Boxing News Thread
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The WBO completed its review Wednesday of Timothy Bradley's controversial split-decision victory against Manny Pacquiao with its five-member international judging panel all scoring the fight for Pacquiao, even though the official result will stand.
“
My supporters shouldn't worry. We're going to get that title.
”
-- Manny Pacquiao on wanting a rematch
with Timothy Bradley
Pacquiao told The Associated Press from the Philippines on Thursday that he would prefer a rematch rather than Bradley giving up the WBO welterweight title that he won on a split decision because "people may think I just usurped it."
Bradley's victory on June 9 instantly became one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history. While judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross both had Bradley winning 115-113, Jerry Roth scored it 115-113 for Pacquiao, who suffered his first defeat since 2005.
"My supporters shouldn't worry. We're going to get that title," said Pacquiao, who has the option of an immediate rematch with Bradley in his contract.
The HBO broadcasters and nearly every media member at ringside had Pacquiao winning. The crowd at the MGM Grand booed the decision heavily and there was fan outrage around the world from people believing Pacquiao clearly had won.
In the aftermath of the fight, WBO president Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel, whose organization sanctioned the title match, said he would have five judges review the video of the bout. On Wednesday, the results of that review were released. The five judges, whom Valcarcel said are accomplished judges with world title experience -- but whose names were not disclosed -- scored the fight for Pacquiao, 118-110, 117-111, 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
Rafael's Boxing Blog
Get the latest scoop and analysis on the world of boxing from ESPN.com's Dan Rafael in his blog.
Valcarcel said the WBO has no authority to change the result. But given the outcome of the panel's review of the fight, he will order a rematch if Top Rank promoter Bob Arum declines to put on a second fight, or if Pacquiao opts not to exercise his rematch clause.
Top Rank and Pacquiao, however, simply could move on to another fight that just would not be for the WBO title.
"We can't change the result but we did this review for two reasons," Valcarcel told ESPN.com. "If they want to make a rematch, we will approve the rematch and if they don't, we will order one. Also, we wanted to show (the Nevada State Athletic Commission) that they could bring in other officials from outside of Nevada who can also do a fine job judging fights. It's good to have different officials."
Nevada generally selects officials from its own pool of in-state judges.
"We want to work together with Nevada and we think they should be open to other good officials from around the world," Valcarcel said. "But we are not questioning the honorability of the judges who scored the fight for Bradley. They are honest people. They are good officials, too, but I don't know what happened."
Valcarcel, who was ringside for the bout, said he scored it for Pacquiao, "but we have to respect the judges."
The five judges, whom Valcarcel said are accomplished judges with world title experience -- but whose names were not disclosed -- scored the fight for Pacquiao by scores of 118-110, 117-111, 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
Pacquiao is due to return to the ring on Nov. 10 and after the fight, he said he wanted the rematch. Bradley also said he would like to fight Pacquiao, which would mean even more money than the career-high guarantee of $5 million he received. However, since the fight, Top Rank's talk of a rematch has cooled.
Arum, who promotes Pacquiao and Bradley but who also was outraged by the decision, was pleased with Valcarcel's review.
"Paco acted very responsibly," Arum said. "I think what they did was fine."
Arum, however, did not address the rematch.
"I'm not talking about it now," he said.
After the fight, Arum was so disgusted that he called for the Nevada Attorney General to investigate the scoring. Arum told ESPN.com that he met in his Las Vegas office Wednesday with a chief investigator and a deputy from the Nevada Attorney General's office.
"I think they will look into the whole situation, but I don't think there is any wrongdoing here and we can go on with our lives," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
“
My supporters shouldn't worry. We're going to get that title.
”
-- Manny Pacquiao on wanting a rematch
with Timothy Bradley
Pacquiao told The Associated Press from the Philippines on Thursday that he would prefer a rematch rather than Bradley giving up the WBO welterweight title that he won on a split decision because "people may think I just usurped it."
Bradley's victory on June 9 instantly became one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history. While judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross both had Bradley winning 115-113, Jerry Roth scored it 115-113 for Pacquiao, who suffered his first defeat since 2005.
"My supporters shouldn't worry. We're going to get that title," said Pacquiao, who has the option of an immediate rematch with Bradley in his contract.
The HBO broadcasters and nearly every media member at ringside had Pacquiao winning. The crowd at the MGM Grand booed the decision heavily and there was fan outrage around the world from people believing Pacquiao clearly had won.
In the aftermath of the fight, WBO president Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel, whose organization sanctioned the title match, said he would have five judges review the video of the bout. On Wednesday, the results of that review were released. The five judges, whom Valcarcel said are accomplished judges with world title experience -- but whose names were not disclosed -- scored the fight for Pacquiao, 118-110, 117-111, 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
Rafael's Boxing Blog
Get the latest scoop and analysis on the world of boxing from ESPN.com's Dan Rafael in his blog.
Valcarcel said the WBO has no authority to change the result. But given the outcome of the panel's review of the fight, he will order a rematch if Top Rank promoter Bob Arum declines to put on a second fight, or if Pacquiao opts not to exercise his rematch clause.
Top Rank and Pacquiao, however, simply could move on to another fight that just would not be for the WBO title.
"We can't change the result but we did this review for two reasons," Valcarcel told ESPN.com. "If they want to make a rematch, we will approve the rematch and if they don't, we will order one. Also, we wanted to show (the Nevada State Athletic Commission) that they could bring in other officials from outside of Nevada who can also do a fine job judging fights. It's good to have different officials."
Nevada generally selects officials from its own pool of in-state judges.
"We want to work together with Nevada and we think they should be open to other good officials from around the world," Valcarcel said. "But we are not questioning the honorability of the judges who scored the fight for Bradley. They are honest people. They are good officials, too, but I don't know what happened."
Valcarcel, who was ringside for the bout, said he scored it for Pacquiao, "but we have to respect the judges."
The five judges, whom Valcarcel said are accomplished judges with world title experience -- but whose names were not disclosed -- scored the fight for Pacquiao by scores of 118-110, 117-111, 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
Pacquiao is due to return to the ring on Nov. 10 and after the fight, he said he wanted the rematch. Bradley also said he would like to fight Pacquiao, which would mean even more money than the career-high guarantee of $5 million he received. However, since the fight, Top Rank's talk of a rematch has cooled.
Arum, who promotes Pacquiao and Bradley but who also was outraged by the decision, was pleased with Valcarcel's review.
"Paco acted very responsibly," Arum said. "I think what they did was fine."
Arum, however, did not address the rematch.
"I'm not talking about it now," he said.
After the fight, Arum was so disgusted that he called for the Nevada Attorney General to investigate the scoring. Arum told ESPN.com that he met in his Las Vegas office Wednesday with a chief investigator and a deputy from the Nevada Attorney General's office.
"I think they will look into the whole situation, but I don't think there is any wrongdoing here and we can go on with our lives," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Doing something once means you have a history of doing something. If you rape a chick you have a history of rape. If you kill someone you have a history of murder. You could have done it one time or one million times, but once you do it it is used AGAINST YOU and it is your history. Same with Floyd.
Again, who's special demands are more reasonable? Pac wanting 10 million per pound being overweight because Floyd was previously overweight and wanted to fight at a higher weight than Pac or Floyd demanding a test that was NEVER demanded before and demanding it of a boxer who had NO HISTORY of ever testing positive for anything?
Of course you'll say Floyd's is more reasonable because you're a biased shitstick.
Again, who's special demands are more reasonable? Pac wanting 10 million per pound being overweight because Floyd was previously overweight and wanted to fight at a higher weight than Pac or Floyd demanding a test that was NEVER demanded before and demanding it of a boxer who had NO HISTORY of ever testing positive for anything?
