Tim Bradley could wind up out in the cold if Pacquiao chooses Marquez to fight next

09/14/201609/01/2012 ESB

Tim Bradley could wind up out in the cold if Pacquiao chooses Marquez to fight next By Rob Smith: With Manny Pacquiao possibly ready to make his pick this weekend for his December 8th fight, it’s expected that 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez will selected by Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum for his next fight. However, this leaves Pacquiao’s recent conqueror WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0, 12 KO’s) out in the cold with no opponent for his next fight. Bradley intentionally waited all this time to see if Pacquiao would want to fight him and he’s now on the verge of having nothing to show for it.

Miguel Cotto won’t be around to fight Bradley, and if he was he wouldn’t waste time fighting this guy. Bradley is going to have to look to defend his World Boxing Organization strap against the best possible contender, unless he’s interested in milking his title agaisnt the lowest rank WBO contender in order to have a better chance of holding onto the WBO strap long enough to get another shot at fighting Pacquiao.

There only a limited amount of options in Bob Arum’s Top Rank stable, meaning that Bradley is almost guaranteed a shot against Pacquiao at some point in the future as long as Bradley remains with Top Rank. Arum likes to put together in house fights with he matches Pacquiao, so Bradley should be getting a crack at the Filipino fighter at some point next year.

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Pacquiao could make decision on next opponent today, says Arum

09/14/201609/01/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says that Manny Pacquiao could make decision about his December 8th fight as early as today, according to the LA Times. The field has been reduced to two fighters – Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez – after Miguel Cotto dropped out of the race to take a December 1st fight against WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout.

It’s unclear if Cotto was really ever a serious option because Arum and Pacquiao both wanted a catchweight of 150 lbs, and Cotto had already been the receiving end of one catchweight fight with Pacquiao in 2009. That one didn’t go too well with Cotto. You can’t blame him for not wanting to boil down a second time to accommodate Pacquiao on the weight requirement, especially after Floyd Mayweather Jr. agreed to fight Cotto at the full weight for the division last May.

Arum has all the important pay per view figures at hand and he’s discovered that “60 percent of the pay per view households are Hispanic” in the United States, according to the LA Times. This obviously is going to help shape his decision to likely go with Marquez as the one to face Pacquiao on December 8th. In reading a lot of the comments that Arum has made in the past month, it seems that he’s been dialed in towards a Pacquiao-Marquez rematch from the very start.

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Pacquiao’s options down to Marquez and Bradley after Cotto chooses to fight Trout

09/14/201608/31/2012 ESB

By Marcus Richardson: Manny Pacquiao’s options are now greatly limited after Miguel Cotto announced that he’ll be fighting WBA World light middleweight champion Austin Trout on December 1st at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum now much choose from Tim Bradley (29-0, 12 KO’s) and Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) for Pacquiao’s upcoming fight in December. It’s not even a choice, is it? Arum wants to maximize his fighter Pacquiao’s payday and it seems pretty clear that the only option they have if they want to do that is to fight 39-year-old Marquez next.

Who knows how many more fights Pacquiao has in him, so it kind of makes sense for Arum to be looking to squeeze every last cent out of the remaining fights of his Filipino star’s career because the Pacquiao train seems to be slowing down now that he’s showing signs of aging.

Marquez would be smart to jump on the Cotto news and demand a bigger slice of the revenue for a Pacquiao fight, because there’s really not many options for Pacquiao now. To be sure, Pacquiao can take the Bradley rematch, make less money for himself and Arum, and possibly get beaten again if Bradley uses movement and a more consistent attack. With Pacquiao limited to fighting hard in the last 20 seconds of every round, Bradley would have a good chance of beating him again.

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Pacquiao may have to swallow his pride to get Mayweather fight done next year

09/14/201608/31/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: If Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum want to get Floyd Mayweather Jr. into the ring for a big cash fight next year then they’re going to have to play it by Mayweather’s rules by taking the smaller cut, because he no longer sees Pacquiao on the same level as him.

