Pacquiao vs Clottey

Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum has narrowed down the list of Manny Pacquiao’s opponents to just three: Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Floyd Mayweather.

Unbeaten Edwin Valero has been dropped as the Venezuelan has entered a drug rehabilitation facility in the city of Merida after a nasty incident involving his wife and medical personnel.

“Poor Valero,” said Arum from his Las Vegas home yesterday, sounding disenchanted that the heavy-handed fighter has fallen off the radar screen among possible Pacquiao foes.

Arum said the target month for Pacquiao’s much-awaited ring return is November “and not October because of the World Series (of baseball) but could be as early as September.”

Still, Arum said something concrete could come out in the second month of May, shortly after Pacquiao’s foray into politics. Pacquiao is running for congress in the lone district of Sarangani province against Roy Chiongbian, a US-educated businessman who comes from a very influential political family.

“We’ll know after the (May 10) elections,” said Arum, who said it is very highly possible that he will make a trip to the country in the final days leading up to election day.

“I know I can’t say something and campaign for Manny but if Manny needs me, I will come,” said Arum, whose outfit Top Rank has Pacquiao under its promotional banner.

While Arum has rattled off Margarito, Marquez and Mayweather as those being eyed to face off with the Filipino southpaw, the seventy-something lawyer from Harvard believes Pacquiao and himself should concentrate first on the elections.

Besides, the three Ms (Margarito, Marquez and Mayweather) have scheduled fights in the coming months.

Margarito and Mayweather are seeing action in separate bouts next month, while Marquez is being lined to strut his stuff in June.

By: Nick Giongco
Source: mb.com.ph

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Almost a month after the failed Pacquiao-Mayweather match, boxing analysts and fans are still talking about the highly publicized match. Some say Pacquiao is a coward for not facing Mayweather based on his terms while others say otherwise.

Is Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao a Coward? Some sports analysts and boxing fans say he is but majority of them say no, he is not.

If you say he is a coward, what is the basis of your statement?

A popular blogger says Pacquiao is a coward because he refused to face Floyd Mayweather, Jr despite the rare opportunity to make at least $40 million overnight.

Others say he tries to find a way to evade Mayweather by refusing to submit himself to a random drug testing protocol which Mayweather claim will create a level playing field for the sport.

Contributing Writer Alex Rosell in his OB&B article said

The main culprit in the failed negotiations between the two sides is the acclaimed best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Manny Pacquiao. Do not be fooled by his friendly, man of the people personality. He is hiding something.

No reasonable human being would ever turn down a $40 million payday over not wanting to take a drug test, unless of course he was taking some type of banned substance. His potential showdown with the Pretty Boy would have eclipsed 3 million pay-per-view buys, while his back-up fight with virtual unknown Joshua Clottey only brought in 700,000 buys.

In his ending statement he said:

Most fighters would rather die than yield to the demands of another man.

Call it pride, call it stubbornness, and call it everything but what it is: cowardice.

In contrast with the writer’s views, many boxing analysts and fans insist that Pacquiao was not backing out from his failed fight with Mayweather. They maintained that even promoter Bob Arum and the rest of Pacquiao’s team were agreeable to a 14-day window for a random urine and blood testing.

But what they object to, aside from Pacquiao’s contention that he feels weak when blood is drawn from his body days before fight night, is the fact that Mayweather was dictating his Olympic-style drug testing protocol by another government drug testing agency when the Nevada Sports Athletic Commission should be doing the tests, being the regulating body in the state of Nevada.

Pacquiao’s actions, they contended, were not acts of cowardice. Even after his unanimous victory over Joshua Clottey last March 13, Pacquiao continues to show his willingness to face the undefeated American boxer but his promoter and the rest of his team want to do a fight on terms that are fair and equitable to both fighters.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is scheduled to face Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 1 while the Filipino boxer and currently the WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is busy campaigning for his congressional seat in the Philippines in the coming May 10 national elections.

