As the Pacquiao vs. Margarito press tour rolls on it looks likely that the pair will continue to face tough questions and criticism over whether the fight should even be happening. Margarito because of his now served suspension, and Pacquiao because of the long list of equally deserving names continuously calling him out and pursuing a fight with him.

Some have a problem with Margarito due to the hand wrap scandal, which is fair enough. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and in this case many happen to be against him getting to fight Pacquiao and make millions of dollars because of that alone.

Others though are critical of the fact that the fight will be at a catchweight, or that the vacant WBC light middleweight strap will be on the line, or even because of the fact that Margarito took an absolute pummeling the last time he took on a top opponent.

A one sided loss to Shane Mosley aside, the truth is we really don’t know what Margarito will look like against Pacquiao in November. Looking at the press conference pictures from yesterday he has a huge height advantage, not to mention he will have reach and weight on his side as well. Whether this be enough to counter Pacquiao’s speed and movement and weather his attacks will have to remain to be seen.

Perhaps more is expected of Pacquiao than other fighters now after he steamrolled his way through two top welterweights in a row without running into any serious resistance. But how does this fight really compare to what some of his closest pound for pound rivals have in the pipeline?

Let’s take for example some of the other names currently gracing The Ring’s pound for pound list.

World number two on that list Floyd Mayweather is currently taking a vacation of unknown length, and was last seen by his fans on a series of late night Ustream videos flashing his cash and bragging about his expensive jewelry and betting habits. He has hinted about his next fight being in Dubai, but no details have been forthcoming, making it look unlikely that he will fight again this year.

Juan Manuel Marquez at number three is the exception to the rule as he next takes on Michael Katsidis in what should be an excellent fight before the end of the year, so nothing to knock him on there.

Most of the others on the list have nothing much planned for the immediate future. Williams and Martinez are still negotiating, but have nothing confirmed just yet. Similarly Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel have rumors but not much else at this stage.

Wlad Klitschko fights Samuel Peter in what should be an interesting scrap, but if we’re being honest probably won’t be that close given the improvements the Ukrainian has made since Peter downed him twice in their first encounter. Lastly Shane Mosley takes on Sergio Mora in a fight more about how far Mosley has declined than anything else.

The last name currently on the list is Thai WBC flyweight champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, who regularly fights debuting opponents despite his 76-3 record. He next takes on Suriyan Por Chokchai, who let’s face it, isn’t exactly a well known name in many parts of the world.

With the exception of Marquez vs. Katsidis there isn’t a single fight confirmed right now that comes close to Pacquiao vs. Margarito, and you would be hard pressed to find a fight fan who is actually going to skip watching the fight altogether.

William Hawthorne, Pittsburgh: “Margo looked huge compared to Manny yesterday, I think the fight might be a lot closer than people think”

Alexandr Demyan, Philly: “I think it will be a great fight, even if Margarito just gets beaten down in 4 rounds and anyone who doesn’t like it can just look at pictures of Mayweather’s million dollar watches instead”

Source

LAS VEGAS — Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz fought the 2009 fight of the year, an epic slugfest that went down as a modern classic. Their rematch didn’t come close to producing the same kind of fireworks, as Marquez shut down his rival with yet another tremendous performance to add to his Hall of Fame-worthy résumé.

Marquez, the seemingly ageless warrior who will turn 37 next month, retained the lightweight world championship with ease, picking Diaz apart and steamrolling to a unanimous decision on Saturday night before a raucous crowd of 8,383 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

In the first fight 17 months ago, the Mexican star went to Diaz’s hometown of Houston and knocked him out in the ninth round to end an epic slugfest.

[+] EnlargeJuan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz
Marco PerezJuan Manuel Marquez, left, couldn’t seem to miss Juan Diaz with his jab.

He didn’t get rid of Diaz on Saturday, but he turned in one of his finest performances. Marquez, despite a badly swollen right eye for much of the fight, hurt Diaz several times, to be sure, but never got him off his feet.

He fought well enough that you have to consider his lopsided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September to be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen. It was purely a business decision to jump two weight divisions and take the biggest payday of his career, about $4 million.

Back at lightweight, Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KOs) looked strong in earning $1 million more, plus a piece of the pay-per-view pie. No matter what division Marquez is in, he’s a smart fighter. He mixed it up with Diaz (35-4, 17 KOs), a former unified titleholder, when necessary, so it was a pleasing fight. But Marquez used far more boxing than he did the first time around.

The judges all scored the bout in Marquez’s favor, obviously, 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. ESPN.com also had it for Marquez, 119-109.

