Floyd Mayweather can earn even more respect by stepping in ring with Manny Pacquiao -- Grand Rapids Press

By Bill Simonson, The Huge Show

I think I finally respect Floyd Mayweather as a boxer.

His attitude, public demeanor and opponent fight list always had kept me from thinking he was one of the best. I was on the side of thinking that he had fast hands, no power and nobody to fight because of timing, and how far the sport of boxing has fallen with fans the past 10 years.

I bought that pay-per-view Saturday night hoping Mayweather would lose to Shane Mosley, so I could see what type of champion he was and how he would bounce back.

The Mosley fight actually gave me an answer about how Mayweather would handle adversity for the first time in his career. I was not alone among the many boxing fans who could not stand the way he handled himself and the fact he looked like he was ducking Manny Pacquiao.

Saturday night's dominating win over Mosley showed me a side of the money man I never had seen before.

After Mosley pounded away in the second round and the crowd was roaring with approval, Mayweather found a way to gather himself and toy with Mosley the next 10 rounds, barely breaking a sweat and cruising to the biggest win of his career.

His conditioning, speed and corner all were superior to Mosley, and as good as I have seen in a big fight. It was inspiring to watch. Mayweather withstood the heavy hands of Mosley and looked like a true boxing champion for the first time.

What was even bigger for Mayweather was how he handled himself in and out the ring. He left the thug act at home and became a boxer people actually might start to like.

He finally looked and played the part of the boxer a lot of people thought they never would see. He was respectful of Mosley, talked with class and dignity afterward and seemed to look different to me for the first time since I started watching his fights.

I have been looking for a path to follow to respect this guy. He wasn’t the Allen Iverson of boxing any longer. This fight seemed bigger, and was bigger for so many reasons in and outside of the ring.

Will this be the fight after which people start to give some Leonard/Hearns type love to Mayweather? It will be if Mayweather stops fighting this drug test battle with Manny Pacquiao.

The more this continues, the more Mayweather looks afraid to fight him. If he wants to be the people’s champion, he has to get into that ring with Pacquiao. I think this is a trilogy of fights waiting to happen.

If Mayweather beats Pacquiao, he climbs into the conversation as one of the best boxers of all time. With the lingering questions of Pacquiao’s massive weight gain since he weighed 105 pounds, Mayweather has so much more to gain by beating Pacquiao now than waiting for this ego match to end.

Mayweather should not be able to dictate the rules of any fight. Some will argue Pacquiao should just take the test. Bad argument, as it allows Mayweather to have selective testing on fights depending on how tough or strong the opponent is. Mayweather needs to fight him now and stop looking like the chicken here. Beat him no matter what is or isn’t in his bloodstream.

It just makes Mayweather look even bigger in the eyes of sports fans. The Mosley fight was a huge step toward being a champion everyone will respect, and the Pacquiao win would put him over the top.

The sport of boxing needs at least two Pacquiao fights to reclaim some of its lost glory to mixed martial arts. There are few young fans who follow boxing. I can’t name a rising star. The ring is close to being replaced with an octagon and a tap-out everywhere.

The money train soon will stop for Mayweather if he doesn’t fight Pacquiao. Plus, the age factor will be a factor one day. I’m starting to like Mayweather now, and if he makes the Pacquiao fight happen, he has a chance to be bigger than he ever has been.

Beat Pacquiao twice and we start the debate about whether Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers of all time.

Source: blog.mlive.com

Who Is The World’s No.1 P4P Boxer? -- SecondsOut

By Clive Bernath, SecondsOut.com

The two main talking points being discussed by boxing fans the world over following Floyd Mayweather Jr’s win against Shane Mosley last weekend is should he now be ranked above Manny Pacquiao as the pound for pound No.1 boxer on the planet, and will he and Pacquiao face each other in the ring anytime soon?

I must admit I was in a bit of a dilemma after watching Floyd so impressively dismantle Mosley because even although I’d tipped Floyd to win on points, I never realised he’d do such a thorough job. And because Floyd did a great job I’m sure boxing websites and magazine editors all round the world will be having as much trouble as me making a decision as to who is now boxing’s No.1.

For the record when Floyd made the decision to retire after beating Ricky Hatton in December 2007 Manny Pacquiao was installed as the industry’s accepted p4p king shortly after beating Marco Antonio Barrera before stepping up in weight to destroy David Diaz and claim the WBC lightweight crown. Pacman’s reign as p4p king seemed pretty much the right decision but not everyone was totally convinced. But when he moved north in weight once again to crush the much bigger Oscar De La Hoya ( rtd 8), Ricky Hatton (ko 2) and Miguel Cotto (tko 12), Pacman’s No.1 status was never in question.

However, when, as expected, ‘Money’ Mayweather announced he was ‘coming out of retirement’ to face Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny’s inherited p4p crown was duly threatened. Clearly out-pointing the much smaller Mexican warrior was not enough to convince anyone Floyd should rightly reclaim his No.1 status but last weekend’s win over Mosley has got us all thinking again. Granted, Mosley had Floyd dancing around the ring like a drunk on a Friday night for a moment or two in the second round but from then on Floyd regrouped, controlled the fight and handed a still very capable Shane Mosley a boxing lesson.

Lets be honest, it’s a tough call as to who can legitimately lay claim to the No.1 slot, right?

Both men are totally different fighters, one is a strong aggressive big puncher crowd pleasing pocket dynamo while the other is an incredibly sound defensive master, that possesses boxing skills second to none and has the ability to control the pace of a fight on his terms, When you analyze the aforementioned it does appear very difficult to separate them, and when you throw in the fact that both possess lightening fast hand speed the decision becomes almost impossible to make. I suppose it boils do down to which style you prefer and value the most?

A decision of course has to be made, though, and rightly or wrongly SecondsOut has decided to leave ‘Pacman’ at No.1

Of course there is only one way to determine who the No.1 boxer on the planet is and that’s for Mayweather Jr and Pacquiao to settle it in the ring. We know the history by now. Mayweather Jr and Pacquiao had originally agreed to face each other last weekend. The venue was agreed, the split was agreed, in fact everything was agreed until Mayweather Jr and his team insisted both fighters should undergo random Olympic style blood testing in the run up to the fight. We know by now that Team Pacquiao refused this request, resulting in potentially the biggest fight in boxing history being scrapped. I won’t go into the ins and outs of what the demands were and what went on. The best thing to do is refer to Thomas Hauser’s excellent and very well researched article entitled Mayweather-Pacquiao,PEDs, And Boxing to fully understand the situation.

The bottom line is Mayweather Vs Pacquiao has to happen and it has to happen now, not just because both fighters are at their peak but because boxing needs this fight. Boxing needs this fight to happen simply because there is no other ‘Super Fight’ remotely as attractive at the present.

Unfortunately, it does not appear either camp looks like backing down regarding how the pre and post fight drug tests will be conducted so this could be the biggest fight in the history of boxing that never happen Ned.

The way I see it if Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr are to share a ring Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank has come up with the most sensible option for the fight to happen if the two camps cannot find agreement. If the fight, which seems very likely to take place in Las Vegas, Arum believes the decision on how the pre and post fight drug tests is conducted should be decided by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

On December 26th 2009, Bob Arum declared in Thomas Hauser’s PED’s And Boxing article, “The Nevada commission is paid by the state to oversee this sort of thing. They’re the governing body. Let [the Mayweather side] make any petition it wants to the commission. If the commission wants to take blood, fine. If they go to the commission and they ask for blood tests and the commission says yes, we will do whatever the commission says.

“We will allow Golden Boy to present experts to the commission to explain why additional testing is required and we’ll explain our position. Then we’ll let the Nevada commission decide. If Nevada says we need to do more testing, we’ll do more. But if they don’t, we won’t. Let the commission tell us how many days in front they want blood. Let the commission pick a date to stop taking blood. If the commission says both fighters have to give blood as they’re walking into the ring, we’ll do it. But I want the commission saying it.”

Unless one side backs down there is a real fear boxing fans will miss out on the most eagerly anticipated fight in years and just as importantly we still will not be able to make up our minds as to who is the world’s No.1 p4p boxer.

