By Kevin Mitchell, Guardian.co.uk
Any bookmaker framing odds on the chances of Manny Pacquiao fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, this spring or summer might have it at close to even money this morning.
The reasons are these: Floyd, one of life's great gamblers, has already pushed Manny too far in their drawn-out blood feud, and he needs the money more than the little guy. I think the Mayweathers are cracking.
Six weeks ago, when negotiations for the 13 March fight started, Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's closest business adviser, said: "If the fight happens, Floyd deserves the lion's share of the purse."
This is a standard negotiating posture, one that led Bob Arum, representing Pacquiao, to point out to him that only the egos of the negotiators could scupper the promotion.
To everyone's amazement, within days Mayweather agreed to split the $50m purse down the middle and cut a deal on the pay-per-view take. That was when I figured he was more desperate for the fight than Pacquiao was – and when they decided on the next stage of their negotiating strategy.
Just before Christmas they tried to rattle Pacquiao by demanding he take random blood tests for performance-enhancing drugs, knowing he didn't like giving blood, especially in the last month of training. He did it before, against Erik Morales (promoted at the time by Oscar De La Hoya), and lost. They were also putting in place what they thought was the perfect excuse: if Pacquiao refused the blood tests and won the fight, Mayweather could claim again he was on the juice.
But Pacquiao fashioned an even better counter. When he announced last week he was suing Mayweather, his father and uncle, as well as their business associates Richard Schaefer and De La Hoya, for defamation, claiming they portrayed him as a drug cheat, he challenged them to back down.
They have not yet done that, but they are nervous.
Ellerbe, who doesn't give many interviews, told Fanhouse.com yesterday, "From day one, I've never accused Manny Pacquaio of anything. All that I've said is that we want to ensure that there is a level playing field."
This, clearly, is unsustainable nonsense. If he is not accusing Pacquiao of anything, why ask him to take tests they have never demanded of any of Mayweather's previous 40 opponents? There is no logic in the Mayweathers' position – unless they believe Pacquiao is taking performance-enhancing drugs.
If they have proof of that beyond gym scuttlebutt, you would imagine they'd produce it. Or would they? Because, to do so would not only wreck Pacquiao's career but a pay-day north of $40m for Mayweather, as well as big bunce for his partners.
Pacquiao, if he is innocent, will know they have no evidence and so will have to compromise. If he is guilty, he will be reasonably certain they won't wreck the promotion by providing the proof. He also knows Mayweather, who called him out in the first place, really wants the fight. He has some serious tax bills to pay, and loves a bet. The signs are encouraging.
Ellerbe said yesterday, "We're still ready, willing and able to make a deal. We feel that this is the biggest fight in the history of boxing. We want to give this fight to the fans."
Of course they do.
And, not only do they want to make a pay-per-view killing, the biggest in the history of the sport by a factor of possibly two, they want to avoid punitive damages of "tens of millions" above the headline $75,000 Pacquiao is suing them for. Those big zeroes are the estimate of Pacquiao's celebrity attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, and any gambler would do well not to ignore him. He has form.
If Pacquiao extracts an apology from Mayweather and agrees to a suitable form of drug testing, all will be well. Otherwise, he will take the legal action the whole way. I have no idea if he will win in court – but neither does Mayweather, and I reckon his legal advisers will be telling him to think hard about bailing out of this one.
Given this is boxing, there has to be another twist – and the most mysterious of all is that Golden Boy owns a slice of Pacquiao, who signed with it in 2006. This inspired Top Rank to sue GBP, which counter-sued. They now each have a bit of Manny, a curiosity that has yet to be resolved.
It is not just a boxing match between Pacquiao and Mayweather, the two best practitioners in the world; it is a willy-waving contest between a whole cast of players: Arum and De La Hoya, for a start. The Golden Boy boxed for Arum – until they fell out, naturally. Nor does Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, get on with Mayweather Sr. In fact Mayweather Jr is not crazy about De La Hoya, who lost to him in 2007 but out-earned him by $58m to $25m. Oscar then sacked his trainer – Freddie Roach. The Borgias have got nothing on this lot.
Ellerbe told Fanhouse.com, "We checked our egos at the door" when they started talks. I don't think so. The fight game is all about egos. It's why they are in this mess in the first place.
There is an outside chance, of course, that this absurd row is a publicity scam of towering genius, one that ensures maximum interest from outside the hardcore boxing community, punters who will push the pay-per-view numbers past three million and make everyone concerned considerably richer.
It might not have begun like that. But, as in life, what started as a cock-up born of animus has become a war, and it plainly suits both sides to milk it until they settle. It is getting a lot of ink.
So if the fighters, alongside Arum, Ellerbe, Schaefer and De La Hoya, gather this week – let's say Wednesday – to announce the war is over, it would not surprise me in the least. I'd put the odds at about 4‑6.
Source: guardian.co.uk
Monday, 4 January 2010
A contrarian’s dry-eyed look at the (possible) collapse of Pacquiao-Mayweather -- 15Rounds
By Bart Barry, 15Rounds
“This one storm is going to change the face of our planet. When this storm is over, we’ll be in a new ice age. My God.” – Professor Jack Hall, “The Day After Tomorrow”
Thank heavens the hyperbolic professor didn’t have an internet connection and an interest in boxing these last 40 days. Who knows how many worlds he might have seen ending? But then, if he’d had those things there’s an outside chance his carrying on might have been ridiculous enough for us to snicker, find our equilibrium and realize that – much as in the poorly scripted case above – the end of the world is not nigh.
Nor is the end of boxing. Nor – mercilessly enough – is the end of negotiations for Manny Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather and determine the mythical pound-for-pound titlist of 2010. Soft deadlines have passed. Hard deadlines have come and gone. New Year’s Day is in the books. Both sides are unwilling to budge. And with March 13 looming but 68 days from here, there’s not nearly enough time to fill Cowboys Stadium!
Get a hold of yourself. This fight was never going anywhere but Las Vegas. With MGM Grand the settled site for Pacquiao-Mayweather, there are no tickets to sell; attracting pay-per-viewers is the only point of the promotion. That means HBO’s “24/7” program is the de facto promoter and the ultimate deadline needn’t come before Feb. 1.
That could be the last word in optimism if optimism were warranted. It isn’t.
Anyone reading this column cares enough about our sport to cast a wary eye at outsiders who assure us boxing’s future relies on this fight coming off. I know, I know. We finally had the New York Times and Wall Street Journal’s validation. Well, so long as this fight looked doable, it behooved us all to agree this was the most important happening of the millennium. Now that Pacquiao-Mayweather in Texas has gone the way of Pacquiao-Valero in Macao, though, ask yourself: How does this fight affect me?
Manny Pacquiao is considered the world’s best fighter. Floyd Mayweather is considered the world’s second-best fighter. If they were to fight, those positions would likely switch. How is that good for boxing?
Pacquiao is a charismatic action fighter who’s created a market for prizefighting in the Philippines and made it popular as ever throughout Asia. Mayweather is a foul-mouthed defensive specialist whose fights lose more fans than they gain. Pacquiao is good for boxing. Mayweather is good for Mayweather.
Mayweather is also too smart by half, this time. He’s devised a strategy of implying Pacquiao has been cheating, without exactly saying it. He didn’t want fair play; he wanted another psychological advantage over another opponent. He knew Pacquiao would consider the blood testing intrusive. He knew in Pacquiao’s mind it would be “Money May” himself reaching in those veins and doing God knows what with the blood.
Hey, as an American immune to superstition, I’m with Mayweather on the testing. I’d probably agree to the testing even if I did have something to hide – betting on the testers’ incompetence. But most Filipinos would refuse blood tests even if they had nothing to hide.
If the fight’s off because neither side flinches on blood tests, Pacquiao remains the world’s best fighter. Mayweather holds down the two spot. Works for me.
But let’s hope it doesn’t work for Mayweather. Let’s hope being a runner-up enkindles him enough to declare war on the welterweight division, demand the head of whoever wins the upcoming match between Shane Mosley and Andre Berto, and then issue beatings to Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto and Luis Collazo.
Wait, stop laughing.