Until then, boxing fans will not know if these two controversial boxers will indeed fight under a mutually-agreed terms and conditions.

By: Leo Reyes

Source: digitaljournal.com

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May 1st will truly mark the first gigantic- and possibly only- monster fight of 2010, should Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, yet again, disagree to the drug testing dates and amounts in their potential blockbuster. Most people seem to be split down the middle when asked who will win the fight between Mayweather and Shane Mosley. While this is a great fight between two of boxing’s biggest names, it should not be as close a fight as most might think for certain reasons. These can be identified by using our boxing knowledge when assessing this fight and breaking it down based upon what we know of each guy and what his strengths and weaknesses are.

Boxing is and always will be a thinking man’s sport. Those who have engaged in battle or trained any fighter of an elite caliber will tell you that punching power and speed mean nothing if you can’t find anything to hit. While Mosley and Mayweather have almost identical hand speed, one is a sharp and accurate puncher, while the other tends to throw wider, looping-style punches and we know that the fastest route from A to B is a straight line. The punching power is a clear-cut advantage for Mosley going into this fight, as has been the case since both were amateurs, so there will be no mystery or intrigue when wondering if Mayweather has the power to put Shane on the canvas. It’s not saying it isn’t possible, but it is not likely. Mosley possesses enough power in either hand to put anyone up to 154 pounds on the canvas, as he has proven throughout his Hall-of-Fame career. The foot speed could also be even but it seems as though Mayweather uses his foot speed, not only in a different manner than Mosley, but more effectively as well.

Upper body movement is a clear advantage for Mayweather, as he is able to slip and roll his shoulder to avoid his opponent’s shots (something he should not have a problem doing against Shane). Defense is also an area where, not only is Mosley outgunned, but so is almost every other fighter on the planet. Ring generalship is a tricky question going into this fight because both can be masterful at it. The only question is which Shane Mosley shows up on May 1st? Is it the fighter who fought Oscar De La Hoya in two pretty close fights (in which he was able to not be pushed around or made to fight the fight his opponent wanted him to)? If so, then he will make the fight that much easier on himself. However, if the Mosley that showed up against Winky Wright or Miguel Cotto shows up (in which he wasn’t able to do what he wanted and became frustrated and fought the other guys’ fight), he will make his job in that squared circle that much harder. Mayweather is the superior counter-puncher and is not really rivaled by anyone in that department- a skill in which could help pave his way to a smooth landing, should he get Mosley swinging and missing while making him pay in the process. As far as the level of competition goes throughout their careers, one could argue that it is even, with Mosley possibly having an edge as of late, because of his taking on bigger opponents; while one could argue that Mayweather has fought the better level of competition. All of these angles make this fight all the more appetizing to, not only the hardcore boxing population, but the general public as well, for it is no mystery that these two combatants have contrasting personalities, to top it all off.

While most in the boxing world would have preferred to see this fight some years ago, none are going to complain that it took so long, for it is not as if it is Jones-Hopkins II, in which both fighters are arguably out of their fighting primes. This is a real fight- a live fight- which is another reason it is so attractive. Some in the media, as well as a good portion of fight fans, feel as if this is the first time Mayweather will be in the ring with a big strong, natural welterweight and they want to see how he handles himself in such a situation. However, the Mosley camp should be concerned for such reasons as Shane has a history of throwing punches with his eyes closed, loading up on big punches and not using an effective jab (it is more of a flicking-style jab that is stuck out there to stay busy, rather than a hard sticking jab such as the one Mayweather possesses). Shane must also not get tired towards the end of the fight as could be seen in the Margarito and Mayorga fights or he will end up losing this fight decisively. Mayweather must do what he does best and slow the pace down to his liking and dictate how things go. He must not get outworked and give away too many early rounds, in case he is not able to wear Mosley out and get to working his magic as easily as he has done in 39 of his 40 pro fights. Mayweather claims an early psychological advantage, in that he has already gotten Mosley to act out of character during their press stops. Shane must fight the fight of his life to have his hand raised on May 1st. At 38, and after an 18-month layoff in between bouts, one must wonder just how fresh and sharp Mosley will or can be against- by far- the most skilled opponent he has ever faced in Mayweather.

