twenty minute interview he hinted that he may be enticed into a ring return – if the right opportunity came along. He stated, “I have not officially retired – even after the loss to Ricky Hatton I have never stated that I am retired from the sport completely. I have not ruled out a return to the boxing ring but the opportunity would have to be right. It would have to be something big. It would take me about six months to get myself back into shape to compete again so it would have to be something different. A fight against big named boxers would be the only thing that would excite me to push my body into the pain. Let’s look at this weekend’s boxing fight between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosely – that would be a good challenge for me to fight the winner. Also Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter in the world and he is in my division. You never know what can happen in boxing but it is these types of fights that could entice me back to the boxing ring.” Tszyu has not fought since his 11th round retirement to Ricky Hatton in Manchester in 2006 and has spent recent years developing boxing gyms for young fighters in his native Russia.Source: fightnews.com
Evander Holyfield Q 'n' A-Part I -- The Sweet Science
By Zhenyu Li, The Sweet Science
Father Time has been known as a merciless killer who diminishes the water supply to a fighter's fountain of talent with every tick of hand. Yet, when it comes to the Real Deal, the edge of time has been only blunted.
The fight was televised live in China by CCTV, the nation's largest TV network, and probably well over a billion people watched the bout.
The well-preserved Holyfield finished Botha impressively for a 47-year-old, despite harsh criticism and sarcastic reports being aimed at the event, in the US and everywhere else, for that matter.
I also saw the aging warrior came close to winning his fifth recognized heavyweight world title when he courageously fought against the much-bigger Russian giant and WBA reigning champion Nicolai Valuev in 2008.
I give him credit for soldiering on, for still holding on to the dream, and still competing at a solid level.
I was privileged to sit down quietly with the four-time heavyweight champion of the world and talked for half an hour with no interruption during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Although this interview was conducted over a year ago, it spoke a mouthful for the newly-crowned WBF champion, and the material has never been published elsewhere, only on TheSweetScience.com.
Part I
"There's something special to be a man. I become the man who I am because I learned to work hard and not to quit." —— Evander Holyfield
In the first episode of this interview, Holyfield talked with me about his seemingly endless reservoir of inspiration, his take on the pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao, his warrior mentality when facing tough oppositions like Mike Tyson, how he was influenced by the world-renowned Chinese Kung Fu master Bruce Lee and lots more.
Zhenyu Li: How are you, Evander?
Holyfield: Everything is just fine. Thank you, Bruce.
Zhenyu Li: Alright, let's get started. Actually, I've been watching and writing about you since 1996. You've had an outstanding, illustrious career, winning the world heavyweight champion titles four times, becoming the first universally recognized world cruiserweight champion, dethroning the mighty Mike Tyson. You've already gotten nothing to prove. At an advanced age, why do you still keep punching?
Holyfield: Well, you know, I got to say it based on my own experiences. I'll say it’s because my story is to inspire people.
I came up poor. My mother only had a fourth-grade education. My dad didn't have any education at all. But they were very structured. They worked hard. You know, they didn't complain. They didn't murmur. And they believe in Christ. My mother taught me, you know, in believing in Christ, that you not be prejudice; you treat people the way they wanted to be treated; be honest, do a great work and not to quit.
My mother told me that there's something special to be a man. You got to work your whole life. When you work, you'll find yourself always happy. My mother said, if you are busy, you'll find yourself happy, you'll find yourself accomplished.
In that theory, I see that it separates people. Some people try to work as less as possible, and they find themselves unhappy. People who work a lot find themselves always happier. You know, I became the man who I am because I learned to work and not to complain.
The difference between me and somebody else could be just that I work a lot harder than that guy, not because he comes as if it is a choice he makes. People who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach to the top level. And you have the people who get envy and jealous, yet are not willing to put that work in, and they want to get the same praise.
Zhenyu Li: You've put on a string of epic battles that would long be remembered, your trilogy with Riddick Bowe, your two fights against Lewis, your trilogy with John Ruiz. I saw that you were a man of will. Some say that you are loved because of your pure grit. You really experienced difficulties during those fights, but you weathered the storms. How did you make that happen? What's your mentality at that time?
Holyfield: In a time when somebody does something that you do not expect, he kills you mentally. When a person hit you hard, bang, one or two shots, he wants to get you out of there, and you got to tell that man, nope! You have to get up and make the adjustment.
When you get hit, there'll be a reaction of your body, and the first thing on your mind is that I am hurt, so what do we do? Recover, your hands come up, and it becomes a sight game.
A sight game is that I am hurt, but I am to make you believe I am not even hurt, and with this confidence appearing on my face, I don't panic, otherwise your opponent will know that you are hurt. That's the whole art game in boxing. You gotta have the ability to properly show your emotions. If your opponent knows much about your thinking, he'll control you. So the whole big thing is not to put yourself in a position where your opponent can control you.
The whole thing is about, can you concentrate, can you focus, can you handle the atmosphere, and not cut it out; it's all this concentration thing that takes to be successful.
I am hurt, who knows it, but me, unless I'll let you know. If I let you know that I am hurt, you'll hurt me a lot harder; if not, you gotta think I am not going to waste a lot of those energy. Like my fight with Mike Tyson, he hit really hard. He wanted to get me knocked out. You know, it's a mind game, about concentration; it's about your mind, of what it takes to win. I have to use what I have to the best of my ability.
Zhenyu Li: Talking about concentration and mind game, you know, Sugar Ray Leonard once commented about Bruce Lee, that he respected Bruce Lee, firstly because of his mental stability. Have you heard of Bruce Lee, the Chinese Kung Fu master?
Holyfield: Oh, of course, he was... he was pretty much the star, ALL poor people, at least, LOVE Bruce Lee.
Zhenyu Li: Have you seen any of his movies?
Holyfield: Oh, Enter the Dragon and all that, you know, that's our favorite, it was just so fascinating.
The main thing about Bruce Lee is that, he was a little guy. And you know, his quickness, his aggressiveness, his explosive power, you have to be a great athlete to have all these, his body, his look, you know, all these things have to do with discipline and structure. He was able to go against the biggest guy, regardless of who he was. He can do so because of his confidence; his confidence is bigger than the stature, the size of the person; he makes you believe that size doesn't make a difference; what really matters are the confidence and your ability to make adjustment.
It works not only for Kung Fu; that what is life is all about. Life is not about size, or the skin color, it is about how good and how well-prepared you are to pass the test. Bruce Lee showed this to us.
There were a lot of karate people, but Bruce Lee stood high above everybody.
Zhenyu Li: Speaking of Asian fighters, what is your impression about them?
Holyfield: You know what, Thailand has some good fighters. There's a kid who is a champion now, Pacquiao (actually Pacquiao is from the Philippines). Oh, boy, he is big in America now. It thrills me that boxing has become what it is as a world sport. Once, you got world champions all from America, now you got them from all around the globe. You got some Russians, you got some Germans, you got one guy from Africa, and this Pacquiao. You got all these personalities coming in, and possibly, future champions from China. The sport is going global.
Zhenyu Li: From your fighter's perspective, what do you think are the reasons that Pacquiao stand far taller than the rest of the Asian pro boxers?
Holyfield: Well, you know, he has what is called determination.
Zhenyu Li: You just mentioned world champions from Russia, take Wladimir Klitschko for example, he is recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a position that you once took. But unlike you who always come forward, has an iron will and are difficult to be stopped, Klitschko won his matches all with a defensive, cautious style. He has never weathered a storm, like you. Some say that he has a glass chin. Why is such a big difference?
Holyfield: You know, what you believe is what you fight for. And what you believe is what you die for too. I die for what I believe. Some would say that this person is genetically better than another one. I don't think much of it. I think it's all about what you believe and what you've been trained to do.
Check back for Part II.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Father Time has been known as a merciless killer who diminishes the water supply to a fighter's fountain of talent with every tick of hand. Yet, when it comes to the Real Deal, the edge of time has been only blunted.
The aging warrior Evander Holyfield 
(43-10-2, 28 KOs) proved himself to be the greatest ring legend ever in history at 47, in my opinion, by stopping a bigger and stronger veteran title holder - Francois "White Buffalo" Botha (47-5-3, 28 KOs) on April 10 in Las Vegas.
(43-10-2, 28 KOs) proved himself to be the greatest ring legend ever in history at 47, in my opinion, by stopping a bigger and stronger veteran title holder - Francois "White Buffalo" Botha (47-5-3, 28 KOs) on April 10 in Las Vegas.The fight was televised live in China by CCTV, the nation's largest TV network, and probably well over a billion people watched the bout.
The well-preserved Holyfield finished Botha impressively for a 47-year-old, despite harsh criticism and sarcastic reports being aimed at the event, in the US and everywhere else, for that matter. I also saw the aging warrior came close to winning his fifth recognized heavyweight world title when he courageously fought against the much-bigger Russian giant and WBA reigning champion Nicolai Valuev in 2008.
I give him credit for soldiering on, for still holding on to the dream, and still competing at a solid level.
I was privileged to sit down quietly with the four-time heavyweight champion of the world and talked for half an hour with no interruption during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Although this interview was conducted over a year ago, it spoke a mouthful for the newly-crowned WBF champion, and the material has never been published elsewhere, only on TheSweetScience.com.
Part I
"There's something special to be a man. I become the man who I am because I learned to work hard and not to quit." —— Evander Holyfield
In the first episode of this interview, Holyfield talked with me about his seemingly endless reservoir of inspiration, his take on the pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao, his warrior mentality when facing tough oppositions like Mike Tyson, how he was influenced by the world-renowned Chinese Kung Fu master Bruce Lee and lots more.
Zhenyu Li: How are you, Evander?
Holyfield: Everything is just fine. Thank you, Bruce.
Zhenyu Li: Alright, let's get started. Actually, I've been watching and writing about you since 1996. You've had an outstanding, illustrious career, winning the world heavyweight champion titles four times, becoming the first universally recognized world cruiserweight champion, dethroning the mighty Mike Tyson. You've already gotten nothing to prove. At an advanced age, why do you still keep punching?
Holyfield: Well, you know, I got to say it based on my own experiences. I'll say it’s because my story is to inspire people.
I came up poor. My mother only had a fourth-grade education. My dad didn't have any education at all. But they were very structured. They worked hard. You know, they didn't complain. They didn't murmur. And they believe in Christ. My mother taught me, you know, in believing in Christ, that you not be prejudice; you treat people the way they wanted to be treated; be honest, do a great work and not to quit.
My mother told me that there's something special to be a man. You got to work your whole life. When you work, you'll find yourself always happy. My mother said, if you are busy, you'll find yourself happy, you'll find yourself accomplished.
In that theory, I see that it separates people. Some people try to work as less as possible, and they find themselves unhappy. People who work a lot find themselves always happier. You know, I became the man who I am because I learned to work and not to complain.
The difference between me and somebody else could be just that I work a lot harder than that guy, not because he comes as if it is a choice he makes. People who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach to the top level. And you have the people who get envy and jealous, yet are not willing to put that work in, and they want to get the same praise.
Zhenyu Li: You've put on a string of epic battles that would long be remembered, your trilogy with Riddick Bowe, your two fights against Lewis, your trilogy with John Ruiz. I saw that you were a man of will. Some say that you are loved because of your pure grit. You really experienced difficulties during those fights, but you weathered the storms. How did you make that happen? What's your mentality at that time?
Holyfield: In a time when somebody does something that you do not expect, he kills you mentally. When a person hit you hard, bang, one or two shots, he wants to get you out of there, and you got to tell that man, nope! You have to get up and make the adjustment.
When you get hit, there'll be a reaction of your body, and the first thing on your mind is that I am hurt, so what do we do? Recover, your hands come up, and it becomes a sight game.
A sight game is that I am hurt, but I am to make you believe I am not even hurt, and with this confidence appearing on my face, I don't panic, otherwise your opponent will know that you are hurt. That's the whole art game in boxing. You gotta have the ability to properly show your emotions. If your opponent knows much about your thinking, he'll control you. So the whole big thing is not to put yourself in a position where your opponent can control you.
The whole thing is about, can you concentrate, can you focus, can you handle the atmosphere, and not cut it out; it's all this concentration thing that takes to be successful.
I am hurt, who knows it, but me, unless I'll let you know. If I let you know that I am hurt, you'll hurt me a lot harder; if not, you gotta think I am not going to waste a lot of those energy. Like my fight with Mike Tyson, he hit really hard. He wanted to get me knocked out. You know, it's a mind game, about concentration; it's about your mind, of what it takes to win. I have to use what I have to the best of my ability.
Zhenyu Li: Talking about concentration and mind game, you know, Sugar Ray Leonard once commented about Bruce Lee, that he respected Bruce Lee, firstly because of his mental stability. Have you heard of Bruce Lee, the Chinese Kung Fu master?
Holyfield: Oh, of course, he was... he was pretty much the star, ALL poor people, at least, LOVE Bruce Lee.
Zhenyu Li: Have you seen any of his movies?
Holyfield: Oh, Enter the Dragon and all that, you know, that's our favorite, it was just so fascinating.
The main thing about Bruce Lee is that, he was a little guy. And you know, his quickness, his aggressiveness, his explosive power, you have to be a great athlete to have all these, his body, his look, you know, all these things have to do with discipline and structure. He was able to go against the biggest guy, regardless of who he was. He can do so because of his confidence; his confidence is bigger than the stature, the size of the person; he makes you believe that size doesn't make a difference; what really matters are the confidence and your ability to make adjustment.
It works not only for Kung Fu; that what is life is all about. Life is not about size, or the skin color, it is about how good and how well-prepared you are to pass the test. Bruce Lee showed this to us.
There were a lot of karate people, but Bruce Lee stood high above everybody.
