Mayweather Vs. Marquez | Pay Per View Watch It Live!

Burgos: Time to have a drink with football stars and boxing champions

2009-09-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

Hydrate. That’s what athletes do when they’re training, playing and nourishing themselves. So, let’s have a drink.

Round One

I didn’t know Tequila had anything to do with football.

I knew steroids had something to with it, but I didn’t realize when you mixed the two, someone would get strangled — I should have, though.

But anyway, did you hear the one about Shawne Merriman allegedly strangling reality star Tila Tequila when she attempted to leave his house at night this past weekend? Tequila claimed the former, while Merriman said he was trying to stop his girlfriend from driving home drunk. He said he didn’t choke her, but he was still arrested — and released. She went to the hospital — and has been released.

Tequila said she couldn’t have been drunk, because she’s allergic to alcohol. Ironic.

She also now wants to speak out against ‘roid rage, which she’s pinning on Merriman — in the past, Merriman was suspended by the NFL for testing positive. The owner of a club where the couple was spotted earlier in the evening disputed Tequila’s apparent allergy.

The owner said Tequila was visibly intoxicated at the bar and was dancing with Merriman.

It’s a weird situation to begin with, and taking the Chargers’ linebacker out of it, it isn’t even a sports story.

But who is Tequila kidding? She doesn’t drink? Right, and I can dunk, kick a 50-yard field goal and throw a baseball 95 miles per hour.

Not to mention these two are Twitter freaks and have expounded on the incident ad nauseam ever since it happened.

Roger Goodell must have seen this one coming. After shooting yourself in the leg, fighting dogs and DUI manslaughter, domestic disturbance must seem ordinary.

Round Two

HBO has a sports documentary show called “24/7,” on which, leading up to high-profile boxing events, the network has cameras follow each of the two fighters throughout the training process in an omnipresent type of way. It’s dramatic, intrusive and a great show.

The current installment of the show features “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Mexican champion Juan Manuel Marquez.

This week, Marquez did the unthinkable. After one of his training sessions, Marquez retreated to the bathroom with a small glass. He relieved himself in the glass and then drank its contents.

He drinks his own urine — his pee, his tinkle. Forget Gatorade, because that’s G.

Marquez said urine holds many essential vitamins and proteins that he does not want to waste, so he recycles them through his body. He said he’s done it for his last five or six fights and has seen good results — he’s won five of his last six bouts, the one loss coming to Manny Pacquiao in a split decision.

The scientific term for what Marquez does is urophagia. Some claim it’s dangerous. Some say it should only be done under dire conditions, like if marooned on a desert island. Juan Manuel says it lets him hit the gloves harder, work the speed bag faster and hopefully take down Mayweather Jr.

Now, I’m aware of the obscurity of some athlete’s rituals. They are highly habitual creatures with bizarre superstitions.

I’ve heard of former outfielder Moises Alou peeing on his hands to create calluses to hit without batting gloves. I let that one slide.

But drinking it?

I know Kevin Costner did it in “Water World,” but a) that movie was awful and b) he at least purified it first.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, there are ample clips floating around the Internet where you can witness it firsthand. Trust me, it’s a treat.

It also begs the question: What other athletes are doing this?

No way it’s only Marquez. I would suggest Merriman, but I already know he prefers another drink for which Mexico is famous: Tequila.

So, what’s it going to be? I’m ready for another, but this round’s on you.

Source: pittnews.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez latest update: De La Hoya tips Marquez to upset Mayweather in Vegas

2009-09-12T02:17:00.000-07:00

Boxing great Oscar De La Hoya believes Floyd Mayweather Jr. will lose his unbeaten record when he takes on Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in a hotly anticipated welterweight fight in Las Vegas next week.

Mayweather has won all 39 of his career bouts, including 25 by knockout, but the American will be making his first appearance in the ring for almost two years.

"I just have this feeling that Marquez is going to pull this one off," De La Hoya, arguably the biggest name in contemporary boxing, said in a conference call ahead of the September 19 clash over 12 rounds at the MGM Grand.

"I went down to Mexico and saw him train with my own eyes. I saw how much he bulked up; I saw how much strength he has gained; I saw how seriously he's taking this fight.

"I'm convinced he will win this fight. He's looking sharp, he's looking fast and he's looking strong."

Marquez, a Mexico City native who has a 50-4-1 record with 37 knockouts, has beefed up through a brutal training regime highlighted by lifting boulders up a mountain slope.

Although most boxing pundits back Mayweather to win because of his superior strength, speed and defense, De La Hoya predicts the Mexican's jab will be a telling factor.

"Floyd Mayweather is an excellent boxer and he's the best fighter on the planet, no doubt about it," the 10-time world champion said. "But styles make fights and I'm sure Marquez has dissected Mayweather's style.

SMART FIGHTER

"Marquez has an excellent jab and he is going to use triple, quadruple jabs. He's a smart fighter, and it's a matter of throwing those jabs and feigning those jabs. This is the fight of his life ... and he knows it."

De La Hoya is well versed in Mayweather's strengths, having lost the WBC super-welterweight title to him on a split decision in May 2007, the highest-grossing fight in boxing history.

However, he believes the American could be troubled by Marquez in the early rounds on his belated return to the ring.

Mayweather has not fought since his 10th round stoppage of Britain's Ricky Hatton in a WBC welterweight title bout in December 2007.

"Being the professional that Mayweather Junior is, I'm sure it's going to be no problem for him to adjust," said De La Hoya, a world champion in six different weight classes who posted a win-loss record of 39-6 including 30 knockouts.

"At the same time, you know Marquez is coming at you right from the get-go, right from the start. I just feel Mayweather's going to have to be playing catch-up in the fight."

Mayweather, 32, is an undefeated five-division world champion while Marquez, 36, is a five-time world champion.

Source: reuters.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez latest update: Garcia puts Mayweather in good hands

2009-09-12T02:12:00.000-07:00

Rafael Garcia grins widely, a smile that seems to say, “Something good is going to happen soon,” and pats his flat belly. He runs his fingers through his full head of hair and leans in toward a visitor to the boxing gym.

“How old,” he asks, stretching the boundaries of his grin, “do you think I am?”

Without waiting for an answer, he says, “I’ve been doing this longer than most of the people here were born. Or before a lot of their parents were born.”

The Mayweather Boxing Club is a beehive of activity on this late summer afternoon. Its star attraction, unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., has yet to arrive for his workout that will help prepare him for his Sept. 19 comeback fight down the street at the MGM Grand Garden Arena against Juan Manuel Marquez.

There are aspiring fighters hitting the bags, a couple of men skipping rope. Roger Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle and lead trainer, is gesturing animatedly to a woman on a treadmill, apparently trying to demonstrate the proper technique for a three-punch combination.

Assistants for Floyd Jr. scurry around, preparing the place for his imminent arrival.

Garcia pulls up a chair and glances around. He’s 81 and he’s been involved in boxing in one form or another for 69 years.

He first walked into a gym nearly seven decades ago in Puebla, Mexico, when he tired of going several blocks out of his way in an effort to avoid a bully while headed to school. He learned to box and hasn’t stopped since. He was 5-0 as a bantamweight until his mother begged him to quit. He acquiesced, but the lure of the gym was too strong. He assumed the name Guadalupe Limon, fought and won twice more and then gave up his fighting career for good.

That led him into the corner, though, and into a lifetime of working with some of the biggest names in the game’s history. He has made the long walk to the ring with legends like Mayweather and Hall of Famers Roberto Duran and Alexis Arguello, as well as dozens of other champions, and hasn’t lost an ounce of passion for either the sport or his job.

He has worked for Mayweather for about the last 10 years, concentrating on wrapping his hands, taking care of his cuts and offering advice culled from his vast experience.

Mayweather’s hands are brittle and he was having frequent problems with them for much of his career. He heard about Garcia’s wizardry as a hand wrapper and made a call.

“My hands were bothering me and when a fighter doesn’t have confidence in his hands,” Mayweather says, shaking his head and not needing to finish the sentence. “I finally had to find the best wrapper out there. And that is Rafael Garcia. I won’t let anyone else touch my hands.”

Garcia is recognizable for the Kangol caps he wears that are adorned with pins from places he has traveled. He has seen the world, the big cities, the small cities, the major markets and the out-of-the-way places few have heard of.

He has worked for boxers who didn’t have the talent to stay out of their own way and he has assisted generational talents.

In all of those years, though, as a fighter, manager, trainer and cut man, he has never met anyone quite like Mayweather.

Garcia declines to name the best fighter he has ever seen because he says comparing fighters in different generations is next to impossible. He has no doubt that Mayweather is the most gifted fighter of the current generation and he’s even more sure that he’s never seen anyone who works as hard as Mayweather does.

“There’s no one close to him and I’m telling you the honest truth,” Garcia said. “Every day, and I mean every single day, he works as hard as he can possibly work. I’ve never seen anything like it. People come to the gym all the time and they want to see him and talk to him and take a picture. And Floyd, he loves the fans. People don’t know how good he is to the people. He’s a good man and he has time for everyone.

“But when he’s working, he is only concentrating on that. The gym is where he does his work and when he gets to the gym, he puts every bit of himself completely into what he is doing.”

Garcia was recommended to Mayweather by promoter Bob Arum. Arum had once sent Garcia to Southern California to work with the late noted orthopedic surgeon Tony Daly. Daly explained the structure of the hand to Garcia and inspected his wrapping technique.

Garcia only had to wrap one hand and Daly was satisfied.

“He said, ‘Perfect. If you wrap all the hands like that, no one is going to have any problems,’ ” Garcia said.

There are few boxers who haven’t had pain in their hands. It’s an occupational hazard when you spend much of the year clubbing someone upside the head.

Garcia, though, said many problems are exacerbated by poorly wrapped hands. The most common mistake trainers make when wrapping a fighter’s hand, Garcia said, is that they wrap it too tightly.

“It gets purple and then there is no circulation,” he says. “That’s when there are problems.”

The Nevada Athletic Commission thinks so highly of Garcia’s abilities it asked him to put on a clinic to demonstrate the proper technique.

He’s far more than a man who just knows how to put tape and gauze on a fighter’s hand, but at 81, he’s thrilled just to be involved in the game and around a boxer who he believes is one of the best who has ever lived.

“I just love coming out every day and being here to see this, because this is history I’m watching,” Garcia said. “People always want to know, ‘Rafael, who is the best?’ It’s so hard to say. Different times, different styles. Floyd is the best now, without a doubt. I have respect for Marquez and his trainer, [Nacho] Beristain, is one of the best.

“Floyd is just different. Watching him fight is just like watching the guys like Duran and Arguello. That’s the kind of level he’s at.”

Source: sports.yahoo.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez latest update: The hidden side of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

2009-09-12T01:59:00.000-07:00

The midday sun is searing. Shade is all but impossible to find. The temperature inches toward 110 degrees and the heat radiating from the concrete is visible to the naked eye.

A reed-thin man with a scraggly salt-and-pepper beard filled with burrs shuffles slowly across a busy street, not particularly concerned about the traffic. He has been sweating, and with the wind blowing, the dust sticks to his face.

He makes his way toward a large black truck parked alongside a road in one of the city’s poorest areas. It’s obvious that, even if he doesn’t have a clue who’s inside the truck, he knows what it represents.

The man, who said his name is Zeke, said he is not sure if he’s hotter, hungrier or thirstier. Clearly, though, he could use a meal. He’s about 6-foot tall but doesn’t look like he weighs 150 pounds, unless you count the 20-pound sack draped over his shoulder.

He is among the first of the 100 or so homeless people who seem to appear out of nowhere to reach the truck. The door on the back of the truck loudly clatters up and an athletic young man bounds effortlessly into the back.

Zeke sees him and sticks his hand out. Floyd Mayweather Jr., one of the most controversial figures in boxing, bends down and hands him a bag with a sandwich, a piece of fruit and some chips as well as a bottle of water.

Zeke throws the fruit and the chips into the bag he drags along with him but devours the sandwich in seconds. He gulps down the water and heads to the line again.

He gets back to the front, but Mayweather recognizes him, smiles and declines to offer him a second lunch at that point.

“Let’s make sure we have enough for everyone, then I’ll take care of you,” Mayweather says softly. “I won’t forget you.”

Disappointed, Zeke shuffles away. He asks a nearby observer to stand in line for him and at least get him another bottle of water.

“That’ll kill you,” he says motioning toward the fiery orange sun.

Zeke hangs around for the half hour or so it takes for Mayweather and his cohorts to hand the lunches to those who stand in line. When the line is clear, Mayweather scans the area and spots Zeke. He shouts and then tosses him another bag of food and a bottle of water.

A few hours earlier, standing in his office, Mayweather explained why he would risk spending so much time in the strength-sapping sun with a bout that will land him an eight-figure payday nearing rapidly.

This is a regular routine and, fight or no fight, Mayweather is out on a weekly basis to feed the homeless. He heard from a friend about the large homeless population in Clark County and the appalling conditions the men and women live in. Mayweather was dismayed when he observed them himself.

He told his manager, Leonard Ellerbe, he needed to do something immediately.

“I’ve been blessed by God,” Mayweather said. “No doubt about it. God gave me this talent and I’ve been able to build a better life for myself and my family. The people out there, the ones we’re going to see, they haven’t been so lucky. They need someone to give them a break, but no one wants to bother with them. People forget about them and pretend like they don’t exist. I guess they think if they act like there is no problem it will go away. But it won’t. Someone needs to help, so I do my part.”

Ready for return

The unbeaten welterweight, who was a virtual unanimous choice as the best boxer in the world prior to his sudden retirement in June 2008, will return to the ring on Sept. 19 when he meets Juan Manuel Marquez in an HBO Pay-Per-View bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Mayweather remains one of the sport’s most polarizing figures. He flaunts his money – the jewelry he wears on his wrist and around his neck costs more than many of his fans’ homes – and he’s reviled by many who dislike his outlandish spending, loose tongue and exceptionally high opinion of himself that he’s so quick to share.

He’s only recently reconciled with his father after nearly a decade of public dispute. His former promoter, Bob Arum, makes no effort to conceal his disdain for him. In an interview with Fanhouse.com, Arum blasted Mayweather’s fighting style and said “People know Mayweather now. They know the son of a gun doesn’t fight. He fights scared. … Outside the ring, yeah, he shoots up cars and he does other things like that and he entertains. But in the ring, he’s not an entertaining fighter.”

Arum was referring to an incident last month in which shots were fired at a local roller-skating rink. Mayweather’s 2008 Rolls Royce was at the scene and police later searched his home. Though police say Mayweather is not a suspect, they removed two handguns (one of which was a Smith & Wesson), a holster, three magazines containing live rounds and a bulletproof vest.

Ellerbe said the guns were registered to two of Mayweather’s bodyguards. Despite Mayweather’s denial of having any involvement, the incident has contributed to the perception many hold of him as a hoodlum.

But Ellerbe, who is also his best friend, said Mayweather is far from that.

“There’s the entertainer, the public figure, but the Floyd Mayweather I know is a kind and caring and thoughtful person,” Ellerbe said. “You hear all this stuff, but we all know where it’s coming from. It’s jealousy. Any time anything happens, they want to blame Floyd. It’s ridiculous.”

Mayweather clearly doesn’t care for the negative perceptions of him, but he also refuses to attempt to polish his image in a bid to curry favor.

He’ll tell you vehemently that he is no hoodlum, no petty criminal, no bad guy, but neither will he change who he is just for the sake of impressing middle-aged white men in suits. As a way of explanation, he makes no bones about his affinity for visits to Las Vegas’ topless clubs.

“There are guys at HBO [and] they tell me I shouldn’t go to the strip clubs,” Mayweather said. “Why not? I’m an adult. I’m not married. I’m not committing any crimes. And you know what? I have been in strip clubs and I’ve seen a lot of the same men in there who talk about me and who tell me not to go in there. They’re in there and they want to tell me I shouldn’t go? At least I’m honest about what I do.”

True to himself

When Mayweather turned professional, he was viewed as the next Sugar Ray Leonard. He tried that approach for the first half of his career but didn’t feel it ever fit.

He has become more successful since he invented “Money Mayweather” and projected more of a brash, anti-establishment persona. And despite all his good works, that’s the way it’s going to stay, he says.

“Why should I have to act differently just to please someone who doesn’t know me?” Mayweather said. “The people who know me know who I am and the person I am. If you want to know about me, ask them. I’m a guy who loves my family, who wants to do the best for my kids, and if I can do something to help someone who hasn’t been as truly blessed as I have been, I’ll do it. Ask the people who know me what I’m really like.”

Nate Jones, Mayweather’s teammate on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, is one of those who knows Mayweather the man, not Mayweather the public figure. They first met, Jones said, at the Golden Gloves in Michigan in 1994. Jones instantly disliked him.

“I heard this kid running off at the mouth, every day at the weigh-in,” Jones said. “Every morning you weigh in and every morning, I’d go down to weigh in and here’s this kid just talking about himself. He wouldn’t shut up. I just didn’t like him because of his mouth.

“But I saw him fight then and I went up to him and I shook his hand. When I first saw him, I told him to shut up because he talked so much. But when I saw him fight finally, I said, ‘Oh my God.’ All I could do was bow to him. He could really fight. Everything he was saying was true.”

Each went on to make the Olympic team and became roommates and close friends. When they turned professional, Mayweather signed with Arum and Jones opted to sign with Don King.

While Mayweather enjoyed nothing but success as a pro, Jones hit a road block. He was too small to make an impact as a heavyweight and began having problems. He retired in 2002 because of neurological damage.

Jones was lost and had nothing to do, no way of making a living, when his phone rang. “Floyd said, ‘Nate, come on out here and work for me. You know boxing. I’ll find something for you to do and you’ll always have a check,’ ” Jones said.

Jones said part of his problem as a professional was that he began to drink heavily. Mayweather would counsel him and urge him to stop, but Jones persisted. He drank and didn’t train as hard as he needed.

“I would drink in camp, up to about a week before the fight, and I shouldn’t have been doing that,” Jones said. “Floyd told me. He begged me. And I paid for it. You kill a lot of brain cells when you drink like I was and then you go and get hit in the head. It quickened up the process.”

Jones said when he first arrived in Mayweather’s camp he was simply a friend, a guy Mayweather paid just to be around so he’d have some money in his pocket. As time evolved, though, Jones began to have a more active role in Mayweather’s boxing career.

“Floyd has a lot of respect for my boxing knowledge,” Jones said. “He always tells me, ‘Nate, yours is the only voice I hear when I’m fighting. I can’t hear anyone else’s voice but yours.’ He respects my opinion, so I can make suggestions and talk about things with him. I’m like a secondary trainer. He knows I have his back. All I want is what is 110 percent what is best for Floyd. He knows that.”

Jones said it stings him to his core when he hears Mayweather being attacked. Mayweather has an entourage of about 20 people he has hired because he felt sorry for them, Jones said.

“He doesn’t need me,” Jones said. “He’d win without me. But he cares about people. He pays decent money so people can have good lives and have a chance to have success. And that touches a lot of people. There’s one guy here who is working for Floyd who basically can’t do a thing. He can’t even carry a bag without having some problem. Floyd just doesn’t turn his back on anyone.

“He said to me, ‘Nate, I don’t need this guy. He can’t carry a bag. He serves no purpose. But how would I feel if I told him to go home and I know it would hurt him? I can’t do that.’ That’s the part of Floyd people don’t understand.”

Ellerbe talked about Mayweather going shopping for shoes to deliver to the students of Matt Kelly Elementary School, which is located in one of Vegas’ most blighted areas. Mayweather also paid the full tab, nearly $200,000, so the Michigan Golden Gloves could be held in Grand Rapids last year.

“I got a chance by fighting in that tournament and I was lucky and I made it,” Mayweather said. “There wouldn’t have been a tournament [last year] because there was no money, so me paying for it to keep it alive, that was a way for me to say thanks and give someone else the same opportunity I had.”

It’s mentioned to him that if more people saw this side of him he would skyrocket in popularity and would make more money. He would become a beloved figure.

Mayweather shook his finger.

“You might be right, but that’s not what it’s about,” he said. “I don’t go talk to kids and I don’t go feed the homeless because I want someone to know about it. I want to do it because I know there’s a need and I have the chance to do right.

“I don’t care who knows or who doesn’t know. As long as I help the kids and people who need help, that’s really what matters. I don’t care too much about what anyone else thinks or has to say, to be honest with you. I’m happy with who I am and that’s the important thing.”

Source: sports.yahoo.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez finalize L.A. appearances

2009-09-12T01:38:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez won't be coming to USC after all, but both fighters will appear Monday on the Kodak Theatre Arch for public workouts.

Mayweather's session will begin at 11 a.m., publicists say, and Marquez will follow at 12:30 p.m., as they begin fight week activities before their HBO pay-per-view welterweight showdown Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The Kodak Theatre is at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

The event was first scheduled to be on the USC campus next to the Tommy Trojan statue, but USC officials vetoed the publicity appearance by an outside organization.

Marquez, currently wrapping up his training in Mexico, is scheduled to arrive at LAX on Saturday at 5 p.m., and then appear alongside his promoter Oscar De La Hoya for a fan rally at 3 p.m. Sunday at Fiestas Patrias California at the Olvera Street Plaza (corner of Alameda and Los Angeles streets).

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

Jeff Mayweather Gives an Honest Take on his Nephew Floyd

2009-09-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

The life and times of Floyd Mayweather have been well documented throughout the years. Talented and full of bravado, Mayweather has always found a way to remain relevant, whether he is scathed or praised. Throughout Floyd’s well publicized ride there haven’t been too many individuals who have gotten to know him from the inside out like his respected uncle Jeff.

A former fighter in his own right and an excellent trainer who helped guide Sultan Ibragimov to the WBO Heavyweight Championship in June of 2007, Jeff Mayweather is cut from a different clothe than the other Mayweathers. While uncle Roger, Floyd Sr. and lil’ Floyd have always been quick to preach about their skills and talents as human beings, Jeff prefers to take a much more subdued approach and his humble nature has always been like a breath of fresh air.

As Floyd’s career began to blossom in the early years, Jeff was there for every step of the way and served the role of a mentor, manager, and more importantly a friend throughout everything. While their may have been some sour times down the road, Jeff still keeps and open mind and an unbiased view when assessing his nephew’s place in the sport of boxing. It is that exact mindset that has also allowed Jeff to give a personal take on the upcoming September 19th Mayweather clash again Juan Manuel Marquez without any hesitation whatsoever.

