Ball or Nuthin' » Boxing

Are We Finally Going to See Pacquiao-Mayweather?

T Lamont — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:06:16 +0000

According to Floyd Mayweather, it’s time.

Time for us to pull out the beer and nachos. Time for us to call our boys and spread the news. Time for us to circle a date on our hectic calendars.

Time to get ready for the fight that we’ve all been waiting for – - for the last three years.

Floyd Mayweather has been so bold to proclaim that he will be ready to fight on May 5th.

Mayweather’s adviser Leonard Ellerbe:

“We’re looking to make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella. Floyd made it very clear that he wants to give the fans the biggest fights that are out there. He wants to stay active,” Ellerbe said. “We’re going to do everything in our power to make the biggest fight out there for the fans and we all know what the fight is.”

“Floyd made it very clear to us what he wanted to do. He told us he is looking to make the biggest fight that is out there and to make it in May.”

Will Manny walk away from Mayweather's latest challenge?

We all know who Ellerbe and, consequently, Mayweather is referring to. And so does, Manny Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum:

“They are playing games. You don’t negotiate this way. This is Floyd trying to move Manny out of the spotlight. This is no way to negotiate a fight. The MGM on May 5th? Who the hell is Floyd to say that? I know they are not serious. We put Floyd in a corner when we made it crystal clear that the issue of drug testing is over. So he comes out and makes this statement? Nobody even knows if he is going to be around in May.”

“What happens if the MGM is not putting up any guarantees?” Arum said. “They have a call in to reserve it. Big deal. Has anyone sat down and negotiated with them? What if Jerry or the Wynn are putting up $30 million? Wouldn’t you consider that? The negotiation on the site is a major element in any of these promotions. They know that. It’s why I believe this is not sincere. This is bull—-. If the fight was to happen Mayweather would want to maximize revenue. He wouldn’t tie himself to one place. He would see what other offers were out there. Even if he says I don’t want to fight in Texas, OK, there are offers.

“I’m not reaching out to anybody. They know my number. I want it done right. I want to maximize the revenue for everybody. And what is the magic of May 5? May 5th is Cinco de Mayo. What does that have to do with anything? It makes no sense.”

As much as we’d like to line up our pay-per-view parties, we might have to think twice.

Arum is indeed correct in acknowledging that the specifics have to be hammered out, but the biggest obstacle involves the egos of the fighters. For boxers of a lesser stature, getting called out usually means the fight will happen. That’s because there’s more of an overwhelming sense that those boxers have of proving that their name belongs with the cream of the crop.

But for professionals like Pacquiao and Mayweather, their is a need to align themselves – not only to set the pre-fight rules so that they feel that they gain some sort of advantage, but also to assure themselves of the biggest possible cut of the financial windfall that such a match would create.

The posturing from both sides will continue and, for now, let’s make sure that we circle May 5 on our calendars…in pencil.

Sugar Shane the Sleep Talker?

T Lamont — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:14:04 +0000

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On my 10-minute commute to work Thursday morning (that’s right, don’t be jelly), I caught an unexpected, early-morning surprise on the radio.

Breezing through the stations airing commercials, I stopped on the Tom Joyner Morning Show – 102.3 FM in the D.C. Metro area. It was roughly about 8:30am, and I had stumbled across Joyner chatting on the air with former WBA Welterweight Super Champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley.

As Mosley answered the questioned presented to him, it seemed as if he was talking while drinking a Slurpee or something. Then I thought that he must have been extremely tired, because he just could not seem to cleanly enunciate any of his spoken words.

Sugar Shane was duly asked about his upcoming May 7 fight with Manny Pacquiao. Then, Joyner and his crew continued with the obligatory inquiry regarding Mosley’s age – particularly questioning him about how much longer he planned to continue his boxing career.

Mosley’s answer was interesting, to say the least.

Does Mosley have anything left in his tank?

He responded in following nature:

“…I’ll probably be done after the rematch with Manny and Floyd.”

Now, as sports challenged as some veejays are, even this one failed to get by Joyner. He quickly realized the weird sounding answer that Mosley provided, and wondered why Shane mentioned a rematch before he had even stepped into the squared circle with Pacquiao.

Mosley promptly cleaned up his statement by making it clear – or not so clear, based on personal interpretation – that he was assuming that he would win the fight.

Should we have expected anything different from a boxer? Even in this interview, in which he seemed to be a wee bit unprepared, he maintained a fighter’s routine ability to keep his ego sky high.

Or maybe - just maybe – Sugar Shane has faced what many consider to be a reality – that he’s not getting any younger, and that Pacquiao hasn’t looked very vulnerable in quite some time. Granted, Mosley does prefer fighters like Manny who take the fight directly to their opponent, but the fact remains that Mosley is a shadow of the fighter that we became accustomed to seeing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with knowing that you are more than likely going to come up on the losing end of a match.

