Ethan Miller - Getty Images
Manny Pacquiao says it's time for him to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr, but can Bob Arum deliver the fight? (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Manny Pacquiao has made a statement that, well, most fans will love regarding a potential fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr in an interview at PhilBoxing.com.
Here's that part of what he said about fighting Floyd on May 5:
"I‘ve said this over and over before and I’m saying this again, I want Floyd Mayweather Jr. to be my next opponent and I haven’t changed my choice despite recent developments. ... I am meeting with my promoter, Bob Arum on Tuesday and I will insist that the fight with Mayweather be given the preference (over) the four others in the list [Miguel Cotto, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Lamont Peterson] I will fight next."
That part is nice. Yay, Manny! Take control of your career and put your foot down!
But there's more, and it's pretty damn important.
"It’s not really fair for some quarters to blame me if, in the long run, the fight wouldn’t push through. As I have also been saying many times before, I fight for the fans. I want the fans to be happy always."
"Whoever the fans want me to fight, I will face him (in) the ring. I don’t choose (who to) fight. It is my promoter who does because it’s his job. My job is to fight, everybody must realize that."
So basically what you have here is Manny Pacquiao hanging Arum out to dry and putting everything firmly on Bob Arum for now. Maybe some will think that this is him shifting blame to the Mayweather camp, but it's not. He's very clearly saying three things:
Manny makes very clear: The drug testing is fine, no issue, he'll do it. He'll take a smaller portion of the split if that has to happen. He wants the fight.
It's on Bob Arum and Team Mayweather now. The Mayweather camp has given the indication that they're ready. Manny says it's time to do it.
Are you there, Bob? It's us, boxing fans.
0 recs | 33 comments
Can y’all do me a favor and wake me up when this soap opera is over? Thanks. I’d really like to make sure I don’t miss Mayweather-Canelo on May 5th and Pacquiao-Cotto II on June 9th.
AndrewDM - January 9, 2012
hahahahaha, actually,according to The Sweet Science it may be Mayweather/Guerrero
http://thesweetscience.com/news/articles/13901-floyd-mayyweather-robert-guerrero-almost-signed-sealedmarkarian
Apprentice - January 9, 2012
I saw that too. That surprises me.
Kory Kitchen - January 9, 2012
Mayweather + May 5 = Canelo
You can take that to the bank, much like Mayweather is doing to do. This is simply a bargaining chip used by Mayweather to get Canelo to come down in price.
Waldo Rastel - January 9, 2012
Guerrero is very real. This is a very real thing. believe me. It might not end up being the fight, but it’s not just a ploy.
Scott Christ - January 9, 2012
I will not pay for that fight.
erod - January 9, 2012
I’m sure I would pay for it, but I’m not excited if it comes off. Guerrero is simply not a welterweight, and has done nothing to earn this. He is a great guy with a great story, but I’m not overly excited about him fighting Floyd Mayweather at 147 pounds on May 5.
Kory Kitchen - January 9, 2012
Neither would I.
I’ll pay for just about any Floyd fight. This is one of the few that I wouldn’t pay for.
Sentimental - January 9, 2012
Guerrero, really? Come on, there are at least a half dozen fights that would be better to watch AND make more money for Mayweather. I know that Guerrero’s people have been working this angle forever and the talks are legit, but it just seems like a seriously dumb move when big-money guys are itching to get at Mayweather.
AndrewDM - January 9, 2012
Playing Devil’s advocate, Mayweather will sell a lot on his own, and he probably will pay Guerrero peanuts
Apprentice - January 9, 2012
I hear you. But he’s just as likely to beat Canelo as he is Guerrero (i.e. 95% chance), so why not take the bigger name and the bigger money that you can at least pretend is a real notch on your belt?
AndrewDM - January 9, 2012
Mayweather has a hard time with big picture stuff sometimes, I think. He’s too concerned with how much the other guy gets, and Canelo wants real money, because he’s worth real money. I’m not sure Floyd really thinks about the fact that he’d ALSO make more money. I think he has some code on how much more he should make than his opponent makes.
