LOS ANGELES - Sports fans around the world can breathe again as it was announced today that the highly anticipated 12-round welterweight showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez has been officially rescheduled for September 19, after Mayweather, who suffered a rib injury while training for the originally scheduled July 18 date, received clearance from his doctor to participate on the new date.
Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," which will still take place at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View, will now take place on what on what is historically considered boxing's biggest weekend, and falling on the time-honored tradition of Mexican Independence Day.
"I am relieved to be cleared to fight as I was already looking forward to getting back in the ring," said Mayweather. "Trust me, September 19 is a great weekend for boxing, and all of my fans, of which there are many Mexicans too, can certainly hold on to their hats and sombreros when I get back in to the ring and show them what they have been missing these past 18 months. I will destroy Marquez and reclaim my rightful place as boxing's pound-for-pound king all in one night. Don't miss it."
Marquez, who has also agreed to fight on the new date, is excited about appearing yet again on the time-honored tradition of El Grito de Independence.
"I am happy that Mayweather has been cleared to fight and we can get down to business on September 19," said Marquez. "This weekend is not just an important weekend for boxing, but even more so for all of the Mexican and Mexican-American people I will be fighting for who will have a great reason to celebrate my win over Mayweather, which will be for all of the people and for the entire country of Mexico that night. I am sure of victory and si se puede- yes we can and yes we will!"
Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Promotions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and Southwest Airlines.
Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $600, $300 and $150, not including applicable service charges, go on sale Friday, May 22 at 10 a.m. Ticket sales at $1,000, $750, $600 and $300 are limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person with a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com
The Mayweather vs. Marquez pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View®, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Mayweather vs. Marquez fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.
Source: boxingscene.com
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Canceled!: Boxing's Lost Summer of 2009
While commenting on another post, it just moments ago really dawned on me how unexciting much of boxing's summer schedule has become. The recent rash of cancellations and postponements has turned what looked pretty decent into something that now feels empty, like months of wasted time in a sport that needs big fights.
I'm not trying to demean the fights we're going to get (for now, anyway), but when you look at June 22 through the end of August and the biggest thing there is a 140-pound title unification between Timothy Bradley and Nate Campbell, that's trouble. If you count June, July and August as "the summer months" for the sport, we're going to wind up having passed a quarter of the year where the biggest fight was Miguel Cotto's rumble with Joshua Clottey on June 13.
The Klitschko-Haye debacle of June 20 was big, as it took a fight that people all over the world were interested in seeing and replaced it with YAKC (Yet Another Klitschko Cakewalk). Kelly Pavlik's return -- though a "light" fight against Sergio Mora -- was turned into an uninteresting Juan Manuel Lopez fight against an unknown challenger on June 27. Even the June 20 rematch between Chris John and Rocky Juarez factors in.
The biggie, of course, is the postponement of Mayweather-Marquez, likely being rescheduled for September, when it's also expected that Pavlik will fight again.
There are good fights that will happen. Bradley-Campbell is good. Joseph Agbeko-Vic Darchinyan (July 11) is good. Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi (August 22) is decent. I like the Nonito Donaire-Hugo Cazares fight on August 15, but that's pay-per-view, too.
Cotto and Manny Pacquiao will get it on in November, and the fall block looks loaded right now. With that, the rescheduled Mayweather-Marquez fight and the Pavlik return likely in September, a highly-anticipated rematch between Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson, and maybe a ring return from Ricky Hatton and hopefully something out of Shane Mosley, boxing can really kick the fires from September through November. I think there's even an outside shot that Cotto-Pacquiao will top Hatton-Pacquiao as the event of the year.
And the thing is, there's really no one to blame. Promoters set up fights, and the fights now aren't happening. But saying the stars aren't aligning for boxing this summer is a huge understatement. It's downright bleak.
Source: badlefthook.com
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Mosley Not Giving Up On Pacquiao Yet
MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao’s camp may already be in negotiation for a prospective fight with Miguel Cotto but Sugar Shane Mosley is not about to throw in the towel yet.
Still dead serious in getting the Filipino ring icon as opponent, Mosley reiterated that he, not Cotto, presents the BIG fight out there for the reigning pound-for-pound king.