Of course you'll say Floyd's is more reasonable because you're a biased shitstick.
If Bradley does this, WHICH I SAID HE SHOULD DO THE DAY AFTER THE FIGHT, he will garner much respect from boxing fans, the boxing community and will place himself above a lot of boxers. The WBO already said they will force a rematch, so if TOP RANK is on the up and up we should see this fight. If not....
The suspicious circumstances surrounding Julio Cesar Chavez Junior’s drug test for his fight with Andy Lee
Exclusive by Geoffrey Ciani - At the conclusion of HBO’s rebroadcast of Timothy Bradley’s controversial split decision win against Manny Pacquiao, when the commentators finished their wrap-up of the previous week’s action, the stage was set for the evening’s main event—Julio Cesar Chavez Junior versus ‘Irish’ Andy Lee! Instead of making a timely transition, as is the trademark of HBO Championship Boxing, Jim Lampley informed the television audience, “The format calls for the fighters to walk to the ring now, but there has been a delay in Julio Cesar Chavez’s dressing room. It took awhile for him to provide a urine sample. Andy Lee has been gloved up and warming up for quite some time. We’re told that in the other dressing room, Chavez tried and failed to provide a urine sample and the Texas State Athletic Commission has elected to take the sample after the fight.”
It appears, however, that no urine sample was ever provided by Chavez after he brutally stopped the Irishman in round seven.
I spoke to Emanuel Steward, who is currently in Austria training heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko for a July 7 title defense in a rematch against Tony Thompson. Regarding the Chavez-Lee fight, Steward said, “I’ve been reading myself on the internet some things about my reaction, and what I said, and what I did. I wanted to make it clear, and this is something coming from Emanuel Steward—not Team Lee, and from this and that, and all of whatever the other things are.”
Steward continued, “First of all I realized going into the fight that we were going to have everything stacked against us, so I was prepared for that. I realized that having the small undersized ring instead of the regular ones for championship or main fights—that I can accept. That goes with territory when you’re in this business. I can actually go along with a lot of the other situations there. I guess Jose Sulaiman, one of my best friends, is the Godfather of Julio Cesar Chavez Junior. Well that’s normal. That didn’t bother me at all. The argument about the gloves and whatnot, I wasn’t there. But that still, I accepted all of that. That’s part of the game again. I wasn’t complaining about the judges or anything. In fact I thought the referee, Laurence Cole, did an exceptionally great job. I thought he did a great job throughout the entire fight. I think it was a timely, very good stoppage. And all of the other things that went on, I accepted that. I’m okay with that!”
Then Steward added, “But the only thing I have a major problem with is with the drug test not being taken properly.”
Chavez Junior is no stranger to issues pertaining to drug testing. According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), Chavez tested for a banned substance corresponding with his November 14, 2009 bout against Troy Rowland, where ‘The Son of the Legend’ was awarded a unanimous decision. This outcome was later overruled and changed to a ‘No Decision’ after Chavez tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic on Nevada's banned substance list, which is basically used to help cut significant weight in short periods of time and can also be used to mask other substances. Chavez was additionally fined $10,000 and suspended for seven months by the NSAC. He has not fought in Nevada since.
It was also mentioned during the HBO broadcast that there was another instance of perceived controversy involving Chavez Junior and drug testing. A good five minutes after first stating the reasons for the delay to the TV audience, Jim Lampley noted, “There you see Chavez warming up with his trainer Freddie Roach. A few months ago his last fight took place here in Texas, and incidentally he had trouble providing a urine sample that night as well. It came against Mexican veteran Marco Antonio Rubio.” Team Rubio, in fact, even accused Chavez of fleeing the scene in order to avoid the post fight test. Several media outlets (including ESPN) have refuted these claims, placing the blame instead on a lack of communication and organization between the WBC and Texas officials.
But is that what really happened?
Rubio’s manager, Julio Gudino, explained:
When it came to our fight back in February for the title, Friday at the Rules Meeting the day before the fight, the Rules Meeting took place after the weigh-in in which Chavez showed up about 35-40 minutes late for the weigh-in. In the Rules Meeting, both the WBC Commissioner and Dickie Cole, the Athletic Commissioner for the State of Texas, announced that we would be doing a post-fight anti-doping test. The reason for the post-fight anti-doping test and not a pre-fight is so neither of the fighters could ingest anything during the fight that’s not allowed or illegal to consume in boxing. Everybody agreed to the post-fight anti-doping test.
Fast forward to fight night, everything is fine. We go into the fight and Chavez is rehydrated 23 pounds and fights a twelve round fight like a little bull. After the fight we basically go to our assigned State Inspector that’s there and ask him if somebody is coming to do the urine test because we wanted to get Marco back to the hotel and get dinner.
He asked, ‘What urine test?’
‘Well the anti-doping urine test that was ordered for the championship fight’.
He says, ‘Well you’re going to have to ask the other Inspector because I’m not aware of any drug test’.
So we go over to Chavez’s dressing room and ask the Inspector who’s there, and he says he doesn’t know anything about it. He told us to go and ask Greg Alvarez who was kind of the head Inspector there at the time. So we go and ask Greg, and he kind of looks at me and says that that’s the WBC’s responsibility. So from there we’re directed over to go speak to Jose Sulaiman.
We find him and we address him and ask about the anti-doping test. At that point Sulaiman says, ‘Well that’s not the WBC’s responsibility, you need to go see Dickie Cole, the Commissioner from Texas’.
At this point we could see there is an obvious runaround as to who’s doing what and who’s responsibility is what, and everybody’s just putting it back on each either. So then we find Dickie Cole and ask, and he says there’s not going to be a drug test. Obviously we’re as shocked as anyone.
We say, ‘What do you mean there’s not going to be a drug test?’
He told us we have to go talk to Jose Sulaiman, and we said no, Jose Sulaiman said we need to talk to you. Then right away he said, ‘We forgot to order the anti-doping test’.
We said, ‘What do you mean you forgot to order it? You’re the one with the WBC yesterday at the Rules Meeting who said that we were doing it. It’s the WBC rules for a title fight, and you the State Commission also ordered it and mandated it for the title fight’.
‘Well, we just forgot to order it!’
So we go back to Jose Sulaiman and ask what he’s going to do about this fight not having any anti-doping tests taken, being that Chavez has already been suspended prior to this event in 2010. So there was cause for suspicion.
So the WBC Commission, even though it’s against their rules, they said it was forgotten and there is nothing they can do, and that’s how it was left off.
Regarding last Saturday’s fight, Dan Rafael from ESPN.com recently reported that Chavez and Lee both provided pre-fight urine samples. Rafael reportedly confirmed this information with Billy Keane (Chavez’s manager), Carl Moretti (Vice President of Chavez’s promotional company), and Randy Nesbitt (spokesperson for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation).
Even still the circumstances surrounding Chavez’s drug test are somewhat suspicious.
Steward’s assistant, ‘Sugar’ Hill, explained, “For this fight, at the Rule Meeting after the weigh-in, it was stated by the WBC that it was mandatory that each fighter take a drug test prior to the bout.”
Recapping his experience before the fight, Hill stated, “We’re in Andy’s locker room getting ready. Then I guess the Commissioners came in for Andy Lee to take his drug test. So they were waiting on him and he was drinking water. They waited there and then they watched him. I was called into Chavez Junior’s locker room to watch him get his hands wrapped. I went over there and watched him get his hands wrapped. Then I went back to my locker room and I told them to let me know when they’re actually going to glove him up. They come back over and tell me that he’s ready. I go over there, watch him get gloved up, and then I go back to Andy Lee’s locker room.”
