Pacman: No tradeoff

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao will never use the lawsuit, which he filed against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and company as a bargaining chip for his highly-anticipated super-fight with the undefeated American.

“That was never the intention,” said Pacquiao’s adviser, Mike Koncz, yesterday after reports came out that the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight could take place if both sides reach a compromise.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, was quoted the other day as saying the fight could happen if Mayweather drops his demand for random blood-testing, and Pacquiao drops the lawsuit.

The Filipino champion has beaten anybody thrown at him, at any weight over the last five years, prompting Mayweather to accuse Pacquiao as taking illegal performance enhancers.

Pacquiao hurled Mayweather to court, saying the accusations have damaged his reputation, and included Floyd Sr., the uncle, Roger, and his promoters from Golden Boy in the lawsuit.

But Pacquiao, said Koncz, has no plans of dropping the case just to get the fight on. Besides, Pacquiao said he’s ready to retire, and not unless he gets what he wants he may never ever fight Mayweather.

“It’s Floyd who needs me. I can retire now if I want to,” said Pacquiao.

“Why do we need to use the lawsuit as a bargaining chip? That’s ridiculous,” Koncz told The STAR from General Santos City where Pacquiao is busy campaigning for the May 10 elections.

“Manny’s reputation has been tarnished. And we just talked to our lawyers in Los Angeles the day before yesterday. It’s full steam ahead as far as the lawsuit is concerned,” said the Canadian adviser.

Koncz stressed that the only way the lawsuit would go away is if Pacquiao is “compensated monetarily or the Mayweathers are punished by the court and asked to pay millions or if there’s an off-the-court settlement.”

Koncz said not even a public apology from the Mayweathers and their promoters can clear the air.

“Manny has said time and again that the fight is going to happen only if Floyd Mayweather lets the commission do what it’s supposed to do,” said Koncz, referring to the old drug-testing procedure.

Pacquiao said it’s always been the commission that has done the testing, through urine tests and blood tests before and after the fight, but not too close to the fight, and it should be the same way.

The Filipino pound-for-pound champion said Mayweather’s demand for random blood testing, which could happen the day before or even closer to the fight, was the American’s only way out of the fight.

“I’m sure Manny won’t change his position because we’re not spending thousands and thousands of dollars for the lawsuit just to use it as a bargaining chip for a fight. No way,” added Koncz.

“It was never our intention to file the lawsuit and use it later on as a bargaining chip for a fight,” he added.

A Pacquiao vs Mayweather could generate revenues of more than $100 million and the fighters could earn $40 million to $50 million each on their purse, pay-per-view sales, television rights, merchandise and ticket sales.

However, many believe that Mayweather was not yet ready to face Pacquiao after a retirement that lasted almost two years. So, he fought Juan Manuel Marquez instead, and will climb the ring against Shane Mosley in May.

“The damage to his reputation and lost business opportunities could be in the tens of millions of dollars,” Pacquiao’s American lawyer, Dan Petrocelli, said in a previous interview.

Pacquiao filed the suit in a U.S. District Court in Nevada against the Mayweathers and Golden Boy Promotions executives Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer, alleging that they made false and defamatory statements accusing him of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

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Fight on if Pacman, Floyd meet halfway

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - Freddie Roach sees the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. super-fight happening only if both fighters agree to bury the hatchet and let their punches do the talking.

“I’m sure there’s going to be a tradeoff between Manny dropping the lawsuit and him (Mayweather) dropping the drug test,” boxing’s hottest trainer told fighthype.com.

Bad blood developed between Pacquiao and Mayweather when the undefeated American accused the reigning pound-for-pound champion of taking illegal drugs.

A fight between them, one that could have generated $100 million in revenue, was almost a done deal until Mayweather demanded an Olympic-style blood-testing.

Then too much animosity ensued. Pacquiao said Mayweather’s demand was his only way out of the fight, and the other camp thought that refusing the blood test could be a sign of guilt.

Pacquiao sued the Mayweathers, and the super-fight went up in smoke. Pacquiao ended up fighting Joshua, and Mayweather fights Shane Mosley on May 1.

Roach said a compromise should help put the fight together.

“I think that Mayweather is going to let the (boxing) commission do their job, as they always do. He’s saying now that he wants to clean up the sport,” said the four-time Trainer of the Year.

“I don’t think steroids are that used in boxing to be honest with you. I’m sure they’re out there because it’s part of our life in the society we live in today,” he said.

“We’re not going to let Mayweather run the show,” said Roach.

