Bob Arum Tells Floyd Mayweather, Schaefer: "Go To Hell!"

[heyzel]

Team Pacquiao, Arum Slam Mayweather's 14-day Story

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has slammed the latest proposal by Floyd Mayweather Jr asking pound-for-pound king and boxing hero Manny Pacquiao to agree to a blood test, 14 days before their planned March 13 mega fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Arum told BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that “after the horses leave the barn and they rejected Manny’s 24 days offer he now comes up with the 14 days which is totally unacceptable” although Mayweather, in a statement on boxingscene.com claimed that “before the mediation my team proposed a 14 day, no blood-testing window leading up to the fight and it was rejected”

However, Team Pacquiao vehemently disputed Mayweather’s claim even as we learned that no such proposal was offered even during the mediation talks let alone before.

Mayweather said he is still proposing the 14-day window but that Pacquiao is still unwilling to agree to it, “even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn't want to take the tests. ”

Here again Team Pacquiao said it was a falsehood since they had agreed to bring forward the cutoff date to 24 from the original 30 for the blood test proposed by the Mayweather camp..

Arum stressed that the Mayweather proposal was made after the mediation efforts of former federal judge Daniel Weinstein had failed to get the two sides to agree on a cutoff date and the blood testing procedure pointing out that “this is not a swap thing among a bunch of kids.”

Arum made it clear that the initial position of Pacquiao was that he would agree to a blood test one day before the kickoff press conference, a second test 30 days before the fight and a third in the dressing room immediately after the fight.

He said “we agreed to go to 24 days before the fight for the blood test but he rejected it and that’s it. Its over.”

Arum feels that since Mayweather has been getting a bad press where the majority are blaming him for the collapse of a fight that millions wanted to happen, he is trying to turn things around but that “it's not working.”

In typical fashion Mayweather in his statement said "First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass.”

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz branded the Mayweather statement as “both humorous and ludicrous all in one.” Koncz revealed it he had been told by experts that any performance enhancing drugs “will be in your blood 40 days before the fight or the day after the fight. Whatever is there is there for that time period. So what the hell does 14 days have to do with it? Nothing other than to irritate Manny knowing that he has whatever, a fear or a superstition of extracting blood less than 30 days.”

With Arum insisting that the fight is off and blaming Mayweather for the failure of the mediation efforts of retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, Team Pacquiao is moving ahead to schedule a good, competitive fight either on March 13 or 20 in Las Vegas.
The original proposal for Pacquiao to go after an eighth world title against 154 pound champion Yuri Foreman has been turned down by Pacquiao himself simply because Foreman is much taller than him besides being much heavier. Australia’s Michael Katsidis was also ruled out as nothing more than a tune-up fight with no real value and would be hard to market..

Koncz said while a possible trilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez was “thrown into the mix” he had discussed it with Pacquiao Friday morning before they flew to Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City and they agreed that “the entertainment value I don’t think is there. Manny has nothing to prove by fighting Marquez because we beat him twice. If he fights him ten times, all ten fights will end in controversy because of the styles of the two fighters for some reason, they happen. There is no entertainment value there. They fought twice and couldn’t beat the 430,000 pay-per-view numbers.”

As for Paulie Malignaggi who has joined the Mayweather chorus in alleging that Pacquiao is on some performance enhancing drug Koncz said “the fans will boo throughout because he will jab and run.”

The top choice subject to Pacquiao’s approval, is Joshua Clottey who many people believe beat Miguel Cotto in their WBO title fight but lost the decision. Koncz told us that he doesn’t wish to emphasize that its Clottey right now because no decisions have been made although he did admit that Clottey is “a good enough fighter and Manny and I both think he beat Cotto and I think he is marketable. But we have to work on the financial terms” even as he didn’t foresee a problem since Clottey is promoted by Top Rank.

Retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein who spent nine hours on Tuesday with representatives of Pacquiao and Mayweather in an effort to break the impasse over blood testing issued a statement to set the record straight in which he stated: a. Both parties participated in the mediation in good faith. Both parties participated in many hours of negotiation, with a number of proposals issued by each side and carefully considered by the parties and their representatives. b. The Mediator himself did not formulate, recommend or issue a Mediator's Proposal. The Mediator did not make an evaluation or finding that any one of the many proposals considered by the parties was the correct protocol. C. Any attempt to characterize the mediation process as an acceptance or rejection by any of the parties of a mediator's or an arbiter's proposal or of any specific proposal is false and D. in the end, the parties could not agree on a testing protocol acceptable to all.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao, Mayweather Deny Public Demand

By Trevor Weis: The battle of bad-blood continues and the blame will fall exactly where it belongs: on everyone involved.

Boxing fans of the Sweet Science are forced to the limits of patience time and again, dealing with infrequent fights, absurd match-ups, inexcusable scorecards, unforgivable undercards, and pay per view prices that seem to rise in a failing economy.

But boxing advocates the world over swallow hard, time and again, holding to a dismal hope that appears maybe only once a generation. And the hope of our time, albeit a fading one, is the demand for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to meet in the square circle, the proving ground where the likes of Ali and Frazier discovered something precious and unveiled something timeless.

