Manny Pacquiao takes politically correct approach -- Los Angeles Times

By Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times

From New York

The congressman stepped to the microphone Wednesday, knowing his task. There were no babies to kiss, just media to embrace.

"Here we go again," said the Honorable Manny Pacquiao, recently elected member of the southern Sarangani District of the Philippines.

This implied nothing had changed, that his boxing career was the main thing and that he would continue to climb to heights reached by few before him. He will fight Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 in Cowboys Stadium.

Taken at face value, that is a pretty big deal.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said he will open up 70,000 seats, and there actually may be enough Texans unsophisticated enough about boxing to fill those. The last time Pacquiao fought there, 50,924 showed up to gawk through binoculars as Pacquiao battered Joshua Clottey, who mostly stood with his hands covering his head and took whatever Pacquiao dished out.

Margarito actually will fight back. In his heyday, he was a bruising brawler. But then they found plaster material in his glove wraps before his fight against Shane Mosley at Staples Center on Jan. 24, 2009. Since then, Margarito has spent more time testifying than boxing. Mosley beat him up that night, and public opinion has continued to do the same since.

Many boxing writers feel that the upset of the year in the sport has already taken place, and not in the ring. Texas gave Margarito a license to fight again, after California and Nevada said no. That is stunning to many.

Still, with Floyd Mayweather Jr., the only real opponent left for Pacquiao, tilting with his own personal windmills and unwilling to compromise to make that big fight, Top Rank Promotions had to make a move. It had the Nov. 13 date for Pacquiao and the only opponent left who came close to creating a buzz was Margarito.

Margarito is bigger, taller and possibly a shot fighter. He is 32 with 44 fights and looks to be the more battle-weary. Pacquiao is 31 with 56 fights and still looks fresh and ready.

Nobody will know until fight night, even though somebookmakers have made Pacquiao a 5-1 choice, a big spread for this level fight.

Nor does anybody know exactly how the changes in Pacquiao's life will manifest themselves in the boxing ring, if at all. Certainly, as the fighters and their entourages made the second of three promotional stops Wednesday, it was not quite the same vibe.

First, the proceedings were clouded by the predicament of Top Rank's founder and chief executive, Bob Arum. The 78-year-old boxing legend learned Tuesday that his oldest son, John, 49, a lawyer, outdoorsman and skilled mountain climber, was lost in Washington's Cascade Mountains. With Arum in Washington, as rangers searched, the normal hype and bombast of a boxing news conference correctly toned down.

Also, topics that are usually suited for left hooks and uppercuts are now a bit superficial, even though the usual horde of pseudo boxing media, desperately seeking autographs and cellphone pictures instead of answers to newsworthy questions, was out in full drool.

Pacquiao's constituency comprises much more than boxing fans. He is loved for his success in the ring, but needed more for his decisions in legislative chambers. He will not linger after the three-city promotional tour. Philippine Congress is in session Monday.

Finally lured to a quiet spot away from the groupies with media badges, Pacquiao readily admitted that his life has changed dramatically.

"I have to watch my moves every day," he said. "People watch everything I do. I need to be careful."

He said he likes being a public servant, and that it carries over to his boxing to the point where winning now is more important.

"I want to win to show people I still can," he said. Pacquiao also said that, in a country still dangerously violent at times, his violence in the ring can be a vehicle of peace.

"When I fight, everybody is united," he said. "There is zero crime. There are no cars on the streets."

He was shown an article from the Sunday New York Times. It reported the anger and unrest in the aftermath of the Aug. 23 hostage crisis in Manila, in which eight tourists from Hong Kong were killed, apparently the result of inept handling by Philippine police.

Pacquiao responded like a politician.

"We know who was responsible," he said. "Our new government was very surprised this happened. It is being investigated and I am confident we can fix that incident."

What might he do personally, directly?

"If I have to present a bill so this doesn't happen again, I will," he said. "We want things to be good in our country for tourists, for foreigners."

