Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Lucian Bute: “My promoter had made an offer to Kessler to fight with me in November

Lucian Bute: “My promoter had made an offer to Kessler to fight with me in November, and Kessler refused the fight!”

by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - Last week’s 131st edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio (brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with reigning IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (28-0, 23 KOs) who is scheduled to face mandatory challenger Jean Paul Mendy (29-0-1, 16 KOs) tomorrow night in Romania. Bute spoke about his upcoming title defense, and also touched on a variety of other topics including the Super Six Boxing Classic, Manny Pacquiao, a potential fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins’s historic victory against Jean Pascal, Kelly Pavlik, Mikkel Kessler, and more! Here is what he had to say:

Regarding how he feels about his upcoming title defense against Jean Paul Mendy:

“I feel great. I trained very hard for this fight.”

On how it feels to be fighting again in Romania for the second time during his professional career:

“The first time I fought in Romania it was for a belt. The first fight for me in Romania was in 2005 in Galati, and now it’s in the capital Bucharest.”

His response to fans and detractors who criticize the competition he has been facing:

“You know Jean Paul Mendy is the mandatory fighter. After the mandatory I’m ready to fight anybody in this category at 168. I’m ready to fight!”

On whether he was disappointed that it does not appear he will be facing Mikkel Kessler next later this year:

“Yeah! You know my promoter had made an offer to Kessler to fight with me in November, and Kessler refused the fight.”

His views on the fact that Mikkel Kessler will likely be facing Robert Stieglitz next:

“I don’t know. Maybe Kessler thinks it’s an easier fight for him.”

His views on the Super Six super middleweight tournament:

“Well it’s a very interesting tournament. It has very good fighters inside the tournament with good experience. Now is the Final between Ward and Carl Froch. For me, I’m ready to fight the winner and I’m ready to fight all of the fighters who participated in this tournament. I’m the world champion in the IBF super middleweight and I’m ready to fight with everybody!”

Regarding who he believes will win the Super Six Final matchup between Andre Ward and Carl Froch:

“In my opinion, I think Ward wins this fight because Ward is more talented with more speed, and I think Andre Ward will win this fight and the tournament, too.”

On whether he would prefer to face Andre Ward instead of Carl Froch:

“No, I’m ready to fight Andre Ward or Carl Froch.”

On whether he ever considered making the move up to 175 pounds at light heavyweight:

“No, for the moment I will stay at 168. I feel great in this category. I don’t have a problem making weight, and I will stay here for one more or two years. I don’t know.”

On what he considers to be the best aspect of his game that he brings into the ring with him:

“I think I’m very strong for this category. I’m in good shape every time. My speed is a big key in my strategy.”

Regarding a potential fight between him and former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik:

“At this moment I’m very confident for my next fight against Jean Paul Mendy on July 9. It’s very important for me. It is a fight for the title and I’m very confident for this fight. After that I say I’m ready to fight everybody, maybe Kelly Pavlik. That’s no problem for me. He’s a very good fighter. Kelly Pavlik was a great champion and he is a good boxer. I’m ready for a fight with him.”

His views on Bernard Hopkins’ historic victory when he beat Jean Pascal to become the oldest boxer to win a major world championship:

“It was a very interesting fight. Congratulations for Hopkins. He’s 46 years old and it was a great, great, great performance in becoming the world champion. It was a great job for him and I have even more respect for him. He’s a great champion.”

His views on boxing’s biggest star Manny Pacquiao:

“Manny is a great fighter. He’s very serious and he trains very hard. He has more ability and he’s a very strong fighter. I have a lot of respect for him and like him as a fighter.”

On whether he believes a fight between many Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather might happen sometime next year and who he believes would win:

“In the last two years Mayweather doesn’t fight. It will be very difficult for him because he’s not active. Pacquiao is active! He fights two times a year I think and with this fight, everybody waits for this fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather. In my opinion I think Manny Pacquiao will win with Mayweather. I have a lot of respect for Mayweather. He’s a great champion and a very good fighter, but in my opinion Pacquiao would win this fight.”

Regarding what he feels will be his biggest asset going into his fight against Jean Paul Mendy:

“With Mendy, I have seen more fights with Mendy. He’s a good southpaw like me. He has a good left hook, a good left uppercut, and he’s a strong fighter. You know I’ve trained very hard. I’ve had good sparring and I feel great. I’ll wait until July 9 for this fight. My objective is to stay world champion.”