Also Guerrero is easier than Alvarez, simply because Alvarez is bigger. Mayweather has a 99.8% chance of beating Guerrero, probably 98.2% chance of beating Alvarez.
Floyd would take Guerrero simply to put some money in the bank with an easy fight before he goes to jail for a little bit. That what Lenny Ellerbe can buy him some Bentleys during his incarceration.
Scott Christ - January 9, 2012
Mayweather-Guerrero = Pacquiao-Clottey. Boring fight, wasted opportunity.
AndrewDM - January 9, 2012
I'll still get.......... it with about 50 people chipping
J Theory - January 9, 2012
At least Pac threw over 100 punches a round while Clottey did nothing. I could see this being a major “skill” exhibition. And I don’t mean that in a good way.
Kory Kitchen - January 9, 2012
I don’t doubt its realness. In fact that why it would work so well in trying to get Canelo to come down in price. I really don’t want to see Guerrero-May because that might be the most boring performance you could get out of Floyd.
Waldo Rastel - January 9, 2012
I wouldn't even stream that fight.
It just doesn’t interest me at all.
erod - January 9, 2012
So I guess the cut is not a big deal after all like Arum has been saying. Not that anybody ever thought it was, but still. I’m glad that Pac bluntly said that he wants it, and didn’t beat around the bush. He honestly did leave Arum out to dry and I love that he did that.
Kory Kitchen - January 9, 2012
Finaly pac has come out and put pressure on big bad bob. If this had happened in the start the fight would of been done and dusted
sigidy - January 9, 2012
Well honestly it’s not as if they have never negotiated before (regardless of what Leonard Ellerbe says). There was just always something in the way like drug testing, money split, jail time, etc.
Kory Kitchen - January 9, 2012
He’ll take a smaller portion of the split if that has to happen. He wants the fight.
Cold day in hell….
The language still sounds weak. He’s going to “insist” that Floyd gets “preference.” Pretty powerful stuff there Manny. The rest of the quote is just basically, “hey I tried!”. I’m just not convinced that he really cares enough about the fight. It’s like he’s just gonna ask Bob so everybody will shut up. Haven’t we all been there? Someone keeps bugging you to ask someone something, and so you do it just to shut them up. That what it sounds like here.
erod - January 9, 2012
I have to agree here. It’s not exactly the most firm manner. But, in context, Pacquiao has never been a “firm” guy… he’s always been “ah well, I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me”. This is as close to what we would like as he’s going to get, I believe.
Apprentice - January 9, 2012
The only way this fight happens is if either Bob dies/retires suddenly or Manny leaves Top Rank.
Waldo Rastel - January 9, 2012
I’m so sick of the phantom fight I don’t know if I’d watch if it happened tomorrow.
BoxAnne - January 9, 2012
If Arum gives Manny the okie doke...
Manny should leave TR. But I have a strong feeling that the matchmakers at TR are strongly against this fight, hence Arum’s half-assed excuses. I still think TR just doesn’t want this fight.
Clove_art - January 9, 2012
NO CHANCE Arum would just let Pac leave.
Kory Kitchen - January 9, 2012
Yeah but there is some serious evidence that Arum is preventing the biggest payday in Pacquiao’s career. I have no idea whether or not he would have grounds for breach of contract but the evidence clearly points to Arum being the roadblock right now. Especially with Kevin Iole’s piece which throws Bob under the bus, backs up and rolls over him again.
http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;ylt=AqR66i3ItkwcBgEfnVONFLWUxLYF?slug=ki-iolepacquiao_mayweather_update_010912
Waldo Rastel - January 9, 2012
Ahhhhh so I see Iole took Oscar’s twitter demands and wrote an article about the potential fight.
Honestly, I didn’t think it threw Arum under the bus that bad, but it seems he is the one most responsible for it not happening at the moment. Then again, he could just that if Mayweather doesn’t abuse women then we don’t have to worry about this whole May deadline to begin with.
