Boxing News 2012: Mayweather rant means no Pacquiao fight

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at the DeWalt event on June 29, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)This was pure Mayweather, unvarnished, unplugged, and totally uninhibited.

He won't fight Pacquiao unless he's convinced he doesn't use steroids - something, by the way, that only Mayweather has accused the Filipino of doing. And there will be no convincing Mayweather that he's wrong.

''You all think I'm scared, I'm a coward? Well guess what? I'm a rich, scared coward. I'm a rich coward,'' Mayweather said. ''And if that's the case, why the hell would you want to watch me? I don't want to watch no coward. I don't want to watch nobody who's scared and you all know for a fact I'm not scared. You all know that.''

I'll take part of the blame for setting Mayweather off. Sitting next to him Tuesday in a VIP check-in room just off the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel, it seemed like a good time to get his thoughts on his main rival.

My mistake.

Instead of an answer, I got a soliloquy. Instead of a yes or no on Pacquiao, I got a disjointed diatribe on all things Mayweather.

He railed about common sense and hat sizes, doing the right thing and protecting his health. He called Bob Arum a professional liar, and suggested I was in the rival promoter's pocket.

He even questioned my patriotism for some odd reason that only his pals seemed to get.

''So, you're an American, right? I'm an American,'' he told me. ''I was in the Olympics. I represent the red, white and blue. You know what the American writers should say? 'Well, why's this guy from another country who comes over here and makes money taking it back to his country?

''Once again, I'm feeding American citizens every day. All I ask is give a little blood, give a little urine. That's a crime?''

Actually, the drug testing shouldn't even be an issue. Arum has already said Pacquiao is willing to take blood and urine tests in the weeks and months leading up to a fight with Mayweather.

But Mayweather seems obsessed with the idea Pacquiao is juicing. He seems to truly believe that Pacquiao has some sort of super human powers other fighters don't.

He's not going to change his mind. And, ultimately, that means no Pacquiao fight.

It is true that Pacquiao has grown noticeably since he first began boxing professionally in 1995 at 106 pounds. He's much more muscular and his body has filled out in the 17 years since then.

However, I reminded Mayweather that he boxed in the 1996 Olympics at 125 pounds, and will be fighting at 154 pounds against Cotto.

''Guess what? It took me years to get to here. Years,'' he said. ''Go back and look at the pictures. First, his head is small. Then, all of a sudden, his head just grew? Come on, man. Stop! Stop this man! Come on, man! This (stuff's) so easy. Ray Charles can see this (stuff). Come on. Come on, now! Come on, man. I told you, it's basic common sense. Look at the pictures and tell me this man's head didn't get bigger? This man probably went from a seven and one-fourth to an eight. In a hat, a fitted hat. And you're going to tell me this (stuff) is all natural? Come on, man. Stop this. I'm going up in weight, but I ain't just walking through no damn fighters.''

If that wasn't clear enough, Mayweather shifted into third person mode to press his point.

''Writers are saying, 'Floyd is scared,''' he said. ''No, Floyd cares about his family. Floyd is smart. At the end of the day, Floyd is smart. My health is important. My health is more important than money. They can take all the money and my health is more important. If they say, 'Floyd, you can live a healthy life like you is right now, or you got to walk with a limp, and walk all bent over, but you can have a lot of money for the rest of your life,' I'd say, 'Take it all back.'''

Guess we should give the guy a break. He's got a fight that might be tougher than most Saturday night, and he'll barely have time to relax afterward when he's due at the Las Vegas jail to begin serving what's expected to be a two-month sentence for domestic abuse.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/column-mayweather-rant-means-no-221255727--box.html;_ylt=Aqb_jWBJ86X5h.z7Rnkj6DCUxLYF

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Boxing News 2011: Montiel, Donaire battle for supremacy

Image via Wikipedia
The fight poster that adorns the light boxes throughout Mandalay Bay advertises the much-anticipated showdown between unified bantamweight titleholder Fernando Montiel and top-10 pound-for-pound fighter Nonito Donaire. Near the top, above their photos and under the words "World Championship," the poster reads, in big, bold letters: "Mexico vs. The Philippines."