Hill continued, “A guy runs over into our locker room and tells me to come back over because Chavez has to use the bathroom. He was taking his gloves off because he had to use the bathroom. So I go back over there, and there is a bathroom in the locker room. He’s in the bathroom and they’re taking his gloves off. That’s the only part I see. I didn’t look in the bathroom to see who was in there, but they took his gloves off when he was in there. There was a guy standing in front and holding a towel up across the doorway of the bathroom, because there was no door. I was standing there for maybe ten minutes at the most. They didn’t tell me he was taking a drug test. They said he had to use the bathroom. I was assuming that he had already taken the drug test because they put the gloves on him the first time.”
“Then at that point I go back over there and I’m waiting for him to use the bathroom”, said Hill. “Then finally a guy, I don’t know if he was a doctor or not, left. I asked the Commissioner what that was about, and he said, ‘That was Chavez, he just took his drug test’. I said, ‘Chavez just took his drug test now?’ ‘Yeah, yeah. He just took his test right now’.”
When Lee gave his prefight urine analysis he was accompanied by two people: the doctor and a Texas Commissioner. When Chavez gave his urine sample unbeknownst to Team Lee, he was accompanied by six individuals.
Hill recalls, “I saw two Texas Inspectors in there with Chavez, and I saw two members of his team in there. One of the team was holding a towel. I saw two. I did not see a doctor, and at some point I did not see Chavez off to the side. But another strange thing is after the, I guess, doctor left and Chavez came out, then I saw another teammate and I did not know he was in there. So that makes three Team Chavez personnel.”
The peculiar circumstances surrounding the administration of this test only serve to amplify an already increasing state of confusion amongst fans. Boxing enthusiasts want to believe that the athletes who compete are doing so on a level playing field. With all of the different types of performance enhancing drugs in existence, it is difficult for fans to discern who is cheating by trying to gain an unfair advantage, who is being innocently misguided by a team nutritionist, and the difference between “good” and “bad” supplements.
It is bad enough that fans are forced to sometimes endure bad decisions, premature stoppages, hometown refereeing, champions feasting on undeserving contenders, poor matchmaking, too many belts, marquee matches that never materialize, greedy promoters, and not having the best fighters consistently squaring off against each other. These are all aspects of the business of the sport, and things that are often frustrating for fans. We do not need the additional baggage that comes with PEDs, or even the aura of doubt and suspicion that arises from a mere allegation.
Recently there were two high profile rematches that were canceled over boxers testing positive for a banned substance. These were greatly anticipated rematches that involved Amir Khan versus Lamont Peterson, as well as Victor Ortiz versus Andre Berto. Ironically it was Berto and Peterson who requested Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) testing for their respective rematches. Berto tested positive for small traces of Nandrolone, and Peterson for synthetic testosterone. The circumstances surrounding the instances both provide valid reasons to believe that neither Berto nor Peterson was necessarily trying to deliberately gain an unfair advantage.
But even if Berto and Peterson are vindicated by the facts, their reputations may have already suffered irrevocable damage by association.
Controlling and addressing the problem of steroids in sports is especially imperative for boxing. As Emanuel Steward noted, “If someone is coming into a ring with an unbelievable big physical advantage where someone is able to enhance their performance and perhaps even enhance their strength, it’s not like in any other sport like in basketball, or maybe someone hitting homeruns in baseball, or someone maybe taking steroids or any kind of performance enhancer. But if you’re in another sport where someone is handicapped, that’s a serious thing because a human being is being beaten physically in his brains, and his head, and he’s not on an even playing field. That’s something that’s very serious! All the other sports are different from boxing.”
Major League Baseball was plagued by ongoing revelations of widespread steroid use in recent years starting in the late 1990s. To this day the sport is still suffering the consequences with many superstar ballplayers being forever tainted by performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball first started officially testing for steroids in 2003. The problem, however, is that committed users and abusers of banned substances in baseball and others sports have often managed to stay one step ahead of even the strictest testing methods available. While there is only so much that can be done prevent athletes from gaining an unfair competitive advantage, Major League Baseball deserves credit for addressing the problem, and by continuing to administer harsher penalties and more stringent testing. Boxing would serve itself well to make a serious attempt to follow suit.
In boxing the steroid issue lagged behind baseball by about a dozen years or so. To be sure, fighters like James Toney and Fernando Vargas both tested positive for banned substances years earlier, but there was no major outcry at the time like with baseball. Ironically the issue was brought to light in boxing, not by a failed test but by a mere allegation. The insinuations and suggestions directed towards Manny Pacquiao from Team Mayweather (most notably Floyd Senior and Uncle Roger) brought the issue to the forefront. Pacquiao has never failed any drug test that was required from him in a professional boxing match. Mayweather, however, wanted Pacquiao to go beyond what was required and take random Olympic style drug testing, instead.
This issue alone has since become a major roadblock that has prevented what could potentially have been the biggest fight of all time from ever happening.
This led to two schools of thought. On one side, fans felt that Pacquiao had always done what was required of him, never tested positive for a banned substance, and that he should not have to submit to these extra demands from Mayweather. Others felt that if Pacquiao had nothing to hide, he would simply take the test to silence his critics and make the fight. These general outlooks have essentially persisted ever since. With the recent episodes involving Berto and Peterson, fans and observers are becoming quite cynical about the whole thing. There are no universal rules, standards, regulations, or policies in place. Even worse is the fact that when there are rules and regulations in place for a particular region, they are not consistently applied. This was observed in Chavez’s last two fights in Texas, which only proved to generate more doubt and suspicion.
As ‘Sugar’ Hill explained regarding last weekend’s test, “In my experience it would be handled differently. When Andy Lee took his drug test we were not all in the bathroom with him while taking the test. I know that. And from my experience as a Detroit Police Officer, when you take a drug test there is no one in the bathroom but you and the doctor; or you, the doctor, and the Commissioner or whatever, as far as boxing”.
Boxing needs to address this problem and find a way to implement some kind of universal guidelines and procedures to help restore the fans’ confidence.
Or as Emanuel Steward duly noted, “This steroids stuff is really hurting the sport and I feel that that’s a major, major issue that we need to really clear up. I think this drug thing is maybe worse than the others, because you’re going to get bad decisions. But this is serious, serious stuff that can leave someone injured or dead”.
Steward will be arranging a meeting with Senator John McCain sometime in the coming weeks following Klitschko’s title defense against Thompson. Perhaps this will act as an important first step in addressing this troubling issue that lingers over the sport of boxing.
***
Exclusive by Geoffrey Ciani - At the conclusion of HBO’s rebroadcast of Timothy Bradley’s controversial split decision win against Manny Pacquiao, when the commentators finished their wrap-up of the previous week’s action, the stage was set for the evening’s main event—Julio Cesar Chavez Junior versus ‘Irish’ Andy Lee! Instead of making a timely transition, as is the trademark of HBO Championship Boxing, Jim Lampley informed the television audience, “The format calls for the fighters to walk to the ring now, but there has been a delay in Julio Cesar Chavez’s dressing room. It took awhile for him to provide a urine sample. Andy Lee has been gloved up and warming up for quite some time. We’re told that in the other dressing room, Chavez tried and failed to provide a urine sample and the Texas State Athletic Commission has elected to take the sample after the fight.”
It appears, however, that no urine sample was ever provided by Chavez after he brutally stopped the Irishman in round seven.
