Golden Boy: Pacquiao-Marquez logical -- ESPN

By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com

Since Manny Pacquiao hammered Antonio Margarito over 12 lopsided rounds on Nov. 13, there has been anticipation regarding who the pound-for-pound king would face in the spring.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has been pushing hard for lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez to get a shot at Pacquiao's welterweight title. Marquez, after all, is highly ranked on the pound-for-pound list -- just a few spots away from top-ranked Pacquiao. Marquez is also Mexico's most significant active fighter and has had two sensational and controversial battles against Pacquiao, who got a draw in their 2004 featherweight championship fight and a split decision win in their 2008 junior lightweight title fight.

Fans have clamored for a third fight since, but Shane Mosley -- who is 0-1-1 in a pair of poor performances against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sergio Mora in his last two fights -- has emerged as the favorite. Mosley is in the midst of a nasty breakup with Golden Boy, leaving the company to negotiate the Pacquiao fight on his own with Top Rank's Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter.

Arum has said that Marquez and welterweight titlist Andre Berto are also on the short list and he has gotten term sheets from both. Arum is in the Philippines this week meeting with Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs), who is expected to announce his next opponent on Friday -- his 32nd birthday.

Giving Schaefer more ammunition to push for Marquez was the disclosure Tuesday by Arum that Pacquiao's next fight will take place on May 7 -- the weekend of the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo, which traditionally includes a major fight involving a Mexican star.

Golden Boy is already holding that date for a fight card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a likely location of Pacquiao's next fight. But Schaefer said he has no interest in going to battle with Arum over the date.

"We are holding May 7 at the MGM but, of course, if Pacquiao is going to fight, I would step aside and give the date to Pacquiao and switch to April 16 [the original Pacquiao date] for what we were planning on doing," Schaefer said. "I really think if Pacquiao is going to fight May 7, on Cinco de Mayo weekend, you have to do Marquez on the Mexican holiday. Do you know how big that would be? It's a big fight no matter when it would be, but it would be even bigger on the Mexican holiday in Las Vegas."

Schaefer said he has kept an open dialogue with Top Rank president Todd duBoef through e-mails and said he sent him a note Wednesday morning in the hopes that they could come to an agreement for Pacquiao-Marquez, especially because of the date of the fight.

"I told Todd that I thought it was the right thing to do and that Marquez makes more sense on the Mexican holiday," Schaefer said. "I asked Todd to please get back to me with a deal which would be acceptable for Pacquiao and I will get it done. Just tell me what Pacquiao is willing to do and let me go to Marquez with the deal. If Marquez doesn't want it, or doesn't like the deal and turns it down, so be it. But that's the fight the public wants to see and now more so being on Cinco de Mayo weekend. Marquez is the logical choice."

Schaefer has already agreed to let Top Rank buy out Golden Boy on the fight rather than have it be a co-promotion where both sides share in the revenue.

Arum said Tuesday that Marquez's term sheet was being considered but that "the problem with Marquez is the number he wants is so damn high and he hasn't moved off it, and that's preventing the Marquez fight."

Arum, who has a clear preference to make the Mosley fight, claimed that Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) had asked for double what he made to fight Mayweather, which was a guarantee of $3.2 million. Schaefer disputed that.

"That's not correct," he said. "But this deal would be a buyout, so whatever Marquez's side gets has to include Golden Boy. So you can't compare it with what Marquez got paid against Mayweather because we have to get paid too. For the Mayweather fight, we were the promoter. This fight would be Top Rank, so they asked us for a number to buy us out. Hey, if they want to do a percentage deal I'm willing to do that and the guarantee would be much lower.

"So you want to buy me out, there's a number for Marquez and a number for Golden Boy. Or let's do a percentage deal and we'll also take the risk. But either way, I had a nice e-mail exchange with Todd. I told Todd get me what you're willing to do. Just tell me what it takes to get the fight done."

Schaefer said if Marquez does not get the fight -- and he is prepared for that likelihood -- then Marquez would headline the April 16 pay-per-view card. Schaefer said Marquez would defend the lightweight championship against Erik Morales, the former three-division champ (and former Top Rank star) who wants to become the first Mexican fighter to win titles in four weight divisions. A win over Marquez would do the job.

But Morales, who is past his prime, would have to win his fight on Saturday in Tijuana, Mexico, against late replacement Francisco Lorenzo, who took the fight Tuesday when former junior lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios dropped out because he was unable to secure the proper paperwork to travel from Argentina to Mexico for the fight.

"If Marquez doesn't get the fight with Pacquiao, we would consider doing the fight with Morales on April 16 in Las Vegas, although Mexico is interested as well," Schaefer said. "[Mexican network] Televisa talked to us about doing it at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City as part of a big, daylong event."

The Mexican trio of Marquez, Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, along with Pacquiao, dominated the featherweight and junior lightweight divisions for years and they all fought each other with the lone exception being that Marquez and Morales have yet to fight.

Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Source: sports.espn.go.com

Kizer: Inspectors prevented mayhem after Maidana-Khan scrap -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

From what they're saying about each other, nasty words and invective, I just don't see Manny Pacquiao/Amir Khan strength, conditioning, nutrition guru Alex Ariza inviting cutman/trainer Miguel Diaz over to the Casa Ariza for any holiday protein shakes.

And neither will Diaz beckon Ariza to his home for some good red wine and a Gaucho style steak.

They might not even swap Christmas cards this year.

I'm still laughing after reading that Ariza, who once clocked Pacman agent Michael Koncz with his hands, took this verbal shot at my longtime pal, ther Argentina native and Las Vegas resident Diaz:

"Table for four!"

That reference was to Diaz's past as a waiter or maitre'd in one of the big hotel-casino showroom on the Strip.

