Arum: Mayweather is poaching the Mexican holiday

12/20/2014 Rob Smith

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has no interest whatsoever in staging the mega fight between his fighter Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr on the Mexican holiday on May 2nd. According to Arum, he sees this as disrespectful to the Mexican people that Mayweather wants to fight on the May 2nd date, which is the Cinco de Mayo holiday.

Arum sees that May 2nd date belonging to Mexican fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who was not long ago easily beaten by Mayweather. The idea is Canelo will fight Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto on the May 2nd date instead of Mayweather fighting Pacquiao. Arum promotes Cotto, so it’s a win-win situation for him if that fight goes ahead on May 2nd. Arum prefers the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight to take place in April or June of next year.

Khan wants Mayweather and Pacquiao in 2015

12/20/201412/18/2014 Jeff Sorby

Amir Khan isn’t satisfied with possibly getting a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2015. If that fight happens, Khan says he then hopes to fight Manny Pacquiao at the end of the year. If Khan gets his wish, he’ll have faced the two biggest stars in the sport of boxing in one year.

Khan is one of the candidates for Mayweather’s next fight in early 2015.

Mayweather recently said that he’s not interested in facing Khan, because the fight he wants is against Pacquiao on May 2nd. However, Mayweather may have no other choice but to fight Khan if he can’t get a fight against Pacquiao in the first part of the year.

Kellerman: Mayweather needs Pacquiao to keep from getting bumped by Cotto-Canelo on Cinco de Mayo

12/16/2014 Bill Phanco

HBO commentator Max Kellerman thinks that Floyd Mayweather Jr is in a tough position to where he’ll either need to move off his next fight date on May 2nd on the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo or he’ll need to accept a fight against Manny Pacquiao. Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank are both working on setting up a fight between Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for May 2nd.

If Mayweather, who likes to fight on the Mexican holidays, decides that he absolutely must fight on Cinco de Mayo on May 2nd, then he’s going to need to have a popular enough opponent to bump Canelo and Cotto from off that date. Pacquiao would be the only opponent popular enough to move Canelo-Cotto off that date.

Mayweather rules out Khan fight, wants Pacquiao instead

12/16/2014 Bill Phanco

Amir Khan got a bit of bad news today with Floyd Mayweather Jr revealing that he has zero interest in fighting the British fighter due to him seeing Khan as a guy that casual boxing fans in the United States have no clue about. Mayweather says Khan is someone that only the boxing community knows about, and he’s not interested in facing a guy that the casual fans aren’t aware of.

Instead, Mayweather says his main focus is on fighting Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd next year when he plans on fighting again. However, Mayweather isn’t sure if that fight can be made due to Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum recently coming out and saying that he doesn’t want Pacquiao to fight Mayweather on May 2nd because that’s a Mexican holiday date.

Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao on May 2: Bob Arum says that’s Canelo’s date

12/20/201412/15/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

In a recent interview with Showtime’s Steve Farhood, Floyd Mayweather Jr. made it absolutely clear that he is ready to cross the ropes and face Manny Pacquiao on May 2 of next year:

“I’d love to fight Manny Pacquiao”;”Bob Arum is stopping the fight. We have been trying to make this fight happen behind the scenes for years now, but the fans and the people have been fooled because they have been listening to people on just one side. Now it’s time for us to talk. We want to fight. We’re ready. Let’s make it happen May 2nd, Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. Let’s do it!”, “Let’s make this fight happen for the people and for the fans, Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, May 2nd, ‘Cinco de Mayweather,” were some of the things that Money May stated during the interview.

Mayweather wants Pacquiao fight for May 2nd on Cinco de Mayo

12/15/201412/13/2014 Rob Smith

Earlier tonight on Showtime, WBA/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr said he’d be interested in facing Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd if the fight can be made. Mayweather invited talks with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank to work on putting the fight together. However, Mayweather pointed out that he feels that the 36-year-old Pacquiao is begging for a fight with him by the way he’s been looking to fight him recently.