Zhenyu Li: Speaking of Asian fighters, what is your impression about them?
Holyfield: You know what, Thailand has some good fighters. There's a kid who is a champion now, Pacquiao (actually Pacquiao is from the Philippines). Oh, boy, he is big in America now. It thrills me that boxing has become what it is as a world sport. Once, you got world champions all from America, now you got them from all around the globe. You got some Russians, you got some Germans, you got one guy from Africa, and this Pacquiao. You got all these personalities coming in, and possibly, future champions from China. The sport is going global.
Zhenyu Li: From your fighter's perspective, what do you think are the reasons that Pacquiao stand far taller than the rest of the Asian pro boxers?
Holyfield: Well, you know, he has what is called determination.
Zhenyu Li: You just mentioned world champions from Russia, take Wladimir Klitschko for example, he is recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a position that you once took. But unlike you who always come forward, has an iron will and are difficult to be stopped, Klitschko won his matches all with a defensive, cautious style. He has never weathered a storm, like you. Some say that he has a glass chin. Why is such a big difference?
Holyfield: You know, what you believe is what you fight for. And what you believe is what you die for too. I die for what I believe. Some would say that this person is genetically better than another one. I don't think much of it. I think it's all about what you believe and what you've been trained to do.
Check back for Part II.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Kostya Tszyu urges Anthony Mundine to take on Danny Green -- Daily Telegraph
By Nick Walshaw, The Daily Telegraph
AUSTRALIAN boxing legend Kostya Tszyu
has urged Anthony Mundine to forgo the scales and accept the one bout every Aussie sports fan wants to see - a rematch with Danny Green.
Among the most popular fighters this nation has ever produced, Tszyu yesterday told The Daily Telegraph Mundine should ignore the 10kg separating him from the IBO world cruiserweight champion.
"Because it would be a great fight, great for Australian boxing," Tszyu insisted.
"But to see what he did against Roy Jones, then the way he knocked out Manny Siaca ... it shows Danny Green is now capable of doing great things."
Asked about the obvious sticking point of weight, Tszyu added: "I don't want to see Danny lose weight because to drop weight as you get older, it's not natural. Not right.
"And I think they can still make the fight. Anthony needs to put some quality opposition against himself again.
"He's already fighting here in Australia and doing a good job for himself."
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the rival Green and Mundine camps have already spoken several times without success since the Perth brawler's comprehensive three-round win against Puerto Rican Siaca.
"Because it seems like Choc is content to keep chasing fights at light middleweight and middleweight," Green's manager Justin Manolikos conceded.
"To be honest I can't see why there would be any fuss about weight anyway.
"When Anthony played for the Dragons he was up around 95kg wasn't he?
"And after Dan beat Roy Jones Jr he came out to say he'd fight him at cruiserweight. Fight him at heavyweight.
"But if nothing changes, so be it. We'll keep chasing names like Roy Jones Jr while he keeps chasing cab drivers named Roy."
An undisputed junior welterweight champion in his prime, Tszyu now splits his year evenly between Australia and his homeland, Russia - where he boasts both a series of business interests and charity programs for underprivileged children.
The Thunder from Down Under was back in Sydney yesterday to help launch a limited edition Kostya Tszyu watch range - with each of his 270 limited edition pieces going for a cool $9900 each.
Source: dailytelegraph.com.au
AUSTRALIAN boxing legend Kostya Tszyu
has urged Anthony Mundine to forgo the scales and accept the one bout every Aussie sports fan wants to see - a rematch with Danny Green. Among the most popular fighters this nation has ever produced, Tszyu yesterday told The Daily Telegraph Mundine should ignore the 10kg separating him from the IBO world cruiserweight champion.
"Because it would be a great fight, great for Australian boxing," Tszyu insisted.
"We've always known Danny is big hitter. Has a strong punch.
"But to see what he did against Roy Jones, then the way he knocked out Manny Siaca ... it shows Danny Green is now capable of doing great things."
Asked about the obvious sticking point of weight, Tszyu added: "I don't want to see Danny lose weight because to drop weight as you get older, it's not natural. Not right.
"And I think they can still make the fight. Anthony needs to put some quality opposition against himself again.
"He's already fighting here in Australia and doing a good job for himself."
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the rival Green and Mundine camps have already spoken several times without success since the Perth brawler's comprehensive three-round win against Puerto Rican Siaca.
"Because it seems like Choc is content to keep chasing fights at light middleweight and middleweight," Green's manager Justin Manolikos conceded.
"To be honest I can't see why there would be any fuss about weight anyway.
"When Anthony played for the Dragons he was up around 95kg wasn't he?
"And after Dan beat Roy Jones Jr he came out to say he'd fight him at cruiserweight. Fight him at heavyweight.
"But if nothing changes, so be it. We'll keep chasing names like Roy Jones Jr while he keeps chasing cab drivers named Roy."
An undisputed junior welterweight champion in his prime, Tszyu now splits his year evenly between Australia and his homeland, Russia - where he boasts both a series of business interests and charity programs for underprivileged children.
The Thunder from Down Under was back in Sydney yesterday to help launch a limited edition Kostya Tszyu watch range - with each of his 270 limited edition pieces going for a cool $9900 each.
Source: dailytelegraph.com.au
Trainer Richardson on Mosley's camp -- FOXNews
FoxSports
FOXSports.com will be speaking to Shane Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson each week before the May 1 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (HBO Pay-Per-View). This is the first of a three-part series.
FOXSports.com: How's training going?
Richardson: Training is going pretty good. I think we're hitting all cylinders. Once we get the media things out of the way, we'll the work we need to finish up.
FOXSports.com: How's your relationship with Shane going?
Richardson: I appreciate the dedication and commitment he makes to the camp and to the particular project we're working on. A trainer always appreciates when an athlete gives 100 percent.
FOXSports.com: How are you trying to adjust Shane's style as he's getting older?
Richardson: It's not so much adjusting his style. It's just eliminating wasteful moves and implementing what's important and emphazing on the necessary.
FOXSports.com: Can we have an example?
Richardson: If you can make a move in two steps, why do four? Why shake and bake? Get directly to the project. It's just adding those things.
FOXSports.com: Shane hasn't fought since January 2009. Are you afraid of ring rust?
Richardson: Ring rust is something we'll have to deal with. It's there and there's nothing we can do about it. The guy stays at the gym and he has boxing as a lifestyle. It shouldn't be too much of a problem. He should be able to adjust fairly quickly.
FOXSports.com: Are you guys afraid of overtraining, considering the Andre Berto fight was scrapped late and you took the Mayweather fight pretty quickly?
Richardson: We took a break. We went on vacation, and he was sparring while he was on vacation. That's just who he is. It's like I said, it's a lifestyle for him.
FOXSports.com: How difficult is it to go from Berto to Mayweather?
Richardson: There are some difficulties in it, but they can be surmounted. There's nothing that can't be surmounted. We were going to fight a young, fast athlete. Now we're going to fight a man who's pretty quick, pretty agile. When you're a veteran you've got to expect those kinds of things. You've got to make adjustments. Boxing is a sport of adjustments.
FOXSports.com: The issue with Floyd and Shane seems to be personal. Is that a good or bad thing for training?
Richardson: It seems personal but the only personal attacks I heard of come from the Mayweather camp. Mayweather is all over the place. He's talking about Shane's hair, he's talking about his suits. ... The insults are trying to get Shane on an emotional level. But Shane is too professional to feed into that.
FOXSports.com: How do you guys handle the pressure? Big money is on the line here.
Richardson: Shane's no stranger big money and he's no stranger to big fights. The media is categorizing that he's out of his element. He wins this fight and it puts him back in a place he's been before.
Source: foxnews.com
FOXSports.com will be speaking to Shane Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson each week before the May 1 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (HBO Pay-Per-View). This is the first of a three-part series.
FOXSports.com: How's training going?
Richardson: Training is going pretty good. I think we're hitting all cylinders. Once we get the media things out of the way, we'll the work we need to finish up.
FOXSports.com: How's your relationship with Shane going?
Richardson: I appreciate the dedication and commitment he makes to the camp and to the particular project we're working on. A trainer always appreciates when an athlete gives 100 percent.
FOXSports.com: How are you trying to adjust Shane's style as he's getting older?
Richardson: It's not so much adjusting his style. It's just eliminating wasteful moves and implementing what's important and emphazing on the necessary.
FOXSports.com: Can we have an example?
Richardson: If you can make a move in two steps, why do four? Why shake and bake? Get directly to the project. It's just adding those things.
FOXSports.com: Shane hasn't fought since January 2009. Are you afraid of ring rust?
Richardson: Ring rust is something we'll have to deal with. It's there and there's nothing we can do about it. The guy stays at the gym and he has boxing as a lifestyle. It shouldn't be too much of a problem. He should be able to adjust fairly quickly.
FOXSports.com: Are you guys afraid of overtraining, considering the Andre Berto fight was scrapped late and you took the Mayweather fight pretty quickly?
Richardson: We took a break. We went on vacation, and he was sparring while he was on vacation. That's just who he is. It's like I said, it's a lifestyle for him.
FOXSports.com: How difficult is it to go from Berto to Mayweather?
Richardson: There are some difficulties in it, but they can be surmounted. There's nothing that can't be surmounted. We were going to fight a young, fast athlete. Now we're going to fight a man who's pretty quick, pretty agile. When you're a veteran you've got to expect those kinds of things. You've got to make adjustments. Boxing is a sport of adjustments.
FOXSports.com: The issue with Floyd and Shane seems to be personal. Is that a good or bad thing for training?
Richardson: It seems personal but the only personal attacks I heard of come from the Mayweather camp. Mayweather is all over the place. He's talking about Shane's hair, he's talking about his suits. ... The insults are trying to get Shane on an emotional level. But Shane is too professional to feed into that.
FOXSports.com: How do you guys handle the pressure? Big money is on the line here.
Richardson: Shane's no stranger big money and he's no stranger to big fights. The media is categorizing that he's out of his element. He wins this fight and it puts him back in a place he's been before.
Source: foxnews.com
Shane Mosley Jabs at Media After Steroids Question -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
The usually calm Shane Mosley briefly gave in to an angry moment during a Tuesday conference call when he lashed out in response to a reporter's question concerning the Olympic style drug testing in correlation to his admitted steroid use in 2003, which he claims was inadvertent.
"It's ridiculous now that the media wants to make me the poster boy of steroids," said Mosley. "If you guys want to continue to put that out there, so be it. You guys know the truth."
Mosley has contended that he was initially unaware that the steroids, "the cream" and "the clear," which he admitted injecting, were illegal.
Mosley had obtained the drugs from BALCO founder Victor Conte through a relationship with his former trainer, Daryl Hudson.
"I've always been a clean fighter, and I've been knocking out everyone since 2003 and before 2003. I don't feel that I should be condemned for something that I never tested positive for. I just told the truth about what happened," said the 38-year-old Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts), who will meet the undefeated 33-year-old Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) on May 1 at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"The truth was brought to me by the federal people that took me to court and who brought me up as a witness. So the truth was revealed to me there," said Mosley. "There's this man [Conte] that I had seen one time in my whole entire life, and at the deposition, that was the second time that I saw him."
In another development, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, whose company is promoting Mayweather-Mosley, said that the clash is a non-title bout.
"It looks like the fight will not be for Shane's WBA title," said Schaefer. "Floyd's not fighting for the WBA title, but Shane is."
It appears that Mosley will defend his WBA welterweight (147 pounds) crown, but only in victory. The situation developed because Mayweather did not pay the WBA's necessary sanctioning fee.
"I don't know what to think about that. Everybody grows up wanting to fight for a belt and wanting to be a world champion. For him to dismiss it like, 'Oh, I'm bigger than this belt,' that just doesn't seem like he's in this sport for the sport," said Mosley.
"He's in it just for the money. Which is good, I mean, if he's in it for the money, to each his own," said Mosley. "I love the glory and the legendary status of being a champion and winning belts, and beating the best guys out there. If you do that, then, the money's going to come regardless."
Mayweather, said Schaefer, can not win the crown, but it is unclear whether or not Mosley will have to vacate it in defeat.
"This is not a WBA championship fight. But on a separate side, we are currently discussing with the WBA, for Shane, that Shane would be defending his belt," said Schaefer. "But for the purpose of this call, it's basically a non-WBA fight. It's the two best fighters fighting each other, that's what's at stake here."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
The usually calm Shane Mosley briefly gave in to an angry moment during a Tuesday conference call when he lashed out in response to a reporter's question concerning the Olympic style drug testing in correlation to his admitted steroid use in 2003, which he claims was inadvertent.
"It's ridiculous now that the media wants to make me the poster boy of steroids," said Mosley. "If you guys want to continue to put that out there, so be it. You guys know the truth."
Mosley has contended that he was initially unaware that the steroids, "the cream" and "the clear," which he admitted injecting, were illegal.
Mosley had obtained the drugs from BALCO founder Victor Conte through a relationship with his former trainer, Daryl Hudson.
"I've always been a clean fighter, and I've been knocking out everyone since 2003 and before 2003. I don't feel that I should be condemned for something that I never tested positive for. I just told the truth about what happened," said the 38-year-old Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts), who will meet the undefeated 33-year-old Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) on May 1 at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"The truth was brought to me by the federal people that took me to court and who brought me up as a witness. So the truth was revealed to me there," said Mosley. "There's this man [Conte] that I had seen one time in my whole entire life, and at the deposition, that was the second time that I saw him."
In another development, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, whose company is promoting Mayweather-Mosley, said that the clash is a non-title bout.
"It looks like the fight will not be for Shane's WBA title," said Schaefer. "Floyd's not fighting for the WBA title, but Shane is."
