By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
Just after New Year, and up to the days before Manny Pacquiao used Joshua Clottey like a wooden heavy bag, in a prize fighting ring dwarfed in the vast cavernous city stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, Freddie Roach spoke to me more than once, impressing on me the fact that lightning-fisted Pacquiao would face Shane Mosley if he had to.
But in his heart of hearts, Roach knew that he could not back Mosley to beat Mayweather. This week he has delivered his counsel. Mayweather on points. The reason ? Styles. “Mosley likes guys coming at him, that’s why he looked so good against [Antonio] Margarito, but it is not the same story when he fights counter-punchers.”
“Manny wanted to face Margarito after he beat Oscar De La Hoya. Margarito suited Mosley down to his bootlaces. Mayweather won’t do that. Mayweather will bide his time, and he’ll be quicker than Mosley.”
“Mayweather is a brilliant boxer, but he’s not a crowd pleaser. It may not be a great fight.” Roach admits that he wants Mayweather to look at his peak – as he did in his last outing against Juan Manuel Marquez, although he was around 20lbs heavier – and believes the fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao, will be made.
Compromises, of course, will have to be reached. “Manny wants the fight. The drug testing issue is there, but we’ll come to an agreement. I’d like Manny to fight Mayweather next, if Mayweather wins, and then retire after that fight. It would be the greatest test for Manny, and he would have to fight the perfect fight. I think Manny has nowhere to go after that, and I’m just pleased he has lots of interests and businesses outside the sport.”
Deep down, several times when I have spoken to Roach about Mayweather-Pacquiao, there is the sense from him that it is almost a step too far for Pacquiao, given the natural differences in size, and yet he wants to stretch his charge of 9 years with every sinew to get the most from him. And Mayweather as opponent might just do that. I know behind the scenes that Pacquiao is genuinely angry with the Mayweathers and how they have couched certain claims against him. Angry enough to want to turn that energy spiteful in a ring.
However, if Mayweather-Pacquiao doesn’t happen, Roach can foresee two more fights for Pacquiao, potentially involving Juan Manuel Marquez, or Antonio Margarito. For the next two weeks, however, Pacquiao has other things on his mind: like being elected as the congressional representative in Sarangani Province, Mindanao, the birthplace of his wife Jinkee, and the residence of his in-laws.
In the next two weeks, over the space of ten days between May 1 and May 10 the paths of Pacquiao and Mayweather may become inextricably linked, or forever frozen and divided. For millions of sports fan around the world, the hope is that the two masterful ring exponents will meet in a ring in the US, and herald the fight of this generation.
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
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Senin, 26 April 2010
A match for Manny Pacquiao? I'm even better than Muhammad Ali, boasts Floyd Mayweather -- Daily Mail
By JEFF POWELL, DailyMail.co.ukFloyd Mayweather Jnr is not only the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today - better even than Manny Pacquiao - but he is the greatest boxer ever, greater even than Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson.
Who says so?
Why, Floyd Mayweather Jnr himself. That's who.
Money, not Modesty, is Mayweather's ring moniker and there is no sign of faux humility when he evaluates his own place in the spectrum of all-time pugilists.'Ali was a great fighter,' he acknowledges, 'but I'm better. Robinson was a great fighter, but I'm better.'
So much for the two legends who monopolise most of the discussions when connoisseurs of the hardest game wrangle over who is the all-time lord of the ring.
As for Pacquiao, who has supplanted Mayweather in most assessments of the mythical pound-for-pound champion of the moment, apparently he cannot even be certain of a future place in boxing's Hall of Fame.
Nor, for that matter, can the man he faces in Las Vegas this coming Saturday night.
Sugar Shane Mosley - the interim opponent prior to Mayweather-Pacquiao, if that blockbuster ever happens - is damned thus with faint praise: 'He's a solid middleweight.'
So dismissive is Mayweather of Mosley's standing as reigning WBA world welterweight champion that he is not bothering to compete for that belt when they enter the ring at the MGM Grand Garden arena.
Money is his nickname and he is refusing to part with that small portion of his fortune which he would have had to pay the World Boxing Association to sanction this as a title fight.
'Why should I bother with a belt?' he asks. 'Just beating Mosley will be enough to enhance my legacy.'
Actually, it would have done more for his reputation had these two fought a few years ago, when the now 38-year-old Mosley was in his prime.
Although not enough to dissuade most of us from the opinion that Mr Ali is The Greatest, and probably always will be.
That belief is unruffled by Mayweather's dismissive suggestion that Ali and Robinson are only defied because they took part in 'hundreds of fights'.
He is right to assert that the advent of pay-per-view television - with the networks needing months to sell each product to their subscribers - has played its part in reducing the number of bouts demanded of the modern-day boxer.
But while that is not his fault - and even though he regrets that the regulations now prevent him proving himself a throwback to the 15-round warriors of yore - does his 40-fight unbeaten record really stand comparison with the near-100 contests won by Julio Cesar Chavez before his first loss?
One hallmark of a great champion is his ability to come back from defeat but with Mayweather boxing so infrequently - and tending to select older (Mosley) or smaller (Marquez) opponents when he does so, we may never get the chance to judge him in that context.
Not unless he meets Pacquiao - yes, smaller, but equipped with the power to unhinge larger men - and that fight still seems as remote as it did the moment Mayweather threw a sudden demand for blood-testing into the negotiations.
So greater than Ali? Dream on.
Froch threatens to quit Super Six as promoter denies Abraham agreement
The agony for Carl Froch deepened on Monday when German promoter Wilfried Sauerland categorically denied shaking hands on a deal for the Nottingham Cobra's decisive super-middleweight clash with Arthur Abraham to take place in England.
The Super Six series to unify the world championship - the WBC version of which Froch lost to Mikkel Kessler in Saturday's epic battle in Denmark - provides for a mix of home and away matches in the three fights required of each contestant in the group stage.
Froch, having won at home to Andre Dirrell and lost away to Kessler, has been counting on home advantage against Abraham. Now Sauerland, who promotes both Kessler and Abraham, is pressing for either a neutral venue or Berlin for Abraham, a Germany-domiciled Armenian.
Mick Hennessy, Froch's promoter, claims they had a gentleman's agreement for the fight to take place in Nottingham, saying: 'There were witnesses.'
Sauerland says: 'There is nothing in the contract to that effect, nor was there any verbal deal or handshake. The only stipulation is that it happens in Europe, with the best financial situation taking preference.
'Arthur has already had to travel all the way to California to fight Andre Ward, while Froch had a private jet for his short trip to Denmark. A reasonable compromise would be a neutral venue, otherwise we should go for the most rewarding venue.'
Froch has threatened to pull out of the Super Six if he is forced to travel again, although he is unlikely to withdraw as he is on at least a million pounds per fight in the series.
Both he and Abraham need a win to be certain of qualifying for the even more lucrative semi-finals. Froch, having lost his unbeaten record as well as his WBC belt to Kessler by a unanimous points decision, is wary of being on the wrong end of a home-town verdict against Abraham, who is hugely popular in his adoptive Germany.
The negotiations, which will include America's Showtime television network who are bankrolling the tournament, now threaten to be as aggressive as the fight.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
Bob Arum: Bombastic Burstein has lost his mind on Mosley, Pacquiao cases -- Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
"The cases that I've really focused on are the cases against Richard and Oscar, because we're working together on this. I don't think that Jesus Christ could come down off of the cross and win Manny's case against Richard and Oscar." -- GOLDEN BOY LAWYER JUDD BURSTEIN, speaking to Lem "The Gem" Satterfield on AOL Fan House.
No stranger to bombastic declarations himself, Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum seems to be more bemused than angered by the heavy verbal artillery coming out of the nonstop mouth of Burstein.
Burstein went on to label Pacman's lawsuit against the Golden Boys as "shockingly stupid" and added that the pair only rendered First Amendment protected opinions about the Pinoy Idol using illegal drugs. To hear Burstein tell it, Manny is burning money with a frivolous case.
"Look, he said a dog could win the defamation for his client, Shane Mosley, against (BALCO figure) Victor Conte and then he said Jesus Christ could not win the defamation case for Manny. So I guess it's better to have your defamation case anagolized to Jesus Christ than to some dog.
"I think this guy, Burstein, has really lost his mind," the Top Rank honcho said from his Las Vegas headquarters. "Those statements and his threatening treatment of that (New York Daily News) reporter is not indicative of a lawyer's type of conduct or behavior."
Arum once had New York based Burstein representing him on a matter way back when the attorney was working for prominent legal eagle Jay Goldberg. Goldberg as long been a stalwart of the criminal defense bar and, on the civil side, been the advocate for the likes of mogul Donald Trump.
"I have no idea what Burstein is thinking when he says these things. Our lawyer handling Manny's case, Daniel Petrocelli, says let Burstein keep spouting off. It will be dealt with in court where it should be properly handled.
"It looks to me that Conte has a complete defense to Mosley's defamation action and that is the truth. Now, if Burstein felt he had such a strong case there, why wouldn't he say something like, 'It's a difficult case but we expect to win, we feel confident.' Instead, he says a dog could win the case, Why spout off like that?
"I just can't figure Burstein out here. I mean, if you really are bullish on your case, then why say a dog could win it?"
Conte, meanwhile told Mark Vester at Boxingscene. com that he thinks Burstein is merely trying to burn a hole in Mosley's deep pockets, saying:
"It seems to me that Judd Burstein needs to listen to his own advise that he is offering to Manny Pacquiao. It's my opinion that Shane Mosley's defamation case against me cannot be won by him and that Burstein has already made Shane look terrible. It's also my opinion that Burstein's primary concern is to keep his meter running at $1,000 an hour for legal fees and continue to fill his pockets with Shane Mosley's money," Conte said to BoxingScene.com.
Turning to other topics, Arum said he is getting extremely positive reports on Pacman's Congressional campaign in Saragani Province.
"I'm hearing now that Manny is the favorite. I know they are using (wife) Jinkee in a very, very good way. This time, unlike last time (when Pacquiao lost to Darlene Antonino-Custodio in General Santos City), the Pacquiao team is very optimistic.
"I think that, last time, they were very disorganized and now they are well organized."
Regarding what happens with Floyd Mayweather-Mosley on May 1, Arum said the rematch clause only applies if 9-2 betting underdog Mosley springs a huge upset.
"Who gives a spit what Mayweather does?" Arum barked. "We will see what happens but we've got Antonio Margarito returning May 8 in Mexico and we expect 22,000 fans. It is selling very well. We will have a sellout crowd down there.
"If Manny wins the election and now I'm thinking he will, then he won't fight again until November."
I asked Arum to comment on Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez's remarks that "enemies of the Bolivarian revolution" in that country, including some in the media, wanted to destroy Top Rank's lightweight champion Edwin Valero and may have driven him to killing his wife and then committing suicide. To be fair, Chavez also mentioned Valero's out of control drug and alcohol habits.
"Figuring out what Hugo Chavez says and why he says it like trying to figure out Burstein's comments, really. It's the same thing."
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
"The cases that I've really focused on are the cases against Richard and Oscar, because we're working together on this. I don't think that Jesus Christ could come down off of the cross and win Manny's case against Richard and Oscar." -- GOLDEN BOY LAWYER JUDD BURSTEIN, speaking to Lem "The Gem" Satterfield on AOL Fan House.
No stranger to bombastic declarations himself, Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum seems to be more bemused than angered by the heavy verbal artillery coming out of the nonstop mouth of Burstein.
Burstein went on to label Pacman's lawsuit against the Golden Boys as "shockingly stupid" and added that the pair only rendered First Amendment protected opinions about the Pinoy Idol using illegal drugs. To hear Burstein tell it, Manny is burning money with a frivolous case.
"Look, he said a dog could win the defamation for his client, Shane Mosley, against (BALCO figure) Victor Conte and then he said Jesus Christ could not win the defamation case for Manny. So I guess it's better to have your defamation case anagolized to Jesus Christ than to some dog.
"I think this guy, Burstein, has really lost his mind," the Top Rank honcho said from his Las Vegas headquarters. "Those statements and his threatening treatment of that (New York Daily News) reporter is not indicative of a lawyer's type of conduct or behavior."
Arum once had New York based Burstein representing him on a matter way back when the attorney was working for prominent legal eagle Jay Goldberg. Goldberg as long been a stalwart of the criminal defense bar and, on the civil side, been the advocate for the likes of mogul Donald Trump.
"I have no idea what Burstein is thinking when he says these things. Our lawyer handling Manny's case, Daniel Petrocelli, says let Burstein keep spouting off. It will be dealt with in court where it should be properly handled.
"It looks to me that Conte has a complete defense to Mosley's defamation action and that is the truth. Now, if Burstein felt he had such a strong case there, why wouldn't he say something like, 'It's a difficult case but we expect to win, we feel confident.' Instead, he says a dog could win the case, Why spout off like that?
"I just can't figure Burstein out here. I mean, if you really are bullish on your case, then why say a dog could win it?"
Conte, meanwhile told Mark Vester at Boxingscene. com that he thinks Burstein is merely trying to burn a hole in Mosley's deep pockets, saying:
"It seems to me that Judd Burstein needs to listen to his own advise that he is offering to Manny Pacquiao. It's my opinion that Shane Mosley's defamation case against me cannot be won by him and that Burstein has already made Shane look terrible. It's also my opinion that Burstein's primary concern is to keep his meter running at $1,000 an hour for legal fees and continue to fill his pockets with Shane Mosley's money," Conte said to BoxingScene.com.
Turning to other topics, Arum said he is getting extremely positive reports on Pacman's Congressional campaign in Saragani Province.
"I'm hearing now that Manny is the favorite. I know they are using (wife) Jinkee in a very, very good way. This time, unlike last time (when Pacquiao lost to Darlene Antonino-Custodio in General Santos City), the Pacquiao team is very optimistic.
"I think that, last time, they were very disorganized and now they are well organized."
Regarding what happens with Floyd Mayweather-Mosley on May 1, Arum said the rematch clause only applies if 9-2 betting underdog Mosley springs a huge upset.
"Who gives a spit what Mayweather does?" Arum barked. "We will see what happens but we've got Antonio Margarito returning May 8 in Mexico and we expect 22,000 fans. It is selling very well. We will have a sellout crowd down there.
"If Manny wins the election and now I'm thinking he will, then he won't fight again until November."
I asked Arum to comment on Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez's remarks that "enemies of the Bolivarian revolution" in that country, including some in the media, wanted to destroy Top Rank's lightweight champion Edwin Valero and may have driven him to killing his wife and then committing suicide. To be fair, Chavez also mentioned Valero's out of control drug and alcohol habits.
"Figuring out what Hugo Chavez says and why he says it like trying to figure out Burstein's comments, really. It's the same thing."
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Boxer Pacquiao runs for office in Philippines -- Washington Post
By OLIVER TEVES, The Associated Press
SAN MIGUEL, Philippines -- The pounding beat of "Eye of the Tiger" from "Rocky III" blasted from speakers as Manny Pacquiao's black Hummer pulled up at an open-air basketball court on a recent humid evening.
The world welterweight boxing champion, seeking a seat in the Philippine Congress, waved to hundreds of cheering fans as he emerged from the vehicle in jeans and a blue vest bearing the name of his political party, the People's Champ Movement.
His earlier life as a poor laborer and baker only a memory, the world's best pound-for-pound boxer and one of the wealthiest men in his impoverished homeland is now trying to translate his enormous appeal into votes in the May 10 election.
"I don't want to be just your boxing idol," he told the crowd from a makeshift stage on the back of a truck. "I also want be your idol in public service."
If successful, Pacquiao would join many other Filipino celebrities and former athletes who have won seats in Congress in the past two decades, a departure from the past when the legislature used to be the exclusive domain of powerful landed dynasties and old clans.
Some celebrity candidates have been the butt of jokes for their inability to craft complex policies and engage in debates. Movie star Joseph Estrada, a college dropout, was ridiculed after winning the presidency in 1998 and forced out over corruption allegations in 2001. He is back as a long-shot candidate for president.
Pacquiao, who lost a congressional race in 2007, faces an uphill battle against an opponent from an entrenched political family, said political analyst Ramon Casiple. Voters today look for a record of service and don' vote on popularity alone, he added.
The 31-year-old boxer known to his fans as "Pacman," the holder of seven world boxing titles, has added to his fame - and riches - since then.
He made at least $12 million in his latest win over Joshua Clottey in March, after pocketing $30 million for beating Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 and Ricky Hatton in 2009, according to Forbes magazine, which lists him as one of the world's richest athletes.
Pacquiao also has a side career as a singer, and his smiling face adorns ads for dandruff shampoo, food products and Nike shoes.
"I could just sit back and relax and not have anything to do with politics. I could just travel around and enjoy my life with my family," Pacquiao told the crowd in San Miguel, a remote corn-farming village in Sarangani province in the southern Philippines. "But I came from a very poor family, and I cannot turn my back on the poor."
He spoke of how he slept on cardboard in the street as a child. When there wasn't enough money for rice, his family ate coconuts and bananas. He dropped out of school to earn money and focus on boxing and passed a high school equivalency test only in 2007.
The boxing champ said he knows poverty all too well, so he can relate to the populace in a country where a third of the people live on $1 a day and 3,000 Filipinos daily leave for jobs abroad.
He describes his platform as "very simple, very basic" - giving small boats to fishermen and financial support to neighborhood stores so people can build livelihoods, plus offering free education and medicine and medical care to the poor.
"The reason why so many people are poor is that politicians think of nothing except how to recover the money they spent during the elections," he said.
His opponent, Roy Chiongbian, questions whether Pacquiao has the experience to be a lawmaker.
"If a person looks at him as a world boxing champion, then I don't have any problem," he told The Associated Press. "But if a person looks at him as a politician, then I do have a problem."
Chiongbian, 61, hails from a politically powerful and wealthy family. His father authored the 1992 law that created Sarangani province and became its first congressman. His mother served as governor and his nephew is the current vice governor.
