Manny Pacquiao: Floyd Mayweather 'needs me to bolster his career'

MANILA (AP) — Manny Pacquiao is still open to fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr., but is waiting for the challenge to come from the other side and for promoters to iron out a spat over drug testing.

"I came this far in my boxing career without Mayweather, so I see no need to call him out," Pacquiao told reporters Monday. "He needs me to bolster his career.

"I am open to him fighting me anytime he wants to."

Pacquiao returned to thousands of cheering fans in Manila to celebrate his latest victory over Joshua Clottey in Dallas. He'll now focus on a bid to enter politics, campaigning for a seat in the Philippines' House of 

Representatives in the May 10 national elections.

Mayweather's insistence on Olympic-style testing was the primary reason negotiations fell through in January for a megafight against Pacquiao. Mayweather wanted blood tests up to 14 days before the fight, while Pacquiao claims he feels weak after drawing blood and would not agree to testing within 24 days.

The negotiations quickly deteriorated, and Pacquiao signed to fight Clottey while Mayweather turned his attention to welterweight champion Shane Mosley.

Mayweather will face Mosley in Las Vegas on May 1 after both agreed to undergo an unlimited number of unannounced blood and urine tests before and after the fight.

"He should win against Mosley. If not, Mosley and I will fight," Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao is now concentrating on the national elections. His 2007 campaign fell short, but this time Pacquiao said he is better prepared.

"I have prepared for my political plans even before I faced Clottey last week," he said. "I am ready to campaign."

The two-month campaign starts later this week. Apart from running for his own seat in southern Sarangani province, Pacquiao is also campaigning for presidential aspirant Manny Villar, a senator and the richest politician in the country.

Villar raised Pacquiao's hand after welcoming him at a hotel Monday, before the boxer headed for a church service and a courtesy call in the presidential palace.

Asked if he plans to retire from boxing if he wins at the election, the 31-year-old Pacquiao said he was undecided.

"My own mother asked me to stop boxing. We'll talk about it," he said.

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I hope like any boxing fans in the world to see Pacquiao-Maywether clash in the ringside before Manny stops boxing even though he has nothing to prove.

Hopkins-Jones rematch is a lesson for Pacquiao and Mayweather

by Norman Frauenheim

It is fascinating to listen to Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. They might not belong on a pound-for-pound list these days, but word-for-word they could challenge Charles Barkley. In the interview game, Hopkins and Jones are as good as anybody.


They provided an insightful double-feature a couple of days ago in a conference call about an April 3 fight. Their rematch at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay has generated everything from outrage to concern. The mixed response from media and fans is at least predictable and perhaps inevitable whenever legends closer to Hall of Fame induction than their primes prepare to fight.

A couple of examples:
Jones, as wise as he once was quick, acknowledged he is aware of fears some have for his well-being.
“I take my hat off to them,’’ said Jones, 41, who has been stopped three times in the last six years. “I thank them for being concerned about me, because that’s a great thing.’’
Then, there was Hopkins, funny, controversial and just as wise.
“This is not some clown reality-show where two wrestlers, two boxers, two old entertainers, two old singers square off,’’ said Hopkins, 45, who is favored to avenge a 1993 loss by decision to Jones. “This is the real deal.’’

 I suspect the call will prove to be better than the fight.

It also is important for a lesson left unsaid, yet current and perilous if ignored by the best-and brightest in today’s generation. I hope Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., were – are — listening. The Jones-Hopkins rematch should have happened a decade ago. Pacquiao-Mayweather should have happened on March 13.

For each should-have, the circumstances are different. But Jones and Hopkins can’t redo the specifics — an unresolved dispute over money – that led to a breakdown of a rich, relevant rematch that might have led to another.

“I was the undisputed middleweight and he was the undisputed light-heavyweight,’’ Hopkins said. “It would have been great.’’

It could have been one or two for the books.

But Hopkins, Jones and the sport were robbed of that opportunity by financial percentages that today are forgettable, if not petty. The real loss, perhaps, was in a percentage of fans. Nobody remembers the first fight on a dreary night at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. on the undercard of a main event featuring a Riddick Bowe stoppage of Jesse Ferguson.

“I still remember Larry Merchant saying that if the wind wasn’t blowing in the stadium, everybody would have gone to sleep,’’ Hopkins said.

Many of them did during the years when Jones and Hopkins matured into the best of their trade. Nearly 10 years ago, they were the fight the public wanted, yet didn’t get. It would have been a rematch only in name. In fact, it would have been an awakening for a public and media increasingly turned off by boxing.

Since then, the sport has repeatedly attempted to resurrect itself. There are promising signs, but the state of the game returns to the critical list if Pacquiao-Mayweather follows the path of the Hopkins-Jones rematch.

Throughout the conference call Wednesday, I couldn’t help but imagine another call, 10 years from now, with Mayweather and Pacquiao, both forty-something and both trying to sell their first fight in 2020 with awkward explanations about why they didn’t fight in 2010.

The issue has been Mayweather’s demand and Pacquiao rejection of Olympic-style drug testing. In a few months, it might be about money, especially if Mayweather beats Shane Mosley on May 1 in front of a bigger pay-per-view audience than the announced 700,000 for Pacquiao’s victory over Joshua Clottey.

There are projections of three million for Mayweather-Mosley. Even if it is half of that at 1.5 million, Mayweather could return to the bargaining table with an argument that he deserves the lion’s share, instead of the 50-50 which had been agreed upon before talks broke down over random blood tests.

Ten years from now, that and who-knows-what-else could be hard to explain. But the lesson is there, thanks to Hopkins and Jones, whose fight is all about timing. It’s the wrong time for them, but still the right one for Pacquiao and Mayweather.
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I hope that Pacquiao-Mayweather bout will happen at the perfect time which is now. I don't want to wait for years.