However, negotiations through a neutral party, retired Federal Judge Daniel Weinstein, have apparently collapsed, with Bob Arum declaring “the fight is off.” After a nine hour stalemate on Tuesday, Pacquiao agreed to allow the second blood test to be taken no later than 24 days before the fight. Pacquiao has never failed a drug test in 11 professional fights in Las Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission does not and has never required random blood testing, yet still Mayweather refused to budge from his stance on random blood testing.

Entrenched within this blood-feud is the conflict of interest involving Golden Boy Promotions, who receive a percentage of every Pacquiao fight as a co-promoter, insinuating Pacquiao may be using performance enhancing drugs while representing Mayweather throughout negotiations. Arum demands that Golden Boy Promotions relinquish their rights to Pacquiao, citing that a promotional company should never illicit baseless accusations against it’s own fighter. Top Rank retains full promotional rights after Weinstein successfully mediated a truce between the bickering boxing businesses in 2007 when Pacquiao signed with both companies.

At the heart of this issue are pride and ego. Manny Pacquiao, universally regarded as #1 Pound for Pound, believes his reputation has been tarnished after Mayweather Sr., Mayweather Jr., Roger Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and Richard Schaefer made either direct accusations or false implications that his successful ascension through higher weight classes may be attributed to drug use. Pacquiao’s back-story of a malnourished boy rising from poverty to international iconic status tugs at the heart-strings, although his humility should not be confused with pride. The Filipino southpaw is a man of principle, and his contributions to boxing’s revival in 2009, winning a consecutive Fighter of the Year award, have probably removed any desire to cater to another fighter’s demands. But boxing is nothing without negotiation, compromise, and politics, which he would be wise to familiarize with should he win his second attempt at a congressional seat in 2010.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be the best technical boxer on the planet, but he sits below an occupied throne, a pedestal he wishes to reclaim since returning in September. Mayweather has always been a show-man, a character, a villain, a mouth and an ego to accompany. Love him or hate him, he’s good for boxing. In his own mind and the minds of many boxing purists, he is still the draw in boxing, the man to call the shots. Mayweather may not like meeting the demands of a proud but humble fighter, especially one others consider better, especially one without a perfect record. Mayweather conceded to testing no later than 14 days before the fight, but neither party intends to flinch.

Throw out all the jargon about Pacquiao’s fear of needles, his superstitious nature, Mayweather’s mind-game tactics and his propensity to take the easy fights, the melodrama that is boxing and the intangible aspects that makeup pre-fight hype: all they do is spark rioting debates that neither fan-legion can answer.

If the world were a perfect place, Pacquiao would rise-up to Mayweather’s “challenge,” take the random blood tests and let the coliseum decide the rest. Maybe he doesn’t realize what an advantage it could be, beating Mayweather at his own game, leaving his rival without a “weight-drained,” “overrated,” or “damaged goods” excuse.

If the world were a perfect place, Mayweather would drop these allegations, focus on the task at hand, and do what he does best. If Mayweather let Pacquiao keep his 24 day window and still de-throned the current king, he could celebrate without blood-testing brush-back. He would have successfully usurped his place as king of boxing.

But the boxing world continues on course, and the fans now suffer through yet another normal happenstance. This fight is about more than money, more than rankings, more than alphabet belts, more than pride and certainly more than ego; this fight is about cementing legacies, uniting a fan-base world-wide, and giving the deserving public what it demands: something timeless. Let’s hope the demands of the loyal aren’t falling on deaf ears

 

[heyzel]

There’s no other word for it – Pacquiao and Mayweather are disappointing

By Liam Fitzgerald: For me, World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are by far and away the most talented boxers of this era. They are both supremely talented and a joy to watch in the prime of their careers. And the fact that they are both now campaigning at the same weight means we should be on the verge of the biggest fight in years. Yet the selfishness and stubbornness of these two men has taken this prospect away and for this reason, they should be ashamed.

How can an argument about drug testing really escalate so much? If either man truly wanted the fight, they would put all these petty disputes to one side and do everything possible to reach a compromise. As this hasn’t happened, you have to question whether either of them are bothered about their legacies and reputations amongst boxing fans.

Both Pacquiao and Mayweather seemed very confident about their victory chances should they have met in the ring. So why then could Manny be so preoccupied about having a small amount of blood taken out of him? Surely, if he was going to win so convincingly, this wouldn’t be such an imposition. And with Mayweather, if he was gong to “whip” Pacquiao then why would he insist upon something that will mentally destabilise his opponent and give him an excuse for after the fight?

Basically, when it comes down to it, neither Floyd nor Manny are worthy of their position as linchpins of boxing. They have let the sport down and prevented it the opportunity to win back a lot of fans. I love both boxers style and warmed to Manny after many years of watching him but to be honest I have lost a lot of respect for both men and any future victories would be tainted in my opinion if the fight doesn’t come off.