He wants to succeed his elder brother, Erwin, who is stepping down after nine years because of term limits.
Chiongbian said he and Pacquiao have similar programs, but he is banking on his family's track record, citing a well-paved highway linking all seven provincial towns.
He has the vote of 34-year-old fisherman Munib Tan. "This guy is knowledgeable," he said. "Pacquiao is only good at boxing."
But Reynaldo Junas, a 46-year-old motorcycle taxi driver and charcoal trader, wants to give Pacquiao a chance. "Let us try someone who has not yet been in power," he said. "If he doesn't perform, he won't get re-elected."
Win or lose, Pacquiao would not comment on a return to the ring.
Negotiations for a proposed megafight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. fell apart early this year amid a dispute over drug-testing, and Pacquiao said that his mother, Dionisia, wants him to quit.
"We haven't talked about that - maybe after the election," he said, then added with a chuckle, "Mommy D. will decide that."
Source: washingtonpost.com
SAN MIGUEL, Philippines -- The pounding beat of "Eye of the Tiger" from "Rocky III" blasted from speakers as Manny Pacquiao's black Hummer pulled up at an open-air basketball court on a recent humid evening.
The world welterweight boxing champion, seeking a seat in the Philippine Congress, waved to hundreds of cheering fans as he emerged from the vehicle in jeans and a blue vest bearing the name of his political party, the People's Champ Movement.
His earlier life as a poor laborer and baker only a memory, the world's best pound-for-pound boxer and one of the wealthiest men in his impoverished homeland is now trying to translate his enormous appeal into votes in the May 10 election.
"I don't want to be just your boxing idol," he told the crowd from a makeshift stage on the back of a truck. "I also want be your idol in public service."
If successful, Pacquiao would join many other Filipino celebrities and former athletes who have won seats in Congress in the past two decades, a departure from the past when the legislature used to be the exclusive domain of powerful landed dynasties and old clans.
Some celebrity candidates have been the butt of jokes for their inability to craft complex policies and engage in debates. Movie star Joseph Estrada, a college dropout, was ridiculed after winning the presidency in 1998 and forced out over corruption allegations in 2001. He is back as a long-shot candidate for president.
Pacquiao, who lost a congressional race in 2007, faces an uphill battle against an opponent from an entrenched political family, said political analyst Ramon Casiple. Voters today look for a record of service and don' vote on popularity alone, he added.
The 31-year-old boxer known to his fans as "Pacman," the holder of seven world boxing titles, has added to his fame - and riches - since then.
He made at least $12 million in his latest win over Joshua Clottey in March, after pocketing $30 million for beating Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 and Ricky Hatton in 2009, according to Forbes magazine, which lists him as one of the world's richest athletes.
Pacquiao also has a side career as a singer, and his smiling face adorns ads for dandruff shampoo, food products and Nike shoes.
"I could just sit back and relax and not have anything to do with politics. I could just travel around and enjoy my life with my family," Pacquiao told the crowd in San Miguel, a remote corn-farming village in Sarangani province in the southern Philippines. "But I came from a very poor family, and I cannot turn my back on the poor."
He spoke of how he slept on cardboard in the street as a child. When there wasn't enough money for rice, his family ate coconuts and bananas. He dropped out of school to earn money and focus on boxing and passed a high school equivalency test only in 2007.
The boxing champ said he knows poverty all too well, so he can relate to the populace in a country where a third of the people live on $1 a day and 3,000 Filipinos daily leave for jobs abroad.
He describes his platform as "very simple, very basic" - giving small boats to fishermen and financial support to neighborhood stores so people can build livelihoods, plus offering free education and medicine and medical care to the poor.
"The reason why so many people are poor is that politicians think of nothing except how to recover the money they spent during the elections," he said.
His opponent, Roy Chiongbian, questions whether Pacquiao has the experience to be a lawmaker.
"If a person looks at him as a world boxing champion, then I don't have any problem," he told The Associated Press. "But if a person looks at him as a politician, then I do have a problem."
Chiongbian, 61, hails from a politically powerful and wealthy family. His father authored the 1992 law that created Sarangani province and became its first congressman. His mother served as governor and his nephew is the current vice governor.
He wants to succeed his elder brother, Erwin, who is stepping down after nine years because of term limits.
Chiongbian said he and Pacquiao have similar programs, but he is banking on his family's track record, citing a well-paved highway linking all seven provincial towns.
He has the vote of 34-year-old fisherman Munib Tan. "This guy is knowledgeable," he said. "Pacquiao is only good at boxing."
But Reynaldo Junas, a 46-year-old motorcycle taxi driver and charcoal trader, wants to give Pacquiao a chance. "Let us try someone who has not yet been in power," he said. "If he doesn't perform, he won't get re-elected."
Win or lose, Pacquiao would not comment on a return to the ring.
Negotiations for a proposed megafight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. fell apart early this year amid a dispute over drug-testing, and Pacquiao said that his mother, Dionisia, wants him to quit.
"We haven't talked about that - maybe after the election," he said, then added with a chuckle, "Mommy D. will decide that."
Source: washingtonpost.com
Amir Khan Already Talking Retirement, Says He'll Be Gone By Age 28 - But Not Before Having His Share Of Big Fights -- Eastside Boxing
By James Slater, Eastside Boxing
Ask some fighters, or fight experts, and they will tell you that as soon as a boxer starts to even talk openly about retiring, he is already halfway towards quitting the ring. Fans of Amir Khan, the reigning WBA light-welterweight champion, had better hope this is not true in the case of the 23-year-old..
Yet while Khan is only 23 and a mere 23 fights into his pro career, he has been talking already about how and when he plans to quit the ring. Speaking with popular British newspaper The News of The World yesterday, Khan said he will call it a day at the age of 28, in the year 2015. However, the former Olympian also made it clear how he wants to take on the best fighters his 140-pound weight class has to offer before he's through - and that, according to the Bolton man, means fights against Floyud Mayweather Junior and Manny Pacquiao.
"In the next four years I will have all my big fights, so in five years time I will be gone," Khan said to the paper. "When I hit my peak I will be fighting men like Floyd Mayweather Junior and Manny Pacquiao. They will be my last few fights. There are so many big fights in my division, but my body will tell me when to call it a day."
Khan, who faces the slick Paulie Malignaggi on May 15th, in what will be his U.S debut and second defence of his WBA 140-pound belt, may well be out of luck if he really believes he will be facing either Mayweather or Pacquiao in 2014 or 2015. Mayweather, still unbeaten at 40-0, is 33 years-old now, and will almost certainly be retired himself long before 2014. While Pacquiao, who has ambitions, as we know, of a political nature, is currently aged 31 and will also surely be retired and in The Hall of Fame long before Khan hits his peak.
It's strange that Khan is even talking about when he will call it a day, because, despite his not inconsiderable accomplishments, he has not made his mark on the world scene quite yet, nor has he convinced the critics he is the real deal. Shouldn't Khan be focused on proving how good he is instead of mapping out his retirement plan? Then again, fellow Brit and WBA heavyweight champ David Haye has also made it clear how he has made up his mind about when he will retire; so maybe modern day fighters are simply better equipped than their predecessors when it comes to planning their later years.
Still, Khan should certainly be worrying more about Malignaggi and less about his exit from the sport. For if "King Khan" is looking past "The Magic Man" and if he loses as a result, his exit from the upper echelons of the sport could come much sooner than he thinks!
Source: eastsideboxing.com
Ask some fighters, or fight experts, and they will tell you that as soon as a boxer starts to even talk openly about retiring, he is already halfway towards quitting the ring. Fans of Amir Khan, the reigning WBA light-welterweight champion, had better hope this is not true in the case of the 23-year-old..
Yet while Khan is only 23 and a mere 23 fights into his pro career, he has been talking already about how and when he plans to quit the ring. Speaking with popular British newspaper The News of The World yesterday, Khan said he will call it a day at the age of 28, in the year 2015. However, the former Olympian also made it clear how he wants to take on the best fighters his 140-pound weight class has to offer before he's through - and that, according to the Bolton man, means fights against Floyud Mayweather Junior and Manny Pacquiao.
"In the next four years I will have all my big fights, so in five years time I will be gone," Khan said to the paper. "When I hit my peak I will be fighting men like Floyd Mayweather Junior and Manny Pacquiao. They will be my last few fights. There are so many big fights in my division, but my body will tell me when to call it a day."
Khan, who faces the slick Paulie Malignaggi on May 15th, in what will be his U.S debut and second defence of his WBA 140-pound belt, may well be out of luck if he really believes he will be facing either Mayweather or Pacquiao in 2014 or 2015. Mayweather, still unbeaten at 40-0, is 33 years-old now, and will almost certainly be retired himself long before 2014. While Pacquiao, who has ambitions, as we know, of a political nature, is currently aged 31 and will also surely be retired and in The Hall of Fame long before Khan hits his peak.
It's strange that Khan is even talking about when he will call it a day, because, despite his not inconsiderable accomplishments, he has not made his mark on the world scene quite yet, nor has he convinced the critics he is the real deal. Shouldn't Khan be focused on proving how good he is instead of mapping out his retirement plan? Then again, fellow Brit and WBA heavyweight champ David Haye has also made it clear how he has made up his mind about when he will retire; so maybe modern day fighters are simply better equipped than their predecessors when it comes to planning their later years.
Still, Khan should certainly be worrying more about Malignaggi and less about his exit from the sport. For if "King Khan" is looking past "The Magic Man" and if he loses as a result, his exit from the upper echelons of the sport could come much sooner than he thinks!
Source: eastsideboxing.com
No Khan Do: Amir wants Pacquiao, Mayweather -- Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
Maybe I botched the story line here.
Maybe I got it all wrong because I thought it was Ricky Hatton who was going into standup comedy and not Amir Khan.
But, right now, it's Khan who is making with the jokes.
Both Coach Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao must be having a good heehaw, meaning a right old guffaw along the lines of a kneeslapper, concerning the "future book" as dreamed up by young Khan.
Speaking with the bravado and impetousness of youth, Kid Khan has proclaimed that he will retire from the ring within five years and that, on the tail end of his enriching career, he will fight "guys like Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr."
Keep in mind Kid Khan will only turn age 24 in December, 10 days before Pacman turns 32.
I think the key words, the important phrase, here is "guys like..."
Five years from now would make Money May Shane Mosley's current age, which is 38, and I would dollars to boxes of balut that Mayweather is not fighting then unless it's an ongoing altercation with the Infernal Internal Revnue Service which makes him do so.
At his current clip, though, Mayweather's tax and other debts should be retired before he hangs up the gloves and moves on to become a fulltime shamster in pro wrestling, Roller Derby or the rap music demimonde.
As for Pacman, who in their right mind thinks he will be scrapping for dollars at age 36?
At some point, his Ayling Dionesia's maternal voice or that of Good Wife Jinkee will lay down the law and Megamanny will become a fulltime promoter or politician/promoter and real estate magnate.
Notice I said magnate and not maggot, my friends.
Perhaps Khan needs a sitdown session with the foggy crystal ball of the damn alluring Madam Auring on the prognostication table between he and the Pinay forecaster.
Chances are he fights neither Pacman nor Flighty Floydster.
But you have to like his stated goals, much like the novice mountain climber who cites the Matterhorn or Kilaminjaro as heighs he wants to reach.
No doubt Khan-Pacman would be a big moolah match.
But what about the plight of Roach and conditioning guru Alex Ariza.
This is a bit more complex than when stablemates Jimmy Ellis and Muhammad Ali threw down in the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Houston Astrodome.
Ali's team stayed intact for that intramural scrum except that chief strategist Angelo Dundee, trainer for both but also Elllis' manager, abandoned Muhammad for that one bout. You might say Dundee beat Dundee that night (I was there along with a hatless Bery Sugar) as Ali did not strain in stopping his hometown (Louisville) crony.
Dundee shed his "Jimmy Ellis" sweater and was back in both their corners for successive bouts against the outside world.
Roach and, to a lesser extent Ariza, cannot switch teams so freely.
I don't think either man would do that even with a script in place.
Now if Khan goes out and hires a new trainer and a new conditioning coach, the wheels might be greased for such a showdown in the ring.
The Khan who figures to beat Yo Paulie Malignaggi May 15 is no real threat to Mayweather or Pacman if we keep our analysis in the "now" rather than in future years.
At 31 and 33, they are Prime Time Players looking down on lesser lights.
So let's admire the 23 year old Khan's mighty ambitions and laugh up our sleeves.
If nothing else, his declaration makes it clear he does not feel threatened in the least by Malignaggi.
Khan wants to chop down the Redwoods, the biggest trees, and thinks he will trample Malignaggi like a slight and insignificant bush.
I guess he figures he will outdo how countryman Ricky Hatton handled the Brooklyn boxer.
Continued success keeps Khan in the Pacquiao-Mayweather orbit, sure.
But he's a tiny star compared to their interplanetary status.
That's why he qualified himself. That's why he referred to "guys like..."
Smart thinking, kid, smart thinking.
Khan wants fights against Mayweather AND Pacquiao.
People in Hell want ice water also.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Maybe I botched the story line here.
Maybe I got it all wrong because I thought it was Ricky Hatton who was going into standup comedy and not Amir Khan.
But, right now, it's Khan who is making with the jokes.
Both Coach Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao must be having a good heehaw, meaning a right old guffaw along the lines of a kneeslapper, concerning the "future book" as dreamed up by young Khan.
Speaking with the bravado and impetousness of youth, Kid Khan has proclaimed that he will retire from the ring within five years and that, on the tail end of his enriching career, he will fight "guys like Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr."
Keep in mind Kid Khan will only turn age 24 in December, 10 days before Pacman turns 32.
I think the key words, the important phrase, here is "guys like..."
Five years from now would make Money May Shane Mosley's current age, which is 38, and I would dollars to boxes of balut that Mayweather is not fighting then unless it's an ongoing altercation with the Infernal Internal Revnue Service which makes him do so.
At his current clip, though, Mayweather's tax and other debts should be retired before he hangs up the gloves and moves on to become a fulltime shamster in pro wrestling, Roller Derby or the rap music demimonde.
As for Pacman, who in their right mind thinks he will be scrapping for dollars at age 36?
At some point, his Ayling Dionesia's maternal voice or that of Good Wife Jinkee will lay down the law and Megamanny will become a fulltime promoter or politician/promoter and real estate magnate.
Notice I said magnate and not maggot, my friends.
Perhaps Khan needs a sitdown session with the foggy crystal ball of the damn alluring Madam Auring on the prognostication table between he and the Pinay forecaster.
Chances are he fights neither Pacman nor Flighty Floydster.
But you have to like his stated goals, much like the novice mountain climber who cites the Matterhorn or Kilaminjaro as heighs he wants to reach.
No doubt Khan-Pacman would be a big moolah match.
But what about the plight of Roach and conditioning guru Alex Ariza.
This is a bit more complex than when stablemates Jimmy Ellis and Muhammad Ali threw down in the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Houston Astrodome.
Ali's team stayed intact for that intramural scrum except that chief strategist Angelo Dundee, trainer for both but also Elllis' manager, abandoned Muhammad for that one bout. You might say Dundee beat Dundee that night (I was there along with a hatless Bery Sugar) as Ali did not strain in stopping his hometown (Louisville) crony.
Dundee shed his "Jimmy Ellis" sweater and was back in both their corners for successive bouts against the outside world.
Roach and, to a lesser extent Ariza, cannot switch teams so freely.
I don't think either man would do that even with a script in place.
Now if Khan goes out and hires a new trainer and a new conditioning coach, the wheels might be greased for such a showdown in the ring.
The Khan who figures to beat Yo Paulie Malignaggi May 15 is no real threat to Mayweather or Pacman if we keep our analysis in the "now" rather than in future years.
At 31 and 33, they are Prime Time Players looking down on lesser lights.
So let's admire the 23 year old Khan's mighty ambitions and laugh up our sleeves.
If nothing else, his declaration makes it clear he does not feel threatened in the least by Malignaggi.
Khan wants to chop down the Redwoods, the biggest trees, and thinks he will trample Malignaggi like a slight and insignificant bush.
I guess he figures he will outdo how countryman Ricky Hatton handled the Brooklyn boxer.
Continued success keeps Khan in the Pacquiao-Mayweather orbit, sure.
But he's a tiny star compared to their interplanetary status.
That's why he qualified himself. That's why he referred to "guys like..."
Smart thinking, kid, smart thinking.
Khan wants fights against Mayweather AND Pacquiao.
People in Hell want ice water also.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Trainers' take: Age a deciding factor in Floyd Mayweather's fight against Shane Mosley -- Grand Rapids Press
By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press
LAS VEGAS -- Two boxing statesmen, both former world champions turned trainers, with a keen eye for the irreversible templates of the punch-for-pay game and the toll it takes, watch Floyd Mayweather intently. One has a vested interest in Saturday’s Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight. The other doesn’t.
Both think they see the same thing at play in the welterweight extravaganza, an experience they lived through during their own careers as active boxers.
Cornelius Boza Edwards and Roger Mayweather were world champions whose principal role in professional boxing was Hall of Fame gatekeeper, because almost anyone who beat them in their primes became an immediate candidate.
They also overstayed those primes and said Mosley, 38, is making the same mistake.
“There’s five years difference between them,” Boza Edwards said. “As we know, over the years, even with great fighters, one or two years could be huge.
“We always have this scenario. Fighting is a young man’s sport. In this fight, between Floyd and Shane, Floyd is the younger man. The reflexes aren’t the same. The quickness isn’t the same. And the other thing is, the last time Shane fought, was more than a year ago. So all those things are combined.”
Roger Mayweather trains his nephew and has an obvious bias. He also is an astute observer of boxing and a student of its history who considers Mosley a great fighter and surefire Hall of Famer, with dangerous power and a big heart.