Mayweather should use his overall skill, ring smarts and boxing brain to cruise to a unanimous decision against Shane on May 1st, which will set up the most anticipated match-up in boxing history: Mayweather-Pacquiao.

However, should Shane Mosley pull the upset so many are inclined to thinking he can, a fight between Mosley and Pacquiao would be interesting for the simple fact that both guys come to fight and will slug it out, if need be. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has gone on record as saying he thinks the Mayweather fight will be boring because Floyd runs and doesn’t come to fight. Two things come to mind when hearing a statement by a guy as respected as Roach: 1) He is just saying that because he knows his guy has no shot to win a fight in which Floyd would use his boxing brain to cruise past his famed pupil and 2) running is movement without a purpose. Everything Mayweather does is precise, calculated and thought-out. A slugfest now-a-days seems to be what more than half of fight fans want to see and they would get plenty of fireworks here. A Pacquiao-Mosley fight would be fought on a different field, at a different pace and in a much different style than a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown. Both Mosley and Pacquiao are fast fighters with a ton of pop, so it would be interesting to see who backs up whom, who hurts who and who is able to stop the other. Manny must be cautious of Shane’s power, as he has felt nothing like it in his career. Shane must be careful not to be outworked by Manny early on and not get tired going into the championship rounds. This fight, more then likely, would not see the final bell.

A fight between these two could be just what the doctor ordered, should Mosley get by Mayweather. A pure slugfest with boxing mixed in at its highest level. Pacquiao-Mosley would have it all. It would be curious to see just who would pick who based upon what we know of each guy and their style. We have, in the past, picked against Pacquiao when he has met a bigger man and he has proven us wrong on more than one occasion. We know what Shane Mosley brings to the table as far as a skill set is concerned but, as has been the case at times, “Which Shane Mosley will show up”? Shane has shown that if things don’t go his way early, he can become frustrated and taken out of his game plan. While the word “quit” is not in Shane Mosley’s vocabulary, it still has to be of some concern going into a possible match up with a firecracker such as Manny Pacquiao.

As far as the potential fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao, it seems as though it took a little bit of a shift over the past couple of weeks, based upon Pacquiao’s dull win over welterweight Joshua Clottey. While some were “blown away” with Pacquiao’s ability to throw some 1200-or-so punches, there are others out there who feel that if he cannot break apart and hurt the world’s fifth or sixth best welterweight, how is he going to do that to the world’s most gifted boxer?

Throwing 100-plus punches a round is impressive in its own way, but not so much if you can land only a mere 20% of those shots against a guy that is straight up and down, standing right in front of you, and not throwing back. Clottey was hardly ever backed up and was never hurt. The only time Manny really let his hands go with power shots, was when Clottey allowed himself to be backed up against the ropes so that Manny could unload. In the center of the ring, Manny’s ability to throw punches from weird angles did him little good because was unable to find a way to open Clottey’s defense and land shots in between Clottey’s gloves or punches. One thing that must also be pointed out is how easily Clottey hit Manny with a jab, left hook, straight right (whether used as a counter shot or a lead shot) and the uppercut. Had Clottey put some force behind his shots by either using his waist or legs to really drive some power into those shots, the fight could have gone a bit differently. It has been a little while since we have seen Manny’s face so marked up- especially when he was not getting hit with only about 100 shots or so. It should worry Team Pacquiao that while out-throwing a guy by 800+ punches, he only out-landed Clottey by about 140 punches. They will not be throwing 100+ punches per round against a fighter of Mayweather’s caliber, and if they could not land more than 20% against a stationary target, how do they possibly think they are going to do damage to Mayweather, let alone knock him out?

