boxing

Floyd Mayweather Jr. calls himself “Money,” and the welterweight star sure knows how to generate it.

Mayweather’s lopsided decision victory against Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs) on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas generated 1.4 million domestic pay-per-view buys and $78.3 million in television revenue, HBO announced on Tuesday.

That makes the fight the second-biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view bout in history.

The buy total ties the fight with the 1999 welterweight unification showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. However, Mayweather-Mosley generated more money because pay-per-view costs more. Trinidad-De La Hoya grossed $70.6 million.

Mayweather’s 2007 decision win for the junior middleweight title against the now-retired De La Hoya, the reigning pay-per-view king in terms of total dollars, set the all-time pay-per-view record with 2.446 million buys and nearly $137 million in revenue.

The pay-per-view buy total for Mayweather-Mosley was derived from 740,000 buys from cable homes and 660,000 from satellite and broadband homes, HBO announced.

It is the third time in his last four bouts that Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) — with a big benefit from HBO’s “24/7″ series that has followed the build-up to his recent fights — has cracked 1 million buys as he continues to generate tremendous interest in his fights.

Besides the record-breaker with De La Hoya, Mayweather returned from a brief retirement to defeat Juan Manuel Marquez in September in a fight that sold 1.08 million units and generated $55.6 million.

In the history of pay-per-view, six non-heavyweight fights have surpassed 1 million buys. Mayweather has been involved in three of them. De La Hoya has also been in three of them. Manny Pacquiao, the presumptive next opponent for Mayweather in the fall, has been in two of them.

By Dan Rafael
via ESPN.com

(via ESPN.com)

Boxing promoter Bob Arum said Thursday the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey WBO welterweight title fight scheduled for March 13 at Cowboys Stadium is nearly a sellout.

Arum said the seating capacity for the first boxing match at the new $1.2 billion facility will be 45,000. However, it could expand if the demand for tickets increases.

“Right now we’re on target to sell the 45,000 seats and we’ll be happy when we do that,” Arum said on a conference call with reporters. “We sold 350 tickets [Wednesday] and are on target of doing that [again] today.”

Cowboys officials said over 30,000 seats have been purchased.

Arum said if 3,000 to 4,000 tickets are unsold leading into the final week before the fight, promoters would have no problem selling those.

By Calvin Watkins
via ESPNDallas.com

(via ESPN.com)
Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight on May 1

Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have agreed to terms for a welterweight super fight, Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe said Friday. Later Friday, Mosley signed his contract in Las Vegas, Mosley’s attorney Judd Burstein told ESPN.com.

“Shane has signed. I sat with him [Friday] and we went through every provision of the contract and he signed,” Burstein said. “He is excited to move forward with the bout.”

Mayweather

Mosley will defend his welterweight title against Mayweather on May 1 on HBO PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather’s signature is a formality, according to Burstein and Ellerbe.

“I confirmed with Leonard [on Friday night] that there are no issues,” Burstein said.

“All of the deal points have been agreed to,” Ellerbe said. “We still have to put pen to paper, but everything is agreed to. It’s with the lawyers. Shane is a great fighter, one of the best of his era, and so is Floyd. It’s going to be a great fight. It’s a fight fans have wanted to see for a long time.”

Ellerbe said that he expected Mayweather’s paperwork to be completed in the next few days with a formal announcement likely next week.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Mayweather has the option for an immediate rematch in the event he loses.

The fight came together after an unexpected turn of events.

First, Mayweather became available for a fight three weeks ago when negotiations with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao disintegrated. They had agreed to all terms for a March 13 fight that loomed as the biggest in boxing — except for a drug testing protocol.

They had agreed to random urine testing, but Mayweather also wanted random blood testing, even though that is not required under the rules of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Pacquiao agreed only to three blood tests, but none within 24 days of the fight, and the third one immediately after the bout.

Mayweather has alluded to Pacquiao using performance-enhancing drugs, even though he has never produced any evidence, and Floyd Mayweather Sr. has outright said he believes Pacquiao uses.

The rancor over the drug testing issue caused the fight to fall apart and Pacquiao moved on. He will defend his version of the 147-pound title against former titlist Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Then Mosley became available two weeks ago. He was scheduled to meet Andre Berto in a title unification bout at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Saturday night. However, Berto, a Haitian-American, withdrew from the bout after eight members of his extended family were killed in the earthquake in Haiti.