Source: secondsout.com

Knee-buckling moment vs. Shane Mosley brings out some of Floyd Mayweather's best -- Grand Rapids Press

By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press

LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather told some secrets, and withheld one, as the clock approached midnight in the Pacific time zone Saturday night.

Yes, he delayed his ring entry a bit to freeze Shane Mosley. Yes, that gladiator commercial used to pump the pay-per-view sales was his idea. Yes, that was real mink trim on his trunks and robe.

No, he would not disclose the hardest punch he ever took in a boxing ring, whether in sparring or a live fight.

“I won’t ever tell that,” he said. “That’s a certain secret that you keep to yourself and, when your career’s over, you tell it. It was a big puncher. I’ve done ran into some big punchers. But guess what? I light them up the same way though.”

In the afterglow of going 41-for-41 with a dominant unanimous decision victory, Mayweather came under assault with the usual array of questions about future opponents and ring dominance, his place in history and how to continue building his legacy.

The Grand Rapids native fielded some and slipped others as deftly as he did most of Mosley’s punches, until those concepts intersected in the one question he couldn’t slip, about the one punch he didn’t slip.

Actually, they were two punches, the second more damaging than the first, both in the middle of the second round, such that plenty of time was left for Mosley to jump him and finish the task of handing the most complete boxer of this era his first loss.

It was a crossroads moment in the career of a superstar.

“Ain’t nothing cool about what happened in the second round,” Mayweather said.

What happened was laid bare for the world to see.

Mosley chopped one right cross off Mayweather’s face, producing a stumble.

Moments later, at almost the dead center of the ring, he blasted another right cross to the jaw, producing the most knee-buckling moment of Mayweather’s career.

Mayweather would insist later that he’s been hit harder, by DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, who forced him to the ropes for some head-clearing in the fourth round of their 2004 fight, and by Zab Judah in a less-memorable moment in 2006.

While that may be true -- hey, he took the punches -- Mayweather never reacted as visibly to a punch in any previous bout as he did against Mosley.

“I could see in the second round, everybody was whooping and hollering and going crazy,” Mayweather said. “The only thing I thought about, I said ‘Just relax, stay focused.’ I mean, that comes with the territory in the sport of boxing. That comes with boxing. I’m a strong individual so I know what it took.”

He rallied late in the round and won the last half-minute. He went to his corner where “nobody was tripping.”

For a brief moment, Mayweather found the best of Mosley.

For the next 10 rounds, Mosley found the best of Mayweather, who dominated every round the rest of the way.

Prizefighters hurt and get hurt. History’s best do a lot of the former, and bounce back from the latter. For a moment, Mosley said he was “that close” to historic victory. For the next half hour, he found himself a victim of Mayweather’s ability to jab and set up right hands that couldn’t miss, and a virtually impenetrable defense.

“It was just me being able to show my versatility, and adapt and adjust to any opponent,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather said he thought, at one point, that Mosley was going “to cough it up” and get knocked out, but went into survival mode instead.

Undoubtedly, there came a point when Mosley knew he couldn’t win and lasting 12 rounds became the goal.

He was happy, he said, that two future Hall of Famers got to share the ring together.

And he was even happier to survive a moment that could have been the undoing of his perfect record, something that is never more than one punch away.

“My job is like being a cop,” he said. “One shot can end your whole career.”

E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

Source: mlive.com

Behind walls at Pacquiao mansion: Mayweather's got nobody else for mega fight -- Examiner.com

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

MICHAEL MARLEY PHILIPPINE DIARY, PART 9:

Exclusive Report From Behind The Tall Walls Of Manny Pacquiao's Mansion

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—First things come first.

The “news” that Manny Pacquiao has backed down to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and has agreed to underdog prefight blood testing for drug use 14 days before they would have their megabout is NOT TRUE.

I repeat, having just spoken with Pacman's hardworking agent Michael Koncz who minutes later was assured by his boss that the facts are that “nothing has changed” on the troubling topic which wrecked fight negotiations between the two camps this past January.

“I don't know where they got that report,” Koncz said. “'I've been getting many, frantic calls on this and it is not true that Manny agreed to anything. I guess it went out on some website using Manny's name but it was not authorized and is not correct.

“Manny just told me that nothing has changed as to a Mayweather fight as far as he is concerned. Nothing has changed regarding the blood testing. Manny continues to say as he has all along that he will fully comply with any and all regulations of a boxing commission, whether it is in Nevada, Texas or somewhere else.

“Manny is not going to let Mayweather bully or dictate this. Mayweather does not run his own boxing commission as far as we can tell. Manny is more than willing to fight Mayweather, that is not the issue here.”

Koncz, who is especially busy with Pacman's Congressional campaign in Sarangani nearing its end (voting takes place next Monday across the nation for many offices inlcludsing that of the presidency), said that Mayweather cannot throw a wrench into any Big Fight discussions with excessive financial demands.

“We agreed previously to a 50-50 split of all revenue and we demand the same now,” Koncz said. “Mayweather cannot take the lion's share no matter what he says. If he sticks to that, then Manny says there will be no fight.

“As far as we're concerned, Mayweather had a nice victory over (Shane) Mosley but, really, it was nothing spectacular.”

As if to further underline Pacquiao's desire to match his ring skills with Money May, Koncz said that should a boxing commission adjust or upgrade its rules for more stringent drug testing that there is no doubt that Megamanny will abide by that board's regulations.

“If the commission that is involved makes some adjustments on that, then Manny will go along with it 100 percent.

“If Mayweather does not want to fight Manny then let him go fight another American. I didn't hear him mention any other opponents, did you? Who can he fight and make the money he and Manny would make by fighting each other? You know the answer, nobody.”

Koncz, who said that Pacman promoter Bob Arum will be on the scene here in the Pinoy Idol's hometown Thursday for the conclusion of the heated electoral battle against billionaire Roy Chiongbian, outlined some additional aspects as to how the Big Fight can become a reality.

“We're staying with the 50-50 split, no doubt,” the former Canadian hockey player and law firm paralegal said.

“If Manny and Mayweather fight, and if the fight is compelling and entertaining, then we would agree to do a second fight where the winner of the first bout gets the lion's share of the money. That shows you how open and keen Manny is on fighting this guy.”

Koncz said that Pacman continues to believe that having blood drawn a few days before he fought and lost to Mexican superstar Erik Morales was a key factor in that defeat.

“It is a psychological thing with Manny as he feels that left him not at full strength and he intends to be completely at full strength to fight Mayweather. This a firm belief with Manny. It remains on Manny's mind but he will be reasonable if they are reasonable.”

I asked Koncz if he and or Pacman had spoken to Arum about any substantive issues regarding a Mayweather super bout since Mayweather decisioned Mosley Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“No, not really,” Koncz said. “There is nothing to discuss at this point, nothing to say.”

Konz reiterated that, whatever the results at the Saragani polls in Pacman's second try for public office, he will fight “this year.

“No Manny will be fighting this year for sure, probably in November.”

Koncz said the Pacquiao camp is no hurry to do anything as to boxing plans.

“We're not in a rush to do anything in boxing. Manny is focused on this election and then he will take his family on a two week vacation to an undisclosed location.”

Finally, Koncz said there may be problems agreeing with the Mayweather handlers on a venue.

“We just want to go where the biggest deal, the most money for the two fighters is. We think this fight at Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium, where Manny drew 50,000 people to fight (Joshua) Clottey would draw 100,000 people.

“We know they (Al Haymon, Golden Boy and Mayweather himself) will insist on Las Vegas. We like Las Vegas also, especially the MGM Grand and how they've treated us, but we want to go where the most revenue is. In this case, on this fight, Las Vegas might not be that place.”

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Should Floyd Be Ahead Of Manny On The P4P List? -- The Sweet Science

By Ron Borges, The Sweet Science

LAS VEGAS – Any more questions about Floyd Mayweather Jr.?

If one remains it is only this – why is Manny Pacquiao ahead of him on most pound-for-pound rankings?