Pacquiao-Clottey generates 700,000 pay-per-view buys

Manny Pacquiao's 12-round decision victory against Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium generated 700,000 HBO pay-per-view buys and $35.3 million in revenue, the network announced Tuesday.

"The pay-per-view performance of Pacquiao-Clottey significantly exceeded our expectations," Mark Taffet, senior vice president for HBO PPV, said Tuesday. "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."

Pacquiao's 12 pay-per-view fights have generated 6.25 million buys and $320 million in pay-per-view revenue. — Bob Velin
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Fighting for a not so known Clottey, Pacquiao proves his popularity as the greatest boxer today and maybe of all-time.

Will a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather Jr. Fight Ever Happen?

What would be the biggest draw in the boxing industry today? If you were to ask a boxing purest they would say they want to see a Pacquiao-Mayweather, Jr. bout. As a matter of fact it is the only thing boxing inner circles are talking about. If it were to take place the pay-per-view draws would be off the charts, which is exactly what the promoters salivate over. To quote Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr., "Show Me the MONEY!"

Manny Pacquiao's most recent bout vs. a relatively unknown, Joshua Clottey, drew a whopping 700,000 buys. If he can draw that versus a no-name like Clottey, just imagine what a highly anticipated matchup like Pacquiao vs. Mayweather Jr. would pull in.

However there are problems with putting together this bout, most notably Mayweather's camp wants Pacquiao to take a test proving he isn't on the juice. Unfortunately, Pacquiao's camp insists that he isn't and they refuse to take a test to proving that claim. Mayweather insists that there will never be a fight until a test is taken.

Second problem is Mayweather's take on the proceeds. His camp wants a 65-35 split. Problem is that if Pacquiao can pull 700k buys with Clottey, there is little bargaining power for Mayweather. This means that Manny is in the drivers seat and Mayweather must put up or shut up.

Let's hope to see both of these fighter's man up and square off. It will be a fight of the ages!

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I think many people were tired of Mayweather's bunch of alibis to fight Pacquiao. Just want to ensure his flawless undefeated record but still he must proved those records. Fight Pacquiao!

Manny Pacquiao Will Fight Floyd Mayweather and Then Retire: Doubtful

by Colin Linneweber, Senior Analyst

As expected, WBO world welterweight champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao severely outclassed former IBF welterweight titlist Joshua “The Hitter” Clottey to earn a lopsided unanimous decision victory last weekend at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), the first boxer in history to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions, acted as a puncher and Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs) played the role of a willing punching bag.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The final punch statistics showed that Pacquiao landed 246 of 1,231 punches in comparison to Clottey’s paltry total of 108 of 399.

Now that Clottey is an utter afterthought, Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, will begin to seek for the Filipino icon’s next opponent.

The public has long clamored for a matchup that would pit Pacquiao versus “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs).

Unfortunately, an extremely lucrative Pacquiao-Mayweather prizefight seems unlikely because the two insanely stubborn and egotistical camps haven’t been able to agree on a drug testing protocol at this juncture.

Mayweather is now scheduled to fight current WBA welterweight champ “Sugar” Shane Mosley May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

A potential adversary that has been mentioned for Pacquiao is disgraced former WBA, IBF and WBO welterweight titleholder Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito.

In order for Margarito to even be eligible to scrap, he first needs to regain his license to box.

The “Tijuana Tornado” had his boxing license justifiably revoked by the California State Athletic Commission for “at least a year” last February after it was confirmed that he attempted to battle Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) with a plaster-like substance inside of his hand wraps.

Thankfully, Margarito was caught and proved to be a cowardly charlatan by officials at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before the match began and he had the opportunity to seriously injure Mosley with his cement fists.

Once Margarito had his illegal hand wraps removed, the “Tijuana Tornado” was promptly brutalized by Mosley and defeated by ninth round TKO.

Margarito is the quintessential tough and rugged Mexican pugilist in the ring.

Nevertheless, his attempted actions against Mosley are a cardinal sin in boxing and they should never be forgiven.

Plus, Margarito is simply not in the same sphere as Pacquiao is as a boxer.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Dedham’s Freddie Roach, said he would like to see “Pac-Man” fight Mayweather and then forever retire from the vicious sport of boxing.

“Mayweather and be done with it,” said Roach, 49, a four-time trainer of the year who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last decade. “There are no more challenges out there. I know there are some fights, but will the general public really want to buy that? I’d like to see him go out on top and not be one of those cases that stayed too long.

Manny has things to fall back on that others don’t. He’s an actor, a singer, he’s running for Congress. Why is Roy Jones still fighting? Because he doesn’t know anything else but boxing. Manny does.”

Roach (39-13, 15 KOs) fought as a professional lightweight for nine years himself and he blames his ailment on competing in the Sweet Science for too long.

“People ask me, ‘Why would you want the guy you make the most money off to quit?’” said Roach. “We’ve done well with each other. I’d rather see him quit than go on after Mayweather. It is more important to me that he has a long and healthy life when this thing is over.”

Boxing fans want, and deserve, to see Pacquiao versus Mayweather.

Sadly, boxing has aptly been called “the red light district of sports” and fans rarely receive what they warrant.

Despite a purse that could pay both prizefighter’s in excess of $30 million apiece, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will never fight.

Typically, boxing and its deprived fans will be the biggest losers yet again.

Now, in the meantime, Bob Arum just needs to find Pacquiao another slouch to lambaste.

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We can really tell what will happen if ever Pacquaio fight Mayweather, but I know the world is really excited about this.