It appears that Mosley will defend his WBA welterweight (147 pounds) crown, but only in victory. The situation developed because Mayweather did not pay the WBA's necessary sanctioning fee.
"I don't know what to think about that. Everybody grows up wanting to fight for a belt and wanting to be a world champion. For him to dismiss it like, 'Oh, I'm bigger than this belt,' that just doesn't seem like he's in this sport for the sport," said Mosley.
"He's in it just for the money. Which is good, I mean, if he's in it for the money, to each his own," said Mosley. "I love the glory and the legendary status of being a champion and winning belts, and beating the best guys out there. If you do that, then, the money's going to come regardless."
Mayweather, said Schaefer, can not win the crown, but it is unclear whether or not Mosley will have to vacate it in defeat.
"This is not a WBA championship fight. But on a separate side, we are currently discussing with the WBA, for Shane, that Shane would be defending his belt," said Schaefer. "But for the purpose of this call, it's basically a non-WBA fight. It's the two best fighters fighting each other, that's what's at stake here."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Shane Mosley contradicts statements regarding use of BALCO's drugs, saying he's a 'clean fighter' -- New York Daily News
By Nathaniel Vinton, New York Daily News
Maybe boxer "Sugar" Shane Mosley is trying to change his nickname to "sugarcoat."
But in a sworn deposition last Oct. 27, one of the very first questions Mosley faced was about the performance-enhancing drugs Conte sold him on July 26, 2003, a few months before Mosley beat Oscar De La Hoya in 12 rounds.
"Would it be fair to say in the weeks prior to that fight you took steroids?" asked Conte's attorney, Tom Harvey.
"The weeks, yes," said Mosley.
"Okay," said Harvey. "And would it be fair to say that you took performance-enhancing drugs in the weeks prior to the fight with Oscar De La Hoya in September, 2003?"
"Yes," Mosley testified.
Mosley in fact used BALCO's designer drugs "the clear" (the then-undetectable steroid THG) and "the cream" (a masking substance), and took a tutorial from Conte on how to self-inject EPO, a potent endurance booster. But unburdened by any oath yesterday, Mosley denied it yesterday.
"I never did that stuff," he said. "I never was on it really like that. I've always been a clean fighter."
Mosley also pointed out he never tested positive (the drug regimen Conte put him on was designed for exactly that purpose).
The vast gulf between Mosley's contradictory statements is the battleground of the $12 million suit that the fighter filed against Conte two years ago, right after Conte said he planned to publish a book that would prove Mosley knew exactly what he was getting that day at BALCO.
Their bitter legal war exploded last week after Conte left a failed settlement conference and posted to YouTube a video of Mosley's deposition showing Mosley admitting he knew the substance Conte sold him was EPO.
Mosley seemed annoyed by drug questions yesterday. Asked if it felt different to fight without BALCO's drugs, Mosley said it was a “stupid question.” His answer was gentler on Dec. 11, 2003, when he appeared before the grand jury investigating BALCO. A transcript of that testimony reviewed by the Daily News shows Mosley was asked the same question by a grand juror.
"I wasn't bruising a lot," Mosley answered. "And the impact of the punches were - I really didn't feel the impact of his punches."
Judd Burstein, the attorney representing Mosley who was present on the conference call, said that the quotes in Conte’s video posting were taken out of context, but other video segments that Burstein himself posted the next day don't seem to alter the message much.
"There's no point in talking about this," Burstein said, echoing Mosley's claim that the issue was seven years old.
Mosley, however, is the plaintiff in the case, and Burstein has helped him pursue it for two years, successfully derailing Conte's promised tell-all.
"The objective, the entire time, in my opinion, has been to drain me financially," says Conte. "Is that what justice is about? That he who has the deepest pockets wins, despite who's right and who's wrong?"
Source: nydailynews.com
Maybe boxer "Sugar" Shane Mosley is trying to change his nickname to "sugarcoat."
In a conference call Tuesday to publicize his May 1 fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Mosley said he had "always been a clean fighter," even though he has long admitted to using BALCO's drugs, most recently admitting as much last fall in a deposition for his libel suit against BALCO
boss Victor Conte.
boss Victor Conte."It's ridiculous now that the media wants to make me the poster boy of steroids, when I don't even know nothing about all that stuff," Mosley said.
But in a sworn deposition last Oct. 27, one of the very first questions Mosley faced was about the performance-enhancing drugs Conte sold him on July 26, 2003, a few months before Mosley beat Oscar De La Hoya in 12 rounds."Would it be fair to say in the weeks prior to that fight you took steroids?" asked Conte's attorney, Tom Harvey.
"The weeks, yes," said Mosley.
"Okay," said Harvey. "And would it be fair to say that you took performance-enhancing drugs in the weeks prior to the fight with Oscar De La Hoya in September, 2003?"
"Yes," Mosley testified.
Mosley in fact used BALCO's designer drugs "the clear" (the then-undetectable steroid THG) and "the cream" (a masking substance), and took a tutorial from Conte on how to self-inject EPO, a potent endurance booster. But unburdened by any oath yesterday, Mosley denied it yesterday.
"I never did that stuff," he said. "I never was on it really like that. I've always been a clean fighter."
Mosley also pointed out he never tested positive (the drug regimen Conte put him on was designed for exactly that purpose).
The vast gulf between Mosley's contradictory statements is the battleground of the $12 million suit that the fighter filed against Conte two years ago, right after Conte said he planned to publish a book that would prove Mosley knew exactly what he was getting that day at BALCO.
Their bitter legal war exploded last week after Conte left a failed settlement conference and posted to YouTube a video of Mosley's deposition showing Mosley admitting he knew the substance Conte sold him was EPO.
Mosley seemed annoyed by drug questions yesterday. Asked if it felt different to fight without BALCO's drugs, Mosley said it was a “stupid question.” His answer was gentler on Dec. 11, 2003, when he appeared before the grand jury investigating BALCO. A transcript of that testimony reviewed by the Daily News shows Mosley was asked the same question by a grand juror.
"I wasn't bruising a lot," Mosley answered. "And the impact of the punches were - I really didn't feel the impact of his punches."
Judd Burstein, the attorney representing Mosley who was present on the conference call, said that the quotes in Conte’s video posting were taken out of context, but other video segments that Burstein himself posted the next day don't seem to alter the message much.
"There's no point in talking about this," Burstein said, echoing Mosley's claim that the issue was seven years old.
Mosley, however, is the plaintiff in the case, and Burstein has helped him pursue it for two years, successfully derailing Conte's promised tell-all.
"The objective, the entire time, in my opinion, has been to drain me financially," says Conte. "Is that what justice is about? That he who has the deepest pockets wins, despite who's right and who's wrong?"
Source: nydailynews.com
The facts behind the toughest fight of Manny Pacquiao's life -- Telegraph
By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
Manny Pacquiao’s battle for election in the province of Sarangani, on the southern tip of The Philippines, is far tougher than any championship fight he has ever faced in the ring. Why ? The power base of the ruling political family, the Chiongbians, is both vast and established.
Pacquiao’s political rival for the single congressional seat is Roy Chiongbian, running for the first time, whose mother was a Governor, and whose father was its first Congressman.
Chiongbian, a US-educated businessman, launched his campaign by celebrating his 61st birthday at his family’s 2,718-acre plantation near Kiamba. Sarangani remains a family affair. The current congressman is his brother and the vice-governor his nephew.
The family owns Eastern Shipping Lines. They are old money, and have strong support from the indigenous people’s organisation in that province. They could be compared to the Kennedy family in the US.
The seven weight world champion Pacquiao has already lost in one campaign (2007) to Darlene Antonio-Custodio. In February 2007 Pacquiao had announced that he would run for congress under President Arroyo’s party. It caused widespread dismay from both his fans and the general public.
Arroyo had become president in 2004 in controversial circumstances, following vote-rigging allegations. These have contributed to the unrest in Mindanao where, in a 2008 survey, 58 per cent of citizens said they felt Arroyo had cheated in the election. On May 17 2007 Pacquiao was defeated in the congressional elections by Antonino-Custodio, running for the Nationalist People’s Coalition, who received 139,061 votes to Pacquiao’s 75,908. Pacquiao had funded his campaign with his own money. It has been claimed that much of the funds were siphoned off by his own supporters. Pacquiao’s support for a controversial president appeared to have cost him victory.
His campaign this time is being trumpeted as a success.
This time around, Pacquiao has the support of tycoon Senator Manny Villar, a presidential candidate.
Yet he faces fierce opposition, with its own loyal following.
The Legislative District of Sarangani has one seat in the Philippine House of Representatives. Sarangani was part of the representation of South Cotabato until 1995, when it was first granted its own representation. The province was created by Republic Act No. 7228 on March 16, 1992, penned by the late Congressman, James L. Chiongbian. His wife, Priscilla L. Chiongbian is the retired Governor of Sarangani. They are the parents of his rival.
While the Sarangani population (2007 census) was 475,514, the voting population (again, 2007 census) is just over 222,000. A look down the previous Congressional representatives is a clear indication of his battle with an immoveable object.
Reps: 1995-98 James L Chongbian
2001-2010 (3 terms) Erwin L Chongbian
Chongbian represents the Lakas Kampi CMD (Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats), a centrist political party, and the current ruling party in the country. Pacquiao, supported by has set up the People’s Champ Movement.
Sarangani’s capital is Alabel and borders South Cotabato to the north and Davao del Sur to the east. Pacquiao lives in the heavily urbanized city of General Santos (in a walled compound with armed guards 24 hours a day).
Pacquiao sees poverty everywhere and finds it difficult to refuse queues of people handouts from his home.
He is currently funding 250 children through school in his neighbourhood, through a foundation set up several years ago. Some are orphans, others have parents who have requested his help. He has organised the export from the United States of 350 American-built hospital beds destined for wards around the General Santos region, a fire engine and an ambulance, and is overseeing the rebuilding of the L & M Gym in Manila into an apartment complex, incorporating a boxing gym in the basement. While his philanthropy continues, the area he seeks votes in is outside the remit of his generosity. His supporters say he is blessed, that he has been given the touch from above. He may need some of that if he is to win this election. Pacquiao is promising a “landslide win”, for God and country, yet most of his ardent fans really just want to see him get the better of another rival, Floyd Mayweather Jnr, in a boxing ring.
Facts about Sarangani:
Population Growth Rate 3.476 per cent per annum
Per Capita Income Php 15,350.00 (£225)
Literacy Rate 92 per cent
Labour Force 181,000 (54.1 per cent)
Minimum Daily Wage: £3.
Major Industries:
Agriculture: coconut, fruit and vegetable contract growing, rice and corn
Aquaculture: Prawn, Milkfish, Tilapia, Grouper, Sergeant fish
Natural Resources:
Commercial Deposits of gold, iron, ore,copper, marble, cement lime, limestone, guano, fishing ground, agricultural lands and mangrove eco-cultural sites.
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
Manny Pacquiao’s battle for election in the province of Sarangani, on the southern tip of The Philippines, is far tougher than any championship fight he has ever faced in the ring. Why ? The power base of the ruling political family, the Chiongbians, is both vast and established.
Pacquiao’s political rival for the single congressional seat is Roy Chiongbian, running for the first time, whose mother was a Governor, and whose father was its first Congressman.
Chiongbian, a US-educated businessman, launched his campaign by celebrating his 61st birthday at his family’s 2,718-acre plantation near Kiamba. Sarangani remains a family affair. The current congressman is his brother and the vice-governor his nephew.
The family owns Eastern Shipping Lines. They are old money, and have strong support from the indigenous people’s organisation in that province. They could be compared to the Kennedy family in the US.
The seven weight world champion Pacquiao has already lost in one campaign (2007) to Darlene Antonio-Custodio. In February 2007 Pacquiao had announced that he would run for congress under President Arroyo’s party. It caused widespread dismay from both his fans and the general public.
Arroyo had become president in 2004 in controversial circumstances, following vote-rigging allegations. These have contributed to the unrest in Mindanao where, in a 2008 survey, 58 per cent of citizens said they felt Arroyo had cheated in the election. On May 17 2007 Pacquiao was defeated in the congressional elections by Antonino-Custodio, running for the Nationalist People’s Coalition, who received 139,061 votes to Pacquiao’s 75,908. Pacquiao had funded his campaign with his own money. It has been claimed that much of the funds were siphoned off by his own supporters. Pacquiao’s support for a controversial president appeared to have cost him victory.
His campaign this time is being trumpeted as a success.
This time around, Pacquiao has the support of tycoon Senator Manny Villar, a presidential candidate.
Yet he faces fierce opposition, with its own loyal following.
The Legislative District of Sarangani has one seat in the Philippine House of Representatives. Sarangani was part of the representation of South Cotabato until 1995, when it was first granted its own representation. The province was created by Republic Act No. 7228 on March 16, 1992, penned by the late Congressman, James L. Chiongbian. His wife, Priscilla L. Chiongbian is the retired Governor of Sarangani. They are the parents of his rival.
While the Sarangani population (2007 census) was 475,514, the voting population (again, 2007 census) is just over 222,000. A look down the previous Congressional representatives is a clear indication of his battle with an immoveable object.
Reps: 1995-98 James L Chongbian
2001-2010 (3 terms) Erwin L Chongbian
Chongbian represents the Lakas Kampi CMD (Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats), a centrist political party, and the current ruling party in the country. Pacquiao, supported by has set up the People’s Champ Movement.
Sarangani’s capital is Alabel and borders South Cotabato to the north and Davao del Sur to the east. Pacquiao lives in the heavily urbanized city of General Santos (in a walled compound with armed guards 24 hours a day).
Pacquiao sees poverty everywhere and finds it difficult to refuse queues of people handouts from his home.