“The first fight was difficult, but this was, too, but I was the better fighter tonight,” Marquez said. “He’s a very good boxer and, like every Mexican warrior, we both fought with our hearts and left it all in the ring.”

Marquez’s next fight very well could be a Dec. 11 showdown with England’s Amir Khan, the junior welterweight titlist who watched from ringside. Marquez would then strive to become the first Mexican fighter to win world titles in four weight classes.

Although Marquez has been champion at featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight, he would prefer a different fight: a third match with rival and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, who is now a welterweight titleholder. They fought two memorable fights, but Marquez came away with a disputed draw in a 2004 featherweight title fight and a controversial split decision in their junior lightweight championship rematch in 2008.

Marquez yearns for that fight more than any other.

Tweet, tweet

Don’t miss a moment of the latest boxing coverage from around the world. Follow us on Twitter and stay informed. Join »

“The trilogy with Pacquiao is what I want,” Marquez said. “It’s good for all fight fans, the Mexicans, the Filipinos. Everyone wants to see it. That’s the most important fight to me now. I’ll be ready to fight again in November, so hopefully Pacquiao will take the fight.”

The fight coming about is probably wishful thinking for Marquez. Pacquiao is slated to face Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13. Besides, Pacquiao is with Top Rank, and Marquez is with Golden Boy. They are embroiled in boxing’s version of the Cold War yet again.

So Marquez probably will have to think about what might be when it comes to Pacquiao. But he can look back fondly at his victories against Diaz, whose time at the top of the sport seems to be over at age 26.

He’s never been much of a puncher, so when he was so obviously behind heading into the later rounds, the prospect of a miracle knockout seemed remote.

When Marquez and Diaz got into exchanges, Marquez seemed to get the better of it almost every time, bringing the pro-Marquez crowd to its feet. He wobbled Diaz in the fourth round with an uppercut, the same deadly punch with which he put him away in the first fight.

Marquez kept up the attack in the fifth round, rocking Diaz with a right hand and then doing it again moments later. It was like that almost every round. In the sixth, he had cranked up the left hook and had Diaz, normally the hard-charging “Baby Bull,” in retreat.

When it was over, Diaz was a sportsman.

“I fought the best fight I could,” said Diaz, who was bleeding from a cut in his mouth late in the fight. “We were trading punches. We fought inside; we fought outside. I didn’t stand in front of him. I wanted to get in there and then get out. But it was hard, and I got hit with a couple good shots. I did the best I could.

“I followed the game plan, used my jab, but it was a very tough fight and he’s a great fight. He was the better man tonight.”

Diaz is a recent college graduate, who is studying for his LSAT with aspirations to be a lawyer. He seems smart enough to know that he shouldn’t hang around boxing for too long. He’s now 2-4 in his past six fights and certainly could be 1-5 if not for the controversial decision he got against Paulie Malignaggi in their first junior welterweight match last year.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” Diaz said. “I’m gonna consider all the facts. I’m gonna take the LSAT, and that’s another fact. I’ve been fighting [professionally] for 10 years, which is a lot longer than a lot of fighters do, so I’ll just have to figure it out and see what I’m gonna do.

“I’m not going to sit here tonight and say I’m never going to fight again.”

While Diaz will ponder his murky ring future, Marquez will hope and dream for Pacquiao. But he is secure in the knowledge that as the great fighter who he is, there will be another big fight in his future.

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

Although pound-for-pound king and “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao hasn’t signed an agreement to fight Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBC light middleweight title as yet, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has announced that the fight will take place on November 13 but hasn’t as yet named a venue.

Although Monterrey appears to have an edge because Margarito is Mexican and Pacquiao has a tremendous following among Mexican fight fans, Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told us that Abu Dhabi is still very much in the picture and they are waiting for word from the representatives of the Emirate Royal Family sometime next week.

However, Arum is making a pitch for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and his lawyer David Marroso has communicated with the Nevada State Athletic Commission seeking even a one-day license for Margarito to fight Pacquiao on November 13 at the MGM Grand.

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer told us that while Margarito has filed a request “I do not know if and when the commissioners would consider the request.”

The NSAC Commissioners by a 4-1 vote tabled his last request for a licenese despite a strong appeal from Margarito himself and requested him to first get his license renewed by the California State Athletic Commission which suspended him on the padded handwraps issue prior to his fight against Shane Mosley, although Arum insists Margarito is not going to fight in California and therefore there is no need for him to apply for a California license.