Pacquiao ascended to that position not by beating Mayweather but by replacing him when the latter went into a 21-month, self-imposed exile after defeating Oscar De La Hoya and beating the considerable stuffing out of Ricky Hatton. He has marked his return to boxing by beating up Juan Manuel Marquez, with whom Pacquiao was life-and-death in two meetings, and Saturday night dominating Sugar Shane Mosley so thoroughly it seems fitting now to call him Saccharine Shane Mosley.

That Mayweather outpointed the 38-year-old WBA welterweight champion hardly came as a shock. He was a 4-1 betting favorite after all and even long-time supporters of Mosley, like Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, seemed to find it difficult to make a strong case for him. But it was the aggressively lop-sided way Mayweather did it and, more importantly, that he had to overcome a staggering moment in Round 2 along the way that left even De La Hoya loudly singing his praises after the bout had been decided.

Always one to give opponents their props, De La Hoya called Mayweather “the greatest fighter on the planet’’ and “possibly the greatest of all-time.’’ The latter seemed a bit over the top, especially if you ever saw Sugar Ray Robinson at all, Muhammad Ali at his best, Henry Armstrong on film or Sugar Ray Leonard in his prime but his other point now seems unassailable. Maybe Pacquiao will someday prove his superiority but he’ll have to take a string of unwanted blood tests to get the chance and in De La Hoya’s opinion it may not be worth the bloodletting.

“I did fight all three of them (Mayweather, Pacquiao and Mosley) and I have to be truthful,’’ De La Hoya said after Mayweather won 11 of 12 rounds on two of the three judges’ cards on his way to a unanimous decision that left Mosley humbled and red-faced from the lacing he took. “Mayweather is on a different level.

“Manny Pacquiao is a great fighter. I would never ever disrespect his accomplishments. There’s no stopping Pacquiao (from aggressively coming forward and throwing punches). He’s the energizer bunny!

“But he makes too many mistakes. When you do that against this guy you pay for it. It would be an interesting fight but Mayweather, by far, is the best. Mayweather is special. We have to respect that.

“Floyd Mayweather’s ability to instinctively throw a punch and connect, that doesn’t come around but once in a lifetime. We didn’t see the Mosley we’re used to seeing. You’ve got to give that to Mayweather. We witnessed the best fighter on the planet. No doubt in my mind. No doubt in Mosley’s mind.’’

There was some doubt in everyone’s mind at the Grand Garden Arena for a moment or two when Mosley landed two flush right hands to the face of Mayweather midway through the second round. Each jolted his head around as if it was on springs, the first knocking him off balance and the second wobbling him worse than anyone ever had.

It was a moment like this that many of his critics had been waiting for. The only real argument you could make up to this point of his career was what would happen if he got hurt and had to dig deep and fight back. What happened was just what anyone who saw him fight Emanuel Augustus at Cobo Hall in Detroit 9 ½ years ago would have expected.

That afternoon Mayweather had a bloody nose and was being belted from angles he never expected to see punches coming from. He was still young enough to not be quite sure what to make of it all but in the end he knew he had two choices – he could surrender or he could bite down on his gum shield and fight. He did and Burton’s cornermen ultimately had to come in and save him in the ninth round.

Mayweather was faced with a similar problem after Mosley twice lashed him as solidly as he’s ever been hit. Would he panic and get himself into deeper water? Would he go into a defensive shell and take more punishment? Or would he fight?

He fought, wisely until his head cleared but by the end of the round he was the one landing punches and in Round 3 he attacked Mosley with what would become the most important punch of the fight – a pulled counter right hand which comes when Mayweather sees the jab being launched at him.

He rocks back a bit to avoid it and then rifles a straight right hand over the top of it, landing it so often in the middle of Mosley’s face that by the end of the seventh round there appeared to be a permanent red blotch from his chin to his forehead.

It was a bruise, and a memory, that wouldn’t go away and neither would Mayweather, who by the end of that seventh round had written not only red but also the sad color of discouragement and resignation on Mosley’s face.

“After awhile I think Mosley went into survival mode,’’ Mayweather (41-0) said. “All he was trying to do was survive. At one point I thought he was going to cough it up, but he held on valiantly.

“I think he tried, but it's just me being able to show my versatility to adapt and adjust. My game plan was going to work, break him down in every way.’’

That he did it so thoroughly seemed to stun Mosley, who in past fights had often been the one to make adjustments during the course of a fight that led him to victory. Certainly that was the case when he fought De La Hoya, especially in their first fight, but this time there were no adjustments to be made to what Floyd Mayweather brought into the ring.

It is difficult to adjust to superiority, especially when it comes in every way possible. Before the fight Mosley had said he had a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C and he would not fail to use them all.

Truth be told, if he’d had a Plan A-to-Z it wouldn’t have made a difference because Mayweather proved prophetic when he said on Wednesday “There’s a blue print to beat him. He’s been beat five times. I never been beat. There’s no plan how to beat me.’’

Certainly Mosley didn’t have one, a fact he grudgingly had to acknowledge.

"He was hurt real bad when I hit him with that shot,’’ Mosley said of his first big right hand. “I was that close to getting him. I think after I caught him with that big right hand I opened up to much and played into his hands. I was too tight. When I hit him with the big right hand, I thought I was going to get the knockout.

“He started to avoid the punches. He did surprise me. Once I tried to get my timing back, I couldn't adjust and he did.’’

He also couldn’t match Mayweather’s hand speed, agility or defensive wizardry. What Mayweather did to Mosley was take away the jab he thought he was going to land by countering him with so many quick, hard rights over the top of it that he simply stopped trying to throw it.

Then he took away his sweeping right hook by either slipping it and countering or landing his own jab so hard and rapidly that Mosley kept finding himself dead in his tracks and unsure what was a safe punching distance and what was not.

Finally, he took away his spirit, making clear to him in the final rounds there was nothing he could do but resign himself to defeat at the hands of a guy who, as De La Hoya admitted, was better in every way.

"Mosley has very fast hands, but he doesn't have a jab,’’ growled Mayweather’s uncle and chief trainer, Roger. “He had tremendous hand speed, but it means nothing if you can’t hit the target. You've got to be able to hit the target. Mosley is fast if he fights somebody slow, but it's different if it's somebody faster. My nephew boxed his ass off. The fight wasn't even close."

Indeed it was not and maybe one with Manny Pacquiao won’t be either. As Mayweather pointed out, Mosley was the 41st guy who said he had a plan but once the two of them were alone with each other inside four strands of rope that separated them from the rest of society, all his plans were like the wind – gone in an instant.

Source: thesweetscience.com

Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather Jr superfight still some way from agreement -- Telegraph

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

Estimates range from $200 and $250 million gross for a fight which many expect will be discussed for November this year, after Mayweather deservedly earned the plaudits for the manner in which he broke Mosley down at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in an act of technical artistry which few fighters in any generation have shown.

Mayweather turned the fight on its head after a torrid second round and finished a lopsided winner. It was quite brilliant in its execution.

But now to the real main event. We have witnessed the two semi-finals, yet the final is a more complex contest to create. There are already deep fissures between the two promotional camps.

“If Manny Pacquiao can take a blood and urine test then we have a fight,” Mayweather said. “If not, no fight.” That may actually be borne out in the long term, unfortunately for the sport, but its principal playmakers behind the scenes will be lobbying both camps for a compromise. The issue, of course, is that Pacquiao refuses to take blood tests.

Mayweather insists, meanwhile, that he wishes “to clean up the sport”, an elaborate ruse designed to allow him the upper hand in all negotiations for any showdown.

Pacquiao’s position is that he will be open to random blood-testing, but not close to a fight, as he has admitted to feeling weakened for 48 to 72 hours after it. Ergo, Pacquiao’s counter-argument is that he does not want to run the risk of having to go into the ring feeling – mentally or physically – less than 100 per cent for the fight of his life.

“For me, as long as the drug test is not done close to the match, I’ll agree because if they’ll get blood from me close to the match, it will be a disadvantage for me because I’m smaller and he’s big,” Pacquiao told a Manilla radio station after the Mayweather fight.

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, told Telegraph Sport recently: “There’s no way I’m having my man going into the ring against an opponent not 100 per cent mentally and physically right. Manny feels weak after giving blood. That’s just the way it is. Floyd Mayweather doesn’t make the rules.”