But he also questions whether Mosley, after 52 pro fights and more than 250 amateur bouts, has enough to cope with the preeminent boxing artist of the past dozen years.
“As far as his ability, as far as his chin, everybody knows Shane Mosley is physically tough,” Roger Mayweather said. “But he had better than 200 amateur fights and nobody knows what he’s got left, until it gets to crunch time, and you find out how he responds. That’s the only way you really know.”
Boza Edwards, 54, and Roger Mayweather, 49, were stalwarts at junior lightweight and lightweight, the 130- and 135-pound classes, during the 1980s heyday of those divisions.
The Ugandan-born Boza Edwards won a world title at 130, and his 45-7 record was dotted with losses to six champions, including Alexis Arguello, Bobby Chacon and Hector Camacho. He also defeated Chacon and Rafael “Bazooka” Limon.
He went into decline after losing his title to Chacon in 1983, but didn’t quit. He won one of his last four fights, against a journeyman, and was outclassed by Camacho and knocked out in his final fight, in 1987, by Jose Luis Ramirez, who five months later became the first fighter to beat Pernell Whitaker.
He said he expects Mosley to be willing and prepared, all predicated on self-delusion.
“Great fighters have shown, over the course of history, that the mind can deceive you,” Boza Edwards said. “But once the bell rings, the reality sets in.”
Boza Edwards said he thinks Mosley’s aggression will work against him “and that’s where he’s going to make his mistake, I think, and Floyd’s going to take advantage of it and jump all over him.” He said he does not expect the fight to last the distance.
Roger Mayweather held world titles at 130 and 140 pounds and had three common opponents with Boza Edwards, although they never fought. His 59-13 record included seven losses in his last 25 bouts.
He was 38 when he last fought in 1999, seven years older than Boza Edwards was -- and more than six months younger than Mosley will be Saturday night.
“I know how good of a fighter Shane Mosley is. Remember, the guy I had beat him twice in the amateurs and twice in the pros,” he said, referring to the late Vernon Forrest, whom he used to train. “But in terms of that, when a guy’s been fighting that long, you don’t know what he’s got left on fight night. That’s when it’s going to show up."
E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
LAS VEGAS -- Two boxing statesmen, both former world champions turned trainers, with a keen eye for the irreversible templates of the punch-for-pay game and the toll it takes, watch Floyd Mayweather intently. One has a vested interest in Saturday’s Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight. The other doesn’t.
Both think they see the same thing at play in the welterweight extravaganza, an experience they lived through during their own careers as active boxers.
Cornelius Boza Edwards and Roger Mayweather were world champions whose principal role in professional boxing was Hall of Fame gatekeeper, because almost anyone who beat them in their primes became an immediate candidate.
They also overstayed those primes and said Mosley, 38, is making the same mistake.
“There’s five years difference between them,” Boza Edwards said. “As we know, over the years, even with great fighters, one or two years could be huge.
“We always have this scenario. Fighting is a young man’s sport. In this fight, between Floyd and Shane, Floyd is the younger man. The reflexes aren’t the same. The quickness isn’t the same. And the other thing is, the last time Shane fought, was more than a year ago. So all those things are combined.”
Roger Mayweather trains his nephew and has an obvious bias. He also is an astute observer of boxing and a student of its history who considers Mosley a great fighter and surefire Hall of Famer, with dangerous power and a big heart.
But he also questions whether Mosley, after 52 pro fights and more than 250 amateur bouts, has enough to cope with the preeminent boxing artist of the past dozen years.
“As far as his ability, as far as his chin, everybody knows Shane Mosley is physically tough,” Roger Mayweather said. “But he had better than 200 amateur fights and nobody knows what he’s got left, until it gets to crunch time, and you find out how he responds. That’s the only way you really know.”
Boza Edwards, 54, and Roger Mayweather, 49, were stalwarts at junior lightweight and lightweight, the 130- and 135-pound classes, during the 1980s heyday of those divisions.
The Ugandan-born Boza Edwards won a world title at 130, and his 45-7 record was dotted with losses to six champions, including Alexis Arguello, Bobby Chacon and Hector Camacho. He also defeated Chacon and Rafael “Bazooka” Limon.
He went into decline after losing his title to Chacon in 1983, but didn’t quit. He won one of his last four fights, against a journeyman, and was outclassed by Camacho and knocked out in his final fight, in 1987, by Jose Luis Ramirez, who five months later became the first fighter to beat Pernell Whitaker.
He said he expects Mosley to be willing and prepared, all predicated on self-delusion.
“Great fighters have shown, over the course of history, that the mind can deceive you,” Boza Edwards said. “But once the bell rings, the reality sets in.”
Boza Edwards said he thinks Mosley’s aggression will work against him “and that’s where he’s going to make his mistake, I think, and Floyd’s going to take advantage of it and jump all over him.” He said he does not expect the fight to last the distance.
Roger Mayweather held world titles at 130 and 140 pounds and had three common opponents with Boza Edwards, although they never fought. His 59-13 record included seven losses in his last 25 bouts.
He was 38 when he last fought in 1999, seven years older than Boza Edwards was -- and more than six months younger than Mosley will be Saturday night.
“I know how good of a fighter Shane Mosley is. Remember, the guy I had beat him twice in the amateurs and twice in the pros,” he said, referring to the late Vernon Forrest, whom he used to train. “But in terms of that, when a guy’s been fighting that long, you don’t know what he’s got left on fight night. That’s when it’s going to show up."
E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
Trainer as tenacious as Mosley -- Las Vegas Review-Journal
By STEVE CARP, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
As Shane Mosley enters the twilight of a presumed Hall of Fame boxing career, he appears to have finally found one thing that has eluded him the last 10 years -- stability in his corner.
Mosley's revolving door of trainers has included two stints with his father Jack, along with Joe Goosen and John David Jackson. But that door has stopped spinning. Mosley has connected with Naazim Richardson, who knows all about overcoming seemingly unbeatable obstacles.
Only days from his welterweight showdown against one such obstacle -- unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- Mosley believes he has found someone he can trust to have him ready.
"I needed someone who's into it -- and he's 100 percent into the game," Mosley said of Richardson, 45, whose stable includes light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins and cruiserweight Steve Cunningham. "He's in the fight as much as I am, only he's using his mind and I'm using my fists."
The two teamed up for Mosley's last fight, with astonishing results. With Richardson devising a game plan, Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) executed it flawlessly and convincingly stopped Antonio Margarito in the ninth round on Jan. 24, 2009.
Now Mosley has entrusted Richardson to plan a strategy to hand Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) his first loss Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.
"It's a great opportunity," Richardson said. "(Mosley's) work ethic, his demeanor ... very few people sit as high at his profession and still carry that down-to-earth demeanor as he does. He's a great listener. He's still a student of the game and that's what's so fascinating about training him."
That Richardson is training anyone, much less Mosley, is amazing. He suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him paralyzed on his left side and required brain surgery. But he has made a remarkable recovery. His mind is as sharp as ever. His speech is not slurred. Physically, he's able to do his job in the ring, working with Mosley and getting him ready at the training camp in Big Bear Lake, Calif.
"In my case, it reconfirmed what I already knew -- that God's greatness works and He is almighty," Richardson said. "I had great doctors at Temple University Hospital and they said it wouldn't be easy to recover. It was scary. But my family members and my team were unbelievable, and God helped me get through it."
Richardson, who grew up in North Philadelphia and fell in love with boxing as a kid, never fought professionally. Instead, he became a student of the sport, learning from famed trainer Bouie Fisher.
"To be a good leader, at one point of your life, you had to be a good follower," Richardson said. "I tell my athletes the minute I stop being a student, you need a new teacher."
Richardson never stops trying to learn. He'll stay up until daybreak by himself, watching tape of his fighter's opponent, trying to find something he can exploit.
Having watched how Richardson trained Hopkins over the years, Mosley sought out Richardson for the Margarito bout after parting with his father for the second time.
Richardson doesn't tolerate foolishness from his fighters. Mosley agreed to train under his rules, which meant no distractions, no outside interference and total dedication to the game plan.
"He's hard on me," Mosley said. "But I trust him completely. I can't ask for a better person to be in my camp."
Or a more attentive person. Prior to Mosley's fight against Margarito, it was Richardson who noticed something wasn't right with the hand wraps of Margarito. He pointed out to California State Athletic Commission inspectors that the wraps were concealing something.
Sure enough, a plaster-like substance had been used to harden the cloth wraps. Margarito ultimately would be suspended for a year and fined for the attempt to circumvent the rules. It's that kind of attention to detail that endears Richardson to his fighters.
Richardson says he's merely doing his job. He doesn't like to bring attention to himself, preferring to let his fighters bask in the limelight. He might know his place, but it's an important place.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
As Shane Mosley enters the twilight of a presumed Hall of Fame boxing career, he appears to have finally found one thing that has eluded him the last 10 years -- stability in his corner.
Mosley's revolving door of trainers has included two stints with his father Jack, along with Joe Goosen and John David Jackson. But that door has stopped spinning. Mosley has connected with Naazim Richardson, who knows all about overcoming seemingly unbeatable obstacles.
Only days from his welterweight showdown against one such obstacle -- unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- Mosley believes he has found someone he can trust to have him ready.
"I needed someone who's into it -- and he's 100 percent into the game," Mosley said of Richardson, 45, whose stable includes light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins and cruiserweight Steve Cunningham. "He's in the fight as much as I am, only he's using his mind and I'm using my fists."
The two teamed up for Mosley's last fight, with astonishing results. With Richardson devising a game plan, Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) executed it flawlessly and convincingly stopped Antonio Margarito in the ninth round on Jan. 24, 2009.
Now Mosley has entrusted Richardson to plan a strategy to hand Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) his first loss Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.
"It's a great opportunity," Richardson said. "(Mosley's) work ethic, his demeanor ... very few people sit as high at his profession and still carry that down-to-earth demeanor as he does. He's a great listener. He's still a student of the game and that's what's so fascinating about training him."
That Richardson is training anyone, much less Mosley, is amazing. He suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him paralyzed on his left side and required brain surgery. But he has made a remarkable recovery. His mind is as sharp as ever. His speech is not slurred. Physically, he's able to do his job in the ring, working with Mosley and getting him ready at the training camp in Big Bear Lake, Calif.
"In my case, it reconfirmed what I already knew -- that God's greatness works and He is almighty," Richardson said. "I had great doctors at Temple University Hospital and they said it wouldn't be easy to recover. It was scary. But my family members and my team were unbelievable, and God helped me get through it."
Richardson, who grew up in North Philadelphia and fell in love with boxing as a kid, never fought professionally. Instead, he became a student of the sport, learning from famed trainer Bouie Fisher.
"To be a good leader, at one point of your life, you had to be a good follower," Richardson said. "I tell my athletes the minute I stop being a student, you need a new teacher."
Richardson never stops trying to learn. He'll stay up until daybreak by himself, watching tape of his fighter's opponent, trying to find something he can exploit.
Having watched how Richardson trained Hopkins over the years, Mosley sought out Richardson for the Margarito bout after parting with his father for the second time.
Richardson doesn't tolerate foolishness from his fighters. Mosley agreed to train under his rules, which meant no distractions, no outside interference and total dedication to the game plan.
"He's hard on me," Mosley said. "But I trust him completely. I can't ask for a better person to be in my camp."
Or a more attentive person. Prior to Mosley's fight against Margarito, it was Richardson who noticed something wasn't right with the hand wraps of Margarito. He pointed out to California State Athletic Commission inspectors that the wraps were concealing something.
Sure enough, a plaster-like substance had been used to harden the cloth wraps. Margarito ultimately would be suspended for a year and fined for the attempt to circumvent the rules. It's that kind of attention to detail that endears Richardson to his fighters.
Richardson says he's merely doing his job. He doesn't like to bring attention to himself, preferring to let his fighters bask in the limelight. He might know his place, but it's an important place.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
Minggu, 25 April 2010
Manny Pacquiao can do to Floyd Mayweather what Shane Mosley won't -- Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
Handicapping the Sugar Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather Jr. is child's play, really.
A kid lurching around the sandbox could figure that the smart play is to bet the younger, much faster guy.
A kindergarten student might know, to draw on college and pro football parlance, that a merely good offense will not beat a nonpareil defense.
If you can't score, if you can't punch the ball over the goal line, then you won't be lighting up the scorecard.
Mosley will score no touchdowns against the mercury like swift feet and rolling shoulders of Mayweather next Saturday night in Lost Wages.
The way I see it, albeit in a blurry manner having just survived the wet and wild New Orleans Jazzfest, Mosley won't even be kicking any field goals.
Instead, he will be swinging and swatting like a man deep in the woods who forgot to cover himself with mosquito repellent.
I know I'm mixing metaphors here the way they mix Ramos Gin Fizzes and Sazeracs in the adult playground that is New Orleans (not to mention the slushy but jest right frozen dacquiris) but I'm not going to slip and fall as the big fight runup picks up the pace.
I refuse to drink the Mosley Kool Aid.
I remain steadfast in stating the only Man-ny on the planet who has the will, the skill and the unorthodox offense to beat Mayweather is a guy slightly younger than he is.
In fact, Pacquiao is the only Man-ny on the planet who can either outpoint or KO whirling dervish and Scarlet Pimpernel combination Mayweather.
Pacquiao can cripple the shoulder roll, make those come to a sudden stop.
Pacquiao can hurt Mayweather.
Pacquiao may make Mayweather quit, wave the white flag.
Pacquiao even has the firepower to knock Mayweather into the same location that Messrs. de la Hoya and Hatton went, into permanent retirement.
We may add that as a boxing category, alongside KTFO, getting KIPR or Knocked Into Permanent Retirement.
I've no axe to grind against Mosley or for Mayweather, you know that.
In the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mosley belongs. He's also a Hall Of Fame stature fighter and his career speaks for itself. The BALCO steroid escapades are a minor blemish on his siny resume, really.
But Mayweather waited until Mosley was 38 and a step or two slower than he was in younger years.
Stepping to and slamming the mainly immobile Antonio Margarito was a big achievement but now he is fighting Margo's polar opposite.
Mayweather will win this fight going away and I mean that literally.
He will always be going away from Mosley and away from danger.
The frustration level will be extremely high from the first round to the last round.
A 12 frame shutout is a genuine possibility.
Again, I like and respect Mosley. Away from the ring, he's fired managers, promoters, trainers, cutmen and had a divorce.
But Mosley has handled such breakups, including canning his own father twice, in a discreet and take the high road manner.
That counts for something in measuring Mosley the man.
But Mosley the fighter at this point?
His chances are slim and none and slim is out of town.
Slim was last seen at the airport or the Amtrak railroad station, one or the other.
Mayweather's dipping and dancing will be too much for Mosley to handle.
You think Mosley can win?
You must be that optimistic guy who entered a Mini-Cooper in the Indianapolis 500.
I know you.
Have a nice crash.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Handicapping the Sugar Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather Jr. is child's play, really.
A kid lurching around the sandbox could figure that the smart play is to bet the younger, much faster guy.
A kindergarten student might know, to draw on college and pro football parlance, that a merely good offense will not beat a nonpareil defense.
If you can't score, if you can't punch the ball over the goal line, then you won't be lighting up the scorecard.
Mosley will score no touchdowns against the mercury like swift feet and rolling shoulders of Mayweather next Saturday night in Lost Wages.
The way I see it, albeit in a blurry manner having just survived the wet and wild New Orleans Jazzfest, Mosley won't even be kicking any field goals.
Instead, he will be swinging and swatting like a man deep in the woods who forgot to cover himself with mosquito repellent.
I know I'm mixing metaphors here the way they mix Ramos Gin Fizzes and Sazeracs in the adult playground that is New Orleans (not to mention the slushy but jest right frozen dacquiris) but I'm not going to slip and fall as the big fight runup picks up the pace.
I refuse to drink the Mosley Kool Aid.
I remain steadfast in stating the only Man-ny on the planet who has the will, the skill and the unorthodox offense to beat Mayweather is a guy slightly younger than he is.
In fact, Pacquiao is the only Man-ny on the planet who can either outpoint or KO whirling dervish and Scarlet Pimpernel combination Mayweather.
Pacquiao can cripple the shoulder roll, make those come to a sudden stop.
Pacquiao can hurt Mayweather.
Pacquiao may make Mayweather quit, wave the white flag.
Pacquiao even has the firepower to knock Mayweather into the same location that Messrs. de la Hoya and Hatton went, into permanent retirement.
We may add that as a boxing category, alongside KTFO, getting KIPR or Knocked Into Permanent Retirement.
I've no axe to grind against Mosley or for Mayweather, you know that.
In the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mosley belongs. He's also a Hall Of Fame stature fighter and his career speaks for itself. The BALCO steroid escapades are a minor blemish on his siny resume, really.
But Mayweather waited until Mosley was 38 and a step or two slower than he was in younger years.
Stepping to and slamming the mainly immobile Antonio Margarito was a big achievement but now he is fighting Margo's polar opposite.
Mayweather will win this fight going away and I mean that literally.
He will always be going away from Mosley and away from danger.
The frustration level will be extremely high from the first round to the last round.
A 12 frame shutout is a genuine possibility.
Again, I like and respect Mosley. Away from the ring, he's fired managers, promoters, trainers, cutmen and had a divorce.
But Mosley has handled such breakups, including canning his own father twice, in a discreet and take the high road manner.
That counts for something in measuring Mosley the man.
But Mosley the fighter at this point?
His chances are slim and none and slim is out of town.
Slim was last seen at the airport or the Amtrak railroad station, one or the other.
Mayweather's dipping and dancing will be too much for Mosley to handle.
You think Mosley can win?
You must be that optimistic guy who entered a Mini-Cooper in the Indianapolis 500.
I know you.