He added that giving in to Mayweather’s demand is like giving away “the first two rounds of the fight,” and sooner or later the flamboyant American may ask for “16-ounce gloves” or “two-minute rounds.”

Pacquiao defeated Clottey to keep his WBO welterweight crown but said last week that fight, witnessed by a live crowd of 51,000 at the Cowboys Stadium, may be his last.

Pacquiao said he’s thinking of retirement so he could focus on politics (he’s eyeing a congressional seat in the May 10 elections), but added that a fight with Mayweather could push through if he beats Mosley.

“And if the price is right,” said Pacquiao.

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Manny-Clottey showdown earns $35.3 million in PPV

Source: By Dino Maragay/contributor (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao’s bout with Ghana’s Joshua Clottey attracted a total of 700,000 pay-per-view buys translating to $35.3 million in domestic television revenue, a report said Wednesday.

According to espn.com, the figures were disclosed by Mark Taffet of HBO PPV, which aired the Pacquiao-Clottey “The Event” fight live from the famed Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, last March 14.

Taffet was very vocal about his satisfaction over the fight’s success, which he said sold better than expected.”We are extremely pleased with the pay-per-view performance of Pacquiao-Clottey. Fights like this traditionally do not exceed 400,000 buys,” Taffet said.

The HBO executive underscored Pacquiao’s soaring fame as the key factor in hauling in such massive PPV numbers.

“It is a testament to the popularity of Pacquiao and the vitality of the sport, and it gives us great encouragement as we look toward the May 1 (Floyd) Mayweather-(Shane) Mosley pay-per-view fight,” he added

The breakdown of sales for Pacquiao-Clottey tussle was 350,000 buys from cable homes, 310,000 from satellite homes and 40,000 from telco homes, espn.com added.

Pacquiao, widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the planet, cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision victory over a surprisingly passive Clottey.

The fight was for the Filipino’s WBO welterweight title.

In the same report, espn.com’s Dan Rafael noted how Pacquiao has become a major attraction in the US.

“In 12 pay-per-view fights, he (Pacquiao) has generated 6.25 million buys and $320 million in revenue. The bulk of the total has come from his last four fights: Clottey, Miguel Cotto (1.2 million buys), Ricky Hatton (800,000 buys) and Oscar De La Hoya (1.25 million buys),” Rafael wrote.

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'Fight Mayweather, then retire'

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - Now is not the right time for Manny Pacquiao to retire.

“He must fight Mayweather first,” said the boxer’s adviser Wakee Salud yesterday after Pacquiao, at 31 still at his prime, announced the other day that he’s seriously thinking of retirement.

Pacquiao, who has won his last 12 fights, including big ones against Oscar dela Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, said he would consult with his family and see if they’re all in the same page.

But Salud said as long as Floyd Mayweather Jr. is around, trash-talking his way into the elite boxing circle, it would be very difficult or impossible for Pacquiao to just turn his back on the sport.

“I don’t believe that he’s going to retire soon,” said Salud from Cebu.

“It’s a tough call. He can announce today that he’s retiring but after four or five months he will surely look for a fight,” said Salud, and that’s regardless of what happens to Pacquiao’s bid in the May elections.

The matchmaker from the south said it would be much easier for Pacquiao to hang up his gloves if Mayweather did not come out of his own retirement last year, in pursuit of the super-fight with the Filipino boxer.

“As long as Mayweather is there, and they haven’t fought, it will be very tough for Manny to retire,” he said.

Salud explained that there’s just too much money to be made in a fight against Mayweather, and with so much hype and attention the projected bout has generated, it just makes it more attractive.

Pacquiao, who has earned $53 million for his last four fights, including the $12 million he got for beating Joshua Clottey last March 13 in Dallas, stands to earn as much as $50 million if he takes on Mayweather.

“The purse will be huge. How can he retire? And aside from the money, the Mayweather fight is the fight that the people will ask for. Manny is a boxer, he’s a fighter. If he is called to a fight, he will fight Mayweather,” said Salud.

“I don’t think he would simply retire.”

What Pacquiao should do, his adviser said, is face Mayweather in November, beat him, and if he wins, then he can retire.

“Because once he beats Mayweather, only then can he say that he has accomplished everything in boxing. And once he beats Mayweather, everybody can say that there’s no one else out there for Manny to fight,” said Salud.

“That’s the best time for Manny to retire – once he beats Mayweather. That will be the perfect ending to his career,” he added.

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Marquez, Margarito, Valero next for Pacman

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not on the short and early list of candidates for Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent.