Mayweather said that the negotiation point won’t be the same as it was in the past when he attempted to fight Pacquiao in 2010 and was willing to give him a 50-50 deal. Mayweather says Pacquiao has twice lost since that fight. Just what kind of purse split Mayweather would be looking to get is anyone’s guess. It’s not likely that he’ll agree to anything in the neighborhood of 55-45. I’d be surprised if Mayweather even agrees to a 60-40 split given the way Pacquiao’s pay-per-view numbers have been reportedly tanking.

Pacquiao: “A fight with Amir would be an exciting fight”

12/10/201412/09/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

The road to Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been long and treacherous. With fans waiting and hoping, both champions seem to have varying stories about why the other one is the cause for the fight not being made. While Mayweather Jr. is feeling alright without having the name Manny Pacquiao on his resume, the Filipino champion seems to want this fight sooner rather than later.

“I’ll never be frustrated if the Floyd fight doesn’t happen. Modesty aside, I’m happy and content with the legacy I have in boxing, even if I don’t fight Floyd. Though I’m ready to fight him anytime, anywhere – it’s him who refuses. I’ve made it clear that I want to fight him,” stated Pacquiao to The Telegraph.co.uk right before his bout against Chris Algieri in Macau, China.

Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag – Pacquiao, Mayweather, Khan, Thurman, & More!

11/26/2014 Vivek Wallace

Laney G. (Oakland, CA): For the first time in a few years, I feel very strongly about Manny Pacquiao. I thought he looked strong and as good as we’ve seen since the knockout. How did you rate his performance and do you think he’s a threat to Mayweather?

Vivek W. (ESB): I like to look at the big picture when making my assessments. In this situation, like any other, I think it’s another one of those times when you have to also see the good, the bad, and the “ugly”, each for what they truly are. On the “good” side, I would agree, totally, that this is the best I’ve seen Pacquiao since prior to the Marquez stoppage. He threw nearly 700 punches, he was fast, and his power proved to be very much a threat to anyone facing him. There’s a reason why I’ve rated him as my personal favorite offensive fighter in the game for nearly a decade now.

What Did We Learn in Macau This Weekend?

09/15/201611/25/2014 Michael Montero

Manny Pacquiao’s shutout victory over Chris Algieri in Macau was the most one-sided 12 round affairs we’ve seen in years. Although several of the knockdowns should have been ruled as slips, Pac absolutely dominated his opponent throughout the fight, badly hurting Algieri several times. Does this mean the “old” Pacman is back, or was it all smoke and mirrors? Other than a handsome payday, what can be taken from this experience for team Algieri? What lies ahead for both fighters next year? And how does Pacquiao’s 2014 compare to that of Floyd “Money” Mayweather?

For Chris Algieri, there were indeed positives to take away from his first professional loss. Against Pacquiao he displayed the same heart, resilience and toughness that he showed against Ruslan Provodnikov in June. There was solid footwork for the most part, as well as a few nicely timed right hands that caught Manny as he lunged in. But the inexperience of Algieri and his team was obvious throughout; from coming in heavy on the scales at the weigh in, to the strategy of the fight itself. The game plan of starting with “four first rounds” was all wrong; Algieri averaged just 5 punches landed in those first four rounds. There was no “Plan B”. No adjustments were made. His corner gave the wrong advice between just about every round. On top of all that, the New York native was stripped of his WBO 140 pound title that same day for absolutely no reason (but since when do sanctioning bodies do anything logical, right?)

Manny Pacquiao: The Final Chapter

11/25/2014 Adam McMeeking

A flicking right jab immediately followed by a thunderous, booming left cross, detonated on the chin of Chris Algieri, sending him crashing to the canvas midway through round nine. Rising unsteadily at the count of nine, or possibly ten seconds, Algieri turned away from the referee in a desperate attempt to conceal his scrambled senses. During the first fifteen seconds after the New Yorker hit the floor it can be argued that he was in no position to continue. Nevertheless, all questions about the Filipino superstar’s dwindling punch power had been silenced. It appeared Manny Pacquiao was back to his best.