Pacquiao wants the random blood testing cut off 24 days before the fight, a point his promoter, Bob Arum, is sticking with. “I’m not going to lose any sleep over it,” Arum said. “What I’m concerned about right now is Manny winning the election. If the fight doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. We’re not going to be dictated to.”

On that front, Mayweather’s earning power could also be an issue. Mayweather will have earned upwards of $40 million for his latest performance, and may use his commercial pulling power to demand the upper hand in the stakes for negotiation. Mayweather is unlikely to agree to a 50-50 split, and may make demands of as much as a 60-40 split for a fight with Pacquiao, which will not sit well with Arum.

It really is not about the boxing, as much as the business. In many people’s eyes, Mayweather took back the mythical pound-for-pound belt on Saturday night, which means for now that he really does hold all the chips and can be as Machiavellian as he wishes.

He could even suggest that if he climbs down from his stance on the drugs testing procedure, he could take an even bigger split. Stranger things have happened. Prepare for a long tussle before any signatures are reached for this one.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Floyd Mayweather Jr. silences critics with dominating win over WBA champ Sugar Shane Mosley -- New York Daily News

By Tim Smith, NY Daily News

LAS VEGAS - Oscar De La Hoya has fought Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. He lost to them all - Mosley twice.

But what De La Hoya saw Mayweather do to Mosley in a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night convinced him that Mayweather is the best of this generation and possibly of all time.

"Mayweather is special. We have to respect that," De La Hoya said.

Mosley rocked Mayweather in the second round and looked to be on the verge of saying to him, "The buck stops here." But Mayweather survived the round and then shut down Mosley for the next 10.

It was a masterful display by Mayweather. He answered the critics who said he hadn't ever beaten a legitimate welterweight with the victory over Mosley, a three-time welterweight champion and the current WBA champ.

He answered those who said he couldn't weather a storm if his chin was tested. After getting hurt by Mosley, Mayweather didn't fold. And he proved that there isn't an opponent that he can't completely shut down.

Even so, Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) knows it wasn't enough to please all of his critics.

"I'm in a no-win situation, because no matter what I do it's never good enough," Mayweather said.

Mayweather came up with his fight strategy with his uncle and trainer, Roger, and his father, Floyd Sr. The things he did to neutralize Mosley were in-fight adjustments.

"Mosley has very fast hands, but he doesn't have a jab," Roger Mayweather said. "He has tremendous hand speed, but it doesn't mean anything if you can't hit the target. He's fast if he fights somebody who's slow. How was he going to win if he couldn't outbox my nephew? I just told him (Mayweather) to keep him in the middle of the ring and box his ears off."

Mosley said he wanted to end matters in the second round, but his neck tightened up and couldn't finish the job. As his trainer Naazim Richardson noted, Mayweather gives you a brief window of opportunity to get the job done. If you don't take advantage, then it's curtains for you.

Richardson said Mosley was making excuses in the dressing room after the fight, but he told him to stop because no one but his mother wanted to hear them.

Even though he still has the WBA welterweight title, the 38-year-old Mosley (46-7, 39 KOs) said he didn't know what he was going to do. He said he would go on vacation and think about his next move.

After the fight, most of the questions were about a possible bout for Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather said if Pacquiao is interested in fighting him, then he will agree to Olympic-style testing. If not, then Mayweather said he will move forward without him. Pacquiao turned down a proposed fight with Mayweather back in December because he wouldn't agree to the testing.

Source: nydailynews.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr demands Manny Pacquiao takes random blood tests -- Mirror

By Nick Parkinson, Mirror.co.uk

Floyd Mayweather Jr dismantled Sugar Shane Mosley - then demanded Manny Pacquiao takes random blood tests if he wants to fight him.

Mayweather survived a secondround scare to win a unanimous points verdict against fellow American Mosley in their welterweight non-title bout in another display of his brilliant boxing skills in Las Vegas.

It cleared the way for a clash against Pacquiao in what would decide boxing's best pound-forpound fighter and be the biggest money-making bout of all time.

Talks between Mayweather and Pacquiao broke down at the start of the year due to Mayweather's insistence on random blood tests up to two weeks before a fight date.

There was no compromise and Mayweather instead faced three-weight world champion Mosley, 38, and notched up his 41st win by the judges scores of 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110. But unbeaten fiveweight world champion Mayweather, 33, is demanding Pac Man agree to his terms on drug tests.

If he dioes not, Mayweather could face Argentine Sergio Martinez, the WBC-WBO middleweight world champion who hospitalised Bristol's Adrian Stone in 2003.

He said: "If he wants to fight it's not that hard to find me. We tried to fight before and it didn't happen and we moved on.

"I take my hat off to Mosley, he did what I asked him to do, he took the blood and urine tests. If every athlete in the sport would do that we would have a clean sport.

"Everyone should take the test.

am willing to take the tests. I just want everyone to be on an even playing field. All roads lead to Floyd Mayweather.

"If Manny takes the test we can make the fight happen. If he doesn't we don't have a fight. I'm going to continue to fight the best our there.

"If the fans want to see that happen, I want to make it happen, but we have to have a level playing field. I'm not saying Manny Pacquiao isn't a good fighter, but I have the will to win when I get up under them lights.

"We may all hit the bag alike, we may all jump rope the same, but we don't perform under the lights the same."

Watching Mayweather at the MGM Grand were boxing greats Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard as well as celebrities such as Will Smith.

Mayweather was guaranteed $22.5million as well as a percentage of the pay-perview profits, but can expect more if a fight with Pacquiao can be agreed towards the end of the year.

Source: mirror.co.uk

Still perfect: Mayweather rips Mosley -- Miami Herald

By SANTOS A. PEREZ, The Miami Herald

Shane Mosley found that one brief opening rarely seen in Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s spotless professional career. A solid right to Mayweather's head in the second round of their fight late Saturday suddenly left Mayweather vulnerable.

But for Mosley, the opening closed quickly and with it his bid to defeat Mayweather.

Blessed with the speed, accurate punching and tight defense that have defined his career, Mayweather frustrated Mosley for the remaining 10 rounds and won a lopsided decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

``That comes with the territory of boxing,'' Mayweather said of his second-round scare. ``Only the strong survive.

``Sometimes you are going to get hit with big shots. I can give it and take it.''

Only Mayweather has been the unusual recipient of such a punishing punch and reminded Mosley during the rest of the highly anticipated welterweight bout.

Mayweather (41-0) immediately recovered from the second-round slip and set the tone for his convincing performance in the next round. Mayweather frustrated Mosley with straight rights, lead left jabs and counter left hooks to the head.

MOSLEY'S BAD OMEN

A telling sign of Mayweather's dominance occurred as early as the third round. Mayweather already had established pace with combinations to the head and left hooks to the head in the closing seconds of the round. Mayweather stood within punching range in the middle of the ring, goading Mosley to throw punches.

Mosley (46-6) instead froze and allowed the remaining seconds to expire. Being unable to take advantage of a temporarily available target was a bad omen for Mosley.

Mayweather widened his punch-landing advantage, and Mosley had minimal offensive response. During the minute rest before the final two rounds, Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, pleaded with his fighter to be aggressive and fight like a ``warrior'' in a last-ditch comeback effort. But it seemed as if Mosley's ammunition ran out early, especially after his second-round stunning right to Mayweather's head.

``I think after I caught him with that big right hand, I opened too much and played into his hands,'' Mosley said. ``I was too tight. He started to avoid the punches. Once I tried to get my timing back, I couldn't adjust, and he did.''

The three judges confirmed Mayweather's dominant performance with two scorecards of 119-109 and 118-110 on the third.

``After a while I think Mosley went into survival mode,'' Mayweather said. ``All he was trying to do was survive.

``Every fight is different; every fighter is different. Everyone was talking about how Mosley is stronger, how Mosley is faster. I rocked him more than he rocked me.''

Mosley, a three-division world champion, became an attractive opponent for Mayweather after Mayweather's fight against Manny Pacquiao in March was scrapped because of disagreements over prefight and postfight blood testing. Mayweather and Mosley underwent Olympic-style blood and urine tests for their fight.