Those being mentioned as a potential opponent for the Filipino pound-for-pound champion when he returns to action in November are Venezuelan knockout artist Edwin Valero, disgraced champion Antonio Margarito and old-time Pacquiao rival Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said he wants the undefeated Valero who has a strong penchant for knockouts. He has knocked out all his 27 opponents, his first 18 fights ending right in the first round. The 28-year-old wrecking ball had said time and again he wants to lay his hands on the Filipino icon.

Roach said he’d like that to happen.

“I’ve been watching him a little bit. I know he’s a big puncher. He’s a southpaw and does pose some difficulties. He’s better than just a guy who could punch but I think that’s the best marketable fight out there for us,” Roach told boxingscene.com.

“Valero is licensed in Texas. If we do the fight there we could sell out the whole place. You don’t have to close half of it down,” said Roach, referring to the massive Cowboys Stadium where close to 51,000 fans came to watch Pacquiao last week in his lopsided 12-round clash with Joshua Clottey.

The stadium, built by Texas tycoon Jerry Jones for $1.2 billion, can house 108,000 fans, but for the Pacquiao fight, actually the first boxing match ever held at the venue, the uppermost section was curtained off. Roach thinks that a Pacquiao-Valero can fill the entire place.

Valero is licensed to fight in Texas but nowhere else in the United States after he failed a medical in New York years ago due to a skull injury he suffered during a motorcycle accident. He has plied his trade in Japan, Panama, Venezuela and Mexico over the last couple of years and would fight Pacquiao on the moon.

Arum, however, wants Margarito next, because Valero is a “nobody” in the US.

“Freddie is the greatest trainer in the world, but he needs to leave this up to the promoters. Valero might be the best but frankly he’s an inside story in boxing. The public at large don’t know who the hell he is,” Arum told boxingscene.com, after reports came out that Pacquiao is being lined up for a November fight.

“That (Valero’s status) can change, and that’s my job as Valero’s promoter, to change that, but I don’t think I can accomplish that job that quickly. We’re all on the same team but I’m not a miracle worker. We need someone the country is familiar with and Margarito (also under Top Rank) is someone they are certainly familiar with,” said Arum.

Margarito was suspensded after he was found using illegal wraps in his fight with Shane Mosley in January last year. He was supposed to fight in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Clottey but, with no license to box, ended up with a date in May. Then after another fight sometime in July, Arum think’s he’d be ready for Pacquiao in November.

Mayweather, the self-proclaimed pound-for-pound king, will face Mosley on May 1 in Las Vegas. A victory by Mosley will further keep a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight from happening because of a rematch clause in their fight contract.

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Pacquiao pay-per-view way below target

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - It seems very unlikely that the pay-per-view sales for the recent Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas will come close to the average PPV numbers the Filipino icon has posted in his last three fights.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum has come up with numbers to expect from the recent fight, and they’re way below the 1.25 million PPV buys for Pacquiao’s battle with Oscar dela Hoya and Miguel Cotto, and the 850,000 hits with Ricky Hatton.

“All we have is the satellite numbers and they are very strong,” Arum told ESPN’s Dan Rafael, five days after Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound champion, turned Clottey’s body into a punching bag and ran away with a unanimous decision.

Arum said while nothing is definite yet, the numbers for the March 13 fight should exceed 650,000.

“We’re not giving out any numbers yet because we have very little (information) from the cable systems, which you need. The cable numbers are very fragmented, so it could be a few days. But the number that you can’t go any lower than is 650,000 for the fight.

“That is the worst it would do, but it should be a lot higher,” said Arum.

Pacquiao was guaranteed $12 million for the fight, and should get a couple millions more from his PPV shares. If the numbers get stuck at 650,000, it will translate to around $32.5 million from which the boxers get a share.

Clottey was given $1.2 million for taking on the sport’s hottest figure, and he seemed so content that he gave up his chances of pulling off a victory. For 12 rounds, he was so busy defending and just trying to stay on his feet.

A crowd of 50,994 came to watch the fight at the $1.2 billion stadium.

Pacquiao has averaged a little over a million PPV buys in his fights with Dela Hoya, Hatton and Cotto when a few years ago he was so happy doing around 350,000 for his bouts with Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera or Juan Manuel Marquez.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao’s business adviser, Eric Pineda, yesterday said the 31-year-old Pinoy champion is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Monday, a day ahead of the original plan.

Pacquiao was scheduled to hold a concert in Hawaii this Sunday, but it was called off due to poor ticket sales. Instead, Pacquiao and his wife, Jinkee, will push their departure date to Saturday (LA time).

