Sunday, 25 July 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
It's Pacquiao vs Margarito For The Vacant WBC Super Welterweight
Manny Pacquiao will fight Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 for a vacant super welterweight championship, either in Las Vegas if Margarito can get licensed or in Monterrey, Mexico, if he can’t, promoter Bob Arum said.
Manny Pacquiao's fight vs. Antonio Margarito will likely take place in either Las Vegas or Monterrey, Mexico.
That ends any possibility of a match between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., the top two boxers in the world, for 2010.
Arum said he decided to choose Margarito instead of Miguel Cotto, whom Pacquiao stopped in the 12th round in November, because it would be perceived as a more competitive bout. The bout will be offered on HBO Pay-Per-View.
“Cotto was beaten and even with [Hall of Fame trainer] Emanuel Steward now with him, I don’t think people believe that it’s enough to make a difference and I’m not sure they would buy it as competitive,” Arum said by telephone from his vacation home in Los Angeles. “But putting aside the controversy about the wraps, the one thing you know for sure with a Margarito fight is that it will be a hell of a fight for however long it lasts.
“Margarito knows only one way to fight and that’s coming forward. They’re going to get in there and fight. That’s what people want to see.”
Margarito’s hand-wrap controversy is no minor matter, however. He was caught with a hardened substance in his knuckle pad prior to a Jan. 24, 2009, fight in California against Shane Mosley.
He was forced to re-wrap his hands and was knocked out in the ninth round by Mosley. In February 2009, he was suspended for a year by the California State Athletic Commission.
He fought once since the Mosley fight, winning a lackluster unanimous decision over Roberto Garcia.
He applied for a license in Nevada on July 9, but by a 4-1 vote, the Nevada Athletic Commission tabled the matter and told Margarito to return to California. Arum said Margarito will file paperwork with California on Monday.
If Nevada grants Margarito a license, Arum said the fight would be in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. If not, it is all but certain to wind up at a 22,000-seat arena in Monterrey, Mexico, though a group from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is also bidding for the fight.
Skip Avansino, a member of the Nevada commission, said he thinks California regulators should consider it first, even though Margarito doesn’t plan to fight there. The California commission knows the matter best, Avansino said.
Avansino wasn’t willing to speculate what would occur if California were to decline taking up his request, given he doesn’t have a fight planned in the state.
“He certainly deserves a decision,” Avansino said. “I don’t know what procedures California will consider in connection with his reapplication. I would think that they would consider his application appropriately, just as we would, but I would want to wait until I see what California decides.”
Avansino said he wouldn’t be swayed by the huge economic impact the fight would have upon the depressed Las Vegas economy.
Pacquiao is a huge draw in Las Vegas and is one of the few boxers who attracts high-rolling Asian gamblers, who play $25,000-a-hand blackjack as well as baccarat. Las Vegas casinos had their best night in two years Nov. 14, 2009, when Pacquiao fought Cotto, because of the large influx of high-rollers who flooded Las Vegas, according to analysis by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
“I’m mindful of the economic conditions in the state of Nevada and I understand them well,” Avansino said. “I have every interest to improve and help improve the economy in this state. But as a commission, my responsibility is to protect the health and safety of those who compete in our state and to uphold the integrity of the sport. That’s my primary responsibility.”
The match would be for the World Boxing Council super welterweight championship. If Pacquiao wins it, it would be either the seventh or eighth division in which he has held a title, depending upon how it is calculated.
He has won sanctioning body titles at 112, 122, 130, 135, 140 and 147 pounds. At 126 pounds, he beat Marco Antonio Barrera, who was the linear champion. But Barrera had surrendered all of his sanctioning body titles by the time he fought Pacquiao, though he had not been beaten. (Kevin Lole/Yahoo Sports)
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Monday, 19 July 2010
Friday, 9 July 2010
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Floyd Mayweather Backs Out Of Pacquiao Fight
Mayweather pulling out? (AP Photo)The proposed showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao seems to have been called of again permanently.
Speaking to reporters during an charity appearance with the make a wish foundation, Mayweather stated that he would be taking 'a year or two' off from the sport of boxing.
Mayweather granted the wish of a young man by the name of Armando suffering from Hodgkins disease, who wanted to meet his favorite fighter. During the course of the event, a reporter joked that Armando wanted to see Mayweather take on Manny Pacquiao the most, to which Mayweather revealed that he was taking another leave of absence.
Whether he will return to the ring at some point is not clear, and he says that he doesn't know what the future holds.
According to all other sources, a fight between the two pound for pound stalwarts was nearly made, and the two opposing camps were negotiating behind closed doors. Whether Mayweather has made this news clear to his promoting representatives at Golden Boy isn't clear, and if not than he will have been wasting their time in having them engage in talks with Top Rank all this time.
Without stating any particular reason for not wanting to fight again for an extended period, it will no doubt appear that Floyd is merely sidestepping Pacquiao, a fighter many believe would hand him his first career loss. Certainly this news will dampen the last days of Pacquiao's career as well, and his next opponent will now probably either be Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto.