Sure, they can both carry on fighting and entertain us by demolishing the opposition out there. Personally, I believed the only men that could challenge them were Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto but after Pacquaio’s demolition of the Puerto Rican in November, it’s clear they are one or even two levels above all the competition. Paul Williams’ limitations were shown against Sergio Martinez, a lesser fighter than Pacquiao or Mayweather. They will still earn a lot of money and improve their records but it will be hollow without this fight and we all know it. It has to be sorted in 2010 or early 2011 or I fear that it will be too late and the fight would be an anti-climax. At this moment, both men’s reputations have taken a hit and can only be resurrected by getting it on soon. Otherwise, they will never earn mine, or many other’s recognition for their talent.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao vs. Clottey/Mayweather vs. Malignaggi = A Disappointment

By Shaun Campbell: Boxingnews24 today reported that Manny Pacquiao is likely defend his WBO welterweight title against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey. The former International Boxing Federation champion Clottey will no doubt be thrilled with the announcement that Pacquiao’s proposed “super fight” with Floyd Mayweather fell through. For boxing fans though it’s a totally different story. A disappointment, a letdown, a disgrace. Why pick an opponent who, while putting in a good effort again Miguel Cotto was eventually beaten. And the world saw what happened when Cotto faced the “Pac-man”.

Is Pacquiao vs Clottey the most attractive fight Bob Arum could find? They may as well have staged a 3rd contest between Pacquiao and Marquez, which would have probably been a more competitive fight than this one. This bout looks set to be happening on March 13th. With no disrespect to Clottey, what chance does he have to beat a man who so convincingly outclassed Miguel Cotto? It seems as if the bout will have to happen in March, which rules out the chance of Pacquiao facing the winner of Mosley vs Berto, which is a shame but the winner of that fight surely has to fight Floyd Mayweather.

Speaking of Mayweather, it is possible he will be fighting either Paulie Malignaggi or Britain’s Matthew Hatton. Both fighters a genuinely nice guys and no disrespect to them, but the difference in class is staggering. Malignaggi and Mayweather and two defensively minded fighters would like to hit and move, therefore their styles probably wont result in an exciting fight. Mayweather is a master of making exciting fighters, fight an ordinary fight. People will eventually lose interest in the dream match Pacquiao/Mayweather and focus on other fights which could possibly be made. Every day that passes where Pacquiao and Mayweather don’t fight, they’ll be losing money.

Clottey and Malignaggi are decent fighters, but they aren’t in the class of Pacquiao or Mayweather. So whether this is promotional hype or genuine problems that can not be settled, it is a disgrace.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

PBF should fight Spadafora now, it's just too bad he never did and probably never will.

 

[Johnny Truelove]

Freddie Roach On Pacquiao's Future

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4808708

 

[heyzel]

TEDDY ATLAS SAYS SOURCE SAW EMAILS ABOUT REQUEST TO KEEP DIRTY RESULTS A SECRET

By Ben Thompson

Moments ago, ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas revealed that a source informed him, about 2 or 3 weeks ago, that he [the source] saw emails from the Pacquiao camp that were sent to the Mayweather camp asking that if dirty test results came up, could they be kept a secret "for the benefit of boxing". This latest revelation from Atlas is similar to a story that was previously written by Tim Smith of the New York Daily News, who also cited "a source familiar with the talks". Although that article, originally released on December 25th, was later denied by Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, Atlas is now bringing it back to light


http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content6657.html

 

[2-0-Sixx]

MAYWEATHER'S DRUG HISTORY CAUGHT UP WITH HIM

Kenneth Ragpala, 8CNBoxing.com, January 9th, 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the initial phase of the now aborted Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight, Bob Arum initially wanted the fight to be held at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Golden Boy’s second chief Richard Scahefer scoffed the idea, saying Mayweather does not like because it is an outdoor stadium.

But with the recent development of things, some little details broke the surface may probably be the biggest reason why Mayweather never wanted the Dallas Cowboys Stadium to host the fight – he was using a widely-banned illegal substance. The irony is that such drug is legal in, coincidentally, the state of Nevada.

In an article written by Frank Gonzales in April 21, 2002, it is revealed that Floyd Mayweather has been using a painkiller called Xylocaine to treat the pain caused by his brittle hands, which have been injured numerous times in the past.

However, Xylocaine is proven to enhance a boxer’s performance.

It effectively numbs the boxer’s hands, making it less susceptible to pain caused by punching constantly. With the pain efficiently blocked out, Xylocaine, in effect, enables the boxer to throw more powerful shots. If that is the case, then Mayweather may not have been fighting on a leveled playing field in some of his fights.

And to call Pacquiao a steroids user when in fact he has a history of using a widely-banned drug not only tarnishes his reputation as a boxer, but also brings his legacy to a pool of mud. Soaked and dirtied, there is no way Mayweather can clean this one.

The karmic boomerang does hurt.

http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/2212/2010-01-09.html

 

[2-0-Sixx]

By Ben Thompson

Moments ago, ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas revealed that a source informed him, about 2 or 3 weeks ago, that he [the source] saw emails from the Pacquiao camp that were sent to the Mayweather camp asking that if dirty test results came up, could they be kept a secret "for the benefit of boxing". This latest revelation from Atlas is similar to a story that was previously written by Tim Smith of the New York Daily News, who also cited "a source familiar with the talks". Although that article, originally released on December 25th, was later denied by Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, Atlas is now bringing it back to light


http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content6657.html

Atlas is kinda stupid for bringing that up again. Why would someone from pacquiao's camp send an email to mayweathers people asking questions like that? lol, that's like telling them you're on roids. Arum is a smart Jew, he worked at the US Attorneys Office and graduated from Harvard Law School. You think he would be dumb enough to email shit like that to mayweather's camp if pac was dirty? Fuck, like someone commented, if we believe every email one presents us, a king in Nigeria has just died and I am about to get $14 billion dollars transferred to my bank account as soon as I give them my info. lmao, I'd like to see that email in court, when the lawsuit is underway.

 

[heyzel]

206 it's looks like everybody is trying to bash each other for something but this was know before during the oscar fight that he was getting shots in his hands before the fights I just wish floyd & manny put this bs aside and make the fight happen

 

[2-0-Sixx]

^^yeah I've always suspected about the hand thing but I didn't realize the drug was banned in 49 states. All but Nevada. It's just another ironic twist in this sad story that floyd is using a performance enhancing drug, whether illegal or not...




Arum Finalizing The Details of Pacquiao-Clottey Fight

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was scheduled to fly to Dallas on Sunday (Manila Time) to meet with Jerry Jones, owner of the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys stadium which is the likely site for pound-for-pound hero Manny Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title defense against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey on March 13.

Arum said he was flying to Dallas “to get the stadium venue deal done” even as he mentioned that Clottey “is on board and Manny I believe is on board from what Michael (Koncz) told me so I think we’ll have that fight on the 13th.”

Even as he prepared to finalize details of the Clottey fight which will serve as an alternative since Floyd Mayweather Jr refused to accept the compromise offered by Pacquiao on the issue of random blood tests, Arum described as “very interesting” a story by Scott Heritage that came out on Examiner.com.

In the story Heritage claimed it came to light that Floyd Mayweather Jr has used “injectible pain killers such as Xylocaine in the past before fights”and that the irony is “this drug is illegal in nearly all states with one notable exception, Nevada.”

Heritage said that perhaps the reason for Golden Boy and Mayweather not wanting to fight in Texas now becomes clear and that with the extensive testing Mayweather asked for, he would test positive for a banned substance if the fight took place in Dallas.

Mayweather apparently used these drugs because his hands are rather brittle and he has broken both several times in the past and with a numbing agent to stop his hands hurting he could throw punches more often and without fear of hurting himself as much.

Heritage said that after all the negotiating trouble and accusations about Manny Pacquiao and his supposed steroid use “it appears that Mayweather is the one taking widely banned substances.” The sportswriter claimed that the disclosure will “further damage the already shaky reputation of Mayweather who has seen his public opinion fall greatly with the drug testing debacle which, Heritage contends, “has now backfired severely.”

Arum claimed Mayweather “hoodwinked his own people because he never wanted to fight. Otherwise he would have gone along with the 24 days that Manny magnanimously agreed to. That was the compromise.”

Mayweather’s handlers said after the talks collapsed and former federal judge Daniel Weinstein said they couldn’t agree, that they had put forward an offer of a 14-day cutoff for the blood tests. Arum conceded that they “put it forward on December 31. We contacted Manny and Manny rejected it and we told them it was rejected. Then at the conference they tried to put it forward as a compromise but we had already rejected it. “

Arum charged the Mayweather camp of “trying to hoodwink the media” and that the idea was not conveyed to Pacquiao. He said they had emailed the proposal to Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz and he spoke to Pacquiao and subsequently informed Arum that Manny turned it down and “we let them (Mayweathers handlers) know that it’s a no go.”

Arum said that the Pacquiao-Clottey showdown should be “a good fight because Clottey is a good fighter.”

The Top Rank promoter said that Clottey put up a very good fight before losing a split decision to them WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto but believes that Pacquiao “is way too fast for him. But it’s a good fight for Manny and certainly for fans watching the fight, it’s a better fight to watch than Manny and Mayweather” even if it won’t approximate the Mayweather fight in terms of public interest.

Asked whether there is a chance to revive negotiations and get the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight done later in the year in either September or November, Arum replied “we’ve been discussing that with Manny and Michael and our people. If it comes about , right from the get go no more nonsense, no more appeasing Mayweather. If you want to fight, we are the champions, we’ll fight. You’re the challenger. The money can be the same but sign on the dotted line and all of these issues about drug testing and blood testing and all this nonsense is for the Nevada State Athletic Commission to decide.”

 

[Johnny Truelove]

mayweather is a fuckin' joke.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Mayweather vs M Hatton?

The name of Matthew Hatton, younger brother of Ricky, has again surface as a possible opponent for Floyd Mayweather, after Mayweather’s proposed fight with Manny Pacquiao imploded on Wednesday. “Mayweather’s camp have been in touch about three times now. With the Pacquiao fight being called off now, it’s good news for me,” Matthew told the Daily Star. “My trainer was told by them I’m top of their list of opponents.” He added, “He’s a level above me in terms of class but, in sport, upsets happen. And it only takes one punch in boxing.” Mayweather is apparently willing to fight in the U.K. against Hatton, who is coming off a draw against Lovemore Ndou. Paulie Malignaggi has also been mentioned as a possible Mayweather foe.


LMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAO
LMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAO
LMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAO




Pacquiao to Target Mosley-Berto Winner, Says Roach

By Mark Vester

Trainer Freddie Roach has had enough with the demands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He is already preparing the strategy for Manny Pacquiao's next opponent, former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey. Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight title against Clottey on March 13 in Texas. If Pacquuao gets past Clottey, Roach would like to target the winner of the upcoming welterweight unification between WBC champion Andre Berto and WBA champion Shane Mosley on January 30.

"If you concede to whatever Mayweather wants, that's giving him an edge," Roach told the Los Angeles Times. "We're bigger than Mayweather. We don't need him. We don't work for him. So, the way I feel now, we'll go fight Clottey, then we'll fight the winner of Mosley and Berto."

The winner could be tough to get either way. Berto is managed by Al Haymon, who is also the business manager for Mayweather. He would likely request random Olympic style drug tests unless Berto says otherwise. The same type of demands that killed the negotiations for a Mayeather-Pacquiao fight. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has already put on the record that Mosley would likely demand the same type of Olympic style random drug tests if a Pacquiao fight came about.

Roach is not looking past Clottey. He sees him as a very tough opponent.

"It'll be a tough fight, not an easy fight, but better than some of the other names that were being thrown around," Roach said.

 

[Johnny Truelove]

manny is the shit already looking forward to another great fight with the winner of mosley/berto i doubt they will bitch like pussy boy and demand the blood test they aint that dumb to turn down a great fight/payday like that...

 

[MOREBASS]

I really do hope that Mayweather-Hatton fight gets made, just so the world could see just how much of a bitch that guy is.


Besides, Mosley's contract is up with GBP soon, and I'm almost positive he wants the Pacquiao fight more than anything else.

Plus, Berto is managed by Haymon, but if Haymon is going to demand the tests and dick Berto out of the biggest payday and fight of his career, one thing you have to remember is that these people work for the fighter's...not the other way around.

 

[heyzel]

Lawsuits won't clear Manny’s name?

By Coach Tim Walker - Here is what we know; the fight is off! If you frequent this boxing site at all then you obviously know that the fight I am talking about is Floyd Mayweather Junior verses Manny Pacquiao. Two of the best, if not the two best fighters, in the boxing game today. The fight that we all wanted to see is officially shelved and both sides are in full blame mode. Some suggest it’s a ploy to build more hype. Others suggest both guys are being over the top ridiculous in their demands. It’s Floyd’s fault. It’s Manny’s fault. It’s Roach’s fault. Blame it on Ellerbe, de la Hoya, Golden Boy, the Boxing Commission, whatever! Come what may in terms of litigation the fight is off.

Of course as is the nature of boxing fans we are all taking sides. Proponents of Mayweather suggest he was right to request random Olympic style blood testing. After all, Pacquiao’s physical growth is well documented. Even HBO displayed photos of him for the last few years and you can see the obvious physical growth. He’s a much thicker man than he was even two years ago when he was facing the likes of David Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez..

Pacquiao supporters are more varied in their opinions though ultimately their collective fingers point towards Mayweather who has earned his reputation as the perennial boxing bad boy. Sure many see Manny’s side of the issues but he also has a large constituency of those who are taking his side by default because they, for a lack of a better way of saying it, hate Mayweather. As history has shown us there is no lukewarm-ness towards Mayweather. Either you like him or you don’t and in this situation many don’t.

But the purpose of this article isn’t to take a stance on the right or wrong of it all. Rather to make a point that isn’t being discussed right now. Point being; regardless of how the lawsuit plays out in the courts it will neither clear Pacquiao’s name nor restore his pride as some have suggested. Whatever damage that may have been done to his reputation has been done and will linger on permanently attached to his boxing birthright unless he does something to remove the stigma.

Guilt/Innocence is Hard to Prove

In many instances, celebrities have a much more difficult time proving they are innocent. They find themselves in a tangled web of public opinion, media scrutiny and legal mumbo-jumbo that most of us have never had to endure (case and point the recent Tiger Woods debacle). Lawsuits, which are not uncommon these days in the sport of boxing, do little to relieve the bitter taste that fans have from a good match gone bad. As common as lawsuits are very seldom does a fighter sue a fighter over what most of us thought to be pre-fight hype. What gave the accusation a boost of steam was not the assertion rather the way Pacquiao and his camp responded to it. Their stance varied and changed almost daily (see Vivek Wallace’s most recent Call Em Out Fridays for more insight on that).

Very Little Right to Privacy

Celebrities, Floyd and Manny fit this bill, have less of an expectation of privacy than regular Joes like you and me. They know this. It’s part of the game. This makes them somewhat fairgame to being called out when something's fishy because they open themselves up to the media on a regular basis. It’s hard to use the media as a tool for your benefit then call foul when the media doesn’t play nice. From the very early stages of their careers they feed off publicity. They crave it. They need it. They use it as a tool to climb the ladder of success. The farther they climb up the ladder the more they use the media, the more they use the media the lesser the expectation of privacy they should have. Entire TV shows and websites are dedicated to finding celebrities in compromising situations and exploiting them. Celebrities use networks, news outlets and print media to announce business ventures and upcoming events. Again, it’s all part of the game.

A common avowal of celebrity circles is that there is no such thing as bad press/publicity. I’ve heard a few of my celebrity friends even say “Whether people are talking good about you or bad about you, at least they are talking about you.” With this A-typical demeanor towards the press how could a celebrity then claim anything is off limits? The birth of celebrity children are coupled with hired photographers. Marriages are typically opened to certain media outlets. The press gets the best seats at events and anything that resembles an official proceeding. In cases based on this proving damages it is difficult but not impossible. Some celebrities, and this is specific to the case of Manny and Floyd, claim that the behavior from others is so appalling and defamatory that it warrants the time, trouble and expense of pursing legal action.

While who’s right and who’s wrong is a question that will be debated for weeks and months and maybe even years the lawsuit, regardless of its outcome, will neither clear Manny’s name nor his image. The only person who can do that is Manny himself. How? It’s simple, do what is required to ease any possibility of doubt. Plainly stated, take the tests. Does he have to take the tests? No. That’s his right not too but not taking it and coming with multiple reasons why he won’t only creates doubt where there should be none. Winning in the legal court might pad his pockets a bit but detractors will maintain the position that he juices.

Pacquiao won’t outlive the Accusation, that's almost Guaranteed

Some suggest he should just wait it out and it will go away. I disagree. Bret Farve, the green and yellow clad iron man, who was the heart and soul of the Packers was made infamous when his use and abuse of painkillers became public. Barry Bonds was celebrated for his homerun hitting prowess though his relationship with the media was less than loving. He became infamous when he was implicated in the BALCO scandal for allegedly using steroids. Fellow baseball-men such as Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire are still feeling the effects of steroid accusations as are athletes from nearly every sport.

My guess is Manny Pacquiao will endure this black cloud as well unless he does something to silence critics and set the record straight. A lawsuit will do little to accomplish either.

 

[heyzel]

This is Boxing

Elio Vetrini: In a time when athletes are considered selfish and no longer willing to compete for self-achievement and glory, the boxing fans have been cheated by the tarnishing of the sport by promoters’ influence and, with that, the huge paydays that dictate the fate of fights. There is no question that boxing has built a reputation as a corrupt enterprise solely motivated by money. The days of the greats like Hagler, Hearns, Gatti, and Ali - fighters who fought for more than money - are nonexistent.

Now comes an opportunity for two great fighters with a momentous velocity of fan interest to possibly rejuvenate the sport and restore the confidence of the fans, to “sacrifice” for a $40 million payday, to make the biggest fight in boxing history, and even for the blood-sucking promoters to achieve their only goal - the sport-tarnishing goal to make a lot of money. The opportunity has been thrown away, why?

So many reasons and theories why! But the bottom line is: who cares! There is no definitive answer why the fight crumbled. This is boxing, and this is why the sport has “failed” for many years. As stated above, there is no longer a willingness to fight for glory or self-achievement. Money, like in most situations, has ruined the sport. There is no turning back. The sport is too deep in the dumps to succeed. The very same people who have bought boxing to its current state want to put together fights together like Mayweather vs. Malignaggi - a fight where it would be nearly impossible to stay awake - or Pacquiao vs. Foreman - if Pacquiao wins another title versus a sub-par fighter, he can rub the victory (and the statistic of another title in a different weight class) in Mayweather’s face. Who cares! Once again, the wrong reason to fight; the wrong motivation that has deteriorated the sport.

After all of the hype, all the buildup, and getting so close to the signed line, it almost seems like a tease to the fans, city of Las Vegas, and all the businesses that have been suffering. Both sides are responsible for this collapse. They have once again cheated the fans and hurt the sport. What has dictated the sport for recent years was on the table, a rare opportunity to please the entire spectrum of boxing fans, saving the sport and, at the same time, make everyone involved a lot of money – and yet the fight has been called off. Of course, one can preach that just like a failed partnership or relationship, there is information sensitive and relevant to the situation that outsiders would never understand, but that cannot be accepted in this matter.

Strangely, the outcome contradicts the sport’s motivating factor. Why would both sides give up the opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime payday? The answer: this is boxing! All involved should be ashamed of themselves for not respecting the sport and the demands to make it successful. “They” have once again taken advantage of the heritage of boxing; the days where fighters fought for more than a pay check. They have taken for granted that the fans have paid the bills and that the fans have allowed them to succeed financially.

Shame on them all!

 

[heyzel]

Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather: Round Two Begins

By Cliff Rold

No matter one’s opinion of the Manny Pacquiao/Floyd Mayweather blood testing rift, one thing was abundantly clear.

In round one of the fight before whenever they actually, well, fight (and they will someday), Floyd won.

There is no substantial evidence that Manny Pacquiao has ever cheated. It doesn’t matter. Performance enhancers, or just PED allegations, are sport’s scarlet letter. In negotiating a fight, Pacquiao’s requests on purse parity, weight, glove size, and even monetary penalties for failure to make weight were granted by Camp Mayweather.

The fight died because Pacquiao didn’t want to adhere to the rigorous testing standards Floyd proposed and was even willing to subject himself to.

It’s enough to cast doubts in some minds even if there are plenty of historical analogies, discussed previously by this scribe, which say everything Pacquiao has achieved makes perfect sense in the context of time. At the point where Pacquiao felt it necessary to sue for defamation, it’s abundantly clear he and his team feel they’ve been besmirched, that his reputation has been injured by the allegations.

He took a body shot to make it Mayweather 10-9.

Few fights worth paying attention to end in the first round.

Memories are a funny thing. Prior to these negotiations, whether entirely a product of reality or not, perhaps the biggest argument was about the matchmaking guts of Pacquiao versus the cautious selectivity of Mayweather. Pacquiao has been positioned to make that argument again with his choice of March 13th not-Floyd-Mayweather opponent.

Round two has begun with the selection of Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KO). While expressions of disappointment are common in the aftermath of the Superfight that ain’t, it doesn’t take long to think about what Pacquiao-Clottey might look like.

And once those thoughts take shape, it takes even less time to start looking forward. While flawed, Clottey is rated by most as among the top five or six Welterweights for a reason. Physically strong, with a solid chin and durability, Clottey is an almost insane choice to replace Mayweather.

Walking away from an estimated haul between 25-40 million sounds nuts in the first place. Risking the still potentially looming purse, which could always come together for a Fall 2010 fight, for Clottey? A fighter who could mess around and win?

That’s just a little insane and the perfect way for Pacquiao to change the subject.

It doesn’t mean Clottey will win. He’s shown in the past that he can make strategic blunders, fail to press on the gas at the right times…but this is the chance of a lifetime for the Ghanaian. He can not only ruin the biggest fight in the game, he can knock off the presumed top dog in the sport.

Even if he loses, he promises Pacquiao will be in a hard, exciting fight.

All those ingredients in the bowl and Manny Pacquiao takes a decided edge in round two and the ball goes back over the net to Mayweather. Right now Mayweather can make a compelling case that Pacquiao, and not him, was responsible for their proposed fight falling apart.

If he doesn’t match the selection of Clottey, people will be quick to forget that or ignore it because watching good fights is preferable to caring about two prima donna elite athletes arguing outside the ring.

As noted by Ring’s Doug Fischer on Monday, “the four fighters in the running to face Floyd are Paul Malignaggi, Kermit Cintron, Timothy Bradley and Nate Campbell.”

Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KO), who will be 38 by the time of any fight, is a respectable veteran and someone who’s earned the chance at a big payday. However, he is probably not as compelling an opponent for Mayweather as Clottey is for Pacquiao because there is less reason to believe the underdog is really in the fight.

Of the four names noted by Fischer, only one stands out as truly outstanding theatre. He won’t help Floyd overcome those who argue that he doesn’t fight top notch Welterweights, but WBO Jr. Welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO) provides the sternest challenge of the bunch. If Mayweather opted for Bradley, it would be hard not to win round two as well. Bradley would be every bit as live as Clottey and, unlike the African, has some budding pound-for-pound type juice to go with hand speed the equal of Mayweather’s.

Round two of this superstar mental chess began with Pacquiao’s opponent selection. Like in a real fight, the world waits to see when, and how, Floyd will counter.

 

[MOREBASS]

I usually agree with Rold, but I disagree when he says that fighting Tim Bradley is on the same level as fighting Clottey. My reasoning is that Tim Bradley has done nothing to prove he can be effective at welterweight, and I doubt Floyd comes down to 140 to fight him at his best weight.


Floyd needs to fight someone his own size for his fight to even be relevant, IMO.

 

[MOREBASS]

Pretty good article by Al Bernstein regarding the big fight falling through:

THE BALL IS IN FLOYD'S COURT
By Al Bernstein

It seems that the Manny Pacquiao negotiations lasted for a decade. In reality is was weeks, not years. So many times during those negotiations I was tempted to weigh in with my thoughts. But each time I started to type something on the computer, it felt like I would just be another voice in the noisy and often out of tune chorus that was providing opinions daily on this rancorous and often bizarre public battle. So, I kept silent, hopeful that things would work themselves out and boxing would have it’s latest Fight of the Century. That, of course, did not happen….at least for now. Now for what my voice is worth, I feel compelled to join the chorus.

I’ll qualify what you are about to read with a few statements of fact.

I like Floyd Mayweather Jr. I have enjoyed a very good relationship with him over the years, and I will forever be grateful that he has helped The Caring Place, the facility my wife co-founded in Las Vegas to provide free services for those touched by Cancer.


I greatly admire his skill in the ring. He is an artist. He does not always make thrilling fights, but he has painted a number of masterpieces in the ring.

That having been said, it seems patently obvious to me that Floyd and his minions killed the Pacquiao fight. Exactly how and why they killed it remains murky. But, the bottom line is a the fight was basically a done deal before they decided to inject the demands for blood testing into the picture. I seldom look for simple answers to issues. Most things in this life fall into the gray area and I believe most often there are a series of circumstances that create societal, personal or business problems. In this case though, not really. Pure and simple, Golden Boy Promotion and Floyd and his advisers created the problem and it ended up killing the fight.

Many things have been said and insinuated to make this look like a more complicated situation. But, none of them really hold water. Here are some facts.

Manny Pacquiao has never tested positive in a drug test.
Manny Pacquiao is one of the hardest working and most disciplined fighters in the sport.
Manny Pacquiao’s success as he moved up in weight has been fueled mostly by a change in style and tactics rather than added strength.