But if you feel that way, don’t do interviews before you wipe the crust out of your eyes.

Domestic Abuse By Boxing Champ Just Unfair

T Lamont — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:33:37 +0000

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Unfortunately, in today’s world, we are bombarded with news outlets of domestic violence outbursts. And although I am primarily a fan of professional and amateur basketball and football, the vast majority of the cases come from athletes within those sporting genres.

However, upon reading the news yesterday, I stumbled across a genre of domestic violence that would be far more disadvantageous to its victims than the usual perpetrators mentioned above.

And that would be domestic violence from boxers.

What could be more frightening than being abused by someone who trains themselves to accurately beat up others? It has to be one of the most unfair propositions. So, hearing that boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. was booked on charges of grand larceny (apparently, Mayweather took his ex-girlfriend’s iPhone), but was later released on bail.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is fairly skilled in the art of connecting his punches.

A complaint filed by the woman, Josie Harris, stated that Mayweather pulled her hair, punched her in the face and twisted her arm. Harris also had an order of protection against the champ after learning that he had battered a previous girlfriend.

You mean to tell me that he’s already used another woman as a punching bag?

And a boxer of Mayweather’s pedigree – whose primary strength is his defense – wouldn’t even give his victim the chance to connect with him. If his speed, quickness, defense and stamina are world class within the squared circle, just imagine how they’d be classified by those outside of the fighting world.

They’d be classified as a fighter with a problem who might need to be held accountable for his actions.

Pacquiao-Mayweather: Agreement Has Been Reached

T Lamont — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:50:38 +0000

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Boxing can hardly compete with the whirlwind of activity in other sporting genres at the moment.

Major league baseball is in full swing, NFL players are reporting to camp, Wimbledon is entering its final rounds of action, the World Cup is dwindling down its final eight, and everybody and their momma is wondering what teams will emerge victorious in the hunt for LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and the rest of the NBA’s best.

But come November 13, all eyes might be focused on the best that boxing has to offer.

On that night, Filipino legend (turned Congressman) Manny Pacquiao could be squaring off against Floyd “Money” Mayweather. Representatives for both fighters have agreed to the details of a match, although Mayweather himself will still have the final say.

A battle with these two top boxers has been heavily anticipated for some time. The major issue keeping them out of the ring has been Mayweather’s persistence on Pacquiao agreeing with his terms for drug testing. Mayweather has championed for a test to be administered closer to the date of the proposed fight than Pacquiao has been comfortable with. While the details on the testing have not been announced, the fight purse is expected to be close to (if not exactly) a 50-50 split.

Pacquiao Agrees to Mayweather’s Terms

T Lamont — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:29:07 +0000

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If only this could have happened a few months ago.

Manny Pacquiao has released a statement saying that he is agreeing to the drug-testing terms that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. set as a pre-requisite for a possible showdown between the two top pound-for-pound boxers in the world.

Mayweather challenged Pacquiao to submit to testing for performance enhancing drugs up to 14 days prior to any agreed upon fight date between them. Pacquiao balked at those terms, forcing of the biggest ever clashes to be postponed – and this led to Mayweather taking on “Sugar” Shane Mosley, whom Mayweather defeated in a lopsided 12-round decision.

Pacquiao, also referred to as ”Pac-Man”, has been suspected by many as a possible users of PEDs. Suspects note that Pac-Man has seamlessly made the transition through several weight classes, while appearing to gain more punching power and maintaining his blinding hand speed and uncanny stamina.

But this is a fight that needs to happen, and Pacquiao finally stepped up:

“I am willing to help the sport for the future of the sport. I do not want to see anyone cheat or cheat this sport. For that reason I am willing to consider taking blood as close as 14 days prior to the fight, as long as, my opponent does the same, and it is not a lot of blood, just enough to test. I do not want anyone having an unfair advantage where someone may get hurt. I am willing to do my part to help this sport out.”

Shane Mosley proved to be a weak substitute for Manny Pacquiao.

In addition to testing prior to any proposed fight, Pacquiao has also agreed to testing immediately after the fight.

Now, Manny claims that he has not yet seen the fight between Mayweather and Mosley, but I find that hard to believe. His statement comes on the heels of the fight – in fact, merely days after it. I’m thinking that Pacquiao saw something that he can exploit. And that something may have transpired in the second round, prior to Mosley’s gas tank becoming empty.

Mayweather may have had his own personal agenda for asking for the specifics of the drug testing, but it’s something that can only help the credibility of the sport. In an era when we are forced to double-guess any records that are broken or any general accomplishments that are achieved, we are probably closer than we think to moving towards a more universal system of PED detection. A boxer of Pac-Man’s stature can make a difference in the widespread acceptance of this type of testing.

So, now we’re all hanging on Mayweather rebuttal. And if it anything but “let’s get it on,” then Mayweather is going to get criticized by many for having a yellow streak running down his back.

Including me.