Pineda said from the airport he will be taken straight to his hotel for a brief rest. Then he attends his traditional Thanksgiving Mass at the Quiapo Church and will probably proceed to the GMA-7 headquarters.

Pacquiao has skipped his routine visit to the DENR headquarters in Quezon City, and according to Pineda, the boxer has yet to receive any word or any invitation for him to drop by at Malacañang for an audience with the President.

Pacquiao flies to his hometown in Sarangani on Tuesday to get ready for his campaign for the May 10 elections.

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Clottey forecast, 'Manny will crush Floyd'

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

HOLLYWOOD – Joshua Clottey thinks that Manny Pacquiao has the tools to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“To be frank with you, the fight will be very, very tough for Mayweather,” said Clottey, who lost a unanimous decision to Pacquiao last Saturday at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

By this time, the 33-year-old Clottey must be home in Ghana, probably looking for a bank where he would keep his earnings from the Pacquiao fight. He was guaranteed $1.2 million for the fight.

It was the biggest paycheck ever in the ring, and even if he retires today, he and his family, including his 10-year-old daughter, can live a good life in Ghana or if he’d like to remain in his tiny New York apartment.

Clottey took all the punches Pacquiao threw at him but never went down. Because he covered up so well that Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times wrote that he fought like a turtle on the ring.

He believes that Pacquiao has the skills, speed, the power to beat Mayweather.

“Pacquiao is very fast and he keeps on throwing punches. Mayweather doesn’t throw too much. So, Manny will give him problems. Lots of problems,” said Clottey.

The former welterweight champion of the world said he has no regrets on losing to Pacquiao, and the way he fought the fight, spending more time covering up that he almost forgot to throw his punches.

“I think I did my best. But Manny Pacquiao has defeated almost everybody and he knocked them out,” said Clottey, seemingly content that he was up on his feet when the final bell sounded before 51,000 fans.

“Unfortunately, I lost. I did what I can. I did my best. Maybe next time I can improve,” said Clottey.

But there will be no next time. Not against Pacquiao, said the Filipino’s trainer, Freddie Roach.

“He was satisfied with going the distance with Manny Pacquiao. And he did. But HBO will never use him again. They told me. If you fight for a world title, you don’t go on a survival mode. You try to win the title cause you know one it’s a once in a lifetime.”

“He’ll never get another title shot in his life,” Roach said after the fight.

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Biggest fight bound to happen this year

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

HOLLYWOOD – The super-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather could take place within the year.

“Yun naman ang gusto ko (That’s what I want),” said Pacquiao at his luxurious La Pallazo luxury apartment Monday or two days after his 12-round victory against Joshua Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium.

Pacquiao said in the post-fight press conference last Saturday that while the fight with Mayweather is “the fight the people want,” it’s really up to the self-proclaimed pound-for-pound champion if he wants it, too.

“It’s up to him. I have no problem fighting him. But I don’t think he’s ready now,” said Pacquiao, the WBO welterweight king.

He said Mayweather’s demands for an Olympic-style drug-testing when boxing has always adhered with the rules laid down by the commission is the best way to dodge the bullet, and instead found himself facing Shane Mosley on May 1.

Mayweather should be the favorite against Mosley, the reigning WBA welterweight champion, and if he succeeds, calls for a Pacquiao-Mayweather unification bout will be even harder to ignore and much harder to resist.

One of Pacquiao’s advisers, Wakee Salud, said Mayweather may just be buying time by avoiding an early clash with Pacquiao. But after the Mosley fight, then the 33-year-old American should be ready for the biggest fight in history.

“I think the fight will happen. It has to happen,” said Salud, a matchmaker from Cebu, and one of the very few persons who gets to call Pacquiao and talk to him anytime of the day, anywhere the boxing icon is.

“That will be the biggest fight in history. Both fighters know that,” said Salud of the super-fight where both boxers stand to get no less than $30 million each as long as they agree to do it any place on earth.

Salud said Mayweather coming out of retirement, at a time when Pacquiao is almost running out of opponents in every division he chose to invade, is a big sign that the trash-talking boxer wants a crack at the Filipino.

“Pacquiao is the only reason Mayweather came out of retirement. He knows that there’s a lot of money to be made by facing Pacquiao. But he’s not ready yet,” said Salud.

No wonder Mayweather, who formally announced his return to the ring, against Juan Manuel Marquez, on the eve of Pacquiao’s fight with Ricky Hatton last May, chose to fight Shane Mosley two months from now.

Mayweather knocked out Marquez, and is favored to beat Mosley, as a tuneup for the Pacquiao fight.