This latest revelation will no doubt further damage Mayweather's public persona, which had already taken a battering when he accused Pacquiao of being a drug user without evidence. Not only this, but Mayweather's legacy will no doubt be tarnished as well, and even if he remains undefeated if he does fight again, there will always be a question mark as to whether Pacquiao would have beaten him. (source: examiner.com)
Monday, 24 May 2010
Floyd Mayweather Sr: "My son will never fight Manny Pacquiao"
Floyd Mayweather Sr has never been short of a word and his latest accusation is just ridicules. Mayweather Sr told CBS Radio during a recent interview he feels Manny Pacquiao has had sufficient time to clean his body of performance enhancing drugs.
"Why the sudden change of mind?" asked Mayweather Sr. "Pacquiao walked away from the opportunity to face my son in March, so why has he had a sudden change of mind and is now agreeing to all forms of testing."
“Why do you think that is?
You tell me why?”
Mayweather asked the interviewer, when no response was forthcoming Mayweather Sr went on to say “Six months have passed, sufficient time to clear your body of any illegal substance, that’s why.
The claim is Ironic, Mayweather Sr was asked, If Pacquiao was using (which I doubt) one thing is for sure if he’s agreeing to Floyd request for Olympic style testing surly this will leave no questions and both camps will know for sure neither man is on any performance enhancing drugs.
One writer from the examiner.com may have hit the nail on the head. Roger Allen suggested Manny Pacquiao might have been looking ahead to the Philippines elections, and a defeat against Mayweather could have severely affected his voting numbers, this might answer the question with regards to the sudden change of mind.
Listen, Said Mayweather Sr, “let me educate you on something, if your body has been receiving substances to improve your athletic ability over a long period of time then you stop, your body may be clean but you have taken your body to a place it otherwise would not have been, Just because you have stopped taking, does not mean your body is no longer benefiting from the years of use”.
Now I’m no nutritionist or conditioning coach, but Daddy Mayweather’s comments did make sense to the uneducated among us, it does seem a realistic possibility that an individual can still harvest the benefits from years of use, even when stopped. But again I must stress this assumption is all based on whether Manny Pacquiao is or has ever used any kind of performance enhancers, which I doubt.
Floyd Mayweather Jr himself stated “I gave Pacquiao a chance, up to 14 days from the fight. But my new terms are all the way up to the fight. They can come get us whenever, all the way up to the fight, random drug test. That’s what it is,” Mayweather was quoted as saying.
Mayweather Jr has made clear that the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) will decide when the testing is carried out. All testing should be random up to the day of the fight, “I fail to realise the problem as both of us will be subject to these rules”.
Mayweather Sr, was asked about his recent statement of having reservations regarding his son fighting a southpaw. “It does not matter what stance Pacquiao fights, my son will never fight him”. (Ronald C Charles/theboxinghistorian.com)
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Pacquiao Won't Entertain Anymore Demands From Mayweather
MANILA, Philippines - Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao said Saturday that the super fight between him and Floyd Mayweather Jr. now depends on the American boxer after he has agreed to undergo a blood test 14 days before their faceoff.
"Talagang hindi siya lalaban kung mangatwiran ulit siya," Pacquiao told radio dzMM when asked what he would do if Mayweather comes up with a new demand.
He said that if ever the superfight fails to push through, he may still fight another boxer or just retire and focus on his newfound career in politics.
Pacquiao has been proclaimed as winner in Sarangani Province's congressional race. He toppled a member of a powerful political clan in the province.
The Filipino boxer said he will take a 1-week crash course on public administration and governance at the University of the Philippines.
He said he is also determined to finish his business management course at the Notre Dame University in 2 years and then take up law.
Pacquiao clarified Friday that the blood that would extracted from him should only be minimal for the drug test.
“Pumayag naman ako pero hindi yung talagang maraming dugo na kukunin. Kung anong dugo ang kelangan sa drug test, ganoon lang karami. Fourteen days [before the fight],” Pacquiao told ABS-CBN News' Dyan Castillejo.
Pacquiao said during the radio interview that he has yet to receive a feedback from the camp of Mayweather.
The reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion said he softened his stand after listening to boxing fans’ clamor for a mega fight between him and Mayweather.
“Everywhere I go… gusto talaga nila ng Mayweather fight. [They ask me] over and over,” said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao made the decision to fight the former pound-for-pound king weeks after he received permission from his mother, Dionisia Pacquiao, for one last bout.
The blood test controversy was the reason the negotiations between the Pacquiao and Mayweather camps collapsed early this year.
The two would have fought last March 13, but Mayweather ended up fighting Shane Mosley and Pacquiao battling Ghana's Joshua Clottey.
Pacquiao’s camp earlier agreed to undergo tests 24 days before the fight, but Mayweather’s group insisted that blood should be taken 14 days prior to the fight.
Blood test as the drug protocol is the personal requirement for Mayweather. Athletic commissions require urine tests on boxers as the form of drug testing, and Pacquiao has never had a problem.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he learned the last day for blood testing used by Mayweather and "Sugar" Shane Mosley in their recent fight was 18 days prior to the fight.
"The USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) stopped the blood test... they took 5 or 6 tests but the last one was 18 days for Mosley and 19 days for Mayweather," he told ABS-CBN News' Dyan Castillejo in a phone interview. (abs-cbn news.com)
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