I spoke to Emanuel Steward, who is currently in Austria training heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko for a July 7 title defense in a rematch against Tony Thompson. Regarding the Chavez-Lee fight, Steward said, “I’ve been reading myself on the internet some things about my reaction, and what I said, and what I did. I wanted to make it clear, and this is something coming from Emanuel Steward—not Team Lee, and from this and that, and all of whatever the other things are.”
Steward continued, “First of all I realized going into the fight that we were going to have everything stacked against us, so I was prepared for that. I realized that having the small undersized ring instead of the regular ones for championship or main fights—that I can accept. That goes with territory when you’re in this business. I can actually go along with a lot of the other situations there. I guess Jose Sulaiman, one of my best friends, is the Godfather of Julio Cesar Chavez Junior. Well that’s normal. That didn’t bother me at all. The argument about the gloves and whatnot, I wasn’t there. But that still, I accepted all of that. That’s part of the game again. I wasn’t complaining about the judges or anything. In fact I thought the referee, Laurence Cole, did an exceptionally great job. I thought he did a great job throughout the entire fight. I think it was a timely, very good stoppage. And all of the other things that went on, I accepted that. I’m okay with that!”
Then Steward added, “But the only thing I have a major problem with is with the drug test not being taken properly.”
Chavez Junior is no stranger to issues pertaining to drug testing. According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), Chavez tested for a banned substance corresponding with his November 14, 2009 bout against Troy Rowland, where ‘The Son of the Legend’ was awarded a unanimous decision. This outcome was later overruled and changed to a ‘No Decision’ after Chavez tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic on Nevada's banned substance list, which is basically used to help cut significant weight in short periods of time and can also be used to mask other substances. Chavez was additionally fined $10,000 and suspended for seven months by the NSAC. He has not fought in Nevada since.
It was also mentioned during the HBO broadcast that there was another instance of perceived controversy involving Chavez Junior and drug testing. A good five minutes after first stating the reasons for the delay to the TV audience, Jim Lampley noted, “There you see Chavez warming up with his trainer Freddie Roach. A few months ago his last fight took place here in Texas, and incidentally he had trouble providing a urine sample that night as well. It came against Mexican veteran Marco Antonio Rubio.” Team Rubio, in fact, even accused Chavez of fleeing the scene in order to avoid the post fight test. Several media outlets (including ESPN) have refuted these claims, placing the blame instead on a lack of communication and organization between the WBC and Texas officials.
But is that what really happened?
Rubio’s manager, Julio Gudino, explained:
When it came to our fight back in February for the title, Friday at the Rules Meeting the day before the fight, the Rules Meeting took place after the weigh-in in which Chavez showed up about 35-40 minutes late for the weigh-in. In the Rules Meeting, both the WBC Commissioner and Dickie Cole, the Athletic Commissioner for the State of Texas, announced that we would be doing a post-fight anti-doping test. The reason for the post-fight anti-doping test and not a pre-fight is so neither of the fighters could ingest anything during the fight that’s not allowed or illegal to consume in boxing. Everybody agreed to the post-fight anti-doping test.
Fast forward to fight night, everything is fine. We go into the fight and Chavez is rehydrated 23 pounds and fights a twelve round fight like a little bull. After the fight we basically go to our assigned State Inspector that’s there and ask him if somebody is coming to do the urine test because we wanted to get Marco back to the hotel and get dinner.
He asked, ‘What urine test?’
‘Well the anti-doping urine test that was ordered for the championship fight’.
He says, ‘Well you’re going to have to ask the other Inspector because I’m not aware of any drug test’.
So we go over to Chavez’s dressing room and ask the Inspector who’s there, and he says he doesn’t know anything about it. He told us to go and ask Greg Alvarez who was kind of the head Inspector there at the time. So we go and ask Greg, and he kind of looks at me and says that that’s the WBC’s responsibility. So from there we’re directed over to go speak to Jose Sulaiman.
We find him and we address him and ask about the anti-doping test. At that point Sulaiman says, ‘Well that’s not the WBC’s responsibility, you need to go see Dickie Cole, the Commissioner from Texas’.
At this point we could see there is an obvious runaround as to who’s doing what and who’s responsibility is what, and everybody’s just putting it back on each either. So then we find Dickie Cole and ask, and he says there’s not going to be a drug test. Obviously we’re as shocked as anyone.
We say, ‘What do you mean there’s not going to be a drug test?’
He told us we have to go talk to Jose Sulaiman, and we said no, Jose Sulaiman said we need to talk to you. Then right away he said, ‘We forgot to order the anti-doping test’.
We said, ‘What do you mean you forgot to order it? You’re the one with the WBC yesterday at the Rules Meeting who said that we were doing it. It’s the WBC rules for a title fight, and you the State Commission also ordered it and mandated it for the title fight’.
‘Well, we just forgot to order it!’
So we go back to Jose Sulaiman and ask what he’s going to do about this fight not having any anti-doping tests taken, being that Chavez has already been suspended prior to this event in 2010. So there was cause for suspicion.
So the WBC Commission, even though it’s against their rules, they said it was forgotten and there is nothing they can do, and that’s how it was left off.
Regarding last Saturday’s fight, Dan Rafael from ESPN.com recently reported that Chavez and Lee both provided pre-fight urine samples. Rafael reportedly confirmed this information with Billy Keane (Chavez’s manager), Carl Moretti (Vice President of Chavez’s promotional company), and Randy Nesbitt (spokesperson for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation).
Even still the circumstances surrounding Chavez’s drug test are somewhat suspicious.
Steward’s assistant, ‘Sugar’ Hill, explained, “For this fight, at the Rule Meeting after the weigh-in, it was stated by the WBC that it was mandatory that each fighter take a drug test prior to the bout.”
Recapping his experience before the fight, Hill stated, “We’re in Andy’s locker room getting ready. Then I guess the Commissioners came in for Andy Lee to take his drug test. So they were waiting on him and he was drinking water. They waited there and then they watched him. I was called into Chavez Junior’s locker room to watch him get his hands wrapped. I went over there and watched him get his hands wrapped. Then I went back to my locker room and I told them to let me know when they’re actually going to glove him up. They come back over and tell me that he’s ready. I go over there, watch him get gloved up, and then I go back to Andy Lee’s locker room.”
Hill continued, “A guy runs over into our locker room and tells me to come back over because Chavez has to use the bathroom. He was taking his gloves off because he had to use the bathroom. So I go back over there, and there is a bathroom in the locker room. He’s in the bathroom and they’re taking his gloves off. That’s the only part I see. I didn’t look in the bathroom to see who was in there, but they took his gloves off when he was in there. There was a guy standing in front and holding a towel up across the doorway of the bathroom, because there was no door. I was standing there for maybe ten minutes at the most. They didn’t tell me he was taking a drug test. They said he had to use the bathroom. I was assuming that he had already taken the drug test because they put the gloves on him the first time.”
“Then at that point I go back over there and I’m waiting for him to use the bathroom”, said Hill. “Then finally a guy, I don’t know if he was a doctor or not, left. I asked the Commissioner what that was about, and he said, ‘That was Chavez, he just took his drug test’. I said, ‘Chavez just took his drug test now?’ ‘Yeah, yeah. He just took his test right now’.”
When Lee gave his prefight urine analysis he was accompanied by two people: the doctor and a Texas Commissioner. When Chavez gave his urine sample unbeknownst to Team Lee, he was accompanied by six individuals.
Hill recalls, “I saw two Texas Inspectors in there with Chavez, and I saw two members of his team in there. One of the team was holding a towel. I saw two. I did not see a doctor, and at some point I did not see Chavez off to the side. But another strange thing is after the, I guess, doctor left and Chavez came out, then I saw another teammate and I did not know he was in there. So that makes three Team Chavez personnel.”
