Mayweather doesn’t see the point in facing Pacquiao now

mayweather453434By Rob Smith: Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t see a mega fight between him and Manny Pacquiao as being worth it now after Pacquiao’s recent losses to Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez. Those losses have taken a lot of the air out of a Pacquiao-Mayweather mega fight according to Mayweather.

He’s not ruling out a fight with the Filipino fighter, but he says for that to happen Pacquiao is going to have to get back in the ring with Marquez and Bradley and beat them to avenge his defeats.

Mayweather told ESPN: “I don’t think the fight holds very much weight anymore. At one possible time, I wanted the fight to happen. I wanted to fight Manny Pacquiao…I don’t know if it will ever happen, but if my legacy was defined off of one fight, then I feel I didn’t have to fight 43 fights. If that’s the case, I could have came into the sport of boxing, fought one fight and gone down as the best fighter that ever lived.”

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Pacquiao vs. Marquez V: “Don’t Play It Again, Sam”

pac53By Marc Livitz: Popular sentiment does not always equal undeniable proof.

Quite often, results can create an aura of their own, and through the course of time, the memories become distorted and the truth is stretched. History gives way to legends and sometimes on to myth. The three hundred defeated the one hundred thousand or so, Saint George killed the dragon, and William Wallace was eight feet in height. These and many more are unlikely episodes yet they are padded by time and tradition.

Boxing cannot as a sport and pastime allow itself to permit the shocking to trump the significant. Earlier this weekend, ESPN aired a replay of the noteworthy and now perhaps in the ranks of fireside chat happenings of December 8, 2012.

Did all time great Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez save fifty people from a burning building? Not exactly. He did what most of us hadn’t anticipated, which of course was to knock Manny Pacquiao across the next three dimensions.

The sixth round knockout cleared the argument in regard to the nonsensical pound for pound debate. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. clearly sat upon the throne, although many would argue that perhaps Marquez or Andre Ward held the rights upon which to take off the load. Boxing in 2012 had its fair share of upsets and horrific displays of ringside judging.

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Roger Mayweather: Fans still want Pacquiao vs. Floyd Jr. fight

By Rob Smith: Floyd Mayweather Jr’s uncle/trainer Roger Mayweather thinks boxing fans still want to see a mega fight between Floyd Jr. and Manny Pacquiao despite Pacquiao’s recent bad knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez. Roger thinks fans will still want to see the fight regardless.

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Pacquiao offered $10 mil to fight in Dubai, says Roach

pac562By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao has apparently been offered $10 million to fight in Dubai in April, according to his trainer Freddie Roach. The offer was made by an unknown caller that contacted Roach and attempted to make a deal with him instead of Pacquiao’s management.

Roach said to Sport360 “I got a phone call from someone in Dubai on Monday, who offered $10 million for Manny to fight there in April, but I told him to call Bob Arum because I don’t make his [Pacquiao] fights; I just get him ready. A place like Dubai for a fight would be great. It’s a great location for pay per view TV networks.”

Dubai is pretty nice, and I bet Arum liking the idea of getting the tax situation there compared to the United States. However, there’s no telling if this is real offer. It could have just been a crank phone call to Roach to mess with him, Pacquiao and Arum by getting their hopes up for nothing. If it is a real offer, though, you can bet that Arum will seriously consider it because I doubt he’s going to find anything comparable for Pacquiao’s April fight.

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Washed up after one punch – the unglamorous decline of Manny Pacquiao

pac342by Anthony Jeffrey – When is a boxer really ‘washed up’? It seems to be a common expression used in the boxing world after a top class fighter takes a beating, most likely for the first time in his career; gets knocked out and isn’t the same afterwards; or just isn’t as good as he was a couple of years earlier.

In late 2008, after crushing Oscar de la Hoya, against the odds, it seemed as if we would never see the day that the invincible Manny Pacquiao be referred to as ‘washed up’. Yet after a being on the receiving end of a dodgy split decision and perfectly placed punch it seems like he has been placed in the same dreaded category as fighters who continue to participate in freak shows of fights because they didn’t manage their finances properly during their prime.