Boxing is not about simply letting your hands go at an incredible work rate, but rather landing clean hard shots (while in the process, avoiding them) and using defense and smart movement to control the pace. Both Roach and Pacquiao’s statements after the fight were as hilarious and embarrassing as Jim Lampley’s “BANG, BANG, BANG, try and stop me, BANG…” comments. It was hard to tell if Lampley was there as a member of HBO, Team Pacquiao or the fourth member of the Dallas Cowboy’s cheer squad. That was something we weren’t exactly used to hearing from the award-winning sportscaster’s mouth. For Roach to say that “Mayweather will be easier than Clottey”, and that “His style isn’t that hard to figure out”, is just ridiculous. Sitting ringside or on your couch and watching Mayweather and his style and saying to yourself, “Hey, I could do this or that; he isn’t that good”, and actually getting in there and trying to do it are two completely different things.

Whether you think Manny or Floyd will win that match-up, one thing is for certain to anyone with a great knowledge of the sport- it is not going to be an easy fight and, surely, not one easier then what a Joshua Clottey brings to the ring on fight night.

Two things Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez (and lately, Joshua Clottey) have shown us is that Pacquiao can be out-boxed and that he struggles with great defensive fighters and good counter punchers. A potential match-up with Mayweather presents all of those things rolled into one ball, and, not only that, but it will be at the highest level possible. Pacquiao’s ability to throw tons of punches from weird angles while turning has paid him well against guys with no foot or upper body movement. Miguel Cotto was another guy that showed that if you move your feet and upper body while using a jab and countering effectively, you can give Pacquiao problems. Cotto wasn’t able to withstand that for more than a few rounds, because he is naturally “a brawler”, which showed when Manny forced him to stand and fight. That ploy will not work against a boxing brain such as Floyd Mayweather. The only way we will ever find out is if these two fighters can come to an agreement and give the world what they want to see- which is the two best fighters of this era going head-to-head in their primes, a feat that only happens but a few times every 20 years or so. Let us hope for the sake of boxing and its fans that the two sides can come to an agreement on the random Olympic-style drug testing, for when a fight of this magnitude does not get made there are more than the two fighters to blame.

Until Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao stare across the ring from each other and the bell sounds, all scenarios will be left to being hypothetical in nature. Pacquiao has taken care of his business and now the second half of this dream match-up lies directly on the shoulders of Floyd Mayweather. Should he come out victorious against Shane Mosley on May 1st at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, maybe- just maybe- the egos that exist here- and have existed when the fight was first negotiated- may have settled and the fighting spirit that both have possessed their entire lives may once again emerge and we can finally put to rest the question so many have asked over the past three or four years:

“Who is the best fighter of this era?”

Here’s to hope. Cheers.

By: Greg Rowe

Source: doghouseboxing.com

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MANILA, Philippines – Seven-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao maintained his status as Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound title despite the negative reaction of some fight fans to his title defense against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey.

Pacquiao, who scored a unanimous decision against Clottey last March 13, entered his 330th week as pound-for-pound king, according to prestigious Ring Magazine as of March 28.

“Pound-for-pound” is a fighter’s value in relation to boxers in different weight classes. The pound-for-pound list of Ring Magazine, which is considered “the bible of boxing”, is the established standard for ranking fighters pound-for-pound.

The latest ranking has shown that Pacquiao’s status as top pound-for-pound was not affected by the Clottey fight, where the Filipino failed to knock down the defense-conscious Ghanaian.

Many fans, who got used to Pacquiao toppling one opponent after another, complained they found the bout boring.

However, fight analysts said it wasn’t the Filipino champ’s fault.

“Every time they watch Manny, they expect to always see an exciting fight, but that fight was not Manny’s fault. It was because of an opponent who was unwilling to trade leather with Manny,” lamented Dennis Principe in his post-fight analysis.