His official prediction for his July 9 fight against Jean Paul Mendy:

“As I said, my objective is to win this fight. It may be a decision, it may be before a decision. I don’t know, but it’s important for me to stay world champion.”

On whether he would be interested in having a fight with Bernard Hopkins given the fact Hopkins has previously stated Bute is on his radar:

“Of course, of course! I’m ready. For me it would be an honor to fight with Bernard Hopkins. He is a legend in boxing. Maybe within the next year we can have a great fight with Lucian Bute and Bernard Hopkins in Montreal or in the United States.”

Regarding what fans can expect from him for the rest of 2011:

“Well my next fight is July 9 in Romania. After that I’m supposed to fight in November.”

On what he would like to say to all of his fans and supporters:

“I want to say thank you to all of my fans in Canada and the United States and all of the world, and thank you very much for your support.”

 

[heyzel]

Marquez: I’ll go for the kill against Pacquiao

By Chris Williams: Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 38 KO’s) plans on going for the kill against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on November 12th in their fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marquez, 37, knows that he can’t leave it up to the judges after he was beaten by a controversial 12 round split decision three years ago.

To beat a popular fighter like Pacquiao, you have to go beyond the norm if you want to win by a decision. This is why Marquez is going to go all out to blast Pacquiao to pieces and make sure he takes the judges out of the fight by knocking Pacquiao cold.

Marquez said this to the manilastandard.com: “I’ll go for the kill or die trying.”

There won’t be any dying by Marquez, but I can see him working Pacquiao to the point where he’s on overload and too tuckered out to keep up the pace. You can see how all that weight that Pacquiao has put on has slowed him down and made him a stationary fighter that gets out of breath if he fights hard for more than a few rounds. When you got an aging guy like Pacquiao who is fighting 20 pounds over his natural weight, you see him tire out much quickly than normal fighters. The trick is to take the fight him at fight at a very quick pace to drown him in th later rounds.

Pacquiao looked like he was going to keel over against Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito, his last two over the hill opponents. If those guys can do that to Pacuqiao just imagine what a still mostly in his prime Marquez will do to him in November.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

By William Mackay: If Khan can’t even beat Prescott, how on earth can he beat a much better fighter like Mayweather?
I don’t like how Khan is looking past Judah. That’s a bad idea when you got a weak chin like Khan.

What even qualifies people to be writers these days?
No way this guy is a full time sports writer. Some of these people have to have day jobs and do this on the side.

 

[heyzel]

Brandon Rios Looks Sensational Arum Says He’ll Put Him In With Pacquiao!

By James Slater: Unbeaten warrior Brandon Rios thrilled us all yet again last night, as he dismantled tough Mexican Urbano Antillon inside three action-packed rounds. Defending his WBA lightweight belt for the first time, the 25-year-old showed again he is one of the most consistently exciting fighters in the world. Not too many people predicted such a quick win for Rios, now 28-0-1(21); instead anticipating a long and gruelling fight. Rios showed he is a potentially great fighter.

Promoter Bob Arum was so impressed with “Bam Bam’s” performance he said post-fight that he would, “in a year or two, put him in there with Manny Pacquiao.”

Himself speaking post-fight last night, Rios stated that “If Arum thinks I can fight Pacquiao, I will be ready.”

Think of what a sensational battle a Pac-Man-Rios clash could be! Already struggling to make the 135-pound limit, it seems Rios is sure to move up in weight soon. Pacquiao has upcoming business to take care of in the form of a third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, and after that, next year, we are hoping the P-4-P star finally gets it on with Floyd Mayweather Junior. But then it could well be Rios.

Rios has said a number of times how a fight with Pacquiao is his dream fight, and that he would “make Pacquiao fight.” I have no doubt he would, even though I’m not yet convinced Rios would actually defeat Manny. But Pac-Man has to go sometime and against a fast, ruthless and immensely strong and determined young warrior like Rios, Pacquiao could have his hands full.

As Arum says, it’s too early to put Rios in with Pacquiao yet, but fans are already asking themselves what would happen if and when the two thrilling practitioners did rumble.

Rios has many other exciting-looking options to look at outside of a Pacquiao fight, however. Rios also spoke of moving up to take on the likes of Marcos Maidana and Amir Khan. Also having the look of mouth-watering match-ups, either one of these two fights would have fans in a lather. The way he’s going, Rios really is looking more and more like the next boxing superstar.