``If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight, it is not hard to find me,'' Mayweather said. ``I just want everyone to be on an even playing field.

``If every athlete is clean in the sport of boxing, take the test. If Manny Pacquiao takes the blood and urine tests, we can fight. If he doesn't, we won't make the fight.''

GOLDEN GLOVES

Three Miami boxers will represent the Florida team that will compete in the National Golden Gloves Championships, Monday through Saturday in Little Rock, Ark.

Kabir Rodriguez (108 pounds), Daniel Molina (123) and Dariel Ramirez (141) advanced to the national tournament after winning state championships in their respective weight divisions last month. The Florida team also includes Boca Raton's Steve Geffrard (201) and West Palm Beach's Franky Gedeon (152).

sperez@MiamiHerald.com

Source: miamiherald.com

Floyd Mayweather convinces Golden oldie -- Boston Herald

By Ron Borges, Boston Herald

LAS VEGAS - As the rounds wore on and Shane Mosley wore down the way a cliff does after the ocean has battered it with its constancy for too long, Oscar De La Hoya began to feel good about himself.

Now retired from the brutal business of boxing, De La Hoya is the last man to have actually posed a challenge to Floyd Mayweather Jr. inside a boxing ring. Since De La Hoya lost a disputed split decision to him three years ago, Mayweather has fought three of the biggest names in the sport and embarrassed each of them. The trend of dominance that continued Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, where he turned Mosley into a frustrated old man first lamenting the loss of his skills but finally conceding it was not merely time that beat him so one-sidedly. It was also Mayweather’s gifts.

“A lot of guys are talented,” Mayweather said after administering a 12-round thrashing to the WBA welterweight champion in which two of the three judges awarded him 11 of the 12 rounds. “Talented and God-gifted are two different things. I’m God-gifted. I know it in my heart.”

Now so do De La Hoya and Mosley, business partners in Golden Boy Promotions and now shared victims of Mayweather’s brilliance.

“We’ve just witnessed the best fighter on the planet,” De La Hoya said at a postfight press conference. “No doubt in my mind. No doubt in Mosley’s mind. Tonight convinced me. He’s the best - possibly of all-time. Mayweather has the skill, talent and work ethic to beat anybody.”

De La Hoya spoke with superior knowledge on that subject, having fought and lost to not only Mayweather and Mosley (twice) but also to Manny Pacquiao.

When asked how Pacquiao would do against Mayweather, De La Hoya was emphatic in his opinion.

“I have to be truthful with you,” De La Hoya said. “Mayweather is on a different level because he’s a student of the game. He’ll beat you mentally outside the ring and finish you off inside the ring. It would be an interesting fight but Mayweather, by far, is the best.”

Mosley provided whatever doubters still existed the last test Mayweather needed when he twice rocked him with solid right hands in the second round, knocking him off balance the first time and into the dark, troubling place a fighter goes when his system is beginning to shut down the second.

At that juncture, his legs went bowlegged and it seemed with 1:47 left in the round, Mosley might finish off the man who earlier in the week claimed to be greater than Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. But while he searched and probed for another opening, not even his admittedly fast hands could unlock further the mystery that is Mayweather when inside a 20-foot expanse of roped off canvas.

“I was that close to getting him,” Mosley said, holding his fingers together like Julia Child adding a pinch of salt. “He’s a hell of a fighter. He made adjustments. I didn’t. That’s the most he’s been hurt before, but he’s a warrior. He proved that tonight.”

Mayweather’s superior hand speed and cleverness changed everything for good at the end of Round 7. Twice Mayweather landed what he calls a pull-back counter, a straight right hand that is launched to counter a left jab by first rocking back away from the incoming fire and then reacting so quickly coming back that the right hand is launched while the left is still in the air.

That left Mosley defenseless because it came so quickly he could not slip it and so hard it reddened the center of his face and snapped his head back as if he’d been in a car wreck with an SUV.

When Mayweather later nailed him flush with a hard left jab just before the bell tolled, Mosley’s face took on a look of sad discouragement. He’d had his moment and not only didn’t capitalize but Mayweather had come back and attacked him in the very next round and now was dominating.

After that, the rest of his shift was a hard day’s night. He survived but did little more than expand Mayweather credentials and give De La Hoya a reason to feel he’d done better three years ago than he thought.

“As the fight was going on I was thinking I was kind of proud of what I accomplished,” De La Hoya said, wearing a rueful smile. “The Mayweather style is a hard style to break.”

Too hard for 41 straight guys. Will it be different if the 42nd is Pacquiao? I doubt it.

rborges@bostonherald.com

Source: news.bostonherald.com

Shane Mosley Licks Wounds After Loss -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

LAS VEGAS -- Standing at the podium before a throng of reporters at the post-fight press conference, Sugar Shane Mosley pinched his right thumb within less than an inch of his forefinger.

"It was a good fight. I was that close. I was that close to getting him. But he's a helluva fighter. He's a helluva fighter. He's a great fighter," said Mosley, his cheeks puffy from the prolonged beating he had taken from Mayweather over a 12-round, welterweight (147 pounds) unanimous decision loss.

"In that second round, Floyd was hurt. He was hurt. He was hurt real bad. I think that that's the most that he's ever been hurt before in his entire career. But it was really early in the fight, and when you have two guys who are in shape, sometimes, you get those big shots," said Mosley, who staggered Mayweather with a right hand.

"But he made adjustments and didn't make that same mistake. I didn't get a chance to catch him with a second overhand right," said Mosley. "He's a champion. He's a warrior. And he went out there and he proved that he's the best fighter tonight."

The 33-year-old Mayweather (41-0, 25 knockouts) recovered from the second-round scare to skillfully overwhelm the 38-year-old Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs) on the way to the win before 15,117 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Mayweather won 119-109 on the cards of Adalaide Byrd and Dave Moretti, and Robert Hoyle had Mayweather 118-110.

FanHouse had it 119-109 for Mayweather, who out-landed Mosley, 208 to 92, in total punches, 85 to 46 in jabs and 123 to 46 in power punches.

"After I landed that big shot, then I wanted to land another big shot," said Mosley. "But there were a lot of different things that were going on in there that got me a little tight, and I just couldn't pull the trigger again like I wanted to."

Before the fight, Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, likened Mayweather to an athlete who would "sprout wings, grow scales and a tale, and become a dragon."

From the third round on, Mayweather had become just that.

"That fireball hit us. When that fireball hit us, our [butts] got kind of hot in there. It was a matter of adjustments. You have to make adjustments and you have to make them exceptionally quick," said Richardson.

"Opportunities can open up on Floyd, and that's what happened when we landed that right hand," said Richardson. "But the window of opportunity closed just as fast as it opened."

So that moment was lost and never did return -- mostly because of the abilities of Mayweather to neutralize Mosley.

For when Mosley threw the right hand after that, he was often countered by perfectly-placed, perfectly-timed left hooks underneath. Similar left hands jarred Mosley from over the top. Later, lead left hands caused mists of sweat to spray into the air.

When Mosley tried to jab, often lazily, he was countered with right hands -- head-swiveling uppercuts, crosses, and later on, lead rights.

With all of those punches coming at him, Mosley often second-guessed himself and seemed hesitant to mount his own attack.

"A lot of times, when you're too aggressive with somebody like Floyd Mayweather, he can come back and get you. I didn't want to be too aggressive," said Mosley.

"That's why I was able to catch him with a shot, because I didn't just run in and just throw a punch into the wind. So I think that that's why the shot opened up for me. But Floyd made adjustments and I just didn't make any adjustments."

And then, there were the piston-like jabs that bounced Mosley's head around like a bobblehead.

"My neck is just tight, you know, from the fight," said Mosley. "Maybe, you know, from some of the jabs that he was throwing at me. But he did a great job."

By the seventh round, Mayweather had completely taken over the fight's momentum, and Mosley, his mouth agape, already had begun to lose steam.

Between the seventh and eighth, Richardson told Mosley to "show me something," adding, "You look like you're fading on me, man."

But in the eighth round, Mayweather scolded Mosley for holding on and not fighting whenever he was in trouble.

After the 10th round, Richardson threatened to end the bout if Mosley didn't start to fight back.