Fight analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz earlier said boxing purists and aficionados were able to appreciate the class and savvy that Pacquiao showed amidst the conditions set by Clottey.

“Somebody who always wants a KO or a blood-and-guts fight will not be satisfied with that, but a true boxing aficionado would be pleased with that. It was not a fighter’s fight. It was a boxer’s fight. Clottey was the grandmaster, but in this game of chess if you will, Pacquiao was the international grandmaster,” he said in an interview after the bout.

In the Clottey fight, Pacquiao released 1,231 punches (more than 100 per round) and landed 246 of them. The hard-hitting puncher from General Santos City also threw 832 more punches than the Ghanaian.

Thus, Pacquiao retained his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title.

Donaire retains No. 6
Meanwhile, “The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire also remained in the pound-for-pound list at No. 6.

Donaire retained his World Boxing Association (WBA) interim world super flyweight title by knocking out Manuel “Chango” Vargas last February.

His camp is currently working out a deal for a rematch with WBA and World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight champion Vic Drachinyan, whom he knocked out in 2007.

In the No. 2 spot in Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings is Pacquiao’s possible “future opponent,” American Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is widely believed to have left retirement in order to challenge the Filipino.

Next in No. 3 is Mayweather’s opponent on May 1, American “Sugar” Shane Mosley, the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion.

No. 4 is America’s Bernard Hopkins, who will face long-time rival Roy Jones on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Bitter Pacquiao foe Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico is the No. 5 pound-for-pound while Puerto Rican champion Miguel Cotto is No. 7.

US’ Chad Dawson holds the No. 8 spot followed by fellow American Paul Williams and Celestino Caballero of Panama at No. 9 and 10, respectively.

Source: abs-cbnNEWS.com

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San Francisco, CA—On March 25, 2010, Golden Boy Promotions, through their counsels, filed a motion to dismiss the Manny Pacquiao’s complaint of defamation against Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. Back on December 30, 2009, (and latter amended on March 17, 2010), Pacquiao filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Nevada, claiming Schaefer, De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Roger Mayweather made defamatory statement that ruined Pacquiao’s reputation to the public. To be clear, the motion to dismiss Pacquiao’s lawsuit is a specific relief from Schaefer and De La Hoya and not the Mayweathers.

Richard Schaefer has hired the services of Attorney Judd Burstein to defend against the lawsuit. Burstien has represented many boxers in many types of litigations and lawsuits, including Manny Pacquiao. Burstien was Pacquiao’s attorney when Pacquiao filed a lawsuit against his former Promoter Murad Muhammad back in 2005. Now Burstein is representing Schaefer and is attempting to get Pacquiao’s complaint against Golden Boy Promotions dismissed.

Without getting to into too many legal details, Golden Boy Promotion’s basic position is that their statements about Pacquiao’s possible PED use were opinions and reasonable questions based on the facts that lead to suspicion that Pacquiao is using illegal PEDs.

The motion claims that Pacquiao’s refusal to submit to random blood testing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency or Olympic styled testing in his negotiations with Mayweather Jr., has created the suspicion of PED use. Pacquiao and his team has already made clear that they would not submit to any additional drug testing that is not required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. If Mayweather wants Pacquiao to take random blood testing, then make that request to the commission and if they approve it, Pacquiao will respect that request.

The motion also spends a lot of time defending the random blood testing process. They claim that a little over half a tablespoon of blood would be withdrawn from the body and would be sufficient to conduct the appropriate drug testing. Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley have agreed to USADA random urine and blood testing prior to their May 1 bout.

Schaefer also denied making any statements that Pacquiao was using PEDS to Philippine Reporter, Ronnie Nathanielsz.

Pacquiao’s, through his attorney, amended their initial defamation complaint. The amended complaint includes the recent comments made by Roger Mayweather where he claims Pacquiao is on “A-Side Meth.” The complaint also requests damages in excess of $5,000,000.