Immediately after the cancellation of Mosley-Berto, Mosley and Mayweather — the former welterweight champ and pound-for-pound king until giving up the mantle during a brief retirement — began negotiating.

“The negotiations were very cordial and went very smoothly,” Ellerbe said.

Mosley has agreed to undergo random blood and urine testing, as has Mayweather, Ellerbe said.

Mosley has admitted to using PEDs and was connected to the BALCO scandal. Although he publicly denied using PEDs for years, Mosley admitted during grand jury testimony, which was later released, that he used designer steroids “the clear” and “the cream” and injected himself with EPO, a blood oxygen enhancer, during the lead-up to his 2003 rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley said he took the steroids unknowingly.

“Floyd only wants to be sure of an even playing field no matter who he fights,” Ellerbe said.

Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs), a five-division champion, and Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), a three-division champion, have seemingly been on a collision course since the late 1990s, when Mosley was lightweight champion and Mayweather was junior lightweight champion.

Although their careers took different paths, talk of a potential fight heated back up in 2006 after Mosley’s two knockouts of Fernando Vargas, but talks never got too serious.

However, Mosley stepped up his call for a fight with Mayweather, 32, last year after Mayweather ended his 18-month retirement. After Mayweather easily beat lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in a lopsided decision in September, Mosley crashed his post-fight interview in the ring and called him out to his face.

It didn’t look like Mosley would get the fight because two months later, Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto and talks began for Pacquiao-Mayweather.

Mosley, 38, hasn’t fought since last January, when he upset Antonio Margarito to win his title via ninth-round knockout.

(By Dan Rafael via ESPN.com)

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will still compete against each other on March 13, but not in the ring. Instead, they will be duking it out for pay-per-view buys.

Two days after Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, announced plans for Pacquiao to defend his welterweight title against former titlist Joshua Clottey on March 13, Mayweather is making plans to fight on the same night.

While Pacquiao will face Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, just outside of Dallas — Arum concluded a deal with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Sunday — Mayweather will face an opponent to be determined at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com on Sunday night.

“It’s a date Golden Boy has had for a long time and nothing has changed,” Schaefer said. “We have been talking to Team Mayweather to see who the opponent will be. I hope to have something to announce in the next few days.”

The MGM Grand was supposed to host the Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight before it broke up for good on Friday over a monthlong dispute between the camps on the drug testing protocol for a bout that many believed would be the highest-grossing fight in history.

According to sources, Mayweather’s list of potential opponents includes former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi and Golden Boy-promoted former lightweight titlist Nate Campbell, both smaller men than Mayweather, as well as former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron, who is a similar kind of opponent as Clottey is for Pacquiao. There is also a more remote possibility of Mayweather facing junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr., who has ties to Showtime, which may not want to let him walk away for a possible fight on rival HBO PPV.

One opponent Mayweather will not be facing is Matthew Hatton, the brother of former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton, whom Mayweather knocked out in a 2007 welterweight title fight. Reports in Matthew Hatton’s native England indicate that he is under consideration.

However, Schaefer said that is not the case.

“There is absolutely no truth to the rumors about Matthew Hatton. I can’t tell you for sure who Floyd will fight, but I can tell you for sure it won’t be Matthew Hatton,” Schaefer said.

With Pacquiao and Mayweather going their separate ways against lesser opponents on competing pay-per-view cards, HBO, which has broadcast both fighters’ biggest bouts on pay-per-view, is in a position where it will have to make a choice on whether it will support one fighter over the other or neither.

The network has been mum on its plans for March 13, although Arum and Schaefer both told ESPN.com that they have spoken to the network about their fights. Arum is also prepared to put on his event as a Top Rank-produced pay-per-view.

It would be highly unusual for there to be pay-per-view cards on the same night featuring major stars in separate bouts, but that is exactly what could happen.

“It is unusual, but what can I do,” Schaefer said. “It wasn’t Floyd who walked away from the Pacquiao fight. There is nothing I can really say about it. I’ve had the date [March 13] for a long time. Initially it was for the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones fight [which won't come off because Jones was knocked out in a Dec. 2 interim bout]. You know what? It is what it is. I’m not getting excited about it anymore. I am sitting outside having a cigar and [expletive]. It is what it is.