And so, the story of Manny Pacquiao continues to amaze. He keeps making weight, despite carrying millions with him on his shoulders.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com

Source: latimes.com

It's not all about Money for Floyd -- The Sun

By GAVIN GLICKSMAN, The Sun

EVANDER HOLYFIELD believes Floyd Mayweather should think long and hard before agreeing to face Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather, 33, is widely expected to battle pound-for-pound king Pacquiao next year.

But Holyfield has hinted the man known as Money will only take the fight if he is 100 per cent certain of preserving his unbeaten record.

The Real Deal said: "Nobody will ever make as much money as those two if they decide to fight.

"But somebody's got to get the decision and if Mayweather doesn't win, it hurts his whole legacy.

"If Pacquiao loses it doesn't hurt anything because he's a nice guy and people never expected him to be up there anyway.

"Mayweather's got more to risk because Pacquiao's lost before and I think he proves why it's so important to be a good guy.

"Michael Moorer once said that people will always like me regardless of whether I win or lose — and that's because I don't brag about what I do.

"I know that each and every time I box I'm going to give my all — and Pacquiao is exactly the same.

"The only person who's won all his fights is Mayweather, but that can stress you out because you don't want to lose.

"Mayweather is a sharp fighter and his testimony is 'you ain't ever gonna beat me'.

"He's fought the best of the best so you have to question how big his ego is to risk it all against Pacquiao."

With Mayweather boasting 41 wins in 41 fights, many pundits believe he will have the edge over the naturally smaller Pacquiao.

But Holyfield claims Pac-Man's fighting spirit makes it too hard to call.

He added: "Mayweather may be the sharpest fighter out there, but on the other hand Pacquiao may be the only one who can deal with anything.

"Mayweather is a spot fighter, whereas Pacquiao will throw more punches and fight all the time.

"If you ain't punching he's still punching, if you're punching he's still punching back.

"Mayweather has always been able to make adjustments but he's going to have to step up and take it to another gear against Pacquiao.

"If he gets hurt, he can do exactly that, just like he did against Shane Mosley.

"At the end of the day, you don't really know how good a fighter is until they are tested."

Most fight fans claim the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout must happen for the good of the sport.

But Holyfield does not believe it will be a knockout blow if the two camps fail to agree terms.

He said: "It ain't got to happen — this sport is not going to die because of those two.

"It is a good fight that people want to see, but this game will continue to produce good fighters all the time.

"Good and bad will come and go, and more will always come in."

Source: thesun.co.uk

Pacquiao still wants fight against Mayweather -- Associated Press

By DAVE SKRETTA, Associated Press

NEW YORK — Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach wanted the exact same thing that boxing fans everywhere wanted: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

They got Antonio Margarito instead.

Pacquiao and Roach said Wednesday that they agreed to every demand put forward by Mayweather for what could have been the richest fight in boxing history. But the former pound-for-pound king chose not to accept the fight, leaving Pacquiao to look elsewhere for a fall opponent.

He'll face Margarito, the former welterweight champ, on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium.

"I don't need him, he needs me," Pacquiao said of Mayweather, during a stop Wednesday in New York to promote his upcoming fight. "Compare my achievements in boxing to his achievements."

They've both achieved plenty, which is why fans have been clamoring for the high-profile matchup for the better part of two years — and why so many are upset it hasn't happened.

The fight was nearly made in January, then fell apart when Pacquiao refused Olympic-style drug testing in the weeks leading up to the fight. But the newly minted Congressman from the Philippines said he's even agreed to the strict blood testing in an effort to make the fight, but he hasn't heard from Mayweather's side why an agreement couldn't be reached.

"We agree with, you know, his demands," Pacquiao said, referring specifically to the blood testing. "I wanted to know if that's his real reason (for not fighting)."