It has been widely believed that the defamation lawsuit was a media stunt to drum up more interest in a potential Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. However, there is definite movement in the lawsuit and Golden Boy Promotion is not backing down by filing a motion to dismiss the complaint. In what was a “contract issue” of additional drug testing has become a legal manner for both sides.

By: Jason Aniel
Source: PhilBoxing.com

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My good friend, Engr. Samson Tiukinhoy, texted to share his daughter’s (Dr. Susan Tiukinhoy) first hand conversation with George Foreman in a Houston elevator. Recognizing big George, Dr. Susan asked what he thinks of a fight between Manny and Floyd. The fearsome heavyweight champion of the world replied, “Floyd is afraid to fight Manny”.

Foreman knows first hand what happens when a fighter fears his opponent. The fighter who fears loses the fight even before the first bell rings. Ken Norton couldn’t look straight at George’s eyes and just bowed his head as the referee was giving the pre-fight instructions. The fight for the heavyweight championship was held on 26 March 1974 in Caracas, Venezuela. Muhammad Ali sat at ringside as a fight commentator.

George was undefeated when Norton was shoved forward to fight him after scoring a win over the great Ali. Norton couldn’t shake off his mind Foreman’s fearsome reputation of being a big puncher with a frightening KO record. George knocked down Norton’s good friend, Joe Frazier, six times before stopping him in the 2nd round to wrest the heavyweight championship of the world. Foreman and Norton were about the same size but George knocked down Norton three times in the second round to end the fight. Muhammad Ali identified the cause of Norton’s loss. Norton was scared of Foreman.

George’s observation on Floyd vs. Manny he shared with Dr. Susan confirms Floyd Mayweather Sr.’s own fear for little Floyd which the Sr. showed as he tried to identify the kind of performing enhancing drugs (PED) he accused Manny of taking. Who wouldn’t fear the Pacman who comes from a country whose World War II guerillas have a reputation of continuously charging forward despite facing a barrage of gunfire? If no gunfire could stop a guerilla from charging forward, how much less could Floyd’s brittle bare hands stop a such PED enhanced Manny who already has that reputed habit in the ring of always charging forward?

With little Floyd’s ability to come up with excuses for the fight not to happen, the Floyd-Manny fight may never happen. No disrespect intended for Shane Mosley, but Floyd is just too slick and too good for Shane to handle come May 1. Floyd’s been there facing a fighter many thought had a good chance to beat him. Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Ricky Hatton, Oscar dela Hoya, to name them who had names in the fight game. Floyd didn’t fear them and he beat them all.

But Manny Pacquiao is different. He retired the 6 weight division champion Oscar giving him no round of 8, bulldozed Hatton in 2, and ate the best Miguel Cotto could dish out while still asking for more. It was the legitimate welterweight Cotto who said “no more” by dancing away from the charging Manny until what has become a mere semblance of a fight was mercifully stopped just before the end of the 12th round.

When Manny’s charging forward could not be stopped with a legitimate welterweight champion firepower, Manny must really be somebody no other else is. All these did not escape the Floyd Mayweather camp’s attention and Floyd Jr. himself despite his claims of intentionally not viewing Manny’s fights.

Floyd Jr. already has the advantages of size, reach and maybe his defensive skills and accurate counter punching. But what can these do to a fighter who “punches very hard” according to Marco Antonio Barrera, is “so fast” according to David Diaz, smiles after a great round of skirmish with his opponent in some of his good fights, and seems to be more motivated to charge further forward when hit and bloodied?

The over US$40 million guaranteed purse couldn’t make Floyd fight after Manny’s beat up of Miguel Cotto. With Manny’s recent shut out of Joshua Clottey who had the advantages of size, reach, a tight defense, and with a reputation of not having really been overwhelmed by fighters his size, Floyd will come up with even more excuses for the fight not to happen.

