Mayweather knows Pacquaio can walk through him

I tracked down global gypsy and Manny Pacquiao trainer-guru Coach Freddie Roach to a smoky, noisy bar inside the Newscastle Hilton Hotel late Friday night. Roach sends his young charge and WBA junior welterweight champ Amir Khan, the Bolton Bomber, into the ring in Newcastle On Thyne Saturday night against talking big, unbeaten challenger Dimitriy Saleta (Brooklyn, New York). As far as you Paclanders having any worries about the Mayweather-Pacquiao Super Fight Express Train, bound for destiny on March 12, without Coach Roach’s full approval, rest easy. Roach has been very firm in saying he preferred a May fight date, the better for Megamanny to heal up from any cuffing he took in stopping Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14. But Pacquiao, as revealed to me by Bob Arum speaking by phone from Manila Firday morning (NY time), has given a full greenlight to his promoter to close the deal with undefeated Mayweather for March 13. There’s even a Big Apple massive presser set for Jan. 11. No problem, sayeth Coach Roach from Old Blighty. “If Manny says yes, if Manny is OK with the March 13 date, then certainly I am also,” Roach said. “We will have to start training right after New Year’s Day so that we get our customary 10 weeks in. I guess we will have a month in the Philippines followed by the remainder at my (Wild Card, Hollywood) gym. “I really like it when Manny stays so active, when there is not much down time. He stays sharp and that is good.” Roach said he also thinks minimizing Manny’s political distractions would benefit the fighter. As far as competing against a proven Hall Of Fame lock candidate who has yet to be whipped, Roach is not trembling in his booties. “We see flaws in Mayweather,” Roach said. “Sure, he is great defensively but we see some flaws which we can exploit. “Whether it’s those shoulder rolls or anything else, defense does not win fights completely. We know what we can do against Mayweather. I know Manny can’t be hurt by Mayweather and Mayweather knows it also. “Manny can walk right through anything Mayweather throws. So what happens then we shall see.” On the upcoming Congressional campaign in Sarangani Province, Roach said having it in the back of his mind won’t deter Manny’s fight preparation. “I do think it helps that the election campaign goes on after this key fight. We can have as good if not a better training camp than we had for the last fight.” Roach is fully on board the Mayweather-Pacquiao Express and ready to roll. That collective sign of relief you hear is millions of Paclanders exhaling.

Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. mega-fight is on, reports say mayweather vs. pacquiao

The news of a March 13 bout catches Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, by surprise, but he says ‘we’ll be ready.’ Reports today that a mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will go ahead on March 13 — after the Filipino star agreed to a proposal by his promoter — caught some by surprise, including Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach. “We’re happy it could be happening, but I’m surprised it’s happened so quick,” Roach told The Times today from Britain, where he’s preparing another of his boxers for a bout. The man who knows better than anyone where things stand on a possible Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, was not available for comment this morning. Pacquiao’s U.S. business advisor, Michael Koncz, told the Associated Press today that Arum presented “what he thought was the best proposal he can bring” during a two-hour breakfast meeting with Pacquiao in Manila. “Manny has some additional requirements, requests, which Arum didn’t think was a problem,” Koncz told the AP “The requests of Manny were so realistic that Arum doesn’t feel it’s a problem, and it’s pretty much a done deal.” He said the contract still needs “fine tuning,” declining to elaborate. “We all believe that it will be done,” Koncz said. Roach is already thinking of the matchup between the two star welterweights. “It’ll be a very tactical fight; we’ll have to be smart because Floyd’s such a good counter-puncher,” he said. “I don’t think Floyd can hurt us, though, so we can be aggressive in the right spots.” Koncz, who is in charge of Pacquiao’s boxing promotion company in Nevada, said Pacquiao is “very comfortable” with the date. In an interview with a television network in the Philippines, Pacquiao said, “March 13 is OK.” Roach said earlier this week that he thought March 13 was too soon for the fight, after Pacquiao suffered an injured right ear drum in his 12th-round technical knockout victory over Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14. “I also thought they’d want more time to promote it, but if they can do it then, we’ll be ready,” said Roach, who plans to speak with Arum and Pacquiao when he returns to his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood on Monday. “Arum knows what he’s doing. “I’d want to start training camp with Manny by Jan. 1.” Today, Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, who’s negotiating on behalf of Mayweather, said, “The only comment we will have is when there’s a signed deal or if negotiations fall apart. Good news and bad news, neither one has happened.” Pacquiao has previously said he didn’t think the deal would get done, and he chided Mayweather for depriving the fans of action and caring most about lucrative paydays. “The difference between Floyd and others I have fought is that Floyd makes a lot of trash talk that should not be imitated by young people,” Pacquiao told the Filipino television network. A possible showdown between the unbeaten Mayweather (40-0) and the dynamic Pacquiao (50-3-2) has generated great interest in the sporting world. Pacquiao is poised to capture his second straight “fighter of the year” honor, supplanting Mayweather as the man considered the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter after Mayweather took an extended break after knocking out Ricky Hatton in December 2007. Pacquiao ended the career of Oscar De La Hoya last year, he knocked out Hatton in the second round in May, then impressively battered Cotto in a bout that generated 1.25 million pay-per-view buys. Mayweather-Pacquiao is expected to challenge the record 2.4 million buys set by Mayweather-De La Hoya in May 2007. Venues including Jerry Jones’ Cowboys Stadium in Texas, a 30,000-seat outdoor site constructed by hotel magnate Steve Wynn in Las Vegas and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas are reportedly bidding to host the super-fight.

