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

The Roger Mayweather Incident and Implications for Mayweather/Marquez

In its own right, the recent news about Roger Mayweather, the uncle and trainer of boxer Floyd Mayweather, is tawdry material, another night of conflict and violence from the lunatic fringe, more turmoil among the Cops demographic. But looked at in the context of Floyd’s career and current circumstances, it could come to have enormous implications.

If you haven’t yet read the news, police were summoned to a private residence in Las Vegas on Sunday morning. They found Roger Mayweather there strangling Melissa St. Vil, a female boxer who was formerly trained by Mayweather. Among the grisly details of the encounter to make it into the press is that St. Vil began coughing up blood when Mayweather released her from his choke-hold. Evidently, he’d previously hit her in the ribs several times. Mayweather was immediately taken into custody at the Clark County Detention Center.

Over at Boxing Scene, there’s a description of the incident from Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger’s brother and the father of Floyd Jr. Though he didn’t witness the altercation, Floyd Sr. said that there was tension between St. Vil and Roger because St. Vil recently had split with Roger as her trainer. St. Vil was staying with the boxer Cornelius Lock (also trained by Roger) in a condo owned by Roger, and this was what led to the physical confrontation on Sunday. Roger wanted her out of the condo and she refused to go. Evidently, during the scuffle St. Vil broke a lamp over Roger’s head, though it would appear that the majority of the violence was done by Mayweather.

In Michael Marley’s piece on the incident at the Examiner, you can see a picture of St. Vil (a Haitian-born woman known as “Guard Your Grill" St. Vil ... good nickname) and Mayweather’s mugshot.

Though the Mayweathers are often fodder for hilarity, and have become the family you love to hate on HBO’s 24/7 documentary series, this is just not one of those “oh those guys are so crazy" kind of stories. Beating on a woman never is such a story, even if that woman happens to be a professional boxer. Throw into the mix that Mayweather has been down this road before and the story becomes even uglier. In 2006, Roger Mayweather did six months of prison time for beating the grandmother of his son.

It’s dark stuff. For Roger, it doesn’t seem unlikely that he could be facing more prison time. For his nephew, Floyd, it’s at the very least a possibility that he could be facing one of the most important fights of his career, his September 19 bout with Juan Manuel Marquez, without his trainer of the last nine years.

Floyd has fought without Uncle Rog in his corner before. When Roger was serving his sentence in 2006, Floyd fought Carlos Baldomir in a three-belt welterweight unification bout. Leonard Ellerbe, Floyd’s close adviser and manager, served as his trainer, and though the fight was boring in the extreme, it was also a virtual shutout for Mayweather.

Given Floyd’s work habits and his knowledge of boxing, I imagine that he’ll be fine come fight night with or without Roger in his corner. He hasn’t fought in almost two years, which makes the current situation a little more loaded than the Baldomir fight, but then again, Floyd is generally one of the hardest training fighters and most intelligent boxing minds of the last 20 years. The nuances of the game are inscribed in his DNA. I don’t think there’s anything that anyone could teach him at this point, not even Rog.

But the promotion of the Marquez fight is not nearly as healthy as Floyd’s boxing IQ, and that’s where this Roger Mayweather incident figures to have the most impact. There’s simply not a lot of buzz about Mayweather/Marquez right now in the sports world. Compare it to the buzz generated by the Manny Pacquiao/Miguel Cotto fight, scheduled for November 14, and Mayweather/Marquez seems like a fly buzzing around a rhinoceros.

The main hope for changing that situation is HBO’s upcoming Mayweather-Marquez 24/7 series, which debuts on August 29. For all of Floyd’s ridiculous boasts about himself, one is undeniably true – he made the 24/7 franchise with his star-making turns in the premiere of the series, De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7, and then the follow-up, Mayweather-Hatton 24/7.

And a big part of the compelling package of drama with Floyd is his crazy family - his crazy, wild-eyed trainer-uncle and his even crazier, poeticizing trainer-father, and all the feuds and turmoil and trouble among the three. Taken together, they are inarguably great television, some strange fusion of Wide World of Sports and The Wire.

