Inside the Mayweather mess

So now that Roger Mayweather seems to be heading out of the picture, will Floyd Sr. take this chance to hop back into Junior’s corner? His opportunity seems pretty realistic, that is, if the accusations are solid and subsequent punishment for Roger involves jail time.

With a report fresh out of Las Vegas claiming that police officers caught Mayweather “in the act”, it is hard to wonder how, if possible, would Roger get himself out of this one and whether it be in time for Floyd Jr.’s September bout. Even if the terms are soft, this would greatly affect training camp.

The attack happened after Melissa St. Vil, a former boxer under Mayweather, returned home after scoring an upset win in New Mexico over Jennifer Han, a local favorite. St. Vil initially was signed on under Roger but has since switched camps citing “harassment” from the former pound-for-pound king’s uncle. The apartment St. Vil rented was owned by Mayweather. She shared it with a roommate.

It is still very early to dissect the events that happened in Vegas involving Mayweather and St. Vil but all-in-all, this can not be good for Floyd as he has a tough and tested Mexican in Juan Manuel Marquez to make his return to the ring against on the weekend of the Mexican independence celebrations.

On the other side of the globe, Pacquiao is drying the ink on his contract with Miguel Cotto, who opened camp today. Since the public release and notification of this proposed welterweight showdown, dubbed “Firepower”, Mayweather-Marquez seems to be buried more and more. The Filipino and Puerto Rican were supposed to duke it out without the risk of Cotto’s belt but recent debates and ensuing meetings (and paid sanctioning fees) garnished the bout as a championship match-up.

Let’s get this straight, even if the fight were to take place at 145 pounds, this will still be a welterweight battle and therefore I believe a belt CAN be put on the line without diminishing the value of a championship bout. As long as the catch-weight is within the welterweight division and both parties agree, then I see no problems. I’ve witnessed the highly debated topic of whether a belt should be involved since the fight will take place 2 pounds lighter than the 147-limit, at 145. Maybe we are all forgetting that when Oscar de la Hoya fought Bernard Hopkins, that was also a catch-weight. The bottom line is that the welterweight (and other divisions) limits are a “window” so-to-speak. If you weigh between the window of 141 to 147 pounds, you must compete in the welterweight division. The same goes for each and every other weight class in the sweet science. There is nothing that requires you to always be at the max limit come weigh-ins. This is the favored weight in the welters considering a boxer would ideally be at their “max” potential.

Instead of focusing on the 2 pound difference we should, instead, redirect our attention to the core of the matter: this will be a GREAT fight. Quite honestly, the move that Manny Pacquiao has made thus far exceeds the limits that a boxer should/could normally make. One would deem Joan Guzman a madman if he were to ever challenge say, Paul Williams. But for the sake of examples pretend that Guzman is p4p king and Williams is at number 3 or 4, would it be fair for the much smaller Guzman to make the hike up alone? Let’s be real because the fact is Cotto wants this fight as much as Pacquiao does. It wouldn’t be fair to ask Cotto to come down to 140, a division in which Pacquiao recently disposed the reigning king of, so why ask the Pacman to lay it all on the line—alone?

The Pacman is considered one of the two best fighters in the world, he wants to take on the best, and in essence Cotto would be closer to the contracted limit of 145 than Pacquiao is. Had Cotto been campaigning at 154 and was asked to shoot down to 145, then that’d be a different argument altogether. But it’s not, and we cannot bury the fact that we have two great athletes that are close enough in weight to battle it out for the sport and the fans. So let’s let the 145-debate go to sleep as we anticipate Mayweather-Marquez and Pacquiao-Cotto. Besides, Wladimir Klitschko outweighed Ruslan Chagaev by almost 20 lbs in their heavyweight title fight but we won’t hear much of that since that division, unlike the lighter classes, does not parade a number that’s tied to the division (147, 154, 160, etc.) so we hear less of it. Later this year when David Haye battles Nico Valuev, their weight disparity will almost be in the triple digits. Haye tipped the scales at 215 when he ousted heavyweight gate-keeper Monte Barrett. Valuev, on the other hand, has been as high as 349 pounds on the scales.

These heated ‘weight’ talks would soon be over once the WBO officially sanctions the fight--which would mean Pacquiao would be rated as the number one challenger—and Cotto would be ‘pressured’ to lay his belt on the line. Although I disagree with ranking Pacquiao, who has had only one welterweight fight, as number one by the WBO I still want to see the fight. I do not see the 145 limit as an advantage for the Filipino. In fact Miguel Cotto will be closer to his natural, more comfortable and broken in weight even after dropping 2 pounds whereas Manny Pacquiao will be as far from home as he has ever been.

Source: http://www.diamondboxing.com/newsstory.php?list=9007