A more likely scenario of course is that Mayweather will pursue dwindling-money fights with old guys and b-level talents until he, too, becomes an old guy. If that happens, Mayweather’s ultimate legacy will look like this: Top 10 talent, Top 100 resume.
Oh, no it won’t! I’ll remind the world till the day I die that Pacquiao ducked him by refusing blood tests!
No, you won’t. Someday you’ll be married with kids and a full-time job and no more than an hour of every week for message boards. Then, only Mayweather’s record of actual fights will matter, and some youngster half your age will say: “Not one prime hall-of-famer on that 50-0 record.”
Based on their past exploits, we can assume Pacquiao really wants this fight, Mayweather sort of wants this fight, Golden Boy Promotions really wants this fight, and Top Rank sort of wants this fight. Though they share similar levels of enthusiasm, Mayweather is wrong and Top Rank is right – coincidentally, for the same reason:
If anyone can solve Manny Pacquiao, it’s Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao and his millions of fans don’t know this. Mayweather and his dozens of fans do. And so, one assumes, do a few people in Top Rank – the company that developed Mayweather before it developed Pacquiao. Top Rank won’t jeopardize the Pacman party till it gets plenty more concessions at the negotiating table.
If Pacquiao-Mayweather does happen, though, it will be an event. The New York Times will be there. The undercard will be unwatchable. The fight itself will be dull. Mayweather will hold the sport of boxing hostage – whupping the daylights out of the Matty Hattons of the world – for five more years. And we’ll all be $100 million richer.
No we won’t. Yet, that’s the final reason why many seem to think they have a vested interest in this fight happening: Because it will make a lot of money. Money for whom? In prizefighting the money distributes like the talent on a super-fight’s marquee: 90 percent in the top 10 percent.
So, dry your eyes. And remember, less money in boxing, not more, is what made 2009 so much better than 2008.
Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry
Source: 15rounds.com
“This one storm is going to change the face of our planet. When this storm is over, we’ll be in a new ice age. My God.” – Professor Jack Hall, “The Day After Tomorrow”
Thank heavens the hyperbolic professor didn’t have an internet connection and an interest in boxing these last 40 days. Who knows how many worlds he might have seen ending? But then, if he’d had those things there’s an outside chance his carrying on might have been ridiculous enough for us to snicker, find our equilibrium and realize that – much as in the poorly scripted case above – the end of the world is not nigh.
Nor is the end of boxing. Nor – mercilessly enough – is the end of negotiations for Manny Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather and determine the mythical pound-for-pound titlist of 2010. Soft deadlines have passed. Hard deadlines have come and gone. New Year’s Day is in the books. Both sides are unwilling to budge. And with March 13 looming but 68 days from here, there’s not nearly enough time to fill Cowboys Stadium!
Get a hold of yourself. This fight was never going anywhere but Las Vegas. With MGM Grand the settled site for Pacquiao-Mayweather, there are no tickets to sell; attracting pay-per-viewers is the only point of the promotion. That means HBO’s “24/7” program is the de facto promoter and the ultimate deadline needn’t come before Feb. 1.
That could be the last word in optimism if optimism were warranted. It isn’t.
Anyone reading this column cares enough about our sport to cast a wary eye at outsiders who assure us boxing’s future relies on this fight coming off. I know, I know. We finally had the New York Times and Wall Street Journal’s validation. Well, so long as this fight looked doable, it behooved us all to agree this was the most important happening of the millennium. Now that Pacquiao-Mayweather in Texas has gone the way of Pacquiao-Valero in Macao, though, ask yourself: How does this fight affect me?
Manny Pacquiao is considered the world’s best fighter. Floyd Mayweather is considered the world’s second-best fighter. If they were to fight, those positions would likely switch. How is that good for boxing?
Pacquiao is a charismatic action fighter who’s created a market for prizefighting in the Philippines and made it popular as ever throughout Asia. Mayweather is a foul-mouthed defensive specialist whose fights lose more fans than they gain. Pacquiao is good for boxing. Mayweather is good for Mayweather.
Mayweather is also too smart by half, this time. He’s devised a strategy of implying Pacquiao has been cheating, without exactly saying it. He didn’t want fair play; he wanted another psychological advantage over another opponent. He knew Pacquiao would consider the blood testing intrusive. He knew in Pacquiao’s mind it would be “Money May” himself reaching in those veins and doing God knows what with the blood.
Hey, as an American immune to superstition, I’m with Mayweather on the testing. I’d probably agree to the testing even if I did have something to hide – betting on the testers’ incompetence. But most Filipinos would refuse blood tests even if they had nothing to hide.
If the fight’s off because neither side flinches on blood tests, Pacquiao remains the world’s best fighter. Mayweather holds down the two spot. Works for me.
But let’s hope it doesn’t work for Mayweather. Let’s hope being a runner-up enkindles him enough to declare war on the welterweight division, demand the head of whoever wins the upcoming match between Shane Mosley and Andre Berto, and then issue beatings to Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto and Luis Collazo.
Wait, stop laughing.
A more likely scenario of course is that Mayweather will pursue dwindling-money fights with old guys and b-level talents until he, too, becomes an old guy. If that happens, Mayweather’s ultimate legacy will look like this: Top 10 talent, Top 100 resume.
Oh, no it won’t! I’ll remind the world till the day I die that Pacquiao ducked him by refusing blood tests!
No, you won’t. Someday you’ll be married with kids and a full-time job and no more than an hour of every week for message boards. Then, only Mayweather’s record of actual fights will matter, and some youngster half your age will say: “Not one prime hall-of-famer on that 50-0 record.”
Based on their past exploits, we can assume Pacquiao really wants this fight, Mayweather sort of wants this fight, Golden Boy Promotions really wants this fight, and Top Rank sort of wants this fight. Though they share similar levels of enthusiasm, Mayweather is wrong and Top Rank is right – coincidentally, for the same reason:
If anyone can solve Manny Pacquiao, it’s Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao and his millions of fans don’t know this. Mayweather and his dozens of fans do. And so, one assumes, do a few people in Top Rank – the company that developed Mayweather before it developed Pacquiao. Top Rank won’t jeopardize the Pacman party till it gets plenty more concessions at the negotiating table.
If Pacquiao-Mayweather does happen, though, it will be an event. The New York Times will be there. The undercard will be unwatchable. The fight itself will be dull. Mayweather will hold the sport of boxing hostage – whupping the daylights out of the Matty Hattons of the world – for five more years. And we’ll all be $100 million richer.
No we won’t. Yet, that’s the final reason why many seem to think they have a vested interest in this fight happening: Because it will make a lot of money. Money for whom? In prizefighting the money distributes like the talent on a super-fight’s marquee: 90 percent in the top 10 percent.
So, dry your eyes. And remember, less money in boxing, not more, is what made 2009 so much better than 2008.
Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry
Source: 15rounds.com
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is best of the best since 2000 -- Miami Herald
By SANTOS A. PEREZ, The Miami Herald
Breaking down a ``best of'' has become a popular topic the past two weeks. With the beginning of a new decade, it is an appropriate occasion to recognize the best 10 fighters of the 2000s.
Eligibility for a decade ``Best 10'' list would require an extended body of work. World champions Lennox Lewis and Ricardo Lopez fought early in the decade, but neither had sufficient bouts to make the list.
Lopez retired after only two victorious bouts, and even though Lewis flirted with comebacks after winning his last fight against Vitali Klitschko in 2003, the former heavyweight titleholder settled into a post-fighting career as an HBO analyst.
Early in the decade, Pensacola's Roy Jones Jr. seemed like a logical selection. But after his successful one-fight venture as a heavyweight, when he defeated John Ruiz for a title in 2003, Jones suffered consecutive knockout losses against light heavyweights Antonio Tarver and Miami's Glen Johnson the following year. Jones lost three additional fights later in the decade, including a one-round TKO loss against Danny Green last month.
In descending order, we list our best 10 fighters of the decade:
10. Tie -- Miguel Cotto, Ronald ``Winky'' Wright.
9. Israel Vazquez.
8. Wladimir Klitschko.
7. Arthur Abraham.
6. Chris John.
5. Kostya Tszyu: Retired since losing to Ricky Hatton in 2005, Tszyu was the top junior welterweight of his era. Tszyu made seven successful title defenses in his second stint as champion, including a 14-month undisputed reign. Tszyu's signature performance was his second-round technical knockout over Zab Judah in a title unification bout in 2001.