“Marquez no chance,” Mayweather says bluntly. “He’s an outstanding fighter but he’s just in over his head in this contest. People are wrong when they assume that Floyd has lost a step and that he is going to be rusty. He’s ready for this fight.”

As Mayweather trains diligently for this contest in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jeff has had time to swing by Floyd’s personal gym to check him out. In seeing his nephew get down to work Jeff is reminded of the fighter Floyd still is and the desire he still has to be a force in the boxing world.

“It’s like he never left,” Jeff says of Floyd’s nearly two year absence from the sport. “In a way I think he needed this time off. I’ve seen him in the gym and he isn’t rusty. He looks as strong as I’ve ever seen him and I can tell he’s hungry again.”

While Mayweather has been away from the sport his mantel of the world’s best fighter has been replaced by Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao. In Mayweather’s absence Pacquiao has gone 4-0, with stirring victories over Juan Manuel Marquez in their rematch, Oscar De La Hoya, and Ricky Hatton. Jeff believes that Pacquiao’s stellar run has given Floyd somewhat of a chip on his shoulder and that he is determined to reclaim his stake as the best in the business.

“Everybody is big on Pacquiao,” Mayweather claims. “Basically he is the man according to most and he definitely has done a lot for his career in the past few years. The thing about Floyd is that he has a huge ego and I know deep down that maybe it has gotten under his skin. If anything I know it has given him some motivation to remind people of the fighter he still is. Eventually I think they will meet in the ring and then the truth will come out.”

It has been heavily publicized that in camp with Floyd this time around is his father Floyd Sr. It’s no secret that the elder Mayweather was instrumental in his son’s career before being locked up for playing a part in a drug trafficking scandal in 1993. After serving five years behind bars, the elder Mayweather returned to be involved in his son’s life but their relationship has since been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least, with numerous fallouts and reconciliations having taken place.

Perhaps because of the rocky past that has existed in their relationship, both men are still attempting to pick up the pieces in several regards. Jeff notes that while Floyd is in camp, he isn’t the head trainer for his son and that he is instead there to mend a bond that has taken its share of bumps and bruises.

“It seems that the main reason Floyd Sr. is there is to rebuild a broken relationship,” Jeff opens up honestly. “He’s not serving as a head trainer. As a former fighter of course he is feeling that it’s beneficial to be there but lil’ Floyd is man enough to know how to get ready for a showdown like this. If anything I think they are still trying to get comfortable with one another.”

‘Money’ Mayweather has been no stranger to controversy in the past and in this camp again some possible distractions have rose to the surface. Just last month Uncle Roger was taken into custody by police because he reportedly choked a former fighter of his by the name of Melissa St. Vil. He is facing charges of felony coercion and battery strangulation.

Later in the month, on August 23rd, Mayweather’s name came up in relation to a shooing incident at the Crystal Palace Skating rink. Guns, ammunition, and even bullet proof vests were later seized from Mayweather’s home, but the Grand Rapids native not only denies his involvement in the incident, but also claims it won’t be a distraction come fight time. Uncle Jeff completely agrees

“I remember reading an article in the past where Oscar De La Hoya was talking about Floyd,” Jeff recalls. “Basically Oscar was trying to sell their fight by saying that Floyd had too many distractions around him to fully focus for a big fight. But the thing is that Floyd has always had distractions in his life, so why would it be different this time around? The thing about Floyd is that despite everything going on around him, he is always able to put everything together when he steps through those ropes. The ring is his sanctuary.”

Floyd’s performances in the past have reaffirmed this, as he has found a way to remain undefeated since starting his career in October of 1996. Inside the ring he has shown moments of brilliance but there is no denying that the controversy he has created coupled with his braggadocios demeanor have ultimately turned several people off. More and more Floyd has become accustomed to playing the role of the bad guy, and it’s a position that Jeff feels his is definitely comfortable with.

“Really, Floyd has always been the bad guy,” Jeff claims. “Nobody likes a guy who is flashy and constantly talks about it because it’s perceived as bragging, both to the common fan and everyday person. When people don’t have certain things and you just throw it in their face of course you are going to turn people against you. To Floyd it may just be him being confident but people take it as arrogance.”

Despite being public enemy number one in recent times, there is still no denying that Floyd brings something completely different to the sport of boxing. While his act may have gotten old with some people, he still has a legion of fans who love him for the fighter he is and the antics he is involved in.

“Floyd definitely still has his fans,” Jeff says with confidence. “It’s just that his fans seems to be a certain type of people these days. He seems to really attract the young, hip-hop crowd because they love someone like Floyd who is all about money and cars. True boxing fans might not care for that but just like rappers always attract a certain kind of attention, so too does Floyd.”

Love him or hate him, many would agree that it is a good thing Floyd is returning to the ring. His accomplishments and talents are without question and after his bout with Marquez he could be involved in some huge fights that could help to carry the sport of boxing for a good while. When closing out about his nephew, Jeff doesn’t see it as much as the start of something new, but more so a return to how things used to be.

“The thing about boxing these days is that the sport is still being carried by veteran fighters. Guys like Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are still the biggest names in the sport and without them there wouldn’t be nearly as much to talk about. They might try to hype up certain fighters like an Andre Berto, but while he’s a good fighter he isn’t ready to take that next step. I think it’s good that Floyd is coming back because whether people want to admit it or not he is going to help keep the sport going once he returns.”

Source: 8countnews.com

All the pressure is on Mayweather

2009-09-12T01:25:00.001-07:00

Locker room philosopher Charles Barkley once said pressure is for tires. That wise-guy bit of wisdom is worth remembering as anticipation and speculation combine and begin to register a surprising buzz in the build-up for Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s comeback on Sept. 19 against Juan Manuel Marquez at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

In a fight predicted to be one-sided, intrigue is there because of what it means to Mayweather, the overwhelming favorite. For him, the stakes are huge, maybe never bigger.

It’s not if Mayweather wins. It’s how he wins.

If he loses, well, his career will be a blowout for everybody who thinks he is just a bunch of hot air anyway.

Within the how, there is the business meter, the pay-per-view numbers that will determine whether Mayweather can stand alone as an attraction with enough leverage to reasonably ask for the lion’s share of the profit margin in a projected moneymaker against Manny Pacquiao.

It all adds up to the kind of pressure that turns a few into legends and most into tires. Mayweather, defensive in the ring and often out of it, has shown an ability to forge it into a legacy, which he often talks about almost as if it is a birthright.

To wit: Against Ricky Hatton, he delivered terrific stoppage that silenced a crowd of rude Brits who had booed the Star-Spangled Banner. It was beautiful. A fighter I had never liked had won me over, at least for the moment. But proof always rests in the next punch and that burden has never been heavier.

A crushing loss to Pacquiao only confirmed suspicions that Hatton, although entertaining, was overrated. Mayweather beat De La Hoya in a narrow decision in 2007, but De La Hoya’s next two fights – a bruising, telling decision over Steve Forbes and eighth-round surrender to Pacquiao in December – and subsequent retirement seemed to say he was finished.

Against Marquez, Mayweather faces a seasoned, full-time fighter, whose two has a draw and loss to Pacquiao in two fights that he could have easily won. Against Mayweather, he is the underdog, a heavy one, mostly because the former featherweight and lightweight champion has never fought as a welter and presumably won’t be one on Sept. 19. The reported catch-weight is 144 pounds. Marquez predicted in a conference call nearly two weeks ago that he will be at 142 pounds. On the same call, however, Mayweather again would not confirm the reported catch weight.

“Not weighting no 143,’’ said Mayweather, who dismissed reports of the catch weight as rumors. “It’s a welterweight fight. I weigh whatever a welterweight weighs.’’

Apparently, that means Mayweather will weigh whatever he wants. Or maybe it means the biggest weigh-in flap since Jose Luis Castillo. Whatever it leads to, it is just another example of Mayweather’s ability to keep opponents and media guessing, which – truth is – part of the intrigue in the countdown to Marquez.

But there is no guess about what the unbeaten Mayweather has to do against Marquez. To back up his boasts and his resurrected claim on the pound-for-pound perch, he has to do what nobody else has in 54 fights: Knock out Marquez.

“He has to keep fighting the best and knock out out some of the best, starting with Juan Manuel Marquez,’’ De La Hoya, Marquez’ promoter, said Thursday in a conference call. “He has to make a statement.’’

It would be a statement without saying anything at all, which for Mayweather would say everything.

NOTES, QUOTES, ODDSERVATIONS

After watching HBO’s 24/7, I don’t want to know what’s in that Marquez water bottle. Memo to the Nevada State Athletic Commission: If Marquez is asked to take the traditional drug test, make sure the cup gets to the lab before he drinks the contents.
De La Hoya’s side-show decision over Shaquille O’Neal on fantasy TV was actually entertaining and left me wondering if Pacquiao taught De La Hoya how a little man can beat a bigger one.
More O’Neal: With the Ali Shuffle, he showed more footwork during a few rounds in the ring than he did throughout last season with the Phoenix Suns. Maybe, the Cleveland Cavaliers should hire Freddie Roach as O’Neal’s personal bench coach. It looks as if only Roach could get O’Neal to move his feet fast enough to defend against the pick-and-roll, which knocked the Suns into mediocrity and could keep LeBron James from claiming his first NBA championship ring.

Source: 15rounds.com

Dana White Disses Mayweather vs. Marquez

2009-09-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

Dana White hasn't cooled off on HBO boxing's decision to air the Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez boxing match on Sept. 19 -- the same night as UFC 103.

In a new video released by the UFC on Wednesday, which contains some obscene language, White took a few more jabs at his pay-per-view counterparts.

"Boxing is doing it to you again," White said. "They're giving you the fight that you don't want. Nobody asked for this fight with Mayweather and ... what's his name? What's his name? Nobody even knows. Nobody in this room even knows who Floyd's fighting.

"... On that same night, on that UFC card, you guys can all tune in and you can watch not one fight, you guys can watch five great fights that night for ten dollars less than what Floyd wants you to pay to see him run around in circles, and lay on the ropes, and move around and not fight."

However, Mark Taffet, the senior vice president of HBO pay-per-view, told FanHouse at a sports business forum in New York City on Wednesday, that they didn't try to intentionally counterprogram UFC 103.

"It's definitely not something that happens intentionally, and it's something that you would want to have happen as infrequently as possible because the distribution pipelines prefer to be clean and singularly focused," Taffet said. "When it does occur, we're confident from a consumer perspective of there being very little overlap and the events will all thrive. But it's clearly something that on a going forward basis that will happen as infrequently as possible."

Regardless, Taffet doesn't believe either show will generate less pay-per-view buys as a result of airing on the same night.

"There's very little overlap in the fan bases between the sports. We believe that there's not more than 5% overlap in the fan bases. Each sport has its unique fans, it's passionate fans, and its loyal fans. We think that our fans are going to find Mayweather vs. Marquez that night -- we're very confident about that -- and it's a world in which multiple sports are thriving in the pay-per-view industry and the pay-per-view distributors the beneficiaries."

The UFC and HBO boxing will also go head-to-head on Nov. 14 when the Manny Pacquaio vs. Miguel Cotto fight will air against Spike's tape delayed telecast of UFC 105.

It's clear that all parties involved on the boxing side have no interest in talking about competing against the UFC. When FanHouse asked Mayweather about White recently saying he wasn't a superstar, Mayweather quickly brushed it off.

"I'm not worried about what Dana White said," Mayweather said. "I mean, Dana White says what he says -- it don't matter. I'm not thinking about Dana White."

Perhaps Golden Boy and HBO don't want to give the public a reason to pay attention to UFC 103, or maybe they just don't consider the UFC competition. But White is taking a much different approach. He seems to have no issue addressing the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight in the crucial days leading up to Sept. 19. Conventional wisdom says a promoter should never address the competition, but if you thought White would do that in this case, you haven't been paying much attention.

Only time will tell if either show will suffer from going up against each other. But one thing is for certain: it looks like the war between the UFC and boxing is only getting started.

Source: mma.fanhouse.com

Juan Manuel Marquez ready for Mayweather vs. Marquez battle

2009-09-12T01:02:00.000-07:00

You can't teach your granny or Juan Manuel Marquez to suck eggs!

The Mexican marvel, nicknamed Dinamita, has devised his own brand of rocket fuel for the upcoming battle of lightning reflexes, razor sharp wits and thudding fists against Floyd Mayweather Jr... but, oh boy, it ain't pretty!

Marquez is making Rocky Balboa look tame, because he's swallowing raw eggs by the dozen, and to wash it down, he's nipping to the loo to collect and drink his own urine!

Juan Manuel ruefully concedes the pee formula is not a pale ale vintage bouquet, but insists, without taking the mickey, it's worked a treat for the last half-dozen fights, and he swears by the vitamin content. He's also been getting some lungfuls of enriched fresh air in a hyperbaric chamber.

Marquez, who's now had almost half a year to get ready, due to Mayweather's ticklish rib injury, has been training for the fight of his life.

A trained accountant, who's accomplished at crunching numbers as well as cracking chins, he's well aware of the odds, the adverse stats and clutch of clucking critics who have sagely written him off as being too old and too lightweight to stand a chance against an undefeated five division champion.

He's already torn up that weighty script as part of his training regime.

High altitude

Most Mexican fighters who really mean business go training at the bleak Otomi High altitude training centre in the craggy mountains broodingly perched over Toluca. But to get into to peak condition Marquez has gone to the peak district above them, another thousand metres above three thousand five hundred metres above sea level Mexico City. He's run up to and passed by extinct volcanoes at the rarefied higher level of Nevado De Toluca.

Back in the unremitting head-swimming oven like heat of the Romanza gym, in the gritty barrio of Iztacalco, Marquez takes time out to chat before a 90-minute training session. It's a workshop and sweatshop which has turned out burnished anvil-fisted fighters the likes of his hard hitting brother Rafael, the peerless and undefeated Ricardo 'Finito' Lopez, Daniel Zaragoza and Gilberto Roman.

The Marquez of today is no longer a svelte natural featherweight. He's a powerful 144lbs, which is the catchweight limit the bout will be fought at. He's sporting forearms, biceps and shoulders which would be the envy of Popeye, and they pack hellish wallops as protectively-padded trainers and the welted midriffs of exposed sparring partners bear witness to.

However, he is under no illusions about the magnitude of the test ahead. He stressed: "This is the most important fight of my career. It's against the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, who has a superb defense, is very astute and is undefeated.

"I've been active and busy fighting. I've also had almost five months to get ready for this fight, appropriately tempering the level of my training because of the postponement, but Floyd's spent more than a year and a half out of the ring.

"That said, I know Floyd Mayweather is always in superb condition, and I'm ready for the very best Floyd there is.

"There's no specific set strategy. Rather I'll tailor what I do, round by round to overcome his style. I'm going to use, speed, intelligence, savvy, counter punching and every bit of experience I've accumulated during my career to defeat him. I have to employ all of these things to open up routes of opportunity because he's a very complete boxer.

"It's extremely important to grasp this and to have an appreciation of the task ahead in order to win. I'm also going to pressure him, but in an intelligent way. I've been working hard on my speed, which is obviously an important factor. Not a punch will be wasted."

Copy Castillo

Many boxing doyens are convinced that compatriot Jose Luis Castillo did more than enough to defeat Mayweather in the first fight they had. Castillo is an out-and-out attacking fighter, while the Marquez style is counter-punching and designed for greater ring longevity.

Unabashed, his wily manager Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain has been closely studying it, to see if any snippet or nugget can be gleaned from the way Castillo successfully harassed Floyd out of his comfort zone and into a telephone booth, a private corner of hell.

At 36 years old, and with almost as many accumulated KO's to his credit as Mayweather has had fights, Juan Manuel is smart enough to know that his multi-talented opponent could never be considered a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

But he is also honest enough to admit he's still hankering after a third showdown with Manny Pacquiao, who's slated to fight Miguel Cotto next.

He explained it by saying: "My mindset is on September 19, but I also know the fans want me to take on Manny Pacquiao for a third time. In my heart I also want this. I'm using it as an extra motivating factor right now."

And silver tongued Golden Boy Productions owner Oscar De La Hoya, who recently dropped in on Juan, has said when he wins this fight: "He'll be calling the shots."

While sparring against Marquez, welterweight Abraham Alejandro Barrera from Monterrey - who has KO'd all 13 of his opponents - tries to arch one shoulder and then roll both of them to mimic Floyd's intricate defensive techniques.

His reward is a hard-angled right hook into the mid section of his ribs and a thundering straight left on to the side of his battered head guard.

Imitation almost provided him with the sincerest form of flattening.

However, Juan Manuel Marquez is under no illusions that it'll be as easy when he faces Floyd Mayweather Jr in the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. His only message to Mayweather is a brief and stark: "I'm ready and I'm prepared."

Source: skysports.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez Odds & Picks

2009-09-12T00:26:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. puts his unbeaten boxing record on the line when he comes out of retirement to face Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday, Sept. 19 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev.

Bet Mayweather vs. Marquez

Mayweather is the favorite heading into the catchweight-fight at 144 lbs. with a betting line of -350 while Marquez has a line of +275 according to online sports book Sports Interaction. The fight card begins at 9PM ET on Pay-Per-View. Here is a closer look at both boxers heading into this fight.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KO’s)

Strengths: Mayweather is unbeaten for a reason. He is considered by many as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. His speed and strength combination are as great as the sports has ever seen. Mayweather has fought in multiple weight classes and succeeded at each. His smart style of fighting has allowed him to beat some of the best in the world. Mayweather has been raised on boxing since childhood and doesn’t take his responsibilities in the ring lightly.

Weaknesses: Mayweather has not fought since Dec. 8 of 2007 against Ricky Hatton, which was a 10th round KO win. Mayweather then retired, but has decided to return to the ring for a pair of big-money fights in the making. First is with Marquez, but the next could potentially be with Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather didn’t pick an easy fight to open with as Marquez has 50 professional victories. This fight was scheduled to take place in July, but a rib injury pushed the fight back to next Saturday. If the injury still exists, it could be very detrimental to Mayweather’s return.

Last Five Fights:

10th Round TKO win over Ricky Hatton on Dec. 8, 2007

Split decision win over Oscar De La Hoya on May 5, 2007

Unanimous decision win over Carlos Baldomir on Nov. 4, 2006

Unanimous decision win over Zab Judah on April 8, 2006

6th Round TKO win over Sharmba Mitchell on Nov. 19, 2005

Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO’s)

Strengths: Marquez has great power in his hands as well and uses very accurate punches to work his opponents before delivering the knockout blow in the later rounds. Marquez has won by TKO in his last two fights and this is his opportunity to really establish himself as one of the top fighters in the world. Marquez will be the fresher fighter and not have the rust that Mayweather may have, with Marquez’ last fight coming on Feb. 28.

Weaknesses: Marquez lost a close decision to Pacquiao in 2008 and his fight with Mayweather is as big a fight as he has had in his career. Mayweather has a lot more marquee-fight experience while Marquez is looking to emerge as a “big money” fighter. Marquez may not have fought someone with the combination of speed and power like Mayweather, unless Pacquiao really can compare to the unbeaten Mayweather.

Last Five Fights:

9th Round TKO win over Juan Diaz on Feb. 28, 2009

11th Round TKO win over Joel Casamayor on Sept. 13, 2008

Split decision loss to Manny Pacquiao on March 15, 2008

Unanimous decision win over Rocky Juarez on Nov. 3, 2007

Unanimous decision win over Marco Antonio Barrera on March 17, 2007

Who will win: Every time Mayweather seems to be in a difficult fight where he could suffer his first loss, he seems to put on an even more impressive performance than his previous fight. I think Mayweather knows what he is getting himself into. I don’t think he would take a fight that he felt he could lose and let his career get tarnished like Roy Jones Jr. Mayweather has had a long layoff, but his conditioning and agility doesn’t seem affected. I again think Mayweather sees the dollar signs for a fight with Pacquiao down the road and he will make sure he is in top form for this fight with Marquez.

Additional Line: Over/Under 11.5 rounds for fight length. Under (Even) Over (-140)

Additional Fight: WBA Featherweight Championship: Chris John (-325) vs. Rocky Juarez (+250)

Bet Mayweather vs. Marquez

Source: thespread.com

Juan Manuel Marquez: Taking a calculated risk

2009-09-09T02:57:00.000-07:00

Open mouth wide. Insert foot. I am reading the instructions on how to put myself in my place. For you see, I have had an epiphany.

I have not given proper credit where credit is due. I have assumed, so to speak. Everyone knows what happens when you assume. Break the word into three parts and it is self explanatory.

The man I don't think that I've been fair to is Juan Manuel Marquez. Juan , of course, is the lightweight champion of the world. He is also one of the smartest boxers on the planet. If anyone wants to question his heart, just you try going 24 rounds and suffering four knockdowns at the hands of the baddest man on the planet, Manny Pacquiao. Marquez did this and was still in each fight.

Juan had been quoted in Ring magazine as saying that he didn't feel his career would be complete without a win over Pacquiao. Many still feel his ultimate goal is Pacman, but at the same time we rationalize that Juan Manuel must sit around feeling sorry for his lot in life. I firmly believe that nothing could be further from the truth.

Juan wanted to be an accountant. A noble profession and one that takes brains. And as his fighting style would attest, you can be sure that he calculates the odds of things happening in the ring. He also must calculate what happens outside the ring.

Taking all of that into account, we as fans assume that he dreams of getting Pacquiao in the ring a third time. But perhaps we are wrong. As a smart man, perhaps Juan Manuel has said to himself that when Pacquiao said no to a third fight, then he meant no.

So maybe Juan said I'll look for the best alternative to Pacquiao that will enhance my standing and career as one of the best boxers in the world. In steps Floyd Mayweather. The previous pound for pound king still officially has no loses, although Jose Luis Castillo may beg to differ.

As we hear his trainer Nacho Beristain tell Juan Manuel that Floyd is bigger and faster, all we see from Juan Manuel is a look of defiance. A win over Mayweather could be one of boxing's biggest upsets. Fighters sometimes take long periods off in between fights. Although Floyd took a year and a half off, don't expect him to be too rusty. He did not let himself go during this time. If anything, reports are that he was constantly working out.

So Juan Manuel will by all accounts, be stepping in the ring with a larger, quicker fighter. One that is still considered one of the best in the world.