Rios has now won his last ten fights inside the distance and, as he showed last night, he is never content with an easy fight. Rios loves going to war and the fans love him for it!

 

[heyzel]

Kessler to fight Stieglitz for WBO strap

By Eric Thomas: A fight between former WBA/WBC super middleweight champion and the current World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (40-2, 23 Ko’s) is reportedly close to completed in negotiations. The fight still doesn’t have a date or a venue, but it will likely take place in Germany where Stiegltiz fights out of and where Kessler is promoted. Kessler is the mandatory contender for Stieglitz’s belt and figures to win this fight if Kessler has anything left in the tank.

Kessler looked good in beating Mehdi Bouadla by a 6th round TKO in his comeback fight last month after 14 months out of action. However, Stieglitz will be tough and Kessler could have problems with his power.

Kessler had the option of taking on IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute for his title, but opted not to take that fight. No doubt Kessler and his promoters saw Bute as too hard of a fight at this stage of Kessler’s comeback. However, that’s the fight that Kessler is looking at in the future, as well as bouts against the likes of Carl Froch, Andre Ward and Kelly Pavlik.

Kessler will do well against Stieglitz if he can put his punches together and pressure him the way that Librado Andrade did in stopping Stieglitz in 8th round in 2008. Stieglitz has rebounded from that defeat to win his last nine bouts against a mostly mixed bag of opposition. He did beat a few decent fighters like Karoly Balzsay, Enrique Ornelas and Khoren Gevor, but no one that is really all that good. Kessler will be a tough match-up for Stieglitz and it’s going to be difficult for him to win this fight without hand speed or big power.

 

[Tony]

Wow at the Paul Williams gift decision. That dude Lara was robbed. Worst decision I've seen in my life. Even worse than Lennox Lewis vs Evander Holyfield I because at least that fight ended in a draw.

Wow!!!

 

[heyzel]

that decision made think that mma & boxing judges need to have monthly seminars on how to judge each sport because these last two months have been horrible for the judges

 

[heyzel]

Pavlik vs. Cunningham in easy tune-up for Kelly on 8/6 – Boxing News

By Jason Kim: Top Rank has made it official today that their fighter former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 Ko’s) will be fighting 36-year-old Darryl Cunningham (23-2, 10 KO’s) next month on August 6th in a tune-up fight for Pavlik at the Covelli Center, in Youngstown, Ohio.

This is a fight for Pavlik to get a little bit more rust out before taking on International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight champion Lucian Bute in November in a big fight for Pavlik.

Perhaps one of the reasons why an older 2nd tier fighter was chosen for Pavlik this fight was that Pavlik looked so bad in his last bout in May against little known fighter Alfonzo Lopez in a 10 round majority decision win. That fight has to make one worry about Pavlik, because despite talk that he had worked on his flaws and was going to be a better fighter, Pavlik looked about the same as he did in his fight before that, a 12 round decision loss to Sergio Martinez in April 2010.

If anything, Pavlik looked even worse than he had in the Martinez fight. As such, a tune-up fight against Cunningham makes sense for Pavlik. You can’t put him in with a top tier fighter because there’s too much of a risk that Pavlik will lose, and it’s unclear whether he’ll have the same impact at super middleweight that he did at middleweight.

Pavlik was always big for a middleweight and that gave him an advantage over the smaller fighters. However, at super middleweight, much of Pavlik’s advantages in size have gone away and he’s now about the same size as the other fighters. He won’t be able to run over opponents with his power like he used to and will have to find other ways to win.

 

[heyzel]

Paul Williams looking to fight Carlos Molina next

By Eric Thomas: With his controversial 12 round majority decision over Erislandy Lara last weekend, Paul Williams (40-2, 27 KO’s) is moving on to bigger and better things rather than trying to clear up matters by giving the southpaw Lara a rematch. Williams is now reportedly targeting junior middleweight fringe contender Carlos Molina (19-4-2, 6 KO’s) for his next fight, according to boxing news from Dan Rafael on his twitter.

Molina isn’t well known among casual boxing fans, but he’s known by hardcore fans and is coming off of an impressive 10 round unanimous decision win last Saturday night over Kermit Cintron. Earlier this year, Molina and Lara fought to a controversial 10 round draw in a fight that many fans felt Molina should have won in March.