"The only person that's stopping the (Pacquiao-Mosley) fight is Bob Arum (Top Rank boss who promotes both Pacquiao and Cotto)," Mosley was quoted in a fighthype.com report.
Mosley, who had even declared his willingness to accept a 40/60 split and slide down from 147 lbs to meet Pacquiao at a catch weight, claimed Arum was only pushing for a Pacquiao-Cotto bout in a bid to keep the Puerto Rican at his stable.
“Bob Arum has his own investments into the fight as far as him wanting to re-sign Cotto and get him a big fight. Then he has Pacquiao. He will give Cotto a little money to keep him happy because he really doesn't deserve any of it. And then he will throw Pacquiao something out there.
“But the bigger fight is me and Pacquiao. We have the biggest names by far and Pacquiao's legacy wouldn't be damaged losing to me. I don't understand…well, I do understand what Bob Arum wants to do, but I wouldn't understand why Pacquiao wouldn't take the fight," he said.
Pacquiao had given Arum the greenlight to initiate talks with WBO welterweight champ Cotto after watching the latter fight and escape with a split decision win over Joshua Clottey.
The projected Pacquiao-Cotto duel is being eyed for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The wheels are already in motion and Arum had expressed confidence both fighters would sign on, although he’s not rushing things.
"What's the rush?" Arum told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Sunday. "There's going to be some haggling, like there always is. But, eventually, we'll get it worked out, and by early July, everything should be set for what will be a great fight."
But Mosley, the reigning WBA welterweight champion, insisted the fight that fans really want involves him and the IBO 140-lb boss.
And he’s willing to put this on a vote among Pacquiao’s Filipino fans.
"I just want to tell Pacquiao to do the right thing for boxing," Mosley said in the fighthype.com report. “I think you guys should put a poll up and let the Philippine fans vote which one they think would be a bigger fight and who they want to see Pacquiao fight next, Shane Mosley or Miguel Cotto! Let's see who the Philippine fans want Pacquiao to fight next,"
But apparently, it’s not the Filipinos’ vote on his next foe that Pacquiao is interested in right now.
Over the weekend, Pacquiao joined the townsfolk of Malapatan, Saranggani in celebrating their founding anniversary, a move seen as his initial salvo in trying to woo their votes next year. The 30-year-old Pacquiao is bent on running for a congressional seat in Saranggani after a failed bid in South Cotabato three years ago.
Source: gmanews.tv
Still dead serious in getting the Filipino ring icon as opponent, Mosley reiterated that he, not Cotto, presents the BIG fight out there for the reigning pound-for-pound king.
"The only person that's stopping the (Pacquiao-Mosley) fight is Bob Arum (Top Rank boss who promotes both Pacquiao and Cotto)," Mosley was quoted in a fighthype.com report.
Mosley, who had even declared his willingness to accept a 40/60 split and slide down from 147 lbs to meet Pacquiao at a catch weight, claimed Arum was only pushing for a Pacquiao-Cotto bout in a bid to keep the Puerto Rican at his stable.
“Bob Arum has his own investments into the fight as far as him wanting to re-sign Cotto and get him a big fight. Then he has Pacquiao. He will give Cotto a little money to keep him happy because he really doesn't deserve any of it. And then he will throw Pacquiao something out there.
“But the bigger fight is me and Pacquiao. We have the biggest names by far and Pacquiao's legacy wouldn't be damaged losing to me. I don't understand…well, I do understand what Bob Arum wants to do, but I wouldn't understand why Pacquiao wouldn't take the fight," he said.
Pacquiao had given Arum the greenlight to initiate talks with WBO welterweight champ Cotto after watching the latter fight and escape with a split decision win over Joshua Clottey.
The projected Pacquiao-Cotto duel is being eyed for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The wheels are already in motion and Arum had expressed confidence both fighters would sign on, although he’s not rushing things.
"What's the rush?" Arum told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Sunday. "There's going to be some haggling, like there always is. But, eventually, we'll get it worked out, and by early July, everything should be set for what will be a great fight."
But Mosley, the reigning WBA welterweight champion, insisted the fight that fans really want involves him and the IBO 140-lb boss.