Meantime, as the discussions continue on whether the Margarito fight is the best for Pacquiao in the face of the Mayweather Jr refusal, Pacquiao’s conditioning guru Alex Ariza told us he thinks “its a very good fight” but added that having worked with four-time “Trainer of the Year” Freddie Roach for the past three years and “watching him completely analyze an opponent, break them down finding his weaknesses, finding his habits and all that, I think its going to be an easy fight.”

At the same time Ariza referred to Shane Mosley’s win over Margarito and said “Manny hits a lot harder and is a lot faster than Mosley” who won over Margarito by a 9th round TKO on January 24, 2009 and grabbed the WBA super welterweight title.

Despite the demands on his time and attention as a congressman from the lone district of Sarangani province in Mindanao and his involvement in numerous projects Ariza wasn’t concerned pointing out that “when it comes to fight time Manny is one hundred percent.”

Ariza said he had no doubt that Pacquiao will not take Margarito any different from the way he took Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton or Oscar De La Hoya. My heart believes that Manny’s true passion is fighting. I think he truly, truly loves it.”

He said a Margarito fight would much better than a rematch with Cotto because in all seriousness he said “Freddie already knows Cotto and it doesn’t matter what trainer he has in his corner because Freddie knows how to beat Cotto at 154 .”

Ariza said Floyd Mayweather Jr’s failure to face Pacquiao “comes down to fear. Fear is the greatest influence in the world . Not even money can overcome fear. Some people may say I am crazy but I know the personality of Mayweather and I know what they are feeling now validates the fact that fear is something you cannot put a price on.”

At the same time Ariza ripped into ESPN’s choice of Mayweather as the “Fighter of the Year” pointing out that the fighters he beat were much smaller, three weight divisions lower or older than him. He never fights a guy in the middle. ESPN is a victim of their own stupidity. Why would you name a guy the “Fighter of the Year” and validate his own way of warped thinking by letting him think he’s that good. ”

Source

After learning that Andrew Bynum’s surgery on his right knee was set for July 28, we naturally were curious to discover what Kobe Bryant’s medical plans were after a season during which he encountered a motley crew of injuries.

On Friday, the Lakers obliged, releasing a statement detailing a successful arthroscopic surgery on the right knee of the two-time defending Finals MVP:

In response to recent media inquiries, it has been announced today that Kobe Bryant recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. The successful surgery was performed last week. Bryant is currently undergoing rehab and is expected to be fully recovered prior to the start of the Lakers’ training camp on September 25.

Source

Suggestions of a second meeting between Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto are simply ridiculous and pointless that every boxing fan must raise a howl of protest.

What for? An eighth world title? It doesn’t make sense.

Boxing, or sports compeititon for that matter, is not simply about titles. It’s about proving excellence. In as far as Cotto is concerned, there is nothing more to prove. A second meeting will end up in exactly the same way as it ended the first time around or maybe even worse.

Manny Pacquiao is a very intelligent boxer who reads and remembers his opponent’s style and strategy. As of now, he has memorized Cotto’s movements inside the ring and he will be like a train who will run over the Puerto Rican champion in their second meeting.

I am not the only boxing journalist and observer who already has an idea of what is going to happen in the sequel. Even the ordinary boxing fan knows what to expect from a Pacquiao-Cotto rematch.

Besides, it is an unwritten rule in boxing that a rematch would only be in order if the first fight was very competitive and that the loss by the other fighter was only a result of a lucky punch or a wrong strategy.

That is not the case in the first meeting between Pacquiao and Cotto. It was clear as daylight that it was a one-sided fight, a rout and serving that fight on the table again would only be an insult to the boxing fans and the height of gross commercialism in sports.

A golfer-friend in Davao City, Vic Garcia, who has been dreaming of a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather classic, gave me the classic line that now serves as the title of this column: Para Que?

So, if a Pacquiao-Cotto II leaves a bad taste in the mouth, who then would be the better options?

Well, I have two names that would certainly interest boxing fans: Shane Mosley or Antonio Margarito.

Why Shane? Well, first they have not fought. Second, he gave Mayweather the scare of his life. If Shane can do that to Mayweather, can he do it to Manny?

Why Margarito? Many reasons. If it is another world title that Manny Pacquiao would really like to win to rack up his collections to an unreachable 8th world championship, then he can fight Margarito for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) light middleweight title at 154 lbs.

Now, should Manny win that, then it could really be said that he will stand up as the greatest fighter ever in world boxing. Growing from a 112 pound fighter to a 154-lb. king would be something which I believe would never be equalled in the history of mankind.

That to me is what sports is all about: achieving what is seemingly impossible, something that has never been done.

You don’t climb Mt. Everest twice, you don’t knock out Cotto again in a rematch.