"I'm not going to stand here and watch you take a beating, son," Richardson said. "I know you. I know you're cut from a different cloth. Don't make me do something I don't want to do."

Mosley had fallen behind even further after the 11th round, so much so that Richardson told him that he required a knockout to win.

"This is it, man, he's got to go," said Richardson. "You've done it before. I need it now. This is what warriors do."

Richardson tried to summon the warrior in the Mosley.

That was the warrior Mosley who had beat down Antonio Margarito, hard-hitting world champion, in January of 2009, scoring a ninth-round knockout that not only dethroned Margarito as WBA king, but which came over a man who had never been knocked out.

It was the same warrior Mosley who twice defeated Oscar De La Hoya. Also Mosley the warrior who scored consecutive knockouts over former world champion Fernando Vargas.

That same warrior mentality is what caused Mosley to essentially throw down the gauntlet, so to speak, in September, when he interrupted Mayweather's in-the-ring post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman following Mayweather's unanimous decision over Juan Manuel Marquez.

On Saturday night, however, that same warrior was out-gunned and out-gutted by a superior fighter, leaving Mosley to ponder what might have been.

Asked what's next in his career, Mosley said, "I don't know yet."

"I've got to go back to the drawing board and see," said Mosley. "But for now, I'm going to take me another vacation and relax and enjoy myself."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he's open to a Manny Pacquiao fight, but won't chase him -- Washington Post

By Gene Wang, The Washington Post

LAS VEGAS -- During the time leading up to his fight against Shane Mosley, undefeated six-time world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. regularly declined to talk about the possibility of a match against Manny Pacquiao.

After his lopsided victory over Mosley at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, Mayweather couldn't escape it.

The first question for Mayweather at his postfight news conference was when that much-anticipated bout would take place.

"If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight, it is not hard to find me," Mayweather said roughly an hour after punishing Mosley for the final 10 rounds of their 12-round main event and winning by unanimous decision.

Mayweather was fighting Mosley because discussions with Pacquiao's camp broke down in January amid drug testing issues. Mayweather's camp had requested Pacquiao take blood and urine tests, but the two sides couldn't agree on how close to the fight to administer them.

Pacquiao instead fought Joshua Clottey, whom he dispatched with ease on March 14 at Cowboys Stadium.

Now with Mayweather and Pacquiao having soundly beaten their most recent opponents, a match between the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world seems imminent.

"As far as I'm concerned, Mayweather is the one to dictate," said Oscar De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions took a lead role in promoting Mayweather-Mosley. "Mayweather is the one who says when, where, who. Mayweather is the king of the world now."

Whether Mayweather-Pacquiao happens probably will depend again on if Pacquiao accepts the stringent drug testing procedures in place for Mayweather-Mosley. Both of those fighters agreed to World Anti-Doping Agency-sanctioned blood and urine tests leading up to and following the fight.

Mayweather, in fact, was a late arrival to his celebratory news conference because he said he had to give a urine sample and have blood drawn. Soon after his entrance, Mayweather praised Mosley for agreeing to rigorous drug testing in light of Mosley's admission to using performance enhancing drugs, albeit unknowingly, before his fight against De La Hoya in 2003.

"I've been an elite fighter since the '90s," Mayweather said. "Like I always say, I'm closer to 40 than I am 21, so if the fight happens, it happens. I'm not chasing no fighters."

Source: washingtonpost.com

Trainer Naazim Richardson not surprised Floyd Mayweather bounced back from early trouble -- Grand Rapids Press

By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press

LAS VEGAS -- Naazim Richardson, Shane Mosley's colorful trainer, said there was nothing that surprised him about Floyd Mayweather’s performances in a 12-round unanimous decision welterweight victory Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

That included how Mayweather bounced back and dominated the fight after getting wobbled by Mosley in the second round.

"People said 'Well, he's never been hit,’” Richardson said. “You don't get to this level if you can't handle it.

"Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. is special. He's trained by special people."

Richardson said he was “cussing Mosley out” in the post-fight dressing room for being too hard on his performance, saying that no one talks bad about his fighter “including my fighter.”

Richardson gained some notoriety in his only previous fight with Mosley for discovering Antonio Margarito’s loaded handwraps just minutes before they entered the ring in January 2009. Margarito was allowed to fight, lost on a knockout, and has remained suspended for the violation ever since.

Saturday night, Richardson attempted to plant a mental seed with referee Kenny Bayless in the pre-fight instructions, in the dressing room, that Mayweather tends to use the left elbow as a defensive weapon. Bayless said he would watch for it, but it never materialized.

Asked why Mosley was unable to capitalize on his big moment in the second round, Richardson -- who said in the days before the fight that Mayweather, at some point would respond like a dragon and Mosley would have to “step on his tail” -- had a similarly descriptive response.

"That fireball hit us,” he said. “When that fireball hit us, our (butt) got kind of hot."

Richardson also said Mosley was affected by the neck stiffness but it couldn't be cited as a factor in the outcome.

"There's only one person who wants to hear excuses -- your mom," he said. "Mom'll say 'What happened baby?' Dad'll say 'Oh, those damn kids are a mess,' but mom is always going to fall down for you. Dad'll say 'That's the third time he was fired from his job mom -- your son is a bum.' But your mom is going to love you to the bottom. That's why they're special."

E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

Source: mlive.com

Leonard Ellerbe: Floyd Mayweather doesn't get enough credit for being 'best fighter in the world' -- Grand Rapids Press

By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press

LAS VEGAS -- Leonard Ellerbe, Floyd Mayweather’s closest adviser, said the general public probably wasn’t surprised by his man’s victory over Shane Mosley, but by the style of it.

“I thought it was a terrific performance,” Ellerbe said Sunday. “All you’ve got to do is remember our conversation before the fight, when I said beating Shane Mosley, as I just envisioned it in my mind, that people would be surprised -- not that Floyd beat him, but how he beat him.

“Floyd is a complete fighter. He can win any way he has to in the ring. The game plan Roger and Floyd Sr. put together was the keep the fight in the center of the ring, touch, walk, touch, walk. People probably thought this fight was going to be a track meet. But Floyd used very little movement. He stood in the middle of the ring and fought the guy.”

Ellerbe, the only original camp member who has remained with the team uninterrupted, openly questioned how anyone could doubt that Mayweather isn’t “the best fighter in the world.”

“He’s arguably the biggest guy out there in all of sports, and he doesn’t get enough credit for how he beats fighters,” Ellerbe said.

Ellerbe said Mayweather would take some time off and “not consider any other opponents” for the next several weeks.

“It was a very, very long promotion, really going back to the Pacquiao talks,” he said, referring to the discussions for a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, which were initiated last November, seemed finalized in early December, then lingered for weeks before finally being terminated in early January.

The Mayweather-Pacquiao proposal fell apart over Mayweather’s insistence upon enhanced drug testing, and Pacquiao’s reluctance to agree to same, and any break in that impasse does not seem any more likely now than at the beginning of the year.

Mosley agreed to the same random blood and urine testing that Pacquiao refused.

“I just think that Floyd set the standard,” Ellerbe said. “He set the tone for anybody stepping up to fight him. What he did is great for sports in general, not just boxing.”

E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

Source: mlive.com

Mother's Day: Aling Dionesia can prevent Mayweather-Pacquiao blockbuster -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

MICHAEL MARLEY'S PHILIPPINE DIARY, PART 8:

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—There is one Pacquiao that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will never beat.

Her name is Aling Dionesia Pacquiao, better know nationally as “Pacmom” and as Mother's Day approaches next Sunday, her dutiful son is paying more than lip service to her greatest desire.

“Pacmom”has continually expressed her fervent wish that her healthy and wealthy son, the proud father of four of her beloved grandchildren, pack it in immediately.

If his mother's directive is adhered to, then there will be no Mayweather-Pacquaio bout, no Antonio Margarito-Pacquiao fight or any kind of Pacman match looming ahead.

It is the mother's Number 1 priority, and it has long been, that Megamanny quit boxing before the game takes a physical and mental toll that it has unflinchingly extracted from so many before him.

