Does Mayweather need to fight Pacquiao for his legacy?

12/24/2013 Rob Smith

floyd#700 Dan Rafael of ESPN pointed out recently that Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) with his fame and fortune will never be able to have a legacy because he’s failed to fight Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s). I’m not sure that a fight against Pacquiao is really needed for Mayweather to cement his legacy.

The only thing good that could come out of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight now is that it would attract a lot of fan interest, but it wouldn’t mean much for Mayweather’s legacy to beat Pacquiao now. Pacquiao has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights, and his promoter Bob Arum had to back him off of good opposition and put him in against one of his struggling Top Rank stable fighters Brandon Rios for Pacquiao to stop losing.

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Miguel Cotto: I want to go with [Sergio] Martinez

07/31/201412/24/2013 Rob Smith

cotto75 cotto75 Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) told the media on Monday in Puerto Rico that he wants to fight WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) next. Cotto is targeting the 38-year-old Sergio because he wants to win his belt and capture his 4th division world title in the process.

It’s a goal that Cotto has that he wants to try and accomplish. It obviously doesn’t hurt that Cotto will get a huge payday in the fight. It’s got to be a signicant one, because he’s turning down $10 million+ offer from Golden Boy Promotions to fight former WBA/WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in March.

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Mayweather pokes fun at Pacquiao with Christmas card

12/24/201312/23/2013 Rob Smith

This is my Christmas card to the world… Happy Sleepy Holidays zzzzzzzzzzzz pic.twitter.com/ynxAJiJmyS

— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) December 23, 2013

Floyd Mayweather Jr. decided to have a little bit of fun today on twitter at the expensive of Manny Pacquiao in sending out a humorous post making fun of Pacquiao’s interest in fighting him. Mayweather shows one recent episode in his dealings with Pacquiao where he offered him $40 million to fight him, and was turned down. Pacquiao wanted a 50-50 deal, and not the $40 million offered to him by Mayweather.

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Richardson thinks Khan doesn’t have to beat Mayweather to come out ahead

08/01/201412/22/2013 Rob Smith

khan5 khan5 Trainer Naazim Richardson isn’t giving Amir Khan much of any chance of beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he’s the one that ends up fighting Mayweather in his next fight on May 3rd in Las Vegas. To Richardson, he feels that Khan will come out ahead just by giving Mayweather problems in the fight.

“His [Khan] reputation is so bad,” Richardson said to Hustleboss. “He doesn’t have to win. He just has to do well so people will say he’s back on track. I don’t think he can beat Floyd. He has to reassert himself as a player in the game.”

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Golovkin vs. Kirkland possible for April on HBO

12/22/2013 Rob Smith

kirkland644 An interesting match-up between WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (28-0, 25 KO’s) and the junior middleweight slugger James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KO’s) is being talked about for next April on HBO, says HBO President of Sports Ken Hershman via ESPN. Golovkin has a stay busy fight against fringe contender Osumanu Adama (22-3, 16 KO’s) on February 1st in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

After that mismatch out of the way, Golovkin plans on getting back in the ring quickly within just 2 months to fight on HBO in April.

Kirkland, 29, kind of revived his career with his 6th round TKO win over previously unbeaten Top Rank fighter Glen Tapia earlier this month in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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Tyson Fury asks Wladimir Klitschko for a fight

01/07/201712/22/2013 Rob Smith

fury14 fury14 British heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) hasn’t had much luck in getting a heavyweight title shot against the Klitschko brothers. Fury is asking Wladimir to give him a heavyweight title shot straightaway without him having to fight for the shot in an eliminator.

Fury just flat out wants the title shot without having to fight his way into position. Will Wladimir does this for Fury? I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were Fury waiting for that to happen.

“If Wladimir Klitschko offered me a fight I’d go there and I’d smash his jaw all over the ring for him and he knows that,” Fury said to On the Ropes Boxing Radio. “Emanuel Steward told him that he would get knocked out by me. He knows he’s gonna get knocked out by me, his brothers retired because he didn’t want to fight me and now he’s trying to avoid me. I’ve been chasing him for two years and he wont fight me.”

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Mayweather Sr: Maidana’s too easy to hit for Floyd Jr.

09/15/201612/21/2013 Rob Smith

maidana45111 With the news of Floyd Mayweather Jr. adding WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana to the potential list of fighters he’ll be choosing from for his next fight on May 3rd, Floyd Mayweather Sr., the trainer and father of Floyd Jr., thinks Maidana is too slow and hittable for his son. Floyd Sr. saw Maidana’s win over Adrien Broner last Saturday night, and he feels the only reason Maidana won the fight was because Broner did everything wrong that you could think of.

Floyd Sr. was great disappointed in what he saw of Broner, and he thinks the only way he’ll be able to turn around his career is if he personally takes over the training for him. Since that’s probably not going to happen, Mayweather Sr. seems Broner as not being a factor. As far as Maidana being a potential opponent for Floyd Jr., Mayweather Sr. doesn’t see him as being good enough go give his son a good fight.

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Provodnikov says he’ll fight Rios

12/21/2013 Rob Smith

provodnikov5 (2) Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has said that WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) is one of the names that is a possibility to fight Manny Pacquiao on April 12th, along with Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley. But it’s unknown how serious Arum is about potentially having a puncher like Provodnikov face his money fighter Pacquiao.But in the meantime, Provodnikov has accepted a challenge from one of Arum’s fighters Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s to fight him, presumably in a bout that could happen next on the undercard of Pacquiao’s April 12th card in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Provodnikov said on his twitter “Brandon Rios, I agree to make fight. I’m ready.”

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Canelo could select next opponent this week

12/17/2013 Rob Smith

canelo559 Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) is expected to select his next opponent for his March 8th fight date this week. The fight will be pay-per-view, so whoever it is, it’s going to be a fight that the boxing public will be expected to pay to see. That’s not a big deal because Canelo’s fights are frequently exciting affairs with tons of action.

What’s not exciting is the list opponents that Canelo has to pick from for this date. Miguel Cotto is not available for March 8th, so he’s not an option for Canelo. The fighters that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has for Canelo to pick from are from this bunch: Erislandy Lara, Carlos Molina, or Alfredo Angulo. The fight will be staged at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Maidana defeats Broner; Thurman stops Karass

12/15/201312/14/2013 Rob Smith

maidana766 (Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31 KO’s) battered and bruised WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-1, 22 KO’s) in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight to capture his WBA title at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Maidana put Broner on the canvas twice with scorching left hooks to the head in the 2nd and 8th rounds. The judges scored the fight 115-110, 116-109, 117-109.

Broner took a real bad beating in this fight and he may have suffered a jaw injury. He was quickly ushered out of the ring immediately after the fight.

In the 2nd round, Maidana connected with a hard left to the head that put Broner down on the canvas. Instead of staying down to clear his head, Broner jumped back up to his feet and was staggering slightly. Maidana then worked Broner over with power shots for the remainder of the round as Broner tried to hold to make it out of the round.

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