Why does Juan want to take this risk? He may know something that the rest of us don't. In Marquez mind it might be a risk he can't afford to pass up. If there is one thing an accountant is good at, it is adding up numbers. Maybe Juan Manuel feels the numbers are in his favor. Call it a calculated risk. Something Marquez knows quite a bit about.

Source: examiner.com

'Young' Juan Manuel Marquez Will Turn Up Heat on Floyd Mayweather

2009-09-09T02:51:00.000-07:00

Can an aging veteran who will be fighting as high as 144 pounds for the first time in his professional boxing career take down a 32-year-old who is admittedly bigger, stronger and faster?

That, in essence, is what Sept. 19 boils down to for Juan Manuel Marquez. That's when he walks into the ring for his megabout opposite unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"Right now, I'm 36 years old, but I feel young," said Marquez, a married father of three, during Tuesday's exclusive interview with FanHouse from his training quarters in Mexico City. "I feel like I'm 28."

A traditional counter-puncher who has not competed at higher than 135 pounds, Marquez (50-4, 37 knockouts) knows that he will need to take risks in order to beat Mayweather (39-0, 25 knockouts), whose defensive skills often involve yielding ground and fighting in retreat early while shielding himself with a "shoulder-roll" and picking his spots.

That strategy worked well for Mayweather against Ricky Hatton on the way to a 10th-round stoppage in December of 2007 -- the last time he was in the ring.

"Floyd Mayweather is the best fighter, pound-for-pound," said Marquez, whose birthday was on Aug. 23. "It's going to be very important to bring the pressure against his speed."

Marquez has spent most of his career at featherweight (125 pounds) and superfeatherweight (130), but is coming off of consecutive knockouts of Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz at 135 pounds.

Against Mayweather, who has fought at a weight as high as 150 pounds, Marquez may need to make the unbeaten man feel whatever "pop" there is in either hand quickly, in addition to maintaining an extraordinary activity level that outworks the larger man.

"When they start the fight, the pressure will be very important, and it will be very important to connect on as many punches as I can," said Marquez. "It's going to be very important to work the body, and to use my intelligence."

Marquez must try to expose any existing ring rust that may be the result of Mayweather's long layoff, also potentially winning the minds of judges, should they be convinced that Mayweather's retreat has more to do with caution than strategy.

Asked if he thought he could hurt Mayweather, Marquez said, "I'll try."

"My confidence is in my preparation, my conditioning and my intelligence," said Marquez, adding that he weighs 143 pounds. "I will go into the ring with great confidence in my game plan."

One avenue for Marquez could be if he is able to borrow a page from Roberto Duran, who, on June 20 of 1980 -- four days after his 29th birthday -- carried the fight to 24-year-old Sugar Ray Leonard, for 15 rounds.

When the dust had settled, Duran had wrested from Leonard the former Olympic gold medalist's WBC welterweight championship belt.

Like Marquez, Duran, of Panama City, Panama, was a former 135-pound star. Duran was able to pounce early and often, his power earning Leonard's attention within the first four rounds before following up his momentum with a sustained, relentless, high-energy punch output.

Leonard remained aware of Duran's potency and bothered by his aggression throughout their bout. But Duran had taken more time to acclimate himself in preparation for Leonard.

After beating rival Esteban De Jesus in 1978 -- his last time fighting as a lightweight -- Duran spent the next nearly two and a half years competing eight times at or around the welterweight limit, including twice going over 147 pounds.

Duran was 8-0 with four knockouts during that time, having twice avenged his lone defeat against De Jesus. Against Leonard, Duran's confidence soared.

Marquez's heart is unquestionable. The old warrior rose from the canvas after being floored three times to earn a draw against Manny Pacquiao, whom he still insists he has beaten twice.

Marquez has stated that he has, yet again, prepared "to die in the ring" against Mayweather, and if so, then the little man from Mexico City must, yet again, fight as if his life depends on it.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Juan Manuel Marquez won't let Floyd Mayweather Jr. bore you to death

2009-09-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

It is a legacy, a tradition, and an honor. In Mexico, they don't make many boxers. But they make a lot of great fighters.

It's not to say that they are unskilled brawlers or crazy sluggers hell-bent on knockouts. Far from it, in fact. The skill level of the best Mexican fighters of this generation is outstandingly high. Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Israel Vazquez, and many more have both thrilled us with amazing guts and wowed us with their pure talent and boxing brains. For as action-crazed as all three men could get, they were/are also very good boxers.

The most talented of them all, however, may be the man who more inherited the throne than anything else. Juan Manuel Marquez was seen for years as a great fighter that couldn't get over the hump, couldn't win the big one. Losses to Freddie Norwood and Chris John derailed his career one step before he could perhaps start creeping further into the public's line of sight, and a draw with Manny Pacquiao -- while great for Marquez's career and notoriety -- gave the notion more weight.

It was a March 2007 win over Mexican hero Barrera that finally put him over the top. While the fight was closer than the judges' scorecards and a bit of an underrated mini-classic, with both warriors bringing their best, it was Marquez who came out the victor, and it felt overdue. Finally, Juan Manuel Marquez could get the credit his skills so richly deserved. And it's not that he didn't get any credit; he got plenty. But he deserved even more.

Barrera would retire later in 2007, and unretire the next year. Barrera's rival and fellow Mexican fighting icon Erik Morales also retired in 2007, and plans to come back this year. Barrera and Morales stepping down could have hurt Mexico's boxing reputation to some degree, but they left the country's fighting pride in good hands. Marquez and his brother Rafael along with Rafael's rival Israel Vazquez carried the torch, putting on Fight of the Year candidates and cementing themselves among the sport's best pound-for-pound.

After their third war in 2008, Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez both took a break. Top-level boxing in Mexico took a serious blow in January of this year when Antonio Margarito not only got demolished by Shane Mosley, but was also disgraced, and is now seen as a cheater by the vast majority of the boxing audience.

With one hero's name in the mud and two more on the shelf, Juan Manuel Marquez stepped into the ring on February 28 with Mexican-American Juan Diaz, and the two went to war. Marquez eventually knocked Diaz out in the ninth round of an instant classic, and he immediately called out Floyd Mayweather Jr.

I thought then that it was really more of a bait tactic, trying to lure Manny Pacquiao into the third fight Marquez was so desperately chasing. There was no reason for Juan Manuel to be fighting at 135 pounds other than to chase Manny and try to force his hand. Now he was calling out the former welterweight champion?

To my surprise, Mayweather-Marquez is merely two weeks away now. I have been a fairly harsh critic of the fight, its promotion, and pretty much everything else.

But I do not believe it will be a bad fight, as some do. I don't think Juan Manuel Marquez has a bad fight in him anymore. As he's aged and slowed, he's become one of the sport's most reliable must-see men. And with his role as such an underdog and the physical disadvantages he'll face (size, speed, power, defensive acumen -- pretty much the whole nine yards), chances are good Marquez will find himself in a hole against Mayweather on the scorecards.

And will Marquez be content to just not get knocked out and rack up a points loss?

Not a chance. He's just not wired that way.

This fight may very well end with Juan Manuel Marquez flat on his back, knocked silly a la Ricky Hatton when he faced Floyd. But you can bet your bottom dollar that Marquez isn't going to let this turn into one of Floyd's yawn-inducing clinics. If it gets him knocked out, Juan Manuel Marquez will make this a fight.

And the great Mexican tradition will carry on.

Source: badlefthook.com

Mayweather takes center stage

2009-09-09T02:09:00.000-07:00

For Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr., boxing is his business. And his major comeback to the boxing arena proves that the undefeated boxer will once again take center stage in the boxing world.

After years of absence in the boxing scene, Mayweather will be back in the ring to fight Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez of Mexico on Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Mayweather made quite an entrance when he showed up with his “armored truck,” a statement for his nickname “Money,” when he opened his training session to the media.

He said he is looking forward to his match with Marquez and possibly, with No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Manny Pacquiao.

“Manny Pacquiao is a good fighter and the fight presents itself in the future. Absolutely, we’ll make it happen but all roads lead to Floyd Mayweather,” he said.

“But my main focus at this particular time is Marquez. The world and the people are saying that Marquez really beat Pacquiao both times so we will see how the fight plays on September 19th,” he added.

Fight of the century

Meantime, the presence of his father and former trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr. was a surprise to many.

It has been years since Floyd Jr. and Floyd Sr. were in speaking terms. But now, Floyd Sr. is back in his son’s corner.

Floyd Sr. believes that a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout is a mistake for “the People’s Champ.”

“Floyd and Manny Pacquiao—That’s ooops upside the head, believe me that’s what it all is,” said the elder Mayweather.

Boxing analysts, meanwhile, said that if the “Pacman” were to fight “Money,” Mayweather would have the advantage.

“The fight that people want to see is Mayweather against Pacquiao, that’s the fight that would be the fight of the century,” said Yahoo Sports columnist Kevin Iole.

“But I think that’s the fight everybody wants to see. If you’re gonna say the fight of the century, it would be that one,” he commented.

The “Number One / Numero Uno” bout will be on pay-per-view while the fight will be broadcast in the Philippines by ABS-CBN.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Team Peterson Exclusive on Mayweather Sparring Tale

2009-09-09T01:53:00.000-07:00

The gym rats in Las Vegas are buzzing. Not about the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. And not about the November clash between Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto. Two weeks after it happened, the local gym rats and numerous Las Vegas insiders are still chatting, without rest, about the sparring session between Mayweather and undefeated junior welterweight Lamont Peterson.

With many of these gym stories, there is a lot truth and also a lot of fabrication. The recent story going around, about Mayweather working Peterson over until he quit, was one of those stories with a lot of fabrication. A trainer for one of Mayweather's current sparring partners sent a recent gym report to Doug Fischer, the editor for RingTV.com. In that report, the trainer disclosed his fighter's account of the Mayweather-Peterson sparring session.

“FLOYD IS MORE THAN READY FOR MARQUEZ. HIS HAND SPEED, REFLEXES, CONDITIONING, TIMING AND RHYTHM ARE ALL THERE. MY FIGHTER TOLD ME THAT LAMONT PETERSON SHOWED UP AT FLOYD’S GYM TWO WEEKS AGO TRYING TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF. AFTER VERBALLY ABUSING EACH OTHER FOR 30 MINUTES WHILE PUTTING ON THEIR HANDWRAPS, THEY WENT EIGHT 4-MINUTE ROUNDS WITH 15 SECONDS REST, WHICH WAS A SPARRING SESSION WORTH PAYING FOR ACCORDING TO MY FIGHTER. AFTER EIGHT ROUNDS, LAMONT COULDN'T GO NO MORE BECAUSE OF FATIGUE. THAT’S WHEN FLOYD REALLY STARTED TAUNTING HIM SAYING TO HIM ‘ANOTHER ROUND, ANOTHER ROUND!’ WHEN LAMONT REFUSED TO GO ANOTHER ROUND, THAT’S WHEN THE VERBAL ABUSE WENT TO RECORD LEVELS IN THE MAYWEATHER CAMP. NAME CALLING AND VERBAL ABUSE CONTINUED TO BE DIRECTED AT LAMONT FOR ANOTHER 10 MINUTES.”

There were many who were impressed after reading that bit of information. I was impressed until I spoke with a well-known insider in Las Vegas, who told me - "You heard what? That's not true. I know several guys who were there and Lamont Peterson worked Mayweather over." After making several more calls to my contacts in Vegas, it became embarrassing to even repeat the above story.

Then I began to dig.

I got a hold of one individual who was actually there. He completely backed the version of the story where Peterson handled his business and sent shockwaves in the Mayweather gym. Due to a friendly relationship with the Mayweather team, the person asked to remain anonymous.

"Lamont did his thing. If anybody got their ass kicked - it was Floyd. Lamont went to town on the boy. Make no mistake, it was competitive and exciting to watch."

Then I dug some more.

The hunt led me to Team Peterson member Jeff Miller. He was present for the sparring and backed the story of my sources. After showing him a copy of the story floating around the net, with Mayweather making Lamont quit, he advised me to contact Peterson's trainer/manager Barry Hunter.

I then made my way to Hunter. Coincidentally, Hunter had heard about the story Monday night through his wife - and I didn't blame him for being animated at times during our conversation. He couldn't believe that so many people were running with the story - without speaking to both sides.

The two days of sparring took place by chance. Lamont, Hunter and their entourage were in town for Anthony Peterson's fight at the Hard Rock. They were looking to get in some sparring work. A mutual friend, former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, made a suggestion to head over to the Mayweather Gym. Rahman made the call and got them the green light.

Hunter was more than ready to set the record straight.

"That's bullsh*t. There were several people in the gym. If you are going to put the story out there, at least tell the truth. We weren’t even going to speak about it. I had a few people ask me about it and I said 'I plead the fifth.' The first day was real hostile. They went to war the first day. Lamont had 18-ounce gloves on and Floyd had on 14-ounce gloves. They went 8 to 10 4-minute rounds with 15 to 30 second rests. The first day was relatively easy, the second day Lamont did his thing," Hunter told BoxingScene.com.

"Keep in mind, Lamont was out of shape with 18-ounce gloves on. I have to tell you, it was unbelievable to watch. I wish I had a tape to show you. They thought after the first day we weren't coming back but we went right back. The second day, Lamont was off the chain. It was raw, uncut and things they said to each other you certainly wouldn’t say in a church. They, meaning the uncle and father, thought that was the best work that Floyd ever got. The combinations, the skill, it was unbelievable to watch those two.

“Lamont did not go there to make a name for himself. Lamont is not a stranger to sparring former and current world champions. I'll keep the names a secret but it wasn't the first time he went into someone's backyard and put it on. I can't take nothing away from Floyd, he can fight. What got him is this. The average person Floyd spars can't hold a candle to him. But Lamont is a world champion like Floyd, not some sparring partner. And I think it caught Floyd off-guard. If they ever show a tape of that, his reign of terror will be over."

I asked Hunter about one version of the story where Peterson, prior to the start of the last round of their second day of sparring, went after Mayweather with a vengeance. That incident did take place but contrary to some of the stories, it was Hunter who stopped the sparring after the situation began to intensify.

"We said 'one more round,’ and they said 'one more round. ' Floyd went to go drink some water and Lamont went right to him and hit him. He didn't want no breaks. Lamont went into his bang of tricks in that round. I remember there was one punch he threw where it looked like a pitcher was winding up to throw a ball, and he threw a bodyshot. Then it was getting a bit heated,” Hunter said.

“Lamont is one of the toughest men I've ever known in my life. He took off his head gear and wanted to fight without head gear. They went in the middle of the ring, face to face, talking back and forth. I went in and got him and I took him out because now it was beyond fighting. I stopped it and that's the truth."

Peterson will get his big chance at the spotlight when he challenges WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley on December 5. I’ve spoken to a few on my respected colleagues about Bradley-Peterson. The predictions are literally split down the middle - an early indicator of a great fight.

Source: boxingscene.com

Skeptical over Mayweather's 'bloody' sparring session

2009-09-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

"This is blood. This is real blood!", Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s sparring partner told the HBO 24/7 camera crew.

I have never seen a fighter so proud and excited showing off the evidence of what Roger Mayweather himself described as an "a$$-whooping".

Not that I doubt that "Money" isn't capable of busting up a sparring partner the way he did against this blood drenched fellow, it's just that it all looks too convenient.

First the door closes for cameras to film any sparring then next thing you know, Mayweather's sparring partner is bloodied up as if they waited to holler and get the camera crew back before they attempted to tend to Mayweather's bloody sparring partner.

Perhaps I may be watching too much of 'Forensic Files' but the manner of how the blood was smudged all over the headgear also hinted tampering. How did the blood get all over the top and the sides of the headgear when it seemed that it came from the nose and the mouth? And the ring floor looked pretty impeccable too for it to appear it just witnessed a bloody beatdown. Not to mention, Mayweather had been hanging out with WWE people quite often in the past couple of years.

I guess we will never truly know if the bloody sparring session was for real or staged unless Mayweather opens his doors to future sparring sessions and captured the real thing. But then again, it probably doesn't really matter. What I am more curious about is Mayweather's ribs. Videos of sparring sessions can definitely reveal that- whether Floyd is favoring it or it's also another one of his myths.

I'll tell you this though, Marquez can drink all the urine in the world he wants but Mayweather has the advantage in terms of preparation simply because its easier to find sparring partners that can mimic Marquez's actions compared to his. Marquez's camp really needs to get better quality and more accurate, quick and slick sparring partners than the people they employ right now. Shane Mosley would be a great fit as he is another Golden Boy exec and has a great reputation of being able to copy other fighters during sparring sessions. Aside from that, he has the strength, size and speed that would prepare Marquez to face the biggest opponent and challenge in his career in Mayweather.

Either way, the bloody scene proved to have served it's purpose. It gave the fight some needed publicity and planted thoughts and doubts in his opponent's psyche. Real or not, Floyd Mayweather Jr. can really bust a sparring partner up... real bad. But Juan Manuel Marquez is no sparring partner.

Source: examiner.com

Roger Mayweather confident layoff won't hurt Floyd's chances against Juan Manuel Marquez

2009-09-09T01:17:00.000-07:00

When the issue arose last week of his nephew's layoff, which reaches 21 months tomorrow, Roger Mayweather blanched, then correctly pointed out how some of the greatest names in boxing history, alongside which his nephew compares favorably, overcame much more substantial respites.

Floyd Mayweather's labor day looms next week in a comeback bout against Juan Manuel Marquez that falls something short of his all-important potential showdown against Manny Pacquiao, and well beyond the sort of tuneup fight most in his position would have taken.

The Grand Rapids native has 12 rounds, in 12 days, to traverse the rust vs. rest canyon, while trying to shake off the former in the midst of a bout against a man renowned for his own mid-fight tweaks. As Marquez adjusts to Mayweather, Mayweather must adjust to both Marquez and himself.

There isn't anything easy about it.

Roger Mayweather fought steadily from 1981-99, and during his two-championship career took only one break as long as a full year, and then only at the very end.

He remains a rare student of boxing, however, and can recite some of the more -- and less -- successful comebacks by rote and rationale.

Essentially, fighters who build their legends as whirlwinds, then embark on comebacks after lengthy layoffs, generally find their dynamic fury difficult to recreate.

Those with more fundamental foundations -- a category into which Floyd Mayweather definitively falls -- have easier times of it.

That's why Mayweather may not be exactly the same fighter as before but should come far closer to it than naysayers might hope.

"The greatest fighters in the world have had layoffs," Roger Mayweather said. "What do you think Sugar Ray Leonard had? He had a 51/2-year layoff. He had two detached retina surgeries. And he still beat Marvin Hagler after being laid off 51/2 years. Sugar Ray Robinson was laid off three years and that's the greatest fighter on the globe. Ali was laid off three years.

"So Floyd ain't the only guy that's been laid off. Most of the greatest fighters in the history of boxing have one thing in common: They've been laid off."

Leonard actually had one fight in five-plus years before defeating Hagler, although the rest of the timelines essentially are accurate.

And so is this: Robinson spent several years losing and regaining championships after his comeback, against fighters who might not have touched him beforehand; Muhammad Ali did great things after his comeback, but undeniably was not the same after his draft-refusal layoff; and Leonard stretched his comeback too far and took some losses because of it.

Fury-fueled fighters have the biggest comeback problems.

Joe Louis' post-war comeback resulted in some good wins after one fight in four years, but a second comeback, induced by tax trouble, was not as successful and included two of his three losses, to Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano.

Mike Tyson's post-prison comeback began with some typical tuneups but he never was close to the same fighter after his rape conviction, was softened up in ugly losses to Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, then later blown out by little-known Danny Williams and Kevin McBride.

Floyd Mayweather, at 32 years old, should not yet be in the position of challenging his 39-0 record via timeline.

Then again, Father Time treats people differently.

"Once I started boxing, I had to box a few times, you know, box four or five times," Floyd Mayweather said. "I still was looking good, I really wasn't taking no punishment. But about the fifth time I started boxing, I started looking real, real sharp, looking real, real good."

The rib injury that postponed the original July date was indicative of an athlete on the rebound, but if Mayweather falters against Marquez, the choice of comeback opponent will bear more responsibility than the down time.

"I don't think the two-year layoff is going to affect me," he said. "I feel fast, I feel strong and the timing is there."

Source: mlive.com

The Quiet Strength of Juan Manuel Marquez

2009-09-09T01:10:00.000-07:00

As I watch HBO’s 24/7 program showcasing Juan Manuel Marquez and Floyd Mayweather, one thing becomes strikingly apparent: these two guys are monsters.

It is both frightening and exhilarating to see the mental change within these proud warriors as they steel themselves for their upcoming collision.

What I’ve found most interesting is the way that Juan Manuel carries himself as he prepares.

He jokes about “turkey boogers” as he gleefully downs raw quail eggs, unassumingly helps his son with math, then plays a friendly game of FIFA, and finally, and most shockingly, discusses drinking his own urine, on camera, as though he were espousing the newest super diet.

But despite these somewhat comical, and sometimes just plain gross, exploits and his quiet, courteous demeanor, there is a latent lethality to him. Just below the pleasant and inviting exterior, lurking in the netherworld of his mind, is a warrior prepared to do whatever it takes, at any cost, to earn a victory.

Marquez may sing with his family and play with his kids, nieces, and nephews, but he also wanders around volcanoes 14,000 feet (4267 meters) above sea-level, chucking boulders through the air for fun. He pops speed bags and works his sparring partners over like they owe him money.

This dichotomy is what I can only describe as quiet strength. A level of self confidence and mental focus that is well and above that of any man.

The seemingly bi-polar nature is a by product of the psychological change. Having reached a profound level of ability, something in the fighter changes and he becomes a genuinely nice person, unless of course your fighting them.

In which case one will be faced with a hurricane.

Not to say that “Money” hasn’t also reached a similar level of mental calm. Mayweather certainly carries himself with the braggadocio and self-espousing rhetoric endemic to the rap sub-culture, but if he didn’t have the mental focus to execute on a high level, he wouldn’t be 39-0 right now.

As I said, it’s watching the mental preparations that these fighters are making that intrigues me so much about 24/7. In their own minds, they go somewhere else. A place where they are infallible and their opponents totally open. A strange nirvana of sport where for an instant that seems to last a lifetime, they are perfect. Such confidence and psychological presence is rare, and an absolute pleasure to watch.

I don’t know if this mental strength will be enough for Marquez to overcome the considerable challenges in his way. I do know that when things reach their worst and the fight turns bad, it will be this same mental determination that will save him.