But you have to wonder if this recent storyline with Uncle Rog isn’t too gruesome for even HBO to want to face head on. The 24/7 series has been built on celebrating the antics of the Mayweathers, but this, choking a woman and making her spit blood, is nothing to celebrate, to put it mildly. The situation at the very least will remove Roger from the light of the cameras, and even more, may cast a pall over the coverage of the whole Mayweather training camp. Because one way or the other, this incident is going to be a major issue in that camp. If Rog is there, it will be with the possible consequences of the incident hanging over his head. If he’s not, it will be because of the incident.

What this fight very much needed was a glowing 24/7 of the kind that the Mayweathers have delivered in the past, with all of their verbose, dysfunctional and often hilarious mayhem in full bloom. Now there is a dark, violent pall cast over the entire enterprise before it’s even begun. They say “all press is good press," but this situation may exceed the limitations of that adage. And the result may be that Roger Mayweather’s latest disaster has less impact on Floyd’s performance in the ring than it does on his performance at the box office.

Source: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/29269/_the_roger_mayweather_incident_and_implications_for_mayweathermarquez_

Mayweather Sr: “Cotto Can Take Pacquiao’s Head Off”

I’ll admit, I’m one of the few scribes to pick Miguel Cotto to beat Manny Pacquiao on November 14. Most of my colleagues believe Pacquiao’s speed and overall movement will overwhelm Cotto. I spoke in detail with trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. and he agrees with my belief that Cotto has enough power to end the fight with a single shot.

“I think Cotto has a very a good shot to win. He’s got a good puncher’s chance. If Cotto hits him to the head or the body, he is going to take his ass out. Cotto did not look good against Clottey and I think Clottey beat him. That was a bad cut [suffered by Cotto during the Clottey fight]. I think a cut like that would affect anybody. A cut like that can keep you out of the game,” Mayweather Sr. told BoxingScene.com

If Mayweather was training Cotto, he would advise him to keep a tight defense and protect the left eye as a precautionary measure to prevent the cut, suffered during the Clottey fight, from re-opening.

“A cut like that can open up again at any time and turn the fight around,” Mayweather Sr. said.

He gets the impression that Freddie Roach [Pacquiao’s trainer] is overlooking the high level of danger that Cotto represents. Mayweather doesn’t see Pacquiao being able to withstand a flush Cotto power shot, whether it be to the head or body.

“He whooped on Oscar De La Hoya who was dehydrated and had no liquids in him. Ricky Hatton was suspect before the fight. Cotto is a puncher. If Cotto is in good shape and he hits him to the body or the head, he can take him out, my mark my words. [Roach] made a mistake by thinking Cotto ain’t that good. If Cotto hits him right, he take his head off, remember I told you that. Cotto is going to be ready for this fight, believe me. If Cotto hits him to the head or the body, he is gone - Rick, remember I told you,” Mayweather Sr. said.

Mayweather Sr. had trained Hatton for the May fight with Pacquiao. He told BoxingScene that miscommunication during training camp was a big factor in Pacquiao’s ability to blow Hatton out in two rounds. Mayweather would not advise Hatton to fight again. During the training camp for Pacquiao, Mayweather saw rookies giving Hatton a lot of trouble during sparring sessions.

“He wouldn’t do what I told him. He kept listening to Lee Beard [assistant trainer]. He was suspect before the fight anyway. We had lesser fighters, four round pros, shaking him up in the gym. The way my son knocked him out, he was bound to get knocked out again and again. That’s how it happens sometimes. My son knocked him out bad and then Pacquiao knocked him all the way out. And mark my words, if he fights again, and I don’t care who it’s against, he will get knocked out again,” Mayweather said.

Source: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=21410

Dana White can deliver knockout blow to Mayweather and boxing for 2009 with UFC 103

For all it’s worth, the rivalry and competition between boxing and UFC is no myth. It does exist from the bottom to the top, from fans to the promoters and the fighters.

Two of the higher-profile figures in both sports have butted heads recently in Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dana White. Mayweather blasted MMA and UFC by likening it to an animal sport and says it’s a sport for “beer drinkers” and that MMA was created for white fighters to have a place to dominate again since boxing is ruled by black and Hispanic fighters. Floyd said in an interview with CBS Sportsline last week,

"It takes true skills to be in the sport of Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts is for Beer drinkers." And added, “Boxing is for everybody... I mean you can't take my shoes off and take my shirt off and just throw me in a cage... you do that with animals, you don't do that with humans,"

In the past Floyd has also been quoted badmouthing MMA when he said more than a year ago,

“UFC ain’t sh**. It ain’t but a fad. Anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight. We should put Liddell against a good heavyweight, under Mayweather Promotions, and if Chuck wins, then I’ll give him a million dollars out of my own pocket. These are guys who couldn’t make it in boxing, so they do (MMA). Boxing is the best sport in the world and its here to stay.”

