Antonio Margarito Update -- Fight News

By Gabriel F. Cordero, FightNews.com

A proposed grudge rematch between Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto is on the shelf for the moment. In addition to the broken orbital socket Margarito suffered in his brutal loss to Manny Pacquiao last November, “The Tijuana Tornado” also suffered a detached retina in that fight. The injury could force Margarito to retire from the sport.

Source: fightnews.com

Pacquiao draws career-best PPV numbers -- Las Vegas Review-Journal

By Steve Carp, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

With the help of CBS, Manny Pacquiao's unanimous decision over Shane Mosley on May 7 attracted more pay-per-view buyers than any of his previous fights.

CBS's cross-promotion, which included three episodes of "Fight Camp 360" on the network, helped the Showtime pay-per-view card generate 1.3 million to 1.4 million buys. The final tally is expected this week.

"We're very happy with CBS and Showtime," said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao. "They were a great partner, and this is the biggest pay-per-view result in Manny's career."

The WBO welterweight champion's previous best was 1.25 million buys for his eighth-round technical knockout of Oscar De La Hoya in 2008.

"It was a very successful promotion," Arum said. "Manny doing 1.3, 1.4 million buys is outstanding."

The fight at the MGM Grand Garden had a live gate of $8,882,600, boxing's 14th-highest gross in state history. Officially, 15,422 tickets were sold.

Arum said he thinks boxing could return to prime-time network television on CBS this year. But if it happens, it will probably be without Pacquiao because he might be too expensive.

"Manny makes between $20 million to $30 million a fight," Arum said. "How are you going to leave that kind of money on the table to fight on free TV?

"I'm not ruling it out completely. But I don't know that you could make it work (economically)."

If not Pacquiao, Arum said, former world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik might be a candidate for a CBS bout.

Pavlik, 29, has a compelling life story, as he has battled alcoholism. Arum said he thinks there are enough worthy super middleweight opponents for Pavlik to create a good TV matchup.

"Lucien Bute is a possibility," Arum said. "Andre Ward. Carl Froch. There are lots of good fights for Kelly."

While Pavlik is a good story, it's debatable whether he could draw enough viewers to make the investment worthwhile for CBS or any other network.

■ PACQUIAO, MOSLEY PASS -- Pacquiao and Mosley passed their postfight drug tests, Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said.

Both fighters tested negative for steroids, performance-enhancing drugs, recreational drugs and diuretics. Pacquiao, who has been accused of using PEDs -- most recently last week by a former sparring partner -- has never failed a drug test.

Kizer also said Jorge Arce and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. passed their drug tests. Arce defeated Vazquez by technical knockout to win the WBC super bantamweight title on the May 7 undercard.

■ TRIALS IN ALABAMA -- USA Boxing has announced that the Olympic trials will take place July 31 to Aug. 6 in Mobile, Ala.

Michael Hunter, a Las Vegan who recently won the gold medal at the national Golden Gloves championships, has qualified for the trials at 201 pounds. He won the U.S. trials at heavyweight in 2007 but lost in the AIBA world championships and did not qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

■ KIRKLAND, ADAMS SPLIT -- Las Vegas -based veteran trainer Kenny Adams said he is no longer working with James Kirkland.

The middleweight, stopped in the first round by Nobuhiro Ishida on April 9 at the MGM Grand, has reunited with trainer Ann Wolfe.

"It's nobody's fault," said Adams, who trained Kirkland (27-1, 24 knockouts) for three fights. "Sometimes things just don't work out. They're probably a better fit anyway."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com sscarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.

Source: lvrj.com

Pacquiao winning, but please, no more stiffs -- San Antonio Express-News

By John Whisler, San Antonio Express-News

Manny Pacquiao has won 14 fights in a row, many of them in dominating fashion. But eventually, even the Filipino superstar’s most rabid fans – the entire country of the Philippines – will begin to demand more.

Now would be a good time to start.

Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey - the last three opponents – allowed Pacman to showcase his iconic skills. But little else.

All were inferior foes, with little chance of winning. Two of the three, Mosley and Clottey, apparently didn’t understand why they were there.

Mosley, last weekend at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, seemed more interested in touching gloves and being Pacquiao’s pal than punching him in the face.

Clottey retreated into a tortoise-like shell when he opposed Pacquiao a year ago at Cowboys Stadium.

Neither Mosley or Clottey seemed to have any intention of fighting. Only surviving, and cashing a paycheck.

In truth, Pacquiao’s legion of fans likely would pay to see their hero fight a ghost, just for the chance to see him in the ring.

But enough is enough.

Greatness isn’t greatness unless it is tested against the best a sport has to offer.

Magic Johnson needed Larry Bird. Bill Russell needed Wilt Chamberlain. Muhammad Ali needed Joe Frazier.