He is currently funding 250 children through school in his neighbourhood, through a foundation set up several years ago. Some are orphans, others have parents who have requested his help. He has organised the export from the United States of 350 American-built hospital beds destined for wards around the General Santos region, a fire engine and an ambulance, and is overseeing the rebuilding of the L & M Gym in Manila into an apartment complex, incorporating a boxing gym in the basement. While his philanthropy continues, the area he seeks votes in is outside the remit of his generosity. His supporters say he is blessed, that he has been given the touch from above. He may need some of that if he is to win this election. Pacquiao is promising a “landslide win”, for God and country, yet most of his ardent fans really just want to see him get the better of another rival, Floyd Mayweather Jnr, in a boxing ring.
Facts about Sarangani:
Population Growth Rate 3.476 per cent per annum
Per Capita Income Php 15,350.00 (£225)
Literacy Rate 92 per cent
Labour Force 181,000 (54.1 per cent)
Minimum Daily Wage: £3.
Major Industries:
Agriculture: coconut, fruit and vegetable contract growing, rice and corn
Aquaculture: Prawn, Milkfish, Tilapia, Grouper, Sergeant fish
Natural Resources:
Commercial Deposits of gold, iron, ore,copper, marble, cement lime, limestone, guano, fishing ground, agricultural lands and mangrove eco-cultural sites.
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
Mosley Says He's Not Distracted By Latest PED Stuff -- The Sweet Science
By Michael Woods, The Sweet Science
Shane Mosley sounded ready to rock 11 days out from his fight with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd has to hope that Mosley doesn't transfer some of the aggravation he showed on a Tuesday conference call for media asking about the latest layer in his PED saga.
On Thursday, convicted PED chemist/dealer Victor Conte leaked portions of a recent Mosley deposition, from October 2009. Mosley accused Conte and has brought a defamation suit against the rogue chemist, for tricking him into using banned steroids "the cream" and masking agent "the clear" and endurance-booster EPO; Conte counterclaims that the boxer knew quite well he was taking, the PED EPO, leading in to his 2003 bout with Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley contended that he in fact didn't know the true identity of the substance he used.
In the deposition, a questioner asks Mosley if he was aware what he was ingesting, EPO, as he was taking it. He answers in the affirmative, which appears to negate the basis for the case being worked by his attorney Judd Burstein, which is that Conte didn't divulge the illegal nature of the substance he sold Mosley. In a NY Daily News article, Burstein "said that his client had "always admitted to knowingly using EPO," which confounded followers of the sordid saga. The attorney said he'd release the entire deposition to prove that Conte's edits were shady.
On the call, Mosley tried as best he could to bring the discussion into the present.
"I never was on it really like that," he said. "I choose to not even talk about it. 2003 when that stuff happened, so....I've always been a clean fighter. I don't feel I should be condemned for something I never tested positive for...the truth was revealed to me there (at the deposition)...The media wants to make me the poster boy for steroids...You guys want to get that out there, so be it, you guys know the truth."
The attorney, Burstein, was also present on the call. He too tried to focus on the present. "There's no point in talking about it," he said. "Conte edited it, took it out of context. There's nothing more to say about it."
Sadly, drug testing and PEDs has become the story, or at least too significant a subplot, for those who merely want to focus on the action in the ring. Will the focus on the Conte case detract from Mosley's preparation? Impossible for us to know. The fighter said on the call that he tried to steer clear of media, and focus on getting ready for the tussle, but he came off as on edge on the topic. This isn't an optimum state of mind as he tries to ready himself to be the first man to take down Mayweather, to be screamingly obvious.
SPEEDBAG Mosley's WBA welterweight title belt will not be on the line on May 1. If Shane wins, the belt is still his. If Floyd wins, the title will be vacant.
---Promoter Richard Schaefer said the fight is virtually sold out, with only some $600 and $1250 seats left. Closed circuit seating, some 25,000, will open up tomorrow, he said.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Shane Mosley sounded ready to rock 11 days out from his fight with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd has to hope that Mosley doesn't transfer some of the aggravation he showed on a Tuesday conference call for media asking about the latest layer in his PED saga.
On Thursday, convicted PED chemist/dealer Victor Conte leaked portions of a recent Mosley deposition, from October 2009. Mosley accused Conte and has brought a defamation suit against the rogue chemist, for tricking him into using banned steroids "the cream" and masking agent "the clear" and endurance-booster EPO; Conte counterclaims that the boxer knew quite well he was taking, the PED EPO, leading in to his 2003 bout with Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley contended that he in fact didn't know the true identity of the substance he used.
In the deposition, a questioner asks Mosley if he was aware what he was ingesting, EPO, as he was taking it. He answers in the affirmative, which appears to negate the basis for the case being worked by his attorney Judd Burstein, which is that Conte didn't divulge the illegal nature of the substance he sold Mosley. In a NY Daily News article, Burstein "said that his client had "always admitted to knowingly using EPO," which confounded followers of the sordid saga. The attorney said he'd release the entire deposition to prove that Conte's edits were shady.
On the call, Mosley tried as best he could to bring the discussion into the present.
"I never was on it really like that," he said. "I choose to not even talk about it. 2003 when that stuff happened, so....I've always been a clean fighter. I don't feel I should be condemned for something I never tested positive for...the truth was revealed to me there (at the deposition)...The media wants to make me the poster boy for steroids...You guys want to get that out there, so be it, you guys know the truth."
The attorney, Burstein, was also present on the call. He too tried to focus on the present. "There's no point in talking about it," he said. "Conte edited it, took it out of context. There's nothing more to say about it."
Sadly, drug testing and PEDs has become the story, or at least too significant a subplot, for those who merely want to focus on the action in the ring. Will the focus on the Conte case detract from Mosley's preparation? Impossible for us to know. The fighter said on the call that he tried to steer clear of media, and focus on getting ready for the tussle, but he came off as on edge on the topic. This isn't an optimum state of mind as he tries to ready himself to be the first man to take down Mayweather, to be screamingly obvious.
SPEEDBAG Mosley's WBA welterweight title belt will not be on the line on May 1. If Shane wins, the belt is still his. If Floyd wins, the title will be vacant.
---Promoter Richard Schaefer said the fight is virtually sold out, with only some $600 and $1250 seats left. Closed circuit seating, some 25,000, will open up tomorrow, he said.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Shane Mosley: Floyd Mayweather's Acting 'Frantic' -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
According to WBA welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Sugar Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather, his upcoming opponent, expressed his adoration for him on November 20 of 1997 in a dressing room at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Mosley was 24-0, with 22 knockouts, and was five days from stopping Manuel Gomez in the 11th round. Mosley had already earned his first crown with an August, unanimous decision over Philip Holiday for the IBF lightweight (135 pounds) title.
Mayweather had just improved to 12-0, with his 10th knockout, a third-round stoppage of Angelo Nunez at the Olympic Auditorium.
Mayweather was also only six fights from capturing his first crown with an eighth-round knockout of Genaro Hernandez for the super featherweight (130 pounds) belt in October of 1998.
But on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the 38-year-old Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) will meet the 33-year-old Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) in a clash between two of the sport's best fighters, pound-for-pound.
Mosley spoke to FanHouse about that early meeting, which Mayweather disputes, as well as other aspects of the upcoming bout in this Q&A.
FanHouse: Can you discuss the circumstances of that meeting more than a decade ago when you say that Floyd Mayweather expressed his admiration for you?
Shane Mosley: I had just won the world title. Back in 1997. Mayweather had just come out of the Olympics, and he was coming up. This was at the Olympic Auditorium in LA.
Do you put any stock into the notion that Floyd Mayweather says that the fighters you have lost to have all been boxers -- Vernon Forrest twice, Winky Wright twice, and, Miguel Cotto, once?
Well, the boxers that I have lost to have been bigger than me, with the exception of Cotto, which, I think that that could have gone either way. Maybe for the Cotto fight, I was a little more flat-footed than normal. But the other two guys were bigger if you will. Vernon was a taller fighter, he had long arms.
Winky Wright had long arms, but Winky Wright fought also at super middleweight (168 pounds) and middleweight (160 pounds).
Do you believe that those experiences, losing to Forrest, Wright and Cotto, are among the exact reasons and experiences that you will use to defeat Floyd Mayweather?
I think so, yes. I think that's among the reasons why. Floyd hasn't had to deal with that type of pressure. Fighting a Winky Wright, what would Floyd have done with a guy who was rushing forward and throwing southpaw jabs. Floyd doesn't like southpaws too much.
It was tough facing Vernon Forrest, being that he was as tall as 6-foot, 6-foot-1, and long, and not being slow, either. He was kind of fast, with a long, strong, right hand. How would Floyd have attacked that type of situation?
Are your feelings toward Floyd going into this fight those of respect, as a fighter, disdain or dislike for his behavior, or exactly what?
It's mixed feelings about him, because I've seen Floyd in different lights. I've seen him act a lunatic. I've seen him being cool. I've seen him be different people. And I know this. The only thing that I can think about is just fighting him. Don't worry about what he says or what he does.
He might even try to be nice, if you will, for certain press conferences. But really, Floyd's a mess. He's all over the place. I don't know what to think. I can't hold him accountable for the things that he says right now because I know that it's fight week, and it's fight time, and he's going crazy.
So I don't really hold him accountable for his behavior like that right now.
Do you see it as being more unusual than before, say, maybe against other fighters in other fights?
I think that it has a lot to do with the pressure. When the pressure hits, I think that he just starts saying things off of the top of his head. He's trying to see what kind of reaction that he can get from you, or whatever. I was totally shocked at the LA press conference in the back, he was, 'Ahhhh, this,' and screaming and yelling and acting frantic.
It was like he was about to say something crazy. And then, he gets on the mike and starts thanking everybody, and his family and everything, and starts being basically kind of nice. But really, he's all over the place. You can't hold him accountable. You just let him do what he does and rant and rave and act crazy.
Then, we'll get into the ring and fight, and, after we fight, we can be cool again I guess. Or, I don't know. That's totally up to him. I'm a peaceful guy and I don't like all of that type of craziness. But some people are that way. That's the way that he lives his life.
Have you ever felt this sort of ambivalence or confusion about any other man that you've faced leading into a big fight -- Forrest, Wright, Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga?
It's funny about Mayorga, you know, he would talk a lot of mess, and stuff, but would call me in the back and say, you know, basically, 'I like you, Shane, but I'm the Matador, so, I'm crazy.' I respect that. None of the other guys were like Floyd. Vernon had his moments. He may have been a little jealous and envious of me having the pound-for-pound status at the time.
Vernon, knowing that he beat me in the amateurs, he felt, probably, that he should have been there. And, of course, he beat me again, and then, he was up there. But Vernon was a great guy all the way around with the kids and the family and Vernon was a great fighter as an amateur and a professional.
Vernon really loved the sport. Vernon was a great guy. So, I've never had really any animosity toward anybody because I try to keep my mentality even-tempered and just focused on the game of boxing. It's just about boxing. It shouldn't be personal.
Do you have any animosity toward Floyd at all?
Like I said, it's just Floyd being Floyd. Any animosity that I may have, you know, we'll see after the fight. If he's still carrying on in different ways after the fight, when the fight's over with, then I'll know that it's more personal than just being business or tactics or trying to get into somebody's head or if it's just warfare outside of the ring. Floyd's good at that.
I know that you are not specifically talking about the EPO issue of 2003, but you had mentioned in an earlier interview that, in retrospect, you really didn't need what performance enhancing drugs you took prior to the second victory over Oscar de la Hoya. You believe that?
I feel a lot better now than I ever felt back in 2003. With that stuff in my body, I felt tight. I got tired faster. I didn't feel natural. I didn't feel good. I didn't feel good about fighting. I just wanted to swing. I just felt tight. You get tired quick and you don't. The stuff was supposed to be for putting oxygen in your blood and for being able to recuperate.
But what I've learned is that some things that are just not natural are not good for you. You just don't feel right. In my opinion, performance enhancement drugs are not for boxers. I'll be the first to say that. It's a definite 'No-no.' Boxing is from the mind, it's from the brain. It's about what you have upstairs.
I would tell anybody, 'Why do you want to destroy your body?,' and, 'Your body doesn't know how to adjust to the different types of chemicals that you're putting into your body.' Your body doesn't know what the hell that it is and may not know how to process this stuff. It's just not good at all.
So you're happy with the Olympic style drug testing and the United States Anti-Doping Agency's involvement?
I think that this USADA thing is great. It's showing me that, 'Wow, you don't really need all of this other stuff to feel good.' I mean, look at the difference between 2003, and the Magarito fight.
Were you better in the first Oscar de la Hoya fight without the performance enhancing elements or the second one with them?
Of course, I was a lot better. More fluid. You could see the difference. Oscar was better in the first fight. And I was better in the first fight. The performance enhancement actually made me worse.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
According to WBA welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Sugar Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather, his upcoming opponent, expressed his adoration for him on November 20 of 1997 in a dressing room at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Mosley was 24-0, with 22 knockouts, and was five days from stopping Manuel Gomez in the 11th round. Mosley had already earned his first crown with an August, unanimous decision over Philip Holiday for the IBF lightweight (135 pounds) title.
Mayweather had just improved to 12-0, with his 10th knockout, a third-round stoppage of Angelo Nunez at the Olympic Auditorium.
Mayweather was also only six fights from capturing his first crown with an eighth-round knockout of Genaro Hernandez for the super featherweight (130 pounds) belt in October of 1998.
But on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the 38-year-old Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) will meet the 33-year-old Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) in a clash between two of the sport's best fighters, pound-for-pound.
Mosley spoke to FanHouse about that early meeting, which Mayweather disputes, as well as other aspects of the upcoming bout in this Q&A.