Source

I’ve had enough of this silly looking back business, as we all know that making baseless claims about the importance of future events is where the interest is at. With that in mind, the time has come to take a look at the stories that will shape the second half of 2010.

Unfortunately, the upcoming fight between Mark Hunt and Sean McCorkle at UFC 119 just missed the cut. However, I venture to guess that will be a sight none of us will soon forget.

The Next Emperor

Brock Lesnar’s epic comeback win over Shane Carwin certainly galvanized his claim to heavyweight supremacy, but that distinction is not as universally accepted as it was for Fedor Emelianenko — and with good reason. Carwin’s long-term future looks like a parallel of boxer Earnie Shavers’ career — a horrifying puncher who came tantalizingly close to the heavyweight title only to lose in heartbreaking fashion every time.

Tapping out a super puncher is a nice feather in one’s cap, but it will not have many buying into the notion that Lesnar has emerged as the next heavyweight doom bringer. Lesnar’s upcoming match with the undefeated Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 will serve as his chance to prove that years’ worth of self-serious bravado and overwhelming hype was truly prescient.

Hype has accompanied Velasquez ever since he first stepped into the American Kickboxing Academy gym and was proclaimed a heavyweight champion in the making. A darling of the hardcore fans despite his leaden personality, Velasquez seems just as strong a candidate as Lesnar to become the next emperor, and so far, the opinion makers seem to be lining up on his side.

Regardless of the insane amounts of prognostication that will go into attempting to predict the winner of this fight, we are getting a step closer to truly realizing a whole new heavyweight scene. At UFC 117, Junior dos Santos will fight Roy Nelson for a title shot, which sets the table for another unbelievably significant heavyweight fight.

After years of putting on garbage heavyweight bouts, the UFC is finally setting the table in the division it turned into a headlining attraction. How that story develops will almost certainly give us the next heavyweight kingpin, if not the next emperor.

Boxing vs. MMA: The Never-Ending Story

Ever since Art Jimmerson showed up in the Octagon rocking a single boxing glove against Royce Gracie at UFC 1, the boxing versus MMA narrative has played like Jason Voorhees — it just keeps coming back.

The latest reincarnation of this pointless debate lies in wait right, as former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy Couture will take on the perpetually acerbic James Toney at UFC 118. All due accolades to Toney, a multi-division boxing champion and pound-for-pound luminary, but it has been a long time since anyone took the soon-to-be 42-year-old seriously as a boxer.

In all fairness, no one banks on the 47-year-old Couture as a legitimate contender. Of course, he has the benefit of the fight taking place on his home turf, and, unlike Toney, he is not a blown-up middleweight boxer with a long history of shuttling back-and-forth between training camps and buffet lines. In other words, this fight serves as a pointless exercise that will prove nothing that even a lay fan does not already know — one needs to train MMA to be any good at MMA.

UFC President Dana White maintains he brought Toney onboard as a way to punish “Lights Out” for his derogatory comments about the sport. The amount of media and fan attention being generated by this fight suggests otherwise, and, regardless of the outcome, it will be big news. If it generates enough money to match the hype, one has to wonder if this sort of stunt matchmaking will continue under the UFC banner.

There will always be Kimbo Slices and James Toneys around to spew hyperbole. The question revolves around whether the UFC can balance the athletic legitimacy and promotional spectacle of its product while chasing the occasional cheap buck.

The Pro Wrestling Rabbit Hole

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Up until February, Bobby Lashley was moonlighting as a mixed martial artist and collecting a check for his work as a professional wrestler. Dave Batista, meanwhile, was on the World Wrestling Entertainment payroll as recently as May, and his desire to become a mixed martial artist has produced more one-off sound-bites than grueling training sessions.

Yet these are the two men Strikeforce could feature in its still theoretical pay-per-view debut. If your stomach did not turn after reading that sentence, then you are part of the target audience for this sort of tripe.

Putting on pay-per-view events remains a high-stakes game and one with which Strikeforce is unfamiliar, so it does make sense that it would want to draw as many buyers as possible. It’s a strategy Zuffa used to great effect after acquiring the UFC by using name attractions like Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie to launch the careers of its next-generation superstars.

The second half of the equation was key for the UFC, as it made bankable commodities out of everyone from Tito Ortiz to Matt Hughes. Any potential benefits of pitting Lashley against Batista exist solely in the short-term, as neither man will ever be a threat to the heavyweight elite. After all, we are talking about a 41-year-old Batista with no real combat sport experience and a 34-year-old Lashley, who used to wrestle at 177 pounds before ballooning up to a chiseled 273 in the WWE.