Have a nice crash.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Pacquiao is a clean fighter…Absolutely! -- PhilBoxing
By Allan Recto, PhilBoxing.com
Los Angeles, California (April 25, 2010) – A certified ringside physician from the Texas Boxing Commission has conveyed the test results of WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao’s urine for steroids collected last March 13th at his dressing room, right after his clash with Joshua Clottey, in their match-up dubbed “The Event” in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. The test results as shown by the Medical Review Officer’s Report were negative. Dr. Oscar Molina confirmed that Manny Pacquiao is indeed a clean fighter and not using any steroids or illegal drugs.
During the day of the weigh-in, it was Dr. Molina from Dallas, TX who, accompanied by representatives from Top Rank and the TDLR’s Combative Sports Division (Texas Boxing Commission), came to Pacquiao’s suite at the Gaylord Texan Hotel to perform the mandatory pre-fight physical examination. The ring doctor took PacMan’s vital signs that read: BP – 116/64 and a resting HR of 43 per minute. “Perfect. This is indeed amazing,” he remarked and re-iterated our similar observation that elite athletes who are in top condition have this kind of measurement with regards to their heart rate being low. “Wow, this means he is in excellent condition,” the assigned Texas ringside physician revealed to us. Pacquiao was grinning but remained relax and quiet. Just like all of us, he was excited about his upcoming fight.
Immediately post-fight, at the Team Pacquiao’s dressing room, two Texas Combative Sports Division ringside physicians, Dr. Wayne Lee of San Antonio, TX and Dr. Manuel Gonzalez from Laredo, TX, showed up to monitor and collect the urine specimen of Manny Pacquiao for testing purposes. The fighter, looking a bit weary and dehydrated, was elated by his Unanimous Decision win over number one welterweight contender Joshua Clottey. The unprecedented seven title holder in seven divisions Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao gulped a couple of bottled water after the contest then declared, “I’m ready anytime, anywhere!” Pacquiao was certainly referring to any drug testing or urine collection. The PacMan, accompanied by a commission physician, went inside the restroom to do what was expected of him and came out with a half-filled specimen bottle of fresh, amber-colored urine.
The Texas ringside physicians properly labeled the urine sample and followed proper chain of custody protocol. The urine specimen was tested without delay for any illegal drugs. Pacquiao’s urine sample was negative for drugs such as Amphetamines, Marijuana, Opiates, etc. The WBO Supervisor, who was present during the urine drug screen, officially noted the results and relayed it to Pacquiao, the Texas Boxing Commissioner Dicky Cole and later on to the WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel. “The initial Urine Drug Test was negative,” affirmed the WBO Supervisor to the boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao who nodded to confirm, as he was busy preparing for the post-fight press conference.
A Texas Boxing Commission ringside physician later notified Team Pacquiao members, particularly Michael Koncz, that the rest of the urine sample would be sent to a special laboratory for steroid confirmation. The turn around time for test results would be a few weeks. SteroidConfirm Urine Test screens for commonly abused anabolic steroid agents using the latest technique of Liquid Chromatograph Tandem Mass Spectrometry, the most sensitive and sophisticated technology available. This test enables ringside physicians, sports trainers, boxing or athletic commissions, etc. to test athletes who they suspect may be abusing anabolic steroids, which are known to increase muscle mass and physical strength.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission had ordered random drug-testing to be performed to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in late December 2009, which conformed with the World Anti- Doping Agency’s guidelines, and those test results showed Pacquiao was negative for performance enhancing as well as illegal drugs or steroids.
Should Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. get past Shane Mosley on May 1st next week, a potential mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao is a definite possibility. During his most recent conference call in Las Vegas, Mayweather, Jr. said, “All I'm saying, if you're a clean athlete, take your test. That's all I'm saying. That's all I've got to say. If you're a clean athlete, take the test! Show the world, you know what, I'm a natural. Take the test, that's all I say. Let them come get you at any time and take the test."
The allegations of certain individuals are truly unfounded. Pacquiao has never been tested positive for steroids or any illegal drugs. During HBO’s “Road to Dallas” TV special leading to the fight between Pacquiao and Clottey last March 13th at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Manny Pacquiao openly denied he was using any drugs or steroid. Pacquiao said, “I’m a very clean fighter. I don’t know what is a steroid. I don’t have an idea what it is. Because for me, hard work and faith to God…that is my energy everyday.”
Source: philboxing.com
Los Angeles, California (April 25, 2010) – A certified ringside physician from the Texas Boxing Commission has conveyed the test results of WBO welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao’s urine for steroids collected last March 13th at his dressing room, right after his clash with Joshua Clottey, in their match-up dubbed “The Event” in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. The test results as shown by the Medical Review Officer’s Report were negative. Dr. Oscar Molina confirmed that Manny Pacquiao is indeed a clean fighter and not using any steroids or illegal drugs.
During the day of the weigh-in, it was Dr. Molina from Dallas, TX who, accompanied by representatives from Top Rank and the TDLR’s Combative Sports Division (Texas Boxing Commission), came to Pacquiao’s suite at the Gaylord Texan Hotel to perform the mandatory pre-fight physical examination. The ring doctor took PacMan’s vital signs that read: BP – 116/64 and a resting HR of 43 per minute. “Perfect. This is indeed amazing,” he remarked and re-iterated our similar observation that elite athletes who are in top condition have this kind of measurement with regards to their heart rate being low. “Wow, this means he is in excellent condition,” the assigned Texas ringside physician revealed to us. Pacquiao was grinning but remained relax and quiet. Just like all of us, he was excited about his upcoming fight.
Immediately post-fight, at the Team Pacquiao’s dressing room, two Texas Combative Sports Division ringside physicians, Dr. Wayne Lee of San Antonio, TX and Dr. Manuel Gonzalez from Laredo, TX, showed up to monitor and collect the urine specimen of Manny Pacquiao for testing purposes. The fighter, looking a bit weary and dehydrated, was elated by his Unanimous Decision win over number one welterweight contender Joshua Clottey. The unprecedented seven title holder in seven divisions Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao gulped a couple of bottled water after the contest then declared, “I’m ready anytime, anywhere!” Pacquiao was certainly referring to any drug testing or urine collection. The PacMan, accompanied by a commission physician, went inside the restroom to do what was expected of him and came out with a half-filled specimen bottle of fresh, amber-colored urine.
The Texas ringside physicians properly labeled the urine sample and followed proper chain of custody protocol. The urine specimen was tested without delay for any illegal drugs. Pacquiao’s urine sample was negative for drugs such as Amphetamines, Marijuana, Opiates, etc. The WBO Supervisor, who was present during the urine drug screen, officially noted the results and relayed it to Pacquiao, the Texas Boxing Commissioner Dicky Cole and later on to the WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel. “The initial Urine Drug Test was negative,” affirmed the WBO Supervisor to the boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao who nodded to confirm, as he was busy preparing for the post-fight press conference.
A Texas Boxing Commission ringside physician later notified Team Pacquiao members, particularly Michael Koncz, that the rest of the urine sample would be sent to a special laboratory for steroid confirmation. The turn around time for test results would be a few weeks. SteroidConfirm Urine Test screens for commonly abused anabolic steroid agents using the latest technique of Liquid Chromatograph Tandem Mass Spectrometry, the most sensitive and sophisticated technology available. This test enables ringside physicians, sports trainers, boxing or athletic commissions, etc. to test athletes who they suspect may be abusing anabolic steroids, which are known to increase muscle mass and physical strength.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission had ordered random drug-testing to be performed to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in late December 2009, which conformed with the World Anti- Doping Agency’s guidelines, and those test results showed Pacquiao was negative for performance enhancing as well as illegal drugs or steroids.
Should Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. get past Shane Mosley on May 1st next week, a potential mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao is a definite possibility. During his most recent conference call in Las Vegas, Mayweather, Jr. said, “All I'm saying, if you're a clean athlete, take your test. That's all I'm saying. That's all I've got to say. If you're a clean athlete, take the test! Show the world, you know what, I'm a natural. Take the test, that's all I say. Let them come get you at any time and take the test."
The allegations of certain individuals are truly unfounded. Pacquiao has never been tested positive for steroids or any illegal drugs. During HBO’s “Road to Dallas” TV special leading to the fight between Pacquiao and Clottey last March 13th at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Manny Pacquiao openly denied he was using any drugs or steroid. Pacquiao said, “I’m a very clean fighter. I don’t know what is a steroid. I don’t have an idea what it is. Because for me, hard work and faith to God…that is my energy everyday.” Renowned Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said in that HBO documentary episode, “There’s no validation in that accusation because he’s never been tested positive. He’s been tested in every title fight and has passed every time. Just because he went from 106 lbs. to 147 lbs., does that mean he is on steroids?” Roach questioned, “Floyd Mayweather, Jr. went from 106 to 154 lbs., does that mean he is on steroids too? That’s bull---t!”
In December 30, 2009, Pacquiao filed a civil lawsuit versus Floyd, Jr., Sr. and Roger Mayweather, the Mayweather Promotions as well as Golden Boy Promotions’ Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaeffer, demanding trial by jury. Until now, it has not been resolved and the case is still pending.
When interviewed yesterday at the Wild Card Boxing Club of Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza told this writer, “I’m not surprised that Manny Pacquiao tested negative again, Doc. He is a clean fighter! Manny is the pinnacle of an athlete that other fighters should emulate. He doesn’t berate his opponents. He is very respectful and professional.” With a melancholic voice, Ariza added, “It is sad that people say things that cast a shadow on his accomplishments. Manny has never tested positive for PED (perfomance enhancing drugs) or steroids.”
Finally, the latest test results in Texas show that Manny Pacquiao, the current best pound per pound boxer in the world, is indeed a clean athlete. When this boxing writer/physician queried his colleague from the Texas Boxing Commission - “Does this mean that Manny Pacquiao is a clean fighter and not using any steroids
?” Dr. Molina simply answered, “Absolutely!”
?” Dr. Molina simply answered, “Absolutely!”Source: philboxing.com
Shane Mosley says he's ready to unleash a mountain of trouble on Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- Los Angeles Times
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
Before a fight, Shane Mosley's ritual is to lock himself away from the world in his Big Bear Lake training compound.
"You have to drive all the way up here to have something to say and then I have to agree to let you in," Mosley said recently at Big Bear. "I'm up here because boxing is a mental game."
The WBA welterweight champion on Saturday faces his stiffest challenge yet in taking on unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.
Mosley is 38 and hasn't fought since a stirring technical-knockout win over Antonio Margarito in January 2009, and oddsmakers peg Mayweather as a 9-2 favorite. Mosley ignores it all.
"The boxing game is right here," Mosley said, pointing to his right temple. "Getting ready for a fight means going to war. This is the hurt business. I can't accept a thought like, ‘This might be my last fight,' or ‘I'm getting old.' "
Before the Margarito fight, Mosley heard the same concerns. He and trainer Naazim Richardson kept saying, "Don't de-fang the monster after we beat him." Then, Mosley pounded Margarito until the fight was stopped in the ninth round.
"Shutting down naysayers, I love that," Mosley said. "That's why Margarito got what he did. This is why I chose boxing. It's a one-on-one sport, and I've always believed no one can beat me one on one when I do the right things."
Mayweather, 33, "is a great fighter," Mosley added. "I'm the best in the world."
Why is Mosley so confident? One reason is Richardson, who has often formulated strategies to beat foes who appeared unstoppable. The trainer orchestrated Bernard Hopkins' upset of then-unbeaten middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in 2008. And he devised Mosley's game plan against Margarito. Richardson also spotted the plaster-of-Paris inserts confiscated from Margarito's hand wraps before their bout.
"I'm very confident," Richardson said. "Shane prepares like a gladiator going to war. . . . I feel if we present the very best Shane Mosley, we win the [Mayweather] fight."
Richardson's main concern for Mosley is ring rust. After beating Margarito, Mosley hoped to quickly fight Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. It didn't happen. So Mosley accepted a title unification bout against Andre Berto scheduled for January. But Berto backed out over concerns about his family in Haiti after the devastating earthquake there.
Around then, the Mayweather-Pacquiao mega-fight collapsed after Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style drug tests. So Mosley stepped into the void and accepted the strict drug-testing procedures to fight Mayweather, years after Mosley's own involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
Mosley, before his rematch win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2003, worked with Victor Conte, founder of the infamous steroid-distributing Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). Conte and Mosley's ex-trainer Darryl Hudson say the fighter took designer steroids and the oxygen-boosting drug EPO. Mosley said he believed he was injecting legal vitamins, and taking EPO. Conte has publicly called Mosley a liar and Mosley has sued for defamation.
For the Mayweather bout, Mosley has followed the drug testing conducted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "I have to write an e-mail telling [testers] if I want to go somewhere," Mosley said.
"I actually think this is working to my favor. . . . [Mayweather] likes to go out to clubs until 2, 3 in the morning. I'm not sure he wants USADA there. Me? You know where I'm at. I'm here in Big Bear."
Indeed, Mosley is a gym rat who plays basketball and snowboards outside training and religiously works out.
"I don't care about how fast [Mayweather] is or how good his defense is," Mosley said. "I'm a boxer, a puncher. I can move. I can knock you out with both hands."
Those close to Mosley say he has the same mind-set going into this fight that he did before his first win over De La Hoya in 2000.
Soon after that breakthrough victory, Mosley fell in love with a woman he married, Jin, and they had three children. She also served as his business manager. But the burden of that pairing took a toll. The two are getting divorced. Friends of the boxer say the marriage became a toxic situation that visibly distracted Mosley and, under California's community property laws, he faces a costly divorce.
"Anything Mayweather says is nothing compared to the things she said to me," Mosley said of his wife. The pair separated in 2008.
"Look at the timeline," Mosley said, referring to his marriage. "When I was losing. When I was ready to retire. When people said I was washed up. . . ."
Mosley said more about his wife but didn't want it to be published, so he reached into a reporter's notebook, tore out a page and tossed it in a trash can.
"Now, I feel great," Mosley said. "I'm ready to fight."
Attempts to reach Jin Mosley for comment were unsuccessful.
The divorce "is like a huge cloud has been lifted," said Mosley's attorney Judd Burstein. "In the Margarito fight, you saw his freedom from the craziness."
Richardson, Mosley's trainer, also feels confident about the Mayweather fight.
"I have a guy who's about not taking prisoners, who wants to leave his opponents lying on the battlefield," Richardson said.
"So now I'm telling everyone I know Mayweather is the best of all time. Better than Ali. Better than Frazier. The best that God has ever molded. But if he's the greatest of all time and we knock him on his back, what's that make Shane?"
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
Before a fight, Shane Mosley's ritual is to lock himself away from the world in his Big Bear Lake training compound.
"You have to drive all the way up here to have something to say and then I have to agree to let you in," Mosley said recently at Big Bear. "I'm up here because boxing is a mental game."
The WBA welterweight champion on Saturday faces his stiffest challenge yet in taking on unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.
Mosley is 38 and hasn't fought since a stirring technical-knockout win over Antonio Margarito in January 2009, and oddsmakers peg Mayweather as a 9-2 favorite. Mosley ignores it all.
"The boxing game is right here," Mosley said, pointing to his right temple. "Getting ready for a fight means going to war. This is the hurt business. I can't accept a thought like, ‘This might be my last fight,' or ‘I'm getting old.' "
Before the Margarito fight, Mosley heard the same concerns. He and trainer Naazim Richardson kept saying, "Don't de-fang the monster after we beat him." Then, Mosley pounded Margarito until the fight was stopped in the ninth round.
"Shutting down naysayers, I love that," Mosley said. "That's why Margarito got what he did. This is why I chose boxing. It's a one-on-one sport, and I've always believed no one can beat me one on one when I do the right things."
Mayweather, 33, "is a great fighter," Mosley added. "I'm the best in the world."
Why is Mosley so confident? One reason is Richardson, who has often formulated strategies to beat foes who appeared unstoppable. The trainer orchestrated Bernard Hopkins' upset of then-unbeaten middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in 2008. And he devised Mosley's game plan against Margarito. Richardson also spotted the plaster-of-Paris inserts confiscated from Margarito's hand wraps before their bout.
"I'm very confident," Richardson said. "Shane prepares like a gladiator going to war. . . . I feel if we present the very best Shane Mosley, we win the [Mayweather] fight."
Richardson's main concern for Mosley is ring rust. After beating Margarito, Mosley hoped to quickly fight Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. It didn't happen. So Mosley accepted a title unification bout against Andre Berto scheduled for January. But Berto backed out over concerns about his family in Haiti after the devastating earthquake there.
Around then, the Mayweather-Pacquiao mega-fight collapsed after Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style drug tests. So Mosley stepped into the void and accepted the strict drug-testing procedures to fight Mayweather, years after Mosley's own involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
Mosley, before his rematch win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2003, worked with Victor Conte, founder of the infamous steroid-distributing Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). Conte and Mosley's ex-trainer Darryl Hudson say the fighter took designer steroids and the oxygen-boosting drug EPO. Mosley said he believed he was injecting legal vitamins, and taking EPO. Conte has publicly called Mosley a liar and Mosley has sued for defamation.
For the Mayweather bout, Mosley has followed the drug testing conducted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "I have to write an e-mail telling [testers] if I want to go somewhere," Mosley said.
"I actually think this is working to my favor. . . . [Mayweather] likes to go out to clubs until 2, 3 in the morning. I'm not sure he wants USADA there. Me? You know where I'm at. I'm here in Big Bear."
Indeed, Mosley is a gym rat who plays basketball and snowboards outside training and religiously works out.
"I don't care about how fast [Mayweather] is or how good his defense is," Mosley said. "I'm a boxer, a puncher. I can move. I can knock you out with both hands."
Those close to Mosley say he has the same mind-set going into this fight that he did before his first win over De La Hoya in 2000.
Soon after that breakthrough victory, Mosley fell in love with a woman he married, Jin, and they had three children. She also served as his business manager. But the burden of that pairing took a toll. The two are getting divorced. Friends of the boxer say the marriage became a toxic situation that visibly distracted Mosley and, under California's community property laws, he faces a costly divorce.
