Mayweather-Pacquiao update: Arum says South African initial inquiry was made -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

Promoter Bob Arum, while saying that Jeff Mayweather is factual about somebody wanting to bring the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao Super Bout to South Africa, also remarked Tuesday that "I'm not holding my breath" waiting for a follow up.

According to the 79 year old head of Top Rank Promotions, an initial approach was made.

"I think the people who have contacted Jeff have come to us as well," Arum said. "But I don't know whether to put much stock into it because where it leads, where it goes, I am not sure.

"There has been no follow up, that's true. Whatever information you have about what Mayweather (Floyd's uncle, a trainer and a former Top Rank handled boxer) is saying is whatever you have. I have not spoken with Jeff Mayweather."

Arum also said there was some confusion about a date the South African interests would want to hold the fight, probably the richest in ring history. Former president and international icon Nelson Mandela, a boxer in his youth and still a big fan of the sport, turns age 93 on July 18.

"They mentioned November to us but Jeff is talking about the summer and saying July. Down there, November is in the summer."

Arum said the presence of Mandela's daughter at the recent Los Angeles Sugar Shane Mosley-Pacquiao May 7 bout (slated for Las Vegas) LA press conference may be related to the inquiry from South Africa.

In an earlier story I wrote today, longtime promoter and SA native Cedric Kushner said neither he nor veteran SA promoter Rodney Berman heard any such rumblings in their homeland.

In other Pacman news, Arum may have put the final kibosh on rumors about conditioning guru Alex Ariza walking the plank.

"I don't where this spit starts," Arum said. "Alex Ariza is 100 percent with Team Pacquiao. He's also 100 percent with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He's leaving in a day or two for the Philippines."

Arum said he pl;ans to fly to Pacman's Baguio training camp on March 19.

Ariza and world champ Amir Khan recently had a controversial separation.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

MANNY PACQUIAO-FLOYD MAYWEATHER FIGHT BACK ON! -- Daily Express

By Niall Hickman, Daily Express

THE Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight could be back on, with both sides discussing plans for a showdown in South Africa to mark Nelson Mandela’s 93rd birthday later this year.

Relations between the rival camps appeared to be permanently soured following the breakdown of negotiations last year, with neither side able to find a resolution to a blood-testing dispute.

The waters have been further muddied by a string of charges hanging above Mayweather’s head, which could leave him facing a maximum of 34 years in jail. But Mayweather’s uncle Jeff says his nephew is now close to agreeing a deal to face Pacquiao.

He said: “I’m negotiating with both sides and it’s just a matter now of sending a letter of intent to Manny and one to Floyd and see where it can go.”

Source: express.co.uk

Mayorga smoking hot: Others fear Pacquiao but I will knock him out -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

Terrible maladies. Terrible melodies. You know the difference.

I'm on Day 3 of a stomach flu which has been hard to stomach but I can diagnose trashtalking champion Ricardo Mayorga as being in the throes of a common affliction among all fighters in his weight category. (No more Jewish penicillin, Nurse Ratchet.)

You thought the 37-year-old's cigarette and cerveza habits were bad. He now has MPO.

MPO is medical shorthand, the acronym for Manny Pacquiao Obsession.

The Nasty Nicaraguan, who fights Pacman victim but still formidable Miguel Cotto 11 days hence at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, made that abundantly clear on Tuesday's media conference to hype the Don King-Bob Arum joint venture card.

First, Mayorga said he considered Cotto only the low hurdle in the Pacquiap path and made this solemn promise.

"This fight with Cotto is a fight that I will win," Mayorga said. "If I win by decision, then I will say I'm not deserving of a fight with Pacquiao. But I will win by KO."

Mayorga had previously predicted the bout won't go four rounds and, on the first portion of the call featuring Cotto, Arum and trainer Emanuel Steward, Steward said he agreed with the Central American brawler. I hate to label him unpredictable because isn't that the very definition of a brawler?

Suffice to say Mayorga thinks the Queensbury Rules are for parcheesi or another board game.

Of course, the "Kronk Goldfather" flipped tricky Ricky's script to forecast a win before the start of the fifth round for his guy, the revived Boricua Banger.

Mayorga didn't care much for that jibe.

"They (Cotto and Steward) are both clowns. They're both failures. After this fight...I will prove that."

I asked the Main Man from Managua what he could possibly bring in the ring to make more viable than anyone else, in particular unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, to stop the Pacquiao Express in its tracks?

"That's what I'm working for, for Pacquiao...No one is unbeatable, only God, only Jesus Christ.

"The rest go into the ring against Pacquiao with fear, very tenative," Mayorga said.

"When I knock out Manny Pacquiao, they will say I am the greatest fighter of all time!"

Cotto's impressive record, starting in February of 2001, is 35-2 with 28 KOs, his only defeats at the powerful hands of Pacman and before that Antonio Margarito.

Mayorga's pro resume is 29-7-1 with 23 KOs. Throw out three early-on career losses and his only defeats came at the hands of legends Felix Trinidad, Oscar de la Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and lesser light Cory Spinks.

MPO is a disease that can be dangerous to your health, sure. But it can also load up your bank account.

In that sense, Mayorga is just another Pacquiao prospector.

Hey, come on. He's two years younger than Old Faithful Shanedog, you know.

Mr. Mosley tries to derail Mr. Pacquiao come May 7.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Manny Pacquiao: What did Floyd Mayweather JR do to his Legacy? -- RIngside Report

By Geno McGahee, Ringside Report

On May 7th, the fight that nobody really wanted, with the exception of Shane Mosley and possibly Bob Arum is taking place. Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao, 52-3-2, 38 KO’s, is the pound for pound best in the game, more or less. An inactive Floyd Mayweather, JR., is having a hard time maintaining the top spot as the days go by, but there are a great many that still consider him the best in the boxing world.