Whether or not Strikeforce follows through on this inane idea will be one of those stories future analysts look back on when they try to map the key points in the organization’s history.

Strikeforce vs. Showtime, M-1 Global

Just about every complaint levied against Strikeforce comes down to the ongoing handicap match between the promotion and Showtime and M-1 Global. The second-half of 2010 seems as likely a time as any for the conflict to boil over into the public sphere.

Though the issues between the three groups are common knowledge, they have remained largely behind closed doors thanks to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker’s rare brand of diplomacy. However, with Fedor Emelianenko just one fight away from free agency and his handlers at M-1 being their usual enigmatic selves, we are guaranteed at least one storyline that will make the Brett Favre saga feel like a welcome change of pace.

Then there is Showtime, a premium cable channel that some believe is attempting to enter the MMA market by micromanaging Strikeforce. Unfortunately for Strikeforce, there is little it can do since the promotion desperately needs the exposure Showtime can afford it. Suddenly, the UFC’s decision to walk away from negotiations with HBO seems downright inspired.

Somewhere underneath all the rancor and nonsense exists a fine promotion just dying to get out. Perhaps the most frustrating part of it all is that Strikeforce does not deserve anywhere near the amount of blame it gets for this fiasco. None of that changes the fact that Strikeforce made multiple deals with the devil, and the price will only get steeper as the year trudges along.

To put it simply, would any of you bank on Emelianenko fighting again this year? Let us not forget that we are talking about the same promotion that needed nearly three years to get its heavyweight champion to defend his belt.

Source

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum confirmed that Montiel “is fighting Donaire” after Vic Darchinyan who suffered an embarrassing 5th round knockout and lost his IBF/IBO flyweight titles to Donaire on July 7, 2007 challenged Montiel to avenge his brother Alejandro’s ten round defeat by him (Darchinyan) in August 2003 in Australia in an effort to land a lucrative fight.

Montiel was quoted by IBF official Ray Wheatley as saying “Fernando Montiel wants to be recognized as a great Mexican boxer but why won’t he fight me.” Boasting that when he fought Montiel’s brother he “kicked his ass in all of the ten rounds winning every round on points” the cocky Australian bragged that he would “do the same to Fernando Montiel if he has the guts to fight me.”

Arum said “they are all nuts. There are no professionals around. They are all totally crazy” referring to Darchinyan as well as Floyd Mayweather Jr’s adviser Leonard Ellerbe who claimed they had never discussed a megabuck fight between Mayweather and pound-for-pound king and “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao.

Arum said the Donaire-Montiel title fight will be held in the US and that they would decide on a venue this week after meeting with the television people from Showtime on Tuesday.

Wheatley also reported that Darchinyan, the WBC/WBA super flyweight champion had stated that Donaire would never give him a rematch, alleging that “Donaire will never fight me. He refused to sign the contract he had for six weeks that would have made the fight happen. I have lost interest in that fight. I am now the IBO bantamweight champion and have focused on Fernando Montiel who is the WBC and WBO champion.”

However, we recall that Darchinyan’s promoter Gary Shaw in an interview with us some time ago had said that he and Arum had agreed on the terms for a Donaire-Darchinyan rematch and that he had been waiting for a response from Darchinyan’s handlers led by Elias Nassar only to tell us later that they wanted more money for the television rights especially since the fight was to be telecast in the Philippines by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN. Eventually the TV rights issue was given as the reason the fight didn’t push through although Donaire said it was Darchinyan’s way out since he was scared to fight him and get whipped the second time around.

Informed of Arum’s statement that the fight against Montiel would happen in November, Donaire said “it will be a helluva fight” and indicated he was “excited, because this is the fight I have been wanting. It’s the best match-up I could ever ask for.”

Donaire conceded that Montiel is “a very strong fighter and a good champion” but that he had “the speed, the height and I think I also have the power. But you never know until you get into that ring.”

Donaire who arrives in Manila on Thursday said he plans on spending one month in the Philippines.

Source

”I am very disappointed but we have no choice but to move on,” said Pacquiao when Arum told him the bad news.

”I have always wanted to please the (boxing) fans. That’s why I badly wanted to fight Mayweather. This is what the whole world wants to see,” said Pacquiao, who has to settle for a fight either with Mexican Antonio Margarito or Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

A deal can de made within the next seven or ten days, according to Arum, and this was not contested by Pacquiao’s consigliore, Mike Koncz, who is in the US attending to very important matters concerning the pound-for-pound king’s needs.