Win, loose, or draw, one has to admit that Juan Manuel Marquez is a fighter of extra-ordinary strength, even if he carries it quietly.

Source: bleacherreport.com

Floyd Mayweather Insists He, Not Manny Pacquiao, Is The Man

2009-09-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. debunked Manny Pacquiao's present status as boxing's best fighter, pound-for-pound, insisting, among other things, that the 2009 Fighter Of The Year's consecutive knockouts over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton were against foes he had already exposed.

"Once again, when I beat those guys, it wasn't nothing. But when [Pacquiao] beat them, 'Oh, it's so unbelievable,' and, 'We've never seen something so crazy,'" said Mayweather, 32, in response to questions from FanHouse during a recent conference call. "They're commentating and they've never been in the heat of battle."

Mayweather (39-0, 25 knockouts), who retired after a 10th-round stoppage of England's Hatton in December of 2007, will end a near two-year layoff when he enters the ring on Sept. 19 opposite Juan Manuel Marquez, a 36-year-old former champion with a record of 50-4 with 37 knockouts.

Marquez, who will be competing at his highest weight ever when he meets Mayweather at their catchweight of 144 pounds, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has twice faced Pacquiao (49-3, 37 KOs) of the Phillipines.

They battled to a draw in May of 2004 after Marquez was knocked down three times in the first round, and Marquez lost a decision during their second meeting in March of 2008.

Marquez is coming off of consecutive stoppages of former champs, Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz, in 11 and nine rounds respectively, while weighing 135 and 134.5 in those bouts.

In an exclusive interview from Mexico City on Tuesday, Marquez told Fanhouse that he weighed 143 pounds. Pacquiao will meet World Boxing Organization welterweight king, Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand.

But Mayweather has taken heat unfairly for choosing to return to the ring against what is considered an aging, smaller man in Marquez, a Mexico City native and former featherweight (125 pounds) and superfeatherweight (130).

Long resentful at the boxing media for discounting his status as the sport's premiere player, Mayweather believes he should receive credit for facing a man Pacquiao already has beaten just as the Filipino has in defeating De La Hoya and Hatton.

Mayweather was at a career-high 150 pounds when dethroned 154-pound De La Hoya as World Boxing Council light middleweight champion in May of 2007.

That victory came seven months before becoming the first man to knock out Hatton, who lost for the first time in 44 bouts. Hatton had just come off of a fourth-round knockout of Jose Luis Castillo.

Mayweather, meanwhile, contended that Pacquiao's KOs -- in eight, and, two rounds, respectively -- were against one man who was physically drained from weight loss in De La Hoya, and another, in Hatton, who was in transition from a brawling style to that of a boxer.

"De La Hoya was more comfortable at 154 when he fought me. When he fought Pacquiao, he was basically on a diet," Mayweather said of De La Hoya, who weighed 145 pounds against Pacquiao's 142. "De La Hoya was training to lose weight instead of training to fight."

Hatton was in only his second bout under longtime De La Hoya trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr. -- known for teaching boxing technique and head movement -- after having split with longtime trainer, Billy Graham.

"Hatton was switching styles. I think that his head was straight up in the air. [Plus,] once you've been knocked out, there's no doubt that you can get knocked out again," said Mayweather.

"I sit back and ask myself questions like, 'Where was this guy Pacquiao when I was dominating in the 90s?'" Mayweather said. "But where would I be if I didn't have my critics, huh?," Mayweather asked. "Where would I be?"

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

ROGER MAYWEATHER: "FLOYD IS AS SHARP AS EVER"

2009-09-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

"No doubt about it, Floyd gonna win. If Marquez can avoid a knockout somehow, more power to him, but from what we can see, if he brings the energy like Hatton, it's gonna end up the same way... Floyd is as sharp as ever. I know that for a fact. I'll be in the corner just as I always am, but I don't expect to see anything less from Floyd than we have seen in the past," stated trainer Roger Mayweather as he spoke about Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s upcoming clash with Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19th. Check it out!

Percy Crawford: How are you doing Roger?

Roger Mayweather: I'm doing good. Trying to stay focused right now and worry about nothing else until after the fight.

PC: How would you grade this training camp for the Marquez fight?

RM: It's good; great now that Floyd Sr. is part of the team again. No matter what Floyd says, having his father here is going to give him a stronger mindset going into the fight.

PC: I agree 100% with that. A lot of fighters let themselves go, in between fights and especially in retirement. How easy does it make your job that Lil Floyd is not one of those guys?

RM: Floyd has such a natural ability. We never had to worry about that, not only because of his natural ability, but his own drive. He stays in shape between fights, whether it's a 6-month break or 2 years.

PC: When Floyd got back into the gym, you being his trainer, what were some of the things you were looking for from him?

RM: I wanted him to pick up right where we left off; to come back into the game just as strong as he was before.

PC: Do you feel you picked up where ya'll left off or was it a matter of getting his feet wet again?

RM: Well, it's like warming up before you hit the weights. On day 1, we weren't training as hard as we are now, not because he wasn't capable, but because we wanted to ease the body back into the process.

PC: Floyd has been doing this for a long time. Will you be watching him closely the first couple of rounds to make sure everything is still sharp?

RM: Floyd is as sharp as ever. I know that for a fact. I'll be in the corner just as I always am, but I don't expect to see anything less from Floyd than we have seen in the past.

PC: What threats do you think Juan Manuel Marquez presents to your nephew?

RM: He's a good fighter, there's no doubt about that. He wants to fight a high-energy fight, so did Ricky Hatton and Oscar. It doesn't matter, high-energy, low-energy, it's about the overall skill of the fighter. You can fight any kind of fight you want, if Floyd better than you, he gonna beat you either way.

PC: If you had to give a prediction, how do you see this fight going?

RM: No doubt about it, Floyd gonna win. If Marquez can avoid a knockout somehow, more power to him, but from what we can see, if he brings the energy like Hatton, it's gonna end up the same way.

PC: Do you still view Lil Floyd as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world?

RM: Floyd will always be the greatest fighter in my opinion.

PC: I'm sure you plan on being successful against Marquez. Would you want the Pacquiao fight next to see if you can go 2-0 against Freddie Roach?

RM: You know, that's something that Floyd has to decide at the end of the day. We take things one step at a time, one fight at a time. We get a lot of BS from publicists out there, whether it be Pacquiao or any of the others, Floyd gonna take things one fight at a time.

PC: Good luck on the 19th. I appreciate your time Mamba. Is there anything you want to say in closing?

RM: Thank you. Just support boxing and tune in on the 19th. The sport needs all the great fighters it can get and you're gonna see a great fighter on the 19th.

Source: fighthype.com

Mayweather knows better not to pee-off Marquez

2009-09-08T06:52:00.000-07:00

Since I'm not a "boxer", I'm going to keep this "brief". Did you catch the wordplay? You better, because it's that type of article.

Well... What more can I say? I guess the video of Mayweather vs. Marquez 24/7 episode 2 said it all. And if Floyd Mayweather Jr. knew any better, he'd best know not to "piss" Juan Manuel Marquez off. If he indeed chose to, all Marquez will do is "soak" it all up and take it all in and use it to "fuel" and motivation to push him further in his pursuit of defeating the comebacking former pound-for-pound king.

I've heard stories of obsessive boxers before, but Marquez just took it to a whole new level. If he can drink his own "wee-wee" like it was a glass of lemon-flavored Gatorade after a long and tiring training, I can only wonder what else he would be willing to do.

Now, I'm curious. Is this some kind of Mexican secret boxing regimen? I don't know, but it just seems weird to me if this was Marquez's own discovery and that he'd be willing to go on TV and just show the world how he downed a whisky glass full of his own urine like it was a glass of Jose Cuervo. Actually, the way he was smacking his gums and smiling after the scene, one has to wonder whether he doesn't drink it more often. I mean, surely this must be some kind of ancient boxing secret somewhere that found it's way to Marquez. Can any of our Mexican friends confirm or refute this? And are there any other boxers that practice this? I can already imagine "The Golden Boy" sipping his golden urine in front of some old-school trainers just trying to prove he's a true Mexican.

I've read in the past that Lyoto Machida does the same thing but I just can't stomach it- Disgusting! Whatever happened to drinking traditional tablets and capsules of multi-vitamins?

And that's what it really is. Every person who I have spoken to is repulsed by Marquez's pee-drinking revelation. Not to be outdone, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is set to eat his own crap on September 19. Crap not in the form of feces, but in terms of the stuff he has been saying since announcing his comeback.

And before I forget, I said I'd make this brief. I guess the story of the day here is, kids, wash your hand after you piss, and in Marquez case I guess, brush you teeth!

Source: examiner.com

Ethiopian Review World News Forum Mayweather vs. Marquez Pitted Against Pacquiao vs Cotto Could Be the Fight of 2009

2009-09-07T23:50:00.000-07:00

Though it’s been an interesting year in boxing to this point, by far the most important fight of the year – Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton – was a mismatch, consequential only because of the stunning way in which Pacquiao won, a savage knockout that created a crossover buzz around the mighty Filipino and solidified his stature as an international superstar.

As far as the Fight of the Year in 2009 goes right now, my choice is the Juan Manuel Marquez/Juan Diaz lightweight title fight from back in February. That was a thrilling contest, no doubt, with the smaller Marquez dominated early before solving (and cutting) Diaz in the middle rounds and ultimately earning a hard-fought stoppage in the ninth.

Still, compared to the heroic FOY’s of recent vintage – the Israel Vazquez/Rafael Marquez fights, Pavlik/Taylor I, Corrales/Castillo I – Marquez/Diaz seems just a little thin in both content and narrative to be remembered as the definitive fight of 2009.

Of course, there are two gigantic fights looming on the fall schedule, each with narrative out the proverbial wazoo. The oddsmakers will tell you that neither of these bouts will prove FOY material once they hit the ring, and though I’m not entirely sold on that opinion, I at least can see where it’s coming from. In any case, recent news has me thinking that the real of fight of 2009 will not be any one bout taken on its own, but rather a bout that features bout-on-bout, the epic contest that is shaping up to be the Mayweather vs. Marquez against the Pacquiao vs Cotto.

In a telephone press conference yesterday to announce the Mayweather vs. Marquez undercard (a pretty damn good undercard as well), the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Schaefer, fired the first official shot of this upcoming battle when he said that “This is certainly, without a doubt, going to be the biggest pay-per-view event of the year.” He was adamant that Mayweather vs. Marquez would outsell the Pacquiao vs Cotto fight and even went so far as to suggest that it had the potential to outsell the 2007 De La Hoya/Mayweather fight, which right now, at 2.4 million PPV buys, is the most lucrative fight in the history of boxing.

Strong words, indeed. Across the internet yesterday, Schaefer’s comments were met with widespread derision by boxing fans along the lines of the old “dude, are you high?” variety. On the whole, the buzz generated among boxing heads by Pacquiao vs Cotto, scheduled for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has dwarfed that generated by Mayweather vs. Marquez, scheduled for September 19 in the same arena. Even though Floyd has been away from the ring for almost two years, most people feel like his fight with Marquez is a mismatch merely because of the size differential involved. The bout is being contested at a catch-weight of 144 pounds, and while Mayweather has fought comfortably as a welterweight (and once as a junior middleweight), Marquez has only fought above 130 pounds twice, and he looked small in his fight with Juan Diaz as a lightweight. Though no one in the boxing community disrespects Marquez’s renowned skills, the idea that he can jump two weight classes to beat a fighter as resourceful and disciplined as Mayweather seems like the longest of long shots. Throw in the fact that Marquez has never been a big box-office draw, and that both men are devoted counter-punchers, and you have the potential for not only a mismatch, but a tactical one that is less than exhilarating and that fails to capture the imagination of the public.

Compare that to Pacquiao vs Cotto. Pacquiao is a heavy favorite in that fight, but not in nearly the same way that Mayweather is over Marquez, not among boxing pundits anyway. Despite his destruction of Oscar De La Hoya last December, many questions remain about Pacquiao’s ability to fight as a welterweight (or near-welterweight – he’ll face Cotto at a 145-pound limit), especially against a big welterweight like Cotto in the prime of his career and possessing proven speed and very heavy hands. Add to that drama the fact that Cotto is a much bigger star than Marquez, along with the furor that still surrounds Pacquiao following his destruction of Hatton, and you have a fight that on paper promises to be an infinitely bigger draw than Mayweather vs. Marquez.

For myself, however, I see at least the possibility for an upset in this contest. The question for me is not about the drawing power of Pacquiao vs Cotto. That fight will do big numbers, without a doubt. For me the question is about Mayweather vs. Marquez, and its potential between now and fight night to make up the differential in anticipation that currently exists between the two events.

The main avenue for that will be a familiar one, I think: HBO’s 24/7 series. Mayweather vs. Marquez 24/7 premiered on August 29, and it may be the most important edition of the lot thus far, because to my mind it has the most riding on it in terms of how it can influence the relative success or failure of a fight. Mayweather has been the breakout star of the 24/7 franchise since it debuted in the spring of 2007, and one could argue that 24/7 made him the star he is today (and vice versa, actually). Floyd is unquestionably great television, as are his curmudgeonly and villainous father, Floyd Sr., and his uncle/trainer, Roger. These three have made for the most compelling 24/7 material by far, and to push the Mayweather vs. Marquez promotion out of the doldrums in which it currently dwells into the pay-per-view ether, they’re going to have to bring their A-games to this latest incarnation of the series.

Of course, they’ve already suffered a setback on that front – Roger’s recent, grisly run-in with the law. This incident, in which he was found by police choking a woman-boxer who he formerly had trained, is far too ugly to be cast in anything but the darkest light, and it makes Roger Mayweather, who once came off on 24-7 as lovable but dangerous, seem merely dangerous, hideously so, utterly criminal and otherwise unredeemed.

I sense, however, that both Floyd’s braintrust and HBO will be able to find a way to keep the Roger story from completely overshadowing the task at hand. And I see that potentially happening in one very definitive way. If Floyd really wants to take a sure path towards making this fight enormous, and if he wants to immediately supersede any other news that surrounds him or his camp or the fight as it is posited right now, he has it in his power to do so.

All he has to do, with his inimitable gusto, is insult the honor of Mexican boxers, Mexican people, and Mexico itself. Then, oh man … then all hell would break loose.

This to me is the x-factor in the Pacquiao vs Cotto against Mayweather vs. Marquez war at the box office, the puncher’s chance, the one reason why, if you gave me the opportunity right now at even money, I still wouldn’t bet on Pacquiao vs Cotto doing better PPV numbers than Mayweather vs. Marquez. No one in boxing today (and no one since Duran, I would argue) is so gifted and compelling a villain as Floyd Mayweather. I’ve written at length on this topic before. Floyd wears the black hat with effortless and contagious spirit, and he has built his current fame on the fact that people love to hate him, and watch his fights in droves in the hope of seeing him catch a beating, just as they did in the early 60’s with a Louisville loudmouth named Cassius Clay.

Highlighted by the fact that Mexico City, as the site of Marquez’s training camp, will play a starring role in this upcoming 24/7, if Floyd goes out of his way to insult Mexico and Mexicans on the show, it will do for the fight what Marquez himself probably can’t – bring the Mexican fight-fan masses into the pay-per-view equation in a big way. Marquez has never quite connected with the Mexican fight community in the way of his iconic peers, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. But if suddenly he were fighting for the honor of his country against a trash-talking dissmaster on the order of Floyd, well, Marquez would be transformed into a national icon in a heartbeat.

And even beyond the way it would mobilize the Mexican public, should Floyd choose to hate on Mexico in the lead-up to this fight, it would immediately cast the bout as a classic contest of good versus evil on the grandest scale. As for the effects of that on the American scene, I don’t know if you’ve taken a look at a Hollywood blockbuster lately, but cartoonish struggles between the forces of light and the forces of darkness tend to rake in beaucoup bucks at the box office these days. And the more cartoonish, the better. Americans like their good guys good, and their bad guys baaaaaaaaaaad, and our man Floyd can really deliver on that front. How much badder could he get than aiming some gutter-mouthed low-blows at a noble, hard-working, dignified Mexican like Marquez?

I admit that such a strategy would be a bold move for Mayweather, but on the other hand, what does he have to lose? Based on the PR work he’s done to this point in his career, he’s already going to be the bad guy in this fight, and if he wins it, he’s likely going to be the even badder guy in his next fight, which most would expect to be Manny Pacquiao (should he get past Cotto). Pac Man has the good guy market cornered at the moment and for the foreseeable future. At this point, let’s face it – a Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight is pretty much Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader territory as far as the public consciousness goes.

That’s why I would not be at all surprised to see Floyd, who always has been bold as bold can be, say “damn the torpedoes” and go for the Mexican jugular in the upcoming 24/7 series, thereby transforming what so far has been a ho-hum promotion into a barnburner. In this emerging battle between Pacquiao vs Cotto and Mayweather vs. Marquez, it would indeed be a very dirty tactic on Floyd’s end, and yet on the other hand, it may be his only shot at scoring a knockout in a fight where right now his opponent seems to hold all the advantages.

Source: ethiopianreview.com

Floyd Mayweather: Is there a change on the horizon?

2009-09-07T23:46:00.000-07:00

Everybody wants to be loved. Even the baddest of the bad and the meanest of the mean. Make no mistake about it. You may have built up your tough guy persona, but deep inside everyone longs for that pat on the back.

Is this the year that Floyd Mayweather turns the corner and actually tries to be embraced by boxing fans? He is very talented with lightning quick reflexes, but something is lacking. His style is not exactly fan friendly or given to result in fight of the year type bouts.

Team Mayweather have made subtle changes throughout the years It started when he appeared on Dancing With The Stars. It was a calculated risk to show Floyd's softer side. It may have worked on the casual fan, but the diehard still had their doubts.

He then proceeded to praise the just defeated Ricky Hatton. This may have been done in hopes of bringing some of Ricky's fans over to his side. But Hatton fans like brawling so it was doubtful that any of his fans would have been glued to the television for Mayweather's next fight.

Now Floyd can be seen on HBO's 24/7. Floyd did not diss Marquez in the first installment. This may also have been calculated. As was the shot of Floyd delivering meals to the homeless. This may be good for his image, but it will not win over boxing fans.

So what will win over some fans? The answer is threefold.

First, stop with all of the braggadocio. Boxers fight and are expected to say how they will beat their opponent. But nobody wants to hear someone constantly say how great they are. It is like a petulant child screaming out for attention. It may have been cute once, now it is old and irritating. Nobody cares how much money you throw around. Again that only shows a lack of maturity.

Secondly, if you are going to talk the talk, then walk the walk. In the De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7, all anyone heard was how you were going to whip Oscar's butt. Only in more graphic and vulgar terms. But once you were in the ring you became the same old pitty pat, defensive minded Floyd. There is a reason no one wanted to see De La Hoya-Mayweather 2. It was because the first fight was such a snoozefest. If you fought every fight like you did against Gatti and Corrales then you would have a growing legion of fans. But that Floyd is never seen anymore.

Third, fight the best. Hatton made you work. Marquez will do the same. But you are a welterweight so fight a true welter. Names like Mosley, Cotto and even Margarito have been out there for years. Stop crying about the money and get these fights done. It would be a natural for you, if you beat Marquez, to fight the Pacquiao-Cotto winner. If it all falls into place and you say no because of money then you lose all credibility with the diehard boxing fan. Even a five year old can talk a good fight. Legends get it done.

It is not like the boxing world is asking a leopard to change it's spots. We are only asking for a little more action and a little less talk. There is a reason Pacquiao, Cotto and Hatton have such large followings. It is because they are like their fans. Just an average guy doing their job. They don't make their fans feel as if they are beneath them.

So, this might be the year Floyd joins the party. Or he could act like the spoiled kid and bring the party to a screeching halt.

Source: examiner.com

Eight Reasons To Prefer Boxing Over MMA

2009-09-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

It's going to get pretty hard soon to avoid the dumb-as-rocks debate over boxing versus mixed martial arts, seeing as how on Sept. 19, the UFC and boxing each are putting on pay-per-view events. Maybe ignoring it is the right way to go.

But the parade of morons on the MMA side -- and, really, in the mainstream media -- is too obnoxious for me to look away forever. Let me clarify by saying that not all MMA fans, or 50 percent, or any such estimate, are morons, or anything like that. It's just that the vocal ones who hate boxing are really intolerable.

My stance, as always, is that there is no right or wrong answer here; MMA bouts and boxing bouts are NASCAR and Formula 1, both fights the same way their equivalents are both car races. You like what you like. Both will thrive and survive. That doesn't mean I can't make the case for why I, personally, prefer boxing to MMA. And if your choice is between UFC 103 Sept. 19 and the stacked Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez card Sept. 19, maybe this will help you make up your mind.

The Best Boxing Matches Blow Away The Best MMA Matches

I have to start with the biggest reason. I've watched some of the best MMA has to offer. I've watched most of the best boxing has to offer. A lot of "best of all time" lists of MMA matches, for instance, put Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar at #1 or thereabouts. And I confess -- it was an entertaining scrap. But it has a mere fraction of the sustained action, or back-and-forth drama, of what I consider the best boxing match of all time, Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo. In fact, I'm not sure it even comes close to rivaling any given "Fight of the Year" in boxing. Or, for that matter, any given fight that would make the top-5 in any given year in boxing.

The reasons for that sustained action and back-and-forth drama, actually, can be found in the nature of each sport, not merely because of some aesthetic preference. I'll elaborate more on the "whys" momentarily.

History

Boxing has history. MMA doesn't. It's not MMA's fault. It's a relatively new sport, even if some of the fighting disciplines that comprise MMA are ancient. It's going to take time for MMA to have the richness that comes with history. When Manny Pacquiao wins real championship belts in four different divisions, the achievement is magnified by the fact that no one, not in a hundred years, has done that before, and so many amazing fighters have populated the boxing ring. It's the same reason so many of baseball's records are so hallowed, especially in comparison to, say, basketball's or football's.

Knockdown Rule

So here's one of those "whys" I just mentioned to explain how the best boxing matches are often more dramatic than the best MMA matches: because when a boxer gets knocked down and hurt, he is given 10 seconds to recover and rally to win later. There's hardly anything more amazing than that -- for a fighter to near the edge of unconsciousness, only to summon an inner spirit the average person can't comprehend and emerge victorious. Now, certainly, I've seen MMA fighters rally from being staggered. But that's a different precipice, one boxers deal with, too. If an MMA fighter is hurt badly enough to fall down, generally he'll be pounced upon while he's on his back and put to sleep before he gets a chance to come back and win.