The entire negotiation process came to resemble an unsavory soap opera, with HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg publicly stating that he had worked tirelessly as an intermediary between the two sides. Pacquiao's promoter Top Rank has a poor relationship with Mayweather, who rose to become a world champion under its banner, so it's not unreasonable to assume there was an intermediary.

Shortly after a deadline imposed by Top Rank for Mayweather to accept the fight had passed, his adviser Leonard Ellerbe issued a bizarre statement in which he said no negotiations ever took place — contradicting Greenburg and the folks at Top Rank.

Roach said that Top Rank had been calling him for advice on what gloves to wear, what ring size to use, what weight to fight at — standard details during a negotiation process.

"When people are calling me and asking me, 'Is this OK? Is this OK? Is this OK?' There's something going on," Roach said. "I know there must have been negotiations going on.

"Whatever he wanted to do, we were accepting it. Whatever he wanted. Manny said, 'I want to fight. I'll agree to anything.' I thought the fight was a shoo-in."

Roach was recently in Ukraine to watch one of his other fighters, Vyacheslav Senchenko, retain a welterweight title. But all he heard from fans were questions about Pacquiao-Mayweather — not about Senchenko, and certainly not about Margarito.

"You know, I really truly think boxing needs that fight to happen," Roach said. "All people want to know, 'When's he fighting Mayweather?' Wherever I go, that's what I'm asked. People will get pissed off if that fight didn't happen."

Most of them aren't very happy that the Margarito fight is happening.

The former welterweight champion has become boxing's biggest heel after illegal hand wraps were discovered before a January 2009 loss to Shane Mosley in Los Angeles. Margarito insists he knew nothing about plaster-like inserts and blamed his former trainer, Javier Capetillo, but he's still been refused licenses to fight in California and Nevada recently.

Even Pacquiao finds it hard to believe that Margarito didn't know what was in his wraps.

"You know what goes in your hands," Pacquiao said, adding: "He's just human. There's not a perfect person in this world. We gave him a chance to fight."

If not for all the sidelights involving Mayweather and Margarito, the fight itself would still be one among the most interesting on an otherwise barren fall boxing calendar.

After all, Pacquiao will have a chance to win a title in a record-extending eighth weight division — the fight will be for the WBC junior middleweight title, even though the catch weight is 150 pounds. And Margarito has a chance to show the world that he can beat boxing's best in a fair fight, even if he's much bigger than the pride of the Filipinos.

That the matchup will be held in Cowboys Stadium, where some are already estimating a crowd of 70,000 the night of the fight, only adds to the intrigue.

"Obviously I wanted Mayweather. I looked forward to that challenge," Roach said. "This fight is the second best. He's a good opponent, but he's very beatable."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: google.com

Manny Pacquiao: Floyd Mayweather needs me -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

Manny Pacquiao has two fairly distinct contituencies.

One are the voters of Sarangani Province who sent him to Congress.

The other is the Pacquiao Worldwide Army (PWA), as I like to call them who follow his ring exploits and never seem to tire of news about his daily doings.

Pacquiao said Wednesday in New York that it's boxing fans everywhere who will be the real losers if he and undefeated American superstar Floyd Mayweather never cross gloves.

Pacquiao also said, and this was confirmed by trainer Freddie Roach, that they agreed to prefight drug testing without limitation hoping to make the so called Super Bout.

It's generally been thought that Pacman demanded a cutoff date for prefight testing at 14 days.

"I agreed to take a test anytime, any day," Pacquiao said as he sat beside Roach at Chelsea Piers in midtown Manhattan on a scorching hot (96 degrees) afternoon.

"For me, I am satsified with my boxing achievements. I don't need Mayweather now, he needs me. It's the fans who suffer," Pacquiao said.

"I don't know what happened but it was my decision on testing. I agreed to this so that I could see, so that I could really know what is the reason, really, that he won't fight me."

I asked Pacman if he thought it was "crazy" that Mayweather would not want to earn a reported $40 to $50 million in the big bout.

"I really don't know what is his reason," Pacquiao said. "It is really hard to say, I don't know."