And he’s willing to put this on a vote among Pacquiao’s Filipino fans.
"I just want to tell Pacquiao to do the right thing for boxing," Mosley said in the fighthype.com report. “I think you guys should put a poll up and let the Philippine fans vote which one they think would be a bigger fight and who they want to see Pacquiao fight next, Shane Mosley or Miguel Cotto! Let's see who the Philippine fans want Pacquiao to fight next,"
But apparently, it’s not the Filipinos’ vote on his next foe that Pacquiao is interested in right now.
Over the weekend, Pacquiao joined the townsfolk of Malapatan, Saranggani in celebrating their founding anniversary, a move seen as his initial salvo in trying to woo their votes next year. The 30-year-old Pacquiao is bent on running for a congressional seat in Saranggani after a failed bid in South Cotabato three years ago.
Source: gmanews.tv
Top Rank Boss Hopes Cotto Decision Out Soon
MANILA, Philippines – Miguel Cotto’s camp is close to making a decision regarding the fight laid down by promoter Bob Arum against Manny Pacquiao on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I talked preliminarily with the Cotto people face-to-face at a meeting in Tampa when he was training for the (Joshua) Clottey fight," Arum said in an interview at USAToday.com. “Now I feel confident I can get the rest of the business done on the telephone."
“I laid out everything. Hopefully we’ll have their answer and get it resolved with them by the end of the week," Arum added. “Both guys want to fight each other. When that happens, generally it can all come together."
If a fight is set, Cotto will defend his WBO welterweight (147 lbs) crown against Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound king. Pacquiao defeated Oscar de la Hoya last December in the same weight division.
Cotto is coming from a split decision win over Joshua Clottey of Ghana last week.
Next for Arum is meeting with Pacquiao’s camp.
And he knows that he cannot pressure Pacquiao to immediately make a decision. “There’s a ton of money involved. If you push it under arbitrary deadlines it’s going to go off track."
“Giving me a few weeks, which is no hurry, enables me to have enough time to pull it together so nobody feels I’m steamrolling them. There’s an art in doing this," added Arum.
“The most pressing issue..., that’s the money and who gets what," Arum said. “That’s always the biggest issue. I’ve dealt with both of these camps over the years so many times that I feel that we’ll come together and all be satisfied. Based on my conversations with both camps today I am extremely optimistic."
Source: gmanews.tv
“I talked preliminarily with the Cotto people face-to-face at a meeting in Tampa when he was training for the (Joshua) Clottey fight," Arum said in an interview at USAToday.com. “Now I feel confident I can get the rest of the business done on the telephone."
“I laid out everything. Hopefully we’ll have their answer and get it resolved with them by the end of the week," Arum added. “Both guys want to fight each other. When that happens, generally it can all come together."
If a fight is set, Cotto will defend his WBO welterweight (147 lbs) crown against Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound king. Pacquiao defeated Oscar de la Hoya last December in the same weight division.
Cotto is coming from a split decision win over Joshua Clottey of Ghana last week.
Next for Arum is meeting with Pacquiao’s camp.
And he knows that he cannot pressure Pacquiao to immediately make a decision. “There’s a ton of money involved. If you push it under arbitrary deadlines it’s going to go off track."
“Giving me a few weeks, which is no hurry, enables me to have enough time to pull it together so nobody feels I’m steamrolling them. There’s an art in doing this," added Arum.
“The most pressing issue..., that’s the money and who gets what," Arum said. “That’s always the biggest issue. I’ve dealt with both of these camps over the years so many times that I feel that we’ll come together and all be satisfied. Based on my conversations with both camps today I am extremely optimistic."
Source: gmanews.tv
Sealing Fight With Pacquiao Cotto's Priority
MANILA, Philippines – For Miguel Cotto, a showdown with the world’s pound-for-pound fighter is definitely one of the top priority’s in his colorful boxing career.
The reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight king finally broke his silence and talked with pride and honor a projected November 14 fight with boxing sensation Manny Pacquaio at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The native of Caguas, Puerto Rico had past duels with the likes of world champions Sugar Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Michael Jennings, Zab Judah and Paul Malignaggi.
