Bob Arum disputes Mayweather's claim -- USA Today

By Bob Velin, USA TODAY

Undefeated welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been mostly quiet and out of the boxing picture since his arrest on domestic battery charges in September. Mayweather appeared in court last month to face the felony charges, but his hearing was moved to March.

But the controversial boxer, who is on boxing fans' most wanted list for a megafight against Manny Pacquiao that could be the richest in boxing history, did a rare interview late last month with Fighthype.com.

In that wide-ranging interview, Mayweather said, "After the first negotiations didn't come through, nobody reached out to Al (Haymon, Mayweather's manager)" regarding a fight with Pacquiao, and "we didn't hear anything from Bob Arum."

Arum on Wednesday called that absurd. "We not only reached out, we had a full negotiation with (HBO Sports President) Ross Greenburg being the intermediary with Al Haymon back before the Margarito fight. And that came to nothing. And I assume Haymon advised Floyd that we were negotiating the fight through Greenburg. But (saying) we didn't reach out to Haymon was total nonsense.

"As far as Floyd is concerned, we've attempted to reach him without any success. He knows where we are. And none of his people have ever called us. The idea that we haven't reached out is absurd. … We've gotten no calls from him. …

"Why the hell should we reach out to Al Haymon when they have constantly said that they're not interested in fighting? Let them call us. … I'm not going to reach out to them like I'm chasing them. But if they said to a responsible newspaper or somebody responsible, 'We want to fight Manny Pacquiao,' I would make the call."

HBO had no comment on the subject, and Mayweather's adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, could not be reached by phone.

A few other subjects Mayweather touched on in the FightHype.com interview:

•On Arum's company, Top Rank, taking the May 7 Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight from HBO to Showtime pay-per-view: "All I have to say is that I'm loyal to HBO. I can't believe Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao's camp would cut HBO out."

•On Pacquiao: "I really don't have nothing against Manny Pacquiao. I think the people make it more than what it really is, because I think it will be one of the biggest fights in boxing history, absolutely. … You got to realize this, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight didn't get made because Manny Pacquiao said he wanted two weeks of non-testing … the two weeks before the fight. … Everything they asked of me, I agreed, and what I asked of them, they didn't agree."

Countered Arum: "We agreed to do tests. That was off the table."

•On Shane Mosley, who was beaten badly by Mayweather and Pacquiao: "I don't think Shane really has too much left at 39. … He's a future Hall of Famer, but he was in a grueling fight with me. … I think that was his last hurrah."

Kayode thinks KO: Lateef "Power" Kayode, the unbeaten cruiserweight who is trained by Freddie Roach, fights Nicholas Iannuzzi (16-1-9 KOs) in a 10-round bout Friday on Showtime (11 p.m. ET).

Kayode (15-0, 14 KOs), from Nigeria, has a 14-fight knockout streak. He concedes he thinks about KOs during his fights but says it doesn't affect his game plan or preparation. "There's no doubt it's in the back of my mind," Kayode says. "I know the fans love it, and I know Showtime loves it. But I'm not going to let that affect what I do in the ring."

Source: usatoday.com

Pay up, Manny Pacquiao: Sulaiman, WBC threaten lawsuit over sanction fees -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

The amount is piddling but the targets of the lawsuit are incredibly wealthy.

I've learned Thursday that the World Boxing Council has sent word to Manny Pacquiao, who WBC leader Don Jose Sulaiman has lauded as "a modern day Henry Armstrong," that if sanctioning fees amounting to $80,000 are not paid within 48 hours the organization will file a lawsuit against the fighter and his promoter, Bob Arum (Top Rank Inc.).

"Ever since (Graciano) Rocchigiani won that $31 million federal lawsuit against the WBC in 1998 and the group nearly dissolved, it has been financially hardpressed," a source close to the situation told me. "The WBC cannot afford to let world title fight combatants ignore their sanctioning fees."

It is said that a $50,000 fee is due the Mexico City-based Alphabet Soup group from the Dec. 6, 2008, TKO 8 Pacquiao victory over Oscar de la Hoya and the $30,000 is owed from the March 15, 2008, bout in which the Pinoy Idol notched a close, hotly-debated split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao, 32 and a sitting Congressman from Sarangani Province, has said he was unaware of the situation and would resolve it.

I've heard persistently that the confidential settlement between German boxer Rocchigiani, who was shamelessly stripped of the WBC light heavyweight crown he won against heavy favorite Michael Nunn, requires the group to pay him about $330,000 at the start of each calendar year.

The WBC said it was "a typographical error" when it listed Rocchigiani as its 175 pound champ and handed the belt back to popular American Roy Jones. Backtracking, the WBC claimed that Nunn and Rocchigiani had only fought for an interim title.

When the WBC went to bankruptcy court and threatened to dissolve, a settlement was reached inj 2003.

"We got up off the canvas only seconds from disappearing," Sulaiman said at the time.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Mayweather misdemeanor trial delayed -- AFP

AFP

LAS VEGAS — Unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather's trial on a misdemeanor battery charge will not begin until at least April 25 after a judge agreed Thursday to postpone the star fighter's day in court.

Mayweather faces charges of poking a homeowners' association security guard in the face during a scuffle in November over parking tickets issued to vehicles around Mayweather's home in a private neighborhood.

Mayweather's lawyers have denied wrongdoing on behalf of the 33-year-old fighter, who did not attend the hearing.