Kory Kitchen - January 9, 2012
The funny thing is the date is no longer an issue, and Arum still says no.
Clove_art - January 9, 2012
I dunno
PAC is TR’s biggest draw, they sacrifice all their other welterweights to keep him winning. And he’s a sure thing for 20mil a fight. And supposeably 50mil for this mythical fight with Mayweather.
Clove_art - January 9, 2012
Pacman has been well coached, Good job Arum
J Theory - January 9, 2012
Note that Manny knows the facts. The one important one
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will tell his promoter, Top Rank chief executive officer Bob Arum, that he wants to fight undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. next.
Pacquiao and Arum are set to meet Tuesday in Sarangani to discuss the Filipino boxer’s next fight, reportedly scheduled for June.
“I’ve said this over and over before, and I’m saying this again. I want Floyd Mayweather Jr. to be my next opponent,” Pacquiao said in an interview with PhilBoxing.com’s Eddie Alinea.
“I haven’t changed my choice despite recent developments,” he added.
Pacquiao confirmed late last year that negotiations were ongoing between the two boxers’ camps, but those discussions were put on hold after Mayweather was sentenced to 90 days in jail for a 2010 domestic violence charge.
The American’s jail sentence was postponed until June, however, so he can fight on May 5 against a yet to be announced opponent.
But Mayweather is no longer included in Arum’s list of potential opponents for Pacquiao. The Top Rank boss had instead put Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, Lamont Peterson and Timothy Bradley, Jr. in the shortlist.
Pacquiao said he will “insist that the fight with Mayweather be given the preference than the four others in the list.”
He earlier said that there are no more problems from his camp regarding Mayweather’s demands of random blood and urine testing.
“I will abide by his demand for drug testing. I am even agreeable to getting a lesser purse, just so the fight would push through,” Pacquiao said.
“In other words, as far as my side is concerned, there will be no problem.”
Not ducking anyone
The Filipino fighter denied that he was “ducking” any fighter, after some boxing observers noted that he was also partly to blame if his fight against Mayweather – long thought to be the richest fight in boxing – will not push through.
“It’s not really fair for some quarters to blame me if in the long run, the fight wouldn’t push through,” Pacquiao told Alinea. “I have also been saying many times before, I fight for the fans. I want the fans to be happy.”
“Whoever says I’m ducking this fighter or that fighter doesn’t know me, or just wants to put me in bad light,” he added.
“I never dodged from fighting anybody. If I did, I won’t be where I am now.”
Arum’s job
At the end of the day, Pacquiao said his job is to fight and his promoter’s job is to choose who he fights.
“Whoever the fans want me to fight, I will face him atop the ring. I don’t choose the fight. It is my promoter who does (that) because it’s his job,” Pacquiao said. “My job is to fight, everybody must realize that.”
Pacquiao emphasized that he will insist on facing Mayweather, but it will be Arum’s job to negotiate with the Mayweather camp.
“If we agree that I will face Mayweather, then my promoter will talk to his counterpart in the Mayweather camp,” Pacquiao said. “When Arum sits in the negotiation table, he will be laying on the table all the conditions we want.”
_But Pacquiao warned that negotiations may once again hit a snag, since Mayweather "has no promoter.
“He negotiates by himself. So if the fight won’t be realized, it’s no longer because of me,” he said.
Mayweather works with Golden Boy Promotions to promote his fights, but he is not under contract with GBP._
pakinpower - January 10, 2012
Yeah...
After all that… manny still says Arum picks the fights for him, and that he doesn’t duck the fighters the arum and the TR matchmakers chose for him. And I’m sure “the boss of himself” is a montra that TR staff must repeat in forums and on record when talking about Floyd. Despite Floyd being the boss of himself, Manny still says that they need to talk to a counterpart in the Mayweather camp, not Mayweather himself.
Clove_art - January 10, 2012
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