4. Bernard Hopkins: Began the decade unifying middleweight titles, including a TKO over Felix Trinidad in 2001. A part-time Miami resident, Hopkins enjoyed a 20-fight run as 160-pound champion. Hopkins later moved up to the light-heavyweight class and scored victories over Wright, Tarver and Kelly Pavlik.
3. Manny Pacquiao: Difficult to imagine, but Pacquiao began the decade as a super bantamweight. The Philippines native is now considered by many as the sport's best pound-for-pound fighter, defeating established champions in five successive weight classes. Pacquiao was 23-1-2 in the decade, and his knockout conquests included Cotto, Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya and Marco Antonio Barrera.
2. Joe Calzaghe: At the decade's outset, Calzaghe already was in his third year as super-middleweight champion. A native of Wales, Calzaghe remained champion through 2007, when he defeated Mikkel Kessler in a title-unification bout. Calzaghe moved to light heavyweight in 2008 and won decisions against Hopkins and Jones. Calzaghe retired after the victory over Jones and ended his career with a 46-0 record and 32 knockouts.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr.: For most of the decade, Mayweather was found near the top of best pound-for-pound lists. Having ended 2009 with a spotless career record, Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) deserves recognition as fighter of the decade. Mayweather finished the 2000s with an 18-0 record and KOs. His 10th-round TKO of Diego Corrales as super-featherweight champion in 2001 set the tone.
Source: miamiherald.com
Breaking down a ``best of'' has become a popular topic the past two weeks. With the beginning of a new decade, it is an appropriate occasion to recognize the best 10 fighters of the 2000s.
Eligibility for a decade ``Best 10'' list would require an extended body of work. World champions Lennox Lewis and Ricardo Lopez fought early in the decade, but neither had sufficient bouts to make the list.
Lopez retired after only two victorious bouts, and even though Lewis flirted with comebacks after winning his last fight against Vitali Klitschko in 2003, the former heavyweight titleholder settled into a post-fighting career as an HBO analyst.
Early in the decade, Pensacola's Roy Jones Jr. seemed like a logical selection. But after his successful one-fight venture as a heavyweight, when he defeated John Ruiz for a title in 2003, Jones suffered consecutive knockout losses against light heavyweights Antonio Tarver and Miami's Glen Johnson the following year. Jones lost three additional fights later in the decade, including a one-round TKO loss against Danny Green last month.
In descending order, we list our best 10 fighters of the decade:
10. Tie -- Miguel Cotto, Ronald ``Winky'' Wright.
9. Israel Vazquez.
8. Wladimir Klitschko.
7. Arthur Abraham.
6. Chris John.
5. Kostya Tszyu: Retired since losing to Ricky Hatton in 2005, Tszyu was the top junior welterweight of his era. Tszyu made seven successful title defenses in his second stint as champion, including a 14-month undisputed reign. Tszyu's signature performance was his second-round technical knockout over Zab Judah in a title unification bout in 2001.
4. Bernard Hopkins: Began the decade unifying middleweight titles, including a TKO over Felix Trinidad in 2001. A part-time Miami resident, Hopkins enjoyed a 20-fight run as 160-pound champion. Hopkins later moved up to the light-heavyweight class and scored victories over Wright, Tarver and Kelly Pavlik.
3. Manny Pacquiao: Difficult to imagine, but Pacquiao began the decade as a super bantamweight. The Philippines native is now considered by many as the sport's best pound-for-pound fighter, defeating established champions in five successive weight classes. Pacquiao was 23-1-2 in the decade, and his knockout conquests included Cotto, Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya and Marco Antonio Barrera.
2. Joe Calzaghe: At the decade's outset, Calzaghe already was in his third year as super-middleweight champion. A native of Wales, Calzaghe remained champion through 2007, when he defeated Mikkel Kessler in a title-unification bout. Calzaghe moved to light heavyweight in 2008 and won decisions against Hopkins and Jones. Calzaghe retired after the victory over Jones and ended his career with a 46-0 record and 32 knockouts.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr.: For most of the decade, Mayweather was found near the top of best pound-for-pound lists. Having ended 2009 with a spotless career record, Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) deserves recognition as fighter of the decade. Mayweather finished the 2000s with an 18-0 record and KOs. His 10th-round TKO of Diego Corrales as super-featherweight champion in 2001 set the tone.
Source: miamiherald.com
Judge to Mediate Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao Talks Tuesday -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Representatives of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will meet on Tuesday in retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein's Santa Monica office of Judicial Arbitration and Midiation Services (JAMS) in an attempt to revive talks for the fighters' potential, March 13, welterweight (147 pounds) megabout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank Promotions, said he will be present on behalf of Pacquiao, as will his stepson, Top Rank president, Todd duBoef. Also there will be a representative of the Los Angeles-based law firm, O'Melveny and Myers, whose attorney, Dan Petrocelli, has been retained to take the case.
Perhaps best known for gaining a wrongful death civil conviction against O.J. Simpson in 1997, Petrocelli, on Wednesday, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Pacquiao seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character against Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, as well as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and the fighter's uncle, Roger Mayweather.
Contacted through his administrative assistant, Schaefer, via e-mail, declined to comment.
But Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather promotions, told FanHouse recently "we're still trying to make a deal," adding, " "We feel that this is the biggest fight in the history of boxing. We want to give this fight to the fans."
The suit seeks damages in excess of $75,000 for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts), who contends that the camp of Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) has damaged his reputation by demanding that both fighters be randomly drug-tested using urinalysis as well as blood work -- the latter being a procedure that never has been used in boxing.
Mayweather's camp initially wanted the Olympic-style, random blood-testing to be done by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. It has since back off of that stance.
Neither Pacquiao, nor Mayweather has ever tested positive for any banned substances.
Pending Tuesday's mediation at JAMS, Petrocelli can no longer comment directly on the case. Petrocelli did, however, speak to FanHouse on Wednesday -- within an hour of filing the suit.
"We filed a defamation of character lawsuit in the federal court in Las Vegas, Nevada, against the Mayweathers, Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer based on their false and defamatory statements about Manny Pacquiao," said Petrocelli, "specifically their publicly stating that Pacquiao was taking steroids or other illegal drugs to enhance his performance -- knowing that there is absolutely no basis for any such assertions...These guys have no right saying what they're saying. It's knowingly false, highly injurious."
Arum said that the only way for the negotiations to continue is for Mayweather's side to drop its demand for random blood-testing, and to apologize, publicly, to Pacquiao.
"What they have to do -- and what I know the option is going to be -- is that they have to apologize. All of them. They have to make a meaningful apology," said Arum.
"If they want random blood-testing, they would have to go before the Nevada Commission and petition the commission for that," said Arum. "They have to agree that the Nevada Commission is regulating this fight -- period. No outside agency, no nothing. The have to go with the Nevada Commission -- period."
A native and resident of General Santos City in the Philippines, the 31-year-old Pacquiao's career began as a 106-pounder. The Filipino superstar's Nov. 14, 12th-round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto earned the WBO's welterweight title -- his unprecedented seventh in as many different weight classes.
Since losing a unanimous decision to Erik Morales in March of 2005, Pacquiao's ring performances have been extraordinary, if not, exceptional.
Pacquiao is riding an 11-0 winning streak that includes eight knockouts -- a run that encompassing KOs in the 10th, and, third rounds, respectively, over Morales.
Pacquiao's past six victories include super featherweight (130 pounds) decisions over Mexican greats, Marco Antonio Barrera, and, Juan Manuel Marquez -- this after having battled Marquez to a draw nearly four years earlier.
Pacquiao has knocked out his past four opponents, David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and, Cotto, respectively, while rising from the lightweight (135 pounds), to the junior welterweight (140), to the welterweight classes.
Some members of the boxing community have speculated, publicly, about Pacquiao's ability to carry his uncanny power with him as he has risen in weight.
Arum believes the criticism to be unprecedented and unfair, asking, "When has this ever come up in the past like this?"
Following his Sept., 2003, junior middleweight victory over Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley admitted to having used the doping agent, EPO, in connection with the BALCO Labs steroid scandal.