But he said his planned 12-round title fight with the Filipino icon is definitely, according to him, “the biggest fight and greatest achievement of my career."
Cotto’s statement came out in Primera Hora, the Guaynabo, Puerto Rican-based newspaper, his first public announcement since reports of a Pacquiao-Cotto showdown late this year cropped up shortly after he retained his 147-pound title belt with a split decision win over Joshua Clottey.
“Everything I have had in my career has been all about challenges. Everything I have worked for has revolved around that and I have endeavored to reach certain achievements and I have achieved," Cotto added.
Cotto suffered a deep cut on his left eye, the result of an accidental third-round head butt by Clottey, needing at least 21 stitches for the wound to close up.
The New York State Athletic Commission has suspended Cotto for fighting in the next three months, giving him enough time to heal the wound and perhaps, be ready for his duel with the 30-year-old pound-for-pound king.
Cotto had a conference call with promoter Bob Arum the other day, with the Top Rank official putting on the table the terms of the Pacquiao fight.
“I was on the phone with Cotto’s people and I outlined to them the terms and points of the deal," said the veteran boxing promoter. “I expect their response by the end of the week."
During the conversation, Arum brought up the idea of the bout being fought at a catch weight which he said, would be within 144 to 145 pounds.
Cotto has not fought below 147 pounds since 2006, while Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach want the match to be within the 143-144 level.
In a consultation with Cotto’s nutritionist, Arum said the WBO champion would not have a hard time going down two or three pounds below 147.
“Cotto is a welterweight and the nutritionist is saying the lowest he can go is 144," said Arum. “Manny will be fine with that. He doesn’t want a guy to get in there and injure himself by fighting at an unrealistically low weight."
Arum is set to meet with Pacquiao close adviser Michael Koncz on Sunday to discuss the specifics of the deal he had with Cotto’s camp.
Arum said he doesn’t see any hitches coming up along the way it did during negotiations for Pacquiao’s last two bouts against Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya.
Source: gmanews.tv
The reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight king finally broke his silence and talked with pride and honor a projected November 14 fight with boxing sensation Manny Pacquaio at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The native of Caguas, Puerto Rico had past duels with the likes of world champions Sugar Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Michael Jennings, Zab Judah and Paul Malignaggi.
But he said his planned 12-round title fight with the Filipino icon is definitely, according to him, “the biggest fight and greatest achievement of my career."
Cotto’s statement came out in Primera Hora, the Guaynabo, Puerto Rican-based newspaper, his first public announcement since reports of a Pacquiao-Cotto showdown late this year cropped up shortly after he retained his 147-pound title belt with a split decision win over Joshua Clottey.
“Everything I have had in my career has been all about challenges. Everything I have worked for has revolved around that and I have endeavored to reach certain achievements and I have achieved," Cotto added.
Cotto suffered a deep cut on his left eye, the result of an accidental third-round head butt by Clottey, needing at least 21 stitches for the wound to close up.
The New York State Athletic Commission has suspended Cotto for fighting in the next three months, giving him enough time to heal the wound and perhaps, be ready for his duel with the 30-year-old pound-for-pound king.
Cotto had a conference call with promoter Bob Arum the other day, with the Top Rank official putting on the table the terms of the Pacquiao fight.
“I was on the phone with Cotto’s people and I outlined to them the terms and points of the deal," said the veteran boxing promoter. “I expect their response by the end of the week."
During the conversation, Arum brought up the idea of the bout being fought at a catch weight which he said, would be within 144 to 145 pounds.
Cotto has not fought below 147 pounds since 2006, while Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach want the match to be within the 143-144 level.
In a consultation with Cotto’s nutritionist, Arum said the WBO champion would not have a hard time going down two or three pounds below 147.
“Cotto is a welterweight and the nutritionist is saying the lowest he can go is 144," said Arum. “Manny will be fine with that. He doesn’t want a guy to get in there and injure himself by fighting at an unrealistically low weight."
Arum is set to meet with Pacquiao close adviser Michael Koncz on Sunday to discuss the specifics of the deal he had with Cotto’s camp.
Arum said he doesn’t see any hitches coming up along the way it did during negotiations for Pacquiao’s last two bouts against Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya.
Source: gmanews.tv
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