”It wouldn’t take long before we get a deal made,” said Koncz, who expects to return to Manila on Thursday with a deal in hand.

Koncz has been in constant touch with Arum as they work on the finalization of an agreement.

Four cities are bidding to host a Pacquiao fight: Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates), Dallas, Las Vegas and Monterrey (in Mexico).

If Pacquiao decides to meet Margarito, Las Vegas and Monterrey will slug it out to stage it and if it’s Cotto, it’ll be a tossup between Dallas and Abu Dhabi.

Koncz said fighting outside the US has a distinct allure since Mexico doesn’t collect taxes on purses.

”It’ll save Manny millions in taxes if he ends up fighting outside the US,” stressed Koncz, noting that 30 percent of earnings goes to the IRS.

Still, Koncz is hopeful that Pacquiao and Mayweather would eventually find each other on opposite corners.

”Maybe next year (in May 2011),” said Koncz.

Meanwhile, Top Rank is dying to know the schedule of Pacquiao, who also has a new role being Sarangani congressman, so it could map out the promotional activities being lined up.

”We have to see what the congressman’s schedule looks like (before we plan anything),” said Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez. ”We have a boxer (who is) like no other,” said Jimenez.

Source

After weeks of silence, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has finally given a statement on why he refused to approve a proposal for a Manny Pacquiao fight. Mayweather received a proposal a few weeks ago to fight Pacquiao on November 13. He allowed a July 16 deadline to pass without a response. Pacquiao’s promoter, Top Rank, is now lining up either Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto to face Pacquiao on the November date.

Mayweather did not indicate any problems with the proposal, he simply said that he didn’t want to rush into a Pacquiao fight right now. He wants to spend time with his family and relax. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum will try again next year. He wants to make a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight in May 2011.

“I’m not interested in rushing to do anything,” Mayweather told the Associated Press. “I’m not really thinking about boxing right now. I’m just relaxing. I fought about 60 days ago, so I’m just enjoying myself, enjoying life, enjoying my family and enjoying my vacation. Like I said, I’m just supporting my family and relaxing. That’s what I’m doing right now.”

Source

Ross for the last month has been telling me that Haymon was working very hard to get the agreement done with Floyd. A couple of weeks ago I told him I wanted to do this fight very badly, as did Manny, but at a particular point in time we have to move on. By moving on I mean that I had agreed with Ross early on that we would not negotiate any fight with Manny and I have not had any negotiations with any other opponent, whether it is Margarito or Cotto. I have not had any discussions with either of them or their representatives regarding a fight with many Pacquiao. I told Ross that this Friday was the deadline of the end of the exclusivity period and I tell you that next week I’ll be talking to the Cotto and the Margarito camps regarding a fight with Manny Pacquiao.

People have asked me as well as others at Top Rank, does that mean the Mayweather fight is dead? Even thought Mayweather has not responded by the deadline, the deal is dead when we reach a deal with an opponent for Manny’s fight in November. Then we are contractually bound to do that fight and we would look hopefully to do a fight with Floyd next year. In the interim, while this was going on, if Floyd suddenly emerged and said he wanted to do the fight, there would be nothing opposed to getting together and doing the fight. That is our position and I hope it is as clear as I can make it. I don’t want to go into any conjecture as to why. I am just reporting what the facts are and now we can open it up for questions.

At what point while you are negotiating with others, how deep into it would you be willing to change if Floyd presented himself, do you need to have a signed contract with either fighter?

The answer is we wouldn’t need a signed contract if Cotto or Margarito committed to Manny Pacquiao or committed to me a deal. The signed contract would be later. While these negotiations were going on, while I was talking to Manny, if Floyd came to the table, that is the fight that we want more than all others, there is no question about it.

Have you had any direct contact with the Mayweather camp?

Strictly through Ross Greenburg. Ross was committed to making the fight happen and as the president of HBO Sports I felt that the best chance of making the fight happen was to do everything through Ross, almost like he was the mediator and I still believe it was the right way to go. It obviously didn’t work out, not because Ross didn’t do a good job because I think he did in talking to Al Haymon and myself. Obviously the problem was Floyd, for whatever reason, and I’m sure he has some valid reason, didn’t want to commit.

Why was the deadline today as opposed to next week?

Good question. You understand what the deadline is. It is the end of the exclusivity period because we now have to go out and secure an opponent for Manny Pacquiao assuming it won’t be Floyd and we have to mount a campaign and have to get in touch with In-Demand, DirecTV and Dish Networks and get everything in order. Time is going by and also we have to start scheduling press conferences because with Manny Pacquiao you are not dealing with the normal fighter. He is over in the Philippines and he has duties as a Congressman there. Therefore we are limited as to when we can schedule press conferences in the United States.