"Shane Mosley was an admitted drug-user. And I've had Shane Mosley fight two of the guys that I've promoted in the last few years -- one of them was Miguel Cotto and the other was Antonio Margarito. Did I ever, ever, ever even indicate in any way that Shane Mosley should be subject to special testing? Ever? No," said Arum.
"The feeling in the Philippines, really, is that Manny's an Asian guy, and this is really xenophobic. And because of his great success, this is what they're focusing on," said Arum. "So this is absolutely prepostorous, and hopefully, the mediator will convince them of that."
If the Mayweather-Pacquiao does not take place, Arum has said that he is prepared to match Pacquiao against newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) of New York, possibly on March 20 at The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Representatives of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will meet on Tuesday in retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein's Santa Monica office of Judicial Arbitration and Midiation Services (JAMS) in an attempt to revive talks for the fighters' potential, March 13, welterweight (147 pounds) megabout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank Promotions, said he will be present on behalf of Pacquiao, as will his stepson, Top Rank president, Todd duBoef. Also there will be a representative of the Los Angeles-based law firm, O'Melveny and Myers, whose attorney, Dan Petrocelli, has been retained to take the case.
Perhaps best known for gaining a wrongful death civil conviction against O.J. Simpson in 1997, Petrocelli, on Wednesday, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Pacquiao seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character against Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, as well as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and the fighter's uncle, Roger Mayweather.
Contacted through his administrative assistant, Schaefer, via e-mail, declined to comment.
But Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather promotions, told FanHouse recently "we're still trying to make a deal," adding, " "We feel that this is the biggest fight in the history of boxing. We want to give this fight to the fans."
The suit seeks damages in excess of $75,000 for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts), who contends that the camp of Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) has damaged his reputation by demanding that both fighters be randomly drug-tested using urinalysis as well as blood work -- the latter being a procedure that never has been used in boxing.
Mayweather's camp initially wanted the Olympic-style, random blood-testing to be done by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. It has since back off of that stance.
Neither Pacquiao, nor Mayweather has ever tested positive for any banned substances.
Pending Tuesday's mediation at JAMS, Petrocelli can no longer comment directly on the case. Petrocelli did, however, speak to FanHouse on Wednesday -- within an hour of filing the suit.
"We filed a defamation of character lawsuit in the federal court in Las Vegas, Nevada, against the Mayweathers, Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer based on their false and defamatory statements about Manny Pacquiao," said Petrocelli, "specifically their publicly stating that Pacquiao was taking steroids or other illegal drugs to enhance his performance -- knowing that there is absolutely no basis for any such assertions...These guys have no right saying what they're saying. It's knowingly false, highly injurious."
Arum said that the only way for the negotiations to continue is for Mayweather's side to drop its demand for random blood-testing, and to apologize, publicly, to Pacquiao.
"What they have to do -- and what I know the option is going to be -- is that they have to apologize. All of them. They have to make a meaningful apology," said Arum.
"If they want random blood-testing, they would have to go before the Nevada Commission and petition the commission for that," said Arum. "They have to agree that the Nevada Commission is regulating this fight -- period. No outside agency, no nothing. The have to go with the Nevada Commission -- period."
A native and resident of General Santos City in the Philippines, the 31-year-old Pacquiao's career began as a 106-pounder. The Filipino superstar's Nov. 14, 12th-round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto earned the WBO's welterweight title -- his unprecedented seventh in as many different weight classes.
Since losing a unanimous decision to Erik Morales in March of 2005, Pacquiao's ring performances have been extraordinary, if not, exceptional.
Pacquiao is riding an 11-0 winning streak that includes eight knockouts -- a run that encompassing KOs in the 10th, and, third rounds, respectively, over Morales.
Pacquiao's past six victories include super featherweight (130 pounds) decisions over Mexican greats, Marco Antonio Barrera, and, Juan Manuel Marquez -- this after having battled Marquez to a draw nearly four years earlier.
Pacquiao has knocked out his past four opponents, David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and, Cotto, respectively, while rising from the lightweight (135 pounds), to the junior welterweight (140), to the welterweight classes.
Some members of the boxing community have speculated, publicly, about Pacquiao's ability to carry his uncanny power with him as he has risen in weight.
Arum believes the criticism to be unprecedented and unfair, asking, "When has this ever come up in the past like this?"
Following his Sept., 2003, junior middleweight victory over Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley admitted to having used the doping agent, EPO, in connection with the BALCO Labs steroid scandal.
"Shane Mosley was an admitted drug-user. And I've had Shane Mosley fight two of the guys that I've promoted in the last few years -- one of them was Miguel Cotto and the other was Antonio Margarito. Did I ever, ever, ever even indicate in any way that Shane Mosley should be subject to special testing? Ever? No," said Arum.
"The feeling in the Philippines, really, is that Manny's an Asian guy, and this is really xenophobic. And because of his great success, this is what they're focusing on," said Arum. "So this is absolutely prepostorous, and hopefully, the mediator will convince them of that."
If the Mayweather-Pacquiao does not take place, Arum has said that he is prepared to match Pacquiao against newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) of New York, possibly on March 20 at The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Cotto's father passes at 57 -- The Ring
By The RingTV.com editors
Miguel Cotto Sr., the father of former two-division titleholder Miguel Cotto, passed away in Puerto Rico on Sunday morning, the apparent victim of a heart attack, according to El Nuevo Dia.
The the Puerto Rican daily newspaper reported that Cotto Sr., who suffered from health problems such as asthma and had to carry an oxygen tank around to help him breathe properly, was driving early Sunday, felt ill, stopped the car and asked for help before collapsing.
Cotto Sr., who served in the Puerto Rican National Guard for 25 years and worked the Cotto's corner during the fighter's loss to Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14, was very close to his son.
Source: ringtv.com
Miguel Cotto Sr., the father of former two-division titleholder Miguel Cotto, passed away in Puerto Rico on Sunday morning, the apparent victim of a heart attack, according to El Nuevo Dia.
The the Puerto Rican daily newspaper reported that Cotto Sr., who suffered from health problems such as asthma and had to carry an oxygen tank around to help him breathe properly, was driving early Sunday, felt ill, stopped the car and asked for help before collapsing.
Cotto Sr., who served in the Puerto Rican National Guard for 25 years and worked the Cotto's corner during the fighter's loss to Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14, was very close to his son.
Source: ringtv.com
Sunday, 3 January 2010
HBO's Larry Merchant on Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
HBO's Larry Merchant recently shared his thoughts with FanHouse on the drug-testing controversy which led to the stalled negotiations for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.
Merchant, 78, has been covering historical bouts as far back as Muhammad Ali's "Rope-A-Dope" victory over George Foreman -- the 1974 "Rumble In The Jungle" -- as a columnist for The New York Post.
Fighters such as Shane Mosley, Roy Jones, James Toney, Fernando Vargas, and, most recently, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Shannon Briggs have either admitted to use of or tested positive for banned substances, with Briggs' first-round knockout of Marcus McGee last month being ruled a no-contest.
Merchant, however, said that he has no reason to suspect Pacquiao.
FanHouse: In your years covering boxing, have you ever witnessed a fight's negotiations reaching an impasse over anything but money?
Larry Merchant: Never. And, well, I can go back to the third fight between Sugar Ray Robinson and Carmen Basilio. It was always, always about money. It was always about how you cut up the pie. It was never about a side issue like this has been. So, to me, ego and emotion do get involved in negotiations.
I think of negotiations as a kind of dominance ritual in which both fighters are trying to show that they're the man, they're the stronger guy, they're the guy who can impose his will on the other guy, and that this will somehow show up in the ring. I saw this all as part of that dominance ritual.
I still believe that they'll find a way to resolve it, probably by next week. If anybody is going to lose in this fight, then making $30, or, $40 million should seem to make it worthwhile.
FH: So what are your thoughts on this entire Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao situation?
Merchant: From the beginning, I thought that it was gamesmanship. That Mayweather has been very clever and intuitive about picking out the vulnerabilities -- real or imagined -- of opponents, and using that as psychological warfare to build up the fight.
He's done that in the past, so that's how I initially saw this. There are several reasons for my view on this. No. 1, what if they found something? Does Mayweather really want the fight to be canceled, given the fact that he believes strongly that he's going to win?