Molina landed the better shots in that fight and wore Lara down on the inside during the second half of the bout. However, the scores didn’t reflect that actual fight that took place in the year. Williams looked poor in beating Lara last Saturday night, and more than a few fans think that Williams should have lost. However, if Williams can beat Molina, the guy that fans thought should have been given the decision over Lara, then Williams will be redeeming himself in a way.

Molina, 28, is no stranger to controversial decisions, as he lost two fights to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and another fight to Mike Alvarado in the past. A lot of boxing fans thought that Molina should have won all three of those fights and I’m in agreement with that. I thought was clearly the better man in his two bouts with Chavez Jr. and slightly better than Alvarado.

One of the problems that is keeping Williams from going back and giving Lara a rematch is that Williams is only planning on fighting two or three more times and then retiring from boxing. Because of this, he’s trying to get the most out of the little time he has left in the sport.

Although it would be nice for Williams to fight Lara again, it’s not a fight that would attract a lot of attention from the larger casual fans, who have no clue who Lara is. Williams is better off moving on and taking on more popular fighters that can bring him more money before he retires. Williams would like to fight Sergio Martinez one more time. They’ve fought twice with Williams winning the first fight and Martinez the second. Williams wants more shot to see who the better fighter is.

 

[heyzel]

Exclusive Interview With Ann Wolfe - “It Wasn’t A Shock To Me When James Lost To Ishi

James Kirkland To Return Against Saul Duran On Friday

By James Slater: Once-beaten light-middleweight contender James Kirkland has an opponent set for his return this Friday night. The 27-year-old southpaw, shocked inside a round by Nobuhiro Ishida in April of this year, will face veteran Saul Duran up at middleweight.

The upset loss to Ishida, Kirkland’s third fight back after being incarcerated, took place a couple of pounds below 160, and this Friday will see “The Mandingo Warrior” try to rebuild his career. It’s unknown if Kirkland will opt to campaign full-time as a middleweight, but the important thing is that he gets a win against the 38-year-old from Mexico.

On paper, Kirkland has a relatively “safe” comeback fight. Duran has a so-so record at best at 37-18-2(30) and he has been stopped ten times as a pro. However, Duran can punch some (30 KO’s) and he is ultra-experienced. In light of how alarmingly easy Kirkland went down three times against Ishida, the first knockdown punch not appearing to be especially heavy, the jury is out on whether or not the Texan has retained any punch resistance since being jailed.

Recklessly rushing in at the Japanese fighter, Kirkland paid the price big style. And reckless is something he absolutely cannot be against Duran. Now back with trainer Anne Wolf, Kirkland, 27-1(24) is undergoing the process of rebuilding his once-promising career. One loss does not mean the end of any fighter, but fans were alarmed at the way Kirkland fell apart on April 9th. In the opinion of many, Kirkland should forget about scoring a KO against Duran, and instead concentrate on banging out a good, confidence restoring points win.

Duran has lost five of his last six, with four of these losses coming via stoppage. A points win over a near-50-year-old Hector Camacho aside, Duran has not won anything like a meaningful fight in years. But again, Kirkland is in a vulnerable position right now, and Duran’s power might be able to capitalise on this. Beginning his pro career as a super-featherweight way back in 1993, Duran sure has been around the block. Slowly but surely coming up through the weights, the former WBC lightweight and WBA super-featherweight title challenger has become a stepping stone as of late, but a Kirkland win over him is no sure thing.

The early rounds will be very interesting on Friday night, as Duran will surely go for it as he attempts to find out what Kirkland’s chin is made of. If Kirkland really has lost it, as looked in April, Duran could get lucky. If the early rounds come and go, however, I feel Kirkland will begin to go through the gears and either punch out a mid or late-rounds stoppage or settle for an eight-rounds points win.

Also on Friday’s card will be former “Contender” Brian Vera, 18-5(11). Vera, in his first fight since upsetting fellow “Contender” Sergio Mora, will face Eloy Suarez, 11-11-1(5). Vera is in line for a much bigger fight and should take care of Suarez without too much trouble

 

[heyzel]

Nacho Beristain: “Pacquiao will beat Mayweather

The surprise was not that “Nacho” thought Pacquiao would defeat Mayweather. As reported in the Boxing Insider, what was surprising was that Beristain said that a victory by Manny over Floyd would be bad for boxing.