“It’s not good. It’s not good for Pacquiao to go on that date, which we had for a long time. We had that date, end of story. So it’s not good. How can it be good? It’s not good for boxing. It’s not good for boxing that Pacquiao and Mayweather are not fighting each other. I worked really hard to make that happen and it’s not. And I am not belittling Pacquiao’s fight with Clottey. It’s OK. Hey, we have a piece of [the promotional contract of] Pacquiao. But is it ideal? No it’s not. Is it the end of boxing? Is the world collapsing? No it is not. We all have to look to March 14. March 13 will pass and on March 14 boxing will still be there and there will be exciting fights, and nothing will change that.”

Schaefer said he was unsure what HBO planned to do, but he hoped it would support Mayweather’s bout.

“Nobody wants competing fights. HBO doesn’t want it,” he said. “Nobody in their clear mind can be happy about Mayweather fighting somebody else or Pacquiao fighting somebody else. But we all have to live with it and accept. I’m a boxing fan too and I am pissed off about what happened. Anyone who says anything different is lying. I wish there had been something I could do about it, so I am very frustrated and disappointed, but Floyd Mayweather will still fight.”

If Mayweather wins his March bout, Schaefer said he could next meet Shane Mosley, the welterweight champion (and Golden Boy partner) who first faces Andre Berto in a Jan. 30 unification fight. Before taking the fight with Berto, Mosley spent months trying to land a bout with either Mayweather or Pacquiao.

Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.

via ESPN.com

This is NOT good for boxing…great drama…but not great for boxing overall…Should be interesting…Mr. Hol uP!

(via ESPN.com)

Clottey tho??? Seriously???

Chris Cozzone/AFP/Getty Images

Hol uP! Hol uP! Hol UP!!!!!!!!!!

Ok….Let me start off by saying that I am a BIG Manny Pacquaio fan, and prior to all of this controversy about random blood testing…I never suspected Manny of taking steroids or any other performance enhancing drugs…I am however a BIGGER fan of Floyd Mayweather Jr., and do believe that he is the better pure boxer, and stylistically would figure out the “Pac-Man” puzzle and take the victory  in what many have already heralded…”The richest fight in boxing history”…

THE RICHEST FIGHT IN BOXING HISTORY…

         This title places a larger responsibility on the fighters as well as the promoters of this fight than any of them seem to realize…Or do they????

This is the big show…The SUPERBOWL of boxing…The 2 pound for pound best in the world…Meeting for the welterweight title…tens of millions of dollars at stake…hence… ALL the marbles….but who’s lacking the ‘marbles’ to get it done????

Just weeks ago, this fight was a ‘go’ for March 13th…To the surprise of myself and many boxing fans in general who believed that getting these two high profile superstars to agree to a reasonable money split would prolong negotiations well into Manny’s political Congress election in the Phillipines in May, and prevent this fight from occurring within the first half of the year. On the contrary, there was no hitch on money at all…and for good reason…There’s more than enough money to go around!…50/50 split is the way to go.

GREEN LIGHT ANYONE???……Not so fast…

The negotiations were just beginning…There were rumors that Floyd wanted to fight at 154, which Bob Arum and everyone else (including myself) balked at…For good reason!!…Manny has no business fighting at 154lbs!!….(REMEMBER I SAID THAT LATER)…Other requests coming from Manny’s camp was 8 oz. gloves instead of 10 oz. (favoring Manny’s punching style, and not favoring Floyd’s brittle hands)…As well as a smaller ring…(favoring Manny’s ‘in your face’ style…not favoring Floyd’s elusiveness)…and third…and just as unprecedented as any other demand made in these negotiations…If Floyd comes in to the fight a pound or more over…He would have to pay a $10 million dollar penalty!!

Floyd agreed to all of them…….with one demand in return….