Besides crowning the top bantamweight in the world, the fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night (HBO, 9:45 ET/PT) is all about nationalistic pride in the latest installment of a growing rivalry between the boxing-mad countries.

"This fight between Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel -- everybody who follows boxing knows it will be a great fight, but the interesting thing for me about this fight [is] the countries where these fighters come from, the Philippines and Mexico," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said. "There is almost frenzy about this fight. I was informed that in the Philippines there are two one-hour [television] specials promoting the fight, and they are expecting a huge audience on Sunday morning, which is their time equivalent of when the fight will be aired.

"In Mexico, there is tremendous anticipation and great media coverage. It is my hope that the enthusiasm that is coming from the Philippines and Mexico permeates in the United States, that people that follow boxing and casual sports fans watch this fight on HBO because it truly will be a great fight for the sport of boxing."

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=6134944

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• Boxing - HBO: Fernando Montiel vs Nonito Donaire live streaming (oleole.com)

Boxing News 2011: Mayweather jabs (but won't fight) Pacquiao

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. might never fight Manny Pacquiao, but Mayweather has the pound-for-pound king on his mind.

It is unfortunate that they may never share a ring for the fight the world wants to see; at this point, Mayweather refuses to fight Pacquiao -- not to mention that Mayweather is also jammed up with multiple court cases, including eight criminal charges (four of which are felonies) stemming from an alleged domestic incident last fall with the mother of some of his children. Pacquiao is always in the spotlight, but even more so last week and this week, as he and Shane Mosley promote their Showtime pay-per-view fight, which takes place May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. And Mayweather apparently can't stand it.

Pacquiao, Mosley and the rest of the Top Rank circus took to the road to promote the fight on a national media tour, which began last week and continued this week. Of course, Mayweather could have been the one fighting Pacquiao, but he wanted no part of it. That left Top Rank's Bob Arum to tap Mosley for the fight instead, the same way he tapped Antonio Margarito to fight in place of Mayweather in November and called on Joshua Clottey last March.

Mayweather could have had the fight each time and made perhaps as much as $50 million for his trouble.

Instead, Mayweather declined and now, just as the media attention around Pacquiao ramps up again, it is clearly driving Mayweather crazy.

http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/6124991/mayweather-jabs-fight-pacquiao

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• Manny Pacquiao: Why Arum and Roach are More Important Than Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (bleacherreport.com)

Boxing News 2010: Who is next for Pacquiao?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
The front runners for Pacquiao’s next opponent are Mosley and Berto. There’s no way they’ll fight each other. Mosley is near the end. If he’s going to get wiped out he wants it to be against a great fighter in the biggest fight of the year, not against a young, still-largely unproven beltholder such as Berto.

My guess is that Mosley will get the Pacquiao fight. He’s the best known of Pac’s potential opponents for next year (and no, I’m not including the troubled Mr. Mayweather) and the perception is that he presents the least amount of risk at this stage of his career. Arum believes he can sell a Pacquiao-Mosley fight to the general public and Sugar Shane has endeared himself to the old promoter now that he’s distanced himself from Golden Boy Promotions.

Marquez was always a long shot to get a third bout with Pacquiao, and I’m kind of glad. I don’t care that he weighed 145 pounds on fight night vs. Katsidis. The fact that he made 134 pounds the day before tells me that extra poundage he put on was just water weight -- not muscle. Marquez is not a welterweight. Period. Marquez is an old, small lightweight. Don’t even call him a junior welterweight. There isn’t a world-class junior welterweight alive who can make 134 pounds without killing himself. Pacquiao would kill himself making 134 pounds. Pacquiao would have to seriously dry out to make 140 pounds. We should all forget about Pacquiao-Marquez III unless Manny decides he wants to go against Freddie Roach and Arum and agree to weigh-in between 140 and 142 pounds. Even then, he’ll have a distinct size and strength advantage over Marquez. I think JMM has given fans enough thrills in hard, grueling fights. I don’t want to see him take any more serious punishment. That’s what a Pacquiao fight equals, in my not-so-humble opinion, punishment.

