Monday 6 June 2011

Filipino, American novices promise $75 million each to Mayweather, Pacquiao -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner

Funny thing about the reporting business. Whether you’re covering figure skating, boxing or the price of copper futures, you’re often either knocking down someone else’s story or confirming same, maybe even adding details to the other guy’s story.

In the case of Ben Thompson’s Fighthype.com report about a $75 million purse offer to both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, I can confirm some of the details.

(This comes on top of Bob Arum and Michael Koncz on the Pacman side relating how Mayweather ostensibly squashed a $65 million purse offer for the so called “Dream Fight” by demanding $10 million upfront from a Singapore based consortium. Then, late Sunday, came a report out of the Philippines in which Pacquiao’s close pal and wealthy business mogul-politician Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson told Inquiere.net he’s discussed a Canelo Alvarez-Pacquiao bout for 2012 in Mexico for which Mexican billionaire and telecommunications czar Carlos Slim Helu would fork over a $65 million purse to Manny for a bout which might be akin to child abuse if it were not for the fact that the popular flame-haired Mexican boxer turns age 21 come July 18.)

Btw, I think we can all envision these theoretical purses zooming past the $100 million for Floyd and Manny if either or both showed any real enthusiasm for making the fight.

Back to Big Ben at Mayweather’s self-chosen bulletin board website.

A Filipino gentleman and a black American are the guys behind the purported $75 million purse offers and they are complete boxing novices. The American guy said he’s a big macher in the music business.

Originally, they spoke about paying the entire $150 million upfront, upon contract signing to Mayweather and to Pacman. (Now they say they will “only” pay $25 million upon signing to Floyd and Manny.)

Originally, they said they wished to put the huge fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, carelessly eschewing see what kind of multimillion dollar site fee they might gouge Las Vegas for.

One big difference in the Alvarez-Pacquiao and Mayweather-Pacquiao scenarios is that Slim is often listed as being as wealthy or nearly so as bucks up guys such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. At one point, Slim was considered the richest man on the planet which sounds like an exclusive neighborhood to me.

According to Arum, the Singapore Slingers brought the offer to Mayweather henchman Tommy Smalls but that Mayweather kiboshed the deal with his $10 million upfront fee.

Somebody wake me up when the principals in the fight show some real interest in any offer.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Easy 65 Million if Pacquiao took Alvarez offer -- Examiner

By Ricardo Lois, Examiner

Sunday reports from Mexico state that billionaire Carlos Slim has put forward an offer of 65 million dollars for Manny Pacquiao to fight Saul Alvarez.

If I were a member of Team Pacquiao, I would sign that agreement, as it would prove to be the easiest 65 million dollars anyone has ever made.

No Fear of Failure: Real Stories of how leaders deal with risk and changePacquiao, the pound for pound best, would cut young Saul "Canelo" Alvarez into mince meat. Alvarez was signed by Golden Boy Promotions last year, and it is clear that they are having trouble moving the young lion forward - matching him up with exceedingly difficult competition and still keeping him undefeated.

Fighting within the junior middleweight class, Alvarez challenged welterweight Matthew Hatton earlier this year and was unable to knock-out the British fighter. What was to be Alvarez’s HBO coming out party, left a lot of experts and fans wondering if the red-headed Mexican was a true blue chip prospect.

With slow foot and hand speed, Pacquiao could pick apart Alvarez over 12 championship rounds, and I would predict the Filipino would stop his rival within the limit. After all, this is the same Alvarez who was wobbled by Cotto, no, not Miguel, but his older brother Jose.

If Slim, who has been noted as the World’s Wealthiest Man, is willing to fork over a 65 million dollar paycheck for Pacquiao to make mince meat of Alvarez, the Filipino would be smart to make the deal.

Source: examiner.com

Pacquiao seriously considering $65 million offer to fight Saul Alvarez in Mexico -- Examiner

By Scott Heritage, Examiner

Manny Pacquiao's next opponent after he takes on old rival Juan Manuel Marquez in November might not be a fighter chosen by promoter Bob Arum or by Pacquiao himself. He also might not be someone under the Top Rank banner or in fact b someone that anyone ever expected Pacquiao to take on.

The New Elite: Inside the Minds of the Truly WealthyThe reason being that according to The Inquirer, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has offered Pacquiao a guaranteed purse of $65 million to fight an opponent of his choosing in Mexico next year.

After Bob Arum claimed in a recent video interview with Elie Seckbach that Floyd Mayweather turned down an offer of $65 million to fight Pacquiao, that time backed by a group from Singapore, he also made a point to mention:

"$65 million obviously is a sum that Manny Pacquiao would accept"

With the news that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is currently in negotiations with Pacquiao and team, this statement may be put to the test, as according to several sources $65m is exactly what he has offered.

Reassuringly, Slim also isn't attempting to coral an uninterested and inactive Floyd Mayweather into proceedings, and instead wants to see Pacquiao take on one of his countrymen, with the frontrunner being Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

Slim for those that haven't heard of him is currently ranked as the world's wealthiest man by Forbes with an estimated net worth of $74 billion. (For perspective Cowboys stadium owner Jerry Jones is worth about $2 billion).