Does Pacquiao think Mayweather is afraid to risk his precious, no loss record?

"Again, it's hard to say why but maybe that is his reason."

For his part, Roach said he thought the second try at making the fight was going to work.

"I got calls about details," Roach said. "I got calls about the gloves, about the size of the ring and we were fine with the 147 pound weight.

"It's definitely a shame for boxing. It's this kind of thing that helps boost mixed martial arts over boxing.

"I wanted that fight, I wanted Manny to fight Mayweather. I really thought at one point the fight was a shoe in although I knew Floyd would never fight us in Dallas."

"I still hope it happens," Roach said. "I was just in the Ukraine and first question I get is, when will Pacquiao fight Mayweather. I think people are getting pissed off that they're not fighting.

"Maybe we will have to wait until Mayweather goes broke again. Maybe then he'll want the fight."

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Pacquiao says he'll 'fight anybody' -- Los Angeles Times

By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times

Manny Pacquiao has made his own thoughts clear on the legitimacy of Antonio Margarito's claim that he knew nothing about his hand wraps being loaded with plaster inserts in his 2009 date against Shane Mosley. (The inserts were confiscated before the bout.) Now the Filipino superstar boxer had some interesting things to say about how he came to accept this fight and what he'll do next.

Pacquiao was obviously occupied with winning a congressional seat in his native Philippines earlier this year, and then taking office and beginning to deal with the brutally poor country's woes.

When it became clear that Floyd Mayweather Jr. wasn't interested in participating in a November super bout, Pacquiao said he left choosing an opponent to "whatever Bob wanted," speaking of promoter Bob Arum.

Pacquiao said he approved Margarito "without thinking."

The Nov. 13 bout against Margarito at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is for Pacquiao's record eighth different weight-class world title.

"That's more history in boxing," said Pacquiao. "Margarito is very aggressive, he's bigger and stronger. It's going to be a hard fight. I'm excited to fight him and exchange a lot of punches."

What would he do if he got the eight title? Pacquiao didn't want to discuss a possible fight with Mayweather, cracking that if he never fought Mayweather, he'd be "OK ... more than OK."

But what about Juan Manuel Marquez, who was so dominant in his July 31 lightweight title defense victory over Juan Diaz?

"I didn't see it," Pacquiao said of the fight.

Didn't Marquez deserve a shot over Margarito? Pacquiao was asked. The pair have fought twice, with Marquez getting a 2004 draw and losing in 2008 by a split decision.

"I'm willing to fight anybody in the ring, maybe later," Pacquiao said.

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

De La Hoya: Antonio Margarito 'Should Be Banned for Life' -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

On Aug. 19, the day after Antonio Margarito was denied a boxing license for the second time by the California State Athletic Commission, Golden Boy Promotions' president Oscar De La Hoya, applauded the CSAC's decision during a conference call with selected members of the media.

Margarito had been unable to fight on American soil since his license was revoked by the CSAC following a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley.

Margarito, whose suspension officially ended on Feb. 11, had tried to file for a license with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. But the NSAC directed Margarito to return to the CSAC for a ruling, where, after a nearly six-hour hearing on Aug. 18, the Mexican-born fighter was turned down yet again.

Margarito has since been licensed in Texas for an HBO-televised, Top Rank Promotions Nov. 13 clash with WBO welterweight (147 pounds) Manny Pacquiao for the WBC's vacant junior middleweight (154 pounds) title to be contested at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, even as he believes that De La Hoya may have influenced the CSAC's decision.

Although De La Hoya's company is based in Los Angeles, the former world champion denied having had any pull with the CSAC while reiterating his assertions during a Wednesday conference call promoting a Sept. 18 junior middleweight bout between Saul Alvarez of Mexico and former world titlist Carlos Baldomir of Argentina.

"Well, obviously, people know the way that I feel about that situation, but I've never spoken to the commission. The commission's never spoken to me. I'm just a voice for everyone who feels the way that I do," said De La Hoya during Wednesday's call.