As with any fighter that claims to be the best in the game and is supported by the many impressive victories, as Pacquiao has, the fans want the best possible match up. When Oscar De La Hoya was on the way up, he was paired with the Felix Trinidad. Roy Jones, JR., met up with James Toney. Evander Holyfield met up with Riddick Bowe. The list goes on and on because it is what the people want. Boxing is one of the few sports that seem to ignore the clamoring fans requests. So many “super bouts” have not happened and the Floyd Mayweather, JR. – Manny Pacquiao fight is just the latest.

The list of fallen opponents on the Pacquiao record is very impressive, but he never caught the big names when they were in their prime, which is why facing Floyd Mayweather, JR., was the fight that he needed so badly. Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Oscar De La Hoya, and Miguel Cotto were not at the top of their games when they stepped into the ring with Manny. To the credit of Pacquiao, he did what he had to do. It is not his fault that he came up at this time and it is not his fault that a showdown with Mayweather, JR., has not materialized. In fact, as RSR has just recently learned, Floyd may actually have some legitimate fear of the Filipino power-puncher.

Our recent email from “anonymous,” a pro fighter that wishes not to be named, stated that his conversation with Floyd about Manny led to “Money Mayweather” noting that he wished for Pacquiao to “calm down” and that he was “worried about Manny’s speed.” The idea of losing his undefeated record may be worth more than the millions of dollars that he would clear in a fight with Pacquiao.

This is a disservice to the fans and an even bigger hit to the career of Pacquiao. Sugar Shane Mosley is not a defining fight. There is very little drama in it. We are going to see an old man beaten up by a near prime Pacquiao.

Pacquiao needs “the fight” and Floyd is it, but the fight will most likely never happen, and it will hurt how people look upon the career of Pacquiao long after he retires. Damien Norman, one of our Feature Writers, wrote an article asking the question: Is Manny Pacquiao the Greatest of All Time?

It got the reaction that we anticipated, although the racism that many others allow to remain on their articles comments section was quickly removed. Manny is a national hero. Manny is possibly the greatest of this time, but he has not proven himself as the greatest of all time yet and when you look at the landscape of potential fights, he may never have a chance to do so.

To be the “greatest,” you need to face great opposition, in their prime. Sugar Ray Leonard had Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran. He came back to defeat Marvin Hagler, an undisputed all time great. Oscar De La Hoya had his great prime opponents like Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad, and Shane Mosley. Pacquiao has eliminated the old timers, squashed the mediocrities, and beat up some good fighters, but he has never had “the event.” He was the underdog facing De La Hoya, and to his credit, won easily, and that was an event, but not the event that he needs.

What makes boxing so wonderful is when the best faces the best to settle it. Who is the best fighter in the game today? The recent bouts with Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey are poor replacements for a legitimate “great vs. great” match and so is an old Mosley. Pacquiao retiring makes all the sense in the world should Floyd remain on the shelf. There is nothing left to prove and nobody to prove it against.

When Pacquiao retires, should he not face Floyd, the jury may be forever out. He has defeated some great fighters in Barrera, Marquez, Morales, and De La Hoya, but there is the question as to what would have happened had he faced the other great of the time, Floyd Mayweather, JR., and that may be something that forever places Manny lower on the list of greatest fighters of all time.

Source: ringsidereport.com

Hurt by critics, Pacman almost quits Twitter -- Manila Bulletin

By NEIL RAMOS, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Seemingly still not used to being censured, boxer Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao announced Sunday, Feb. 27, that he was to close his Twitter account, @congMP.

Apparently, Pacquiao received a couple of jabs from users of the popular network site concerning his English—a matter which he took personally.

He even went to confront one heckler directly, tweeting, “Sorry ha mas matalino ka kay saakin kaya asinso ang buhay mo ako ito simple lang paki tanong sa panginoon ty.”

According to Pacquiao, opening a Twitter account was a friend’s idea. He only acquiesced to the suggestion thinking it an apt platform to update fans.

He was humble enough to apologize for his grammar, but Pacman went on to proudly share that inasmuch as he is unfamiliar with the workings of Twitter, he was doing his own tweets, alleging that others of his ilk merely pay people to do the job.

Pacman’s plan to cancel his account received howls of protests from fans.

Among those who rushed to Pacquiao’s side was one Pilyosopo who tweeted the Saranggani congeressman, "Your english is too good to be @mannypacquiao's! guess what, i love your 'genuine' english; it's not flawless but you're proud of it."

Twitter user Chuzlee was equally adamant to stop Pacquiao from proceeding with his plans tweeting emphatically, "No sir Manny...twitter is one way to express yourself...everyone of can't please everybody.. Many people are supporting you!”

Alexerjohn wrote, "wag nyo pong e private ang account nyo sa twitter wag nyo nlang pong pansinin yan inggit lang po yan."

Pacquiao was quite thankful with the support as seen in his reply to the fans but was seemingly bent on going forward with his intention late Sunday.

“Humihingi po ako ng paumanhin sa lhat but I hve 2 delete it tmorrow pro hndi ako nagttampo tlagang ganon may mga tao tlagang iba ang utak.”

Then again, Pacquiao might have eventually been appeased by the shower of support as he was still tweeting as of this writing.

“Going back to sarangani to do groundbreaking of additional court building and I'm gonna start my training there God Bless You All,” he Tweeted about five hours ago.

Pacquiao opened a Twitter account Feb. 20, acquiring more than 4,000 followers barely two days into it. He now has 13,508 followers.

Source: mb.com.ph
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