Floyd Mayweather, Jr. says he's taking a couple years off -- Examiner

By Stephen Johnson, Examiner.com

The never ending saga of "what will Floyd Mayweather do" took another wicked turn when doing an interview promoting his affiliation with the MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION, he suddenly disclosed his plans for boxing now include taking "a year or two off".

There is always the very real possibility that Mayweather, Jr. took the photo opportunity to exaspirate fans of boxing even further by making his latest proclamation, but the fact remains he continues to seemingly duck Manny Pacquiao.

Last we heard, camps for both Pacquiao and Mayweather, Jr. were feverishly bargaining behind closed doors in what was appearing to be a fight scheduled for late fall of 2010 or early spring of 2011

The reality of the whole scenarion seems to be two-fold.

First, Mayweather has just earned enough money from his last fight against Shane Mosley to appease both the IRS and his other debts incurred in Las Vegas.

The negative press surrounding his lavish lifestyle and gambling addiction have been quieted...for now. Real Estate and casino debts have been adequately re-negotiated to the apparent satisfaction of all parties.

Mayweather, Jr. has always sought public adoration but never needed it so badly as to possibly affect his common sense and undefeated record.

The welterweight division and it's surrounding counterparts fluctuating 4-5 pounds in either direction is currently a hot bed of competition.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is smart enough to realize that the longer he sits around and is the subject of controversey, the chances are tilted heavily against him for not taking on ANY challenger the boxing court of public opinion might dictate being a legitimate threat.

Second, Mayweather, Jr. never really intended on fighting Manny Pacquiao anyway.

Manny Pacquiao, although and smaller than Mayweather, Jr. seems to be the only fighter currently out there that truly poses a problem for the style of fighter Mayweather, Jr. usually handles easily.

The continued talk of performance enhancing drugs, Mayweather demanding random Olympic style drug testing up to the minute before the fight, and now wanting the purse to be split 60/40 his way, all validate the many "Chicken Mayweather" claims.

Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto, and Devon Alexander all appear to be willing to mix it up with Mayweather, Jr. but the little Congressman from the Phillipines is the one the majority of boxing fans around the world want to see in the ring with Mayweather, Jr.

The next time there is an opportunity for the Mayweather Foundation to promote their valuable and definitely community conscious endeavors, don't be surprised to hear Floyd Mayweather, Jr. "clarify" previous statements concerning his retirement.

He has been able to dictate his own terms when it comes to who he will fight, when he will fight, and how much he will earn to fight them.

Good businessman or "snake oil salesman", Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is content to let the others battle it out amongst themselves and see who the "last man standing" is and maybe then, decide to re-invlove himself.

Meanwhile, Manny Pacquiao would be smart to do the very same thing...

Stephen Johnson feature writes for Inside Boxing.com, Until the Next Round.com, and co-hosts Inside Boxing LIVE!

Source: examiner.com

Pacquiao again honored as Fighter of the Year -- Associated Press

By DAVE SKRETTA (AP)

NEW YORK — Manny Pacquiao seems to win something, whether it's a fight or an award, just about every time he makes the long trip to the United States.

The pound-for-pound king and newly elected congressman from the Philippines accepted his third Fighter of the Year award Friday night at the Roosevelt Hotel, while his trainer Freddie Roach was honored for the fourth time by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

"Tonight I overflow with joy and gratitude. I am thankful that, just like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier and other boxers, I decided to get into boxing," Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao won by a landslide in the voting by the organization's members, after a year that featured a spectacular second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton to win a 140-pound belt and a brutal 12th-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto that gave Pacquiao titles in a record seven divisions.

Pacquiao also accepted a special award as Fighter of the Decade.

"I confronted poverty by trusting God and dreaming big," Pacquiao said. "I was convinced I could succeed in boxing. The boxing ring could be the breeding ground for my dreams."

Accompanied by his wife, Jinkee, and most of his family, Pacquiao will remain in New York to watch Cotto challenge junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman on Saturday night in the first fight at Yankee Stadium in more than three decades.