The case is unrelated to the felony domestic violence case that Mayweather also faces, charges that could bring him 34 years in prison if he is convicted on all counts.

Mayweather faces a March 10 evidence hearing on charges that he struck and threatened former girlfriend Josie Harris, stole her telephone and threatened two of their children in an incident last September.

Boxing fans have been hopeful that Mayweather, 41-0 with 25 knockouts, would fight Filipino star Manny Pacquiao but failed talks last year and Mayweather's legal woes have put that potential blockbuster bout on hold.

Pacquiao, 52-3 with two draws and 38 knockouts, is set to face 39-year-old US fighter Shane Mosley, 46-6 with one draw and 39 knockouts, on May 7 in Las Vegas. Southpaw "Pac-Man" has won 13 fights in a row over a six-year span.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Source: google.com/hostednews

Floyd Maywether's Uncle: Manny Pacquiao's 'Got Something In Him' -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

Roger Mayweather, the uncle and trainer of six-time titlist, Floyd Mayweather Jr., still insists that southpaw WBO welterweight (147) pounds and WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion Manny Pacquiao has "got something in him," an implication that the use of performance enhancing drugs is the reason the Filipino super star has retained power and won titles over eight different weight classes.

Roger Mayweather's comments were made during an interview with Chris Robinson of BoxingScene.com at Floyd Mayweather's gym near the fighter's Las Vegas home.

"The change I would make, you don't want to know," said Roger Mayweather. "Take that sh** out of his body and do it like a fighter is supposed to do. I know he got something in him. He knows it too. I know there is proof."

Negotiations for a bout between Mayweather and Pacquiao twice failed over the issue of Olympic style drug testing, which involves blood and urine, whereas boxing's current protocol involves only testing urine for illegal drugs.

"Because you know why? Any time a guy is getting 50 million dollars, and he don't want to take a test a couple days before the fight and then after the fight, he has to take another test," said Roger Mayweather.

"Why he don't want to take a test? I aint got to tell you what's wrong," said Roger Mayweather. "Anybody can see what's wrong with that. The way boxing works, you take a test a day before the fight and a day after the fight and that's it."

The 32-year-old Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 knockouts) takes a 13-bout winning streak that includes eight knockout s into his May 7, Showtime televised, Top Rank Promotions defense of his WBO belt against 39-year-old Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), whom Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated in May of 2010 during an HBO pay per televised unanimous decision.

For the first time in the sport's history, Mayweather and Mosley were subject to Olympic style drug testing of both blood and urine by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) before their bout.

In 2003, Mosley admitted to injecting the steroids, "the cream," and, "the clear," but says that he did so unknowingly after having been supplied the drugs by BALCO founder Victor Conte through a relationship with his former strength trainer, Daryl Hudson.

Mosley has dropped what had been an ongoing defamation suit against Conte, but Roger Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather Sr. and both Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya -- the CEO and President, respectively, of Golden Boy Promotions -- still are named in a suit by Pacquiao which seeks compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character.

The lawsuit names the five of them for their alleged accusations of steroid use by Pacquiao.

"I heard they told Mosley 'You're going to have to take a test'. Let me as you something. If Mosley got to take a test, don't they both have to take a test? They both have to take a test. But here he is fighting a motherf**ker and he won't take the test himself," said Roger Mayweather.

"That's why him and my nephew never fought, because he didn't want to take the test himself. He said he would take a test five days out," said Roger Mayweather. "Who in the hell would do that? Aint no such thing as taking a test five days out. You can take the test the day before the fight, that's it. The rest of that stuff don't mean nothing.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

I am NOT retiring! - - Evander Holyfield -- 8CountNews

By Brad Cooney, 8CountNews.com

When a boxing website puts in bold print a title that reads, "Charlie Sheen dead" and now today "Evander Holyfield retiring" one MUST consider the source. In this case the source of those two headlines is RingsideReport.com. This is the same boxing website that busted out two headlines in 2010 that will go down as the biggest crock of the year.

The first was the supposed Mike Tyson 2010 comeback story written by the site Editor, and the second was the articled titled "Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao done deal, all that's needed are signatures on finalized contracts" article. As you know, Charlie Sheen is fine and Mike Tyson is a vegetarian and wrapped up in reality TV shows. That pretty much tells you something there. Oh yea, and we are still eagerly waiting to see if Mayweather and Pacquiao will ever fight

8CountNews is rapidly becoming the (fix that other site's screw up's) website and we don't mind because we aim to provide you, the boxing fans with accurate and timely news, and not bogus tabloid garbage.

So let's get to today's damage control. As mentioned above, RingsideReport.com titled their story "Holyfield Retiring" so of course when I spoke to Evander today, and read to him what the site's headline was, he was pretty pissed off. Here was his initial response, " I AM NOT RETIRING!" That's clear enough for me, how about you guys?

Secondly, Mr Holyfield wanted to issue the following statement that you will only get here EXCLUSIVELY on 8CountNews.com - "Despite what you may have heard or read I am not retiring. I will be continuing on with my boxing career. My goal is to become the undisputed heavyweight champion."

If you want timely accurate news WITH sources, keep it here on 8CountNews.com. If you want to read about gorillas, Michael Jackson, and American Idol, go ahead an visit that other site. Just don't expect to get any sources that back up their articles, and definitely don't expect most of what you read there to come to fruition.

Source: 8countnews.com