I go so far back with Miguel, an amateur singer with an operatic voice, that I remember when he was slinging sandwiches at a small bodega near the long gone Main Street in Las Vegas.

This feud seems striclty a sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me incident and I hope the two honorable and respected principals will now squash the beef.

Ariza is accomplished in what he does and so is Diaz as a trainer, a cutman and, while it's often overlooked, as one of best handwrappers extant.

Good news from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which licenses Diaz and Ariza to work fighters' corners, is that no disciplinary action is contemplated, mainly because no punches were landed after Khan and Marcos Maidana concluded their hard-fought 12 round scrap.

"Credit should go to three of our NSAC inspectors--Alex Aragonez, Alex Ybarra and Andy Montoya--for how they interceded between the two camps and prevented any postfight violence," Keith Kizer, attorney and executive director told me Wednesday.

"This thing could have gotten out of hand but it didn't and the inspectors did their jobs. I'm just sorry if this took anything away from what a great fight Marcos and Amir staged. From what I heard, Ariza went over to congratulate Maidana on his effort and then the words went back and forth," Kizer said.

"I think the fault here lies with the Maidana camp. They were quite emotional. They had six guys in their corner and we disallowed that (the limit on cornermen is four). We don't plan to take any disciplinary action, I don't want to do that but I thought it was heating up so I almost got into the ring which normally I would never do."

One of the more infamous NSAC disciplinary cases involving a second came when Johnny Tapia's brother in law, a fellow named Rob Gutierrez, punched out Top Rank's Todd duBoef after Tapia lost a close decision in a rematch agsinst Paulie Ayala (their first was 199's Fight of the Year) on Oct. 7, 2000.

Tapia had left Top Rank in a bitter breakup.

"This is all your fault," Tapia supposedly said (according to Steve Springer, writing in the LA Times). Tapia then shoved duboef.

Then Gutierrez uncorked a right hand to the promoter's jaw which split his lip

DuBoef hit the deck and Gutierrez left the arena wearing a new bracelet. Stepfather Bob Arum rushed over to see if duBoef was allright and the "Toddster" shook it off.

"Best chin of of any promoter," Top Rank's veteran matchmaker Bruce Trampler said of former prep hockey star duBoef.

Oh, the bracelet?

Over at Central Booking, they're known as handcuffs.

Judges favored Top Rank boxer Paulie Ayala on scores of 115-113 and 116-111 with a dissenting 115-113 vote for the colorful and controversial Tapia.

"We wound up taking away Gutierrez's license and then, about five years ago, he died in a car crash. There was a lot of emotion and bad blood because Tapia had left Top Rank. Todd made a remark to Tapia, the brother in law took offense and Todd got decked."

More accurately, Gutierrez, 36, and Tapia nephew Ben Garcia, only 23, died March 13, 2007,when their car flipped over while going at an excessive speed near Albuquerque. Gutierrez and Garcia were rushing to hospital to see the boxer after he was found unconscious in a motel after what police called a cocaine overdose.

At that time of the seconds license suspension, Kizer was the legal guru for the boxing board and Marc Ratner, now a big wheel over at the UFC, was the executive director.

As Coach Freddie Roach told me Wednesday morning by phone from Manila, "both guys acted like two little kids" in this incident.

The message for Diaz and Ariza, both of whom have real tempers, is clear, time to cool your jets, gents.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Golden Boy locked in May 7 date before Pacquiao, 'Stinko de Mayo' -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

Richard Schaefer has publicly vowed not to badmouth the Sugar Shane Mosley-Manny Pacquiao bout even though Mosley abandoned his Golden Boy VP post and is off Oscar's Reservation.

For his part, contentious Bob Arum told me Wednesday morning (Manila time) that he is of a mind to start "playing nice" (my words, not his) with his GBP rivals.

I suggested extending an olive branch, of Peace in the Valley and maybe even a group hug between the Top Rank and GBP camps.

"That suits me just fine," Arum said, adding that most of his blasts against Richie Rich and Oskie have been reactionary.

But now there seems to be another bone of contention between boxing's two biggest promotional outfits.

Arum informed me that the Pacman fight will be shifted at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas from April 16 to May 7 due to the Congressmanny's politcal schedule.

But there's a slight problem in going to 5/7, which is the traditional Cinco de Mayo Vegas boxing date which was often filled by first Julio Cesar Chavez and then by De La Hoya.

While Arum was talking about the day after income taxes are due, the Goldens applied for and got the May 7 date from the Nevada State Athletic Commission to run a show at the same venue featuring rising Mexican star, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, in a junior middleweight main event against the popular TBA.

Is this a bombshell? No. Is this an issue where both sides will retreat to the mattresses again? I don't think so.

Obviously, the money strained MGM Grand knows a Pacquiao main event brings in more cash than does an Alvarez topped (Carrot Topped?) one.

The Mosley-Pacman PPV will be handled by HBO and I'm sure the prime cable network and the hotel-casino can speak to GBP about releasing the date in favor of Pacquiao and Top Rank.

Not to mention the nice financial percentage GBP continues to rank in when anyone fights Pacman. Blocking a Megamanny bout is not in GBP's best interest, either.

That would be the easy solution.

The other way would be for the NSAC to hear a TR application and then award the date to Arum's posse.

I can't see any malice aforethought here. GBP wanted the holiday weekend for "Canelo" and Arum was steadily harping on April 16 for Pacman.

There's a thaw in the TR-GBP relationship and this date conflict should not be a peace-wrecking situation.
Not if they really want to play nice.

Pat Lundvall is the chairperson of the NSAC and works with commissioners "Cisco" Aguilar, "Skip" Avansino Jr., TJ Day and Bill D. Brady

Keith Kizer is the executive director.

TJ Day is not believed to be related to LA Times sports scribe TJ Simers.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com