Has anyone reached out today to the Mayweather side to let them know this was going on?

The answer is no. We have never talked to anybody on the Mayweather side. All conversations have gone through Ross Greenburg and he reported all conversations on the Mayweather side from al Haymon.

You mentioned on June 30 that the deal was agreed to. Is that still your position?

Yes, that is based on my conversations with Ross Greenburg. Understand I have never talked to anyone on the Mayweather side. I have only spoken to Ross Greenburg who has represented to me certain things that he had discussed with Al Haymon on behalf of Mayweather.

Why would Margarito deserve a chance at many Pacquiao?

I am not going to take that up now. That is something you can editorialize when a fight is made.

Do you think if the fight is not made it will have a negative impact on the sport?

Wait a second…I am sure, without knowing, I am sure that there is a very good reason that Floyd Mayweather has for not committing to a fight at this time. I really and truly believe that. Now I am speculating that one of the reasons could be the uncertainty regarding Roger Mayweather and for people that don’t know, Roger Mayweather is scheduled for court in Nevada regarding criminal charges. Now I know how Manny would feel if he had to go into a fight like this without the services of Freddie Roach and presumably Floyd would feel the same way going into a fight like this without the services of his uncle Roger who has been training him for a number of years.

Could the deadline have waited another couple of weeks?

Not really, because I am dealing with another situation. I am representing a fighter who is also a congressman. He has legislative duties and commitments in the Philippines and I have really short windows to do various aspects of the promotion. We will have to do press conferences a lot further out because he will be training for the fight while being a congressman and he will have to fit his training into the legislative sessions. I understand that the congress sits three days a week.

How long will it take to close a deal with Margarito or Cotto?

I have no idea. It may take a week. I have to discuss with Manny who he prefers then get everything put together. It will be Manny’s decision. I do not have a preference. I do not want to prejudice the situation. I want Manny to decide. He is a very intelligent guy and knows what the considerations are and whomever he selects is who we will go after and make the fight.

What is the deadline now for the Mayweather camp?

It would be in the next ten days.

How close do you feel you were to a deal and were there any hints from Mayweather?

The answer is no. They kept assuring Greenburg that an agreement was imminent and that Haymon was working on it and expected an answer shortly and it just never materialized. I don’t blame Haymon. I think he really tried based on what Greenburg said, Haymon really tried to put the fight together.

Did you get any indication Schaefer was on board?

Schaefer’s name was never really mentioned by Ross. It was all Al Haymon. The only idea I had that Golden Boy was involved or that Haymon was talking to Golden Boy was when Oscar said on television or radio that the deal was close to closing. So I assumed at that point Haymon had spoken to Schaefer and he talked to Oscar.

What about the drug testing issue?

I don’t want to get into specifics but I think that issue was resolved. Not as clear-cut as you may be saying it but I believe it was resolved.

But they agreed?

That’s what it seemed to me from what I was hearing from Ross. Remember, I never spoke to Haymon or to Schaefer or anybody else but Ross.

What would be the attraction for the Cotto rematch?

The attraction would be that many would be going for an eighth divisional world title, fighting at a higher weight and that Miguel would have in his corner Emanuel Steward – one of the great cornermen of our time. That certainly would give Cotto more ammunition than going into the fight last time.

And where do you go for the Margarito fight?

We have asked the Nevada commission, based on California, to give him a conditional license to fight in Nevada on the 13th of November and hopefully from Margarito’s standpoint they will agree to that. If not and Manny decides that he wants Margarito; we would do the fight in Monterrey, Mexico. There are big advantages for Manny to fight outside of the United States.

Does the congress have a recess?

Yes. It is complicated but one thing I know is when he fights, they go out of session for 3 weeks. So the idea would be that he would train in Manila and Freddie would be over there and he’s in session Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so he is off Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He would still train on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after the session has concluded. He would not come to the Wild Card to train until three weeks before the fight. That was the plan that was relayed to me.

Do you believe the fight will happen?

It would be a shame if it didn’t happen. I don’t think any of you guys should be too harsh on Floyd in this situation. I would have liked for him to communicate, but I really believe that this issue with the uncle has an affect. I would think that, putting myself in their shoes, that there would be a lot of reluctance of going into this big fight without my trainer. We are not going to know the outcome of this criminal situation for some time.

Are you giving Floyd an extension?