Pacquiao is 32 and in his prime, a prime that shouldn’t be wasted on B-list fighters.

There is one guy out there who could solve all this. It could be argued that Pacquiao is merely biding his time until Floyd Mayweather Jr. wakes up and comes to his rapidly fading senses.

It would be the richest fight in history. Followed, in all likelihood, by the richest rematch in history.

But that scenario, sadly, seems less likely than ever.

So who should Pacquiao’s next opponent be?

A variety of names have come up, including Zab Judah, Timothy Bradley Juan Manuel Marquez.

Judah is a slick southpaw with power who is enjoying a career renaissance, but he has a history of meltdowns on the big stage.

Bradley is considered a star in the making. He doesn’t have great name recognition, but he’s young, hungry and talented – ample traits to build a promotion around generate pay-per-view sales.

Marquez appears to be the frontrunner and reportedly has already signed an offer sheet from Top Rank, Pacquiao’s promoter.

This would be the third fight between the two (the first ended in a draw, while Pacquiao won the second by split decision). The big hurdle here would be weight. Marquez, who typically fights at 135, fought Mayweather at 142 in 2009 and looked slow.



A catch weight of 144 of 145 reportedly is under consideration.

But Golden Boy Promotions still retains the rights to Marquez and can match any offer he receives. This could create problems, as Golden Boy and Top Rank have been feuding for some time.

Floyd returning? Don’t look now, but Mayweather apparently is making noise about a return to the ring. Not against Pacquiao, but Victor Ortiz.

Boxrec.com reported the fight would take place Sept. 17 at Cowboys Stadium. Mayweather is said to have met with Jerry Jones during Super Bowl XLV, but during negotiations for the Ortiz fight sources say Mayweather’s financial demands were too rich even for Jones’ blood.

Still, this has to be seen as good news. A Pacquiao- Mayweather fight is still a long way off, but the fact that Floyd is even pondering a comeback means there’s still hope.

jwhisler@express-news.net

Source: mysanantonio.com

Atlas slams Pacquiao, questions his legacy -- Boxing News 24

By Chris Williams, BoxingNews24.com

ESPN2 analyst Teddy Atlas was less than impressed with Manny Pacquiao with his recent win over the nearly 40-year-old Shane Mosley recently. During Friday’s ESPN 2 telecast of the Julio Diaz vs. Kendall Holt bout, Atlas took the opportunity to chime in with his thoughts about Pacquiao’s legacy in the fight game. Atlas isn’t impressed with what Pacquiao has done since 2008 starting with his win over Oscar De La Hoya. Atlas sees that fight and the ones since being a case where Pacquiao has beaten guys with a bit of a flaw in their game at the time he fought them.

Here is what Atlas had to say about Pacquiao:

“It [Pacquiao's legacy] a bit of a question mark. It [a win over 39-year-old Mosley] doesn’t do a lot for it. It’s either a neutral or a negative to be quite honest with you because it opens up the question. These last four or five fight that have made him [Pacquiao] an icon, who have they been with? One of them was with Oscar De La Hoya, who looked like a shot fighter, dead at the weight; Another was with [Miguel] Cotto, a fighter who was a damaged fighter psychologically and physically after [Antonio] Margarito did what he did to him. And then with [Joshua] Clottey, who didn’t fight and just covered up all night long. [Ricky] Hatton was made to order. Margarito looked like he had no strength. He was dead at the weight. It makes you think that. And, of course, Mosley, who was almost 40-years-old, came with no effort to try and win the fight, and looked like he was there to just get a paycheck. It makes you start to wonder about his [Pacquiao] legacy. Has he been built up with guys that have been perfectly picked, perfectly matched where they had problems and that’s why he was able to win so convincingly and that’s why he became such a star? I know he’s a terrific fighter with terrific talent, but it kind of asks that question. Has he been in with a bunch of set ups? People will say, [Floyd] Mayweather didn’t want to fight him, but Mayweather was ready to fight him but he wouldn’t give up a tube of blood and take Olympic type testing for performance enhancing drugs. So that fight isn’t being made. You got Tim Bradley out there. Some people will say Bradley isn’t big enough, but Bradley is quick, he’s undefeated, he’s a real game son of a gun. He will do much more than 40-year-old or close to 40-year-old Mosley. I’m saying the guys [Pacquiao] fights were perfectly set up for him. It’s not maybe his fault, but they were guys, one way or another, had a little bit of a flaw.”

I agree with much of what Atlas says here. Pacquiao has fought a lot of guys that had question marks about them at the time he fought them. Pacquiao hasn’t faced Bradley, Mayweather, Timothy Bradley, Paul Williams, Andre Berto, Sergio Martinez or Paul Williams. I would have picked all of them in the past three years rather than the guys that Pacquiao has been matched against.

Source: boxingnews24.com