FanHouse: Can you discuss the circumstances of that meeting more than a decade ago when you say that Floyd Mayweather expressed his admiration for you?
Shane Mosley: I had just won the world title. Back in 1997. Mayweather had just come out of the Olympics, and he was coming up. This was at the Olympic Auditorium in LA.
Do you put any stock into the notion that Floyd Mayweather says that the fighters you have lost to have all been boxers -- Vernon Forrest twice, Winky Wright twice, and, Miguel Cotto, once?
Well, the boxers that I have lost to have been bigger than me, with the exception of Cotto, which, I think that that could have gone either way. Maybe for the Cotto fight, I was a little more flat-footed than normal. But the other two guys were bigger if you will. Vernon was a taller fighter, he had long arms.
Winky Wright had long arms, but Winky Wright fought also at super middleweight (168 pounds) and middleweight (160 pounds).
Do you believe that those experiences, losing to Forrest, Wright and Cotto, are among the exact reasons and experiences that you will use to defeat Floyd Mayweather?
I think so, yes. I think that's among the reasons why. Floyd hasn't had to deal with that type of pressure. Fighting a Winky Wright, what would Floyd have done with a guy who was rushing forward and throwing southpaw jabs. Floyd doesn't like southpaws too much.
It was tough facing Vernon Forrest, being that he was as tall as 6-foot, 6-foot-1, and long, and not being slow, either. He was kind of fast, with a long, strong, right hand. How would Floyd have attacked that type of situation?
Are your feelings toward Floyd going into this fight those of respect, as a fighter, disdain or dislike for his behavior, or exactly what?
It's mixed feelings about him, because I've seen Floyd in different lights. I've seen him act a lunatic. I've seen him being cool. I've seen him be different people. And I know this. The only thing that I can think about is just fighting him. Don't worry about what he says or what he does.
He might even try to be nice, if you will, for certain press conferences. But really, Floyd's a mess. He's all over the place. I don't know what to think. I can't hold him accountable for the things that he says right now because I know that it's fight week, and it's fight time, and he's going crazy.
So I don't really hold him accountable for his behavior like that right now.
Do you see it as being more unusual than before, say, maybe against other fighters in other fights?
I think that it has a lot to do with the pressure. When the pressure hits, I think that he just starts saying things off of the top of his head. He's trying to see what kind of reaction that he can get from you, or whatever. I was totally shocked at the LA press conference in the back, he was, 'Ahhhh, this,' and screaming and yelling and acting frantic.
It was like he was about to say something crazy. And then, he gets on the mike and starts thanking everybody, and his family and everything, and starts being basically kind of nice. But really, he's all over the place. You can't hold him accountable. You just let him do what he does and rant and rave and act crazy.
Then, we'll get into the ring and fight, and, after we fight, we can be cool again I guess. Or, I don't know. That's totally up to him. I'm a peaceful guy and I don't like all of that type of craziness. But some people are that way. That's the way that he lives his life.
Have you ever felt this sort of ambivalence or confusion about any other man that you've faced leading into a big fight -- Forrest, Wright, Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga?
It's funny about Mayorga, you know, he would talk a lot of mess, and stuff, but would call me in the back and say, you know, basically, 'I like you, Shane, but I'm the Matador, so, I'm crazy.' I respect that. None of the other guys were like Floyd. Vernon had his moments. He may have been a little jealous and envious of me having the pound-for-pound status at the time.
Vernon, knowing that he beat me in the amateurs, he felt, probably, that he should have been there. And, of course, he beat me again, and then, he was up there. But Vernon was a great guy all the way around with the kids and the family and Vernon was a great fighter as an amateur and a professional.
Vernon really loved the sport. Vernon was a great guy. So, I've never had really any animosity toward anybody because I try to keep my mentality even-tempered and just focused on the game of boxing. It's just about boxing. It shouldn't be personal.
Do you have any animosity toward Floyd at all?
Like I said, it's just Floyd being Floyd. Any animosity that I may have, you know, we'll see after the fight. If he's still carrying on in different ways after the fight, when the fight's over with, then I'll know that it's more personal than just being business or tactics or trying to get into somebody's head or if it's just warfare outside of the ring. Floyd's good at that.
I know that you are not specifically talking about the EPO issue of 2003, but you had mentioned in an earlier interview that, in retrospect, you really didn't need what performance enhancing drugs you took prior to the second victory over Oscar de la Hoya. You believe that?
I feel a lot better now than I ever felt back in 2003. With that stuff in my body, I felt tight. I got tired faster. I didn't feel natural. I didn't feel good. I didn't feel good about fighting. I just wanted to swing. I just felt tight. You get tired quick and you don't. The stuff was supposed to be for putting oxygen in your blood and for being able to recuperate.
But what I've learned is that some things that are just not natural are not good for you. You just don't feel right. In my opinion, performance enhancement drugs are not for boxers. I'll be the first to say that. It's a definite 'No-no.' Boxing is from the mind, it's from the brain. It's about what you have upstairs.
I would tell anybody, 'Why do you want to destroy your body?,' and, 'Your body doesn't know how to adjust to the different types of chemicals that you're putting into your body.' Your body doesn't know what the hell that it is and may not know how to process this stuff. It's just not good at all.
So you're happy with the Olympic style drug testing and the United States Anti-Doping Agency's involvement?
I think that this USADA thing is great. It's showing me that, 'Wow, you don't really need all of this other stuff to feel good.' I mean, look at the difference between 2003, and the Magarito fight.
Were you better in the first Oscar de la Hoya fight without the performance enhancing elements or the second one with them?
Of course, I was a lot better. More fluid. You could see the difference. Oscar was better in the first fight. And I was better in the first fight. The performance enhancement actually made me worse.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Boxer's deaths leaves questions in Venezuela -- Associated Press
By JORGE RUEDA, The Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela — The mother-in-law of former boxing champion Edwin Valero said Tuesday that the fighter was addicted to cocaine and had grown increasingly violent recently before he was arrested in his wife's murder and hanged himself in a Venezuelan jail.
The fighter's wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, had told her family that Valero "didn't sleep, he didn't eat, he used drugs every day and he was growing more violent all the time," Mary Finol told reporters at her daughter's funeral in El Vigia in western Venezuela.
Valero, who gained fame with a record of 27 straight knockouts and a huge tattoo of President Hugo Chavez on his chest, was arrested Sunday in the stabbing death of his 24-year-old wife. Police said the former lightweight champion hanged himself in his cell early Monday.
Venezuelans — both those who knew the fighter and those who watched his spectacular career from afar — have been asking what went wrong in the fighter's life and why authorities hadn't stepped in to halt the domestic violence despite past incidents.
Venezuelan former WBA super featherweight champion Jorge Linares said the case has been "a hard blow for the sport, for those of us who appreciated him ... and for all Venezuelans."
"What's important is that we learn a lesson," Linares said. "We admired him as an athlete, but we never did anything to help him with his problems. We could have started by making public his problems and not hiding anything."
Valero's funeral was scheduled for Wednesday.
The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, both for violent outbursts and problems with alcohol and drugs.
Since 2008, Venezuelan news reports had repeatedly linked Valero to domestic violence incidents, but the fighter and his supporters denied those reports. And until recently the authorities had not commented publicly on such cases.
"We all looked away not to admit what was going on," the boxer's manager Jose Castillo told reporters on Monday. He said the authorities also "were very permissive with him and because of that we're now in the middle of this tragedy."
In September, Valero denied that he was detained on domestic violence charges after Venezuelan news reports that a neighbor called emergency services and told authorities the boxer had struck his mother and a sister.
Five months earlier, in circumstances that were never clarified by the authorities, Viera was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to her left leg. The authorities said at the time that she was thought to have been shot outside her house by an unknown attacker on a motorcycle.
Last month, Valero was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for injuries including a punctured lung and broken ribs.
The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall.
Valero's lawyer, Milda Mora, said that after the incident the boxer was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail on April 7 and he was allowed to go free.
"The court put him in rehab for six months and somehow he got out in a weekend," said his promoter Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank. "I never talked to him during this period, I only talked to his manager. They were trying to get him to come to Mexico, to start training and cleaning himself up."
"It's obvious now, in retrospect, that he should have been institutionalized during this period, but it's silly to play the blame game," Arum said.
Mora said the Venezuelan government had also arranged for Valero to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Cuba. He had missed a flight to Cuba earlier this month and was scheduled to fly there soon, she said.
Valero grew up in poverty, the third of eight brothers, and he started boxing at age 12.
Finol said that he started using cocaine around the same time and that he "lived constantly in the streets, with bad groups." She said he didn't finish school, and sold fruit to make a living while drinking liquor from a young age.
Mora also said he struggled with depression.
The fighter had a stellar 27-0 record, all of them knockouts, and had his last victory in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco.
Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to compete in a higher weight division.
AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in New York and Associated Press Writer Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Source: google.com
CARACAS, Venezuela — The mother-in-law of former boxing champion Edwin Valero said Tuesday that the fighter was addicted to cocaine and had grown increasingly violent recently before he was arrested in his wife's murder and hanged himself in a Venezuelan jail.
The fighter's wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, had told her family that Valero "didn't sleep, he didn't eat, he used drugs every day and he was growing more violent all the time," Mary Finol told reporters at her daughter's funeral in El Vigia in western Venezuela.
Valero, who gained fame with a record of 27 straight knockouts and a huge tattoo of President Hugo Chavez on his chest, was arrested Sunday in the stabbing death of his 24-year-old wife. Police said the former lightweight champion hanged himself in his cell early Monday.
Venezuelans — both those who knew the fighter and those who watched his spectacular career from afar — have been asking what went wrong in the fighter's life and why authorities hadn't stepped in to halt the domestic violence despite past incidents.
Venezuelan former WBA super featherweight champion Jorge Linares said the case has been "a hard blow for the sport, for those of us who appreciated him ... and for all Venezuelans."
"What's important is that we learn a lesson," Linares said. "We admired him as an athlete, but we never did anything to help him with his problems. We could have started by making public his problems and not hiding anything."
Valero's funeral was scheduled for Wednesday.
The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, both for violent outbursts and problems with alcohol and drugs.
Since 2008, Venezuelan news reports had repeatedly linked Valero to domestic violence incidents, but the fighter and his supporters denied those reports. And until recently the authorities had not commented publicly on such cases.
"We all looked away not to admit what was going on," the boxer's manager Jose Castillo told reporters on Monday. He said the authorities also "were very permissive with him and because of that we're now in the middle of this tragedy."
In September, Valero denied that he was detained on domestic violence charges after Venezuelan news reports that a neighbor called emergency services and told authorities the boxer had struck his mother and a sister.
Five months earlier, in circumstances that were never clarified by the authorities, Viera was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to her left leg. The authorities said at the time that she was thought to have been shot outside her house by an unknown attacker on a motorcycle.
Last month, Valero was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for injuries including a punctured lung and broken ribs.
The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall.
Valero's lawyer, Milda Mora, said that after the incident the boxer was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail on April 7 and he was allowed to go free.
"The court put him in rehab for six months and somehow he got out in a weekend," said his promoter Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank. "I never talked to him during this period, I only talked to his manager. They were trying to get him to come to Mexico, to start training and cleaning himself up."
"It's obvious now, in retrospect, that he should have been institutionalized during this period, but it's silly to play the blame game," Arum said.
Mora said the Venezuelan government had also arranged for Valero to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Cuba. He had missed a flight to Cuba earlier this month and was scheduled to fly there soon, she said.
Valero grew up in poverty, the third of eight brothers, and he started boxing at age 12.
Finol said that he started using cocaine around the same time and that he "lived constantly in the streets, with bad groups." She said he didn't finish school, and sold fruit to make a living while drinking liquor from a young age.
Mora also said he struggled with depression.
The fighter had a stellar 27-0 record, all of them knockouts, and had his last victory in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco.
Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to compete in a higher weight division.
AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in New York and Associated Press Writer Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Source: google.com
Showdown with Mayweather was destiny, says Mosley -- Reuters
By Kieran Mulvaney, Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley feared he would never get to fight fellow American Floyd Mayweather, until "destiny" played its part.
The pair will clash in Las Vegas on May 1 in a fight Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) said was the biggest of his illustrious career.
"It's a fight the world wants to see," he said Tuesday during a teleconference with reporters.
After Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) defeated Juan Manuel Marquez last September, and Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines defeated WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, it seemed certain that Mayweather and Pacquiao would clash this year.
But negotiations collapsed over Mayweather's demands for random drug testing, and Mosley stepped in to take the Filipino's place.
"I have to be honest, I thought they were going to be able to avoid me," Mosley admitted in a separate call with Reuters.
"I thought they would be able to fight each other and retire. But this is the fight that had to happen. This is a fight of destiny."
Mosley, a former IBF lightweight champion, has fought at welterweight or higher exclusively since relinquishing his lightweight belt in 1999, including seven bouts at light middleweight.
Conversely, Mayweather has fought at welterweight only five times, and his last two contests - the victory over lightweight champion Marquez and a December 2007 stoppage of Britain's Ricky Hatton - came against opponents who were moving up in weight.
Mosley believes his greater experience at higher weights will be to his advantage.
"As a welterweight, he hasn't fought any of the top welterweights," he said. "I'll be the first one."
At the same time, he is not ready to concede that Mayweather, who is renowned for his quickness, will be the faster man in the ring in Las Vegas.
"I think I'm as fast as any fighter out there," he said. "I've always been one of the fastest. I've never been in the ring with Floyd, so I'm just going to do what I do best, be Sugar Shane Mosley.
"He has good hand speed, but I think my hand speed is good too."
Although Mosley's WBA title will not be on the line, the California native believes inflicting Mayweather's first defeat will be a large enough notch in his belt.