Olympic style random drug testing…blood and urine…Widely known as the most efficient, and sometimes ONLY way to test for not only steroids, but particular performance enhancing drugs/supplements…Floyd wanted these random tests to take place all the way up untill the day of the fight…

Manny’s camp immediately denied this procedure and the governing body of the USADA (who controls drug testing for the Olympics) to be the ones performing the tests…Manny would only agree to three blood tests…One at the press conference in Jan…One 30 days before the fight, and One immediately after the fight in Manny’s dressing room…

Now this doesn’t sound all that random, now does it???

Floyd would not agree to this SCHEDULE of tests, as it is NOT RANDOM, and would not be effective in preventing the use of PED’s…Now one might say what brought all this along??? Why is Floyd asking for all these tests??? This is unprecedented!!

True enough…The suspicions came from allegations made by Floyd Mayweather Sr. after Manny’s dominating performance over a larger and supposed to be stronger Miguel Cotto…It was an intriguing thought, but noone took it seriously…It wasn’t untill Floyd requested the drug tests, that this became a REAL ISSUE…

So the question became…Why not take the tests??…We’ve heard all types of reasons…”fear of needles”??…Fooey!!…Manny has plenty of tattoos…that can’t be it…Superstition???…Manny supposedly believes that having his blood drawn (a tablespoon of blood mind you) within 30 days of the fight will weaken him…He has used his loss against Erik Morales in the past to substantiate this belief…

Well…HBO 24/7 shows Manny taking a blood test for a physical 24 days before his fight with Ricky Hatton (in which he won by devastating 2nd round KO),  and with all due respect…If you truly believe that it weakens a fighter to draw blood within’ those parameters. Wouldn’t it weaken Floyd as well???

The last ditch excuse for not taking the tests, and the one I find MOST pathetic is…Principles…the good ol’ “How dare you accuse me of cheating??…I’m offended and appalled” route…and a following defamation lawsuit to boot…Arum states…”THE FIGHT IS OFF!”…

Great…So here we are…the fight that had the attention of the world has lost the attention of the world, because well…”Who cares about boxing nowadays anyway??…Go Figure!!”…and left the boxing world with our mouths gaped open, waiting for Santa Claus to appear in broad daylight and tell us…”It’s ok kids… I really do exist!!…AND I’M HERE TO FIGHT!”…

Let’s bring in the mediators!

The two camps met on Teus. for 9 hours…

They met again on Wednesday…

No Deal…Manny’s camp states they offered to take tests up untill 24 days of the fight…Mayweather’s camp would compromise as well, but requested testing up untill 14 days of the fight…Manny’s camp wouldn’t budge, and neither would Floyd’s…

Who’s to blame??? Is it Floyd for his “ridiculous” demands?

Or is it Pacquiao for his “ridiculous” restrictions?

Many people have criticized Floyd for “ducking” fighters, and manipulating things to gain an advantage over his opponents…That’s another discussion in itself (I didn’t agree with how he did Marquez with the weight), but overall I don’t agree at all with those criticisms…

In fact…as a Manny fan…I’ve been overlooking his and Freddy Roach’s ‘cherry picking’ ways for quite sometime…Like forcing Miguel Cotto, who was the 147 lb Welterweight champion to meet him at a catch weight of 144 to fight for his own title…Which didn’t bother me so much, untill Manny’s camp announced that they were up untill tonight considering fighting Yuri Foreman for the junior middleweight title at 154lbs if the Floyd fight fell through…

Hol up!…You can’t meet the welterweight champion at the welterweight limit of 147…and you can’t fight Floyd at 154…but you can turn around and fight a champion at 154 (the weakest 154 champ) to try and cherry pick an 8th weight class world title…

Picture my dismay…I just can’t ride for Manny on all of this…It’s ridiculous…If you’re clean…Take the tests…If a tablespoon of blood drawn weakens you…14 days ought to be more than enough time for you to regenerate…If it’s your principles…then you wouldn’t have agreed to the tests AT ALL in the first place…This time…it’s not Floyd’s fault…It’s Manny’s fault…He either doesn’t want to fight Floyd at all…He doesn’t want to fight Floyd right now…Or he has something to hide… I won’t make any assumptions…and I damn sure won’t make any allegations (don’t want any lawsuits)…but untill Manny…MANs up….I am not a fan of his…and he can…

Well………………….PARDON MY BACK!!!!!

Mr. Hol uP!

Follow Me On Twitter @MrHoluPrdnMyBk