Boxing fans can be the most critical yet fickle and narrow minded amongst sports fans. Fighters, and indeed other boxing fans, are subjected to fierce and often childish criticism all over boxing websites and social media platforms. However, in a sport where some of the contributing factors of a boxer’s worth are nationality, popularity, and pre-fight hype, this is not overly surprising: Miguel Cotto was on top of the world until his loss to Antonio Margarito turned the tables and left him being labelled washed up. Ironically, Shane Mosley was already universally considered washed up before he sent Margarito flying from his perch to the canvas. But even after inheriting the throne, in terms of fight fan hype, Mosley’s renaissance was short lived when a subsequent beating from Floyd Mayweather has now left him eternally washed up.

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Arum: The taxes are too high in U.S for Pacquiao to fight there

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao may have fought for the last time in the United States last December in his 6th round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is railing against the high taxes in the United States now, which Arum feels is making it impossible for Manny – and other foreign fighters – to compete in the United States.

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Arum excited about Mexico City for Pacquiao-Marquez 5 fight

arum4By Rob Smith: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is enthusiastic about placing the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fifth fight inside a new arena in Mexico City, Mexico. The arena holds 18,000 and Arum believes it’s an ideal location for the Pacquiao-Marquez fight to take place. He expects Americans to come and watch the Pacquiao-Marquez fight, but it’s going to be real test to see if that happens.

Arum said to ringtv “Mexico City has a beautiful arena in Mexico City…It’s bigger than the MGM [Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada]. It’s a state of the art facility. They just built it…it’s a safe area.”

That’s a long trip for U.S boxing fans to take just to see Pacquiao and Marquez fight. There’s also the danger of traveling in Mexico. Right now the country has an ongoing drug war going on and it’s potentially risky to travel there. U.S fans obviously want to see Pacquiao and Marquez again, but is it worth the risk? Does Arum have a body guard in Mexico? I would be afraid to travel their myself even with a body guard.

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Arum: Pacquiao doesn’t want to fight Marquez in U.S because he’d have to pay high taxes

arum453By Rob Smith: Bob Arum says Manny Pacquiao will be looking to fight Juan Manuel Marquez outside of the United States for their fifth fight in September to escape the high taxes in the country. Pacquiao and Marquez both want to avoid the taxes for this fight, and Arum is planning on staging it in Mexico in Mexico City.

Arum said to ringtv “Pacquiao doesn’t want to fight in the United States because he’d have to give close to 40% [in taxes] to the government…They [Pacquiao and Marquez] would prefer for the fight not to be in the United States. That’s what happens when you raise taxes and you say ‘Well, let the rich pay.’”

That sounds like a good move for Arum, Pacquiao and Marquez. If they can get the U.S pay per view money tax free, then more power to them. They’re probably saving a bundle by making this move, and who knows how much time those guys have left in their careers. One more knockout loss for Pacquiao and it could be over, and Marquez will be 40-years-old by the time he faces Pacquiao for their fifth fight in September.

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Juan Manuel Marquez to continue fighting

marquez34By Bill Phanco: Former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) has decided to continue fighting after meeting with his wife and children to help him make the decision, according to fightnews.com. Marquez, 39, wasn’t sure whether he should continue his 20-year pro career after knocking his old nemesis Manny Pacquiao out in the 6th round last month in their fourth fight.

But the lure of big money in a fifth fight with Pacquiao proved to be too much for Marquez, and he went with what many boxing fans would agree is the smart choice by continuing to fight at least for the remainder of 2013. Marquez made $3 million guaranteed for the fourth fight with Pacquiao, and he should make considerably more next time around.

Bob Arum of Top Rank is targeting September as the month that he’d like to put Pacquiao and Marquez back together again. However, if they choose September 14th it might hurt the pay per view numbers because Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez are scheduled to be fighting on that date, possibly against each other. It would be a disaster for all if Arum decides to put the Pacquiao-Marquez 5th fight on the same date.

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