The freshman politician will then head to Washington on Monday to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, promoter Bob Arum said, before a family vacation in Mexico.

Then it's back to the Philippines, where Congress convenes in July.

Meanwhile, Arum will continue work on perhaps the most highly anticipated fight in decades, between Pacquiao and the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. The two nearly reached an agreement to fight earlier this year, but negotiations broke down when Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style drug testing and Pacquiao refused to have blood drawn within 24 days of a fight.

Pacquiao went on to defeat Joshua Clottey before 51,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium near Dallas, while Mayweather packed the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for an impressive victory over Shane Mosley.

Arum declined to discuss details of the negotiations, in keeping with an agreement that he made with Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, who is working on behalf of Mayweather. But the veteran promoter said that Pacquiao is now willing to have blood tests within 14 days of the fight, the cutoff point that Mayweather had agreed to in the first go-around.

Arum also said he believes the fight, which would likely happen in November, will end up in Las Vegas rather than Cowboys Stadium or another venue that could pack upward of 100,000 fans.

"The key element, if the fight happens, we're finding out now is that Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas is Frank Sinatra times a hundred," Arum said Friday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

"They all are licking their chops for Manny Pacquiao, especially against Floyd Mayweather, because nobody else can bring in the highest of the high-rollers," Arum added. "The MGM or Steve Wynn will put up a number over or above the best gate."

Many believe that the reason negotiations for Pacquiao-Mayweather broke down the first time is that too many people involved in the fight were speaking through the media, which is also why both sides have sworn secrecy for potentially the richest fight in boxing history.

Roach is also keeping quiet, for no other reason than to save himself the aggravation.

"I'm just going to stay out of this one," he said. "I'm tired of whining, guessing, hoping. Obviously we all hope to get the big fight, but if we don't, we'll fight somebody else."

Roach had multiple reasons to be in New York this weekend. Along with accepting his fourth Trainer of the Year award, he'll be in the corner of junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan when he faces Joe Greene in the main undercard fight Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.

Among others honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America on Friday night included Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz, who waged the Fight of the Year; longtime sports writer Jerry Izenberg for long and meritorious service; the late Alexis Arguello for goodwill; Nick Charles and George Chuvalo for overcoming adversity; and judge Mills Lane for honesty and integrity.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: google.com

Manny Pacquiao named fighter of the year by US writers -- BBC Sport

BBC Sport

Five-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao has been named fighter of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Philippines star Pacquiao's year featured a spectacular second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton and a brutal 12th-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto.

"Tonight I overflow with joy and gratitude. I am thankful that I decided to get into boxing," said Pacquiao.

His coach Freddie Roach was named trainer of the year.

It was the fourth time Roach, who also trains British boxer Amir Khan, had won the award. Pacquiao was picking up the boxer of the year title for the third time.

"I confronted poverty by trusting God and dreaming big," said Pacquiao, a newly elected congressman in the Philippines.

"I was convinced I could succeed in boxing. The boxing ring could be the breeding ground for my dreams."

Meanwhile, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum has said that progress continues to be made in negotiating what would be one of the biggest fights in the sport's history with the Filipino taking on unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather.

The two nearly reached an agreement to fight earlier in 2010, but negotiations broke down when Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style drug testing and Pacquiao refused to have blood drawn within 24 days of a fight.

Pacquiao has now relented and agreed to blood testing 14-days prior to any fight - the cut-off point that Mayweather had initially agreed to.

Arum also said he believes the fight, which would likely happen in November, will end up in Las Vegas rather than Cowboys Stadium or another venue that could pack upward of 100,000.

"The key element, if the fight happens, we're finding out now is that Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas is Frank Sinatra times a hundred," said Arum.

"They all are licking their chops for Manny Pacquiao, especially against Floyd Mayweather, because nobody else can bring in the highest of the high-rollers.

"The MGM or Steve Wynn will put up a number over or above the best gate."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk