Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

HAYE-RUIZ TO BE A PART OF HOPKINS-JONES II TELECAST

By G. Leon

Boxingtalkers should not be surprised if WBA heavyweight champion David Haye's mandatory defense against John Ruiz takes place on the April 3, Hopkins-Jones II PPV telecast. Haye-Ruiz will headline in England, but a formal announcement of its tape delayed addition to the Hopkins-Jones

 

[heyzel]

Kelly Pavlik, Lucian Bute Doubleheader Being Discussed

By Rick Reeno

Top Rank and Lou DiBella held a meeting on Thursday morning to negotiate a deal for a possible middleweight fight between WBC/WBO champion Kelly Pavlik and current WBC 154-pound champ Sergio Martinez. The meeting went well for the most part. No deal was reached but the two sides plan to continue their discussions.

"You can't go that fast. We're back and forth. Lou is going to call me again," Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com.

As previously reported, numerous promoters have laid claim to the date of April 17 on HBO. The confusion is starting to clear up. From what BoxingScene was told by multiple souces, HBO wants to stage a doubleheader on the date of April 17 with Kelly Pavlik and IBF 168-pound champion Lucian Bute in the co-feature.

The date would go head to head with Showtime's Super Six doubleheader, which features Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward vs. the winner of the Feb. 5 bout between Allan Green and Sakio Bika. I've heard from a few sources that DiBella was not a happy camper with the HBO card going directly against the Showtime event but at the same time he can't walk away from a Pavlik shot for Martinez.

Speaking of Green-Bika, I've heard from a few sources that fight is having issues. I hear the issues are coming from the Bika end. More than one member of Bika's camp have claimed the fight with Green is not a done deal. If Green-Bika falls apart, don't be surprised if Bute's team tries to secure Green as their HBO opponent for the April date.

 

[heyzel]

Oscar De La Hoya Talks Saul Alvarez, Mexico Promoting

By Mark Vester

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya is still involved in ongoing talks to sign hot Mexican welterweight prospect Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. De La Hoya told ESTO that signing Alvarez is one his priorities for 2010.

"We are very interested and we know that "Canelo" has a very large following in Mexico and I like to work with him," De La Hoya said. "He has the qualities of a champion."

De La Hoya revealed to the paper that Golden Boy is going to target the Mexican market by promoting shows in Mexico with Ricardo Maldonado as the man in charge.

"We are working with Ricardo and he's going to be our promoter in Mexico. Golden Boy Promotions and Ricardo Maldonado have created a strategic alliance to start promoting Mexican boxers. This was always my dream, to promote and have a company that has a presence in Mexico, so we invited the best promoter and that is Ricardo Maldonado. We are talking about what we will do this year," De La Hoya said.

 

[heyzel]

Keith Kizer Denies Oscar De La Hoya Used Steroids

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

The Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission has effectively cleared “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya of insinuations that he may have been on performance enhancing drugs before fights against Bernard Hopkins and Felix “Tito” Trinidad.

Kizer was responding to questions we posed following an article by award-winning boxing writer and lawyer Thomas Hauser.

In the lengthy article spurred by the random blood testing controversy which scuttled the mega fight between pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr and unsubstantiated allegations by Golden Boy Promotions and the Mayweather camp that Pacquiao was on performance enhancing drugs, Hauser challenged De La Hoya on the drug issue.

Hauser asked De La Hoya himself to set an example and “show the world how a righteous PED-free fighter acts.”

Hauser said that in order to duly inform the public on the issues involved “and remove any hint of suspicion that he himself might not have clean hands” he said De La Hoya “ should waive his right to confidentiality and authorize the Nevada State Athletic Commission to release the results of any tests for performance enhancing drugs that he has taken in the past. The same waiver should authorize all present and past NSAC personnel and any other person with knowledge of the situation to discuss the test results with any media representative who inquires about them.”

In response to our question on whether the results of tests taken are confidential or were confidential at the time De La Hoya was a fighter, Kizer said “all these tests are public and every test was negative for PED’s (performance enhancing drugs.)”

Asked whether the NSAC needs a waiver from De La Hoya or any fighter for that matter to reveal the results, Kizer responded “No – I have no idea what Mr. Hauser is referring to or why he would make such an implication.”

 

[heyzel]

Arum Seems Sure Margarito Will Be Licensed By The Texas Commission, But Should He Be?

by James Slater - BoxRec had the fight up as happening a while back, and now it seems Mexico's Antonio Margarito (dubbed, of course, "Margocheato" by some fans) is very close to fighting again, against 23-year-old light-middleweight Carson Jones. According to a news story on ESPN.com, promoter Bon Arum - who has stood by Margarito's side since the Mexican warrior had his licence revoked for one year by the California State Athletic Commission for attempting to use "loaded gloves" in his January 2009 fight with Shane Mosley - is optimistic Margarito will receive a license to fight in Texas..

Arum's plan is for "Tony" to fight Jones on the under-card of the Pacquiao-Clottey bill in Dallas on March 13th. Reportedly, Arum is so sure his fighter WILL be successful in his request for a license in Texas, Top Rank have actually signed the fight between Margarito and Jones. The fight will take place at a maximum weight of 155-pounds, and will be scheduled for ten-rounds.

So, how do you, the fans, feel about this? Should Margarito be allowed to fight, anywhere, after just one year of forced idleness? Or has the man whose hand wraps were found to have been covered with "a plaster-like substance" been let off too lightly if he does indeed obtain a license for March 13th?

If Margarito, 37-6(27) does fight and win in March, he could be on his way towards earning millions of dollars. It's no secret Arum's plan is for Margarito to one day engage in what would almost certainly be a highly lucrative return fight with the last man the Mexican defeated, Miguel Cotto. But does the shamed Mexican deserve such a big and well-paying fight?

Of course, if Margarito does fight Jones, 24-7-1(15) and loses, this whole argument will change significantly. But what if the fight does go ahead and Margarito looks superb in winning? Will other states in America then follow Texas and allow him to fight? Has Margarito paid his dues? The paying fans are as qualified as anyone to put answers to questions like these, and I'd truly love to know what the fight fans think.

It seems we will be seeing Margarito back in action on March 13th - as top writer Dan Rafael has already pointed out, BEFORE the man who beat him, in Shane Mosley - but will you support the Mexican and the Texas Commission if this is indeed the case?

 

[heyzel]

Steve Cunningham-Matt Godfrey Set To Box For IBF Cruiserweight Belt

by James Slater - Steve "USS" Cunningham, the former IBF cruiserweight champion, will soon face once-beaten contender Matt Godfrey for chance to regain his old belt. Tomasz Adamek's campaign up at heavyweight has left the championship vacant, and 33-year-old Cunningham (whose most recent loss came at the hands of the teak-tough Pole) and 29-year-old Godfrey will clash for it on March 19th in Florida.

A good match-up, both men have a good chance of winning. The older man over Godfrey by four years and perhaps more in terms of having had a greater number of hard fights, Cunningham is probably the favourite to win. But in the man who goes by the nickname of "Too Smooth," the former champ who also has a controversial and subsequently avenged points loss to another Polish fighter, in Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, on his record, will be facing a proven operator..

Godfrey may not have mixed in as good a company as Cunningham has, true, but the man from Providence, Rhode Island has beaten some quality fighters. Good men like Sean George, Emanuel Nwodo and Edward Gutierrez all lost to Godfrey, with George being taken out inside just one round. Like Cunningham, Godfrey has never been stopped - his sole loss coming on points; to Czech Republic fighter and former WBC cruiserweight title challenger Rudolf Kraj.

Both men are sure of victory - with Cunningham hell-bent on reclaiming his crown and Godfrey anxious to become a world champion for the first time.

Neither guy is what you could really call a hugely concussive puncher, with the 22-2 Cunningham having stopped 11 men, and the 20-1 Godfrey having halted ten of his opponents. Because of this, it's safe to assume we can expect a fairly long fight in March, maybe even a distance fight. The action should be good, though, and it's worth bearing in mind how many good battles Cunningham has been involved in.

This is the acid test for Godfrey (who was knocked down in his wild slugfest win over Nwodo), and we will have to wait and see if he can rise to it. One area the younger man may have an advantage is in recent activity levels. Last fighting in September of last year, while Cunningham last boxed in July and had just the one fight in 2009 and just one in 2008, Godfrey could conceivably be the sharper man when the fight starts.

Cunningham's chin is well proven, despite his being given counts three times in the war with Adamek, while Godfrey has that trip to the canvas against Nwodo on his record, as well as his going down in the opening round of his last win, over Michael Simms. If a KO is scored, I think it will be Cunningham - the only man to have beaten the constantly improving Marco Huck - who scores it.

I go for Cunningham to prove too strong for Godfrey, and win via either a late stoppage or by a clear points margin.

 

[heyzel]

The decision to fight Clottey could backfire if Pacquiao gets damaged

By Jason Kim: One thing that Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao’s management may not have thought about is that their decision to take a fight against the tough Joshua Clottey could backfire on them if Pacquiao gets damaged in his fight against Clottey. Pacquiao could end up taking heavy punishment from Clottey, even if Manny wins the fight. It might be too high of a price for Pacquiao to pay in winning if he ends up getting hurt and it causing him problems in future fights.

This kind of thing happens all the time. A fighter takes a tough bout that turns into a real war and that fighter is never the same afterwards and prone to getting knocked out easily. Clottey is that kind of a tough fighter that can inflict a lot of damage even if he loses the fight.

No one beats him easily without Clottey landing a lot of punches to the head. And he has good power and speed, and he makes his opponents pay a heavy price for their wins. When you look at that and take into account how wide open Pacquiao is defensively because of his aggressive style of attacking, this fight could end up with Pacquiao taking an awful lot of punishment.

Pacquiao may not be the same fighter he was after the fight. This isn’t an over-matched super featherweight, lightweight or an old Oscar De La Hoya that Pacquiao is facing on March 13th. Clottey will be really bringing it and giving Pacquiao pure hell. It doesn’t matter that Pacquiao will be landing a lot of fast punches.

Clottey will still get too him plenty and will probably hit Pacquiao harder and more often than he’s been hit before in any of his other bouts. Pacquiao is coming off of a 12th round TKO over Miguel Cotto in November. Pacquiao got hit some in that fight, but really not all that much because Cotto was pretty much on his bike from the 5th round on and looking to just survive.

After Cotto got hurt early in the fight, he wasn’t standing and trading with Pacquiao like he normally does in his fights. Because of that, Pacquiao really didn’t get hit nearly as much as he would have if Cotto had stayed in one place and fired back consistently for 12 rounds. If that had been the case, Pacquiao would have taken a ton of punishment in the fight.

Well, Clottey will be able to take Pacquiao’s shots without being hurt and he clearly won’t run from him like Cotto did and he won’t fold early like Ricky Hatton. This is why Pacquiao will likely pay a huge price in beating Clottey. I still think Pacquiao will win, but this fight might take a lot out of him because Clottey is tough, durable and can punch.

Clottey likes when his fights turn into wars and he’s well suited for this kind of style of fighting. Pacquiao has been spared fighting bouts like this, because most of his opponents aren’t able to withstand his power and speed. Erik Morales, who beat Pacquiao by a 12 round decision in 2005, was one of the few who could. But that fight was fought at super featherweight.

Clottey is a lot bigger than Morales and he probably won’t back up an inch with the smaller Pacquiao coming after him. Again, I think Pacquiao will win this fight, but I think it’s going to be a heavy price because of the punishment he’s going to take in the fight. I think if Pacquiao does face Mayweather next, there may not be enough left of Pacquiao for it to be a competitive fight.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao may not ever fight Mayweather

By Dave Lahr: A fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao may never take place in the future unless Mayweather or Pacquiao change their minds about the random blood testing for the fight. Pacquiao doesn’t appear to have changed his mind one bit about the blood testing. In an interview with CNN, Pacquiao said “If Floyd wants that fight to happen then I think let the commission who implements the rules, not him, make the rules for the fight.”

Let’s hope that Pacquiao isn’t going to stick to following only what the commissions says on this before fighting Mayweather, because the commission only directs that urine be checked, not blood. Mayweather wants blood to be tested for the presence of performance enhancing drugs that aren’t picked up by urine. Human growth hormone is one of those drugs that Mayweather is concerned about.

Pacquiao was willing to have his blood tested randomly up to a certain point, but didn’t want his blood to be tested within 24 days of the fight because he felt it would weaken him. But in this interview, it sounds as if Pacquiao’s stance has hardened about this subject. “Floyd is just a fighter,” Pacquiao says. “We’re both fighters so he doesn’t need to make the rules like that.”

What Pacquiao seems to be forgetting it that it was something that Mayweather wanted to have included in the contract, just as Pacquiao’s team asked for a $10 million dollar penalty to be included for every pound that either of the fighters came in over weight. This was something Mayweather agreed to.

It wasn’t a hard and fast rule for all boxing fights. And when you think about it, this rule heavily favored Pacquiao because Mayweather is the bigger fighter and the one that had recently came in over weight limit in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. This isn’t just a one-way deal. Both fighters would be giving up a little to make this fight happen.

Pacquiao might not like having his blood tested, but to make a fight with Mayweather happen and to get a payday that could be as big as $40 million, Pacquiao would have to give in on this one issue. If Pacquiao wants to fight Mayweather, he will have to probably agree to have his blood tested randomly. I don’t see Mayweather giving in about this. If Pacquiao has decided not to have his blood tested in the future, then he might be better off not wasting his time talking about the Mayweather fight anymore.

 

[heyzel]

Can Amir Khan become a huge PPV star like Mayweather and Pacquiao?

By William Mackay: Trainer Freddie Roach and Golden Boy Promotion are hoping to make a huge star out of WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) in the future along the lines of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Is it possible for Khan to accomplish this task in the near or distant future? Pacquiao toiled away for 14 years in the pro ranks before he recently became a huge mega star in the past year after beating Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in three consecutive fights.

And Mayweather Jr. fought for 11 years as a pro before he finally became a huge mega star with a win over De La Hoya in 2007. Khan has fought for only five years in the pro ranks and was drilled into the canvas by Breidis Prescott in one round in 2008. Khan has picked up the World Boxing Association light welterweight title with a 12 round decision win over Andriy Kotelnik in July 2009, but looked fragile in the process, moving continuously against a non puncher.

For Khan to become a mega star, he will have to beat some of the best fighters in boxing. That’s how it’s done. This is obviously why Roach is so eager to match Khan against Ricky Hatton, who some boxing fans feel is a totally shot fighter. It would give Khan a boost up in the minds of fans and make a name for him, even if it’s against a fighter that some people see as shot. However, Khan will need more than fights against Hatton, which may not ever happen, and Paulie Malignaggi. Khan needs to take on and beat the best fighters in the division like Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Kendall Holt and Marcos Maidana.

A lot of fans see Khan as a fighter that has faced hand-picked opponents during his five year pro career, carefully matched to avoid dangerous punchers. It’s hard to argue against that belief in looking at who Khan as faced in the past two years since being destroyed by Prescott in 2008. Since that time, Khan has fought Oisin Fagan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Kotelnik and Dmitriy Salita.

The fight against Barrera would have been good if Barrera wasn’t an old 35, and still relevant. Barrera had looked poor in moving up in weight form super featherweight to lightweight and looked small and slow at lightweight. However, a win is a win, but the fight was hardly an impressive one because Barrera was cut early in the 2nd round because of a head butt.

With blood streaming into his eyes, Barrera was barely able to see. Somehow the fight was allowed to continue just long enough for it to go to the cards in the 5th round and Khan subsequently won by a 5th round technical decision. The decision to move up in weight to fight Kotelnik, who some saw as a paper champion, didn’t help Khan’s case.

If Khans wants to be a PPV star in the United States, he’s going to have to take the tougher fights and not be positioned against fading stars or weak punchers. There are rumors that Khan might not fight interim WBA light welterweight champion Marcos Maidana next and will instead fight Paulie Malignaggi. I think this would be a mistake.

I don’t see a fight against Malignaggi doing anything for Khan. I do think it will cause knowledgeable boxing fans to see Khan as a cherry picker because they think he’s trying to avoid big punchers since his knockout loss to Prescott. By choosing to fight Malignaggi rather than Maidana, this could strengthen the belief that some boxing fans have about Khan being a ducker.

I don’t see Khan becoming a mega star the easy way by taking on fading fighters or ones with zero power to hurt him. Khan is going to have to beat the best fighters in the division and do this for a number of years before he becomes a huge pay per view star in the United States. I have my doubts that Khan can accomplish this with his weak chin. His offense is fine, but he seems top fragile to hold up under the wear and tear of facing the likes of Maidana, Victor Ortiz, Bradley, Holt and Alexander.

 

[heyzel]

Roach sees Pacquiao-Clottey fight as being a better fight than Pacquiao vs. Mayweathe

By Daved Lahr: Freddie Roach, the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, sees the March 13th match-up between former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey and current WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao as being the better fight for fans compared to a bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which was going to take place on the same date. That fight didn’t happen because Mayweather and Pacquiao couldn’t agree on the random blood testing for the fight. In an article at Fight Hype, Roach says “This is a much better fight for the fans, I think, and for the people…He [Clottey] is the number one contender, he’s completely the opposite of what Mayweather brings to the table.”

You can say that again, Freddie. Mayweather would have likely been huge problems for Pacquiao because of his speed, movement and counter punching ability. In contrast, Clottey is a stationary fighter who covers up much of the time and moves little. I don’t know that I agree with Roach about this being a better fight for boxing fans than the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. It depends on if you’re interested in seeing a mismatch or not.

Mayweather wouldn’t just stand in front of Pacquiao all night long covering up and throwing combinations every once in awhile. Mayweather would be blasting Pacquiao and taking advantage of Pacquiao’s mistakes as he presses the fight. I think it would be interesting to watch how Pacquiao tries to deal with Mayweather’s movement and counter punching.

Pacquiao looked awful in his two fights with Juan Manuel Marquez, taking a lot of shots and appearing to lose both fights in the minds of many boxing fans. I had Marquez winning both of those bouts. Some people think that Pacquiao has gotten better in the past two years since his controversial 12 round split decision over Marquez in 2008. However, Pacquiao looks like the same fighter to me, only bigger.

I don’t think a fight where Pacquiao is drilling a stationary and/or plodding Clottey as more interesting than a fight against Mayweather. That sounds silly. I don’t know how Roach can honestly believe that boxing fans would rather see Pacquiao face someone who either stands in one place with his gloves glued to his head of plods forward at as snail’s pace.

To me, that seems more like the last few opponents that have been matched against Pacquiao. Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto all stood right in front of Pacquiao using very little movement and they were all eaten alive. Cotto did try moving in the 2nd part of his fight with Pacquiao and had some limited success.

But Cotto isn’t a mover and he didn’t do a good job of punching on the move like Mayweather would have done in the same situation. I could see the Pacquiao-Clottey fight being better than a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao if Manny chose to stand right in front of Clottey all night and slug with him.

But Pacquiao will use his in and out movement to beat Clottey. Pacquiao won’t really attack hard until Clottey becomes completely tired out and immobile late in the fight. But I don’t see that as more interesting than Mayweather-Pacquiao. It just seems like Pacquiao’s team have found another stationary fighter for Pacquiao to look good against. I would much prefer to see Mayweather-Pacquiao or at least Pacquiao matched against someone like Marquez or Paul Williams.

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather-Mosley looking like it’s going to happen

By Eric Thomas: According to news from Max Boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KO’s) and WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO’s) have made a verbal agreement for a fight in May of this year. An announcement will be made this Friday about the mega fight between them. Mosley, 38, has not problems submitting to the random blood tests that Mayweather wants for the fight to take place, unlike WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao who was resistant to having blood taken from him any nearer than 24 days before the fight.

Mosley, however, is completely comfortable with having blood taken from him before his fight and it looks like there will be no trouble arranging the bout. The fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao ultimately was unable to be put together because Mayweather wanted random blood tests taken for both fighters up until 14 days before the fight, but Pacquiao, feeling that the small amount of blood taken from would weaken him wanted the blood tests to stop at the 24th days.

As such, Pacquiao moved on and will be facing Joshua Clottey on March 13th, at the Dallas Cowboy stadium, in Arlington, Texas.

Mosley was supposed to be fighting WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto on January 30th, but Berto lost family members in the earthquake in Haiti recently and needed to pull out of the fight.

A fight between Mayweather and Mosley amounts to being the 2nd best fight that can be made in all of boxing behind a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout, of course. This fight won’t compete with the Pacquiao-Clottey fight because they’re taking place on separate dates but it will be interesting to see which fight ends up making more money on pay-per-view.

The Mayweather-Mosley fight appears to be the much better matched fight of the two, because Mosley is considered to be the best fighter in the welterweight division while Clottey is anywhere from the 5th to the 8th best depending on who you ask. Few boxing fans give Clottey much of any chance to beat Pacquiao because of his struggles in fights with Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto along with the fact that Clottey tends to not throw a lot of punches in his fights.

One advantage that the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight has is that it will take place in the Dallas Cowboy stadium and the owner of the stadium, Jerry Jones, will help with drumming up interest in the fight to a certain extent. This should help make what appears to be a mismatch on paper a more appealing fight to casual fans who might have little interest in this fight.

 

[Tony]

I guess Mayweather is the biggest draw! People want to see Mayweather vs Pac-Man or Mayweather vs Shane Mosely. The common denominator is Mayweather... Bob Arum is using Dallas' new stadium to help promote/sell the fight between Clottey and pacman because that fight won't draw as much interest as a Mayweather fight on its' own.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

It has to do with the opponent tony.

Pacquiao vs Mosley would outsell Mayweather vs Clottey.

It's two big names versus one. Very simple.

Just like Pac vs Clottey was set to outsell Mayweather vs Nate campbell/Paulie, etc, which is what prompted mayweather to take on mosley in the first place.

Also keep in mind that Pacquao vs Clottey was set in stone long before Shane Mosley was even an option for Floyd (thanks to Berto withdrawing) so I don't understand your logic.

 

[Tony]

Of course you understand my logic, you just don't want to admit it. Keep it 100!

Can you explain why when Floyd and Manny fought the same opponents (Marquez, De La Hoya, and Hatton) Floyd's fights out sold Manny's?

 

[2-0-Sixx]

god, not this again.

Floyd's comeback return pound for pound numero uno did 1 million buys.
Pac's last fight did 1.25 million.

Nuff said about that.

But let me ask you, if Pac was fighting Mosley, and Floyd was fighting Clottey, who would sell more??

 

[Tony]

Floyd's comeback return pound for pound numero uno did 1 million buys.

More than pacman vs Marquez right?

Pac's last fight did 1.25 million.

Just like you said in your last post before this... it had something to do with the opponent 206!

If Floyd fought Cotto they would have done more than 1.25 million buys (just like when Floyd fought Hatton, De La Hoya and Marquez). You know it but won't admit it.

So which fight are you more interested in seeing? Mayweather vs Mosely or Pacman vs Clottey? That's the whole point.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

More than pacman vs Marquez right?

Pac wasn't a big time star yet...

Just like you said in your last post before this... it had something to do with the opponent 206!

If Floyd fought Cotto they would have done more than 1.25 million buys (just like when Floyd fought Hatton, De La Hoya and Marquez). You know it but won't admit it.

Excellent, so we're on the same page then. Mayweather & Pacquiao are both huge stars, can't really say who is bigger, although Floyd SHOULD be considering he's american and pac can barely uummmm speak english clitoris-glove.

So which fight are you more interested in seeing? Mayweather vs Mosely or Pacman vs Clottey? That's the whole point.

I'm not sure, they are both pretty exciting to me in there own ways. I think Pac-Clottey will be a more physical and exciting fight.

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather's Adviser: Mosley Negotiations Very Positive

By Rick Reeno

The negotiations for a very anticipated welterweight collision between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and WBA champion Shane Mosley are still ongoing in a positive manner, Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe told BoxingScene.com on Thursday night. The rivalry between the two fighters has been brewing for over ten years.

When Mayweather was competing at super featherweight, he was calling for a fight with Mosley, who at the time was the best lightweight in the world. For several years the weight divisions kept them apart. Mosley jumped from lightweight to welterweight in 1999, and then to junior middleweight in 2003. Mayweather made a full move to lightweight in 2002, then went up to junior welterweight in 2004, and then made the welterweight jump in 2005 - which is the same year Mosley returned to 147.

Whispers of a May meeting were out there but the actual negotiations were ready to roll in full force when Andre Berto announced on Monday that he withdrawing from next Saturday's scheduled unification with Mosley. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is working day and night to finalize a deal. Golden Boy promote Mosley and have a working relationship with Mayweather. The fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. May 1 and May 8 have both been mentioned as possible dates.

"We are still negotiating the Mosley fight. We are having some every good discussions which is definitely a breath of fresh air. We're looking at a couple of dates in early May. Obviously we want to allow ourselves enough time to properly promote this mega, mega fight. This is a fight that fans have been talking about for ten years. Floyd has wanted this fight for over ten years," Ellerbe told BoxingScene.com.

Since last January's knockout of Antonio Margarito, Mosley has called himself the best welterweight in the world and challenged both Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to cross his path. Mosley was not successful in landing Pacquiao but a fight with Mayweather is within reach.

"Shane is a tremendous fighter and this is what these marquee matchups are all about. Shane Mosley thinks he's the best welterweight in the world. Floyd Mayweather knows he's the best fighter in the world. Both sides are working very hard to try to get it done and obviously with this being a big mega fight, there are a lot of particulars involved and these deals are not finalized overnight," Ellerbe said.

 

[Tony]

It'll get done then, now this will be a fight worth paying for!

 

[heyzel]

true indeed but I got floyd in a 12rd d