Ground Game

A related point here. I find MMA's "ground and pound" tedious at best, unsportsmanlike at worst. I just don't enjoy seeing two people wrestle around on the floor, jockeying for position, and usually doing very little. I absolutely understand that there are subtle tactics at play that could be interesting to someone. They just aren't interesting to me. And an MMA fan can say, "What about all the holding they do in boxing?," to which I'd answer, "I hate it. I'd like to see it penalized by referees more frequently."

Furthermore, I'm also aware that MMA is, thus far in its history, less likely to result in loss of life for its participants than boxing. But -- and this is an argument from tradition, a total logical fallacy, I recognize -- but our culture has viewed it as uncivilized to "hit someone while they're down." I share that value. This is a side point, and not one I'd focus on, but I'm explaining my reasons, and this is one of them. Because I find the idea of jumping on someone who's just been knocked unconscious and hitting them with an even more savage punch, as happened here, repugnant.

Gracefulness Versus Street Fighting

One of the arguments for MMA that I find hard to disagree with is that it more closely resembles a "real" fight than a boxing match does. (Most "real" fights are 10 times as sloppy and awful as a top MMA fight, but still.) If that's what you're into, I can't win you over, probably, although I might also recommend you to videotapes of real street fights that are easily purchased over the Internet.

Me? I like to see athletic grace. I like artistry. I'd rather see a seven-punch combo -- or even a fighter dodging seven straight punches -- than somebody's teeth flying out. (Again, not that such a thing happens in MMA anymore; it's just short-hand for preferring skill to mere violence.) It's not that I don't have some kind of interest in violence. One of the things that makes boxing such a compelling act of athletic achievement is the pain one has to endure, and the risk thereof. But because so much of MMA ends in someone being tackled, the odds of someone pivoting his body, blocking or ducking to avoid a barrage of lightning-fast blows and then returning the favor -- as happens regularly in boxing -- are next to none. It's also one of the reasons boxing can have such sustained action.

Punching Technique

I think there's a certain beauty in a properly-delivered punch. A good right cross is swift, straight and accurate. You won't find many such punches in MMA. There's a reason for this, of course, and it has something to do with the notion that when you have to watch out for kicks, knees and takedowns, you won't always have a chance to get your body in the right position to produce a perfect punch. But sometimes when you generalize, you lose some of the excellence inherent to doing one thing repeatedly and well. MMA forces its practitioners to generalize. I'd personally rather watch something done really, really well in this case.

Conditioning

I don't think that boxers are better athletes, necessarily, than mixed martial artists. I don't know if it's even possible to measure it. So when I say "conditioning," I'm not saying boxers are inherently better-conditioned, even if I suspect that may be the case. But frequently a few minutes into an MMA round, especially late in a fight, its practitioners are huffing and puffing. I'm sure the difference between three and five minute rounds has something to do with it. Or maybe there's more full-body exertion in the wrestling mixed martial artists have to do. All I know is that I tend to be unimpressed by two men, exhausted, trying to catch their breaths in the last two minutes of a five-minute round then resting instead of fighting the full three minutes then resting one.

Odds And Ends

None of this fits into any particular category: The way MMA divisions start at higher weights means fewer chances for graceful bouts and sustained action, odd though that may seem -- every one of the Ring magazine Fights of the Year since 1996 has been fought between men who weighed 140 pounds or less... Fighting for a living is a hard path, and boxers on the whole, especially at the top end of the sport, are paid better. I know there's some dispute about how much money the people at each sport's middle class are paid and whether it's comparable, but there's a reason so many MMA fighters talk about moving over to boxing, and I think it's not entirely a myth that is seducing them.

I could, and frequently have, acknowledged all the things MMA does better than boxing. The near-monopoly that allows UFC to make most of the best fights happen rather than hoping everyone will see the light, something that has happened more often in boxing in the last two years but isn't as mandatory; the commitment to making it an "event" instead of one big-name boxing match and a bunch of mismatches, something boxing is only just now seeming to fix with Mayweather-Marquez; etc. etc. And there are things MMA reputedly does better than boxing that aren't necessarily so -- if Brock doesn't fight Fedor because both men are signed with different organizations, doesn't that hurt the argument for MMA's "always delivers the best fights," especially when boxing does it so regularly these days?

But this is one man's view. I fear I danced on the edge of snobbery there at points, and I have avoided writing this column for so long out of fear of coming across that way. Just know that if you're an MMA fan and this column pisses you off, I absolutely respect your preference for MMA over boxing; there is no "truth" in which sport is better. Have at it. I'll take my sweet science, and different strokes can rule the world.

Source: queensberry-rules.com

Floyd Mayweather goes to war with the UFC

2009-09-07T21:56:00.000-07:00

In what looks like only the first of a series of ratings battles between Boxing and MMA, Floyd Mayweather is going head to head against the UFC on September the 19th.

The undercard of UFC 103 will be airing for free on Spike TV, the UFC's carrier channel for free shows and The Ultimate Fighter. In a bizarre move by Mayweather he actually pushed the date of his fight back so that it coincided with the UFC card.

Never one to back down from anything Dana White, the bullish and often overly aggressive president of the UFC then decided to air the preliminary fights for free in an effort to both publicize the UFC card and take buys away from the Mayweather fight. Which one will come out on top in terms of total buys will probably be the boxing in this case. The UFC 103 card isn't particularly strong, and was probably seen as a soft target that Mayweather could use to claim he was bigger than the sport of MMA.

That being said, he certainly isn't the biggest draw in either MMA or Boxing, Brock Lesnar and Manny Pacquiao are both capable of selling more pay per views, and the formula for MMA to use several big name fighters on each card means that they aren't just trying to sell an event on one or two names alone. Floyd may be a great fighter, but he isn't that popular without some angle or hook to sell the fight without a exciting opponent. Mayweather alone isn't the kind of guy who will drum up the kind of sales that the likes of Ricky Hatton would for example, meaning Floyd needs the easy attention that verbally sparring with MMA brings.

The war of words between the pound for pound great and the legendarily outspoken UFC mouthpiece Dana White has been brewing for some time now, and doesn't appear to be showing any signs of abating:

“I used to talk like Floyd Mayweather when I was involved in boxing. I talked just like him, until I educated myself about this sport. These guys are amazing athletes, Floyd Mayweather is one of the best boxers ever, (and) Sean Sherk will whoop his ass in under two minutes. Any day that Mayweather wants to put his money and his ass where his mouth is, I’m ready. If he wants to step up, let’s do it. I’m willing to put together a fight for Sean Sherk and Floyd Mayweather with numbers that would make sense for Floyd. And I guarantee you he would not accept it. Floyd Mayweather would never fight in the UFC because he would get his head ripped off.“ (Dana White)

"I'll beat him and come home and watch basketball. Why would I go into a sport paying hundreds of thousands when I'm in a sport paying $20 million?" (Mayweather).

"UFC's champions can't handle boxing. That's why they are in UFC." Mayweather then added: "Put one of our guys in UFC and he'd be the champion. Any good fighter, he'd straight knock them out. Take Chuck Liddell. Put him in the ring with a (boxer) who is just 10-0 and Chuck Liddell would get punished. They wouldn't have a chance to grapple (us) because we'd knock them out." (Mayweather).

"Boxers couldn't become mixed martial artists. That's why they're boxers," White then added: "They (Boxers) are one trick ponies. Our guys can do everything. They can box, they can kick box, they can wrestle and do jiu-jitsu. They are much better athletes than boxers." (Dana White).

“Who? Who’s Lyoto Machida? Lyoto Machida? Oh you mean that guy who sold 200,000 PPVs now he’s a superstar? It doesn’t take much over there does it? I’ve sold 3.5 million PPVs between my last 2 fights alone. How much money did Machida make his last fight? $100,000 maybe? Tell Dana White, for $100,000, I will come show him what a 28 million dollar check looks like. (Mayweather)

"He's not a superstar," White said. "Floyd doesn't sell. Floyd plus another great fighter sells. You need two good fighters that people really want to see. It's not a fight people want to see." (Dana White)

"How is Machida as good as Floyd Mayweather? Because he’s beaten a few unskilled bar room fighters? At the end of the day, you already know, when you watch Floyd Mayweather you see the past, present and future of the sport. Machida don’t deserve to be mentioned in he same breath as me. Kousta Tszyu would whip up on his stank ass anyway.” (Mayweather)

And so it goes on for some time between the two, there are valid points on both sides to an extent. I don't imagine Mayweather would want to actually last long against the likes of Sean Sherk in MMA just the same as Chuck Liddell wouldn't last long boxing Mayweather. A particular gem shows the extent of Floyd's patter:

“In boxing, we know who’s dominating. Black fighters and Hispanic fighters is dominating in this sport,” Mayweather continued. “And this is not a racial statement but there’s no white fighters in boxing that’s dominating, so they had to go to something else and start something new.” (Mayweather)

Not heard of the heavyweight scene over the last 10 years Floyd? I would also argue that if he was really looking to be accurate, Black fighters aren't dominating nearly as much as Hispanic and Asian fighters either these days. Also poverty levels tend to have more to do with domination of boxing than any other factors. That isn't to say that Dana White hasn't had his share of idiotic statements over the years, but nothing bordering on the racist.

Source: examiner.com

Pacquiao Gives Floyd Mayweather The Edge To Win

2009-09-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

Pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao does not plan to be ringside on September 19 when Floyd Mayweather takes on Juan Manuel Marquez, but he gives Mayweather the edge to win the fight. Most experts are not expecting a good fight with the clash of counter-punching styles. Pacquiao told ABS-CBN News that he predicts Mayweather vs. Marquez will be a "good fight". He says Mayweather "has the edge" to win. Mayweather returns in his first fight since December 2007.

Pacquiao will fighting WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the same venue that hosts Mayweather vs. Marquez. The winners of both fights are expected to meet at some point in 2010. Mayweather and Pacquiao are the heavy favorites to win their respective fights.

Source: boxingscene.com

Mayweather-Marquez 24/7: Pt. 2 Reviewed

2009-09-07T06:01:00.000-07:00

"Last week on Mayweather vs. Marquez 24/7..." we learned playing craps make the heart grow fonder, Juan Manuel Marquez likes eating birthday cake, Mayweather still rocks classic skates among other “S*&^” that’s paid for (prior to taxes), and HBO can subtitle Spanish profanities fluently.

What nuggets will this week provide?

Enter theme music and real time recap as Marquez, in the great outdoors, is throwing rocks as he works his way up a mountain. At the peak, he screams “Dragooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Ooops…wrong workout.

The raw eggs, quail in this case, are there but Marquez is no Balboa. He asks for a spoon. They do their trick as Marquez breaks a speed bag with a lethal left. Power isn’t enough as trainer Nacho Beristain makes clear. “(Marquez) still needs to become a little bit quicker. His current speed isn’t yet enough to beat the best fighter in the world.”

Beristain is right of course, as Marquez has yet to post a win in two tries at Manny Pacquiao.

HBO then transitions into a tribute to the King of Pop as narrator Liev Schreiber reads, “The day began with an embrace of the archaic. It ends with an air of the futuristic.” Viewers are treated to a Marquez trip to a hyperbaric chamber where he breathes pure oxygen in preparation for battle.

Switching locales from Mexico to Las Vegas, Mayweather is working the mitts and doing sit/stand-ups among other things. Mayweather is adorned in some nice Reebok gear (this is NOT product placement!). Trainer and Uncle Roger informs he doesn’t have to tell Floyd how much to train because his nephew works that hard on his own. Then he steps further, saying “(Floyd) needs one more championship to tie with the greatest fighter in the world. That’s Sugar Ray Robinson.”

A mural on the wall of great champions past is, well, it’s just cool. Seriously. Something like it should be in every man cave. “Most people don’t know s&^% about boxing,” Roger states, and then it’s a round of boxing history, again including that Robinson won seven world titles…

As has been the case in previous Mayweather (the fighter… the family has been involved in all but one) 24/7’s, sparring is done off camera but there is a look at the aftermath. Mayweather’s sparring partner is a mess and says into the camera, “This is real blood, man. A Mexican type.”

In case anyone is wondering, Mexican blood types come in derivatives of A, B, AB, or O.

Back to Mexico City and stop motion photography indicates people move really fast there. Into the slower pace of the Marquez home, Juan Manuel is tutoring his son in math before settling in for a round of family video game Futbol. Marquez gloats when he scores… and there could be a joke here about self esteem for the kids, but those are some cute kids. Looks like a quality Pops from this side, same as Floyd last week.

Now the scene is at a family celebration with mariachi band in tow. Marquez’s wife states that her husband’s fights make her “nervous and afraid,” which is pretty logical. It’s a tough business. Schreiber recounts Marquez, and brother Rafael, are married to sisters. Juan Manuel’s wife is not alone in her nerves. At least the two seldom fight on doubleheaders; spreads the nerves around.

Must make family reunions easy to plan though.

Back to Vegas and Floyd is getting a manicure and pedicure while advisor Leonard Ellerbe watches.

Moving on.

Mayweather’s past problems with brittle hands brought Rafael Garcia, a hand wrap specialist and sixty-year veteran, into camp. A pan of photos reveal Garcia has worked with the great Wilfredo Gomez, Roberto Duran and, now, Mayweather (and, yes, Mayweather is great. How great is the argument… not if).

Garcia knows it and states, “One of the best is Floyd Mayweather”. After reviewing the process of the wrap, the camera follows Mayweather to the speed bag. He doesn’t break his but he does hit it a lot faster and more often than Marquez. Beristain is right. Marquez is going to need speed.

Might want to chase chickens.

Floyd, following training footage, throws in one of the more honest statements about what makes “Money” tick that one could hear. “I love to box. It’s in me. I fought over ninety fights for free so it wasn’t always for the money. I don’t know nobody else who’s not hungry for an eight-figure payday.”

If anyone reading knows such a person, run.

Beristain is watching footage of Mayweather and Jose Luis Castillo to prepare, noting Juan Manuel Marquez “is different from most Mexican fighters; he’s an excellent counterpuncher. He improvises brilliantly with great results.” So why watch a fight against as classic a Mexican fighter as there could be? A glimpse into why is exhibited in the gym as Marquez spars and Beristain is read saying something about how more than two shots messes with Mayweather’s rhythm.

Off camera, Mayweather is taking notes as basically the entire fight strategy against is him is laid out.

Then…

…an empty glass…

…Marquez picks it up…

…heads to the john…

…comes back with a cup of yellow…

…drinks it…

Are you freaking kidding? Marquez is not lost at sea or anything, right? The gym is landlocked, correct? Marquez explains this disturbing scene, something about vitamins.

Dude, go to GNC!

At least we know exhaling mightily in the clinches is part of the fight strategy.

By the grace of (insert deity), Floyd Mayweather Sr. skipping rope to the Four Tops is on screen. He tags off to Jr. and Sr. gets served! Father and son compare muscles, virility, and their past squabbles are discussed before discussion of Sr.’s chronic lung disease and the timeliness of reconciliation. Even recognizing the nature of the show to manipulate audience emotional response, it certainly feels like a genuine outcome versus one forced for cameras.

A closing montage plays with training stuff and ‘fighting to make life better’ platitudes…

Cue credits.

Final Thoughts: Week two was an improvement on the first as Marquez’s personality got more interesting. Fans got a deeper look at the psychology of his training than has been the case in other of version of this hype show. One thing is certain: piss drinking will get people talking.

The problem is, there is still little to talk about with the fight. What are these guys fighting for? Why does this fight matter? It’s not especially conveyed here.

Mayweather is being shown in a much more positive light in this version of 24/7 than in others, meaning his often self-assumed role as ‘villain’ isn’t coming through. He’s still talkative, but less smug. Even last week, his usual braggadocio was done more with a wink than a scowl.

A less smug Mayweather could mean less incentive for folks who might pay to see him lose. Something Mayweather has shown he knows, Muhammad Ali knew in another time, and pro wrestling has known forever, is people will pay more to see someone they dislike lose than to see someone they like win.

Until this show conveys why the smaller Marquez CAN win (and most serious fight followers assume he can’t and are vocal about it), and until Mayweather turns up the full force of personality that makes many want to see him lose, 24/7 is not selling the fight strong enough.

And make no mistake. This is a fancy commercial. That’s all. The job is a hard sell even if it’s not bad T.V. at the same time. Grade: B

Source: boxingscene.com

HAS FLOYD MAYWEATHER DONE HIS HOMEWORK ON JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ?

2009-09-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

Many common folks in our fine sport don't know who JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ, 50-4 {37 KOs} is - thus, the weightiness of his match-up with FLOYD MAYWEATHER (on September 19th) is de-valued.

Of course, it would be pretty tough not to know who "Pretty Boy Floyd MAYWEATHER" is - even after his absence from the ring for nearly two full years.

In fact, the only judge who has ever voted against MAYWEATHER winning a unanimous decision in a fight is Tom KACZMAREK, who gave a ridiculous nod for DE LA HOYA in that fight. Every judge in every one of Mayweather's fights has penciled him as the winner, every one that is except Kaczmarek in his ruling in the De La Hoya-Mayweather encounter. -Makes no sense-

Simply speaking, Floyd Mayweather is a phenom.

So, almost 24 months after nearly decapitating RICKY HATTON - "Pretty Boy" Floyd is taking on, in my opinion, by far the toughest challenge in the Lightweight division: JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ.

Here's a brief bio on Marquez:

He lost his first fight by DQ.
He won his next 29 fights in a row.
His next loss was a very controversial one against my old-school adversary FREDDIE NORWOOD. Most observers thought Marquez won the fight.
He won his next 13 fights in a row before fighting a DRAW with MANNY PACQUIAO. (Was knocked down 3 times in the first round by PACQUIAO yet, came back to outbox PACQUIAO the rest of the fight).
Traveled to Indonesia 3 fights later to face 36-0 CHRIS JOHN ~ and most likely would have won~ had he not been deducted points by a hometown referee, surrounded by hometown judges in the last 2 rounds.
Lost a very controversial split decision in the rematch with PACQUIAO.

In all fairness - with just a few more nods by the judges in some disputable circumstances - JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ could be sitting at 54-0. Yes, he's that good.

Although CHRIS JOHN is fighting on the same card, Marquez will have to deal with him on another night.

Let's hope it comes to this.

Source: braggingrightscorner.com

The Case For Juan Manuel Marquez Against Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

2009-09-07T05:31:00.000-07:00

I do not believe that Juan "Dinamita" Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) is going to defeat Floyd "Money" Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) in two weeks. But I have seen much stranger things happen in my 25+ years watching boxing. Shoot, I wouldn’t exactly call it strange if arguably the second or third best active fighter in the world (Marquez) defeated the former pound-for-pound king (Mayweather).

Here’s why I could see Marquez springing the mild upset:

Ring Activity. While Mayweather has been off for nearly two years dabbling in professional wrestling, celebrity dancing and cheesy Internet commercials, "Dinamita" has spent his time taking Manny Pacquiao to the brink, and handing Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz their first defeats via knockout. It’s not just that he’s been active. It’s who he’s been active against.
Fight Location. Yes, I know that "Money" currently makes Las Vegas, Nevada his home. And that Marquez has not always been the biggest draw. However, since this fight takes place so close to Mexican Independence Day (September 16) and "Sin City" has a heavy Mexican fan base, we all know what could happen in a close, distance fight.
"Un Hombre Malo". For the linguistically-challenged, that means "a bad man" in Spanish. And that’s what Marquez is. He’s one helluva fighter. In my opinion, he’s the most technically-skilled fighter that Mayweather will have ever faced. It’ll be interesting to see how Mayweather reacts to a man who may be the closest thing to his equal in terms of ring smarts.

In short, do not sleep on Juan Manuel Marquez. As much as people praise Manny Pacquiao (and I am one of those people), they should not forget that "Dinamita" easily could have gotten the decision in each of his fights against the Pac Man. Although my money will be on Mayweather, there’s no dog in this underdog.

Source: fightinsight.com

Why Does Mayweather Fight Only Small Guys Now?

2009-09-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

For a fighter that is considered to be the greatest fighter in boxing, Floyd Mayweather seems to really like to pick out small fighters to mix it up with. I know Mayweather seems himself as another Sugar Ray Robinson and all, but if I remember correctly, Robinson was about moving up in weight to take on fighters or at the minimum, he’d fight opponents his same size.

Robinson didn’t go looking for fighters from the lower weight classes to fight. This is why I wonder about Mayweather and his reasoning’s for selecting fighters that are much smaller than him. First it was little Ricky Hatton, who probably wasn’t even the best fighter in his division at the time that Mayweather selected him out of a pack of opponents to fight.

And now, we have Mayweather hand picking Juan Manuel Marquez, a fighter two divisions smaller than Mayweather. If Mayweather is supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, how come he’s not fighting the best in the welterweight division?

At the very least, I would expect Mayweather to fight one of the best welterweights in the division, if he wasn’t interested in fighting the top guy. But, gosh, to be fighting pumped up smaller guys like Hatton and Marquez, it just makes me wonder about Mayweather. Is he high on talent and low on courage? What good is talent if you don’t use it?

It’s like having a race car that you never take out of the garage or if you do, you’re racing little Toyotas instead of other race cars. What good is that? I would be happy if Mayweather at least fought Miguel Cotto or Andre Berto. I could respect that a little.

It’s not facing the very best in the welterweight division, because that right now is Shane Mosley, but Cotto or Berto would still be a couple of talented fighters in the same division as Mayweather. However, Mayweather doesn’t seem interested in facing fighters his own size nowadays and is looking at only going after the small guys.

And to top it off, if Mayweather beats Marquez, then Mayweather will be facing another small fighter in Manny Pacquiao. I can’t respect a fighter that doesn’t fight opponents in his weight class. If Mayweather is afraid to fight welterweights, then he needs to drop 10 to 20 pounds and fight as super featherweight or lightweight.

Mayweather would be able to make a killing at that weight, because that’s pretty much where all his opponents are nowadays. Mayweather might have moved up in weight to beat Oscar De La Hoya a couple of years ago, but De La Hoya was well past his prime by the time that Mayweather fought him and vulnerable against anyone with a sliver of talent.

But Mayweather seems dialed in lately for little fighters who are much smaller than him. What is up with that? Come on, break the pattern, Mayweather, and fight someone your own size for a change. This isn’t interesting to see Mayweather cherry picking a bunch of teeny fighters all the time.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez – Breaking down the fight... for Money.