http://www.ringtv.com/blog/2572/dougies_friday_mailbag/

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• Marquez ready for Round 3 with Pacquiao (nypost.com)
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Boxing News 2010: Juan Manuel Marquez wants rematch

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Juan Manuel Marquez didn't waste any time after defending his lightweight title before setting his sights on Round 3 with Manny Pacquiao.

Marquez stopped Michael Katsidis in the ninth round Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, winning an all-action battle and certain candidate for Fight of the Year. Moments later, he turned his attention to settling the score with the man considered the best in the world.

"Obviously, Pacquiao is my priority. I'll go up to 140 [pounds], it's no problem," Marquez said through a translator. "Stop making excuses, Manny. Fight me."

The two have met twice before, and both of the bouts were thrilling. They fought to a 12-round draw in 2004, and Pacquiao won a close split decision in March 2008.

Pacquiao, who has discussed retiring in three years, said at a news conference Monday in Manila that he's willing to fight Marquez again but that the match would probably not excite fans. He sounded doubtful himself, saying "I would not watch Pacquiao vs. Marquez."

Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that a third fight with Marquez is a distinct possibility, although just like everyone else, he's waiting to see whether Floyd Mayweather Jr. steps into the ring against Pacquiao in what could be the richest fight in boxing history.

"If we do a deal with Marquez, and it'd be a money deal, they can come and represent Marquez at press conferences and that kind of stuff, but they wouldn't have anything to do with the promotion, nor would Lou," Arum said. "They would in effect be signing the fighter to us, because at this point, Manny doesn't have to do co-promotions with anybody."

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5860025

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• Manny Pacquiao's Next Fight: Why Juan Manuel Marquez Is Not It (bleacherreport.com)

Boxing News 2010: Pac-Man eludes Williams-Martinez winner

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The world middleweight championship is one of the marquee titles in professional boxing, a prize held by some of the greatest fighters who ever lived.

It’s not, apparently, good enough for Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez. The two will meet on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., for the World Boxing Council version of a crown, albeit with a ridiculous agreement insisted upon by Williams’ team that the upper weight limit is 158 pounds and not the division limit of 160.

That’s just another sign of the negotiating power wielded by Williams’ adviser Al Haymon, who dictated to everyone involved – HBO, Martinez promoter Lou DiBella and Williams promoter Dan Goossen – what the terms of the fight would be.

But the middleweight belt is just a sidelight to the Williams-Martinez rematch. The real prize, if any of those would answer honestly, is a fight with the reigning pound-for-pound king, Manny Pacquiao.

Goossen has made no secret of his desire to pit Williams against either Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. DiBella hasn’t been as vocal, but be very certain if Martinez prevails on Saturday, DiBella will plead the case for a Pacquiao-Martinez bout.

They’re going to have to be content with the middleweight belt, however, because Pacquiao isn’t going to fight either man.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, didn’t dismiss the possibility at the postfight news conference Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, that Pacquiao could face the Williams-Martinez winner, but he did on Tuesday.

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=Ao5iQCkDhsuOdFEnnXtmBPeUxLYF?slug=ki-titlefightcolumn111710

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Boxing News 2010: High stakes for Pacquiao, Margarito

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Manny Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound king, and the controversial Antonio Margarito are fighting for different stakes. One fights for history. One for redemption.

Pacquiao had hoped to be in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. defending his welterweight title, but Mayweather refused to fight him and is, as he says, "on vacation," while also now fighting a variety of criminal charges stemming from an alleged domestic dispute in September.