The fight that we want to do is Mayweather. We never said any different or acted any different. Manny wants to and has to fight in November. So we have to proceed in getting him an opponent and wrapping up a fight and if in the interim Floyd decides, despite the Roger situation, he’s ready to fight Manny…absolutely, that’s the fight we want.

Would you expect negotiations with Margarito or Cotto to go relatively smooth?

I would think so. I have never had difficulties with either camp in making a deal…when Cotto fought Manny last November, he agreed to a lesser guarantee than they wanted, but it was a good upside and he ended up making more money than he would have if he achieved that higher guarantee. There is a lot of credibility there – working a deal with a reasonable guarantee and a good upside. The same thing for Margarito when he fought Miguel he took a reasonable guarantee and made a lot of extra money on the upside.

This negotiation seems much calmer than the last time you tried to out this fight together…

Right now I understand Floyd’s position – I believe his position regarding Roger. We know about this serious issue regarding Roger. I can understand Floyd delaying any plans for a future fight until there is a resolution of the Roger situation. Once you understand that, how can you jump on the guy?

When would a press conference take place?

I can’t give an exact time, but it would take place in early August.

If in Monterrey, where would the fight take place?

In an arena. I believe they built a new arena in Monterrey. Our sponsor, Tecate, and the Governor of the state are all making major efforts to bring that fight to Monterrey. There is a tremendous advantage for Pacquiao staging the fight in Mexico because if the fight is in the United States, the withholding is 30% and we are not obligated to withhold anything if the fight is in Mexico. For a Cotto fight, the Abu Dhabi people came to me but nothing has been done there. I spoke to my friends at the UFC regarding the difficulties they had logistically – the people were very cooperative- but logistically doing their event there, and probably for Cotto I would look more to Cowboy Stadium or Las Vegas.

Can we assume Ross Greenburg did not communicate with you any messages?

There was no message – you are correct.

Will Ross continue to talk to the Mayweather camp?

That I don’t know. You’d have to ask him.

The Margarito fight would either be at the MGM in Las Vegas or Monterrey, Mexico. The Cotto fight would either be at Cowboy Stadium or the MGM Grand.

Where does a guy like Tim Bradley or anyone else stand?

Bradley is fighting Saturday. Tim Bradley is a tremendous fighter and he’s a great young man. But the problem with a guy like Tim Bradley is that even though you and I know what a superb fighter he is, the public really doesn’t know. That’s why a lot of these promoters are shouting out names of very good fighters. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars building up our fighters and publicizing them so they are pay-per-view attractions. Losing money on a lot of events making them. The other promoters don’t really promote their fighters. They take money form HBO or Showtime or a little Indian casino and they think they’re doing the kid a big service. I’m not going to give them a free ride on the work we have done.

Paul Williams is a tremendous fighter – a great fighter. But he hasn’t been promoted correctly. He doesn’t have any following, can’t sell any tickets. Nobody is financing the pay-per-view fight. On a HBO fight – HBO pays the money. I’m the one that’s financing the pay-per-view and don’t want to give anyone a free ride.

Would HBO be committed to another fight without Mayweather?

Obviously there would be great disappointment and there is great disappointment not having a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight – no question about it. But they would be interested in being a distributor on Pacquiao’s fight either against Cotto or Margarito. I think I am right about that. Showtime is very interested. That’s something that doesn’t really concern me.

The boxing fans are going to be disappointed but they have to realize they have to cut Floyd Mayweather some slack. I can see his reluctance to commit to a big fight with Manny Pacquiao without having the services of his uncle. If the boxing fans begrudge that – Floyd Mayweather is not saying he will not ever fight Manny Pacquiao. There is always next year. It is something that is bad for the Mayweather family and we all have to understand it.

How much would Pacquiao, Margarito or Cotto make in those fights?

These negotiations will be starting in the next couple of days and right now I have adhered to my promise to Ross and I haven’t negotiated with anybody, Manny or either of those fight camps about a fight in November because we have focused on a fight with Mayweather so now I have to start talking with them and I can’t answer those questions until I do.

Would Cotto have an edge since he was such a big part of the first fight that did so well in Las Vegas? It was reported to be their biggest day in three years.

No, the Asian gamblers came because they perceived Manny to be in a very good fight. I think they would have the same feeling whether it is Margarito or Cotto in November.

Why do you think there has been no communication from the Mayweather camp?

I can’t answer that without speculating. I know the Roger situation, now why Floyd has not addressed it I have no idea and can’t answer it.

Are you disappointed from the non-communication?

Who knows the reason for it and it is unfathomable. I am not surprised. Nothing Surprises me. I just can’t figure it out. But there are a lot of things I can’t figure out, especially as I get older.