Pacquiao vs Margarito set on November

Pacquiao vs Margarito set in November.

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.

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.

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Floyd Mayweather hints he will face Manny Pacquiao

Undefeated American boxer and Yahoo Sports' pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, Jr (41-0) gave the biggest hint yet that a super-fight with Filipino boxer and Ring Magazine's pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2) will be made in November of this year.

Together with rapper 50 Cent, Mayweather disclosed a rap album compilation project that he is working on together with the New York-based rapper, in a recent interview with MTV News.

50 Cent stated that the hip hop album will be released later this year, around the same timeframe of the biggest fight in boxing history.

With that statement, Mayweather chimed in, affirming that the end of the year bout would indeed be the biggest fight in the history of the sport.

The two suggested that by promoting the album around the same timeframe of the superfight, that the massive publicity from boxing would help increase hype - and sales - of the hip hop compilation.

Neither 50 Cent nor Floyd Mayweather would provide any additional details about the album.

The boxer's comment regarding "the biggest fight in the history of the sport" prompted 50 Cent to joke that the two would make so much money they would have to bring in trucks in order to load piles of cash.

Mayweather recently attended game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.

via examiner.com

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De la Hoya: Pacquiao-Mayweather almost a done deal

MANILA, Philippines – Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar de la Hoya spilled the beans on the confidential negotiations for the super showdown between top pound-for-pound fighters Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

In an interview with Spanish broadcasting network Univision, de la Hoya said they are “very close in finalizing the contracts that were once very complicated.”

“I think right now we are very, very close in finalizing the contracts. I can't talk right now in detail about the negotiations but I will say that we are very close,” de la Hoya was quoted by TheBoxingTruth.com.

The negotiations are being done by Pacquiao’s promoter, Top Rank, Inc. big boss Bob Arum, and Mayweather’s representative, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.

“Up until now, it's been a very difficult negotiation process for various reasons but right now we're very close,” added de la Hoya.
Seven-division world champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao

Pacquiao and Mayweather were supposed to face off last March 13 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. But fight talks collapsed because the boxers disagreed on the drug testing protocol

Pacquiao refused to undergo the Olympic-style drug testing procedure, but reversed his stand as long as the blood test would be conducted 14 days before the fight.

Mayweather, who had been silent since Pacquiao’s agreement to undergo blood testing, then made waves with his pronouncement that he would be taking a break from boxing.

Despite this, Arum said the Pacquiao-Mayweather blockbuster bout was still in the cards.

“The two fighters now realize that this fight must be made. It has to be made because the boxing fans want to see it happen and right now it's the biggest fight that can be made in the world,” continued de la Hoya.

The Mexican-American boxing legend, who suffered his last 2 career losses to Mayweather and Pacquiao, stated: “It's going to be a big, big fight!”

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The Ball Is Back In Mayweather's Court; Manny Says OK To 14 Day Window

By Michael Woods

Never before has boxing had so much in common. Hurdles, here, there and everywhere...

The main hurdle to making the November 13 Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather has seemingly been traversed, as the Congressman from Sarangani province said, hard and fast, that he is open to undergoing random drug testing--via analysis of blood and/or urine--14 days before the fight.

This is according to the Manilla Bulletin, which quoted Pacquaio as saying, “As long as they’re not getting a large amount of blood, I am willing to give out blood as close to two weeks before the fight.”

TSS you'll notice has chosen to use the word "seemingly," since it'll be up to Team Mayweather, led by Al Haymon and Floyd Mayweather, with Richard Schaefer acting as emissary, along with Leonard Ellerbe, during negotiations with Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, to sign on the testing protocol. In the previous stage of negotiations, held in December and January, Team Mayweather was holding to the stance that they want Pacquiao to be amenable to a blood test as close to two days before any bout. Pacquiao had countered that he feels excessively weakened when blood is taken from him. He said he felt drained when a large quantity was taken for testing before his March 2005 clash with Erik Morales, a UD12 loss. Was the weakness in his head? Or is it a matter of superstition? That explanation for the 2005 loss didn't loom large in the US five years ago, though it did draw press in the Phillipines, and only truly emerged as an issue during the first failed rounds of talks. Pacquiao fans embrace, by and large, his stance on blood loss, while doubters see his fear of blood loss as a masking agent for another motivation to refuse bloodwork too close to a fight. The blood matter can only be asked and answered by Manny and seems destined to be one of those unanswerable deals, where backers and doubters can find no common ground.