UFC CEO Dana White responded saying and as quoted by MMAonTap,

“You know, Floyd Mayweather just came out and said some stupid sh** about Chuck Liddell,”

and continued,

“He said he’d pay a million dollars if Chuck could hang with a heavyweight boxer. How about if he pays a million dollars to see if a heavyweight boxer can fight MMA with Chuck Liddell? Or, even better, I’ll put up a million dollars of my own money if Floyd Mayweather can sell more than 10 tickets without Oscar De La Hoya.”

Well, as they say, success is the ultimate revenge. And knowing White’s nature, there’s nothing more he’d like to do than rain on Mayweather’s comeback parade by stacking up his UFC 103 card in Dallas that happens to be on the same day, September 19, as Mayweather’s bout against Juan Manuel Marquez in Vegas.

For starters, White has a point in saying Mayweather is not a big draw by himself if not billed next to the likes of an Oscar De la Hoya. In fact, his comeback fight is already marred by rumors suggesting its original fight date of July 18 was moved to September 19 because of struggling ticket sales. As of today, fans haven’t responded to Mayweather’s comeback fight against Marquez in the manner for it to be considered as a mega-fight.

Another added reason for White to go hard on Mayweather-Marquez is the fact that the card is being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, which also has a hand in promoting UFC's main MMA rival in Affliction MMA events such as the cancelled Emelianenko-Barnett bout.

Last week, White announced through his Twitter site that he had made up with former UFC superstar Tito Ortiz. A lot of people speculated that White was bringing in the popular Ortiz back to match him up against Rick Franklin as the main card for UFC 103. Right now, however, it looks like White is tapping the services of another former UFC star, Vitor Belfort, to fight Franklin. Belfort is explosive and all and was a fan favorite back when he fought in the UFC a few years ago, but will his addition be enough to stifle Mayweather's return to Pay-per-View?

The UFC 103 card itself is pretty stacked with some high-profile names like Frank Trigg and Mirko Crocop but begs the question: Why not bring back Ortiz to really deliver the knockout rebuttal for Mayweather's claim as the biggest draw in fight sports?

It's going to be interesting how all of this will play out. Some people and even the big names in boxing like Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach actually doubt whether the Mayweather-Marquez fight will push through because of the lack of fan support. Will this be White's shining moment and finally one-up boxing and his critics like Mayweather?

Truth be told, there's only been one real megafight this year in boxing and that was Pacquiao-Hatton, and you can make a case I guess for Mosley-Margarito. But other than that the UFC by itself has been outdoing boxing with its blockbuster cards like UFC 100, GSP vs BJ Penn, Evans vs. Machida and a slew of other big fights that generated a fortune.

Dana White and UFC definitely has boxing on the ropes right now, but can they deliver the knockout blow on September 19? We'll see.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-10947-Indianapolis-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m8d3-Dana-White

Manny Pacquiao: To make history, just be like Floyd

As of two weeks ago, this fight was a lock. Fast forward to today, August 3rd, 2009, and there are more questions surrounding this issue than those facing the rising odds of a healthcare reform in the U.S.

Among the biggest obstacles is still the question of the WBO strap being on the line. One major issue seems simple to overcome, but the way that issue is resolved will impact all other details involved.

If the strap is on the line regardless, who's to say that Cotto has to follow through with Team Pacquiao's request to enter the ring at 145lbs?

If Cotto stunts the whole fight by showing up at the welterweight limit (147lbs) for the weigh in, and subsequently enters the ring at a near 160lbs like he has in the past, will Pacquiao go through with the fight under those terms?

He would have to if his pledge to become 7-time world champion in 7 different weight divisions can be realized, but would it be worth the disadvantage?

I said a week ago that I felt Arum had announced this fight to the world before it was signed for a reason, and we now find out why. He was under the impression that this move, along with the media buzz around the globe would force the fighters to conform and sign, but he's now learning these guys are not only fighters in the ring. They also fight outside of it, to make their position inside of it a bit easier to handle.

This is just another example of what continues to plague our sport.