“It’s a very good, important fight but that fight should not happen,” stated Beristain. “Because I believe that Pacquiao will beat Mayweather your going to take away the glory that has made Mayweather these past years. Mayweather’s style – when he fights someone that pressures him and throws a lot of punches – he just beats him up.”

Beristain said that it would not be an easy fight for Pacquiao, but that he would definitely win.

Beristain has had plenty of close experience watching Pacquiao. He was in the corner of Juan Manuel Marquez for his two fights with Manny and he was also in the corner of Oscar De Lahoya when he took the vicious beating from Pac-Man.

When Beristain was asked what makes Pacquiao so effective, so great, he responded by saying “He just works too hard. His training is too hard. He works very hard.”

When asked how good Floyd Mayweather is, who has proclaimed himself as the greatest fighter of all time, “Nacho” said that Mayweather is a very good fighter, but that Pacquiao would defeat him because “He is just too tough, too strong.”

The great trainer and veteran ring observer “Nacho” Beristain has zero confidence that Floyd Mayweather, as good a fighter as he is, would prevail against Manny Pacquiao.

Obviously Beristain is going to stick by his fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KO’s) in his November showdown with Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. “Nacho” said that if Marquez “does his work very good he can win his fight with Pacquiao.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Marquez.

In addition to training Juan Manuel Marquez, the sixty eight year old Beristain has trained many other great Mexican fighters including Daniel Zaragoza, Humberto Gonzalez, Ricardo Lopez and numerous others. Because of his stature in boxing Beristain’s opinions carry a significant amount of weight.

 

[Johnny Truelove]

anyone know a good boxing app? i'll checked out a couple but they fuckin' suck.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Pavlik Boozing? Brawls With Brother Michael Per Police

By Chris LaBate

According to the Youngstown Vindicator, the hometown paper of Kelly Pavlik, the former middleweight champion was involved in a physical altercation with his brother, Michael Pavlik Jr., last Friday at their parents home. Youngstown police filed a report Friday stating that Kelly Pavlik, 29, and Michael Pavlik Jr., 35, were involved in a disagreement at the parents home.

Michael lives at the home, but Kelly lives in Canfield. Reports say the brothers had been drinking at the time of the incident.

Kelly Pavlik was released from alcohol-abuse treatment and returned to Youngstown in January after two months of rehabilitation. According to police, Kelly, after exchanging words with Michael, “punched the west-facing side door of the home and pulled his brother, Michael, out of the broken window.”

Reports say officers found glass to have been broken and blood on nearby steps. Michael Pavlik, police said, appeared to have minor cuts to his arms and hands. Kelly Pavlik had left the home before officers arrived. Michael Pavlik, reportedly, told officers repeatedly he did not wish to file charges against his brother.

The fight between the brothers was witnessed by Michael’s girlfriend, who was at the home. Michael Pavlik in 2009 was charged with felony domestic violence for an attack on a former girlfriend. He served 35 days of a 60-day county-jail sentence.

Kelly Pavlik returns to action on August 6th against Darryl Cunningham at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Rigondeaux fittin to be champion with 8 fights under his belt

Top Rank-promoted Rigo will now fight Ramos (20-0, 7 KOs) and the Cuban sensation has vowed to take the title belt from Ramos. “I stepped aside and let the fight go ahead,” Rigondeaux explained, “even though they ignored the fact that I was next in line. Ramos will soon regret that he won the title when we get it on.

“Ramos is a tough, aggressive fighter but those types of fighters suit me. I promise he will not have enough time to enjoy this victory because I will be taking that belt from him when we meet in the ring. My goal is to be the undisputed 122-pound world champion and I want to achieve this goal by the end 2012.”

 

[Timm]

i feel like all great cuban fighters are jinxed lol, even when they win now they don't

 

[2-0-Sixx]

lara got screwed over but Gamboa is still beastin on everyone and Rigondeaux will fuck Ramos up.

 

[JLMACN]

Although Salido was a tough guy for Gamboa, Gamboa clearly won and dominated most all of the fight and knocked Salido down twice in the final round and damn near KO'd him. I see no reason for a rematch.

Yeah I remember the elbow shot, Marcos Ramirez. Damn I didn't realize Gamboa retired him.

here it is


damn I forgot gamboa fucked him up after that. He was a lot more reckless at that time.

Yea I've met dude a handfull of times. He is a fire fighter here in the city.