"Anything Mayweather says is nothing compared to the things she said to me," Mosley said of his wife. The pair separated in 2008.
"Look at the timeline," Mosley said, referring to his marriage. "When I was losing. When I was ready to retire. When people said I was washed up. . . ."
Mosley said more about his wife but didn't want it to be published, so he reached into a reporter's notebook, tore out a page and tossed it in a trash can.
"Now, I feel great," Mosley said. "I'm ready to fight."
Attempts to reach Jin Mosley for comment were unsuccessful.
The divorce "is like a huge cloud has been lifted," said Mosley's attorney Judd Burstein. "In the Margarito fight, you saw his freedom from the craziness."
Richardson, Mosley's trainer, also feels confident about the Mayweather fight.
"I have a guy who's about not taking prisoners, who wants to leave his opponents lying on the battlefield," Richardson said.
"So now I'm telling everyone I know Mayweather is the best of all time. Better than Ali. Better than Frazier. The best that God has ever molded. But if he's the greatest of all time and we knock him on his back, what's that make Shane?"
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
Judd Burstein: 'Jesus Christ' Couldn't Win Manny Pacquaio's Case -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
The path of attorney Judd Burstein was laid by his mother Beatrice, who was a judge in New York, and his father Herbert, a former labor lawyer. With the exception perhaps of permitting their son to attend Woodstock -- "They should never have let me go" -- Burstein's parents were fairly strict, even as they allowed room for expression and growth.
A 56-year-old New York-based trial lawyer, Burstein's past clients have included boxers Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de la Hoya and Lennox Lewis, and promoters Don King and Lou DiBella.
Among Burstein's current charges are WBA welterweight (147 pounds) champion Shane Mosley, who is involved in a libel and defamation of character suit against BALCO founder Victor Conte; and Golden Boy Promotions' CEO Richard Schaefer against Pacquiao in the latter's defamation of character filing that also names as defendants de la Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Roger Mayweather, the latter of whom trains boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.
In this, his second Q&A with FanHouse, the 56-year-old Burstein admits that he sometimes pushes the envelope when trying a case and dealing with the press.
FanHouse: Picking up where we left off in the last interview, can you discuss how you could go from suing to representing Don King?
Judd Burstein: You know, I have such a bizarre relationship with Don King, of whom I've grown to be very fond. And I think that I've learned some lessons about over-lawyering from dealing with him.
I don't know if some of the positions I took for boxing clients in relationship to King were, in retrospect, were necessarily the right decisions. Or I may have been overly-assuming that Don King was looking to screw somebody.
That wasn't always the case. It was almost an insult to King.
So given your relationship with Don King, have you amended your previous statement about him?
Yes, I have. 'Don King has been a cancer in boxing, and I've been the chemotherapy.' But today, I would add, that 'When he finally hired me, I helped the cancer go into remission.'
Have you ever been told or do you think that you push the envelope with some of your methods and strategies?
I think that it's a lawyer's job to push the envelope. I know that people thought that my recent comments to the New York Daily News reporter pushed the envelope. But I felt that the threat that I made, which was only to his career, of course, was the product of almost two years of trying to get this guy to write a fair story about Shane Mosley.
I've never dealt with a reporter who, if he did get around to calling me, called me with like 15 minutes left before the deadline when it was something that he had been working on all day and could have called me earlier.
I felt that, at that point, he already had slanted everything that he wrote. He just can't write anything that is remotely fair. Although the statement that I made about him was extreme, it was the result of what I believe was a reporter going one step too far, yet again.
What can you say about Shane Mosley's case against Victor Conte?
All of that is off the table for discussion, although I've already said that my dog could win that case for Shane.
Can you shed light on what it is like to be representing Richard Schaefer in a case against a former client of yours, Manny Pacquiao, and how you reconcile that?
That's a fair question. There are very strict ethical rules that govern when a lawyer can represent someone against a former client. I'm paraphrasing, but, the rule is that the cases can't, in any way, be related.
I represented Manny Pacquiao when he was fighting, I think, at 126 pounds, only on the issue of whether or not he had been defrauded and was entitled to get out of a contract with Murad Muhammad. And this happened five years ago.
Manny Pacquiao is now suing Richard Schaefer for things that were supposedly said in 2009, which bares absolutely no relation to my representation of Manny back in 2005. But I will say this: There are lots of cases in boxing that I turn down not because there are the ethical rules for lawyers barring it, although that is sometimes the case.
But it's been because I generally don't believe in suing former clients.
Are there any conditions under which you would sue former clients?
I make an exception for people who I do not believe treated me in an equitable manner. And I don't really want to go into the details, but I don't think that Manny Pacquiao treated me in an equitable manner. That was, to me, the reason I felt no bar to representing someone against him.
People have come to me and asked me, 'Would you sue Don King?' And I've said, 'No.' I mean, not that I couldn't. I just, you know, I think that Don, when we were together, was treating me fairly. And there's no reason for me to then go after him. It just makes me uncomfortable.
Are there others that fall under the same situation as Don King?
On a friendship basis, there are guys like Lou DiBella, Gary Shaw, who I would never sue in a million years. Not that I couldn't, but I just wouldn't. It just goes against what I believe I would do to somebody.
In my mind -- and I don't want to use the phrase, 'double-cross' -- but when somebody breaches the relationship on their end, then I then would say, 'Okay, all bets are off.' Other than that, it would be going against what I believe to be the ethical rules concerning my conduct as a lawyer.
Can you comment on Manny Pacquiao's case against Richard Schaefer?
The cases that I've really focused on are the cases against Richard and Oscar, because we're working together on this. I don't think that Jesus Christ could come down off of the cross and win Manny's case against Richard and Oscar.
You're saying that Manny's case has no roots or legs to stand on?
It's a shockingly stupid case. Suing two people for only expressing an opinion, and it's not that anyone else hasn't expressed similar opinions. That's an opinion that half of the people in boxing have expressed. And they [Schaefer and de la Hoya] never said, as a fact, that Pacquiao was using performance enhancing drugs.
What they said was ...given a whole host of factors that are public, that, you know, this is why they have an opinion. And the opinion is only that there's a reason to ask questions about Manny. This is America. They have a right to express their opinion.
On the other hand, I think that Manny has been very, very poorly advised. And I think that it's a shame. I think that he's throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars down the tubes on a case that can't be won and that is then going to make him look terrible when he loses it.
But if, as you say, it's such an open and shut ruling for Richard and Oscar, why would someone with the reputation of a Daniel Petrocelli -- who got a conviction against O.J. Simpson on that civil suit -- why would he take on a case such as this?
Let me say this, because I try not to develop adverse relationships with other lawyers. So let me say this about my view of Daniel Petrocelli's ethics and talent: He dresses very well.
What is your reaction concerning Shane Mosley's recent retaliatory statements about Floyd Mayweather and his security guards, implying steroid use on their part?
I don't think that it makes a difference. I think that it's a lot about nothing.
But didn't you laugh at Shane's statements and think that they were funny?
I did think that it was funny. And knowing Shane well enough, I know that he was just fooling around with them on it. You know, frankly, Shane doesn't care. Shane believes that if the guy [Mayweather] were cheating that he'd still win. So it doesn't make a difference to him.
But I will tell you that, I mean, those guys, those security guards, they do look like they could be on steroids. Floyd had better hope that you can't, you know, go and get a bad test just through osmosis.
Are you now a boxing fan and absorbed by the culture?
I have always been a huge boxing fan. Going back to the days before pay-per-view, and, going to closed circuit events to see Muhammad Ali and to see Larry Holmes and to see Sugar Ray Leonard. I was just always in love with boxing.
And boxing is the only area of business in my life that I've actually gone out and pursued and had dinners with people and stayed in touch with people. I mean, you can't get me to have lunch with people in New York. It's a joke. I'm not interested. And I don't need to schmooze people to get business.
But I loved the sport of boxing, and I made an effort to get into it. There are things that I love about it and there are things that I hate about it. I think there are some really good people in the sport, and there are some really terrible people in the sport.
I think that it's going through a transition period now, in terms of the new stars that are going to be coming in. But, at it's best, while an incredibly cruel sport at times, it has a unique beauty to it, in terms of, you know, conditioning, courage, skill, speed, and all of those factors.
It can be a real thing of beauty. And I don't necessarily think that a great fight has to be a fight that ends in a knockout. You can just look at two guys who are spectacular fighters engaged in a tactical battle and who maybe the casual fan won't appreciate it. But the more knowledgeable fans really get what that's about.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
The path of attorney Judd Burstein was laid by his mother Beatrice, who was a judge in New York, and his father Herbert, a former labor lawyer. With the exception perhaps of permitting their son to attend Woodstock -- "They should never have let me go" -- Burstein's parents were fairly strict, even as they allowed room for expression and growth.
A 56-year-old New York-based trial lawyer, Burstein's past clients have included boxers Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de la Hoya and Lennox Lewis, and promoters Don King and Lou DiBella.
Among Burstein's current charges are WBA welterweight (147 pounds) champion Shane Mosley, who is involved in a libel and defamation of character suit against BALCO founder Victor Conte; and Golden Boy Promotions' CEO Richard Schaefer against Pacquiao in the latter's defamation of character filing that also names as defendants de la Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Roger Mayweather, the latter of whom trains boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.
In this, his second Q&A with FanHouse, the 56-year-old Burstein admits that he sometimes pushes the envelope when trying a case and dealing with the press.
FanHouse: Picking up where we left off in the last interview, can you discuss how you could go from suing to representing Don King?
Judd Burstein: You know, I have such a bizarre relationship with Don King, of whom I've grown to be very fond. And I think that I've learned some lessons about over-lawyering from dealing with him.
I don't know if some of the positions I took for boxing clients in relationship to King were, in retrospect, were necessarily the right decisions. Or I may have been overly-assuming that Don King was looking to screw somebody.
That wasn't always the case. It was almost an insult to King.
So given your relationship with Don King, have you amended your previous statement about him?
Yes, I have. 'Don King has been a cancer in boxing, and I've been the chemotherapy.' But today, I would add, that 'When he finally hired me, I helped the cancer go into remission.'
Have you ever been told or do you think that you push the envelope with some of your methods and strategies?
I think that it's a lawyer's job to push the envelope. I know that people thought that my recent comments to the New York Daily News reporter pushed the envelope. But I felt that the threat that I made, which was only to his career, of course, was the product of almost two years of trying to get this guy to write a fair story about Shane Mosley.
I've never dealt with a reporter who, if he did get around to calling me, called me with like 15 minutes left before the deadline when it was something that he had been working on all day and could have called me earlier.
I felt that, at that point, he already had slanted everything that he wrote. He just can't write anything that is remotely fair. Although the statement that I made about him was extreme, it was the result of what I believe was a reporter going one step too far, yet again.
What can you say about Shane Mosley's case against Victor Conte?
All of that is off the table for discussion, although I've already said that my dog could win that case for Shane.
Can you shed light on what it is like to be representing Richard Schaefer in a case against a former client of yours, Manny Pacquiao, and how you reconcile that?
That's a fair question. There are very strict ethical rules that govern when a lawyer can represent someone against a former client. I'm paraphrasing, but, the rule is that the cases can't, in any way, be related.
I represented Manny Pacquiao when he was fighting, I think, at 126 pounds, only on the issue of whether or not he had been defrauded and was entitled to get out of a contract with Murad Muhammad. And this happened five years ago.
Manny Pacquiao is now suing Richard Schaefer for things that were supposedly said in 2009, which bares absolutely no relation to my representation of Manny back in 2005. But I will say this: There are lots of cases in boxing that I turn down not because there are the ethical rules for lawyers barring it, although that is sometimes the case.
But it's been because I generally don't believe in suing former clients.
Are there any conditions under which you would sue former clients?
I make an exception for people who I do not believe treated me in an equitable manner. And I don't really want to go into the details, but I don't think that Manny Pacquiao treated me in an equitable manner. That was, to me, the reason I felt no bar to representing someone against him.
People have come to me and asked me, 'Would you sue Don King?' And I've said, 'No.' I mean, not that I couldn't. I just, you know, I think that Don, when we were together, was treating me fairly. And there's no reason for me to then go after him. It just makes me uncomfortable.
Are there others that fall under the same situation as Don King?
On a friendship basis, there are guys like Lou DiBella, Gary Shaw, who I would never sue in a million years. Not that I couldn't, but I just wouldn't. It just goes against what I believe I would do to somebody.
In my mind -- and I don't want to use the phrase, 'double-cross' -- but when somebody breaches the relationship on their end, then I then would say, 'Okay, all bets are off.' Other than that, it would be going against what I believe to be the ethical rules concerning my conduct as a lawyer.
Can you comment on Manny Pacquiao's case against Richard Schaefer?
The cases that I've really focused on are the cases against Richard and Oscar, because we're working together on this. I don't think that Jesus Christ could come down off of the cross and win Manny's case against Richard and Oscar.
You're saying that Manny's case has no roots or legs to stand on?
It's a shockingly stupid case. Suing two people for only expressing an opinion, and it's not that anyone else hasn't expressed similar opinions. That's an opinion that half of the people in boxing have expressed. And they [Schaefer and de la Hoya] never said, as a fact, that Pacquiao was using performance enhancing drugs.
What they said was ...given a whole host of factors that are public, that, you know, this is why they have an opinion. And the opinion is only that there's a reason to ask questions about Manny. This is America. They have a right to express their opinion.
On the other hand, I think that Manny has been very, very poorly advised. And I think that it's a shame. I think that he's throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars down the tubes on a case that can't be won and that is then going to make him look terrible when he loses it.
But if, as you say, it's such an open and shut ruling for Richard and Oscar, why would someone with the reputation of a Daniel Petrocelli -- who got a conviction against O.J. Simpson on that civil suit -- why would he take on a case such as this?
Let me say this, because I try not to develop adverse relationships with other lawyers. So let me say this about my view of Daniel Petrocelli's ethics and talent: He dresses very well.
What is your reaction concerning Shane Mosley's recent retaliatory statements about Floyd Mayweather and his security guards, implying steroid use on their part?
I don't think that it makes a difference. I think that it's a lot about nothing.
But didn't you laugh at Shane's statements and think that they were funny?
I did think that it was funny. And knowing Shane well enough, I know that he was just fooling around with them on it. You know, frankly, Shane doesn't care. Shane believes that if the guy [Mayweather] were cheating that he'd still win. So it doesn't make a difference to him.
But I will tell you that, I mean, those guys, those security guards, they do look like they could be on steroids. Floyd had better hope that you can't, you know, go and get a bad test just through osmosis.
Are you now a boxing fan and absorbed by the culture?
I have always been a huge boxing fan. Going back to the days before pay-per-view, and, going to closed circuit events to see Muhammad Ali and to see Larry Holmes and to see Sugar Ray Leonard. I was just always in love with boxing.
And boxing is the only area of business in my life that I've actually gone out and pursued and had dinners with people and stayed in touch with people. I mean, you can't get me to have lunch with people in New York. It's a joke. I'm not interested. And I don't need to schmooze people to get business.
But I loved the sport of boxing, and I made an effort to get into it. There are things that I love about it and there are things that I hate about it. I think there are some really good people in the sport, and there are some really terrible people in the sport.
I think that it's going through a transition period now, in terms of the new stars that are going to be coming in. But, at it's best, while an incredibly cruel sport at times, it has a unique beauty to it, in terms of, you know, conditioning, courage, skill, speed, and all of those factors.
It can be a real thing of beauty. And I don't necessarily think that a great fight has to be a fight that ends in a knockout. You can just look at two guys who are spectacular fighters engaged in a tactical battle and who maybe the casual fan won't appreciate it. But the more knowledgeable fans really get what that's about.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Mayweather eager to pad his legacy -- Las Vegas Review-Journal
By STEVE CARP, Las Vegas Review-Journal
You need not be a boxing fan to know that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a special talent.
Just look at the record, and pay attention to the right side of the ledger.
Mayweather is 40-0, and that 0 looms bigger and bigger with each fight the 33-year-old, six-time world champion takes on. But as he prepares for what many believe is his biggest test yet when he faces Shane Mosley on Saturday in a 12-round welterweight showdown at the MGM Grand Garden, Mayweather's focus isn't on perfection.
"I don't think about the 0," Mayweather said. "I think about winning. Everything takes care of itself if you win."
Several fighters went through their careers unscathed, most notably heavyweight Rocky Marciano, who was 49-0 during a career which spanned 1947 to 1955. More recently, super middleweight and light heavyweight Joe Calzaghe left the sport 46-0. However, Calzaghe, who retired in 2008, is considering a return to the ring.
Yet Mayweather, a student of boxing history, claims he's not obsessing over finishing his career without a blemish.
"Of course it's a great thing to be undefeated," Mayweather said. "But I don't consciously think about it when I'm preparing for the next fight."
His father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said: "No one wants to lose their 0. I'm sure he thinks about it, and it motivates him. Fortunately for my son, it's so far, so good, and I don't see anyone taking that 0 away from him."
His son is quick to point out that some of boxing's legendary figures did not go undefeated.
"Sugar Ray Robinson lost. Muhammad Ali lost," Mayweather said. "They're still great fighters, aren't they?"
On the HBO reality television series "24/7," Mayweather recently boasted he was better than Ali and Robinson. He stood by his statements of a week ago.
"Why not?" he said. "I take my hat off to them. I've got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I've got respect for Muhammad Ali. But I'm a man like they're men. I put on my pants just like they put on their pants. What makes them any better than I am? Because they fought a thousand fights?
"In my era, it's totally different. It's pay per view now, so things change. It's out with the old and in with the new. Like I said, Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best."
Mayweather likes to say about his legacy that 40 fighters all had a game plan to defeat him and none have succeeded. He doesn't see why 38-year-old Mosley, who is 46-5 with 39 knockouts, would be any different.
