Friday 7 January 2011

Arum confident of Pacquiao-Obama meeting -- Manila Bulletin

By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines — By the time the five-city promotional tour for the May 7 bout between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley hit Washington, D.C., in the second week of February, the Filipino might end up rubbing elbows with US President Barack Obama.

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Vintage)From Las Vegas, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum told the Bulletin on Friday as he was waiting for a flight to Los Angeles that he will try to arrange such a meeting.

“It would all depend on the availability of the President,” said Arum, who nevertheless, revealed that Pacquiao, a congressman from Sarangani, will be presented to the US Senate.

Pacquiao is no stranger to US politics, having endorsed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada last year, and in 2009, just a few days before facing British Ricky Hatton, the Filipino pound-for-pound king met with ex-US President Bill Clinton at the Four Seasons Hotel inside Mandalay Bay.

Arum, whose promotional outfit Top Rank is based in Las Vegas, is a dear friend of Reid, who used to box as an amateur.

Arum said the press tour will kick off on Feb. 9 when a news conference is held at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles

followed by stops in Las Vegas, New York, Washington and San Francisco.

“It’s going to be absolutely huge (if the meeting between Obama and Pacquiao takes place),” Arum said.

Both Obama and Reid are members of the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, tickets for the Pacquiao-Mosley welterweight war at the MGM Grand will go on sale on January 31, said Arum.

Tickets are priced at $1,000, $700, $500, $350 and $150.

Source: mb.com.ph

Homeowners association seeking injunction against Floyd Mayweather -- Examiner

By Scott Heritage, Examiner.com

Another day, another legal incident for the increasingly troubled former pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather. After numerous incidents involving staff members and infractions of community rules it appears Mayweather is now facing a legal injunction from the Southern Highlands Estates, the gated community he moved to in 2009 and which more recently has been the scene of several of his infamous outbursts.

Ball And Chain Costume Outfit Prisoner Jail Gang &This latest suit alleges that Mayweather refuses to show identification to security guards, (which incidentally was one of the incidents captured on tape by TMZ recently), refuses to put identification decals on his vehicles, and refused to carry a gate opening transponder.

As per the Las Vegas Sun:

“repeatedly engaged in hostile, harassing and threatening behavior toward and against certain employees and security personnel employees...including but not limited to, threatening the life of a patrol officer, physically accosting a security officer, refusing to provide identity to gate officers”

The suit, filed to the Clark County Court, is also seeking $10,000 in damages and wants Mayweather to: "refrain from threatening, yelling or harassing security," and to "otherwise comport himself at all times in a reasonable manner."-Courthouse news.

The law suit comes after several very public incidents involving Mayweather including allegedly assaulting a security guard, harassing and threatening another and only days ago refusing to provide his identification on the grounds that the security guard should recognize him and that he didn't ask everyone who lived there.

The suit is only the latest in a long line of problems for Mayweather of late however. Since winning his last bout in May against Shane Mosley, Floyd has made the headlines on numerous occasions and nearly always for the wrong reasons.

First there was the racially offensive late night broadcast aimed at rival Manny Pacquiao, perhaps more misguided than anything else. Then the ongoing alleged assault of his former girlfriend in front of his children, which carries with it the possibility of jail time should he be found guilty on even some of the charges he faces.

Later there was the run in with the security guard who claims that Mayweather poked him in the face, and the former friend who claimed that Mayweather tried to run him off the road.

The fact that the community group is taking action is hardly surprising after the volume of complaints it has been receiving over Mayweather of late, who appears to want all the benefits of living in a place like Southern Highlands Estates without having to play by the rules.

Whether anything much will come of the suit is difficult to say a this juncture, but it probably won't do much to improve Floyd's mood, reputation or to assuage his aggressive tendencies recently, particularly if the staff have now been instructed to take a hard line approach to his behaviour.

Several other residents of the estate are also unhappy about the entire mess due to the fact that they claim money paid by them to the homeowners association is being wasted on the suit while other problems are being ignored.

So in this respect Floyd really can't win whatever the outcome of the suit. If he wins then the other residents are still going to be angry about their money being wasted, perhaps equally with the association as with Mayweather. If he loses then he's down 10k plus attorney fees and he has to moderate his behaviour and play by the rules.

Bill Short, Philly: "I get the feeling Floyd might be moving again in the near future"

Agi Santiago, Pitt: "If he hates everything the homeowners people do, and they are usually a rip off, why did he move there in the first place? Isn't that the reason he moved from his last place?"

Source: examiner.com

B.J. Penn learning how to box correctly, according to Floyd Mayweather Sr. -- Yahoo! Sports

By Steve Cofield, Yahoo! Sports

B.J. Penn is on a mission. After two straight losses to current UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar, Penn scrapped most of his old trainers and began seeking out new voices and experts. The latest he worked with was Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Ultimate Fighting Championship Short Sleeve Tee, Grafitti Blue, LargeBig Floyd has a solid reputation as a boxing trainer and a very high opinion of his work outside the ring.
Mayweather Sr. told FightHype he wasn't impressed when he first began to work with "The Prodigy."

"I’ll be honest, at first, it didn’t seem like he could fight that good. I mean, I don’t know about his ground game and all of that stuff, but he’s got some pop and in just the three days I’ve been working with him, he has improved, man."

Penn is a quick learner. Mayweather continued:

"In his words, man, he told me, ‘I ain’t never seen some of this stuff you’re showing me, man.’ And that’s only after three days. BJ is learning fast, man. He's a good guy."

Mayweather looks forward to helping more MMA fighters, and thinks he's given Penn an edge for his fight against the taller Jon Fitch in February at UFC 127.

"I work with a couple now and I'm all for it. I don't know [expletive] about that ground stuff, but I can get their defense tight and get them throwing their shots right. I got B.J. working something just for a taller opponent. I don't know what B.J.'s ground game is like at all, but if he uses what I'm showing, he won't need it."

This isn't the first time Penn reached out to a top boxing trainer. In the past, he worked with Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach. Roach once told me that Penn was the best MMA fighter he'd worked with as far as straight boxing. Said Mayweather:

"I bet he ain't going back to [Freddie Roach] either. He worked with Freddie 'The Joke Coach' Roach, and he telling me he has never see the stuff I'm showing him. So what does that tell you? Man, the only thing Freddie Roach can do better than me is wash my car."

Expect more of this crossover work in the future. MMA fighters like Penn are smart to seek out the experts from the world of boxing.

Source: sports.yahoo.com