The peculiar circumstances surrounding the administration of this test only serve to amplify an already increasing state of confusion amongst fans. Boxing enthusiasts want to believe that the athletes who compete are doing so on a level playing field. With all of the different types of performance enhancing drugs in existence, it is difficult for fans to discern who is cheating by trying to gain an unfair advantage, who is being innocently misguided by a team nutritionist, and the difference between “good” and “bad” supplements.
It is bad enough that fans are forced to sometimes endure bad decisions, premature stoppages, hometown refereeing, champions feasting on undeserving contenders, poor matchmaking, too many belts, marquee matches that never materialize, greedy promoters, and not having the best fighters consistently squaring off against each other. These are all aspects of the business of the sport, and things that are often frustrating for fans. We do not need the additional baggage that comes with PEDs, or even the aura of doubt and suspicion that arises from a mere allegation.
Recently there were two high profile rematches that were canceled over boxers testing positive for a banned substance. These were greatly anticipated rematches that involved Amir Khan versus Lamont Peterson, as well as Victor Ortiz versus Andre Berto. Ironically it was Berto and Peterson who requested Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) testing for their respective rematches. Berto tested positive for small traces of Nandrolone, and Peterson for synthetic testosterone. The circumstances surrounding the instances both provide valid reasons to believe that neither Berto nor Peterson was necessarily trying to deliberately gain an unfair advantage.
But even if Berto and Peterson are vindicated by the facts, their reputations may have already suffered irrevocable damage by association.
Controlling and addressing the problem of steroids in sports is especially imperative for boxing. As Emanuel Steward noted, “If someone is coming into a ring with an unbelievable big physical advantage where someone is able to enhance their performance and perhaps even enhance their strength, it’s not like in any other sport like in basketball, or maybe someone hitting homeruns in baseball, or someone maybe taking steroids or any kind of performance enhancer. But if you’re in another sport where someone is handicapped, that’s a serious thing because a human being is being beaten physically in his brains, and his head, and he’s not on an even playing field. That’s something that’s very serious! All the other sports are different from boxing.”
Major League Baseball was plagued by ongoing revelations of widespread steroid use in recent years starting in the late 1990s. To this day the sport is still suffering the consequences with many superstar ballplayers being forever tainted by performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball first started officially testing for steroids in 2003. The problem, however, is that committed users and abusers of banned substances in baseball and others sports have often managed to stay one step ahead of even the strictest testing methods available. While there is only so much that can be done prevent athletes from gaining an unfair competitive advantage, Major League Baseball deserves credit for addressing the problem, and by continuing to administer harsher penalties and more stringent testing. Boxing would serve itself well to make a serious attempt to follow suit.
In boxing the steroid issue lagged behind baseball by about a dozen years or so. To be sure, fighters like James Toney and Fernando Vargas both tested positive for banned substances years earlier, but there was no major outcry at the time like with baseball. Ironically the issue was brought to light in boxing, not by a failed test but by a mere allegation. The insinuations and suggestions directed towards Manny Pacquiao from Team Mayweather (most notably Floyd Senior and Uncle Roger) brought the issue to the forefront. Pacquiao has never failed any drug test that was required from him in a professional boxing match. Mayweather, however, wanted Pacquiao to go beyond what was required and take random Olympic style drug testing, instead.
This issue alone has since become a major roadblock that has prevented what could potentially have been the biggest fight of all time from ever happening.
This led to two schools of thought. On one side, fans felt that Pacquiao had always done what was required of him, never tested positive for a banned substance, and that he should not have to submit to these extra demands from Mayweather. Others felt that if Pacquiao had nothing to hide, he would simply take the test to silence his critics and make the fight. These general outlooks have essentially persisted ever since. With the recent episodes involving Berto and Peterson, fans and observers are becoming quite cynical about the whole thing. There are no universal rules, standards, regulations, or policies in place. Even worse is the fact that when there are rules and regulations in place for a particular region, they are not consistently applied. This was observed in Chavez’s last two fights in Texas, which only proved to generate more doubt and suspicion.
As ‘Sugar’ Hill explained regarding last weekend’s test, “In my experience it would be handled differently. When Andy Lee took his drug test we were not all in the bathroom with him while taking the test. I know that. And from my experience as a Detroit Police Officer, when you take a drug test there is no one in the bathroom but you and the doctor; or you, the doctor, and the Commissioner or whatever, as far as boxing”.
Boxing needs to address this problem and find a way to implement some kind of universal guidelines and procedures to help restore the fans’ confidence.
Or as Emanuel Steward duly noted, “This steroids stuff is really hurting the sport and I feel that that’s a major, major issue that we need to really clear up. I think this drug thing is maybe worse than the others, because you’re going to get bad decisions. But this is serious, serious stuff that can leave someone injured or dead”.
Steward will be arranging a meeting with Senator John McCain sometime in the coming weeks following Klitschko’s title defense against Thompson. Perhaps this will act as an important first step in addressing this troubling issue that lingers over the sport of boxing.
***
Bradley: I’ll beat Pacquiao easy in the rematch; he can’t handle movement
June 21st, 2012
By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0, 12 KO’s) has seen everything there is from Manny Pacquiao’s game in beating him earlier this month in Las Vegas, and Bradley sees it as being no problem exposing Pacquiao a second time. Bradley thinks Pacquiao has gotten old and can’t handle movement anymore.
Bradley say to mydesert.com “The second fight will be a lot easier, because all I got to do is move on him. I had more energy than Pacquiao in our fight. I’ll just out-box him and move. It’s tough for Pacquiao if he has to chase me. He likes to stay in one place and punch.”
Bradley is obviously right, because Pacquiao was baffled by Bradley’s movement and helpless to land his single right hand shots. Early in the fight, Pacquiao had some success landing his left hand pot shots in the last seconds of the round. But in the 2nd half of the fight, Bradley figured out that Pacquiao was only capable of fighting hard in the last seconds of the round, and all he did was maneuver to avoid the Filipino.
It was too easy for Bradley. Pacquiao looked frustrated, and showed it by slamming his gloves together, as if urging Bradley to come at him like his sparring partners do so that Pacquiao could have it easy. I blame some of that on Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach by hiring sparring partners that were completely different from Bradley.
Roach had sparring partners like Ruslan Provodnikov, a fighter that tends to right after his opponents to brawl. That was never going to work, because Bradley is a boxer/puncher and he makes adjustments. It isn’t one size fits all with this guy, which is why I thought Roach was in the dark about what Bradley was going to be doing in the ring. You’d think that Pacquiao would have noticed that he wasn’t getting the right kind of sparring and would have told Roach what time it is. Either that, or dump Roach and find a trainer that did know what Bradley was going to do. That’s what I have done had I been Pacquiao.
But Bradley is right. It’s going to be a lot easier in the rematch with Pacquiao because he knows how to beat him now. Pacquiao can’t handle movement at all, and he’s lousy at cutting off the ring.
June 21st, 2012
By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0, 12 KO’s) has seen everything there is from Manny Pacquiao’s game in beating him earlier this month in Las Vegas, and Bradley sees it as being no problem exposing Pacquiao a second time. Bradley thinks Pacquiao has gotten old and can’t handle movement anymore.
Bradley say to mydesert.com “The second fight will be a lot easier, because all I got to do is move on him. I had more energy than Pacquiao in our fight. I’ll just out-box him and move. It’s tough for Pacquiao if he has to chase me. He likes to stay in one place and punch.”