Right before the last negotiations dissolved, Team Mayweather said they'd be OK with a drug test 14 days before the fight. Crucially, the Mayweather crew said, the test did not have to be a blood test. Pacquiao wanted to shut the blood testing window at 24 days out from the tussle, though he agreed to have his urine tested, with no limitations. (Though Floyd fans point to the fact that there isn't a fully reliable urine test to detect HGH...) Ten days difference in testing dates seemingly were THE reason why a $100 million clash wasn't going down. Those were the terms in early January; have the goalposts been moved since then? Hard to tell, since this round of dealmaking has been held outside the glare of us keyboard tappers. Top Rank reps were in New York on Wednesday, TR reps said they were not at liberty to disclose the location of Top Rank chief Bob Arum. Might he be holed up somewhere with Schaefer, finalizing terms for a Nov. 13 mega-clash? One could easily surmise that...

source bleacherreport.com

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Talks to resume anew for Pacquiao-Mayweather mega fight

NEW YORK—Manny Pacquiao may soon turn his attention from campaigning for Congress to negotiating the details on the richest fight in boxing history.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, told The Associated Press on Monday that discussions could begin as early as Tuesday for a bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr., once results are in from the Philippine elections. Pacquiao is running for Congress for the second time.

The matchup involving boxing’s two most high-profile fighters was discussed at length earlier this year, but negotiations fell apart when the sides could not agree on drug testing protocol.
Both took different fights, with Pacquiao soundly beating Joshua Clottey at the new Cowboys Stadium near Dallas, and Mayweather routing welterweight champion Shane Mosley in Las Vegas.

“I think the fight will happen," said Roach, who was in New York with another of his fighters, Amir Khan, who defends his junior welterweight title against Paulie Malignaggi on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

“It will probably be November, maybe October," Roach added. “November’s not a great pay-per-view month, but I think it will happen."

Roach wouldn’t say whether Pacquiao would budge on the drug testing dilemma. Mayweather has said that every fight he takes, beginning with Mosley, will include Olympic-style blood testing along with the typical urine tests required by most athletic commissions. That means the fighters could have blood drawn in the days leading up to the fight.

Pacquiao believes giving blood makes him weak and refused to do so within 24 days of a fight.

“If Manny Pacquiao can take a blood and urine test then we have a fight," Mayweather said shortly after his victory May 1. “If not, no fight."

Both fighters months ago agreed to what is usually the major sticking point in negotiations with a deal to split the proceeds evenly. That may not happen the second time around, though, depending on how the pay-per-view numbers shake out from their other bouts. Pacquiao-Clottey generated about 700,000 buys while Mayweather-Mosley is expected to be over 1.1 million.

That could give some additional leverage to Mayweather, even though his opponent was much better known. Other than the stadium venue, Pacquiao was the only real draw in his bout.
One thing that won’t become an issue is Pacquiao’s potential duties in Congress.

“When he fights they close down Parliament and all the terrorists call for a peace," Roach said, only half jokingly. “It’s not going to change anything. They’ll just announce him as Congressman Manny Pacquiao, that’s all."

Roach had been receiving constant updates from promoter Bob Arum, who spent the last few days before the election in the Philippines. Roach said early returns show Pacquiao “winning in a landslide" against 61-year-old Roy Chiongbian, who comes from a politically powerful family.

Computer problems and campaign-related violence, which has killed more than 30 people in the past three months, were the main concerns in the voting. Official hope the results set a new standard for the country’s fragile democracy, where government corruption is common.
“He wants change," Roach said of Pacquiao, who lost decisively in his first attempt at politics. “I think it’s genuine. People see that he wants to help his country, and that’s why they’re voting. That’s why they support him." - AP

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