Rios: I’m going for the kill against Pacquiao

06/11/201306/10/2013 Rob Smith

pac004 Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) is very happy that he was picked out by his promoter Bob Arum to fight Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) on November 23rd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Rios, 27, doesn’t plan on wasting his opportunity. He wants to knock Pacquiao out and get the praise that will come with a victory over the 34-year-old former 8-division world champion.

Rios said to esnewsreporting.com “I’m going to win this fight. I’m going to knock him out. [Juan Manuel] Marquez kicked his a**. I’m going for the kill.”

With Pacquiao having lost his last two fights, it’s hard to say who precisely will win this fight on November 23rd. If you were to throw Rios in the ring with Pacquiao in 2009, it would be like feeding Rios to a hungry Velociraptor, but a lot of things have changed since then.

Pacquiao could get career high payday against Rios on November 23rd

05/27/2013 Rob Smith

pac3 Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum will be charging $5 in pay per view in marketing Pacquiao’s November 23rd fight against former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios to the potentially lucrative Chinese. With the Chinese population at 1.34 billion, Pacquiao stands to make a lot of money if even a fraction of the population purchases his fight.

In addition to that, Pacquiao will be making a massive amount of money from the U.S fans from the PPV money, and it won’t be taxed at the high rate that it would have been had the fight taken place in the United States. Arum came up with the great idea for Pacquiao to fight in Macau, China to ease the tax burden on Pacquiao, so he’ll have even more money.

Matthysse: I want Pacquiao

05/21/201305/20/2013 Rob Smith

WBC interim light welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse (34-2, 32 KO’s) doesn’t mind being called the new Manny Pacquiao, but he much rather get a fight against the aging Filipino fighter before he retires or ends up getting knocked out again. Matthysse knocked out Lamont Peterson in the 3rd round last Saturday night, and at the post-fight press conference, Matthysse’s promoter Richard Schaefer called him the new Pacquiao.

This was Matthysse’s 6th straight knockout and he’s looking really powerful right now and similar to how Pacquiao looked in his prime.

Matthysse said “I didn’t imagine I would knock him [Peterson] out so fast. I was expecting a tougher fight. I’m happy to be compared to Manny Pacquiao, but what I want to do is fight him.”

Left-Hook Lounge: Donaire vs Rigondeaux, Pacqiuao in Macau, & Freddie Roach’s Influence on Shiming

04/08/201304/08/2013 Vivek Wallace

Cassidy H. (Queens, NYC): I’ve heard you speak strongly about Donaire in the past. Seems like he has all the momentum going into his clash with Rigondeaux this week. How do you see it all playing out?

Vivek W. (ESB): Nonito Donaire is one of those fighters I’ve always carried very close to heart. I love his genuine attitude outside the ring, as well as his ability inside of it. What has given me mixed emotions regarding Donaire in the past was the fact that, to me, he appears to be one of those talents that live up to the level of his competition. When the media starts placing your name on the mythical P4P list, and the sport starts tossing out accolades such as “Fighter of the Year”, and those type of things…..I think you truly have to bring a certain level of consistency to rate them. In my mind, Donaire hasn’t always carried the level of consistency I’d like to see in a fighter placed on such a high mantle.

Arum confident he can get Pacquiao-Marquez 5 fight made for September

04/04/201304/03/2013 Rob Smith

pac6 Despite Juan Manuel Marquez’s apparent reluctance to fight Manny Pacquiao for a fifth time, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum remains extremely confident that he’s going to get the fight made for September in Singapore or Macao, two places where the fighters can escape the taxes from the pay per view money that they get from U.S boxing fans. Arum is looking for the perfect hotel-casino in Macau or Singapore to stage the fight.

The rematch would likely be promoted as their previous fights with the fighters traveling to three or four major cities in the U.S to hold press conferences, and then the fight would take place outside of the U.S on fight night.

You can make a strong argument that Arum isn’t exactly doing Pacquiao any favors by putting him back in the ring with a guy like Marquez after the way that Pacquiao was knocked out by Marquez last December. Marquez knocked Pacquiao out cold with a nice right hand in the 6th round of that fight.

Arum looking to make Pacquiao-Marquez 5 in Macau or Singapore in September

04/02/2013 Rob Smith

pac4 Promoter Bob Arum is looking to put together a fifth fight between Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) and Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) in Singapore or Macau in September in order to dodge U.S taxes. Arum is looking at possible casinos in both places to see which one is the best fit for the fifth and possible final fight between the two.

If Arum can put the fight together, and that’s a big if, the fight could be the last one if Marquez knocks Pacquiao out cold again. He destroyed Pacquiao in 6 rounds last December and you can’t imagine that he’ll agree to a 6th fight with Marquez if he gets blasted out again.

Mayweather: Pacquiao has to avenge his losses to Marquez and Bradley before I’ll fight him

02/23/2013 ESB

may3 By Rob Smith: If Bob Arum of Top Rank and Manny Pacquiao want a huge money mega fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. to take place in 2014 then Pacquiao is going to have to avenge his defeats to Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley, Mayweather says. He says Pacquiao has unfinished business with those two fighters before he’ll even consider a bout against him.

Speaking with ESPN, Mayweather said “First Manny Pacquiao has to get past Marquez, a fighter I beat with ease. I mean, that was one of my easiest fights. Manny Pacquiao still has Tim Bradley problems, he still has Marquez problems. First Manny Pacquiao has to get those guys, then he can step inside the lion’s den with Floyd Mayweather.”

Mayweather doesn’t see the point in facing Pacquiao now

02/24/201302/23/2013 ESB

By 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.”

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

02/12/201302/11/2013 ESB

pac53 By 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.

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

02/02/201302/02/2013 ESB

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.