If he beats Mosley and the PPV buys outnumber the Pacquiao-Clottey number, expect Floyd to no longer agree to a 50-50 purse split. “Negotiations” will go nowhere as it did before. The Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, which all and sundry want to see, will not happen.

And the reason is as what George Foreman told Dr. Susan, “Floyd is afraid to Fight Manny”.

By: Epifanio M. Almeda
Source: PhilBoxing.com

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MANILA, Philippines—Manny Pacquiao’s earnings from his March 13 fight against Joshua Clottey may be less than in any of his three previous fights but the Filipino ring icon will still rake it in when the entire pay-per-view figures come in.

The Clottey fight lured a sellout crowd of 50,994 to the Cowboys Stadium and drew about 700,000 PPV hits at $49.95 each.

Given a big chunk—70 percent, according to ring pundits’ estimates—of the $35 million PPV revenues, Pacquiao’s earnings are expected to breach his guaranteed $12 million purse.

Estimates of Pacquiao’s extra income from the PPV varies from a low of $1 million to a high of $4 million, which would put his earnings in the range of $13 million (about P598 million) to $15 million (P690 million).

These figures pale, however, when compared to the $20 million Pacquiao reportedly earned against Oscar De La Hoya (1.25 million PPV hits at $49.95 each), $15 million against Ricky Hatton (850,000/$49.95) and $17 million against Miguel Cotto (1.4 million/ $54.95).

For averaging over one million PPV hits in his recent fights, HBO senior VP Mark Taffet has called Pacquiao a PPV superstar.

Pacquiao’s showdown with Clottey drew the third biggest indoor crowd in American boxing. Muhammad Ali’s victory over Leon Spinks in their 1978 rematch drew 63,350 fans to Louisiana Stadium while Pernell Whitaker’s controversial draw with Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez lured 59,995 fans to the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, in 1993.

By: Roy Luarca
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

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“They wanted to keep Pacquiao busy and get some rounds in and who better to get rounds in with than Josh Clottey? That’s his style, to cover up where he can’t get hit a whole lot and fire off an occasional jab or uppercut. Clottey was good, Pacquiao is special,” stated world-class trainer Naazim Richardson as he shared his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao’s recent title defense against Joshua Clottey. Richardson, who’s currently working with Bernard Hopkins for his April 3rd rematch with Roy Jones Jr. and Shane Mosley for his upcoming May 1st showdown with Floyd Mayweather, strongly believes that Pacquiao’s dominant performance can be attributed to the fact that there’s a big difference between a good fighter and those that are special.

“That’s what people have to understand. There are good fighters, great fighters, champions and special fighters and special fighters don’t come around that often,” he explained. “You could see the difference during the fight. When Pacquiao elevated his level, he went to a level that Clottey couldn’t get to and that’s what separates special fighters from good fighters.” It is for that reason that Richardson also believes that the clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley is a rare fight, as it’s not often when two special fighters get an opportunity to face each other inside the ring.

“These kids are special. When you have two special athletes sharing the same forum, all logic goes out of the window. That shit of who throws the better hook or has the better defense doesn’t matter because these two athletes are special,” Richardson added. “Roger asked the other day, ‘Where was Shane Mosley born?’ What does that have to do with throwing a hook or the fact that this man brings it every time he steps in that ring? Usually you will get a good fighter fighting a champion. In this case, you have two special fighters and that’s rare.”

With less than six weeks to go until May 1st, Richardson has the difficult task of coming up with a gameplan that 40 other opponents could not implement in their attempt to hand Floyd Mayweather Jr. his first loss. That being said, none of those 40 opponents were future Hall of Famer “Sugar” Shane Mosley. Whether you love or hate either man, Mayweather vs. Mosley is definitely one fight between two special fighters that you don’t want to miss! I, for one, can not wait! Is May 1st here yet?

By: Percy Crawford

Source: fighthype.com

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