"This is a competitive sport," he said. "This is our legacy. It's a challenge that I'm ready to take. I'm ready to go into the history books as the guy who beat Floyd Mayweather, the guy who beat everybody out there, the last man standing."
(Editing by Justin Palmer)
To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
© Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved.
Source: ca.reuters.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley feared he would never get to fight fellow American Floyd Mayweather, until "destiny" played its part.
The pair will clash in Las Vegas on May 1 in a fight Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) said was the biggest of his illustrious career.
"It's a fight the world wants to see," he said Tuesday during a teleconference with reporters.
After Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) defeated Juan Manuel Marquez last September, and Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines defeated WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, it seemed certain that Mayweather and Pacquiao would clash this year.
But negotiations collapsed over Mayweather's demands for random drug testing, and Mosley stepped in to take the Filipino's place.
"I have to be honest, I thought they were going to be able to avoid me," Mosley admitted in a separate call with Reuters.
"I thought they would be able to fight each other and retire. But this is the fight that had to happen. This is a fight of destiny."
Mosley, a former IBF lightweight champion, has fought at welterweight or higher exclusively since relinquishing his lightweight belt in 1999, including seven bouts at light middleweight.
Conversely, Mayweather has fought at welterweight only five times, and his last two contests - the victory over lightweight champion Marquez and a December 2007 stoppage of Britain's Ricky Hatton - came against opponents who were moving up in weight.
Mosley believes his greater experience at higher weights will be to his advantage.
"As a welterweight, he hasn't fought any of the top welterweights," he said. "I'll be the first one."
At the same time, he is not ready to concede that Mayweather, who is renowned for his quickness, will be the faster man in the ring in Las Vegas.
"I think I'm as fast as any fighter out there," he said. "I've always been one of the fastest. I've never been in the ring with Floyd, so I'm just going to do what I do best, be Sugar Shane Mosley.
"He has good hand speed, but I think my hand speed is good too."
Although Mosley's WBA title will not be on the line, the California native believes inflicting Mayweather's first defeat will be a large enough notch in his belt.
"This is a competitive sport," he said. "This is our legacy. It's a challenge that I'm ready to take. I'm ready to go into the history books as the guy who beat Floyd Mayweather, the guy who beat everybody out there, the last man standing."
(Editing by Justin Palmer)
To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
© Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved.
Source: ca.reuters.com
Police say Valero hanged himself in cell -- ESPN
By The Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Former boxing champion Edwin Valero, who had a spectacular career with 27 straight knockouts and flouted a tattoo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his chest, hanged himself in his jail cell Monday after being arrested in the fatal stabbing of his wife, police said.
The former lightweight champion used the sweat pants he was wearing to hang himself from a bar in the cell, said his lawyer, Milda Mora.
Valero, 28, had problems with alcohol and cocaine addiction and struggled with depression. He previously had been suspected of assaulting his wife, and was charged last month with harassing her and threatening personnel at a hospital where she was treated for injuries.
Valero's 24-year-old wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, was found dead in a hotel room halfway across the country Sunday, and police said the fighter emerged from their room telling hotel security he had killed her.
Valero was found hanging in his cell early Monday by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police lockup in north-central Carabobo state, Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores told reporters. He said Valero still showed signs of life when they took him down, but they were unable to save him and he died about 1:30 a.m. ET.
The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion was a household name in Venezuela, and had a huge image of Venezuela's president tattooed on his chest along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag.
A man whose fists carried him from poverty in a small town to fame, Valero's all-action style soon earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser. His last victory, in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco, brought his record to 27-0 -- all knockouts. Venezuelans called him "Inca," alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called "Dinamita," or dynamite.
Valero had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, for violent incidents and problems with alcohol and drugs.
Last month, he was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for injuries including a punctured lung and broken ribs.
The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall. When the boxer arrived moments later, he forbade Viera from speaking to the police officer and spoke threateningly to the officer, prosecutors said in a statement.
A prosecutor had asked a court to keep Valero in jail, the Attorney General's Office said. But a judge instead allowed him to remain free under certain conditions, including that he appear in court every 90 days, said Mora, his lawyer.
Mora told The Associated Press that after the incident, Valero was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail on April 7 and he was allowed to go free.
Valero's manager, Jose Castillo, criticized authorities for failing to act more forcefully to prevent the killing.
"I asked the authorities not to let him out. He needed a lot of help. He was very bad in the head," Castillo told reporters. "But they let him out. They were very permissive with him, and because of that, we're now in the middle of this tragedy."
Mora, however, said of Valero: "He was the only one responsible."
She said the Venezuelan government had arranged for the fighter to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Cuba. He had missed a flight to Cuba earlier this month and was scheduled to fly there soon, she said.
The fighter had police escorts who were charged with protecting him. But last week he slipped away from those escorts, leaving his house near Merida with his wife and saying they were headed into town, Mora said.
Valero stayed in touch with his manager by phone, but it was unclear how he and his wife turned up days later halfway across Venezuela at the hotel in Valencia, Mora said.
While police suspected Valero was battering his wife, "the only person who could report it was her, and she told her family that he never hit her," Mora said. "She wanted help for him."
Valero also "adored his wife," Mora said. "We were very close to him and we knew there could be this sort of outcome because when he became conscious of what he really had done, he wasn't going to be able to bear not being close to Carolina."
Mora described the fighter as hyperactive and said he suffered from depression. She said in jail the authorities took away his jacket and his shoelaces to prevent him from using them for a suicide attempt, and that he used his sweat pants instead.
Before his death, photographs showed Valero being led away in handcuffs, then shielding his face by pulling down his cap.
The fighter's 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter have been staying with their maternal grandmother, Mora said.
Valero had fought mainly in Japan and Latin America because he had trouble obtaining a license to fight in the United States. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in a motorcycle crash in 2001, and until the law was changed recently, most jurisdictions refused to grant a license to a fighter who had sustained a brain injury.
He also was charged with drunken driving in Texas, and despite efforts of his promoter, Top Rank, to secure a visa for him, the U.S. government denied his application because of the pending charges.
Valero claimed his application was denied because of politics; he was sympathetic of Chavez, a fierce critic of the U.S. government. U.S. officials say they cannot discuss individual visa cases.
Valero appeared as a special guest at events hosted by Chavez and was lionized by some of the president's supporters as a national hero, while some critics accused him of avoiding punishment for past problems due to his links to the government.
Valero's is the third high-profile suicide of a former boxing champion in the past year.
Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello, the mayor of Managua, Nicaragua, was found dead at his home in July of a gunshot wound to the chest. A few weeks later, Italian-born former super featherweight and junior welterweight champion Arturo Gatti, a naturalized Canadian, was found strangled in the Brazilian resort town of Porto de Galinhas. His wife was arrested as the prime suspect in the death, but authorities later ruled that he had committed suicide.
The World Boxing Council lamented Valero's death in a statement, saying he had "happy years" in boxing and that his record will go down in boxing history. The council also said it hopes to help create a fund to pay for the education of Valero's two children.
WBC president Jose Sulaiman has said Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division.
Promoter Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank who had been promoting Valero, said the fighter had never displayed such behavior and was "very polite, well spoken, sort of funny."
"It's obvious now, in retrospect, that he should have been institutionalized during this period, but it's silly to play the blame game," Arum said. "Now, in retrospect, he clearly should have been getting help."
Glance At Valero's Life, Career
Here is a glance at some events in Edwin Valero's life and boxing career:
• July 13, 2000 -- Valero defeats Francisco Bojado to become Central and South American amateur champion. He also was the Venezuelan amateur champion three years running.
• July 9, 2002 -- Valero makes his professional debut by knocking out Eduardo Hernandez at 2:02 of the first round in Caracas, Venezuela. He would knock out his first 18 opponents in the first round to set a record that has since been eclipsed.
• Aug. 8, 2006 -- Valero rallies from a third-round knockdown to stop Vicente Mosquera in the 10th round in Panama City, Panama, winning the WBA super featherweight title.
• April 4, 2009 -- Valero moves up in weight to stop Antonio Pitalua in the second round in Austin, Texas, and win the WBC lightweight title. Valero received a license to fight in Texas even though he sustained a cerebral hemorrhage in a motorcycle accident years earlier, preventing him from fighting in most U.S. jurisdictions.
• Sept. 29, 2009 -- Valero denies that he was detained on domestic violence charges after Venezuelan news reports that a neighbor called emergency services and told authorities the boxer had struck his mother and a sister.
• Dec. 19, 2009 -- Valero defends his lightweight title against Hector Velazquez in La Guaira, Venezuela.
• Feb. 2, 2010 -- Valero fights through a bloody gash to stop Antonio DeMarco in the ninth round in Monterrey, Mexico. It would be his final fight. Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division.
• March 25, 2010 -- Valero is arrested on charges of harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel at a hospital where she was being treated for injuries. His wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, told police her injuries were due to a fall.
• April 18, 2010 -- Valero's wife is found stabbed to death in a hotel room and the boxer is arrested in the killing.
• April 19, 2010 -- Valero is found dead in his jail cell, and police say he hanged himself.
-- Associated Press
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
Source: sports.espn.go.com
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Former boxing champion Edwin Valero, who had a spectacular career with 27 straight knockouts and flouted a tattoo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his chest, hanged himself in his jail cell Monday after being arrested in the fatal stabbing of his wife, police said.
The former lightweight champion used the sweat pants he was wearing to hang himself from a bar in the cell, said his lawyer, Milda Mora.
Valero, 28, had problems with alcohol and cocaine addiction and struggled with depression. He previously had been suspected of assaulting his wife, and was charged last month with harassing her and threatening personnel at a hospital where she was treated for injuries.
Valero's 24-year-old wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, was found dead in a hotel room halfway across the country Sunday, and police said the fighter emerged from their room telling hotel security he had killed her.
Valero was found hanging in his cell early Monday by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police lockup in north-central Carabobo state, Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores told reporters. He said Valero still showed signs of life when they took him down, but they were unable to save him and he died about 1:30 a.m. ET.
The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion was a household name in Venezuela, and had a huge image of Venezuela's president tattooed on his chest along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag.
A man whose fists carried him from poverty in a small town to fame, Valero's all-action style soon earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser. His last victory, in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco, brought his record to 27-0 -- all knockouts. Venezuelans called him "Inca," alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called "Dinamita," or dynamite.
Valero had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, for violent incidents and problems with alcohol and drugs.
Last month, he was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for injuries including a punctured lung and broken ribs.
The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall. When the boxer arrived moments later, he forbade Viera from speaking to the police officer and spoke threateningly to the officer, prosecutors said in a statement.
A prosecutor had asked a court to keep Valero in jail, the Attorney General's Office said. But a judge instead allowed him to remain free under certain conditions, including that he appear in court every 90 days, said Mora, his lawyer.
Mora told The Associated Press that after the incident, Valero was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail on April 7 and he was allowed to go free.
Valero's manager, Jose Castillo, criticized authorities for failing to act more forcefully to prevent the killing.
"I asked the authorities not to let him out. He needed a lot of help. He was very bad in the head," Castillo told reporters. "But they let him out. They were very permissive with him, and because of that, we're now in the middle of this tragedy."
Mora, however, said of Valero: "He was the only one responsible."
She said the Venezuelan government had arranged for the fighter to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Cuba. He had missed a flight to Cuba earlier this month and was scheduled to fly there soon, she said.
The fighter had police escorts who were charged with protecting him. But last week he slipped away from those escorts, leaving his house near Merida with his wife and saying they were headed into town, Mora said.
Valero stayed in touch with his manager by phone, but it was unclear how he and his wife turned up days later halfway across Venezuela at the hotel in Valencia, Mora said.
While police suspected Valero was battering his wife, "the only person who could report it was her, and she told her family that he never hit her," Mora said. "She wanted help for him."
Valero also "adored his wife," Mora said. "We were very close to him and we knew there could be this sort of outcome because when he became conscious of what he really had done, he wasn't going to be able to bear not being close to Carolina."
Mora described the fighter as hyperactive and said he suffered from depression. She said in jail the authorities took away his jacket and his shoelaces to prevent him from using them for a suicide attempt, and that he used his sweat pants instead.
Before his death, photographs showed Valero being led away in handcuffs, then shielding his face by pulling down his cap.
The fighter's 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter have been staying with their maternal grandmother, Mora said.
Valero had fought mainly in Japan and Latin America because he had trouble obtaining a license to fight in the United States. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in a motorcycle crash in 2001, and until the law was changed recently, most jurisdictions refused to grant a license to a fighter who had sustained a brain injury.
He also was charged with drunken driving in Texas, and despite efforts of his promoter, Top Rank, to secure a visa for him, the U.S. government denied his application because of the pending charges.
Valero claimed his application was denied because of politics; he was sympathetic of Chavez, a fierce critic of the U.S. government. U.S. officials say they cannot discuss individual visa cases.
Valero appeared as a special guest at events hosted by Chavez and was lionized by some of the president's supporters as a national hero, while some critics accused him of avoiding punishment for past problems due to his links to the government.
Valero's is the third high-profile suicide of a former boxing champion in the past year.
Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello, the mayor of Managua, Nicaragua, was found dead at his home in July of a gunshot wound to the chest. A few weeks later, Italian-born former super featherweight and junior welterweight champion Arturo Gatti, a naturalized Canadian, was found strangled in the Brazilian resort town of Porto de Galinhas. His wife was arrested as the prime suspect in the death, but authorities later ruled that he had committed suicide.
The World Boxing Council lamented Valero's death in a statement, saying he had "happy years" in boxing and that his record will go down in boxing history. The council also said it hopes to help create a fund to pay for the education of Valero's two children.
WBC president Jose Sulaiman has said Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division.