2009-09-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

Notable Facts, Speculations & Rumours

Weight

Marquez is coming up 2 weight divisions for this fight.
Both fighters have started at lower weight divisions and have come up in weight over the years.
Mayweather’s average weight for his last five fights is 147.2 lb (66.9 kg).
Marquez’s average weight for his last five fights is 131.5 lb (59.8 kg).

Marquez is coming up significantly in weight to face the naturally larger Mayweather. However, considering Floyd’s style, it is unlikely that Floyd will use his size advantage to bully Marquez. Even at welterweight, Floyds punching power is not very significant (Hatton knocked himself out by leaping into a perfectly timed Mayweather left hook) and he hurts people through a culmination of speedy punches. It is also common knowledge that for a good part of Floyd’s career, he has been riddled with hand problems..

It will be interesting to see how Marquez’s body deals with the sudden increase in weight and if he will have the speed and stamina to gather points against the slick Mayweather. A notable point about Marquez is that he is an extremely crafty fighter that is quick to think in the ring. In previous fights he has shown a lot of heart and an amazing adaptable nature to come back and break down formidable opponents. Marquez does have a lot of natural ability but it is ring smarts that has got him this far, the weight shouldn’t be as big a factor as some say it will be.

Floyd’s Inactivity (Ring Rust)

It will be just under 2 years since Floyd’s last fight against Ricky Hatton.
History has proven that ring rust is not a big factor for all fighters:
Kostya Tszyu had a 2 year break before KO Sharmba Mitchell in 3.
Sugar Ray Leonard had a 3 year break before coming back to scrape the win against Marvin Hagler (controversial).
Vitality Klitschko just came back from a 4 year retirement to stop Samuel Peters in 8.
Floyd seems to have stayed in a reasonable condition during his retirement (and throughout his career).
Floyd is only 32 years old.
It is unlikely that he would have to have spent too much of his training camp getting into peak condition again.
Floyd has had the same if not similar defensive style throughout his whole career; it is unlikely that he will change his style for this fight.
Pretty Boy Floyd, it's not just a nick name, the man hardly gets hit with anything significant and a loss of ability due to worsening brain damage is not a factor.

Ring rust is a pretty general term but the factors that really contribute to it are time away from the ring, how the fighter treats his body in between fights and other factors involving brain damage. With these factors considered, unless something is a wry in his preparations, it should be the same Floyd that fought Hatton entering the ring, come fight night.

Training

Floyd’s trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather, was arrested by police for beating and choking one of his female fighters to the point of near unconsciousness.
The fight has been delayed due to an injury involving Floyd’s rib cartilage.

It is anyone’s guess how this incident with Roger may affect Floyd’s preparations, but Floyd is no stranger to family drama involving his father/uncle, during fight preparation and it never seemed to affect him before. There are some concerns that Floyd was inclined to go into the fight slightly under prepared, with a rib injury, so that the fight could be held on Mexican Independence Day and to distance the fight from the November Pacquiao Vs Cotto Fight. Most rumours from camps however, state that preparations for both Marquez and Mayweather are going well.

The Tip

Rounds – The fight will go the distance (very confident).

(Around 1.57 odds)

Why?

Floyd usually KOs his opponents with an accumulation of punches. The boxers that have been knocked out by him in the past have either jumped into a perfectly timed counter punch (Hatton), cannot handle his speed (Gatti) or cannot adapt to his style (Corrales). Marquez is a crafty veteran who takes his time; he won’t be leaping in with his head up any time soon. His ability to handle speedy fighters has been proven, most notably against Manny Pacquiao. Being the thinking fighter, Marquez is more than likely to adapt to any style that Floyd brings on the night.

I can’t see Marquez knocking out Mayweather even though Marquez also has a terrific knockout record. Mayweather is a cautious fighter that has had the same defensive style throughout his whole career and no matter how much ring rust or under preparation, I don’t doubt Mayweather’s ability to keep himself safe throughout the fight. Marquez is also coming up in weight and with most fighters that go up in weight; they usually lose some of their knockout ability against bigger fighters.

The Winner – Mayweather (not terribly confident)

Why?

I see this fight as not whether Marquez can win, but can Mayweather lose? Mayweather’s style and natural ability are almost impossible to beat. This combined with his selection of opponents in the past have made him a pretty boring fighter to watch in the past. A 100% prepared Mayweather will beat a 100% prepared Marquez any day of the week. However, the X factors of this fight; possible ring rust, Mayweather’s state of mind and preparation distractions may mean that he may not come into the fight 100%. Even with these factors going against Mayweather, I still think his ability will pull him through with a tough but deserved win.

Considering the odds right now, the best bets would be:

1. A Mayweather win on Points (Around 1.90 odds)

2. A small bet on a win for Marquez (Around 4.00 odds) – Do what the Aussies do and back the underdog. You will have a good time rooting for the guy that’s not the dislikeable Mayweather and a small bet will give you a good return on an upset that many can see happening.

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Is Floyd Mayweather, Jr. "the best"?

2009-09-07T04:29:00.000-07:00

According to everyone with the last name of Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is "the best" and we are reminded of such whenever the cameras are on. The present tense certainly does not apply because Money May has not fought since December 2007. A lot has happened in boxing since Floyd, Jr. "retired" and, if he was the best in 2007, then he is no longer so at the current moment.

Who is better? The lazy way to write this article is to write "Manny Pacquiao" ten times and be done with it. The tougher approach is to avoid the number 1 pound-for-pound fighter altogether because it is a given that he is "the best" right now. Harder still would be to avoid any fighter on the current pound-for-pound list.

Now that the rules are set, here are 10 fighters who are better than Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (listed by record):

10. Yuriorkis Gamboa (15-0, 13 KOs). A little risky to put a fighter with such a scant record on the list; however, an exception can be made with regard to Gamboa. He won Olympic gold in 2004 and is as explosive as any man fighting today. Gamboa may fight Juan Manuel Lopez in 2010, which means bet the ranch that the fight doesn't go over 9 1/2 rounds.

9. Nonito Donaire (22-1, 14 KOs). Donaire lost his second professional fight, which can be forgiven in light of the fact that The Filipino Flash has destroyed the flyweight division since then and was the first man to defeat Vic Darchinyan--by brutal knockout.

8. Timothy Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs). Bradley isn't flashy, he isn't heavy handed, but he is technically superb and a legitimate "good guy" within the sport. His dismantling of Nate Campbell last month (before the lobbied stoppage) proved that Desert Storm isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

7. Edwin Valero (25-0, 25 KOs). How does an awkward fighter who is not technically sound make this list? He is an absolute killer in the ring and appears to know just one way to win a fight--by knockout. Valero will likely never get a shot at Pacquiao, but he runs in Juan Manuel Marquez's territory and that makes for a very intriguing match-up regardless as to what happens on September 19th.

6. Andre Berto (25-0, 19 KOs). Berto is on this list for one simple reason--he fights legitimate welterweights and so far has taken them all down. Andre was on the short list to fight Shane Mosley--an opponent that Mayweather has elected to avoid.

5. Juan Manuel Lopez (26-0, 24 KOs). Not only is JuanMa a destroyer, but no fighter has ever lasted 12 rounds with him. He beats his opponents physically and mentally. Miguel Cotto may well be more popular; however, Lopez is the most exciting fighter from Puerto Rico.

4. Jorge Linares (27-0, 18 KOs). Linares is a fantastic boxer out of Tokyo by way Barinas, Venezuela. He is mostly unknown outside of the Pacific Rim, but his one trip to America showcased that he was able to do what Manny Pacquiao could not--knockout Oscar Larios.

3. Chad Dawson (28-0, 17 KOs). The problem with Dawson is that he is in a weak division; however, he is the only man to have defeated Tomasz Adamek and has wins over Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver (twice). Dawson will throw down with Johnson again on November 7th and may face Bernard Hopkins in 2010.

2. Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs). King Arthur defended his middleweight title 10 times before electing to move up in weight to 168lbs in order to participate in the Showtime tournament. His next opponent, Jermian Taylor, will no doubt cause speculation as to how Abraham would have fared against Kelly Pavlik in a middleweight unification bout--a fight Abraham begged to be made.

1. Chris John (42-0-2, 22 KOs). John's record alone justifies his participation on this list. More importantly, The Dragon defeated Juan Manuel Marquez, which is still something that remains on Floyd, Jr.'s "to do" list.

Realistically, "the best" can mean different things. To Floyd Mayweather, Jr., however, the phrase is all inclusive. The 10 men above do not draw like Mayweather can and, except for John, are relatively far away from his record of 39-0 (25 KOs). Rather, the fighters above are listed because they are all willing to fight the best to be the best. In 2007, Mayweather was not willing to do the same. In that regard, all 10 are better than Floyd, Jr.

Maybe Act II of his career will be different; however, that will require defeating Juan Manuel Marquez and the winner of Cotto-Pacquiao. Accomplish those tasks and we will revisit the subject.

Source: examiner.com

How to beat Floyd Mayweather

2009-09-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt, this has been the hardest problem to solve for pro boxing trainers since the emergence of the Pretty Boy on the fight scene. Quantum physics problems may seem easier to overcome. Dozens of trainers had a crack at the problem. Yet no one had really succeeded so far…

First of all, all fight fans, regardless of who they support, should acknowledge how Floyd Mayweather made himself to be one of the greatest defensive fighters in the history of boxing. He is a true genius when it comes to the sweet science. However, as with every fighter, a way to prevail over him must be hidden somewhere. It just needs to be found and discovered.

“How could one beat Floyd Mayweather?”

When asked this question, everyone with common sense rightfully points to the first Castillo fight. Out of 39 professional fights Mayweather had, the first Castillo fight was inarguably the most competitive one, and most fight fans gave Castillo the nod even though the judges did not. But we are not here to talk about judging in boxing. We are seeking an answer to the elusive question we brought up: How could one beat Floyd? It is clear that parts of the answer can be found in the Castillo fight. So, what did Castillo do?

1. Occupying the center.

Castillo decided to set his stakes in the ring center, forcing Mayweather to circle. Castillo boxed effectively in the center of the ring to not to lose that valuable ground to Floyd. A fighter can occupy the center of the ring by two means. One, the fighter must have high a workrate and a good overall skills, e.g. Marvin Hagler. Two, the fighter must be highly effective at jabbing, e.g. Larry Holmes. Castillo chose the first method.

When the center is occupied, the opponent is forced to circle, expending much more energy. This precisely was the reason why Ali could not box Foreman, resorting to the rope-a-dope, as Foreman was extremely effective in occupying the center, forcing Ali to move twice as much as he did.

No fighter can dance for all three minutes in a round. Excessive movement by a fighter will eventually halt him and find him on the ropes. That was exactly the case during the first Castillo-Mayweather fight. Mayweather lost the control of the center and found himself repeatedly on the ropes after excessive circling.

Most of Mayweather’s opponents chased him head on, expending as much energy as the backpedaling Mayweather, and thus not gaining any advantage. When being chased head on, Mayweather is extremely effective. Matter of fact, he wants to be chased as such. He would sting with the lead right hand all night long from the elusive shoulder roll. Hence, the best thing to do after gaining the center of the ring is to follow Mayweather laterally, cutting the ring off, eventually finding him in corners and on the ropes.

2. Stance and style

High workrate from a classical, squared, high guard stance with good upper body movements is required to neutralize Mayweather’s quick countering style from the shoulder roll. Having the sideways stance, like Judah and Gatti did, or having poor upper body movements like Corrales and Hatton did, can be picked apart by Floyd’s counters. Castillo’s stance and style nicely matched Floyd’s as he had the aforementioned requirements. He thus was not countered and frustrated as much as the other Floyd opponents.

The fighters with this stance and style are never stingy when it comes to delivering uppercuts and body shots. Uppercuts and body shots can be a lethal arsenal in the center of the ring against Floyd’s style. Whenever Floyd pushed forward to regain the center of the ring, Castillo fired back with uppercuts and body shots, discouraging him.

3. Point of attack on the Shoulder Roll defense

It is absolutely foolish to try to land looping hooks and crosses on Floyd, as that would put the fighter on the crosshairs directly. Also, it is unwise to directly attack Floyd’s head. Nor is it clever to try to attack Floyd’s body facing him head-on. Carlos Baldomir tried to attack Floyd’s body without shifting and pivoting, and found it absolutely ineffective.

Castillo, on the other hand, constantly pivoted and shifted to Floyd’s left, there finding his exposed front with his left hooks, following with vicious rights to the body. Indeed, that is exactly where the Shoulder Roll is the weakest. A fighter with the Shoulder Roll defense cannot allow his opponent to position himself on his left side, because from that angle his front is totally exposed, not guarded by the left shoulder and the right hand (vice versa for southpaws).

Mayweather is usually too quick to let a fighter gain an angle like that, but Castillo frequently found him in that position because of the way he was cutting him off and limiting his roaming areas. So ANGLES is the key. Direct punches can be fully nullified by the skilled fighter using the Shoulder Roll.

No direct pressure, but angular pressure.

4. Composure and attitude

Some fighters just don’t believe that they can beat the best boxer in the world. They doubt. Others get distracted by the media attention and by the taunting opponent. There are some fighters who come to fight just to get paid. All those fighters would lose when facing a fighter of Mayweather’s caliber.

It takes a certain, fearless, persistent, and focused fighter with a short memory to be effective against the most skilled fighter in the world. In the first fight, Castillo brought the right attitude and composure to the fight.

5. What Castillo did not do?

He did not jab effectively. The same goes for most of Floyd’s opponents. They are always fearful of the quick lead right hand counter that they hesitate to jab. Jabs combined with the aforementioned factors can very well be the solution to the “Mayweather Problem”

In the second fight, Castillo gave up the center of the ring in the late rounds, initiated by Floyd’s lead right hands. Also, when Floyd tried to in-fight, he hesitated. Had he not hesitated such and let his workrate flow like in the first fight, he could have won the second fight. Though he fell short, his successes in those two fights show us the blueprint in fighting a great boxer with tremendous speed and intelligence working out of the Shoulder Roll.

In closing, I must state the obvious:

If the fighter is not a top tier skilled fighter with decent speed, he should not even bother fighting Floyd in the first place.

If a highly skilled fighter with great recovery and composure fights with the right tactics and strategy, he can prevail over Floyd “Money” Mayweather. I personally believe that Juan Manuel Marquez possesses many of the attributes to be successful against Floyd Mayweather. He is used to seeing blinding speed, he proved that he can recover from losing momentum, and he does carry the right composure.

Marquez’s style fits the aforementioned stance and style that can be effective against high skilled boxers employing the Shoulder Roll. Marquez certainly fights for ring generalship and has a high workrate. Marquez does use his jabs very effectively, and has extremely underrated hand speed. That being said, yes…I am putting my money on Juan Manuel Marquez this time, only the second time I am betting against Floyd Joy “Money” Mayweather.

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. prepares for his boxing comeback

2009-09-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

Mayweather not a PPV draw? Not according to Floyd

2009-09-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

If anyone is tired of hearing that they aren't a good pay-per-view draw, it's Floyd Mayweather Jr.

He fought in a record-breaking pay-per-view bout when he went toe-to-toe with Oscar de la Hoya. He fought in another blockbuster ppv bout with Ricky Hatton.

Mayweather didn't get a lot of credit for the 2.4 million his fight with de la Hoya drew. Although he got respect for the Hatton fight, it still wasn't enough to convince people he can draw eyes to pay television.

Mayweather blamed his previous promotion company for not getting him enough pay-per-view opportunities.

"It's not my fault I wasn't taken to the next level in the past," Mayweather said during a conference call on Thursday. "I feel that I was always a pay-per-view star."

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer agreed with Mayweather and curiously downplayed the impact of the de la Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight.

"I agree with [Floyd] it takes two to tango obviouslyto succeed and create these big numbers," he said. "But when Oscar fought Pacquiao, it didn't have the numbers and that's a fact. When Hatton fought Pacquiao, it did substantially not as well."

[Mayweather] is the most recognized fighter here in the United States," Schaefer added. "I'm not making that sh-- up. It's fact. It's supported by the numbers."

We'll find out on September 20 who the big draw in boxing is.

Source: newsday.com

Pound-for-pound forecast for a hot fall

2009-09-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

Word-for-word, there has been nothing to say about pound-for-pound, mostly because Manny Pacquiao stopped the debate the way he stopped Ricky Hatton. But the argument is about to resume in September and continue through at least Nov. 14 with the Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto showdown.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. reinvigorates the debate with familiar trash-talk that precedes his re-scheduled return on Sept. 19 against Juan Manuel Marquez. It’s reasonable to argue that Mayweather shouldn’t be in the mix at all because of inactivity. He hasn’t answered an opening bell since beating Hatton in December 2007, or more than 18 months ago.

But if Israel Vazquez and Bernard Hopkins are still in the argument, then so is Mayweather. Marquez hasn’t fought since March, 2008. Hopkins hasn’t been in the ring since his stunner over Kelly Pavlik last October. Besides, pound-for-pound is only an argument, lots of talk. Without Mayweather’s noisy return, there just wouldn’t be much an argument at all.

Welcome back, Floyd, who has says repeatedly that he is still entitled to be No. 1 because nobody took the top spot from him. But there’s a price for being idle. Call it a vacation, as in vacate. Mayweather drifted away and down a few notches. His challenge is to now reclaim what he argues is still his.

Here’s a quick look at just one top 10 before the fall, or at least a likely shuffle:

1. Pacquiao. In Cotto, he might be facing the first live body at a heavier weight since he moved up the scale and forced Oscar De La Hoya to retire.

2. Marquez. Everybody seems to say that the great featherweight and lightweight has no chance against the bigger Mayweather at any weight. Don’t believe it. Few are as well-conditioned as Marquez, who has a reasonable argument that he beat Pacquiao in their last meeting. A postponement because of a Mayweather injury has only given Marquez extra time to add and adjust to extra pounds.

3. Sugar Shane Mosley. His stoppage of Antonio Margarito in January was a brilliant statement that he’s back. A sure sign of that is Pacquiao, who doesn’t sound as though he is any rush to fight Mosley. It looks as if Joshua Clottey is next. That’s not an easy assignment, but it should keep Mosley in line for a shot at the Filipino, especially if Mayweather talks his way out of the biggest fight in years with outrageous demands.

4. Paul Williams. Underrated and avoided for too long, it is time to find out if the middleweight can attain lasting stardom.

5. Mayweather. He’s back, but for how long? Sometimes, inactivity is the most dangerous opponent. There also are worrisome signs, including legal trouble for trainer/uncle Roger Mayweather and a big bill from the Internal Revenue Service. Then again, Mayweather without dysfunction in his life just isn’t the fighter we’ve come to know. Maybe, trouble is more motivation than distraction.

6. Cotto. Guts and skill defined him in a gritty victory over Clottey in June. It was a tough, bloody fight and there’s some talk that there were signs Cotto might be a step past his prime. We’ll find out against Pacquiao.

7. Israel Vazquez. Classy and tough, the super-bantamweight has been idle too long for a game with too few fighters like him.

8. Chad Dawson. The unbeaten light-heavyweight, who faces Glen Johnson on Nov. 7, is one fighter Roy Jones Jr. does not want meet and is also somebody Hopkins should probably avoid, no matter what he says.

9. Hopkins. At 44, I’m not sure how he stays in the debate. But he talks enough to keep himself in the mix. If he fights the Dawson-Glen Johnson winner in January, this might be the last time we see him in the top 10.

10. Juan Manuel Lopez. The unbeaten junior-featherweight, the heir apparent to Cotto as Puerto Rico’s favorite son, is a newcomer. Maybe, it’s too early to rank him. Then again, why not? He is going to be among the top 10 for a long time.

Source: 15rounds.com

Layoff aids Mayweather in preparation for return bout

2009-09-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

Two weeks before Floyd Mayweather ends his nearly two-year retirement from boxing, the unbeaten welterweight and former pound-for-pound king shrugs off concerns he could be rusty Sept. 19 when he faces Mexican standout Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.

Mayweather, whose last fight was a 10th-round knockout of previously unbeaten Ricky Hatton in December 2007, says the layoff might prolong his career.

"I don't know if the two-year layoff is going to affect me, but I feel fast, I'm strong and my timing is there," Mayweather said Wednesday. "I think the break actually helped, because I haven't had a break since '87. My body gets a chance to heal, and I just grew mentally as a person ... and I feel good."

Mayweather tiptoed around the problems he and his trainer-uncle Roger Mayweather have faced recently.

Roger Mayweather was arrested last month and accused of choking a female boxer who he had previously trained. He was charged with coercion with force and battery strangulation.

Late last month, Floyd Mayweather's Rolls-Royce was seen at a shooting in Las Vegas, and police searched his home. Although Mayweather was cleared as a suspect, police removed guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests from his home and were seeking an associate of Mayweather.

"I try to focus on positive things," Mayweather said. "(Interviewers) only want to know about negative things; they'll never ask you about the positive things. How many different families I (helped) and how many different schools I've given back to."

The good news is Roger Mayweather will be allowed to work the Sept. 19 bout (HBO pay-per-view, 9 p.m. ET), as long as he is free on bail and hasn't been convicted or plead to any crime, according to the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) is 32 and said keeping his perfect record intact means a lot. "It's extremely important for me to go out there and dominate," he said. "(Marquez) is a Mexican bulldog. He is going to counterpunch. He's going to go to the body. And me, I have to be smart and intelligent, and I'm pretty sure my Uncle Roger is going to have one hell of a game plan for me."

Source: usatoday.com

Innovative Marketing Campaign Channeled Exclusively through Digital Media to Support September 19 Mayweather vs. Marquez Welterweight Fight

2009-09-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

Innovative arrangement combines leading Hispanic companies in an integrated, multimedia marketing campaign for highly anticipated boxing match. Campaign is focused exclusively on a robust boxing microsite containing sweepstakes, blogs, videos, profiles, updated news, polls, texting and SMS modules.

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--

ImpreMedia, the nation`s No.1 Spanish-language online and print news publisher, Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions have partnered to develop an unprecedented multimedia program for the welterweight fight between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez entitled MAYWEATHER vs., MARQUEZ: "Number One/Número Uno," (www.numberonenumerouno.com) and scheduled to take place Saturday, September 19, 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

ImpreMedia has created a destination microsite (http://boxeo.impre.com) that will provide fight coverage and engage its online boxing enthusiasts through compelling digital offerings including: intimate boxer profiles, updated fight, boxer and event news and a sweepstakes event that provides a pair of tickets to the fight in Las Vegas, roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations, access to the weigh-in and press conference.