Also, given the certainty of making upwards of $30, or, maybe $40 million, does he really want to find something? You can flip that and say, 'If that's what Pacquiao has used to move up the scale, and Mayweather believes that he's going to win any way and is going to make all of that money, then he ought to be thanking the drug-maker.'
If the drug-maker has delivered this kind of package to Mayweather -- a guy he can beat and a guy that he can make all of this money off of -- then why would he want to screw that up?
FH: So you still believe that Floyd Mayweather is playing mind games?
Merchant: I thought that it was gamesmanship because I didn't see anything to be won by this. If you think that he's been using illegal substances, do you want him called out before the fight and revealed and blow the whole deal? I never got the point of all of this.
The story about somebody saying that somebody came to him and said, 'Can we conceal this?' That's more craziness. I find it hard that anybody would have even thought of that. Once you do this is public, that's, to me, even more strangeness and weirdness.
FH: So what do you believe is the point of the drug-testing?
Merchant: I'm trying to think, 'Well, what are they trying to do?' Are they trying to agitate Manny Pacquiao, which he's done before? Are they trying to build a controversy to make the fight even bigger than it already is? Or is there something real that they're concerned about.
The only thing that I can think of -- and I'm not an expert on uses of drugs, and I'm very skeptical that drugs have helped any fighters. But if they think, for example, that he uses something to build his stamina, his energy, something like I believe that this EPO is, then maybe they want to discourage him from doing it.
If it's not gamesmanship, then what they're really saying is that 'Nobody can be as good as Manny Pacquiao unless he's helped by something.' Maybe it reflects on Floyd Mayweather. Even if he believes that he's going to win, maybe he think that there's a chance that he won't.
Again, from things that he's said in the past, to him, losing is worse than death because he's wrapped his identity up so much in the idea of not losing the fight. He's used that to try to deflect all of the criticism that has come his way from the boxing world and in the boxing media that he has avoided all of the real top welterweights to fight smaller guys.
Being undefeated is so important to him, that maybe there's a part of this that expresses or reflects his concern.
FH: You say that Manny Pacquiao's upward movement and subsequent success is not unprecedented?
Merchant: Throughout boxing history, there have been exceptional fighters, and exceptional elite fighters who have started their careers as teenagers and moved up the scale dramatically over time. Is it exceptional? Absolutely. But Manny Pacquiao is exceptional. But it's not unprecedented.
It's not like there is some mysterious force that is completely unexplainable in a natural way. And I could cite half a dozen guys, particularly going back to Ted 'Kid' Lewis, who weighed 114-to-116 when he started as a teenager, and who weighed 166 near the end of his career when he was fighting the top light heavyweights in the world.
Mickey Walker, who was a welterweight, actually fought to a draw with a future heavyweight champion. There was Henry Armstrong, who started at 120 and wound up fighting middleweights. In the more modern era, there is Roberto Duran, who started as a teen-aged bantamweight and went all the way up to middleweight as a title-holder.
There's Alexis Arguello. Every one of these guys was an extraordinary fighter. I don't know that they knew about steroids in their days. Nobody ever accused those guys of being drugged up. So, to me, it's not without precedent. Oscar De La Hoya once fought at 128, and then, he fought two middleweights in the high 150s.
FH: But none of them won seven titles in as many weight classes.
Merchant: It's widely reported and accurately reported that Pacquiao won a flyweight title. When Manny Pacquiao came to the U.S., Manny Pacquiao was in his early 20s, and he was a featherweight. I regard him as a featherweight or a super featherweight, a guy who weighed 125-to-130, something like that.
That was what his natural fighting weight was when he was fighting Marco Antonio Barrera, and Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez, and so on. And like many fighters who conquer their division, they start looking for fights in higher divisions -- challenges, titles -- to make more money. That's what he's done.
Basically, at this moment, he's a 140-pounder. He weighed 138 when he fought Ricky Hatton, which was two fights ago. Against De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto, he weighed in the low 140s [actually 142, and, 144, respectively]. To me, I attribute that to the fact that, unlike most fighters on the day of a weigh-in, he can eat breakfast and lunch.
He's really a 140-pounder, and probably could fight at 135 if there was somebody out there against whom he could make $40 million. And Mayweather himself, as an amateur, also weighed in the teens. He was 125 pounds in the Olympics when he was 18 or 19 years old.
Going by the same standard, I see [Mayweather] as a lightweight who elected to go up in weight to make money. His best fighting weight in his 20s was as a lightweight. Toward the end of his 20s, he started to move up, and so on. So, to me, where they are now, one guy is a 140-pounder [Pacquiao,] and the other guy is a 147-pounder [Mayweather.]
I don't consider myself naive or paranoid about drugs, or the use of these things. If I saw somebody doing things that I thought was unexplainable, I would raise my hand and say, 'What's going on here?' just like everybody else. But I would rather err on the side of being skeptical of the drug stuff than being accusatory.
The Rise of Manny Pacquiao:
*Jan. 1, 1995: Debuted at 106 pounds with a four-round decision over Edmund Enting Ignacio
*Dec. 4, 1998: Weighed 112, Won flyweight (112 pounds) debut, WBC Title KO 8 Chatchai Sasakul
* Dec. 18, 1999: Weighed 122, won super bantamweight (122) debut, WBC International Title KO 2 Reynante Jamili
* June 23, 2001: Weighed 121, won IBF Super Bantamweight Title TKO 6 Lehlo Ledwaba
* Nov. 15, 2003: Weighed 125, won debut as featherweight (126) TKO 11 Marco Antonio Barrera
* May 8, 2004: Weighed 125, fought for WBC and IBF Featherweight titles D 12 Juan Manuel Marquez
* March 19, 2005: Weighed 129.5, lost super featherweight (130) debut UD 12 Erik Morales
* June 28, 2008: Weighed 134.5, won lightweight (135) debut and WBC Title KO 9 David Diaz.
* Dec. 6, 2008: Weighed 142, won welterweight (147) debut TKO 8 Oscar De La Hoya
* May 2, 2009: Weighed 138, won light welterweight (140) debut KO 2 Ricky Hatton
* Nov. 14, 2009: Weighed career-high 144, won WBO Welterweight Title TKO 12 Miguel Cotto.
Others who rose to prominence:
Henry Armstrong: Debuted at 120 pounds, won world titles at 126, 135, 147, drew for middleweight crown.
Alexis Arguello: Won titles at 126, 130, 135 and 140.
Oscar De La Hoya: Debuted at 133, won world titles at 130, 135, 140, 147, 154 and 160.
Roberto Duran: Debuted at 118, won titles at 135, 147, 154, and 160
Tommy Hearns: Debuted at 147, won titles at 147, 154, 160, 168 and 175.
Sugar Ray Leonard: Debuted at 141, won titles at 147, 154, 160, 168
Sugar Ray Robinson: Debuted at 134, won titles at 147, 160, lost 175 title bout to Joey Maxim.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
HBO's Larry Merchant recently shared his thoughts with FanHouse on the drug-testing controversy which led to the stalled negotiations for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.
Merchant, 78, has been covering historical bouts as far back as Muhammad Ali's "Rope-A-Dope" victory over George Foreman -- the 1974 "Rumble In The Jungle" -- as a columnist for The New York Post.
Fighters such as Shane Mosley, Roy Jones, James Toney, Fernando Vargas, and, most recently, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Shannon Briggs have either admitted to use of or tested positive for banned substances, with Briggs' first-round knockout of Marcus McGee last month being ruled a no-contest.
Merchant, however, said that he has no reason to suspect Pacquiao.
FanHouse: In your years covering boxing, have you ever witnessed a fight's negotiations reaching an impasse over anything but money?
Larry Merchant: Never. And, well, I can go back to the third fight between Sugar Ray Robinson and Carmen Basilio. It was always, always about money. It was always about how you cut up the pie. It was never about a side issue like this has been. So, to me, ego and emotion do get involved in negotiations.
I think of negotiations as a kind of dominance ritual in which both fighters are trying to show that they're the man, they're the stronger guy, they're the guy who can impose his will on the other guy, and that this will somehow show up in the ring. I saw this all as part of that dominance ritual.