"Shane's talented," said Mayweather, who has 25 knockouts. "But I'm gifted. God-gifted. I don't have to shut nobody up. They can say what they want to say. I fight for me and my family."
And his legacy.
Mayweather is considered one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time. His ability to avoid getting hit and effectively counterpunch has allowed him to remain perfect in the ring. His recent 21-month hiatus from boxing didn't seem to hurt him. He was flawless in beating Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19 at the Grand Garden.
But Mayweather has had a couple of close calls during his 15-year career. His 2007 win over Oscar De La Hoya was a 12-round split decision. His rematch against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002 that he won by unanimous decision had him winning by just two points on two of the judges' scorecards.
Yet he remains undefeated, and he doesn't allow thoughts of "What if?" to creep inside his head.
"I take every fight seriously," Mayweather said. "Shane Mosley is a solid welterweight with great accomplishments. But I have been fighting these kinds of fighters my whole career without much appreciation. No one gives me credit for who I have fought during my career.
"From early to now, look at the opponents I have faced and see where they were when they faced me in the ring."
But when Mayweather was asked to rate his best performances, he declined.
"I don't rate myself," he said. "I just go out and do my job. I'm a harsh critic of myself. I always think I could have done better."
Yet he believes facing Mosley on Saturday will grow his legacy rather than merely preserving it.
"Every fight at this point is about enhancing it," Mayweather said. "I've done a lot of things in this sport. I've done a lot of things that a lot of fighters weren't able to do in this sport and didn't do in this sport.
"Shane Mosley's been around this sport for a long, long time, and he's done some things in this sport. I think with Shane Mosley, it's going to enhance my legacy."
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
You need not be a boxing fan to know that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a special talent.
Just look at the record, and pay attention to the right side of the ledger.
Mayweather is 40-0, and that 0 looms bigger and bigger with each fight the 33-year-old, six-time world champion takes on. But as he prepares for what many believe is his biggest test yet when he faces Shane Mosley on Saturday in a 12-round welterweight showdown at the MGM Grand Garden, Mayweather's focus isn't on perfection.
"I don't think about the 0," Mayweather said. "I think about winning. Everything takes care of itself if you win."
Several fighters went through their careers unscathed, most notably heavyweight Rocky Marciano, who was 49-0 during a career which spanned 1947 to 1955. More recently, super middleweight and light heavyweight Joe Calzaghe left the sport 46-0. However, Calzaghe, who retired in 2008, is considering a return to the ring.
Yet Mayweather, a student of boxing history, claims he's not obsessing over finishing his career without a blemish.
"Of course it's a great thing to be undefeated," Mayweather said. "But I don't consciously think about it when I'm preparing for the next fight."
His father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said: "No one wants to lose their 0. I'm sure he thinks about it, and it motivates him. Fortunately for my son, it's so far, so good, and I don't see anyone taking that 0 away from him."
His son is quick to point out that some of boxing's legendary figures did not go undefeated.
"Sugar Ray Robinson lost. Muhammad Ali lost," Mayweather said. "They're still great fighters, aren't they?"
On the HBO reality television series "24/7," Mayweather recently boasted he was better than Ali and Robinson. He stood by his statements of a week ago.
"Why not?" he said. "I take my hat off to them. I've got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I've got respect for Muhammad Ali. But I'm a man like they're men. I put on my pants just like they put on their pants. What makes them any better than I am? Because they fought a thousand fights?
"In my era, it's totally different. It's pay per view now, so things change. It's out with the old and in with the new. Like I said, Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best."
Mayweather likes to say about his legacy that 40 fighters all had a game plan to defeat him and none have succeeded. He doesn't see why 38-year-old Mosley, who is 46-5 with 39 knockouts, would be any different.
"Shane's talented," said Mayweather, who has 25 knockouts. "But I'm gifted. God-gifted. I don't have to shut nobody up. They can say what they want to say. I fight for me and my family."
And his legacy.
Mayweather is considered one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time. His ability to avoid getting hit and effectively counterpunch has allowed him to remain perfect in the ring. His recent 21-month hiatus from boxing didn't seem to hurt him. He was flawless in beating Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19 at the Grand Garden.
But Mayweather has had a couple of close calls during his 15-year career. His 2007 win over Oscar De La Hoya was a 12-round split decision. His rematch against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002 that he won by unanimous decision had him winning by just two points on two of the judges' scorecards.
Yet he remains undefeated, and he doesn't allow thoughts of "What if?" to creep inside his head.
"I take every fight seriously," Mayweather said. "Shane Mosley is a solid welterweight with great accomplishments. But I have been fighting these kinds of fighters my whole career without much appreciation. No one gives me credit for who I have fought during my career.
"From early to now, look at the opponents I have faced and see where they were when they faced me in the ring."
But when Mayweather was asked to rate his best performances, he declined.
"I don't rate myself," he said. "I just go out and do my job. I'm a harsh critic of myself. I always think I could have done better."
Yet he believes facing Mosley on Saturday will grow his legacy rather than merely preserving it.
"Every fight at this point is about enhancing it," Mayweather said. "I've done a lot of things in this sport. I've done a lot of things that a lot of fighters weren't able to do in this sport and didn't do in this sport.
"Shane Mosley's been around this sport for a long, long time, and he's done some things in this sport. I think with Shane Mosley, it's going to enhance my legacy."
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
Sabtu, 24 April 2010
Mayweather takes diversion while Pacquiao lies in wait -- The Independent
By Alan Hubbard, Indepedent.co.uk
He used to be known as Pretty Boy but now Floyd Mayweather Jnr wishes to be called Money – no doubt because it is a commodity he loves above everything else, apart from himself. Boxing's supreme craftsman returns to the ring in Las Vegas next Saturday against Sugar Shane Mosley, one of the game's great warriors, in the biggest fight of the year so far.
Yet Mosley's WBA welterweight title will not be at stake because the Money Man has refused to pay the sanctioning fee. "I don't need titles," says the undefeated five-weight world champion and former WBC and IBF welterweight belt holder. "At this stage of my career it's all about enhancing my legacy."
Not since Muhammad Ali has a fighter been as much a law unto himself as Mayweather, who, like Ali – and to the annoyance of his contemporaries – has the ability to justify his arrogance. He even proclaims himself the greatest boxer of all time.
"Things change, it's out with the old and in with the new. Muhammad Ali was one hell of a fighter but Floyd Mayweather is the best." This, of course, is highly contentious, but what we must agree upon is that the 33-year-old Mayweather, last seen boxing the ears off Juan Manuel Marquez, is an artist on canvas, a Gauguin in gloves. Ask Ricky Hatton.
A curious contest, this. Mayweather should have been settling the argument with Manny Pacquiao about who currently is the world's best pound-for-pounder. But he refused to sign a contract for a fight set to gross $250 million because the Filipino would not accept Olympic-style blood testing. Yet he has now agreed to meet Mosley, who last October admitted in court while suing Balco's Victor Conte for defamation that he knowingly used the banned substance EPO during the build-up to a 2003 contest with Oscar De La Hoya. Not a peep from Mayweather about this, which suggests he was creating controversy to build up more interest for when he and Pacquiao do meet, probably later this year.
Mosley, who has undergone five blood and urine tests, is himself a three-weight world champion and claims that Mayweather has been avoiding him for years. He has the pedigree to scupper what would be the richest fight in history, but at 38 he could be a little leg-weary by the time Mayweather, supreme master of the art of backfoot boxing, has manoeuvred him around the ring for a dozen rounds. "This is a competitive sport and I'm ready to go into the history books as the guy who beat the great Floyd Mayweather," he says.
Mayweather counters: "Like I have always said, there is no remedy on how to beat Floyd Mayweather. It's like a difficult maths problem that no one can solve."
Mayweather loves money like Goldfinger loves gold. He likes to flaunt his wealth, collecting the huge price tags on the jewellery he wears like some collect stamps. The King of Bling is a big betting man and seldom leaves his Las Vegas mansion without tens of thousands of dollars in gambling money. This fight is something of a gamble for him but at 4-1 on, one he should win without much discomfort.
It takes place at the MGM Grand, where 14 years ago Herbie Hide pocketed £2m when losing the WBO heavyweight belt to Riddick Bowe. On Friday, Hide will be back at the venue where he began his career 21 years ago, York Hall in London's Bethnal Green, to take part in Barry Hearn's Prizefighter cruiserweight tournament, hoping to do an Audley Harrison and propel himself towards another world-title fight at 38.
The Dancing Destroyer has had 48 bouts, winning the last 13, most of them in Germany, where he is now based against hand-picked pushovers from Eastern Europe. Herbert Okechuka Maduagwa came to Britain from Nigeria and was adopted by a Norwich family. He went to private school and college but turned into a bad lad. Yet he became one of only three Brits to hold a version of the world heavyweight title in the last century, with Frank Bruno and latterly David Haye.
I can count on the fingers of one hand fighters who I would hesitate to invite round for tea. The unpleasantly bumptious Hide is one of them. He is not without talent but his fortitude was found wanting against quality opposition such as Bowe and Vitali Klitschko. It will be interesting to see if our Mr Hide has become a Dr Jekyll.
Source: independent.co.uk
He used to be known as Pretty Boy but now Floyd Mayweather Jnr wishes to be called Money – no doubt because it is a commodity he loves above everything else, apart from himself. Boxing's supreme craftsman returns to the ring in Las Vegas next Saturday against Sugar Shane Mosley, one of the game's great warriors, in the biggest fight of the year so far.
Yet Mosley's WBA welterweight title will not be at stake because the Money Man has refused to pay the sanctioning fee. "I don't need titles," says the undefeated five-weight world champion and former WBC and IBF welterweight belt holder. "At this stage of my career it's all about enhancing my legacy."
Not since Muhammad Ali has a fighter been as much a law unto himself as Mayweather, who, like Ali – and to the annoyance of his contemporaries – has the ability to justify his arrogance. He even proclaims himself the greatest boxer of all time.
"Things change, it's out with the old and in with the new. Muhammad Ali was one hell of a fighter but Floyd Mayweather is the best." This, of course, is highly contentious, but what we must agree upon is that the 33-year-old Mayweather, last seen boxing the ears off Juan Manuel Marquez, is an artist on canvas, a Gauguin in gloves. Ask Ricky Hatton.
A curious contest, this. Mayweather should have been settling the argument with Manny Pacquiao about who currently is the world's best pound-for-pounder. But he refused to sign a contract for a fight set to gross $250 million because the Filipino would not accept Olympic-style blood testing. Yet he has now agreed to meet Mosley, who last October admitted in court while suing Balco's Victor Conte for defamation that he knowingly used the banned substance EPO during the build-up to a 2003 contest with Oscar De La Hoya. Not a peep from Mayweather about this, which suggests he was creating controversy to build up more interest for when he and Pacquiao do meet, probably later this year.
Mosley, who has undergone five blood and urine tests, is himself a three-weight world champion and claims that Mayweather has been avoiding him for years. He has the pedigree to scupper what would be the richest fight in history, but at 38 he could be a little leg-weary by the time Mayweather, supreme master of the art of backfoot boxing, has manoeuvred him around the ring for a dozen rounds. "This is a competitive sport and I'm ready to go into the history books as the guy who beat the great Floyd Mayweather," he says.
Mayweather counters: "Like I have always said, there is no remedy on how to beat Floyd Mayweather. It's like a difficult maths problem that no one can solve."
Mayweather loves money like Goldfinger loves gold. He likes to flaunt his wealth, collecting the huge price tags on the jewellery he wears like some collect stamps. The King of Bling is a big betting man and seldom leaves his Las Vegas mansion without tens of thousands of dollars in gambling money. This fight is something of a gamble for him but at 4-1 on, one he should win without much discomfort.
It takes place at the MGM Grand, where 14 years ago Herbie Hide pocketed £2m when losing the WBO heavyweight belt to Riddick Bowe. On Friday, Hide will be back at the venue where he began his career 21 years ago, York Hall in London's Bethnal Green, to take part in Barry Hearn's Prizefighter cruiserweight tournament, hoping to do an Audley Harrison and propel himself towards another world-title fight at 38.
The Dancing Destroyer has had 48 bouts, winning the last 13, most of them in Germany, where he is now based against hand-picked pushovers from Eastern Europe. Herbert Okechuka Maduagwa came to Britain from Nigeria and was adopted by a Norwich family. He went to private school and college but turned into a bad lad. Yet he became one of only three Brits to hold a version of the world heavyweight title in the last century, with Frank Bruno and latterly David Haye.
I can count on the fingers of one hand fighters who I would hesitate to invite round for tea. The unpleasantly bumptious Hide is one of them. He is not without talent but his fortitude was found wanting against quality opposition such as Bowe and Vitali Klitschko. It will be interesting to see if our Mr Hide has become a Dr Jekyll.
Source: independent.co.uk
Floyd or Money? Mayweather plays them both -- USA Today
By Tim Dahlberg, AP Sports Columnist
LAS VEGAS — The entourage was down to a manageable level, if only because there's just so many people you can fit in a shower room. Floyd Mayweather Jr. left the rest outside, with a massive security-type stationed at the door just to make sure everyone got the message.
If anyone deserved a hot shower, it was the hardest working man in boxing. Mayweather may some day lose a fight, but it won't be because he comes in out of shape.
On this day, just blocks from the Las Vegas Strip, that meant a half-hour straight of hard sparring, followed by another half-hour on the heavy bag and then some work on the speed bag. Then there were sit-ups to do, mitts to pound and, finally, rope to jump.
His date with Shane Mosley was drawing nearer. Mayweather's work was intense, and so was his focus.
One of the entourage stepped in to get the shower running. Before he got clean, though, Mayweather came clean.
It is, he says, mostly an act.
That foul-mouthed, money-tossing, mansion-loving guy who entertains weekly on HBO's "24/7?" Well, someone has to play the villain, and it pays awfully well.
"The character I portray, sometimes people think that's what I am," Mayweather said. "It's not. Floyd Mayweather is my name, the guy called Money Mayweather is just a character."
Oh, yeah?
"I'm not at home throwing money around," Mayweather insisted. "I'm at my house with my children. The rest of it is all entertainment. It's all business."
Some of it, anyway. A few minutes later, Mayweather was talking about his NBA playoff bets, and how he had won about $30,000 gambling the night before. He's legendary in this city's nightclubs for spreading the cash around, and he's got his own customized armored car to drive when he has to go to the bank.
And most homebodies don't need bodyguards with massive biceps seven of them on this day to shield them against foes both real and imagined. They don't get mentioned outside courtrooms as possible police targets in a skating rink shooting investigation.
Then again, most fighters don't do conference calls with boxing writers from their daughter's school, like Mayweather did a few days ago.
"My daughter's getting an award today," he said. "She's like the No. 1 kid in her school."
If the lines between what's real and what's not are fuzzy, well, that's just Mayweather. Family man, would-be thug, boxer, helper of the homeless, he juggles all his roles with ease.
One minute he's humble. The next he's the greatest ever.
"Muhammad Ali was one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best," he said. "Sugar Ray Robinson was one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best."
Mostly, though, he's just a fighter. He was literally born into the sport and it permeates his entire being.
In the gym with him are his father and uncle, both former fighters and both trainers. Running around are small children, including one slick boxer he nicknamed "Cash Flow."
The bodyguards patrol the parking lot and guard the front door, but inside it's organized chaos. About 50 people gather around the ring to cheer Mayweather on as he takes on a sparring partner in a fight that never seems to end.
It's good preparation for Mosley, who could be one of Mayweather's toughest opponents ever when they meet next Saturday at the MGM Grand hotel arena. Oddsmakers still like Mayweather to win, but he's going to be in the ring against a fighter who has the skills and the pedigree to more than hold his own.
"Shane Mosley is a solid welterweight," Mayweather says. "But he's a fighter who always worries about landing one big shot. I worry about being smart. We're two totally different fighters."
This wasn't the fight Mayweather was supposed to be in this spring. He and Manny Pacquiao were all set to meet in a megafight in March until Mayweather's insistence on Olympic-style drug testing caused the bout to fall apart.
That Mosley would be the opponent instead is ironic because he was linked to the BALCO scandal, but both fighters have for the first time undergone random blood and urine tests from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Depending on how much Mosley has left at the age of 38, the fight has the potential to be competitive if nothing else.
Mayweather doesn't seem to be overly concerned. He's won all 40 of his professional fights and, though his defensive style may not please a lot of boxing fans, he's discovered that he can fight the way he wants to and still make millions.
If that means he has to play the role of a villain, then so be it. By now he has the role down, and he's awfully good at it.
The real performance, though, comes next Saturday night. And that will be no act.
Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: usatoday.com
LAS VEGAS — The entourage was down to a manageable level, if only because there's just so many people you can fit in a shower room. Floyd Mayweather Jr. left the rest outside, with a massive security-type stationed at the door just to make sure everyone got the message.
If anyone deserved a hot shower, it was the hardest working man in boxing. Mayweather may some day lose a fight, but it won't be because he comes in out of shape.
On this day, just blocks from the Las Vegas Strip, that meant a half-hour straight of hard sparring, followed by another half-hour on the heavy bag and then some work on the speed bag. Then there were sit-ups to do, mitts to pound and, finally, rope to jump.
His date with Shane Mosley was drawing nearer. Mayweather's work was intense, and so was his focus.
One of the entourage stepped in to get the shower running. Before he got clean, though, Mayweather came clean.
It is, he says, mostly an act.
That foul-mouthed, money-tossing, mansion-loving guy who entertains weekly on HBO's "24/7?" Well, someone has to play the villain, and it pays awfully well.
"The character I portray, sometimes people think that's what I am," Mayweather said. "It's not. Floyd Mayweather is my name, the guy called Money Mayweather is just a character."
Oh, yeah?
"I'm not at home throwing money around," Mayweather insisted. "I'm at my house with my children. The rest of it is all entertainment. It's all business."