Additionally, the microsite will offer a countdown clock, photo gallery, a link to a blog written by award-winning impre.com sports editor Rafael Ramos Villagrana, polling opportunities for users to vote on who they think will win the fight as well as texting and a SMS sign up module for phone alerts.

SMS alerts will also be sent to users with a message pertaining to the fight.

"Hispanics are avid users of digital media, particularly for mobile usage and are large consumers of boxing content - be it online, on TV, in movie theatres and via mobile. We recognize their enthusiasm, as does Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, and have created a comprehensive microsite with extensive elements that will entertain and provide all the relevant news and information about the Mayweather vs. Marquez bout across platform," said Arturo Duran, CEO of ImpreMedia Digital.

Mayweather, a superstar fighter who is undefeated in his professional boxing career (39-0, 25 KOs) is coming out of a 19-month retirement to fight Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs). The September 19 date was selected in conjunction with Mexican Independence Day, traditionally a big boxing weekend for the Hispanic community.

"ImpreMedia has unparalleled editorial integrity and exceptional digital assets to really engage the Hispanic boxing community and help us promote the fight, as they have done for us so successfully in the past," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. "We have collaborated on a multifaceted platform that will offer a rich experience for the boxing audience while stimulating demand for this bout."

"This innovative, turnkey marketing campaign demonstrates how ImpreMedia`s communication capabilities extend far beyond print. Our digital platform can provide users with impactful news and information about subjects that matter most to them and helps marketers reach that audience with unique content that engages them with their brand," said Arturo Duran.

Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Boxing Promotions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T, Quaker State, Dewalt Tools, Affliction Clothing and Southwest Airlines. The 12-round bout will take place Saturday, Sept. 19 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev. and will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

About ImpreMedia:

ImpreMedia is the No. 1 Hispanic News and Information Company in the U.S. in Online and Print. ImpreMedia`s multi-platform offerings range from Online to Video, Mobile and Print and encompass 27 properties, including the portal http://www.impre.com and its McClatchy partners. 30% of all U.S. Hispanic adults use an ImpreMedia product. The company is also the nation`s largest Hispanic newspaper publisher with newspapers in the top 7 U.S. Hispanic markets, reaching 16 markets total that represent 63% of the U.S. Hispanic population. Its leading publications include La Opinión in Los Angeles and El Diario La Prensa in New York. For more information, visit: http://www.impremedia.com.

ImpreMedia portals and publications websites are: www.impre.com, www.imprerewards.com, www.lavibra.com, www.impreautos.com, www.laopinion.com/, www.eldiariony.com, www.hoynyc.com, www.laraza.com, www.laprensafl.com, www.elmensajero.com, www.rumbonet.com, www.vistamagazine.com, and www.contigola.com.

About Golden Boy Promotions:

Los Angeles-based Golden Boy Promotions was established in 2002 by Oscar de la Hoya, the first Hispanic to own a national boxing promotional company. In 2007, in its fifth year of promoting, Golden Boy Promotions set a record by selling over 2.5 million in pay-per-view homes in a single night. Also in 2007, Golden Boy Promotions established the record for highest grossing pay-per-view homes in a single year with more than 4 million total. Golden Boy Promotions is one of boxing`s most active and respected promoters, presenting shows in packed venues around the United States on networks such as HBO, HBO Latino, HBO Plus, TeleFutura, SHOWTIME, Versus and ESPN.

For ImpreMedia Inquiries:

Soizic Sacrez, Director of Marketing, ImpreMedia Digital

212-807-4611

soizic.sacrez@impremedia.com

For Golden Boy Promotions/Mayweather Promotions Inquiries:

Golden Boy Promotions

Ramiro Gonzalez/Monica Sears, 213-489-5631

Swanson Communications/Mayweather Promotions

Kelly Swanson/Jeremy Silkowitz, 202-783-5500

Source: reuters.com

What Kind of Statement does Mayweather Make if He Stops Marquez?

2009-09-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

If Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KO’s) is somehow able to do what no other fighter has done before to Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO’s) by knocking him out on September 19th, Floyd would be making a huge statement to the boxing community.

In essence, the win would solidify Mayweather’s claim that he’s the number #1 fighter in all of boxing, because Marquez is considered to be one of the top fighters in the sport and he previously foot Manny Pacquiao to a virtual standstill in two fights. Right now, Pacquiao is pretty much considered to be the top fighter in boxing largely due to his knockout wins over Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya, two very popular fighters among boxing fans.

Mayweather, for his part, also defeated De La Hoya and Hatton, but Floyd struggled to defeat De La Hoya by a 12-round split decision in May 2007. And in the case of his fight against Ricky Hatton, it took longer for Mayweather to knock Hatton out, stopping him in the 10th round, compared to Pacquiao, who easily stopped Hatton in the 2nd round in May.

But, if Mayweather is able to knockout Marquez, even if he has to struggle to get the stoppage, it would very likely cement Mayweather’s self claim that he’s the number #1 fighter in boxing, at least for the short term until Mayweather and Pacquiao can get in the ring and finally prove who’s the number #1 fighter beyond the shadow of a doubt.

However, a knockout win over Marquez doesn’t guarantee that Mayweather will be seen as the top fighter in boxing by fans, mostly because boxing experts and fans alike will point out that Marquez had to come up in weight nine pounds to take the fight against Mayweather at a 144 pound catch weight.

There’s no question that Marquez will be at a huge disadvantage against Mayweather because of Juan’s limited size. Unlike Pacquiao, who is able to move up in weight and still find success due to his knockout power, Marquez is more of a boxer and doesn’t have big power or incredible speed to make him and extra edge against the bigger fighters.

Besides that, Marquez was fighting as a featherweight (126 pounds) only three years ago before moving up in weight to the super featherweight division and only last year did Marquez move up to the lightweight division (135 pounds), where he had to battle extra hard to defeat Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz, taking a lot of punishment in both of those fights.

As a featherweight and super featherweight, Marquez was dominant and didn’t get hit a lot because he was so much better than his opponents. However, in moving up in weight, Marquez, a small fighter, has taken a lot more shots than ever did before.

Now to top it off, Marquez will have to come in nine pounds heavier than he has ever fought before. That’s obviously going to be asking a lot of Marquez for him to do this and remain successful. Mayweather might see himself as the number #1 fighter if he can stop Marquez, the fact that he’s fighting someone who has essentially moved up close to 20 pounds and four weight classes in the past three years, seems to take some of the shine off of any potential knockout win for Mayweather.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Floyd Mayweather talks the talk ahead of Juan Manuel Marquez fight in Las Vegas

2009-09-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather has been away from the ring for 20 months but he still talks the talk, as if he were boxing’s pound for pound No 1.

He may well prove to be just that, but will have to see off the challenge of Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Sept 19.

To most boxing insiders this is a battle between the No 2 (Mayweather) and the No 3 (Marquez) in the world. Since stepping aside, Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino fighter inked in to meet Miguel Cotto on Nov 14 in the Nevada desert city, has usurped the No 1 position.

Mayweather, a five-weight world champion, now 32, returns after retiring in Dec 2007, after his demolition of the previously untarnished Ricky Hatton.

Mayweather remains full of gusto. "I feel fast, strong and my timing is there. I feel the same way as before I left. Actually I feel a little better. I think the break helped because I haven't had a break since 1987."

Mayweather remains undefeated in 39 fights, with 25 knockouts, and meets the admirable Marquez for The Ring welterweight title (147lbs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather insists immodestly that because of his own exacting standards, nothing but a high level performance satisfies his fans, or his critics.

"When you go out there with an undefeated record, there is no pressure on these fighters because they have nothing to lose.

"If Marquez gets beat in 12 rounds or he gets knocked out, they are still going to love him in his country because he had the chance to face the best. They will say: 'You lost but you lost to the best'.

"But in the US it doesn't work like that so we have to work that much harder to stay on top. If I win, it's normal. If a guy gives me a tough fight or even comes close to winning, that's abnormal. Everybody expects me to dominate.

"It's extremely important for me to go out there to perform well and dominate.

"I've got to go out there and be smart, be intelligent and listen to my uncle Roger (Mayweather, his trainer). If I do that, we will come out 'A' OK."

Marquez steps up to welterweight for the first time, having won world titles at three weights up to lightweight.

In spite of having 50 wins from 55 professional contests, including 37 knockouts, he will be seen as the underdog.

"He is Mexico's numero uno," said Mayweather. "He's one hell of a fighter with over 50 wins and champion in more than just one weight class. Believe me, Marquez is not going to lay down. There's going to be blood, sweat and tears on Sept 19."

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Big Fight build-up: Floyd Mayweather Jr

2009-09-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr

Born: Michigan, United States of America. February 24, 1977

Full Name: Floyd Joy Sinclair (Taken mother’s name at birth before changing to father’s name Mayweather)

Nickname: Pretty Boy Floyd, Money Mayweather

Record: 39-0 (25 KOs)

Floyd Mayweather Jr had a successful amateur career of 84-6 and won national Golden Gloves championships in 1993 (106lbs), 1994 (114lbs) and 1996 (125lbs). He earned the name “Pretty Boy” from his amateur days due to his lack of scars, a result of the defensive techniques taught to him by his father Floyd Mayweather Sr. and his uncle Roger Mayweather, both former professional boxers.

Mayweather picked up a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta by reaching the finals of the featherweight division. Controversially he was beaten in the semi final bout against eventual silver medallist, Bulgarian Serafim Todorov, despite many who saw the bout believing Mayweather had won, including the referee who wrongly raised the hand of Mayweather when the decision was announced. The US team officially protested against the decision.

Putting the incident behind him, the 19-year-old Mayweather turned professional later that year and began in style by knocking out fellow newcomer Roberto Apodaca in the second round. Roger Mayweather trained his nephew for his first 14 fights due to his father, Mayweather Sr., serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking. Between 1996 and 1998 the promising young Mayweather won almost all of his fights by knockout or TKO.

In 1999 Mayweather secured his first world title after the corner of WBC super featherweight champion, Genaro Hernandez, stopped the fight after eight rounds. Hernandez had never before been defeated at the weight division.

Mayweather went on to defend this title eight times including a second round knockout against Angel Manfredy and a seventh round TKO of Carlos Gerena. Before his fifth successful defence of his super featherweight title against Gregorio Vargas, Mayweather Jr. fired his father as manager and replaced him with James Prince. A few month after the fight Mayweather Sr. was fired as trainer as well, as the rift between the two grew. His uncle Roger Mayweather returned as his nephew’s trainer for a non-title fight against Emanuel Burton (later known as Emanuel Augustus) which “Pretty Boy” won by a ninth round TKO in 2000.

On January 20, 2001, Mayweather Jr. faced his biggest fight at super featherweight when he defended his title against Diego Corrales. Neither fighter had been defeated or even knocked down. Mayweather won every round and knocked down Corrales five times, three in the seventh and twice in round ten. Corrales’ corner men stopped the fight after the last knockdown.

Four months later and Mayweather was back in the ring and suffered the first knockdown of his career against future IBF champion Carlos Hernandez. The knockdown was a result of the champion entering the bout with injured hands and after landing a solid left hook on Hernandez, the pain caused Mayweather to touch his glove down on the canvas which the referee ruled as a knockdown. Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision.

Mayweather’s eighth and final defence of his WBC super featherweight title was against future champion Jesus Chavez whose corner stopped the fight after round nine. Mayweather struggled to make the weight for the fight and it had been reported that he didn’t eat for several days before the weigh-in.

In 2002, Mayweather vacated his WBC super featherweight title and moved up to lightweight. His four bouts at lightweight included two thrillers against Jose Luis Castillo which Mayweather won by unanimous decisions despite many feeling he lost the first meeting. The victories over Castillo gave Mayweather the WBC and The Ring lightweight belts.

On April 19, 2003 Mayweather dominated Victoriano Sosa and won a unanimous decision before taking on South African knockout specialist Phillip Ndou whose 31-1 with 30 KOs speaks for itself. Mayweather changed his defensive style to one of offence and took a TKO victory when the referee stopped the fight in the seventh.

Mayweather moved up again in weight, this time to light welterweight where he won his only fight of 2004 against southpaw DeMarcus Corley. Despite knocking Corley down in the eighth and tenth rounds, Mayweather had to make do with a unanimous decision. On January of the following year, Mayweather won a WBC eliminator against Henry Bruseles when the referee stopped the fight in the eighth after Bruseles was knocked down twice in the round and set up a highly anticipated showdown with then champion, the late Arturo Gatti.

Mayweather goaded and insulted Gatti at every opportunity in the run up to the fight calling him “a fake” and a “blown-up club fighter”. The match itself was a shutout as Mayweather clinically defeated the champion, although his first round knockdown of the Canadian came after the referee instructed the boxers to stop punching, something which Mayweather failed to do. Gatti’s corner stopped the fight in round six after their fighter had taken a beating for the duration of the fight. The dominance over Gatti secured Mayweather’s position as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

The current pound-for-pound champion moved up yet again, this time to welterweight where he won his first fight, a non-title fight against Sharmba Mitchell, in round six. On April 8, 2006 Mayweather defeated IBF champion Zab Judah by a unanimous decision, picking up the vacant IBO title with Judah’s IBF. This was after being hit with a low-blow and a rabbit punch which caused Roger Mayweather and Judah’s father and trainer Yeol Judah to enter the ring and took police and security to remove them and allow the fight to continue. Roger Mayweather was banned from being in his nephew’s corner for one year and fined $200,000, while Mayweather Jr split from promoter Bob Arum becoming a free agent.

Mayweather decided to fight Carlos Baldomir for the WBC and The Ring welterweight title, taking both by a unanimous decision.

The next fight for Mayweather would be the biggest of his career and broke both pay-per-view and earnings records when he faced six-division champion and current WBC super welterweight champion Oscar de la Hoya. The hard-fought bout ended in a split decision in favour of Mayweather, despite many spectators and commentators feeling it could easily have gone to de la Hoya. Regardless of the result both fighters received the biggest pay days of their careers as de la Hoya secured around $58 million while Mayweather received $25 million.

Having won the WBC super welterweight title from de la Hoya, “Money” Mayweather relinquished his WBC junior welterweight title to face the undefeated welterweight Ricky Hatton in a bout billed as “Undefeated”.

Despite Hatton being the aggressor for most of the fight, Mayweather never looked troubled as years of refining his defensive approach paid off. He took control of the bout before finally knocking out Hatton in the tenth round on December 8, 2007 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather announced after the fight he would be retiring from the sport and concentrating his efforts on promoting, but two years later (and a brief spell in WWE and some heavy insults against UFC) he is back and ready to go against Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19, 2009 at a catch-weight of 144lbs.

Source: sports.stv.tv

Big Fight build-up: Juan Manuel Marquez

2009-09-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

The career of Mexican warrior Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez.

Juan Manuel Marquez

Born: Mexico City, Mexico. August 23, 1973

Full Name: Juan Manuel Marquez Mendez

Nickname: Dinamita

Record: 50-4-1 (37 KOs)

Juan Manuel Marquez had an amateur career of 35-1, including two Golden Gloves tournaments, before turning professional aged 19. His first professional fight on May 29, 1993 was his only loss for six years after being disqualified against Javier Duran.

At featherweight Marquez took his record to 29-1 in the following six years. After an eighth round knockout of former champion Julio Gervacio, Marquez won the vacant WBO NABO featherweight title after beating Cedric Mingo in ten rounds. He defended this title seven times including against future champion Agapito Sanchez and former champion Alfred Kotey both unanimous points decisions.

The Mexican was referred to as “the best fighter without a world title” at this time and despite being the mandatory challenger for WBO featherweight champion Naseem Hamed for almost two years, the WBO allowed Hamed to face other fighters instead.

Marquez never did get a shot at Hamed, but fought for his first world title on September 11, 1999 against then-unbeaten WBA featherweight champion Freddie Norwood. Marquez suffered a knockdown in the second round, but despite being the aggressor for most of the fight and knocking down Norwood in the ninth, the decision went against him although Marquez had thrown and landed more punches.

In November of the same year Marquez defeated Remingo Molina in eight rounds. In 2000 “Dinamita” defeated former champion Daniel Jimenez and five fights later captured the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) and United States Boxing Association (USBA) featherweight titles when he overcame Robbie Peden in ten rounds.

Marquez was given another shot at a world title on January 2, 2003 when he faced Manuel Medina for the vacant IBF featherweight title. Marquez had Medina down in the second round and again in the seventh when the fight was stopped. Later in the year he defeated Derrick Gainer, also in the seventh round, in a unification bout to win the WBA title.

In May 2004 Marquez faced Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao. Marquez was knocked down three times in the first round, but managed to fight on to a draw. The decision was somewhat controversial as despite the points deficit as a result of the knockdowns Marquez dominated the fight throughout. However, it was later revealed that one of the judges made an error in the scoring having marked the first round 10-7 instead of the mandatory 10-6 which would have given Pacquiao the victory.

In 2004 Marquez defended his WBA and IBF titles against future champion Orlando Salido followed by Victor Polo in 2005, winning both on unanimous decisions. Marquez was stripped of both titles when he failed to face mandatory contenders after potential bouts failed to be made.

In 2006 Marquez attempted to regain a world title by challenging Indonesian boxer Chris John for the WBA featherweight title, only to come up short in a controversial points loss. Marquez lost his place on The Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound top ten list as a result of the decision.

Marquez bounced back and later that year he captured the WBO Interim featherweight title by beating Thai boxer Terdsak Jandaeng before defending it against Filipino Jimrex Jaca with a ninth round knockout. Marquez was then promoted to world champion status when previous champion Scott Harrison vacated the title. Marquez followed suit and also vacated the title on order to move up to super featherweight to challenge WBC champion Marco Antonio Barrera.

Marquez overcame Barrera by a unanimous decision in a hard fought fight which saw him take the WBC title. His first defence was scheduled against Jorge Rodrigo Barrios, but the Argentine pulled out due to injury and the fight was rescheduled and re-cast as Rocky Juarez filled the opponent’s corner. Marquez won the bout by unanimous decision.

The week after the fight Marquez announced he would defend his title in a re-match against Manny Pacquiao after their first fight resulted in a draw. It wasn’t to be Marquez’s night as he suffered a knockdown in the third round which proved to be the deciding factor as the judges struggled to separate the performances. The decision was again controversial as again many people felt Marquez won the fight again, but this time Pacquiao was given the victory which split the judges. A third fight between Marquez and Pacquiao was called for, but both Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum were in no rush to face “Dinamita” again.

Marquez moved up to lightweight to fight The Ring champion Joel Casamayor on September 13, 2008. It took Marquez almost half the fight in order to find his flow and adapt to Casamayor, who was landing large counter punches on the Mexican. Once Marquez was able to land from the outside he took control of the fight, although he still managed to take a few shots from the taller Cuban. A cut opened above Casamayor’s right eye in the fifth due to a clash of heads, but it wasn’t until the 11th round that Marquez had the champion down after a ferocious exchange between the two. Casamayor got back to his feet, but Marquez went for the finish and knocked him down again with only seconds remaining in the round.

Marquez had won his sixth world title in three different weight classes and The Ring Magazine ranked him second on the pound-for-pound list and the number one boxer in the lightweight division.

IBO lightweight champion and former WBA, IBF and WBO champion Juan Diaz was next for Marquez and the pair met on February 28, 2009.

Marquez won the fight by a ninth round knockout in what was a ferocious battle which saw both men cut. Diaz seemed in control of the fight for the early rounds, but the older Marquez was willing to exchange as the pair went toe-to-toe regularly. It was Diaz who hit the canvas however when Marquez landed a three punch combination towards the end of the ninth. Diaz made it back to his feet but an uppercut sent him back down and the referee stopped the fight with 20 seconds remaining of the round.

In addition to being a contender for fight of the year, Marquez’s victory over Juan Diaz secured for him the WBO, WBA and the IBO lightweight titles, as well as defending his Ring title.

Marquez will move up almost two weight categories when he faces undefeated former pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr on September 19 in what could be the fight of his career.

Source: sports.stv.tv

Mayweather is fresh for Marquez

2009-09-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather is confident there will no ring rust when he returns to action after a long lay-off against Juan Manuel Marquez on 19 September.

The former five-weight world champion, 32, is back after retiring in December 2007, after he beat Ricky Hatton.

"I feel fast, strong and my timing is there," said the American.

"I feel the same way as before I left. Actually I feel a little better. I think the break helped because I haven't had a break since 1987."

Mayweather, who has won all of his 39 fights with 25 knockouts, faces the formidable Marquez for The Ring welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

And Mayweather said maintaining his unbeaten record had been the key motivating factor in preparing for the fight.

"When you go out there [against a fighter] with an undefeated record, there is no pressure on these fighters because they have nothing to lose," he said.

"But in the US it doesn't work like that so we have to work that much harder to stay on top.

"If I win, it's normal. If a guy gives me a tough fight or even comes close to winning, that's abnormal. Everybody expects me to dominate.

"It's extremely important for me to go out there to perform well and dominate.

"I've got to go out there and be smart, be intelligent and listen to my uncle Roger [Mayweather, Floyd's trainer]. If I do that, we will come out 'A' OK."

Mexican Marquez, 36, is a former three-weight world champion, but has only ever fought as high as lightweight before.

However, he has 50 wins from 55 professional encounters, with 37 knockouts, and has drawn once and lost narrowly to Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.

"He is Mexico's numero uno," said Mayweather. "He's one hell of a fighter with over 50 wins and champion in more than just one weight class.

"Believe me, Marquez is not going to lay down. There's going to be blood, sweat and tears on 19 September."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Mayweather's Too Professional To Be Taken Down By Turmoil

2009-09-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

During Floyd Mayweather's conference call with the boxing media this week, a popular topic of discussion centered on the distractions he's had surrounding him this training camp as he's prepared for his 144 catch-weight bout with WBO lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez. The first set back occurred when Mayweather suffered a rib injury (which to this day he's never fully admitted as to how it happened exactly) which caused the fight to be in limbo for awhile before it was ultimately re-scheduled for this coming September 19th.

After that, his uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather was charged with assault. Luckily for Floyd the case will be heard after the fight with Marquez. Shortly after that Mayweather's Las Vegas home was raided by the cops. Confiscated from his house were a couple guns and bulletproof vests. Along with that a supposed associate of Mayweather's fired shots at a car in a skating rink parking lot. The car occupants were people that Mayweather reportedly knows and doesn't like. Fortunately for everybody no one was hurt and at the moment Mayweather isn't suspected of any wrongdoing and will not be charged with any felony or crime.