You have a sanctioning organization that is more concerned about getting paid than it is about anything else. For those Pacquiao fans who think the WBO has their back, think again. This is about money.

The WBO only wants to get paid their $150K. If both fighters agree to terms, they will make more, but if all else fails, they want atleast that amount, which they would get, even if Cotto abandons the strap and allows Team Pacquiao to pay the cost to earn it.

These type of politics continue to hurt what some refer to as a dying sport.

In the midst of it all, you have Pacquiao, eager to fight anyone, yet his promoter has only given him one option for reasons that only benefit him (Arum).

You have Miguel Cotto who's eager to face anyone as well, but not willing to do it in a fashion that calls for him to concede to a smaller purse, a lower weight, and with the title on the line as well.

This fiasco continues to get wilder by the day, and there's no end in sight.

At the end of the day, this fight negotiation all comes down to two things.

How much Pacquiao wants a shot at breaking history, and how much he plans to give up for that shot? Arum (who has his own agenda) is not gonna back out and substitute Cotto with Mosley, which means that there has to be more give and take from Team Pacquiao.

If they want the title on the line, the weight limit will inevitably need to go up. If they don't agree to it, Cotto has no pressure to meet their 145lb limit, and many expect him to train for a regular 147lb fight and weigh in at that weight, which won't matter because the bout won't be sanctioned as a defense of his title anyhow.

Cotto has not agreed to enter no heavier than 145lbs, and you can firmly believe that he won't.

So Cotto's position (whether we agree or not) is to stand pat. Neither Arum or Pacquiao can make him do anything else.

My resolution....Let Cotto get his extra two pounds. Oscar De la Hoya had an extra four pounds on Mayweather, but it didn't stop the smaller man from being more effective.

Floyd gave Oscar the higher weight and totally destroyed him with speed and defense. Oscar threw 106 more punches, yet Floyd landed 85 more. Pure execution.

Pacquiao has that same ability, and in this case for history, sense Arum won't swap to a Mosley fight for personal reasons, Team Pacquiao may have to adopt that same philosphy.

If they can't, this fight for history will in fact be history.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-845-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m8d3-Manny-Pacquiao-To-make-history-just-be-like-Floyd

ROACH: MAYWEATHER-MARQUEZ FIGHT WILL BE CANCELLED

Folly Beach, SC -- As I was relaxing at Folly Beach, SC from a long day's work, I was thinking how does it feel to be sitting at the beach bar and talking to the brilliant Freddie Roach while interesting views pass by and enjoying my Bud Lime, so I did call him, before I finished my voicemail, he called me back.

Hey Freddie! How are you? I’m fine just got home and ready to work again. Work again, means analyzing Cotto’s flaws in video.

Freddie told me that he can’t tell me yet the exact flaws of Cotto, he’s still gathering everything, to make his fight plans, but he will let me know Sunday.

How about Mayweather–Marquez fight, can you comment? A big, AAAHHHH!!! That is a losers fight, I believe that it won’t happen at all, it will be cancelled again. He added, first of all not a lot of people are interested of the fight, so the ticket sales are very slow. When we announced Pacquiao-Cotto fight, it suffers more, the November fight overrides their upcoming fight. So, I think it will be cancelled.

I did asked him more questions regarding Mosley or Mayweather, 2nd to Manny among Filipinos, the WBO Belt, AJ, Donnie, Mayol, Kid Patara etc… and many more… but you have to listen this coming Sunday evening, I’m guesting at Salven’s all about boxing program… bonus is my conversation with my very good friends in Boxing, Dougie Fischer and Int’l referee Frank Garza…

No Oh! Beertime because a real overtime early tomorrow.

Kumbatea!

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-26174.html

FREDDIE ROACH: "I WANT MAYWEATHER RIGHT NOW; I DON'T SEE THE GREATNESS"

"I want Mayweather right now. I wanted him first the whole time. I mean, let's face it, that's the fight the whole world wants to see; the fight I want to see. I think he's the easiest fight of the three. He's not that big. He's not that strong. He breaks down quickly. He's been off for two years. You know, at 135 and 140, he might have been great, but at 47 and 54, I don't see the greatness...I think Manny will knock him out," stated world-renowned trainer Freddie Roach as he talked more about a potential clash between Pacquiao and Mayweather and much more. Check it out!

Source: http://www.fighthype.com/videopopup.php?aid=5364