Source: LATimes.com

Mayweather vs Pacquiao: It’s On!

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum had a smile on his face after his meeting with Manny Pacquio in Manila. Wonder why? Of course not, you already know. The meeting took place on Friday morning in the Philippines and what would be Thursday night in the U.S. largely concerning Pacquiao’s stance on the Mayweather vs Pacquiao bout and guess what. According to ABS-CBN, which has recently joined a partnership with Top Rank Promotions to air it’s fights in the Philippines among other countries, Bob Arum stated “I met with Manny this morning.. it was positive.” “You guys can interpret that any way you want,” said Arum, speaking in vague terms because he and the Mayweather camp have agreed to be silent on details “until we’re ready to make an announcement.” “My goal is that we can make a preliminary announcement sometime next week,” said Arum. Arum will be leaving Manila on Sunday and said “Now my job is to go back to the United States, sit with Richard Schaefer (Who has been negotiating with Arum on behalf of Mayweather) and the Mayweather people, so that we can make an announcement in a short term.” March 13th is the date. The where is still unknown and is said to be the last thing to be finalized, however you can bet on Vegas, no pun intended. You most likely can expect the offical date announcement to be next week, and the location to be announced on the January 11th press conference meeting in New York. In the upcoming weeks representatives from both Top Rank and Golden Boy will be checking out the other possible venues, the stadium’s in Texas/Louisiana, and then they will probably be making their decision. “Vegas .. Vegas.. Vegas..” said Clark W. Griswold (Vegas Vacation). So it’s here, the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Mega-Fight. Although contracts have not been signed… it’s here.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Pacquiao-Mayweather ticket to cost a fortune

A ringside seat to the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather super fight next year will amount to the annual income of a minimum wage earner. Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum told the Bulletin Sunday that a premium seat in the March 13, 2010 welterweight title fight will cost $2,500 (P117,500), while the cheapest will be sold at $500, assuming the fight is held at the 17,000-seat MGM Grand. If the fight is held, say, at the 80,000-capacity Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the price of the seat would remain the same, while the inexpensive seat will be sold lower than $500. Arum said a meeting with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) Chief Executive Officer Richard Schaefer, who represents Mayweather, will be held Monday followed by an inspection of the Cowboys Stadium near Dallas by him and Top Rank officials is scheduled On Wednesday. “We would know the venue by the end of this week,” said Arum, stressing that billionaire Jerry Jones, who owns the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, is more than willing to put up a juicy offer that could rival even Las Vegas’ proposal. The $2,500 appears to be the most expensive ticket to a boxing event as it is slightly higher than the top seat – $2,400 – that was peddled during the June 2002 heavyweight match between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis. Should Arum stick to the hefty price, it would be much higher than the $2,000 seat that was sold during the Oscar De La Hoya-Mayweather tiff that took place in May 2007. Pacquiao and Mayweather are assured of $25 million each and their earnings could go up to as high as $40 million apiece depending on the pay-per-view sales.

Source:mb.com.ph