Mayweather told Hot97 FM NY, “Actually, we don’t do the same type of numbers, so how can we split? We don’t draw the same type of money.”

That would suggest that Pacquiao and Arum going to have to back off their request of a 50-50 purse split with Mayweather if they want the fight to get made. It’s still possible that Arum can put the fight together but he and Pacquiao will have to swallow their pride and come in with a much lower figure, perhaps as low as 35 percent of the pie. That’s still more than a bargain for a fighter with four losses and who is coming off of a defeat against Tim Bradley. Pacquiao won’t be able to make that kind of money against anyone else, and he could end up in a bad situation if he loses to the next opponent that Arum lines up for him in December.

In this case, Pacquiao would be better off taking whatever crumbs Mayweather throws him because he won’t be able to bargain at all, period. It’s bad enough right now with Pacquiao losing to Bradley, and the fight drawing only 700,000 PPV buys.

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Arum not sure if Cotto wants Pacquiao fight

09/14/201608/31/2012 ESB

By Marcus Richardson: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he’s not sure if former WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) is interested in fighting his fighter Manny Pacquiao fight now, according to examiner.com. Arum thinks Cotto may go in another direction by taking an easy fight in December rather than taking what could be another tough fight against Pacquiao.

Arum obviously is interested in matching Pacquiao up against Cotto due to the high pay per view numbers that would result from that match-up. The previous Cotto-Pacquiao fight in 2009 drew 1.2 million buys, which is a lot more than Pacquiao’s last fight against Tim Bradley last June. That fight drew only 700,000 PPV buys. However, Arum wants Cotto to face Pacquiao at a catcweight of 150 pounds instead of the full weight for the division. Cotto might be eager to fight Pacquiao in another catchweight fight because their previous fight was also a catchweight fight at 145 lbs and Cotto took a beating.

At this point Cotto is popular enough to where he can’t be easily pressured into things like catchweights, rehydration limits, and glove sizes like he would have been in the past. If there is going to be a Cotto-Pacquiao fight, it’s likely going to be without a catchweight unless Arum can convince Cotto with a high money offer to get him to take the fight at that weight. It will have to be an awfully high offer and I can’t see Arum coming up with enough money to make the fight happen. That’s the bind that Arum and Pacquiao are in.

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Pacquiao and Mayweather Should Learn from Dawson and Ward

09/14/201608/29/2012 ESB

By Emilio Camacho, Esq: On Saturday September 8th, two of the top fighters in the sport will meet in the ring. This will be a great day for boxing fans. Both, Andre Ward and Chad Dawson, are in their prime, highly skilled, and tend to bring their best with them to the ring. What is interesting to me, and the main argument of this article, is that Pacquiao and Mayweather can learn something from Dawson and Ward. Let me elaborate on this point.

First, after Dawson fought Hopkins and he was asked what was next in his career, he clearly and unambiguously stated that he wanted Ward for his next fight and was willing to compromise to make the fight happen (regarding weight). He did not say, “…whatever my promoter wants…,” “…I need some rest and will think about it after a deserved vacation…,” “…I need to talk to my team…,” etc. Essentially, Dawson knew the type of match up that the public expects to see, and he delivered just that.

In comparison, Manny Pacquiao has often been asked what he wants next in his career and, most of the time, he defers to his promoter, Bob Arum. Many would argue that this is exactly the problem; the fact that Manny will not stand up for himself and tell Arum to make the best fight available—Pacquiao v. Mayweather. It would seem to some that this is Manny’s way to avoid the fight because the blame is shifted away from him and onto other people around him, such as Bob Arum. This is tragic when we are facing a fight of such a magnitude. In short, Manny could learn something from Chad Dawson and stand up for himself if he really wants the fight. His legacy will be deficient without Mayweather.

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Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez on November 10th?

09/14/201608/29/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) and Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) have reportedly reached agreement to fight on November 10th, according to fightnews.com. It’s still not official but the word is that Marquez and Pacquiao have reached an agreement for a fourth fight between them, which will take place the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tim Bradley, the WBO welterweight champion, has been passed over for a rematch with Pacquiao, no doubt due to the poor pay per view figures that the Pacquiao-Bradley fight brought in last June.