Bradley is obviously right, because Pacquiao was baffled by Bradley’s movement and helpless to land his single right hand shots. Early in the fight, Pacquiao had some success landing his left hand pot shots in the last seconds of the round. But in the 2nd half of the fight, Bradley figured out that Pacquiao was only capable of fighting hard in the last seconds of the round, and all he did was maneuver to avoid the Filipino.
It was too easy for Bradley. Pacquiao looked frustrated, and showed it by slamming his gloves together, as if urging Bradley to come at him like his sparring partners do so that Pacquiao could have it easy. I blame some of that on Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach by hiring sparring partners that were completely different from Bradley.
Roach had sparring partners like Ruslan Provodnikov, a fighter that tends to right after his opponents to brawl. That was never going to work, because Bradley is a boxer/puncher and he makes adjustments. It isn’t one size fits all with this guy, which is why I thought Roach was in the dark about what Bradley was going to be doing in the ring. You’d think that Pacquiao would have noticed that he wasn’t getting the right kind of sparring and would have told Roach what time it is. Either that, or dump Roach and find a trainer that did know what Bradley was going to do. That’s what I have done had I been Pacquiao.
But Bradley is right. It’s going to be a lot easier in the rematch with Pacquiao because he knows how to beat him now. Pacquiao can’t handle movement at all, and he’s lousy at cutting off the ring.
Heresy is a big Manny dickrider. Manny can do no wrong in his eyes. You're a so-called clean boxer but you refuse random drug testing with a 14-day no test window and the biggest payday of your career. Manny turned down the Mayweather fight because of a tablespoon of blood and all the Manny fans and sideline hoes co-signed it for three years. That's until Peterson and Berto got caught and now they all act like they love random drug testing. But they can't admit that Manny ducked random testing and Mayweather. All they say now is in hindsight Manny should've taking the test. LOL eat crow haters
Actually we do have must of the details. Bob Arum never returned the calls from Mayweather or Golden Boy. Then Mayweather took matter into his own hands and called Manny himself and offered him $40 million LOL I stay proving Manny fans wrong.. Read below..
By Dan Rafael | ESPN
The latest round of negotiations for the potential megafight between welterweight champions Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are over before they have even begun.
Leonard Ellerbe, one of Mayweather's advisors, and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer both told ESPN.com Monday that they were notified that Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank was not interested in coming to the table.
“
In my opinion, you have three cowards -- Bob Arum, (Pacquiao trainer) Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao.
”
-- Leonard Ellerbe,
advisor to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"We have been informed that Bob Arum is not interested in pursuing a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao at this time," Schaefer said.
Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz in his return to the ring after 16 months off in September, and Pacquiao eked out a controversial majority decision against rival Juan Manuel Marquez in their third meeting Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
That set the table for the showdown that looms as the biggest money fight in boxing history, especially with Mayweather announcing two weeks ago that he planned to return May 5 at the MGM Grand and, according to Ellerbe, wanted to "make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella (Pacquiao)."
However, that does not appear to be the plan Arum and Pacquiao have, even if they had said they were open to it before the Marquez fight.
Schaefer said the notification came in an email from retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, the mediator who has worked closely with the sides to settle numerous lawsuits and issues in recent years.
"I am sick and tired of Bob Arum twisting the truth. It's another case of 'yesterday I was lying, today I'm telling the truth,' " Schaefer said, invoking Arum's most famous quote. "The truth of the matter is that we received this afternoon an email from retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, who has informed us that Top Rank is pursuing a rematch with Marquez and, therefore, is not interested in immediate talks for a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. This is obviously as clear as it can be that they have no intentions of making a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Therefore, Floyd Mayweather will have no other choice than to move on and identify and lock in another opponent for his ring return on May 5."
Rafael's Boxing Blog
Get the latest scoop and analysis on the world of boxing from ESPN.com's Dan Rafael in his blog.
Schaefer said the plan was to use Weinstein to help them make the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight because he is trusted by both sides and intimately familiar with the problems between the rival promotional companies.
"Judge Weinstein is respected by both parties and mediated issues between Top Rank and Golden Boy before, so the plan was to see if he could help facilitate such a fight. Floyd's team really wanted to get this fight done," Schaefer said. "If you just sit down with Arum, he can at any time have one of his fits, one of his 'f--- you' attacks, and the likelihood that he would have a 'f--- you' attack in front of a retired judge seemed less likely than if Arum and me would be alone in a room."
Arum told ESPN.com that he knew nothing about an email and claimed that nobody from his company had communicated anything about making -- or not making -- a possible Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.
But Arum did say, "We are pursuing a fourth fight with Marquez. As far as doing anything definitively, we aren't ready to do anything definitively. When we are ready to make a determination of what we are going to do, we will do it. We are not going to do this in the press. We will do what is in the best interest of ourselves and our client and make a decision when it's time to. If we decide we want to do a rematch with Marquez, there is no reason to sit down with Mayweather. If we want to explore a Mayweather fight, we will sit down with them. But I'm not going to sit down with them just because it's a good show."
Ellerbe was just as upset as Schaefer was.
"In my opinion, you have three cowards -- Bob Arum, (Pacquiao trainer) Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao," Ellerbe told ESPN.com. "Now we all know the truth once and for all why this fight hasn't been made. It should be clear to everyone that they don't care what the fans want, especially when Floyd is ready, willing and able to fight Manny Pacquiao now. Floyd said if this isn't clear, he doesn't know what is.
"All along we know why the fight isn't being made. This is the perfect opportunity. Both guys just fought. This is the fight the fans want to see, and it's a disgrace that they are not willing to give the fans what they want. In my opinion, there are three reasons why Arum doesn't want the fight. He knows there is no way that Manny Pacquiao can win, it kills his cash cow, and he wants to do in-house fights where he controls both sides. I said all along why this fight hasn't been made to this point. Manny Pacquiao knows, Bob Arum knows and Freddie Roach knows."
Ellerbe said he and Schaefer would begin exploring potential May 5 opponents for Mayweather.
"We have a number of options, and we will evaluate that and give the fans the biggest fight we can give them," he said. "But before we can get started (on a Pacquiao fight), Top Rank doesn't even want to listen. They're not even interested in Floyd Mayweather. They want no part of Floyd Mayweather. They have no interest in the little fella fighting Floyd. Manny Pacquiao needs to stand up, in my opinion, and tell his promoter that he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather next and stop hiding behind his promoter."
Ellerbe said Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) did not watch as Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) turned in a shaky performance on Saturday night because he was making a paid appearance at a nightclub in Virginia. Mayweather came out of a 21-month retirement in September 2009 and fought Marquez, dropping him in the second round and winning a near-shutout decision, a far more dominating performance than Pacquiao has had against him in any of their three bouts.
By Dan Rafael | ESPN
The latest round of negotiations for the potential megafight between welterweight champions Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are over before they have even begun.
Leonard Ellerbe, one of Mayweather's advisors, and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer both told ESPN.com Monday that they were notified that Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank was not interested in coming to the table.
“
In my opinion, you have three cowards -- Bob Arum, (Pacquiao trainer) Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao.
”
-- Leonard Ellerbe,
advisor to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"We have been informed that Bob Arum is not interested in pursuing a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao at this time," Schaefer said.
Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz in his return to the ring after 16 months off in September, and Pacquiao eked out a controversial majority decision against rival Juan Manuel Marquez in their third meeting Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
That set the table for the showdown that looms as the biggest money fight in boxing history, especially with Mayweather announcing two weeks ago that he planned to return May 5 at the MGM Grand and, according to Ellerbe, wanted to "make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella (Pacquiao)."
However, that does not appear to be the plan Arum and Pacquiao have, even if they had said they were open to it before the Marquez fight.