Promoter Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank who had been promoting Valero, said the fighter had never displayed such behavior and was "very polite, well spoken, sort of funny."
"It's obvious now, in retrospect, that he should have been institutionalized during this period, but it's silly to play the blame game," Arum said. "Now, in retrospect, he clearly should have been getting help."
Glance At Valero's Life, Career
Here is a glance at some events in Edwin Valero's life and boxing career:
• July 13, 2000 -- Valero defeats Francisco Bojado to become Central and South American amateur champion. He also was the Venezuelan amateur champion three years running.
• July 9, 2002 -- Valero makes his professional debut by knocking out Eduardo Hernandez at 2:02 of the first round in Caracas, Venezuela. He would knock out his first 18 opponents in the first round to set a record that has since been eclipsed.
• Aug. 8, 2006 -- Valero rallies from a third-round knockdown to stop Vicente Mosquera in the 10th round in Panama City, Panama, winning the WBA super featherweight title.
• April 4, 2009 -- Valero moves up in weight to stop Antonio Pitalua in the second round in Austin, Texas, and win the WBC lightweight title. Valero received a license to fight in Texas even though he sustained a cerebral hemorrhage in a motorcycle accident years earlier, preventing him from fighting in most U.S. jurisdictions.
• Sept. 29, 2009 -- Valero denies that he was detained on domestic violence charges after Venezuelan news reports that a neighbor called emergency services and told authorities the boxer had struck his mother and a sister.
• Dec. 19, 2009 -- Valero defends his lightweight title against Hector Velazquez in La Guaira, Venezuela.
• Feb. 2, 2010 -- Valero fights through a bloody gash to stop Antonio DeMarco in the ninth round in Monterrey, Mexico. It would be his final fight. Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division.
• March 25, 2010 -- Valero is arrested on charges of harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel at a hospital where she was being treated for injuries. His wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, told police her injuries were due to a fall.
• April 18, 2010 -- Valero's wife is found stabbed to death in a hotel room and the boxer is arrested in the killing.
• April 19, 2010 -- Valero is found dead in his jail cell, and police say he hanged himself.
-- Associated Press
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Floyd Mayweather Junior Won't Be WBA Welterweight Champion, Whether He Defeats Shane Mosley On May 1st Or Not! -- Eastside Boxing
By James Slater, Eastside Boxing
Whether or not 33-year-old modern day ring legend Floyd Mayweather Junior manages to defeat "Sugar" Shane Mosley in their highly intriguing battle on May 1st, the boxer known as "Money" will not go home with the WBA welterweight title in his possession. In a surprising development, it has been announced how the WBA title that is currently the 38-year-old Mosley's personal property will not be contested by Mayweather - due to how the 40-0 star has refused to pay the WBA's sanctioning fee..
According to Fightnews.com, this means that if Mayweather wins on May 1st, the WBA title will become vacant, but that if Mosley wins he will retain the belt. Okay, though a somewhat surprising development, this news does not alter the significance or the enormity of the fast approaching super-fight one bit. Fans will still look at the winner of May 1st's winner as the best, or at worst, the second-best, 147-pounder on the planet (Manny Pacquiao will inevitably await the winner!) Fans have long since grown weary of the various alphabelt organisations and their frequent crazy rules and decisions. It seems Mayweather also has had enough with at least the sanctioning fees side of the governing bodies.
As has been the case with other top-name fighters in the past - such as Marco Antonio Barrera for a famous example - boxers have said no to paying sanctioning fees before. Floyd Jr, a good business man, knows the May 1st fight will still be a massive affair, and that the rewards for winning it will be great; WBA belt on the line for him or not.
As fans know, beating other great fighters is how a fighter builds his legacy; not by winning a plethora of alphabelts. In any case, Mayweather (and Mosley too come to it) has already won enough hard wear to fill at least two trophy cabinets. What will it matter if he leaves the MGM in Las Vegas without one more belt to add to his collection?
What will be interesting (or utterly confusing to the casual boxing fan) will be what happens to the WBA strap if Mayweather does indeed win next month. Which two fighters will fight for it? Could Mosley even benefit from his very next fight off a loss being one that contests a "world" title?
If this were the case, and if "Sugar" won the WBA belt for a second time, who could truly look at Shane as a "world" ruler; especially if his loss to Mayweather (if he does lose, which is by no means a definite) is a comprehensive, maybe even stoppage loss?
Source: eastsideboxing.com
Whether or not 33-year-old modern day ring legend Floyd Mayweather Junior manages to defeat "Sugar" Shane Mosley in their highly intriguing battle on May 1st, the boxer known as "Money" will not go home with the WBA welterweight title in his possession. In a surprising development, it has been announced how the WBA title that is currently the 38-year-old Mosley's personal property will not be contested by Mayweather - due to how the 40-0 star has refused to pay the WBA's sanctioning fee..
According to Fightnews.com, this means that if Mayweather wins on May 1st, the WBA title will become vacant, but that if Mosley wins he will retain the belt. Okay, though a somewhat surprising development, this news does not alter the significance or the enormity of the fast approaching super-fight one bit. Fans will still look at the winner of May 1st's winner as the best, or at worst, the second-best, 147-pounder on the planet (Manny Pacquiao will inevitably await the winner!) Fans have long since grown weary of the various alphabelt organisations and their frequent crazy rules and decisions. It seems Mayweather also has had enough with at least the sanctioning fees side of the governing bodies.
As has been the case with other top-name fighters in the past - such as Marco Antonio Barrera for a famous example - boxers have said no to paying sanctioning fees before. Floyd Jr, a good business man, knows the May 1st fight will still be a massive affair, and that the rewards for winning it will be great; WBA belt on the line for him or not.
As fans know, beating other great fighters is how a fighter builds his legacy; not by winning a plethora of alphabelts. In any case, Mayweather (and Mosley too come to it) has already won enough hard wear to fill at least two trophy cabinets. What will it matter if he leaves the MGM in Las Vegas without one more belt to add to his collection?
What will be interesting (or utterly confusing to the casual boxing fan) will be what happens to the WBA strap if Mayweather does indeed win next month. Which two fighters will fight for it? Could Mosley even benefit from his very next fight off a loss being one that contests a "world" title?
If this were the case, and if "Sugar" won the WBA belt for a second time, who could truly look at Shane as a "world" ruler; especially if his loss to Mayweather (if he does lose, which is by no means a definite) is a comprehensive, maybe even stoppage loss?
Source: eastsideboxing.com
Floyd Mayweather hurls stink bomb into Shane Mosley fight -- Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
Leave it to the Petulant One, Floyd Mayweather Jr., to hurl a minor stink bomb into the promotion of his own welterweight title bout against Sugar Shane Mosley.
An uncomfortable but forthright Golden Boy CEO Richie Rich Schaefer revealed moments ago on a national media conference call featuring Mosley, who fights Money May on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, that the between the second and third best 147 pounders on the planet will be for the WBO title but not for the WBA version strap.
Mosley, of course, became the WBA champion when he hammered Mexican star Antonio Margarito.
Manny Pacquiao holds the WBO belt at 147 pounds.
The WBC recognized champion is Twitter Twerp Andre Berto.
For his part, Schaefer basically excused Mayweather not contesting the historic WBA belt as a PPV TV level fighter's superstar privilege.
But it is unusual for, as in this case, a challenger to spurn a valid title belt.
Mosley did not take the same relaxed view as his GBP "executive partner."
Mosley wears VP stripes at the Golden Boy office as does Bernard Hopkins although rumors persist that Hopkins will soon ink a promo deal with rival Don King.
"To each his own but..." Mosley said. "I guess he is in it (boxing) not for the sport of it but just for the money. I love glory and legendary status of all my achievements and that includes the world title belts."
Schaefer naturally did not get into but the only reason for Mayweather to spurn a chance to cop the WBA title belt is because he is thrifty.
Normally, the sanctioning organizations require a three percent fee from each side in such a world title belt.
I doubt that any attempt was made by the Mayweather camp to work out a reduced fee with the Panama and Venezuela based sanctioning organization.
You know what Money May says, "The belts just collect dust."
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Leave it to the Petulant One, Floyd Mayweather Jr., to hurl a minor stink bomb into the promotion of his own welterweight title bout against Sugar Shane Mosley.
An uncomfortable but forthright Golden Boy CEO Richie Rich Schaefer revealed moments ago on a national media conference call featuring Mosley, who fights Money May on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, that the between the second and third best 147 pounders on the planet will be for the WBO title but not for the WBA version strap.
Mosley, of course, became the WBA champion when he hammered Mexican star Antonio Margarito.
Manny Pacquiao holds the WBO belt at 147 pounds.
The WBC recognized champion is Twitter Twerp Andre Berto.
For his part, Schaefer basically excused Mayweather not contesting the historic WBA belt as a PPV TV level fighter's superstar privilege.
But it is unusual for, as in this case, a challenger to spurn a valid title belt.
Mosley did not take the same relaxed view as his GBP "executive partner."
Mosley wears VP stripes at the Golden Boy office as does Bernard Hopkins although rumors persist that Hopkins will soon ink a promo deal with rival Don King.
"To each his own but..." Mosley said. "I guess he is in it (boxing) not for the sport of it but just for the money. I love glory and legendary status of all my achievements and that includes the world title belts."
Schaefer naturally did not get into but the only reason for Mayweather to spurn a chance to cop the WBA title belt is because he is thrifty.
Normally, the sanctioning organizations require a three percent fee from each side in such a world title belt.
I doubt that any attempt was made by the Mayweather camp to work out a reduced fee with the Panama and Venezuela based sanctioning organization.
You know what Money May says, "The belts just collect dust."
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
A look at Martinez's many options -- ESPN
By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com
It's amazing how one fight result can get you thinking about all sorts of other potential matches. That's what happened after Sergio Martinez's big win against Kelly Pavlik to win the middleweight championship Saturday night.
The new middleweight champ has a lot of potential big fights out there. Obviously, first and foremost, there is a possible rematch with Pavlik, whom Martinez beat by closing the show over the final four rounds like a true champion. He survived a seventh-round knockdown and won the rest of the fight. He badly cut Pavlik with a sharp punch to the eye. He outboxed Pavlik. He was faster than Pavlik. Pavlik didn't lose the title. Martinez won it.
When they did the deal for the fight in the first place, Martinez, promoter Lou DiBella and adviser Sampson Lewkowicz agreed to a rematch clause.
According to the contract, Pavlik and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum have 30 days to either pick up or pass on the option (which, by the way, would give the Martinez side a 50-50 revenue split). Pavlik indicated in the ring after the fight -- before going to the hospital for numerous stitches in cuts around both eyes -- that he would exercise the option.
"If they want [the rematch], obviously they have it," DiBella said. "If they want it next, they have it next."
But if Pavlik passes, which is entirely possible once he and his team sit down and discuss their options after the loss has sunk in, there are several possibilities for Martinez -- either at middleweight or junior middleweight, where he also holds a title (he has about two weeks to decide which one he will keep).
The obvious choice, if there is no Pavlik rematch, is for Martinez to go after a rematch with Paul Williams, who eked out a majority decision against him in December in a superb action fight. A rematch loomed as a big fight immediately after the first one. Now that Martinez is middleweight champ, it's even bigger. That said, DiBella said he has already talked to Williams' adviser, Al Haymon, and they agreed that while there should be a rematch eventually, "it ain't next. I can promise you that," DiBella said.
Incidentally, one of the cooler moments I've had as a boxing writer came after the Martinez-Pavlik fight. After the postfight news conference, I was invited to accompany Martinez and his team to the coffee shop at Caesars Atlantic City, where they celebrated the victory.
When we got there, Williams and trainer George Peterson, both of whom attended the fight, were finishing up as we were being seated next to them. Martinez went over to Williams and the two classy guys shared a warm embrace. Williams congratulated Martinez, and they were both smiling and put their arms around each other. Several fans were in the dining room as well, and Martinez and Williams happily posed for pictures with each other, signed some autographs and generally seemed to enjoy each others' company. After the brutal fight they had with each other, I know they respect each other, and it was great to see just how much in that moment.
Another possible fight for Martinez would be Kermit Cintron, who fights Williams on HBO on May 8 at junior middleweight. Should Cintron pull off the upset, a Martinez-Cintron rematch would be significant, at either weight.
The fighters met in February 2009 and fought to a draw, although Martinez got utterly robbed. First, his seventh-round knockout was overturned because referee Frank Santore did a horrible job. He reached 10, stopped the fight and then suddenly changed his mind. I've never seen anything like it in my life, and the fight continued. Then the judges screwed Martinez with the draw, although Martinez clearly won (twice!). Martinez would love a rematch to set the record straight, and if Cintron beats Williams, it's certainly interesting and definitely a fight DiBella can easily make because he promotes both guys.
A fight that DiBella would love to make for Martinez is against Alfredo "Perro" Angulo. It's a mismatch because Angulo isn't in Martinez's class, but it could be a fun fight while it lasted. Angulo defends his interim junior middleweight belt against Joel "Love Child" Julio on HBO on Saturday and would have to win. DiBella said the fight could be made for Martinez's titles -- but at a catch weight above 154 and below 160 to accommodate Angulo, if he wanted.
DiBella concedes it's unlikely, "but I can dream, can't I?" He said he called Gary Shaw, Angulo's promoter, a couple of times previously about the fight and Shaw always laughed at him because of how uninterested he was. Maybe now that the middleweight title could be at stake, without Angulo risking his interim junior middleweight title, it's conceivable. But I would say it's a long shot at best.
Another potential bout that got some play at the Martinez-Pavlik postfight news conference was a rematch between Martinez and Antonio Margarito.
In February 2000, on the undercard of the first Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera fight, Margarito stopped Martinez in the seventh round -- his only defeat other than the debatable decision loss to Williams. At the time he faced Margarito, Martinez was 16-0-1 and had been boxing for only about five years (and had no amateur experience).