So while Mayweather's next fight will be in the courtroom, Pacquiao has moved on with his career and is moving up in weight yet again as he seeks a vacant junior middleweight belt when he and Margarito meet Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $54.95) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington in front of a crowd that could be as large as 70,000, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said at Wednesday's final news conference. That would be a record for an American indoor fight.

If Pacquiao wins, he would claim a title in a record-extending eighth weight class, which, even in this era of title proliferation, is eye-catching.

"It would be an eighth title, which nobody else has ever done, but Manny Pacquiao is a different kind of athlete," said Arum, who also promotes Margarito. "He's very special and the type of accomplishments he has shouldn't really surprise anybody."

Margarito had his license revoked and his once-solid reputation went into the toilet. He was not allowed to fight in the United States and only after California rejected his plea for a return of his license did Texas regulators give him one in September. It was a controversial move, but it paved the way for his fight with Pacquiao, which will be contested at a contract limit of 150 pounds even though the limit for junior middleweights is 154 pounds.

"Antonio knows he needs to win the fight. He's hoping he's going to redeem himself with the victory," said Sergio Diaz, Margarito's co-manager. "But at the same time he says he doesn't really think he'll get the credit he had before [the scandal]. He thinks if he wins there will be people who will say, 'Well, he got lucky. Maybe it was the weight and Manny was too small and Margarito was too big.' I feel, and he feels, he will carry this scandal the rest of his life.

"But I do believe it's going to diminish and you'll hear about it here and there and every time he fights it's always going to be written about and spoken about. It's going to always be there. It's tough to accept it."

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=5789959

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Boxing News 2010: Storylines surround Pacquiao-Margarito

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito square off at Cowboys Stadium in a huge fight on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $54.95) and there are a litany of stories surrounding it. Here's what some of those involved in the promotion have to say about some of the storylines:

• If Pacquiao wins and a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. still can't be made, whom will he fight?

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum outlined three possibilities: Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez for a third fight or a rematch with Miguel Cotto.

• The 150-pound catch weight

There's consternation in some quarters because Pacquiao and Margarito are fighting for a vacant junior middleweight title (division limit 154 pounds) but the contract weight is at a catch weight of 150 pounds at the request of the smaller Pacquiao. So while it's still a junior middleweight title bout there are some who believe that Margarito should be allowed to weigh up to 154.

• Prediction?

Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach is not shy about making predictions when it comes to fights. On this fight he said, "I think we will overwhelm him with the punches he will land on him with the fast hands and combinations. In eight or nine rounds I think we will break him down. Margarito throws a lot of punches and he makes too many mistakes to beat us. He has bad habits and we are going to take advantage of all of them."

Roach later added, "We'll make him quit. I saw the way Mosley beat him and how he fought Roberto Garcia [in May] and he doesn't impress me. He has terrible footwork. He has too many flaws to beat Manny. Technique-wise he's terrible."

• Watching the hands wrapped

Margarito, of course, is notorious because of the hand-wrapping scandal stemming from the fight with Mosley in January 2009, when he tried to enter the ring with wraps loaded with illegal pads coated in a plaster-like substance. Roach will be watching the wrapping procedure very carefully.

• Who will be the crowd favorite?

North Texas is heavily Hispanic, so Margarito will undoubtedly have strong fan support from Mexican-American fans, but so will Pacquiao, who is popular wherever he fights.

• The toll of the scandal on Margarito and his feelings toward former trainer Javier Capetillo, who was responsible for wrapping his hands:

"Tony has gone to therapy, him and his wife," said Sergio Diaz, Margarito's co-manager. "It was affecting his personal life as well. He's aware it's something that will follow him. He felt just by being in the gym and hoping he would fight again, and this is before he was licensed, it's what kept his mind at peace.

http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/5792388/storylines-surround-pacquiao-margarito

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• "Antonio Margarito Mocks Freddie Roach's Parkinson's Disease (VIDEO)" and related posts (huffingtonpost.com)