I'm not saying Pacman will retire and send promoter Bob Arum (landing here in steamy Gensan on Thursday, I am told, for the Congressional campaign final days) and others who feed at the Pacman trough into paroxysms of anguish and grief.

What I am saying is that—as Pacman told me and some Filipino reporters in separate conversations Saturday night just before he took the stage for massive rally attended by 15,000 electoral supporters—is that his Mom's publicly expressed retirement talk weighs quite heavily on his mind.

It's an unresolved issue, a chronic but unresolved issue. This evalution poured from Manny's own lips even in the midst of the political excitement surrounding he and presidential hopeful and ally Manny Villar.

“My mother has never changed on this,” Pacquiao said. “She really wants me to retire now. We will have to talk and have further discussion about this, I know.”

Pacman said he would defer his sitdown session with Pacmom until right after the May 10 national elections are finished.

But, with Aling (a term of respect) clearly playing like a broken record on the my son must quit topic, some family reckoning must be achieved before Uncle Bob can start digging in with plans for another fight, be it against Mayweather or the stronger-chinned Mickey Mouse.

The most dangerous Pacquiao is not Manny.

The most powerful Pacquiao is not Manny.

The durian fruit, as we say here in South Cotobato, does not fall from the tree.

Meaning that the son, Manny, is reverential when it comes to what his maternal unit desires.

This is no baloney, no bluff, and is far removed from blood testing quibbling.

If Pacmom has her way, Pacquiao's boxing career is already over and Joshua Clottey, noted pacfist from Ghana, has the “honor” of being his last ring victim.

Today's Mother Day shopping tip for Uncle Bob: Perhaps, wink, wink, a generous offering should be in order.

I hear they have red roses on sale across the street rom my hotel her, my friend.

Again,I'm not saying that there will be no showdown between Pacquiao and Mayweather.

But right now the biggest fight blocker is Pacmom and her opposition to her son fighting anybody should not be underrated.

I close with the insight of intrepid Pacman watcher, Hammering Hermengildo Rivera, the ubiquitous Pinoy who operates in both the boxing and political orbits.

“Her influence is very palpable and for Manny to go against the mother's wishes is like swimming against a tsunami. The maternal influence is strong in all Filipinos and Manny is no exception to this rule.”

Let's see how this plays out.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Manny Pacquiao snoozes through Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather bout -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

MICHAEL MARLEY'S PHILIPPINE DIARY, PART 6:

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—If I could pick hot stocks the uncanny way I analzye big fights, I would have been in Nebraska this weekend, hanging with billionaire buddy and “Oracle Of Omaha” Warren Buffet instead of watching the Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather in Manny Pacquiao's steamy hometown on a Sunday afternoon.

Come on, fans, give it up. I'm better than Madame Auring on her best day. I told you guys repeatedly that Mayweather would play the nearly age 40 Mosley like a pinball machine and that's what happened for 11 out of 12 noncompetitve rounds.

I even forecast the judges' ballots, writing that there would be at least one 118-110 vote. That's exactly how Robert Hoyle tabbed it alongside the identical 119-109 scoring of Adelaide Byrd and Dave Moretti.

Time after time, I scribbled that this was a noncompetitive, highly paid workout for Mayweather, nothing more and nothing less.

Hearing mouthy Mayweather talk to Larry Merchant afterwards, I got the impression that the deluded winner felt he had staged a Gatti-Ward type ring classic rather than put on a midlly entertaining boxing clinic for most of the 36 minutes.

Only a few Sweet Scientists will put this fight tape into their collection.

Mayweather was out to make a statement and he did that.

Here's the statement as evidenced by Mosley's wham-bam right hand smash that wobbled and nearly floored L'il Floyd in round two.

The statement is this, that Mayweather's reluctance to talk turkey to fight Pacman has more to do with the real prospect, some would say the likeliehood, that his “0” would go and he would get KTFO'd by awesome finisher Pacman in a similar situation than it does with a 10 day disagreement on blood testing for steroid use.

The blood test bla, bla, bla is a cover up, always has been, for Mayweather's not wanting to risk his precious undefeated status.

Mayweather knows that Pacman brings the pain that Mosley, too slow and too reptitive, never could.

Mosley was like a lost golf ball in high weeds, unable to finish a damaged Mayweather off.

Megamanny would've torn Mayweather apart like a starving wolf ripping through grilled lamb chops.

I suppose you want to know how avidly Manny watched the big bout from Vegas.

Well, after a night of political campaigning followed by game after game of high stakes billiards at his pool parlor hereabouts, I hear that Pacman returned to his family mansion only a few hours before Money May and Sugar Shane teed off (about 11:45 am, local time).

Pacquiao canceled an appointment to sit in the Solar Sports TV studios in Manila to analyze the Vegas bout alongside Chino Trinidad and Joaquin Henson.

I've just confirmed through a reliable source, code name Halo Halo, that Pacquiao did for 12 rounds what Mosley did for 11, sleep.

And it's his terrible fear of getting put to sleep by a Pacquiao bomb or multipunch barrage that will keep Mayweather away from signing on the dotted line to fight the Pinoy Idol.

Pacquiao might put Mayweather away like the five ball going into the side pocket.

Even Stevie Wonder can see that now.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Forget peace, the world needs Mayweather-Pacquiao -- Orange County Register

By MARK WHICKER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LAS VEGAS – Is Jimmy Carter doing anything these next few months?

He is the President who got Menachem Begin to shake hands with Anwar Sadat.

He might be the only man who can broker a treaty between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

This does not affect world peace. It's far more urgent than that.

After Mayweather turned the renowned Shane Mosley into his 41st consecutive battered, befuddled victim on Saturday, he simply must fight Pacquiao.

Nothing else makes sense or very much commerce.

Mayweather and Pacquiao should fight at least twice. They should be Celtics-Lakers, or Federer-Nadal.

There is no longer any point in identifying the third-best boxer in the world, or becoming emotionally involved in any other matchup, even a good one like Paul Williams vs. Kermit Cintron Saturday at The Home Depot Center.

The stage no longer needs setting. Only one fight remains.

The problem is that it gets more remote as it becomes more obvious. Pacquiao and Mayweather were supposed to have fought already. It fell apart because Mayweather insisted Pacquiao take blood tests. He refused, but Mosley did not. The Nevada Athletic Commission is moving toward requiring such tests.

"I paved the way," said Mayweather, who took a urine test directly after the fight and had a pending blood test, before midnight Saturday. "I just want a level playing field."

And who can argue with Boy Scouts, baptisms and drug testing?

The Pacquiao camp has said it will go along with whatever a commission dictates. It just didn't want to be subservient to Mayweather.

But it's disturbing to see how many points of disagreement the two groups can discover.

Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, has become enamored with ballparks since Pacquiao's mismatch with Joshua Clottey was witnessed by 51,000 in Cowboys Stadium. Now Miguel Cotto will fight Yuri Foreman in Yankee Stadium.

Golden Boy, which promotes Mayweather at the moment, adamantly sticks with Vegas.

The underlying problem, of course, is that each side thinks it should dictate the terms. With all due respect to Pacquiao, that goes completely out the window if Mayweather-Mosley breaks the pay-per-view record set by Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya.

"He's the best fighter on the planet," De La Hoya said, a bit somberly, because Mosley is a Golden Boy employee.

But not too somberly because now Golden Boy's interests are entwined with Mayweather's.

"He's the king of the world after this one. He can dictate who, when, where and how much when it comes to the next fight," De La Hoya said.

Pacquiao always has maintained that he doesn't need Mayweather to feel fulfilled. Mayweather says ditto.

It's almost as if Pacquiao and Mayweather have so little respect for each other that the mechanics of a big fight today — the nationwide media tour, the heavy pre-fight HBO presence — get in the way.

Mayweather says he only does this to feed his family. Pacquiao has said he's maybe two bouts away from retirement.

Some boxing insiders said all along that Mayweather would defuse Pacquiao's headlong rushes and win convincingly but not lyrically. But that was before Mayweather stood on level ground with Mosley and carried the fight.

"It was time to follow the game plan," he said. "Every time he put up a jab I gave him a full counter. Sometimes he was getting hit before he pulled his jab back. And I was going to break him down with the left hook."