I still believe that they'll find a way to resolve it, probably by next week. If anybody is going to lose in this fight, then making $30, or, $40 million should seem to make it worthwhile.
FH: So what are your thoughts on this entire Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao situation?
Merchant: From the beginning, I thought that it was gamesmanship. That Mayweather has been very clever and intuitive about picking out the vulnerabilities -- real or imagined -- of opponents, and using that as psychological warfare to build up the fight.
He's done that in the past, so that's how I initially saw this. There are several reasons for my view on this. No. 1, what if they found something? Does Mayweather really want the fight to be canceled, given the fact that he believes strongly that he's going to win?
Also, given the certainty of making upwards of $30, or, maybe $40 million, does he really want to find something? You can flip that and say, 'If that's what Pacquiao has used to move up the scale, and Mayweather believes that he's going to win any way and is going to make all of that money, then he ought to be thanking the drug-maker.'
If the drug-maker has delivered this kind of package to Mayweather -- a guy he can beat and a guy that he can make all of this money off of -- then why would he want to screw that up?
FH: So you still believe that Floyd Mayweather is playing mind games?
Merchant: I thought that it was gamesmanship because I didn't see anything to be won by this. If you think that he's been using illegal substances, do you want him called out before the fight and revealed and blow the whole deal? I never got the point of all of this.
The story about somebody saying that somebody came to him and said, 'Can we conceal this?' That's more craziness. I find it hard that anybody would have even thought of that. Once you do this is public, that's, to me, even more strangeness and weirdness.
FH: So what do you believe is the point of the drug-testing?
Merchant: I'm trying to think, 'Well, what are they trying to do?' Are they trying to agitate Manny Pacquiao, which he's done before? Are they trying to build a controversy to make the fight even bigger than it already is? Or is there something real that they're concerned about.
The only thing that I can think of -- and I'm not an expert on uses of drugs, and I'm very skeptical that drugs have helped any fighters. But if they think, for example, that he uses something to build his stamina, his energy, something like I believe that this EPO is, then maybe they want to discourage him from doing it.
If it's not gamesmanship, then what they're really saying is that 'Nobody can be as good as Manny Pacquiao unless he's helped by something.' Maybe it reflects on Floyd Mayweather. Even if he believes that he's going to win, maybe he think that there's a chance that he won't.
Again, from things that he's said in the past, to him, losing is worse than death because he's wrapped his identity up so much in the idea of not losing the fight. He's used that to try to deflect all of the criticism that has come his way from the boxing world and in the boxing media that he has avoided all of the real top welterweights to fight smaller guys.
Being undefeated is so important to him, that maybe there's a part of this that expresses or reflects his concern.
FH: You say that Manny Pacquiao's upward movement and subsequent success is not unprecedented?
Merchant: Throughout boxing history, there have been exceptional fighters, and exceptional elite fighters who have started their careers as teenagers and moved up the scale dramatically over time. Is it exceptional? Absolutely. But Manny Pacquiao is exceptional. But it's not unprecedented.
It's not like there is some mysterious force that is completely unexplainable in a natural way. And I could cite half a dozen guys, particularly going back to Ted 'Kid' Lewis, who weighed 114-to-116 when he started as a teenager, and who weighed 166 near the end of his career when he was fighting the top light heavyweights in the world.
Mickey Walker, who was a welterweight, actually fought to a draw with a future heavyweight champion. There was Henry Armstrong, who started at 120 and wound up fighting middleweights. In the more modern era, there is Roberto Duran, who started as a teen-aged bantamweight and went all the way up to middleweight as a title-holder.
There's Alexis Arguello. Every one of these guys was an extraordinary fighter. I don't know that they knew about steroids in their days. Nobody ever accused those guys of being drugged up. So, to me, it's not without precedent. Oscar De La Hoya once fought at 128, and then, he fought two middleweights in the high 150s.
FH: But none of them won seven titles in as many weight classes.
Merchant: It's widely reported and accurately reported that Pacquiao won a flyweight title. When Manny Pacquiao came to the U.S., Manny Pacquiao was in his early 20s, and he was a featherweight. I regard him as a featherweight or a super featherweight, a guy who weighed 125-to-130, something like that.
That was what his natural fighting weight was when he was fighting Marco Antonio Barrera, and Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez, and so on. And like many fighters who conquer their division, they start looking for fights in higher divisions -- challenges, titles -- to make more money. That's what he's done.
Basically, at this moment, he's a 140-pounder. He weighed 138 when he fought Ricky Hatton, which was two fights ago. Against De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto, he weighed in the low 140s [actually 142, and, 144, respectively]. To me, I attribute that to the fact that, unlike most fighters on the day of a weigh-in, he can eat breakfast and lunch.
He's really a 140-pounder, and probably could fight at 135 if there was somebody out there against whom he could make $40 million. And Mayweather himself, as an amateur, also weighed in the teens. He was 125 pounds in the Olympics when he was 18 or 19 years old.
Going by the same standard, I see [Mayweather] as a lightweight who elected to go up in weight to make money. His best fighting weight in his 20s was as a lightweight. Toward the end of his 20s, he started to move up, and so on. So, to me, where they are now, one guy is a 140-pounder [Pacquiao,] and the other guy is a 147-pounder [Mayweather.]
I don't consider myself naive or paranoid about drugs, or the use of these things. If I saw somebody doing things that I thought was unexplainable, I would raise my hand and say, 'What's going on here?' just like everybody else. But I would rather err on the side of being skeptical of the drug stuff than being accusatory.
The Rise of Manny Pacquiao:
*Jan. 1, 1995: Debuted at 106 pounds with a four-round decision over Edmund Enting Ignacio
*Dec. 4, 1998: Weighed 112, Won flyweight (112 pounds) debut, WBC Title KO 8 Chatchai Sasakul
* Dec. 18, 1999: Weighed 122, won super bantamweight (122) debut, WBC International Title KO 2 Reynante Jamili
* June 23, 2001: Weighed 121, won IBF Super Bantamweight Title TKO 6 Lehlo Ledwaba
* Nov. 15, 2003: Weighed 125, won debut as featherweight (126) TKO 11 Marco Antonio Barrera
* May 8, 2004: Weighed 125, fought for WBC and IBF Featherweight titles D 12 Juan Manuel Marquez
* March 19, 2005: Weighed 129.5, lost super featherweight (130) debut UD 12 Erik Morales
* June 28, 2008: Weighed 134.5, won lightweight (135) debut and WBC Title KO 9 David Diaz.
* Dec. 6, 2008: Weighed 142, won welterweight (147) debut TKO 8 Oscar De La Hoya
* May 2, 2009: Weighed 138, won light welterweight (140) debut KO 2 Ricky Hatton
* Nov. 14, 2009: Weighed career-high 144, won WBO Welterweight Title TKO 12 Miguel Cotto.
Others who rose to prominence:
Henry Armstrong: Debuted at 120 pounds, won world titles at 126, 135, 147, drew for middleweight crown.
Alexis Arguello: Won titles at 126, 130, 135 and 140.
Oscar De La Hoya: Debuted at 133, won world titles at 130, 135, 140, 147, 154 and 160.
Roberto Duran: Debuted at 118, won titles at 135, 147, 154, and 160
Tommy Hearns: Debuted at 147, won titles at 147, 154, 160, 168 and 175.
Sugar Ray Leonard: Debuted at 141, won titles at 147, 154, 160, 168
Sugar Ray Robinson: Debuted at 134, won titles at 147, 160, lost 175 title bout to Joey Maxim.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
World’s best should fight, says Mayweather adviser -- Manila Bulletin
By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin
If Manny Pacquiao eventually decides to fight somebody else other than Floyd Mayweather, the Filipino fighter won’t be able to justify the mythical title of pound-for-pound king, Mayweather’s key adviser told the Bulletin Sunday.
“Manny Pacquiao says he is the best fighter in the world but Floyd Mayweather knows he is the best fighter in the world,” said Leonard Ellerbe, who is Mayweather’s right-hand man.
“So this is the best fighting the best and Floyd is ready, willing and able to make a fight with Manny Pacquiao,” said Ellerbe, stressing that “they’re going to cheat the public if they go the other way and fight somebody else.”