Margarito, of course, went on to win multiple welterweight titles. He returns on May 8 at junior middleweight for his first fight in the 16 months since the hand wrap scandal exploded after his fight against Shane Mosley last year.
If Margarito makes a successful return, it would be an interesting fight with a built-in storyline. "We would love that fight. By the way, that fight would be huge," DiBella said. "So if Bob ever wants to talk about it or if Kelly [declines the rematch and] moves up in weight or something, we would love that fight. We can work with Top Rank any day of the week."
Arum agreed with DiBella that it would be a huge fight, particularly at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas. I suppose there is a chance of the fight happening, but Arum knows Margarito is a chip in a potential negotiation for a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. If Mayweather beats Mosley on May 1 and can't come to terms with Pacquiao, Arum wants a marketable backup plan for Pacquiao, and Margarito would fit the bill. (I'm not talking about a Mosley-Pacquiao fight because if Mosley beats Mayweather, Mayweather has a rematch clause.)
So Martinez has plenty of interesting options, right? But wait -- as they say in those knife commercials -- there's more.
I discussed all of the above possibilities with HBO's Larry Merchant the other night. And then, as he always does, he caught my attention with another suggestion, the same way he did a few years ago when we were talking about options for Pacquiao and Merchant conceived of the match between Pacquiao and the much bigger Oscar De La Hoya.
So when Larry speaks, I listen.
If Pavlik passes on the rematch and there is no Martinez-Williams rematch next, as per DiBella, Larry's suggestion this time?
Super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute, the Canadian star who knocked out Edison Miranda in the opening fight of HBO's split-site telecast Saturday night. Keep in mind, there had been talk of an eventual Bute-Pavlik fight, assuming Pavlik defeated Martinez. So why not Bute against the guy who beat Pavlik?
Merchant's take was that it's a no-lose situation for Martinez because he could move up and take a shot at Bute's belt without risking his new middleweight titles. He also thinks Martinez would have a shot to win because of his speed and boxing ability. He figures it also might be attractive to Bute because he would be the favorite, and HBO would surely have big interest in it because there are no other serious or notable options for Bute (unless you want to punish yourself by seeing him face Bernard Hopkins), with most of the top super middleweights tied up in the Super Six tournament on Showtime.
"If Martinez loses to an outstanding undefeated guy like Bute, so what? He can go back to middleweight," Merchant said. "And it's a big-money fight for both of them."
All just food for thought.
Source: espn.go.com
It's amazing how one fight result can get you thinking about all sorts of other potential matches. That's what happened after Sergio Martinez's big win against Kelly Pavlik to win the middleweight championship Saturday night.
The new middleweight champ has a lot of potential big fights out there. Obviously, first and foremost, there is a possible rematch with Pavlik, whom Martinez beat by closing the show over the final four rounds like a true champion. He survived a seventh-round knockdown and won the rest of the fight. He badly cut Pavlik with a sharp punch to the eye. He outboxed Pavlik. He was faster than Pavlik. Pavlik didn't lose the title. Martinez won it.
When they did the deal for the fight in the first place, Martinez, promoter Lou DiBella and adviser Sampson Lewkowicz agreed to a rematch clause.
According to the contract, Pavlik and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum have 30 days to either pick up or pass on the option (which, by the way, would give the Martinez side a 50-50 revenue split). Pavlik indicated in the ring after the fight -- before going to the hospital for numerous stitches in cuts around both eyes -- that he would exercise the option.
"If they want [the rematch], obviously they have it," DiBella said. "If they want it next, they have it next."
But if Pavlik passes, which is entirely possible once he and his team sit down and discuss their options after the loss has sunk in, there are several possibilities for Martinez -- either at middleweight or junior middleweight, where he also holds a title (he has about two weeks to decide which one he will keep).
The obvious choice, if there is no Pavlik rematch, is for Martinez to go after a rematch with Paul Williams, who eked out a majority decision against him in December in a superb action fight. A rematch loomed as a big fight immediately after the first one. Now that Martinez is middleweight champ, it's even bigger. That said, DiBella said he has already talked to Williams' adviser, Al Haymon, and they agreed that while there should be a rematch eventually, "it ain't next. I can promise you that," DiBella said.
Incidentally, one of the cooler moments I've had as a boxing writer came after the Martinez-Pavlik fight. After the postfight news conference, I was invited to accompany Martinez and his team to the coffee shop at Caesars Atlantic City, where they celebrated the victory.
When we got there, Williams and trainer George Peterson, both of whom attended the fight, were finishing up as we were being seated next to them. Martinez went over to Williams and the two classy guys shared a warm embrace. Williams congratulated Martinez, and they were both smiling and put their arms around each other. Several fans were in the dining room as well, and Martinez and Williams happily posed for pictures with each other, signed some autographs and generally seemed to enjoy each others' company. After the brutal fight they had with each other, I know they respect each other, and it was great to see just how much in that moment.
Another possible fight for Martinez would be Kermit Cintron, who fights Williams on HBO on May 8 at junior middleweight. Should Cintron pull off the upset, a Martinez-Cintron rematch would be significant, at either weight.
The fighters met in February 2009 and fought to a draw, although Martinez got utterly robbed. First, his seventh-round knockout was overturned because referee Frank Santore did a horrible job. He reached 10, stopped the fight and then suddenly changed his mind. I've never seen anything like it in my life, and the fight continued. Then the judges screwed Martinez with the draw, although Martinez clearly won (twice!). Martinez would love a rematch to set the record straight, and if Cintron beats Williams, it's certainly interesting and definitely a fight DiBella can easily make because he promotes both guys.
A fight that DiBella would love to make for Martinez is against Alfredo "Perro" Angulo. It's a mismatch because Angulo isn't in Martinez's class, but it could be a fun fight while it lasted. Angulo defends his interim junior middleweight belt against Joel "Love Child" Julio on HBO on Saturday and would have to win. DiBella said the fight could be made for Martinez's titles -- but at a catch weight above 154 and below 160 to accommodate Angulo, if he wanted.
DiBella concedes it's unlikely, "but I can dream, can't I?" He said he called Gary Shaw, Angulo's promoter, a couple of times previously about the fight and Shaw always laughed at him because of how uninterested he was. Maybe now that the middleweight title could be at stake, without Angulo risking his interim junior middleweight title, it's conceivable. But I would say it's a long shot at best.
Another potential bout that got some play at the Martinez-Pavlik postfight news conference was a rematch between Martinez and Antonio Margarito.
In February 2000, on the undercard of the first Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera fight, Margarito stopped Martinez in the seventh round -- his only defeat other than the debatable decision loss to Williams. At the time he faced Margarito, Martinez was 16-0-1 and had been boxing for only about five years (and had no amateur experience).
Margarito, of course, went on to win multiple welterweight titles. He returns on May 8 at junior middleweight for his first fight in the 16 months since the hand wrap scandal exploded after his fight against Shane Mosley last year.
If Margarito makes a successful return, it would be an interesting fight with a built-in storyline. "We would love that fight. By the way, that fight would be huge," DiBella said. "So if Bob ever wants to talk about it or if Kelly [declines the rematch and] moves up in weight or something, we would love that fight. We can work with Top Rank any day of the week."
Arum agreed with DiBella that it would be a huge fight, particularly at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas. I suppose there is a chance of the fight happening, but Arum knows Margarito is a chip in a potential negotiation for a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. If Mayweather beats Mosley on May 1 and can't come to terms with Pacquiao, Arum wants a marketable backup plan for Pacquiao, and Margarito would fit the bill. (I'm not talking about a Mosley-Pacquiao fight because if Mosley beats Mayweather, Mayweather has a rematch clause.)
So Martinez has plenty of interesting options, right? But wait -- as they say in those knife commercials -- there's more.
I discussed all of the above possibilities with HBO's Larry Merchant the other night. And then, as he always does, he caught my attention with another suggestion, the same way he did a few years ago when we were talking about options for Pacquiao and Merchant conceived of the match between Pacquiao and the much bigger Oscar De La Hoya.
So when Larry speaks, I listen.
If Pavlik passes on the rematch and there is no Martinez-Williams rematch next, as per DiBella, Larry's suggestion this time?
Super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute, the Canadian star who knocked out Edison Miranda in the opening fight of HBO's split-site telecast Saturday night. Keep in mind, there had been talk of an eventual Bute-Pavlik fight, assuming Pavlik defeated Martinez. So why not Bute against the guy who beat Pavlik?
Merchant's take was that it's a no-lose situation for Martinez because he could move up and take a shot at Bute's belt without risking his new middleweight titles. He also thinks Martinez would have a shot to win because of his speed and boxing ability. He figures it also might be attractive to Bute because he would be the favorite, and HBO would surely have big interest in it because there are no other serious or notable options for Bute (unless you want to punish yourself by seeing him face Bernard Hopkins), with most of the top super middleweights tied up in the Super Six tournament on Showtime.
"If Martinez loses to an outstanding undefeated guy like Bute, so what? He can go back to middleweight," Merchant said. "And it's a big-money fight for both of them."
All just food for thought.
Source: espn.go.com
Edwin Valero -- Telegraph
Telegraph.co.uk
Two months ago Valero stopped Antonio DeMarco in the Mexican city of Monterrey in what proved to be his final fight. It meant that Valero had won all his 27 fights by knockout, and he was being widely talked of as a possible opponent for the Filipino Manny Pacquiao, generally regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
A ferocious hitter with both hands, as well as a ruthless finisher, Valero’s fame quickly extended beyond his native Venezuela when he set a record by winning his first 18 fights by first-round knockouts.
A somewhat wild, colourful figure who sported an enormous tattoo of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez on his chest, Valero enjoyed a high profile and a powerful mystique in the boxing world. This was despite the fact that — owing to brain scan irregularities detected after a motorcycle accident during his days as an amateur — he had been restricted to just four fights in the United States. As a result, his career was made principally in Japan and Latin America.
He was a national hero in his home country, where he was known “El Inca” or “Dinamita”.
Edwin Valero was born on December 3 1981 at Bolero Alto, and brought up in El VigÃa. He had more than 80 amateur contests — losing only a handful — before electing to turn professional at the age of 21. He launched his astonishing winning streak by dispatching his compatriot Eduardo Hernandez in the opening round, at Caracas, on July 9 2002.
It was not until March 25 2006 – during his 19th professional fight – that Valero was taken to a second round, by the Mexican boxer Genaro Trazancos.
Valero’s next outing — in Panama City on August 5 that year — saw him take the World Boxing Association super-featherweight crown with a 10th-round stoppage of the Panamanian Vicente Mosquera, having himself been knocked to the canvas in round three.
Having made four successful defences, Valero moved up a division to claim the vacant World Boxing Council crown with a second-round stoppage of the Colombian veteran Antonio Pitalua in Austin, Texas, on April 4 2009.
Since then, no challenger had come close to deposing him. However, Valero was suspended as champion having expressed his intention to move up in weight again. At the same time he was said to be grappling with a drink and drug addiction, and events took a more sinister turn when his wife, 24-year-old Jennifer Viera, was reportedly taken to hospital suffering broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Valero was arrested last month, accused of harassing his wife and threatening hospital staff. Then Jennifer was found dead in a hotel in the Venezuelan city of Valencia. The boxer was again arrested, on suspicion of her murder.
Police said that Valero appeared to have used his own clothes to hang himself in a police cell on April 19.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
Two months ago Valero stopped Antonio DeMarco in the Mexican city of Monterrey in what proved to be his final fight. It meant that Valero had won all his 27 fights by knockout, and he was being widely talked of as a possible opponent for the Filipino Manny Pacquiao, generally regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
A ferocious hitter with both hands, as well as a ruthless finisher, Valero’s fame quickly extended beyond his native Venezuela when he set a record by winning his first 18 fights by first-round knockouts.
A somewhat wild, colourful figure who sported an enormous tattoo of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez on his chest, Valero enjoyed a high profile and a powerful mystique in the boxing world. This was despite the fact that — owing to brain scan irregularities detected after a motorcycle accident during his days as an amateur — he had been restricted to just four fights in the United States. As a result, his career was made principally in Japan and Latin America.
He was a national hero in his home country, where he was known “El Inca” or “Dinamita”.
Edwin Valero was born on December 3 1981 at Bolero Alto, and brought up in El VigÃa. He had more than 80 amateur contests — losing only a handful — before electing to turn professional at the age of 21. He launched his astonishing winning streak by dispatching his compatriot Eduardo Hernandez in the opening round, at Caracas, on July 9 2002.
It was not until March 25 2006 – during his 19th professional fight – that Valero was taken to a second round, by the Mexican boxer Genaro Trazancos.
Valero’s next outing — in Panama City on August 5 that year — saw him take the World Boxing Association super-featherweight crown with a 10th-round stoppage of the Panamanian Vicente Mosquera, having himself been knocked to the canvas in round three.
Having made four successful defences, Valero moved up a division to claim the vacant World Boxing Council crown with a second-round stoppage of the Colombian veteran Antonio Pitalua in Austin, Texas, on April 4 2009.
Since then, no challenger had come close to deposing him. However, Valero was suspended as champion having expressed his intention to move up in weight again. At the same time he was said to be grappling with a drink and drug addiction, and events took a more sinister turn when his wife, 24-year-old Jennifer Viera, was reportedly taken to hospital suffering broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Valero was arrested last month, accused of harassing his wife and threatening hospital staff. Then Jennifer was found dead in a hotel in the Venezuelan city of Valencia. The boxer was again arrested, on suspicion of her murder.
Police said that Valero appeared to have used his own clothes to hang himself in a police cell on April 19.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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