Floyd Mayweather turns down new offer of $65 million to fight Manny Pacquiao

The majority of his wealth today is derived from controlling shares in several telecommunication companies, although he also has interests in raw materials, construction, financial institutions, tobacco companies and even owns a percentage of the New York Times group to name just a few.

If Pacquiao were willing to fight Mayweather for $65 million which no-one contests, then surely an as yet unnamed Mexican opponent for the same money would be an offer too good to refuse.

Realistically Saul Alvarez is seemingly the only contender that most people could name, with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. being far too big and Pacquiao having already fought most of the other well known Mexican fighters in or around his own weight.

Even Alvarez though could prove a difficult opponent for Pacquiao to come to terms with purely because of the size difference between them.

Alvarez currently campaigns at around 150lbs although holds the 154lb WBC world title. At the age of 20 however, Alvarez is still growing and it's likely only a matter of time before he is too big to dip much below the light middleweight limit at all.

Pacquiao on the other hand currently fights as a welterweight and is comfortable at around 144lbs, having fought at a higher limit than this only once, against Antonio Margarito last year. Even then however, Pacquiao came in at 144lbs to Margarito's 150lbs and commented afterwards that the size difference made the fight a lot harder than he had anticipated.

A fight between them then would probably require a catchweight of around 148lbs, although whether Alvarez can still get down to this kind of weight will have to remain to be seen.

Of course both fighters also have other matters to attend to first. Pacquiao completes his trilogy against old rival Juan Manuel Marquez in November, and Alvarez faces the biggest test of his career to date later this month against Ryan Rhodes.

So long as both overcome their forthcoming opponents however, and that Alvarez is interested, there seemingly isn't any reason why Pacquiao wouldn't take the offer presented to him.

Being offered such an amount without Mayweather as the opponent is also proof of how much Pacquiao's star has risen over the last few years, from initially being well known only in fight circles to now being seen on U.S television in mainstream adverts every day by millions of people.

Source: examiner.com

Pacquiao's $65 million offer from billionaire Slim will be explored, Arum says -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner

Breaking News: Manny Pacquiao pal and powerful Filipino politician-businessman Luis “Chavit” Singson said that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has discussed a 2012 bout between Pacman and rising Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to take place in Mexico.

Carlos Slim Retrato IneditoWhen you see the names of moneymen such as Chavit Singson and Carlos Slim in the same sentence, you’ve got to pay attention, especially when a $65 million guaranteed purse for Pacquiao is prominently mentioned.

And, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum just told me by phone from Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, he certainly will check the story out, first thing Monday morning by speaking to Singson by telephone.

“I saw the story and I don’t take it as gospel but Slim is one of the richest people in the world and Chavit, who I know so well, is a very serious guy,” Arum said. “I will phone Chavit on this.”

Altough Alvarez, only 20 years old, is promotionally tied to Top Rank’s familiar adversary Golden Boy, that shouldn’t be a problem if a one man bank like Mr. Slim is putting up the dinero for both fighters.

“Well,” Arum said, “they are talking about next year. Manny has the key third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez coming up on Nov. 12 and then we can discuss 2012. I don’t know when Manny will want to fight next year, whether we stick to May and November, because that’s up to Manny and his schedule, what he wants to do.

“But these are two serious people so I take it seriously. I know Chavit (governor of the province of Ilocos Sur and former national security adviser under President Gloria Marcapagal Arroyo) as a great guy and Slim happens to be one of the richest men in the world.”

Back in 2007, Slim, who made much of his fortune as an international telecommunications mogul, had a net worth estimated at between 59 billion and 67.8 billion dollars.

Alvarez, whose red hair led to his nickname of “Canelo,” has a huge and growing following in both Mexico and the United States but he would seem to be, at this stage anyway, hardly mature enough to be very competitive against Pacman, the Pound for Pound king of the sport.

Slim is an ardent boxing fan and, working with Don Jose Sulaiman and the WBC, has funded some sorely needed pensions for retired Mexican fighters, including many ex-world champions.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Billionaire Carlos Slim Offers Pacquiao $65 Million to Fight in Mexico with ???? -- Hispanically Speaking News

Hispanically Speaking News

The World’s Richest Man, Mexican Carlos Slim Helu, apparently doesn’t want to limit his power to mining and telecommunications, he apparently now wants to get into the fight business.

Filipino fighting superstar Manny Pacquiao’s confidante, llocos Sur Gov. Gluis “Chavit” Singson has just confirmed that his fighter friend has been guaranteed $65 million by Slim to fight in Mexico.

But who???

Slim’s motives are apparently not financial but altruistic and for the love of Mexico. He wants to give his countrymen what they have been yearning for: a Pacquiao fight on Mexican soil with one of Mexico’s up and coming fighters. Slim would pick the fighter.

Singson said Pacquiao is intrigued by the offer especially the ‘guarantee’ win or lose of the $65 million. It is reported that a likely candidate would be the WBC light middle weight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Pacquiao has fought numerous Mexican and Mexican-American fighters, most notably Oscar De La Hoya, but never in Mexico.

Source: hispanicallyspeakingnews.com