“I think it (Pacquiao-Mayweather) will happen this year,” added Saud.

Notes: While his wife, Jinkee, went out shopping at The Grove on a sun-blessed Monday afternoon, Manny Pacquiao was in his LA apartment entertaining more than a dozen visitors with a “friendly” card game of “Pusoy Dos.” And while he had one eye glued on the game he was playing, he had the other glued on the plasma screen showing a game between the Boston Celtics, his home team even when he’s far away, against the Detroit Pistons. “May pusta ako dyan (I have money on that),” he said. And it’s no friendly bet. The Celtics won by a mile, 119-93... Pacquiao is scheduled to hold a concert in Hawaii on Sunday and if it happens will fly straight to Manila the following day... Traditionally, Pacquiao does his “thank you” visit to the Wild Card Gym the Monday after the fight, but this time he had to skip it because his chief trainer, Freddie Roach, flew to New York for the press conference of the Amir Khan-Paul Malignaggi fight on May 15 at the Madison Square Garden. Roach, who trains Khan, will be back in LA on Wednesday. Pacquiao said he’ll be at the gym that day.

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Pacquiao a one-dimensional amateur - Floyd Jr.

Source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)

HOLLYWOOD – Floyd Mayweather Jr. was probably sitting comfortably in his Las Vegas mansion watching Manny Pacquiao battle – or, to put it better, batter – Joshua Clottey for 12 rounds last Saturday in Dallas.

Mayweather liked what he saw in the sense that Pacquiao, according to the ex-pound-for-pound champion, was exposed on that cold night as being a “one-dimensional fighter” who he also described as “an amateur.”

In an article that just came out of cagereport.com, Mayweather, hot on a comeback trail and out to regain the lofty title he once held, mentioned things that might soon force Pacquiao to fight him under any condition.

“Personally, I think Pacquiao got exposed in that fight for being one-dimensional,” he said.

“You can have all (the) offense ability in the world but with no defense you’re not going to last long against a good counter puncher such as myself. Look at the way Clottey was getting through, each time he threw something it landed.”

He may be right that Clottey, despite spending most of the time covering up, did land some beautiful punches that caught Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach by surprise, and that the Ghanaian would have done better if only he threw more punches.

Mayweather said despite the low volume of punches Pacquiao took from Clottey, the 31-year-old Filipino welterweight champion walked out of the Cowboys Stadium bearing signs of a tough fight, with some swelling and welts under his right eye.

“Then at the end Pacquiao was all busted up. When’s the last time you’ve seen my face all messed up like that? That’s the difference between an amateur and a true pound-for-pound boxer,” he said.

“I think Pacquiao gave the fans a boring fight. He was punching his arms for all 12 rounds. At least when you watch Floyd Mayweather you know you’ll be seeing non-stop action for 30 minutes straight and that’s what you’ll see on May 1st,” the undefeated fighter said.

Mayweather said the 51,000 fans who came to watch “The Event” in Dallas will see the difference when he gets to face World Boxing Association welterweight champion Shane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

He said the people will have to judge for themselves.

“The attendance numbers ain’t nothing compared to what I have drawn in the past or what I would have drawn if that was me in the ring that night, everybody knows that. Half those seats were empty in the back and people say Pacquiao is a draw?”

Mayweather, despite a long layoff which he ended with a knockout win over Juan Manuel Marquez last September, now considers himself as the biggest draw, and will again prove that once he gets into the ring
with Pacquiao.

The fight almost happened but disagreements over the conduct of drug testing derailed the fight that the whole world wants to see. Sooner or later tough, it should happen simply because it’s too big to be ignored and shelved.

“Let’s not forget who generated a revenue of $2.5 million in one fight alone. The only reason why he’s popular is because he’s an ethnic minority and from the Philippines so it’s something special. If he was from Africa he would be just another boxer,” he said.

Mayweather also justified his demand for Olympic-style drug-testing.

“The thing is I am just looking out for the good of the sport, everyone should compete on a fair level but he (Pacquiao) doesn’t want that. I’m not going to say what he is or isn’t on but lets just say that HGH is one hell of a drug. All roads lead to Floyd Mayweather, we all know that,” he said.

“If he wants to fight me, he doesn’t have to look far. Just look for the biggest mansion in Vegas and that’s me. The matter of the fact is I put the offer on the table. Once I get Mosley out of the way then we’ll see what Pacquiao has to say. Until then I don’t want to hear about him.”

When everything has been said and done, Mayweather has no choice but to beat Mosley - if he can. And then he can call out Pacquiao’s name.

And the fight might just take place.

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