Pacquiao has to beat Marquez in order to get a much bigger payday against unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr next year. It’s still unclear whether that fight can even be made unless the two fighters can agree on the purse split and other issues.

A fourth fight between Pacquiao and Marquez might be well received by some boxing fans who have enjoyed the two fighters three previous fights together. However, other boxing fans are plain sick of seeing these guys fight each other so often and they prefer to see them go their separate ways. The fights have always been controversial and that’s really taken away from them, as Marquez has fought well enough to deserve a decision in all three fights, and yet he’s got two losses and a draw to show for them.

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Pacquiao update: Still no opponent picked out and no date chosen for next fight

09/14/201608/28/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum still haven’t selected an opponent for a date for Pacquiao’s next fight. All that is known now is that the fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on either November 10th or December 1st. We know that Pacquiao will chose amongst three fighters – Miguel Cotto, Tim Bradley or Juan Manuel Marquez – picked out for him to choose from by Arum but there’s still no word who that guy will be. Michael Koncz, the personal adviser for Pacquiao, had said that the name of the opponent could possibly be revealed this week, so hopefully they can finally say who the guy will be.

Cotto’s name is mentioned but the chances of him getting the fight are so slim that it’s not even funny. Cotto has already booked Madison Square Garden in New York for December 1st, and Pacquiao and Arum won’t likely agree to fighting in New York because of the State taxes that would be taken out if the fight took place there. Nevada doesn’t have state taxes, which is why the fight can only take place there and that’s not going to happen with Cotto having already booked Madison Square Garden.

The only choices for Pacquiao’s next opponent are Bradley or Marquez. It’s pretty clear that Arum seems to favor the soon to be 39-year-old Marquez because he helped bring in 1.4 million pay per view buys for Pacquiao’s last fight with him last November. That number was double the 700,000 PPV buys that Pacquiao-Bradley brought in last June. Just doing the math it suggests that Marquez is overwhelmingly the favorite to get the fight with Pacquiao.

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Rumour Mill: Freddie Roach Wants Pac-Man Vs. Khan?

09/14/201608/27/2012 ESB

By James Slater – Whilst scanning the web for the latest boxing news, I came across an intriguing little ‘story’ (well, maybe not so little – at least the story won’t be if it turns out to be true!) that suggests ace-trainer Freddie Roach now wants to see his star pupils, Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan, fight one another soon.

According to the piece on The Moment (as picked up by Opposing Views), Roach “Is pushing for the boxer (Khan) to step up from the light-welterweight division to take on Manny Pacquiao. Roach now wants Khan to move up to 147-pounds where he can take on stable-mate and good friend Pacquiao.”

Of course, this ‘story’ could turn out to be no real story at all, and just a load of baloney, but boxing is a weird sport at times and, with both Pac-Man and “King Khan” coming off defeats (albeit a robbery in the eyes of millions in Manny’s case), maybe the fight could happen.

It sure would prove to be a shock if Team-Pacquiao’s forthcoming next opponent announcement told the world he will indeed be fighting Khan.

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November 10th still in play for Pacquiao’s next fight

09/14/201608/25/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: Former WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) could still end up fighting on November 10th rather than December 1st, the date that his adviser Michael Koncz recently said Pacquiao’s next fight would be taking place. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum wants him to fight on November 10th and he sees it as still possible if he can get someone to file for him in the upcoming elections in the Philippines.

Nothing changes whether Pacquiao goes back to the November 10th date or not. Arum still has three opponents – Miguel Cotto, Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez – for him to choose from, so there’s not going to be anything new in terms of opponents to choose from. It’s going to be guys that Pacquiao has fought before instead of a much more preferable fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

At this point we’ll probably be lucky if Pacquiao fights Mayweather next year. With Marquez, Cotto and Bradley all available for rematches, Arum may string it out until all those guys have fought by Pacquiao before he starts thinking of putting his valuable money fighter in with Mayweather.

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