Yea, he said after he took that shot from Gamboa he knew he was done with boxing. Said he never got hit that hard.......

 

[heyzel]

Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams III won’t be happening says Martinez adviser

By Dan Ambrose: If you were one of the few boxing fans that wanted to see a third fight between former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KO’s) and Paul Williams (40-2, 27 KO’s) is unlikely to happen according to boxing news from Dan Rafael.

On his twitter page, Rafael says that Martinez’s adviser Sampson Lewkowicz isn’t interested in a Martinez-Williams III bout. Lewkowicz says “I will say [Williams] should reconsider his wish because he will get killed. Williams is a good kid, but money will not buy him health. he can get hurt, really hurt.”

Williams was knocked cold by Martinez last year in a one punch 2nd round knockout in November. It doesn’t appear that Williams has learned anything from that loss and made changes to his game, because he fought Erislandy Lara last weekend and was getting nailed by straight left hands all night long. Williams can be thankful that Lara isn’t a huge puncher because Williams would have likely been knocked out well before the final bell had he taken on someone with a little power.

Martinez punches too hard and if he’s able to tag Williams as much as Lara did, it could be another quick knockout victory. Williams’ problem is that he stands right in front of him his opponents and doesn’t use his reach advantage. For some reason he also can’t block straight left hands. He was hit over and over again by Lara’s lefts. Most boxing fans and writers thought that Williams lost the fight to Lara. However, he was given a questionable 12 round majority decision in the fight.

As it turns out, the win has done little for Williams because of the controversy around the bout. He’s seen as a loser by fans instead of a winner, and that obviously doesn’t make him appealing to Martinez, who thought that Williams should have lost to Lara.

 

[heyzel]

Roach says Pacquiao vs. Mayweather not happening

By John F. McKenna (McJack): For the past couple of years boxing fans all over the world have held out the hope that the two best pound for pound fighters in boxing would finally square off to determine once and for all, who is the best fighter in the world.

Welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) and Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KO’s) are universally thought by boxing writers and fans alike to be the best fighters in boxing. A matchup between the two is logical and is the one fight boxing fans really want to see.

Instead, for one reason or another the fight has not been made although there have been numerous attempts to put the fight together. Such a fight would undoubtedly break all Pay Per View (PPV) records and bring in multi millions of dollars for both fighters.

Recently there has been a flurry of activity and in particular an announcement by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum that gave boxing fans hope that the fight could be made. Arum said that Manny Pacquiao would agree to the drug testing required by Floyd Mayweather for him to fight Pacquiao. Mayweather has made it clear that it is not just Pacquiao. He will not step into the ring with any fighter unless that fighter takes the random drug test that Floyd wants them to take.

There was one hitch to Arum’s announcement as there always seems to be. Pacquiao wants an independent agency to performe the drug testing. In other words he does not want the USADA to do the drug testing on Manny. So now boxing fans are back in limbo again, not knowing if the fight will ever take place or not.

Recently in an interview with MLive at the Wild Card Boxing Club, Roach said the following: “I don’t think Mayweather will ever fight Manny Pacquiao. They have a better chance of getting Mayweather into the ring than Manny. If the fight was going to happen, it would have happened already.”

Perhaps despite all the posturing and back and forth haggling by both fighters, neither one wants to fight the other. Neither fighter wants to step up to the plate and make the fight. Always in negotiations there is give and take on both sides. In putting this fight together however, neither side will give, which can only give the impression that Pacquiao and Mayweather really don’t want to fight each other.

Meanwhile their legions of fans are left to duke it out and blame the other for the fight not happening.

 

[heyzel]

Arum wants blood tests for Pacquiao to be done by the WADA instead of the USADA

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum reportedly doesn’t want the USADA (United States Anti Doping Agency) to be the one to conduct the tests of Pacquiao for a bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Instead, Arum wants the WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) to be the one that odes the testing. This runs counter to the wishes of Mayweather Jr. because he wants the USADA to do the testing for performance enhancing drugs. I knew this was too good to be true when I heard that Arum was on board with Pacquiao accepting the full random blood tests, but now with this I can’t see Mayweather agreeing with it so we’re right back to square one.

I don’t know why they even bothered. I’m reading that the WADA doesn’t even do the testing themselves. Supposedly they contract out to have the tests done by some other testing agency. What good is that? The USADA does it all. If I’m Mayweather, I’m not agreeing with this. It’s USADA or nothing.