"Obviously, nobody wants to say what they feel. I'm just a voice speaking my mind. So it's my opinion on what I feel about the situation," said De La Hoya. "Because I love this sport. I have passion for this sport. And I don't want to see anybody try to cheat this sport. So that's all that I would say."

Oscar De La Hoya's comments about Antonio Margarito on Aug. 19.

"I've been very vocal on the whole Margarito situation. And, you know, my feelings have not changed. Obviously, I don't want to make this call the whole Margarito situation. But you know where I stand. We don't know what's going to happen with Margarito. Obviously, he's not going to be fighting in California.

But it goes down to what the right thing is. What's the right thing for the fans and for the sport? I've always felt that if the right thing is done there, then there is going to be no license. That was always my hunch feeling. Obviously, we all witnessed what happened.

I mean, look, I've already stated what I've said, and I'm going to stick to what I believe. I mean, my sport of boxing, which we all appreciate and which I love, and which I participated in inside of that ring for many years, you know, this is a dangerous sport.

And if any body in any which way tries to tamper with anything having to do with the fists or the gloves, you know what? You should be banned for life. That's my stance and that's my position. There's no if's or buts. Like, 'Oh, I've learned from my mistakes.'

Well, what if you would have killed somebody. What? So you should fight again because you learned from your mistakes? That's total nonsense, and my stance will always be that. You do not mess with somebody's life up inside of that ring.

Obviously, the whole world found out about the illegal hand wraps on the night of the fight. I was actually at a different event that night, so I wasn't even aware of what was going on until afterward. I was promoting a different event that same night."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Manny Pacquiao: Stand Up and Do What Boxing Needs You to Do -- Ringside Report

By “Bad” Brad Berkwitt, RingsideReport.com

So the big fight is set for November 13th between a definite future Hall of Famer in Manny Pacquiao and a proven cheater who pretends he didn’t know that his hand wraps were tampered with in Antonio Margarito.

So did Margarito’s promoter pay off the Texas Commission or they are just that corrupt without any help of lining their pockets? That is the question of the year. One that Fan Boy/Groupie Journalists out there cannot understand because their lips are so attached to Manny’s tush that they are blind to see.

Even diehard Paclanders are getting tired of the Fan Boy/Groupie Journalists who never are objective and come up with lines like “blah blah blah, I love Manny Pacquiao, I wear XXXL Manny pajamas to bed every night and on my nightstand, I kiss his picture that he signed (only after I begged him to) for me.”

Sounds crazy right? Well, it’s not.

You have a contingent of Groupie Journalists out there which are getting larger by the day, both figuratively and literally at times. What needs to happen and though I know it’s probably too late, is for Manny to call off this farce. Sure I will not dispute this is a business, and if Pacquiao were say a contender, and this was his first title shot, I could understand to an extent, but it’s not. He is a 7 division champion and a multi-millionaire as well. As his right hand man, you have a Class Act in trainer Freddie Roach who I am willing to wager deep inside he is disgusted this fight is coming to fruition. But with all of this said, Manny Pacquiao is the one who needs to stand up and say, “For the sake of the sport I love, I am no longer willing to give a known cheater a chance to make millions of dollars by facing me. The fight is off!”

Boxing has a black eye for many reasons, but I still love the sport and respect the warriors who put their lives on the line which include Manny Pacquiao. This farce doesn’t deserve the press it will bring boxing and it is negative for sure. So with this being September 1st, I think the only thing true boxing fans can do is not tune in on November 13th, and take that money and have a night out on the town.

Let the large growing number of Fan Boy/Groupie Journalists out there continue with the ridiculous articles which, by the way, ask one of them a boxing history question and even keep it simple to see if they can answer it. My money is on that they pass… They know zero about the sport and actually hurt guys like Manny Pacquiao and many other fighters out there.

Source: ringsidereport.com