Some of it, anyway. A few minutes later, Mayweather was talking about his NBA playoff bets, and how he had won about $30,000 gambling the night before. He's legendary in this city's nightclubs for spreading the cash around, and he's got his own customized armored car to drive when he has to go to the bank.
And most homebodies don't need bodyguards with massive biceps seven of them on this day to shield them against foes both real and imagined. They don't get mentioned outside courtrooms as possible police targets in a skating rink shooting investigation.
Then again, most fighters don't do conference calls with boxing writers from their daughter's school, like Mayweather did a few days ago.
"My daughter's getting an award today," he said. "She's like the No. 1 kid in her school."
If the lines between what's real and what's not are fuzzy, well, that's just Mayweather. Family man, would-be thug, boxer, helper of the homeless, he juggles all his roles with ease.
One minute he's humble. The next he's the greatest ever.
"Muhammad Ali was one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best," he said. "Sugar Ray Robinson was one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best."
Mostly, though, he's just a fighter. He was literally born into the sport and it permeates his entire being.
In the gym with him are his father and uncle, both former fighters and both trainers. Running around are small children, including one slick boxer he nicknamed "Cash Flow."
The bodyguards patrol the parking lot and guard the front door, but inside it's organized chaos. About 50 people gather around the ring to cheer Mayweather on as he takes on a sparring partner in a fight that never seems to end.
It's good preparation for Mosley, who could be one of Mayweather's toughest opponents ever when they meet next Saturday at the MGM Grand hotel arena. Oddsmakers still like Mayweather to win, but he's going to be in the ring against a fighter who has the skills and the pedigree to more than hold his own.
"Shane Mosley is a solid welterweight," Mayweather says. "But he's a fighter who always worries about landing one big shot. I worry about being smart. We're two totally different fighters."
This wasn't the fight Mayweather was supposed to be in this spring. He and Manny Pacquiao were all set to meet in a megafight in March until Mayweather's insistence on Olympic-style drug testing caused the bout to fall apart.
That Mosley would be the opponent instead is ironic because he was linked to the BALCO scandal, but both fighters have for the first time undergone random blood and urine tests from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Depending on how much Mosley has left at the age of 38, the fight has the potential to be competitive if nothing else.
Mayweather doesn't seem to be overly concerned. He's won all 40 of his professional fights and, though his defensive style may not please a lot of boxing fans, he's discovered that he can fight the way he wants to and still make millions.
If that means he has to play the role of a villain, then so be it. By now he has the role down, and he's awfully good at it.
The real performance, though, comes next Saturday night. And that will be no act.
Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: usatoday.com
"Elite" Boxers Cross Over To MMA -- Eastside Boxing
By Aaron Gorvine, Eastside Boxing
Although Eastside Boxing is primarily a website devoted to the sweet science of pugilism, there is now a need to occasionally report on the interconnectedness of boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA). Any boxing news outlet must now at least make mention of an emerging scenario in the sport; elite boxers crossing over and challenging fighters in MMA contests.
It’s nothing new for lesser boxers to engage in K1, UFC or some of the smaller organizations as a way to make use of their limited skills. In the past, most of the boxers that fought in MMA organizations were either mediocre amateurs, third-rate pros, or just so far removed from their prime that they may as well have been fossilized..
But more recently, the growing popularity and tantalizing prize money of MMA has begun to whet the appetites of a very few elite boxers, and although no boxer in the prime of their career has yet made the jump, it is only a matter of time before this occurs.
Two well-known boxers that are currently making waves are Ricardo Mayorga and James Toney.
There are reports that James Toney may soon be fighting UFC legend Randy Couture. It can be argued that James Toney is well past his sell by date, but he was actively boxing in the upper echelon of heavyweights within the last three or four years. This is a big difference from someone like Ray Mercer who was inactive for quite some time before taking up MMA (and losing his first fight to Kimbo Slice via submission—he since went on to score a stunning knockout of former UFC champ Tim Sylvia).
Ricardo Mayorga is an even bigger story. As recently as 2008 he was in a competitive fight with Shane Mosley who is slotted #3 in Ring Magazine’s current pound for pound rankings. Mayorga will be fighting Din Thomas (an MMA veteran) on May 15th of this year.
Both Ricardo Mayorga and James Toney point to a growing trend of boxers who may look to reap profits in MMA, a relatively fledgling sport that has not always had the caliber of pro athlete that boxing and other traditional sports have enjoyed.
There is a great deal of controversy and even animosity between fans of both boxing and MMA as to which is the “real” fighting art and who is the better caliber of athlete. On forums and websites, any discussions of boxing vs. MMA typically devolves into angry comments from “purist” fans that spew venomous and derogatory comments at one another and the athletes in question.
Many fans seem to feel that it would be better for each camp to simply keep to themselves and leave the other alone.
However, as both sports continue to evolve, it is likely that boxers will continue to move over to MMA and then back again to boxing. Their success or lack of success in these endeavors will become important in the fans’ perceptions of their abilities and how the fighting arts stack up against one another. It simply can’t be avoided.
My own personal opinion is that boxers at the elite level of the sport are some of the most exquisite athletes in the world and that very few mixed martial artists have reached the level of mastery in their chosen profession that the top ranked boxers have attained. Due to the low-level of financial compensation and media recognition that MMA had in the past, the most talented fighters tended to be drawn towards boxing first and foremost. But that scenario is changing and will not likely be the case in the next three to five years.
It will be very exciting for the fans if more elite boxers step up to the plate and make the switch, even if just for a fight or two. If the most athletic boxers like Floyd Mayweather or Andre Ward turned their attention to MMA, my belief is that within a few months or a year of learning to defend takedowns, practicing the “scrambles” that arise on the ground and avoiding leg and head kicks—their superior striking and athleticism would be something to behold in MMA. Pure strikers like Manny Pacquiao or Shane Mosley have never been seen in the world of mixed martial arts, and it remains to be seen what someone at that level could do to the competition.
Although it is my belief that one day this kind of cross over will occur, I might be wrong and the fans never get to see a true pound for pound boxer take on the best the UFC has to offer.
Regardless, this love-hate relationship between boxing and MMA will continue as long as both sports exist, like angry Siamese twins forever trying to untangle themselves from one another.
Source: eastsideboxing.com
Although Eastside Boxing is primarily a website devoted to the sweet science of pugilism, there is now a need to occasionally report on the interconnectedness of boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA). Any boxing news outlet must now at least make mention of an emerging scenario in the sport; elite boxers crossing over and challenging fighters in MMA contests.
It’s nothing new for lesser boxers to engage in K1, UFC or some of the smaller organizations as a way to make use of their limited skills. In the past, most of the boxers that fought in MMA organizations were either mediocre amateurs, third-rate pros, or just so far removed from their prime that they may as well have been fossilized..
But more recently, the growing popularity and tantalizing prize money of MMA has begun to whet the appetites of a very few elite boxers, and although no boxer in the prime of their career has yet made the jump, it is only a matter of time before this occurs.
Two well-known boxers that are currently making waves are Ricardo Mayorga and James Toney.
There are reports that James Toney may soon be fighting UFC legend Randy Couture. It can be argued that James Toney is well past his sell by date, but he was actively boxing in the upper echelon of heavyweights within the last three or four years. This is a big difference from someone like Ray Mercer who was inactive for quite some time before taking up MMA (and losing his first fight to Kimbo Slice via submission—he since went on to score a stunning knockout of former UFC champ Tim Sylvia).
Ricardo Mayorga is an even bigger story. As recently as 2008 he was in a competitive fight with Shane Mosley who is slotted #3 in Ring Magazine’s current pound for pound rankings. Mayorga will be fighting Din Thomas (an MMA veteran) on May 15th of this year.
Both Ricardo Mayorga and James Toney point to a growing trend of boxers who may look to reap profits in MMA, a relatively fledgling sport that has not always had the caliber of pro athlete that boxing and other traditional sports have enjoyed.
There is a great deal of controversy and even animosity between fans of both boxing and MMA as to which is the “real” fighting art and who is the better caliber of athlete. On forums and websites, any discussions of boxing vs. MMA typically devolves into angry comments from “purist” fans that spew venomous and derogatory comments at one another and the athletes in question.
Many fans seem to feel that it would be better for each camp to simply keep to themselves and leave the other alone.
However, as both sports continue to evolve, it is likely that boxers will continue to move over to MMA and then back again to boxing. Their success or lack of success in these endeavors will become important in the fans’ perceptions of their abilities and how the fighting arts stack up against one another. It simply can’t be avoided.
My own personal opinion is that boxers at the elite level of the sport are some of the most exquisite athletes in the world and that very few mixed martial artists have reached the level of mastery in their chosen profession that the top ranked boxers have attained. Due to the low-level of financial compensation and media recognition that MMA had in the past, the most talented fighters tended to be drawn towards boxing first and foremost. But that scenario is changing and will not likely be the case in the next three to five years.
It will be very exciting for the fans if more elite boxers step up to the plate and make the switch, even if just for a fight or two. If the most athletic boxers like Floyd Mayweather or Andre Ward turned their attention to MMA, my belief is that within a few months or a year of learning to defend takedowns, practicing the “scrambles” that arise on the ground and avoiding leg and head kicks—their superior striking and athleticism would be something to behold in MMA. Pure strikers like Manny Pacquiao or Shane Mosley have never been seen in the world of mixed martial arts, and it remains to be seen what someone at that level could do to the competition.
Although it is my belief that one day this kind of cross over will occur, I might be wrong and the fans never get to see a true pound for pound boxer take on the best the UFC has to offer.
Regardless, this love-hate relationship between boxing and MMA will continue as long as both sports exist, like angry Siamese twins forever trying to untangle themselves from one another.
Source: eastsideboxing.com
Raised to Hit Hard and Overcome the Blows -- New York Times
By GREG BISHOP, The New York Times
LAS VEGAS — The eccentric uncle reclines on a couch, shoes off, feet up. The father, once estranged from his famous son, naps in the corner. Children scurry around, boxing gloves covering their tiny hands.
This gym is the Mayweather family living room.
At the center stands Floyd Mayweather Jr., 33, the undefeated welterweight, perhaps boxing’s best current fighter, and certainly its most boastful and most polarizing. He owns a 17,000-square-foot house nearby, but for all the spoils, for the hundreds of millions earned, the gym is home. Always has been.
“This here is family,” said Deltricia Howard, his older sister. “One big, old family. One big, old, dysfunctional, crazy family.”
Most boxing gyms ooze character, years of sweat seeped into stained walls. This one is filled with characters — three generations of Mayweathers bound by boxing and family and supreme confidence.
Home is here, inside a strip mall, near a Baptist church and the Serenity Cafe, its name a stark contrast to the mood of the boxing brood nearby. Home is guarded by a beefy security team: seven men, zero necks. And home is hot, above 80 degrees, always.
Amid continual chatter, the loudest, boldest voice of all belongs to Mayweather, who knocked out 1,000 punches on the heavy bag in 90 seconds and still managed to provide commentary throughout as he trained last week for his fight next Saturday against Shane Mosley.
He sang along to hip-hop blaring from the speakers — “I’m amazing, yeah, I know that” — and fired salvos at Mosley between situps.
He preached the usual themes: He is the face of boxing, the talk of boxing, the greatest boxer ever. He is boxing.
“Floyd comes from a tight-knit family,” said Nate Jones, a training partner and longtime friend. “Everybody’s a little crazy. Everybody’s a little braggadocios. Everybody got confidence.”
At age 1, Mayweather learned how to walk and how to box. No one is sure exactly which came first. Floyd Mayweather Sr. used to hold his son near speed bags, and the boy took to punching anything in sight, including door knobs, backs of chairs and hanging plants.
There was a gym less than a block from his home in Grand Rapids, Mich., five houses down, turn right.
“He didn’t know what a gym was,” said Deborah Sinclair, his mother. “All he knew was that was home.”
Back then, everyone called him Little Floyd, and though he grew to hate that nickname, Mayweather struck confidants as a younger version of his current self. He was so hyperactive he was often booted from the local water park, so cocksure he practiced his signature while his sisters completed homework.
He was the middle child, a boy who brought home stray cats and dogs, who found comfort in being surrounded by familiar faces. On Sundays, his mother held parties, hosting 30 to 40 people. They sang karaoke and played spades and ate soul food. Always, the talk returned to boxing.
Mayweather’s father traces the family’s pugilistic pursuits to Danny Brown, a childhood classmate who “fired on me” in grade school. That led him, two brothers and three cousins to the gym, the first stitch in the family’s boxing cloth.
Theirs is a complicated, well-documented history. The senior Mayweather’s promising boxing career effectively ended with a 20-gauge shotgun blast to the leg as he held Little Floyd. He went to prison for cocaine trafficking.
“I was on my own at age 16,” Mayweather said.
His uncle Roger Mayweather had moved here in 1981, turned professional and won the first of two world championships 15 months later, fighting under the nickname Black Mamba. Had it not been for boxing, Uncle Roger predicted, he would have ended up in “hell or jail.” As is, he will face battery charges this summer in a Las Vegas courtroom, and not for the first time.
Not that the Mayweathers find any of this distracting.
“It’s all boxing, man,” Roger Mayweather said. “I love boxing. I knew I would do this since I was a kid.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr. installed his uncle as his trainer in 2000, and that led to some seven years of estrangement from his father, including one particularly tense moment when Mayweather evicted his father from his house. During that period, father and son kept tabs on each other, and recently, the senior Mayweather returned to the inner circle and the gym they all call home.
All this makes for a dizzying family dynamic to everyone except those involved. All the blows, inside the ring and out, the drama, even Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s time spent inside courtrooms — on charges of battery and domestic violence — have served to strengthen their resolve.
Friends say Mayweather functions best surrounded by family chaos, that he keeps close even those who no longer perform necessary functions. His childhood friend Roderick Braswell said Mayweather performed multiple roles, alternately an instigator and a peacekeeper, a provider and a disciplinarian. It is as if Mayweather is “10 different people,” Braswell said.
When Mayweather discusses family, he is reflective and soft spoken, far from the cocky Money Mayweather character he created.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s adviser and best friend, said this was by design. As a boxer, Mayweather fights with precise, calculated movements, a master tactician. His inner circle functions the same way. Ellerbe, for instance, said he turned down 25 business propositions a day.
Through Mayweather’s rise — an 84-6 record as an amateur, 40 pro triumphs, his last loss at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 — he brought family and friends along. When Jones fell into a depression after his boxing career ended, Mayweather hired him, helping Jones kick an alcohol addiction.
Ten years ago, Mayweather requested a meeting with Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports. Only 23 then, Mayweather burst into a hotel suite in Las Vegas, entourage in tow, proclaiming he would become HBO’s next star; his family boxing’s first. On each promise, he delivered.
“I fight for my family,” Mayweather said. “I don’t have to respond to anything. I don’t have to shut anybody up.”
As the Mosley bout approaches, Mayweather seems more intense, focused and determined. The family dynamic also shifted recently, toward the unexpected — relative serenity in the Mayweather camp.
Mayweather’s father, once the demanding trainer who withheld sweets and forced his teenage son to turn small trees into firewood, remains proud of their collective work — “I believed it, he achieved it” — but has also found a different role, in the background, upon returning. He claims to have helped plot strategy when Mayweather came out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez in September.
The longer the senior Mayweather talks, the more he delves into his selling drugs, his shady past. But now, he said, “the good supersedes the bad” because “everything came out right at the end of the day, maybe not for me, but everything came out right.”
He added: “I would be lying to you to tell you I’m not happy to be back with my son. I love my son. That’s my blood. My blood runs deep.”
Floyd Mayweather Sr.’s relationship with his brother is improving, too. The family painted them as older men with health issues — Roger Mayweather is diabetic — who are softening with age. In a quiet moment at the gym last week, they sat on the ring’s edge, deep in conversation.
The dynamic could shift again tomorrow, of course, this being the Mayweathers preparing for a fight. Manny Pacquiao is suing for defamation. Mayweather’s undefeated record must be defended once again.
Back inside the family living room, Mayweather played with his four children. Roger’s young son worked the mitts, like Floyd Mayweather Sr. and his son some 30 years ago. His sisters swapped stories — Floyd once fought the oldest with a chair — on leather couches.
His mother surveyed this scene and said, “He wouldn’t know what to do without his family.”
After training, they lingered outside, telling jokes, arguing over the size of their respective biceps.
“I got one that’s chiseled!” the father shouted.
“I got one that’s carved!” his son responded, before jumping into his Ferrari and heading not toward home, but away from it.
A version of this article appeared in print on April 25, 2010, on page SP1 of the New York edition.
Source: nytimes.com
LAS VEGAS — The eccentric uncle reclines on a couch, shoes off, feet up. The father, once estranged from his famous son, naps in the corner. Children scurry around, boxing gloves covering their tiny hands.
This gym is the Mayweather family living room.
At the center stands Floyd Mayweather Jr., 33, the undefeated welterweight, perhaps boxing’s best current fighter, and certainly its most boastful and most polarizing. He owns a 17,000-square-foot house nearby, but for all the spoils, for the hundreds of millions earned, the gym is home. Always has been.
“This here is family,” said Deltricia Howard, his older sister. “One big, old family. One big, old, dysfunctional, crazy family.”
Most boxing gyms ooze character, years of sweat seeped into stained walls. This one is filled with characters — three generations of Mayweathers bound by boxing and family and supreme confidence.
Home is here, inside a strip mall, near a Baptist church and the Serenity Cafe, its name a stark contrast to the mood of the boxing brood nearby. Home is guarded by a beefy security team: seven men, zero necks. And home is hot, above 80 degrees, always.
Amid continual chatter, the loudest, boldest voice of all belongs to Mayweather, who knocked out 1,000 punches on the heavy bag in 90 seconds and still managed to provide commentary throughout as he trained last week for his fight next Saturday against Shane Mosley.
He sang along to hip-hop blaring from the speakers — “I’m amazing, yeah, I know that” — and fired salvos at Mosley between situps.