That happened after Mosley stunned Mayweather with a second-round right hand.

"It's not the worst I've been hurt," Mayweather said. "Chop Chop Corley hit me harder. I'm a fighter. This is part of my job. As soon as I got hit I started thinking about my family. I told myself to hold up, relax. I did, and then I came out and won the third round.

"I told myself the fight was only 1-1. After a while Mosley was just in there to survive.

"Ain't cool at all to get hit like that. I'm going to go back and watch the tape and see how I made a mistake. I'm not in this game to take punishment. Other fighters get all excited about power and speed. What makes a fighter is timing and being smart."

Mosley was hit with 202 of Mayweather's punches. Mayweather dodged all but 92 of Mosley's. In power punches, Mayweather shot 46 percent.

Mosley said his neck became stiff, primarily from catching Mayweather's jabs.

"I'm not listening to anybody talk bad about my fighter," trainer Naazim Richardson told him. "Including you."

The one word Mosley didn't utter was "rematch."

He and the rest of boxing are inclined to clear the floor, find the reluctant partners, and demand a spotlight dance.

Source: ocregister.com

Mayweather-Pacquiao not automatic as impasse continues over random blood, urine testing -- Grand Rapids Press

By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press

LAS VEGAS -- Anyone who believes the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight is automatic hasn’t been paying attention -- and it doesn’t appear their freeze is thawing anytime soon.

Late Saturday night, Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, said in a telephone interview with The Press that as long as Mayweather’s stance on random drug testing remains in place, there is “nothing to talk about” pertaining a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

And Mayweather insisted that if Pacquiao doesn’t submit to the same random blood and urine testing that Shane Mosley did before losing to Mayweather Saturday night, then the fight won’t happen.

That was the same impasse that stalled Mayweather-Pacquiao talks last winter, and which seems just as daunting in any resumption of negotiations.

“I want to give fans a pleasing fight,” Mayweather said. “If they want to see me and Pacquiao, I want to give them that. But we must be on an even playing field in the sport of boxing. Too many fighters are dying, too many families are getting hurt, in the sport of boxing.”

Arum said there has been no discussion about Pacquiao’s next opponent while the Filipino focuses on a run for a congressional seat in his native country.

“The election is a week from Monday, then we'll figure out who he's going to fight,” Arum said.

Asked if that might be Mayweather if the drug-testing demand remains in place, Arum responded curtly.

“No,” he said.

Mayweather said if the fight ever does materialize, he expects the same courage that got him through a second-round trouble spot against Mosley to be on display against Pacquiao.

"I'm not saying that Manny Pacquiao's not a good fighter,” he said. “He's a good fighter. But I've got the will to win under the lights."

He also said he’s “not chasing any fighter” and that it’s just as likely he could move up to middleweight -- the 160-pound division -- and challenge new champion Sergio Martinez, who dominated Kelly Pavlik to take the title last month.

"I saw him fight,” Mayweather said. “I thought about that. It's possible, it's possible. We don't know. I saw him fight Kelly Pavlik and I looked at him, I caught a little glimpse of it.”

Pressed on the possibility of fighting Martinez, Mayweather said he’s really more interested in some time off and watching the NBA playoffs.

"I just mean it'd be good to go up and win the middleweight title,” he said.

E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

Source: mlive.com

Shane Mosley: Adjustments the difference after coming 'that close' to getting Floyd Mayweather -- Grand Rapids Press

By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press

LAS VEGAS -- Shane Mosley huffed to the finish, face puffy from Floyd Mayweather’s punches. He left with a $7 million paycheck, a 12-round decision loss, and one moment that will go down in welterweight lore.

“That close -- that close -- to getting him,” Mosley said.

That moment in the second round, when Mosley caught Mayweather pulling straight back as he came forward with a right hand, is the one he might rue the rest of his life after he proved unable to capitalize and got dominated for the remainder of a bout scored 119-109 twice, and 118-110 -- that is, 11-1 and 10-2 in rounds, respectively.

"When you have two guys that are in shape, sometimes you get those big shots, and they come from a big puncher like myself, and he makes adjustments,” Mosley said. “And he didn't make that same mistake, and I didn't get a chance to catch him with that second overhand right.

"He was hurt. He was hurt. He was hurt real bad. I think that's the most he's ever been hurt before, in his entire career. But he's a champion, he's a warrior, and he went out and there and proved that he was the best fighter tonight."

Mosley acknowledged that the fight came down to who changed strategy in mid-fight better.

Mayweather responded to the trouble spot by pressing up his offense immediately in the third round -- even his rarely humbled father admitted he wouldn’t have done it, yet it proved the right decision -- and Mosley never figured out how to get inside a jab that set up copious right hands and enhanced the Grand Rapids native’s legendary defensive skill.

"He made adjustments and I just didn't make the adjustments."

Mosley said he might have gotten too anxious after seeing Mayweather in trouble and fell into a puncher’s mode.

"When I landed that big shot, maybe I got gung-ho and wanted to land another big shot,” he said. “There were a lot of things that were going on in the fight that got me a little tight and I just couldn't pull the trigger."

At 38, Mosley declined to address his future in the sport, saying he just wanted to go home to California and reassess.

He also said he had some tightness in his neck that needs to heal.

"Maybe from some of the jabs he was throwing at me,” he said.

E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

Source: mlive.com

Floyd Mayweather: I don't need Manny Pacquiao to make $20 or $30 million per fight -- Grand Rapids Press

By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press

LAS VEGAS -- The question of what Floyd Mayweather does next if he had lost Saturday’s weleterweight fight to Shane Mosley seemed pretty clear, a product of the first rematch clause in any fight contract during his brilliant career.

What happens next after he improved to 41-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Mosley seems much murkier.

Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao is the fight the public wants. But those two, after agreeing to all the usual sticking points -- including financial terms -- reached an impasse on drug testing.

The assumption that the Mayweather-Mosley winner would fight Pacquiao next is based on a thaw in those frozen talks, which is far from certain.

“This is not bragging or boasting,” Mayweather said, “but with or without Pacquiao, Floyd is going to be able to go out and make $20 million or $30 million a night. With or without him, I’m still able to do that.”

Mayweather’s gross purse was $22.5 million for fighting Mosley, and he was to receive a percentage of all pay-per-view revenues after 1.2 million domestic buys.

If the fight goes much over that threshold, it could present an even bigger hurdle to a resumption in Mayweather-Pacquiao talks than the Olympic-style random drug testing the Grand Rapids native sought in failed negotiations last winter.

When the Mayweather proposal fell through, Pacquiao fought Joshua Clottey instead, in a fight that produced about 700,000 domestic buys.

If Mayweather-Mosley far exceeds that, which is a virtual certainty, Mayweather already has said the bulk of the financial split would have to go his way before he would agree to fight Pacquiao.

“I don’t think about no Pacquiao,” Mayweather said. “I’m a boss, I only talk to bosses. He’s got to do numbers like I’m doing. What did him and (Juan Manuel) Marquez do, 300,000, 400,000? Congratulations. Got to step his game up. Got to step his game up. Got to step his pay-per-view numbers up. I average 1.3 million, with ease.”

Mayweather-Marquez did 1.086 million domestic pay-per-view buys, more than 2 1/2 times what Pacquiao-Marquez II did in 2008.

Mayweather suggested his next move might be a worldwide tour against lesser opponents.

“I’m Floyd Mayweather, they come to see me, regardless,” he said. “I could fight three months, fight a fight a month, and make $30 million, just like that. I could make $10 million a fight. This world is huge.”

Another shot at Pacquiao

Mayweather probably would have earned recognition as Fighter of the Decade if not for one fight in the final two years of the decade.

That Pacquiao earned that honor instead clearly rankled him.

“They say Pooch-e-yow got Fighter of the Decade, right?” he said, intentionally mispronouncing his rival’s name. “Well, how did Pooch-e-yow get Fighter of the Decade when he got outboxed by Erik Morales and had a knockdown, drag-out with Marquez? I just don’t understand this. And all these fighters have been cakewalks for me. They’ve all been cakewalks for me. I just don’t understand this. Do you?”

E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

Source: mlive.com