Schaefer said the notification came in an email from retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, the mediator who has worked closely with the sides to settle numerous lawsuits and issues in recent years.
"I am sick and tired of Bob Arum twisting the truth. It's another case of 'yesterday I was lying, today I'm telling the truth,' " Schaefer said, invoking Arum's most famous quote. "The truth of the matter is that we received this afternoon an email from retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, who has informed us that Top Rank is pursuing a rematch with Marquez and, therefore, is not interested in immediate talks for a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. This is obviously as clear as it can be that they have no intentions of making a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Therefore, Floyd Mayweather will have no other choice than to move on and identify and lock in another opponent for his ring return on May 5."
Rafael's Boxing Blog
Get the latest scoop and analysis on the world of boxing from ESPN.com's Dan Rafael in his blog.
Schaefer said the plan was to use Weinstein to help them make the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight because he is trusted by both sides and intimately familiar with the problems between the rival promotional companies.
"Judge Weinstein is respected by both parties and mediated issues between Top Rank and Golden Boy before, so the plan was to see if he could help facilitate such a fight. Floyd's team really wanted to get this fight done," Schaefer said. "If you just sit down with Arum, he can at any time have one of his fits, one of his 'f--- you' attacks, and the likelihood that he would have a 'f--- you' attack in front of a retired judge seemed less likely than if Arum and me would be alone in a room."
Arum told ESPN.com that he knew nothing about an email and claimed that nobody from his company had communicated anything about making -- or not making -- a possible Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.
But Arum did say, "We are pursuing a fourth fight with Marquez. As far as doing anything definitively, we aren't ready to do anything definitively. When we are ready to make a determination of what we are going to do, we will do it. We are not going to do this in the press. We will do what is in the best interest of ourselves and our client and make a decision when it's time to. If we decide we want to do a rematch with Marquez, there is no reason to sit down with Mayweather. If we want to explore a Mayweather fight, we will sit down with them. But I'm not going to sit down with them just because it's a good show."
Ellerbe was just as upset as Schaefer was.
"In my opinion, you have three cowards -- Bob Arum, (Pacquiao trainer) Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao," Ellerbe told ESPN.com. "Now we all know the truth once and for all why this fight hasn't been made. It should be clear to everyone that they don't care what the fans want, especially when Floyd is ready, willing and able to fight Manny Pacquiao now. Floyd said if this isn't clear, he doesn't know what is.
"All along we know why the fight isn't being made. This is the perfect opportunity. Both guys just fought. This is the fight the fans want to see, and it's a disgrace that they are not willing to give the fans what they want. In my opinion, there are three reasons why Arum doesn't want the fight. He knows there is no way that Manny Pacquiao can win, it kills his cash cow, and he wants to do in-house fights where he controls both sides. I said all along why this fight hasn't been made to this point. Manny Pacquiao knows, Bob Arum knows and Freddie Roach knows."
Ellerbe said he and Schaefer would begin exploring potential May 5 opponents for Mayweather.
"We have a number of options, and we will evaluate that and give the fans the biggest fight we can give them," he said. "But before we can get started (on a Pacquiao fight), Top Rank doesn't even want to listen. They're not even interested in Floyd Mayweather. They want no part of Floyd Mayweather. They have no interest in the little fella fighting Floyd. Manny Pacquiao needs to stand up, in my opinion, and tell his promoter that he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather next and stop hiding behind his promoter."
Ellerbe said Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) did not watch as Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) turned in a shaky performance on Saturday night because he was making a paid appearance at a nightclub in Virginia. Mayweather came out of a 21-month retirement in September 2009 and fought Marquez, dropping him in the second round and winning a near-shutout decision, a far more dominating performance than Pacquiao has had against him in any of their three bouts.
The first off the fight didn't crack an million buys it's at 900K, and those are Arum numbers so it did 800K. Second off Manny watched the tape and realized it was a close fight and he could've won if he actually fought in the championship rounds. Bradley is going to be harder for Manny to beat now, because Bradley knows what he is up against now.
Arum: Pacquiao vs. Bradley Buyrate To Go Over 900K
By Rick Reeno
Based on the early indications, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum believes the June 9th HBO pay-per-view between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley will generate more than 900,000 buys. The controversial fight generated a live gate of $8,963,180 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas - with 13,229 tickets sold. There were 2,070 unsold tickets and 925 comps given out. There was also an additional gate of $249,000 via closed circuit from 4,980 tickets sold.
When you consider Bradley's lack of name recognition with the general boxing audience, a buyrate of 900K or above would be a phenomenal figure. While Bradley was an unknown commodity before the fight, his controversial split decision victory over Pacquiao has made him one of the most talked about athletes in the sporting world.
"First of all, the closed circuit was off the charts....the biggest Manny closed circuit ever. It drew very, very favorably with Cotto-Mayweather, so that was good. The pay-per-view, that's still being counted, but it will be anywhere between 900K and a million, which is very good - considering that we were up against the [Heat vs. Celtics] basketball game, considering that nobody knew who Bradley was. We are definitely going to do over 900K," Arum told BoxingScene.com
Arum: Pacquiao vs. Bradley Buyrate To Go Over 900K
By Rick Reeno
Based on the early indications, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum believes the June 9th HBO pay-per-view between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley will generate more than 900,000 buys. The controversial fight generated a live gate of $8,963,180 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas - with 13,229 tickets sold. There were 2,070 unsold tickets and 925 comps given out. There was also an additional gate of $249,000 via closed circuit from 4,980 tickets sold.
When you consider Bradley's lack of name recognition with the general boxing audience, a buyrate of 900K or above would be a phenomenal figure. While Bradley was an unknown commodity before the fight, his controversial split decision victory over Pacquiao has made him one of the most talked about athletes in the sporting world.
"First of all, the closed circuit was off the charts....the biggest Manny closed circuit ever. It drew very, very favorably with Cotto-Mayweather, so that was good. The pay-per-view, that's still being counted, but it will be anywhere between 900K and a million, which is very good - considering that we were up against the [Heat vs. Celtics] basketball game, considering that nobody knew who Bradley was. We are definitely going to do over 900K," Arum told BoxingScene.com
lol what the fuck is a shitstick? ur asking which is more reasonable? neither(but Mayweathers opened the doors and is the reason a lot of fighters come up dirty today!) but this is a huge fight and both had special demands that manny turned down cause he was scared of needles lol. I promised myself I wouldn't talk about this fight again until they signed a contract and ima stand by it. u can have at it shitstick lofl!
Over 900K is great numbers, that's what I predicted actually right around that 900k mark give or take. What did clottey do? 750,000 or something like that? Shit even Oscar's PPV's fell off when he fought unknown guys, and even when he fought pernal whitaker it did only 720k. It's pretty impressive how both Floyd & Manny consistently reach that 1 million mark. Now if they can only get in the ring together before it gets too late.
ya'll wanna see what El Perro is up to these days!? Pic below!
Taken from NSB:
Taken from NSB:
visited Alfredo"El Perro" Angulo yesterday and is going to go back to see him soon. He said Angulo is in good spirits and I have requested a mailing address to write him and ask if there's anything us fans can do to send either mail, money, or whatever he may need. If you're interested, I'll let you guys know when Gabe catches up with him. FREE ANGULO!
Angulo is supposedly in a detention center in the US until his trial begins for a visa i believe if he wants he could stay in Mexico but he wants too stay in the states and so this is where he has too stay til the trial which is in a few weeks happens i believe.
Andre Dirrell needs to get back in the ring
June 21st, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: It’s hard to believe that it’s already been six months since super middleweight talent Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) last fought, and he’s still not revealed when his next fight will be. That’s not a good a thing, because this talent is wasting away on the vine. Dirrell, 28, has got to get back in the ring to get back at the top of the division where he belongs.