The camps of Pacquiao and Mayweather have already dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts save for the demand of Mayweather for them both to undergo Olympic-style drug testing in a bid to “level the playing field.”
Ellerbe reiterated that Team Mayweather has remained firm in its stand for the two fighters to be tested randomly.
“Random blood and urine testing,” Ellerbe said.
Pacquiao, stung by Mayweather’s nasty accusations, has filed a defamation suit against Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), vehemently denying that he has ever taken performance-enhancing substance.
Still, Ellerbe believes there is no other sound alternative but for Pacquiao “to step up to plate” and junk plans to take on lesser-known foes like Yuri Foreman, the Belarus-born Israeli-raised current world super-welterweight champion who now fights out of Brooklyn, New York.
“Pacquiao has intelligent people around him who can advise him to step up to the plate,” said Ellerbe, rattling off Canadian Mike Koncz, lawyer Franklin Gacal and trainer Freddie Roach as men who can persuade Pacquiao to give in to their demands.
While Pacquiao is considering other options, Mayweather is not.
“Our focus is fighting Pacquiao. If they want to go the other way, then God bless them,” added Ellerbe.
Meanwhile, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, back in Las Vegas from a week-long vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, also told this paper that there is still a chance to make the fight happen.
“We’re going to see on Monday or Tuesday,” said Arum, who has a backup plan already in place in the event both parties fail to meet halfway.
Arum said he was glad that Pacquiao “refused to be bullied and stood his ground” by filing a lawsuit against Mayweather and GBP.
Arum said Pacquiao will fight either March 13 or 20 and that there are interested parties in hosting a Pacquiao fight, including the Cowboys Stadium of Texas billionaire Jerry Jones.
“There’s also Atlanta (wanting to host a Pacquiao fight),” Arum said.
Source: mb.com.ph
If Manny Pacquiao eventually decides to fight somebody else other than Floyd Mayweather, the Filipino fighter won’t be able to justify the mythical title of pound-for-pound king, Mayweather’s key adviser told the Bulletin Sunday.
“Manny Pacquiao says he is the best fighter in the world but Floyd Mayweather knows he is the best fighter in the world,” said Leonard Ellerbe, who is Mayweather’s right-hand man.
“So this is the best fighting the best and Floyd is ready, willing and able to make a fight with Manny Pacquiao,” said Ellerbe, stressing that “they’re going to cheat the public if they go the other way and fight somebody else.”
The camps of Pacquiao and Mayweather have already dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts save for the demand of Mayweather for them both to undergo Olympic-style drug testing in a bid to “level the playing field.”
Ellerbe reiterated that Team Mayweather has remained firm in its stand for the two fighters to be tested randomly.
“Random blood and urine testing,” Ellerbe said.
Pacquiao, stung by Mayweather’s nasty accusations, has filed a defamation suit against Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), vehemently denying that he has ever taken performance-enhancing substance.
Still, Ellerbe believes there is no other sound alternative but for Pacquiao “to step up to plate” and junk plans to take on lesser-known foes like Yuri Foreman, the Belarus-born Israeli-raised current world super-welterweight champion who now fights out of Brooklyn, New York.
“Pacquiao has intelligent people around him who can advise him to step up to the plate,” said Ellerbe, rattling off Canadian Mike Koncz, lawyer Franklin Gacal and trainer Freddie Roach as men who can persuade Pacquiao to give in to their demands.
While Pacquiao is considering other options, Mayweather is not.
“Our focus is fighting Pacquiao. If they want to go the other way, then God bless them,” added Ellerbe.
Meanwhile, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, back in Las Vegas from a week-long vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, also told this paper that there is still a chance to make the fight happen.
“We’re going to see on Monday or Tuesday,” said Arum, who has a backup plan already in place in the event both parties fail to meet halfway.
Arum said he was glad that Pacquiao “refused to be bullied and stood his ground” by filing a lawsuit against Mayweather and GBP.
Arum said Pacquiao will fight either March 13 or 20 and that there are interested parties in hosting a Pacquiao fight, including the Cowboys Stadium of Texas billionaire Jerry Jones.
“There’s also Atlanta (wanting to host a Pacquiao fight),” Arum said.
Source: mb.com.ph
Saturday, 2 January 2010
MORALES: If Pacquiao tests, then everyone should -- Los Angeles Daily News
By Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News
Manny Pacquiao took apart Miguel Cotto with ferocious relentlessness, stopping Cotto in the 12th round Nov. 14 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
His promoter, Bob Arum, referred to Pacquiao in the post-fight news conference as the Tiger Woods of boxing. A reporter shouted out that no, Tiger Woods is the Manny Pacquiao of golf.
The victory gave Pacquiao success in seven weight classes - five sanctioned world titles and two people's championships. The record for sanctioned world titles is six, held by Oscar De La Hoya. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has five.
Ironically, they are two of the five defendants - the others are Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer - named in the defamation lawsuit filed by Pacquiao this week in Las Vegas.
Not that jealousy has anything to do with either insinuating that Pacquiao might be using performance-enhancing drugs, as they are not alone in their suspicion of Pacquiao.
Two former world champions - Paulie Malignaggi and Kermit Cintron - have wondered if Pacquiao is dirty. Others - such as Hall of Fame fighter Carlos Palomino - have said of the Olympic-style drug testing demanded by Mayweather for his March 13 fight with Pacquiao that appears dead, "If this guy has nothing to hide, why not do it?"
In watching Pacquiao's performance against Cotto, it was amazing to see how hard Pacquiao was punching and how well he absorbed the powerful punches of Cotto. Even when Pacquiao was clobbered on the chin, he was undeterred.
By this time, Mayweather Sr. had already accused Pacquiao of doping. Yet, reporters weren't whispering at the aforementioned post-fight news conference that Pacquiao must be.
Just because Pacquiao's accomplishments are virtually unheard of, does not mean he is guilty of wrongdoing. It could be he is just that athlete who comes along once every hundred years.
Pacquiao started his pro career at 106 pounds, so it is rather mind-boggling that he is so good in the 147-pound welterweight division, in which he has beaten both De La Hoya and Cotto.
But Pacquiao was 16 when he turned pro in 1995 in the Philippines.
Mayweather was 16 when he won his first National Golden Gloves championship at, you guessed it, 106 pounds.
Mayweather won the third of his Golden Gloves titles at 19, at 125 pounds. Two weeks before his 20th birthday, Pacquiao won his first major pro title in the 112-pound flyweight division. He had only grown by six pounds. But bodies do develop at different rates.
Mayweather has twice weighed in at 147 pounds and as high as 150 for his 2007 fight against De La Hoya. Pacquiao's highest weigh-in was 144 pounds against Cotto. He weighed only 142 for De La Hoya, five pounds shy of the welterweight limit.
We're not naive. Anything is possible. Pacquiao has retained his punch while moving up like perhaps no other. Power is the first thing that goes when climbing the ladder. Also, he fought as low as 129 pounds in March 2008, just 20 months before weighed in at 144 for Cotto.
It just seems that the American credo of innocent until proven guilty fell by the wayside here. Pacquiao never has tested positive for anything illegal.
Yet, his reputation has taken the sort of hit from which it will never fully recover. From now on, Pacquiao will be looked upon by some as one who might have indulged in unsavory methods for fame and unprecedented achievements.
De La Hoya's Golden Boy company represented Mayweather in the negotiations for the Pacquiao fight. De La Hoya didn't help matters when he wrote in his Ring Magazine online blog that the punches by Fernando Vargas, "Sugar" Shane Mosley and Pacquiao "felt the same," an intimation Pacquiao could have been juiced when he stopped De La Hoya after eight rounds in December 2008.
Vargas and Mosley were both on steroids in their fights against De La Hoya in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
That was interesting coming from De La Hoya because he said after his loss to Pacquiao that he never felt Pacquiao's punches.
Another thing: Zab Judah wanted Mosley to take an independent blood test to prove he was clean ahead of their scheduled May 2008 fight that was canceled when Judah was injured.
Mosley is promoted by Golden Boy, and Schaefer said then he would not allow Mosley - who agreed to the test - to submit to anything other than what the Nevada commission mandates. Schaefer said Mosley did not need to be treated like a cheat.