He preached the usual themes: He is the face of boxing, the talk of boxing, the greatest boxer ever. He is boxing.
“Floyd comes from a tight-knit family,” said Nate Jones, a training partner and longtime friend. “Everybody’s a little crazy. Everybody’s a little braggadocios. Everybody got confidence.”
At age 1, Mayweather learned how to walk and how to box. No one is sure exactly which came first. Floyd Mayweather Sr. used to hold his son near speed bags, and the boy took to punching anything in sight, including door knobs, backs of chairs and hanging plants.
There was a gym less than a block from his home in Grand Rapids, Mich., five houses down, turn right.
“He didn’t know what a gym was,” said Deborah Sinclair, his mother. “All he knew was that was home.”
Back then, everyone called him Little Floyd, and though he grew to hate that nickname, Mayweather struck confidants as a younger version of his current self. He was so hyperactive he was often booted from the local water park, so cocksure he practiced his signature while his sisters completed homework.
He was the middle child, a boy who brought home stray cats and dogs, who found comfort in being surrounded by familiar faces. On Sundays, his mother held parties, hosting 30 to 40 people. They sang karaoke and played spades and ate soul food. Always, the talk returned to boxing.
Mayweather’s father traces the family’s pugilistic pursuits to Danny Brown, a childhood classmate who “fired on me” in grade school. That led him, two brothers and three cousins to the gym, the first stitch in the family’s boxing cloth.
Theirs is a complicated, well-documented history. The senior Mayweather’s promising boxing career effectively ended with a 20-gauge shotgun blast to the leg as he held Little Floyd. He went to prison for cocaine trafficking.
“I was on my own at age 16,” Mayweather said.
His uncle Roger Mayweather had moved here in 1981, turned professional and won the first of two world championships 15 months later, fighting under the nickname Black Mamba. Had it not been for boxing, Uncle Roger predicted, he would have ended up in “hell or jail.” As is, he will face battery charges this summer in a Las Vegas courtroom, and not for the first time.
Not that the Mayweathers find any of this distracting.
“It’s all boxing, man,” Roger Mayweather said. “I love boxing. I knew I would do this since I was a kid.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr. installed his uncle as his trainer in 2000, and that led to some seven years of estrangement from his father, including one particularly tense moment when Mayweather evicted his father from his house. During that period, father and son kept tabs on each other, and recently, the senior Mayweather returned to the inner circle and the gym they all call home.
All this makes for a dizzying family dynamic to everyone except those involved. All the blows, inside the ring and out, the drama, even Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s time spent inside courtrooms — on charges of battery and domestic violence — have served to strengthen their resolve.
Friends say Mayweather functions best surrounded by family chaos, that he keeps close even those who no longer perform necessary functions. His childhood friend Roderick Braswell said Mayweather performed multiple roles, alternately an instigator and a peacekeeper, a provider and a disciplinarian. It is as if Mayweather is “10 different people,” Braswell said.
When Mayweather discusses family, he is reflective and soft spoken, far from the cocky Money Mayweather character he created.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s adviser and best friend, said this was by design. As a boxer, Mayweather fights with precise, calculated movements, a master tactician. His inner circle functions the same way. Ellerbe, for instance, said he turned down 25 business propositions a day.
Through Mayweather’s rise — an 84-6 record as an amateur, 40 pro triumphs, his last loss at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 — he brought family and friends along. When Jones fell into a depression after his boxing career ended, Mayweather hired him, helping Jones kick an alcohol addiction.
Ten years ago, Mayweather requested a meeting with Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports. Only 23 then, Mayweather burst into a hotel suite in Las Vegas, entourage in tow, proclaiming he would become HBO’s next star; his family boxing’s first. On each promise, he delivered.
“I fight for my family,” Mayweather said. “I don’t have to respond to anything. I don’t have to shut anybody up.”
As the Mosley bout approaches, Mayweather seems more intense, focused and determined. The family dynamic also shifted recently, toward the unexpected — relative serenity in the Mayweather camp.
Mayweather’s father, once the demanding trainer who withheld sweets and forced his teenage son to turn small trees into firewood, remains proud of their collective work — “I believed it, he achieved it” — but has also found a different role, in the background, upon returning. He claims to have helped plot strategy when Mayweather came out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez in September.
The longer the senior Mayweather talks, the more he delves into his selling drugs, his shady past. But now, he said, “the good supersedes the bad” because “everything came out right at the end of the day, maybe not for me, but everything came out right.”
He added: “I would be lying to you to tell you I’m not happy to be back with my son. I love my son. That’s my blood. My blood runs deep.”
Floyd Mayweather Sr.’s relationship with his brother is improving, too. The family painted them as older men with health issues — Roger Mayweather is diabetic — who are softening with age. In a quiet moment at the gym last week, they sat on the ring’s edge, deep in conversation.
The dynamic could shift again tomorrow, of course, this being the Mayweathers preparing for a fight. Manny Pacquiao is suing for defamation. Mayweather’s undefeated record must be defended once again.
Back inside the family living room, Mayweather played with his four children. Roger’s young son worked the mitts, like Floyd Mayweather Sr. and his son some 30 years ago. His sisters swapped stories — Floyd once fought the oldest with a chair — on leather couches.
His mother surveyed this scene and said, “He wouldn’t know what to do without his family.”
After training, they lingered outside, telling jokes, arguing over the size of their respective biceps.
“I got one that’s chiseled!” the father shouted.
“I got one that’s carved!” his son responded, before jumping into his Ferrari and heading not toward home, but away from it.
A version of this article appeared in print on April 25, 2010, on page SP1 of the New York edition.
Source: nytimes.com
Adamek unshakable in ring, faith -- Los Angeles Daily News
By Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News
Sometimes people get turned off when athletes talk about religion.
It's looked upon as boring. But according to promoter Kathy Duva, a very strong faith is what has made heavyweight Tomasz Adamek the exciting fighter he is today.
If Adamek were not a strong believer, he would be having a much more difficult time these days. The Poland native has been mourning Polish president Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria and several other of the country's high-ranking politicians who lost their lives in a plane crash April 10.
Unfortunately, there's more. About two months before that, there was another catastrophe that took several people close to Adamek, who tonight will take on Chris Arreola at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario (on HBO).
"A few weeks before he started camp, he lost several close friends in a plane crash," said Duva, president of New Jersey-based Main Events Inc. "And he knew people on this (presidential) plane, too. He doesn't even talk about it ...
"He is an incredibly religious man. That's who he is. We know him well and we understand that. Then you understand that he accepts fate, he accepts things that happen. They happen for a reason. He has complete and total unshakable faith."
As Adamek sat at a table in the San Manuel Casino in Highland following Monday's final news conference, it was easy to see just by looking into his eyes he was everything Duva said he is.
Adamek came off not only as a man with a strong belief in divinity but someone to take advice from during times of struggles.
"This is my motto in life: Without God, there is nothing," said Adamek, 33. "In everyday life, this is how I raise my children. I let them know that God is No. 1 and without him nothing makes sense.
"So it helps me in this situation and it helps me in every other aspect of life."
And, as Duva said, Adamek accepts fate. The way he explains it, it's the only way.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to help those people who perished, first my friends and now the president, because you have to believe there is some higher power which is guiding us," Adamek said. "They were unfortunate deaths of people who I know, but we shouldn't get into despair because it will not help you in life. You cannot go through life in despair. I was raised this way and I believe this is where my strength comes from is God."
Unshakable faith, indeed. It's who Adamek is and, as Duva claimed, what has helped him become a terrific fighter.
"That will carry anyone through any kind of adversity," Duva said when asked if she was concerned Adamek's sorrow will create a lack of concentration on tonight's task. "He's a guy who will stay focused on what he has to do.
"It's part of why he's gotten to where he is."
Adamek has won world titles in the light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. He was 3-1 in light heavyweight world title bouts, moved up in weight and went 3-0 in cruiserweight world championship fights.
With a thirst to become heavyweight champion, Adamek again moved up and is 2-0 in what used to be boxing's bread and butter division.
He brings a fine record of 40-1 with 27 knockouts into tonight's fight.
Regardless of his inner strength, he seemingly is in over his head physically against Arreola. The two heavyweights Adamek defeated over the past six months are fellow Pole Andrew Golota and Jason Estrada. Estrada is a very light hitter and Arreola refers to Golota as "an aged Andrew Golota." Golota was 41 when he was stopped in the fifth round by Adamek last October.
Arreola has a large size advantage. He is 6-foot-4 and Thursday weighed 250 1/2 pounds. Adamek is 6-1 1/2 and weighed in at 217.
"I do believe it will be competitive for a while," Arreola said. "But the thing is my job in there is to wear him down and show him what it's like to be in the heavyweight division."
No problem, said Adamek, who moved from Poland to New Jersey in 2008.
"The size of Chris Arreola really makes no difference," he said. "He's 6-8, 6-9, 260, 220, it doesn't really matter. It is what is in your head that matters, not your size.
"I don't plan to go down after three, four or five punches from Chris."
Rather, Adamek said he plans to be "quick and smart."
Arreola doesn't want to hear it.
"I don't care about this David and Goliath crap," he said. "I'm not here to preach the Bible."
Adamek is, and if he's victorious tonight against the likes of Arreola, those who yawn during religious speak might listen a little more closely in the future.
Mosley is still fighting with old PED issues
"Sugar" Shane Mosley is basically a mild-mannered sort. He usually is smiling and rarely frowning.
But Mosley was hot when a reporter asked him a question during a conference call this week regarding his use of steroids and the blood-doping agent EPO before his second fight with Oscar De La Hoya in 2003.
Mosley, who next Saturday will take on Floyd Mayweather Jr. at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, never tested positive for the performance-enhancing drugs, but he later admitted during grand jury testimony to unknowingly ingesting them.
The reporter asked this of Mosley: "Two thousand three is a long time ago, but can you say since then how you have felt differently in fights? Can you tell a difference from that night to how you fight now or recent fights from when you didn't take that stuff? I mean, what did it do to you as a fighter to come off it and then try to get back to just 100 percent of yourself and how you feel now when you're in the ring compared to then?"
Mosley reacted strongly.
"That's just a stupid question that you asked me because I never did that stuff," he said. "I never was on it really like that. I've always been a clean fighter."
He wasn't clean that night against De La Hoya, even if he thought he was. And now, seven years later, he's still dealing with the issue because he has a defamation suit against BALCO founder Victor Conte, who claims Mosley knew he was cheating.
Mosley, whose grand jury testimony was part of an investigation of BALCO, is sick of hearing about his connection to PEDs.
"It's ridiculous now that the media wants to make me the poster boy of steroids when I don't even ... whatever. If you guys want to continue to put that out there, so be it. So be it. You guys know the truth."
Conte recently released a video on YouTube showing some of the deposition Mosley gave in his suit against him. Mosley basically said he knew he was taking EPO, but he didn't know what EPO was until federal investigators clued him in.
Judd Burstein, Mosley's attorney, didn't want to talk much about the video and said Conte edited it to his advantage and, "Shane will be victorious in court and that will answer all the questions."
Etc.
Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) of England will square off with Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs) tonight in Kessler's native Denmark. Froch's super middleweight title will be on the line, and the fight will be televised by Showtime as part of the network's Super Six tournament. ... Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero recently gave up the junior lightweight world title he won last August so he could be with his wife, Casey, who in January 2009 was declared in remission from leukemia, only to see the disease return. Guerrero (25-1-1, 17 KOs) will be back in the ring Friday when he takes on Roberto Arrieta (35-15-4, 17 KOs) of Argentina in the main event at Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Guerrero said his wife is doing well. "Casey is coming along great," said Guerrero of Gilroy. "She's still undergoing some procedures, but she's right where she's supposed to be." The fight will be televised by the Spanish-language station Telefutura.
Source: dailynews.com
Sometimes people get turned off when athletes talk about religion.
It's looked upon as boring. But according to promoter Kathy Duva, a very strong faith is what has made heavyweight Tomasz Adamek the exciting fighter he is today.
If Adamek were not a strong believer, he would be having a much more difficult time these days. The Poland native has been mourning Polish president Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria and several other of the country's high-ranking politicians who lost their lives in a plane crash April 10.
Unfortunately, there's more. About two months before that, there was another catastrophe that took several people close to Adamek, who tonight will take on Chris Arreola at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario (on HBO).
"A few weeks before he started camp, he lost several close friends in a plane crash," said Duva, president of New Jersey-based Main Events Inc. "And he knew people on this (presidential) plane, too. He doesn't even talk about it ...
"He is an incredibly religious man. That's who he is. We know him well and we understand that. Then you understand that he accepts fate, he accepts things that happen. They happen for a reason. He has complete and total unshakable faith."
As Adamek sat at a table in the San Manuel Casino in Highland following Monday's final news conference, it was easy to see just by looking into his eyes he was everything Duva said he is.
Adamek came off not only as a man with a strong belief in divinity but someone to take advice from during times of struggles.
"This is my motto in life: Without God, there is nothing," said Adamek, 33. "In everyday life, this is how I raise my children. I let them know that God is No. 1 and without him nothing makes sense.
"So it helps me in this situation and it helps me in every other aspect of life."
And, as Duva said, Adamek accepts fate. The way he explains it, it's the only way.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to help those people who perished, first my friends and now the president, because you have to believe there is some higher power which is guiding us," Adamek said. "They were unfortunate deaths of people who I know, but we shouldn't get into despair because it will not help you in life. You cannot go through life in despair. I was raised this way and I believe this is where my strength comes from is God."
Unshakable faith, indeed. It's who Adamek is and, as Duva claimed, what has helped him become a terrific fighter.
"That will carry anyone through any kind of adversity," Duva said when asked if she was concerned Adamek's sorrow will create a lack of concentration on tonight's task. "He's a guy who will stay focused on what he has to do.
"It's part of why he's gotten to where he is."
Adamek has won world titles in the light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. He was 3-1 in light heavyweight world title bouts, moved up in weight and went 3-0 in cruiserweight world championship fights.
With a thirst to become heavyweight champion, Adamek again moved up and is 2-0 in what used to be boxing's bread and butter division.
He brings a fine record of 40-1 with 27 knockouts into tonight's fight.
Regardless of his inner strength, he seemingly is in over his head physically against Arreola. The two heavyweights Adamek defeated over the past six months are fellow Pole Andrew Golota and Jason Estrada. Estrada is a very light hitter and Arreola refers to Golota as "an aged Andrew Golota." Golota was 41 when he was stopped in the fifth round by Adamek last October.
Arreola has a large size advantage. He is 6-foot-4 and Thursday weighed 250 1/2 pounds. Adamek is 6-1 1/2 and weighed in at 217.
"I do believe it will be competitive for a while," Arreola said. "But the thing is my job in there is to wear him down and show him what it's like to be in the heavyweight division."
No problem, said Adamek, who moved from Poland to New Jersey in 2008.
"The size of Chris Arreola really makes no difference," he said. "He's 6-8, 6-9, 260, 220, it doesn't really matter. It is what is in your head that matters, not your size.
"I don't plan to go down after three, four or five punches from Chris."
Rather, Adamek said he plans to be "quick and smart."
Arreola doesn't want to hear it.
"I don't care about this David and Goliath crap," he said. "I'm not here to preach the Bible."
Adamek is, and if he's victorious tonight against the likes of Arreola, those who yawn during religious speak might listen a little more closely in the future.
Mosley is still fighting with old PED issues
"Sugar" Shane Mosley is basically a mild-mannered sort. He usually is smiling and rarely frowning.
But Mosley was hot when a reporter asked him a question during a conference call this week regarding his use of steroids and the blood-doping agent EPO before his second fight with Oscar De La Hoya in 2003.
Mosley, who next Saturday will take on Floyd Mayweather Jr. at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, never tested positive for the performance-enhancing drugs, but he later admitted during grand jury testimony to unknowingly ingesting them.
The reporter asked this of Mosley: "Two thousand three is a long time ago, but can you say since then how you have felt differently in fights? Can you tell a difference from that night to how you fight now or recent fights from when you didn't take that stuff? I mean, what did it do to you as a fighter to come off it and then try to get back to just 100 percent of yourself and how you feel now when you're in the ring compared to then?"
Mosley reacted strongly.
"That's just a stupid question that you asked me because I never did that stuff," he said. "I never was on it really like that. I've always been a clean fighter."
He wasn't clean that night against De La Hoya, even if he thought he was. And now, seven years later, he's still dealing with the issue because he has a defamation suit against BALCO founder Victor Conte, who claims Mosley knew he was cheating.
Mosley, whose grand jury testimony was part of an investigation of BALCO, is sick of hearing about his connection to PEDs.
"It's ridiculous now that the media wants to make me the poster boy of steroids when I don't even ... whatever. If you guys want to continue to put that out there, so be it. So be it. You guys know the truth."
Conte recently released a video on YouTube showing some of the deposition Mosley gave in his suit against him. Mosley basically said he knew he was taking EPO, but he didn't know what EPO was until federal investigators clued him in.
Judd Burstein, Mosley's attorney, didn't want to talk much about the video and said Conte edited it to his advantage and, "Shane will be victorious in court and that will answer all the questions."
Etc.
Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) of England will square off with Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs) tonight in Kessler's native Denmark. Froch's super middleweight title will be on the line, and the fight will be televised by Showtime as part of the network's Super Six tournament. ... Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero recently gave up the junior lightweight world title he won last August so he could be with his wife, Casey, who in January 2009 was declared in remission from leukemia, only to see the disease return. Guerrero (25-1-1, 17 KOs) will be back in the ring Friday when he takes on Roberto Arrieta (35-15-4, 17 KOs) of Argentina in the main event at Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Guerrero said his wife is doing well. "Casey is coming along great," said Guerrero of Gilroy. "She's still undergoing some procedures, but she's right where she's supposed to be." The fight will be televised by the Spanish-language station Telefutura.
Source: dailynews.com
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