Dirrell has only fought once in the past two years in beating Darryl Cunningham by an impressive 2nd round TKO last December. It was like Dirrell hadn’t been away at all. That’s how good he was in that fight. If anything, I thought Dirrell looked better than he had in the Super Six tournament where he fought superbly in fights against Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham. Dirrell should still be unbeaten because the only loss on his record came in his fight against Froch in Nottingham, England, and Dirrell appeared to win that fight by a lopsided 12 round decision. He says it himself that he sees himself as still unbeaten, and I totally agree with him.
Dirrell can’t afford to waste the entire year doing nothing. At this point even if he does fight in the next two or three months, it’s very likely that it will be his only fight for 2012. Ideally, a talent like Dirrell should be fighting four times a year at the minimum.
Dirrell should be the one holding down the IBF strap, not Froch. It kind of burns me up when I see lesser fighters than Dirrell holding down titles while Dirrell languishes. With his blazing hand speed and incredible defensive skills, Dirrell would be one of the top super middleweight champions in the division right now. We’re talking superstar material. But I don’t understand what’s keeping this talent out of the ring. He should be back in there kicking backside and taking names.
Here are the guys I’d like to see Dirrell whip in his next fight:
Carl Froch
Mikkel Kessler
George Groves
James DeGale
Adonis Stevenson
Sakio Bika
Robert Stieglitz
June 21st, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: It’s hard to believe that it’s already been six months since super middleweight talent Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) last fought, and he’s still not revealed when his next fight will be. That’s not a good a thing, because this talent is wasting away on the vine. Dirrell, 28, has got to get back in the ring to get back at the top of the division where he belongs.
Dirrell has only fought once in the past two years in beating Darryl Cunningham by an impressive 2nd round TKO last December. It was like Dirrell hadn’t been away at all. That’s how good he was in that fight. If anything, I thought Dirrell looked better than he had in the Super Six tournament where he fought superbly in fights against Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham. Dirrell should still be unbeaten because the only loss on his record came in his fight against Froch in Nottingham, England, and Dirrell appeared to win that fight by a lopsided 12 round decision. He says it himself that he sees himself as still unbeaten, and I totally agree with him.
Dirrell can’t afford to waste the entire year doing nothing. At this point even if he does fight in the next two or three months, it’s very likely that it will be his only fight for 2012. Ideally, a talent like Dirrell should be fighting four times a year at the minimum.
Dirrell should be the one holding down the IBF strap, not Froch. It kind of burns me up when I see lesser fighters than Dirrell holding down titles while Dirrell languishes. With his blazing hand speed and incredible defensive skills, Dirrell would be one of the top super middleweight champions in the division right now. We’re talking superstar material. But I don’t understand what’s keeping this talent out of the ring. He should be back in there kicking backside and taking names.
Here are the guys I’d like to see Dirrell whip in his next fight:
Carl Froch
Mikkel Kessler
George Groves
James DeGale
Adonis Stevenson
Sakio Bika
Robert Stieglitz
Roger Mayweather opens up on Twitter
June 21st, 2012
By Gareth Rees: Roger Mayweather has been a busy guy on Twitter today. He has been revealing his annoyance at comments made by his brother Floyd Mayweather Sr and what’s next for his nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr, as well as his respect for Andre Ward who he believes is the number 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Roger revealed he and rapper 50 Cent had visited his nephew today, who is currently in jail for assaulting his ex-girlfriend as he said he had given him the letters sent by fans; then later saying that Floyd was very appreciative of all the letters and pictures and that it was “keeping his spirits up”. Roger was obviously very frustrated at his brother following comments that Mayweather Sr made saying that Mayweather Jr. is slipping and he hopes he loses so he can train him. He went onto say that he had seen Mayweather Sr recently as he had come to the gym “acting like he owns the place”, which he said Mayweather Jr will not like.
Other than expressing his frustration about Mayweather Sr he did also talk about who Mayweather Jr will face next. After being asked by British fans about a possible fight with Kell Brook or Amir Khan, Roger Mayweather revealed that Brook won’t happen as he isn’t a big enough name, but did say the very little Mayweather Jr did talk about boxing, he would like to face Khan next. He also revealed Floyd Mayweather Jr does want Sergio Martinez, saying that Floyd said “if Sugar Ray Leonard can beat Haggler, he can beat Martinez”. He then changed his focus to Miguel Cotto who he claimed turned down an immediate rematch with Floyd Mayweather in early 2013, where he would have got a guaranteed $14 million.
Whilst Roger Mayweather paused on talking about Floyd Mayweather Jr’s future opponents he spoke about how highly he rates Andre Ward. Saying he doesn’t believe that anyone can beat Andre Ward at the moment, pointing out that Ward is only the second man to hold the Ring Belt at 168 and that he knows how to win. Returning to talk of future opponents for his nephew Roger said that Chavez Jr would never happen due to the size difference he has, but then gave a massive clue to what the future holds for his nephew. Roger said “We gonna get Alvarez first before we get Martinez, Floyd has been offered a crazy 3 fight deal by HBO Boxing, so watch this space”.
Now if what Roger has said about Floyd Mayweather Jr today is true, Floyd will be facing Amir Khan next (if Khan beats Garcia); followed by Alvarez and Martinez all on HBO for big money.
June 21st, 2012
By Gareth Rees: Roger Mayweather has been a busy guy on Twitter today. He has been revealing his annoyance at comments made by his brother Floyd Mayweather Sr and what’s next for his nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr, as well as his respect for Andre Ward who he believes is the number 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Roger revealed he and rapper 50 Cent had visited his nephew today, who is currently in jail for assaulting his ex-girlfriend as he said he had given him the letters sent by fans; then later saying that Floyd was very appreciative of all the letters and pictures and that it was “keeping his spirits up”. Roger was obviously very frustrated at his brother following comments that Mayweather Sr made saying that Mayweather Jr. is slipping and he hopes he loses so he can train him. He went onto say that he had seen Mayweather Sr recently as he had come to the gym “acting like he owns the place”, which he said Mayweather Jr will not like.
Other than expressing his frustration about Mayweather Sr he did also talk about who Mayweather Jr will face next. After being asked by British fans about a possible fight with Kell Brook or Amir Khan, Roger Mayweather revealed that Brook won’t happen as he isn’t a big enough name, but did say the very little Mayweather Jr did talk about boxing, he would like to face Khan next. He also revealed Floyd Mayweather Jr does want Sergio Martinez, saying that Floyd said “if Sugar Ray Leonard can beat Haggler, he can beat Martinez”. He then changed his focus to Miguel Cotto who he claimed turned down an immediate rematch with Floyd Mayweather in early 2013, where he would have got a guaranteed $14 million.
Whilst Roger Mayweather paused on talking about Floyd Mayweather Jr’s future opponents he spoke about how highly he rates Andre Ward. Saying he doesn’t believe that anyone can beat Andre Ward at the moment, pointing out that Ward is only the second man to hold the Ring Belt at 168 and that he knows how to win. Returning to talk of future opponents for his nephew Roger said that Chavez Jr would never happen due to the size difference he has, but then gave a massive clue to what the future holds for his nephew. Roger said “We gonna get Alvarez first before we get Martinez, Floyd has been offered a crazy 3 fight deal by HBO Boxing, so watch this space”.
Now if what Roger has said about Floyd Mayweather Jr today is true, Floyd will be facing Amir Khan next (if Khan beats Garcia); followed by Alvarez and Martinez all on HBO for big money.