It's easy to say Manny Pacquiao should agree to Olympic-style drug-testing if he's clean. It's just as easy to say he shouldn't have to become the first professional boxer to do so just because he is so extraordinarily destructive in the ring and, because, unlike others who have moved up in weight, his body has remained ripped with muscles. As has Mayweather's.
If boxing wants to adapt Olympic-style testing, that's great - as long as it applies to everyone. Not just the top pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
Good, bad and tragic permeated sport in 2009
Just a few thoughts on a year that was filled with the good, the bad and the tragic:
Any Fighter of the Year award must go to Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao knocked out Ricky Hatton in the second round in May, literally putting Hatton to sleep before his head hitting the canvas awakened him.
Pacquiao followed that up with a serious November beatdown of welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, who was stopped in the 12th round of a fight he was losing handily.
Trainer of the Year is Pacquiao's chief second, Freddie Roach.
The continued improvement Pacquiao showed under Roach's guidance was very noteworthy.
Roach has turned the once wild-swinging and vulnerable Pacquiao into a controlled force of destruction.
There are several solid candidates for Fight of the Year. The junior welterweight bout between Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana in June at Staples Center was incredible.
Maidana was down three times, Ortiz twice, with Maidana winning a sixth-round technical knockout.
The middleweight fight between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez last month in Atlantic City - won by Williams via majority decision - was outstanding.
Neither topped the February slugfest between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz.
The fight was a push heading into the ninth round, with one scorecard even and each fighter holding a two-point advantage on one of the others.
Marquez stopped Diaz in the ninth round.
If there were such thing as a Most Impressive Victory award, it would go to Pomona's "Sugar" Shane Mosley and his ninth-round stoppage of Antonio Margarito in January at Staples Center.
Virtually no one expected the 37-year-old Mosley to have any real chance of defeating the 30-year-old Margarito.
But Mosley beat Margarito from pillar to post. Margarito then had his license revoked when he was caught with plaster-contained hand wraps before the fight.
Unfortunately, 2009 also witnessed the untimely July deaths of gentleman boxers Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest.
Their demise puts the aforementioned achievements into perspective.
Source: dailynews.com
Manny Pacquiao took apart Miguel Cotto with ferocious relentlessness, stopping Cotto in the 12th round Nov. 14 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
His promoter, Bob Arum, referred to Pacquiao in the post-fight news conference as the Tiger Woods of boxing. A reporter shouted out that no, Tiger Woods is the Manny Pacquiao of golf.
The victory gave Pacquiao success in seven weight classes - five sanctioned world titles and two people's championships. The record for sanctioned world titles is six, held by Oscar De La Hoya. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has five.
Ironically, they are two of the five defendants - the others are Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer - named in the defamation lawsuit filed by Pacquiao this week in Las Vegas.
Not that jealousy has anything to do with either insinuating that Pacquiao might be using performance-enhancing drugs, as they are not alone in their suspicion of Pacquiao.
Two former world champions - Paulie Malignaggi and Kermit Cintron - have wondered if Pacquiao is dirty. Others - such as Hall of Fame fighter Carlos Palomino - have said of the Olympic-style drug testing demanded by Mayweather for his March 13 fight with Pacquiao that appears dead, "If this guy has nothing to hide, why not do it?"
In watching Pacquiao's performance against Cotto, it was amazing to see how hard Pacquiao was punching and how well he absorbed the powerful punches of Cotto. Even when Pacquiao was clobbered on the chin, he was undeterred.
By this time, Mayweather Sr. had already accused Pacquiao of doping. Yet, reporters weren't whispering at the aforementioned post-fight news conference that Pacquiao must be.
Just because Pacquiao's accomplishments are virtually unheard of, does not mean he is guilty of wrongdoing. It could be he is just that athlete who comes along once every hundred years.
Pacquiao started his pro career at 106 pounds, so it is rather mind-boggling that he is so good in the 147-pound welterweight division, in which he has beaten both De La Hoya and Cotto.
But Pacquiao was 16 when he turned pro in 1995 in the Philippines.
Mayweather was 16 when he won his first National Golden Gloves championship at, you guessed it, 106 pounds.
Mayweather won the third of his Golden Gloves titles at 19, at 125 pounds. Two weeks before his 20th birthday, Pacquiao won his first major pro title in the 112-pound flyweight division. He had only grown by six pounds. But bodies do develop at different rates.
Mayweather has twice weighed in at 147 pounds and as high as 150 for his 2007 fight against De La Hoya. Pacquiao's highest weigh-in was 144 pounds against Cotto. He weighed only 142 for De La Hoya, five pounds shy of the welterweight limit.
We're not naive. Anything is possible. Pacquiao has retained his punch while moving up like perhaps no other. Power is the first thing that goes when climbing the ladder. Also, he fought as low as 129 pounds in March 2008, just 20 months before weighed in at 144 for Cotto.
It just seems that the American credo of innocent until proven guilty fell by the wayside here. Pacquiao never has tested positive for anything illegal.
Yet, his reputation has taken the sort of hit from which it will never fully recover. From now on, Pacquiao will be looked upon by some as one who might have indulged in unsavory methods for fame and unprecedented achievements.
De La Hoya's Golden Boy company represented Mayweather in the negotiations for the Pacquiao fight. De La Hoya didn't help matters when he wrote in his Ring Magazine online blog that the punches by Fernando Vargas, "Sugar" Shane Mosley and Pacquiao "felt the same," an intimation Pacquiao could have been juiced when he stopped De La Hoya after eight rounds in December 2008.
Vargas and Mosley were both on steroids in their fights against De La Hoya in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
That was interesting coming from De La Hoya because he said after his loss to Pacquiao that he never felt Pacquiao's punches.
Another thing: Zab Judah wanted Mosley to take an independent blood test to prove he was clean ahead of their scheduled May 2008 fight that was canceled when Judah was injured.
Mosley is promoted by Golden Boy, and Schaefer said then he would not allow Mosley - who agreed to the test - to submit to anything other than what the Nevada commission mandates. Schaefer said Mosley did not need to be treated like a cheat.
It's easy to say Manny Pacquiao should agree to Olympic-style drug-testing if he's clean. It's just as easy to say he shouldn't have to become the first professional boxer to do so just because he is so extraordinarily destructive in the ring and, because, unlike others who have moved up in weight, his body has remained ripped with muscles. As has Mayweather's.
If boxing wants to adapt Olympic-style testing, that's great - as long as it applies to everyone. Not just the top pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
Good, bad and tragic permeated sport in 2009
Just a few thoughts on a year that was filled with the good, the bad and the tragic:
Any Fighter of the Year award must go to Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao knocked out Ricky Hatton in the second round in May, literally putting Hatton to sleep before his head hitting the canvas awakened him.
Pacquiao followed that up with a serious November beatdown of welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, who was stopped in the 12th round of a fight he was losing handily.
Trainer of the Year is Pacquiao's chief second, Freddie Roach.
The continued improvement Pacquiao showed under Roach's guidance was very noteworthy.
Roach has turned the once wild-swinging and vulnerable Pacquiao into a controlled force of destruction.
There are several solid candidates for Fight of the Year. The junior welterweight bout between Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana in June at Staples Center was incredible.
Maidana was down three times, Ortiz twice, with Maidana winning a sixth-round technical knockout.
The middleweight fight between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez last month in Atlantic City - won by Williams via majority decision - was outstanding.
Neither topped the February slugfest between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz.
The fight was a push heading into the ninth round, with one scorecard even and each fighter holding a two-point advantage on one of the others.
Marquez stopped Diaz in the ninth round.
If there were such thing as a Most Impressive Victory award, it would go to Pomona's "Sugar" Shane Mosley and his ninth-round stoppage of Antonio Margarito in January at Staples Center.
Virtually no one expected the 37-year-old Mosley to have any real chance of defeating the 30-year-old Margarito.
But Mosley beat Margarito from pillar to post. Margarito then had his license revoked when he was caught with plaster-contained hand wraps before the fight.
Unfortunately, 2009 also witnessed the untimely July deaths of gentleman boxers Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest.
Their demise puts the aforementioned achievements into perspective.
Source: dailynews.com
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