One of the most astonishing things to me is that fact number three keeps getting ignored by the folks who somehow believe that all of a sudden it’s reasonable to assume that Pacquiao above all other boxers needs a special set of testing rules to participate in a big fight. People who are supposed to know boxing are throwing out this most obvious truth in their argument that Team Mayweather’s smear campaign on Pacquiao is OK.\

When Pacquiao was fighting in those legendary wars with Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez in the 126-130 pound range he was a completely different fi9gjhter. He walked straight in and threw mostly jabs and straight left hands. He would occasionally mix in an upper cut here and there, and very seldom a powerful right hook. He seldom punched in combinations and used little lateral mo0vmenet. He was actually a pretty one dimensional fighter. He won because he had power, punching accuracy, and a great will. His fights were often wars of attrition because of his stylistic deficiencies. Given those deficiencies it is actually fairly amazing that against three hall of fame fighers, Marquez, Morales and Barrera, he went 5-1-1. It’s a testimony to his power and toughness.

When he decided to move up in weight, Freddie Roach rightly recognized that if Pacquiao fought the way he had in the lower weights, somebody bigger would probably knock him out. So, at age 29, with the help of Roach, Pacquiao did what few boxers do at any age---he reinvented himself. He became the very defiunitio0n of a boxer-puncher. The Pacquiao that fought David Diaz, Oscar DeLaHoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto at weights from 135 to 147 used hand and foot speed, an infinitely better right hand, and better defense to go along with power. Anybody who professes to know boxing should have been able to see that.

No performance enhancing drugs can change your technique. Even though he stopped all of those opponents fighting at weights higher than he had previously fought at—it was not power that made the difference. The difference was speed, ring generalship, combination punching and a vastly improved defense. Anyone that suggests otherwise and really believes it is stupid when it comes to understanding boxing. Most of the people who surround Floyd Mayweather as promoters or advisers are not stupid when it comes to understanding boxing. Most of all my friend Floyd is not stupid when it comes to understanding boxing. He is, in fact, a genius.

I have a theory (and it is only a theory—I do not have an unnamed source like one of my broadcasting colleagues professes to have in the mysterious Pacquiao e-mail conspiracy) on how this blood testing thing developed. I would suggest that it started as a ploy to unsettle Pacquiao—rattle his chain a bit. But because the whole thing was somewhat clumsily executed in public, this ploy developed a life of it’s own and then Team Mayweather was stuck with their disingenuous position and had to ride it out. It became a tidal wave of controversy that killed a mega-fight and cost many people a lot of money.

Now in the nuclear rubble left behind, it is the Pacquiao team that moved more quickly and decisively to stake out the boxing high ground. Top Rank worked diligently and swiftly to create a competitive prize fight in an exotic and exciting venue. By accepting Joshua Clottey, a big, strong and skilled welterweight as his next opponent, Pacquiao and Top Rank have played to Pacquiao’s ultimate virtue—that he has always been willing to fight tough opponents. And the reverse of that is Mayweather’s public achilles heal. The net effect of that is to further suggest that if finger pointing is to be done at anyone for avoiding the meager-fight, it ought not be wagged in Pacquiao’s direction. For the moment Manny and Top Rank have moved way ahead in the PR battle.

I say “for the moment” because in our ever changing, new news cycle per day world, the PR high ground can shift quickly under your feet. The ball is now in Floyd’s and Golden Boy’s court. If they go through with their plans to duel Pacquiao-Clottey with their own fight on March 13, they must do two things. 1.) They must win over HBO to do the pay per view of their fight, forcing Arum to go in another direction, and 2.) they must counter with something more than Paulie Malignaggi or Nate Campbell as a Mayweather opponent. One problem Golden Boy and Floyd face is that Top Rank is well equipped to hold it’s own in the pay per view battle even if they lose HBO as a distributor. They have created their own successful model for pay per views. And the other problem for Floyd’s team, is that finding a really good opponent might be tough. There is a healthy skepticism about Floyd continually battling men coming up in weight to fight him, and Malignaggi, Campbell and even the talented Tim Bradley would fall into that categtory. This will especially be highlighted since Manny is taking on a genuine welterweight contender in Clottey.

Bob Arum upped the ante by throwing in Cowboys Stadium as the location for Pacquiao-Clottey. That adds panache to the whole event. It’s the only venue in America that is an attraction by itself.

In the next week or so Floyd’s group will fire it’s bullets in this promotional war and we will see how much territory they can win back. They have assets of the4r own, not the least of which is Floyd himself who is one of the two most high profile boxers in the world. The problem is that if it turns out that he is number two on that list, we all know who number one would be. And that’s the guy they are battling for the hearts and minds of boxing fans worldwide in March.

This whole combative scenario has created a seismic shift in the boxing landscape. The truce between Top Rank and Golden Buy that produced so many excellent matches in the last several years has been eviscerated and now the cold war is back in full bloom. How it plays out in the coming months will be fascinating to watch. Luckily the momentum boxing has built and the talent and fan bases it has developed in recent years will allow it to still thrive even in the midst of this promotional carnage

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