Like most upper-tier champions and great fighters Mayweather is the most safe and under control in the boxing ring. The fight for them is usually the easy part. It's getting to it that can sometimes be like navigating a minefield for them.

"My main thing is to focus on the fight," Mayweather said. "Anything else, I'm not worried about. I try to focus on positive things."

The positive that Mayweather is referring to is winning the fight. Floyd's been around too long and is too smart to be taken down by something he has complete and total control over, and that's preparing for Marquez. His priority is getting ready for his upcoming fight and you can bet on him not letting anything distract his preparation for it. Mayweather knows that his identity as a person along with his legacy as a fighter can go out the window with a loss to Marquez. In some ways Mayweather is so much like Bernard Hopkins in that they both see the big picture better and more clearly than most fighters ever do.

Neither Floyd or Bernard ever let themselves get out of shape. When they go into training for a fight it's about honing their skill and putting together a fight plan that takes away the best thing their opponent will try and hope to do against them. Never do they carry the burden of worrying about losing weight or struggling to make the weight stipulated by the contract. It's money in the bank that they'll make weight the first time they weigh in, because they're the consummate pros.

Floyd said, "It's extremely important for me to perform well and dominate." To do that he's going to have to be in great shape. He knows in order to stick to his demand for at least purse parity in a future showdown with Manny Pacquiao, he can't afford a so-so performance versus Marquez.

Mayweather may dispute he reads what's written and reported about him, but he does. And he knows that despite the fact that he fought a better version of Oscar De LaHoya and Ricky Hatton than Pacquiao did, most boxing fans remember Manny beating them more convincingly than he did. Floyd can steal some of Pacquiao's thunder to a degree if he takes Marquez apart. In two bouts with Marquez, Pacquiao is 1-0-1 against him. Pacquiao fans believe he beat Marquez both times they fought and some of Manny's detractors think Marquez beat him both times. Regardless of what anyone thinks both fights were close. That doesn't mean Mayweather has to stop Marquez, but the onus is on him to win a non-controversial fight and control the action most of the way. Doing such will be something he can build on in and out of the ring if he does fight Pacquiao next.

Don't worry about Mayweather being greatly, if at all, affected by what's going on around him. Great fighters can block out the things around them that could divert from them being at their best for a big fight. Muhammad Ali still had to deal with a Supreme Court decision hanging over his head before he fought Joe Frazier the first time. Had he lost his appeal to the highest court in the land he was going to prison for five years. Yet he fought one of the two or three greatest fights of his career versus Frazier during their first bout.

Michael Spinks lost his fiance in a car accident shortly before his unification bout with WBC light heavyweight champ Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Spinks carried his young daughter to the ring with him the night of the fight and then went out and put on a boxing clinic against Qawi. In 15 rounds of fighting, Spinks' shoulders maybe touched the ropes twice as he was giving Qawi a steady diet of left jabs as he moved about the ring on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

How about Thomas Hearns younger brother Henry being arrested for shooting and murdering his girlfriend six days before he fought his rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard? That was some burden for Hearns to carry around for six days leading up to a fight he'd been waiting almost eight years to become a reality. And that must have felt as though he had the weight of the world on him. Hearns dropped Leonard twice and a fight that he should've won due to the two extra points he should've been up because of the knockdowns was declared a draw. The point is Hearns fought a great fight under adverse conditions. Everybody knows he won the fight. In fact Sugar Ray Leonard admitted on the Arsenio Hall show six months later that Hearns deserved the decision in their rematch.

Mayweather isn't faced with anywhere near the pressure and distractions that Ali, Spinks and Hearns were. Floyd will be fine. If anyone wants to sweat something about him before the fight, worry about him not fighting since December of 2007. Regardless of the fact that Mayweather has never taken any punishment and never abused his body, he is 32. He's had hand and back trouble over the years and until he's in the ring and fighting for real, nobody can say for sure with impunity how his body will respond.

What can be said is Mayweather loves saying he's the only fighter that hasn't lost, and will want to claim that after he fights Marquez. That guarantees he'll get out of his body everything it has to give. He has no control over whether or not it holds up, so be concerned with that. On the other hand he can control how he's affected by things around him that are out of his control. And that's something that he won't be taken down by.

Source: thesweetscience.com

De La Hoya is Convinced That Marquez Beats Mayweather

2009-09-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

Silver tongued Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya, who’s visited Juan Manuel Marquez in Mexico City insists this fight will mark Floyd Mayweather Jr’s first pro defeat.

Mopping his brow from the baking oven-like heat of the Romanza Gym, Oscar quipped to BoxingScene.com: “When Juan goes to Vegas with the temperature maybe seventy-five to eighty in the ring, it’s going to be a walk in the park compared to this!"

Having watched Juan Manuel Marqez spar eight rounds with three different opponents, all of whom were rolling their shoulders while cutely defending, but still getting clobbered… and with pep, Oscar said: “I just love what I’ve seen, and I’m even more convinced that Juan is going to win on September 19th. He looks spectacular. He’s strong and fast, and Mayweather is not going to hurt him.

“Ring rust will have to be a factor for Floyd, because you can be in the gym as long as you want, but if you’re not fighting and you don’t have the feeling of those eight ounce gloves, it’s a whole different story.

"Juan’s punches have snap, and they’re solid! When I fought Mayweather I really didn’t feel the impact of his punches. I felt the speed, but not the punch.

“When I fought him, I didn’t do it in such an intelligent way, so he couldn’t counter me. Juan knows the mistakes I made and will learn from them. I was connecting with my jabs but I was gong in head first. Juan is not going to do that. Juan has got to be careful about following Floyd about too much. Rather, he’s got to cut off the ring. He has to consider Floyd’s speed and elusiveness. If Juan puts it all together, he will win.

“Floyd has mentioned that he’s fought thirty-nine fighters, and thirty-nine fighters have come up short. Well he hasn’t fought Juan Manuel Marquez. He hasn’t fought the complete package, and it’s going to be one of those fights where Floyd Mayweather Jr is going to be very, very surprised.”

Source: boxingscene.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez: Ticket Prices Tell The Story

2009-09-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

With Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr's return to the ring only 17 days away, the true story of his success against Juan Manuel Marquez may well end up being measured in the ticket prices that his comeback bout are garnering.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, are both on record as calling Mayweather's return against Marquez “the biggest fight of this year.”

However, rumors abound that one of the reasons for the postponement of the original date of the fight, which was initially slated for July 18, was not necessarily due to a training injury suffered by Mayweather, but because of sluggish ticket sales.

Even Shane Mosley, a partner in Golden Boy Promotions, suggested that after several weeks of availability – less than 3,000 tickets had been sold for the original date of Mayweather vs. Marquez.

However, Schaefer, Ellerbe and even Oscar De La Hoya himself have made various statements to this writer and others over the past few weeks that nothing could be further from the truth.

De La Hoya and Schaefer have both said that “activations” of various sponsors are strong and that all signs point to robust tickets sales and a strong pay-per-view showing for Mayweather vs. Marquez. All associated with the promotion continue to state that ticket sales are not a concern and that there are no problems.

But there is some evidence that suggests otherwise.

Tickets for this fight, either the original July 18 or rescheduled Sept. 19 date - have been on sale since late May. Seats are still widely available at all price ranges in the MGM Grand Garden Arena which holds in the vicinity of 17,000 for boxing.

Hotel rooms at the MGM Grand are also plentiful on the weekend of the fight. The MGM is offering deeply discounted packages for hotel room and fight ticket combinations. The “VIP” packages include fight tickets, a complimentary limousine ride to and from McCarran International Airport, as well as credits that total $200 for food, beverage, and use of various extras the hotel offers.

Contrast that with ticket sales for the Nov. 14 mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, (which will take place in the same venue) and the picture of what match-up is the bigger draw for the fans becomes much more clear.

Tickets for the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight became available to the public on Aug. 17. Within a matter of hours, Bob Arum, chairman of Top Rank, Inc. announced that the arena was a virtual sell-out. Arum indicated that advance bulk orders of tickets had been placed by the Las Vegas casino operators and “only 2,100 would be sold to the public.”

Tickets had been on sale less than 24 hours when Top Rank announced that approximately 1,000 seats remained and those were in the highest price ranges - indicating that a sellout is a virtual certainty – nearly two months in advance of the fight.

A check of available accommodations at the MGM Grand on the weekend of Pacquiao vs. Cotto show some scarcity, with only the higher priced rooms and suites still remaining.

But the strongest evidence in comparing the drawing power of the Mayweather vs. Marquez and Pacquiao vs. Cotto fights would seem to be found in the ticket prices themselves. They are purely market driven and, as they say, the numbers don't lie.

A popular on-line ticketing service is currently selling a ringside seat to Mayweather vs. Marquez for $4,590 each. The exact same seat for Pacquiao vs. Cotto is currently priced at $10,943.

Source: boxingscene.com

Money Mayweather and his armored truck

2009-09-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't bring the Rolls, which was probably a smart idea. Even in a town that celebrates the outlandish it tends to attract attention, especially from the police.

Instead, he showed up at the wheel of his own armored truck, with everything inside but bags of cash.

"I keep that in my bank, baby," Mayweather said, "even though my truck is bulletproof."

The bullets were whizzing the other night when Mayweather's Rolls Royce was spotted in the parking lot of a Las Vegas skating rink, leading police to search the vehicle and his "Big Boy" mansion for evidence leading to the shooter. Mayweather is not considered a suspect, police said, but they left his home with guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests.

The HBO camera crews documenting Mayweather's life for the latest installments of the "24/7" semi-reality show weren't around, probably because reality doesn't always happen seven days a week. They did show up Wednesday, though, when Mayweather arrived to do a little sparring and a lot of promoting for his Sept. 19 comeback fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.

He needs the sparring because he hasn't fought in nearly two years. After knocking out Ricky Hatton in his last fight he retired, saying he needed a break from a sport that has consumed his life.

The fight needs promoting, too. Though Marquez more than held his own in two fights against Manny Pacquiao, he is moving up two weight classes to fight Mayweather and is hardly a household name in this country, much less a box office draw.

Add in the fact that the fight is going up against a UFC event and that Mayweather's purse depends on how many households spend 50 bucks to watch him, and there's little wonder why he's so eager to get people to pay attention. There are more armored cars to buy, and they could be filled with bags of cash.

"I feel I'm a pay-per-view star," Mayweather said. "I look forward to doing that."

The setting was Mayweather's storefront gym in Chinatown, which, like so many things in this gambling city, is more faux than real. Outside, caterers grilled burgers instead of Peking duck and served lemonade to those broiling in 107-degree heat awaiting his arrival.

It's only a 20-minute drive from Mayweather's new mansion which, depending on what day you ask him, is either 10,000 or 20,000 square feet and cost either $16.5 million or some other crazy number.

Mayweather dubs the new digs the "Big Boy" mansion to differentiate it from his other place, which had only 7,300 square feet. Anyone tuning in last week to HBO's "24/7," which runs for the sole purpose of promoting pay-per-view buys on the cable channel, would have recognized it as the place Floyd and his buddies were playing craps on the pool table in the family room.

It's not easy being "Money" Mayweather. Sometimes you have to look hard for places to put your money, especially when the armored truck with the suede interior, Playstation and 40-inch flatscreens is being used for something else.

It's not always easy being a Mayweather, either. Last month he almost lost his trainer when his uncle, Roger Mayweather, was arrested for allegedly choking one of the female boxers he trains. Good thing he's reconciled with his father, Floyd Sr., after nine years, just in case he needs him back in the corner.

"There's always controversy around a Mayweather," said Mayweather, who declined to say what he knew about the parking lot shooting. "When I focus on more positive things I sleep better."

The most positive thing Mayweather sees right now is what's happening in training. He said he's coming back refreshed and, at 32, feels faster and stronger than ever before. He knows this bout could set up a fight with Pacquiao that could fill the armored truck up many times over.

He was considered the best pound-for-pound fighter when he left boxing, a defensive specialist who can also punch and won all 39 of his pro fights. Pacquiao is now viewed as the holder of the mythical title, which seems to irk Mayweather if only because he believes it is his birthright.

"The main thing is I'm going to bring excitement back to the sport, bring flash back to the sport of boxing," Mayweather said. "I intend to do that."

And that, he says, is money.

Source: google.com

Mayweather preps for Marquez

2009-09-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Floyd “Money” Mayweather opened up his gym in Las Vegas with a BBQ and a bang today, giving the media a sneak peek of his peak form. On Sept. 19, Mayweather ends his retirement from boxing in a return against Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez.

Source: fightnews.com

Floyd Mayweather breaks his silence on skating rink incident

2009-09-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

After two huge bouts in 2007, Floyd "Money" Mayweather is about to make his return to the ring. Wednesday, it was all about what's happening outside the ring.

Mayweather was answering some tough questions from Action News about a shooting that happened outside a skating rink. No one was hit, but Mayweather was around at some point on the night in question. A police report names an associate of Mayweather productions, a man named O-C, as the man who fired.

He has been called the best, does that make him a target? No doubt.

"Negativity, it sells," Mayweather said. "I had a little incident. I like to call it a small incident. It was breaking news, but every week what I do, like tomorrow I'm going out and feed the homeless."

On August 24th police served a search warrant at Mayweather's home. They were looking for evidence in gunfire at Crystal Palace skating rink the night before.

The next day a witness told Action News Mayweather is connected.

"He got right in my face, he says, 'you know what I can do to you? You know who I am?'" said Quincey Williams.

Officers serving the search warrant did not walk away from Mayweather's home empty handed.

Two handguns and bullet proof vests were confiscated at his house. Action News wondered if he was worried about the outcome of th investigation.

"Are we hear to talk positive or are we here to talk negative," Mayweather told Action News. "Bullet proof vests is just like the armored truck, it's for entertainment. It's for boxing entertainment - it's for 24/7, it's for the WWE, things of that nature. And the guns are registered. Which they didn't tell you. They say they seized my car, which they didn't and the guns belong to my security guards."

As for why Mayweather is a target for the finger pointing, he points-out, and it's true, that he was the only one visiting the rink in a Rolls that night.

Police say Mayweather is cooperating with their investigation. They also say, as of Wednesday, they have nothing new to report on their progress.

But Mayweather says he's moving-on and focusing on the fight.

Source: ktnv.com

Mayweather Jr and Golden Boy Promotions dismiss and disrespect the UFC

2009-09-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

It appears that Mayweather Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions isn’t the least bit concerned about going head to head against the UFC on September 19th. In fact, Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions dismiss the serious challenge that the UFC presents.

In a conference call to hype the fight between Mayweather Jr. and Marquez, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and Floyd himself spoke about their head to head PPV battle with the UFC:

Comments from Mayweather Jr:

"I'm here to talk about what I got to do,"

"You know, what UFC got to do, that's their business. This is about me and Marquez pay-per-view, and we're not competing against no one else."

Comments from Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions:

"We're not really worried about it,"

"The fact is that we have the full support of the pay-per-view industry and all the main channels and everything, the marketing and so on. So that just underlines the fact that Floyd Mayweather is the pay-per-view king. So if you are the pay-per-view industry, who are you going to support? It is, of course, Floyd Mayweather, the pay-per-view king. So we're not really worried about it. Let them do what they do, and we'll focus on our own event."

Are you kidding me? Not worried about it? It’s one thing to be confident; it’s another to completely dismiss an opponent. Make no mistake about it; the UFC is the true opponent for Floyd and Golden Boy Promotions on September 19th.

Multiple sources quote Mayweather Jr as averaging about 900,000 PPV buys per fight. The average PPV buys for the last two UFC fights (not including 102) are 1.2 million PPV buys. But apparently, these numbers aren’t anything to worry about according to Floyd and Golden Boy Promotions.

These latest comments are another example of the disrespect that Floyd and his camp have for UFC and MMA as a sport. I’d like to take you readers back to some comments that Floyd made a few months ago, when speaking about MMA.

"It takes true skills to be in the sport of boxing, and-and Mixed Martial Art is for beer drinkers, boxing is for everybody. This is-uh, you can't take my shoes off and take my shirt off and just throw me in a cage. You do that with animals….you can't….. you don't do that with humans”….

"I don't know no fighter in MMA that generated a total revenue in two fights, which only lasted one hour in two fights, generated a total revenue of two hundred and fifty million dollars. They aren't even on my level.”

September 19th, will definitely be a fight. But this fight won’t be in a ring or an octagon; No, this fight will be in the PPV shares.

Will the UFC make Floyd tap out?

Will Floyd knockout the UFC?

Source: examiner.com

Breather from bravado

2009-09-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

Before his fight against Juan Diaz last week in Houston, Paulie Malignaggi told anyone who would listen that the judges at the Toyota Center would show a bias in favor of his opponent.

He felt vindicated after losing in a unanimous decision, especially after one judge awarded Diaz 10 of 12 rounds in a tightly contested fight.

Malignaggi’s post-fight rant on HBO against the judging made for compelling theater.

For that matter, so did the entire episode. It cut against the grain of the tiresome rah-rah, I’m-unstoppable hype too many boxers get caught up in.

The same can be said for some of the commentary coming from the training camp of Juan Manuel Marquez as he prepares for his showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand.

Certainly no one from camp Marquez is questioning the judges, as Malignaggi did. But no one is guaranteeing a victory against Mayweather either.

Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, Marquez’s trainer, has acknowledged the challenges a fighter faces when he steps up substantially in weight class, as Marquez will do against Mayweather. Beristain has also suggested the drudgery of training camp could be wearing on Marquez, who turned 36 this week and has fought 55 times in a professional career dating to 1993.

Some of the commentary surely falls under the heading of verbal gamesmanship. Still, it’s far more intriguing than the usual training camp prattle from 32-year-old Mayweather, who’s always eager to play the “heel” in a promotion and compare himself favorably with the sport’s all-time greats.

Marquez, a five-time world champion in three weight divisions, will weigh somewhere north of 140 pounds for the Mayweather fight. Marquez (50-4-1, 37 knockouts) fought at lightweight (135 pounds) in his two most recent bouts after moving up from featherweight and super featherweight.

Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) owned the welterweight world title before taking a hiatus from boxing after his December 2007 victory against Ricky Hatton.

Marquez, training in his native Mexico City, said he has been building muscle as prepares to face a bigger man in the ring. He said he’s up to 143 pounds. The question is whether the added bulk will compromise Marquez’s vaunted speed and timing.

Although Beristain said his fighter’s hand speed looks better than it has in previous training camps, he also said he thinks Mayweather will present a tougher test than Manny Pacquiao, who outpointed Marquez in a 2008 rematch. Pacquiao and Marquez fought to a 12-round draw in their first meeting, in 2004.

Even if Marquez’s concentration tends to falter, Beristain said, his fighter continues to be driven by a desire to win a world championship in a fourth weight division.

The words of promoter Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, have been less mysterious and easier to decipher in the buildup to the pay-per-view show at the Grand Garden Arena.

According to De La Hoya’s personal rankings, the Sept. 19 fight will pit the top two fighters in the sport.

That’s an obvious jab at supporters of Pacquiao, who fights Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14. It’s not a totally outlandish statement, though.

Mayweather was widely considered the world’s No. 1 fighter before his temporary retirement. And in Marquez’s case, he and his supporters will tell you his impressive record should be even more so, with two victories against Pacquiao rather than a loss and a draw.

De La Hoya also hailed the Mayweather-Marquez fight as the one match fans really want to see, boxing’s biggest night of the year. This contention is more dubious. While it’s an attractive pairing, it’s not for everyone — a brilliant defensive boxer in Mayweather pitted against an expert counterpuncher in Marquez. That’s a recipe for a 12-rounder with a strong potential for significant stretches of inaction in the ring.

Marquez, who said his countering and his ability to make Mayweather miss with his punches will be crucial, is also banking on Mayweather’s eternal overconfidence. Mayweather has said that even after his long layoff he does not anticipate Marquez will give him much trouble.

“I’m glad he’s thinking that,” Marquez said, sounding comfortable in the role of straight man to his brash rival.

Source: lasvegassun.com

Floyd Mayweather's love of himself conquers all distractions leading to comeback fight

2009-09-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Philosophers contend that narcissism exists inherently from birth, and that a certain amount of self-love counteracts negativity healthily.

Floyd Mayweather, on the other hand, possesses a healthy amount of narcissism that he exploits certainly.

For the best answer to why Mayweather will be unaffected by any of the external negatives enveloping his life when he fights Juan Manuel Marquez in 17 days -- or, at least, enveloping the lives of some of his closest associates -- that's why.

Mayweather's home got raided by Las Vegas cops, the removal of a couple guns and bulletproof vests made international headlines, and shots fired into a car in a skating rink parking lot are believed to have been fired by someone he knows.

And there's more.

The alleged victims of the shooting incident, in which no one was injured, are people Mayweather knows and doesn't necessarily like.

Quincey Williams, owner of the shot-up car, said he has known Mayweather more than a decade and engaged the fighter in an argument minutes before the shooting.

Damein Bland, the passenger in Williams' car who told police he saw someone called "O.C." doing the shooting, was a long-standing member of Mayweather's camp until he was suspected as a police informant.

When Mayweather retired last year, before un-retiring this year, he unveiled a documentary at a local movie theater. One segment included a still photograph of Bland, with a graphic image of a rat running across his face.

Bland told police he saw three men standing outside Mayweather's Rolls-Royce at the skating rink when the shots were fired. In addition to "O.C." and Mayweather, the third man, Jackie Ray Jones, has an outstanding felony warrant in Grand Rapids related to a 2003 assault at The Radio Tavern, asince-burned-down West Side bar.

Mayweather pleaded no-contest to a misdemeanor in that case, ostensibly to preserve a 2005 fight against the late Arturo Gatti, although he vehemently denies involvement.

Beyond all of that, Mayweather's uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, faces his own assault charges in an unrelated case in Las Vegas.

Against that backdrop, the former pound-for-pound king is about to fight for the first time in more than 21 months.

Outside of his trademark shoulder roll, his self-absorption is his best defense at times like these.

That other stuff?

Won't matter one bit.

"My main thing is just to focus on the fight Sept. 19," Mayweather said Tuesday. "Anything else, you know, I'm not really worried about. I try to focus on the positives. I try to focus on positive things.

"On the majority of the calls that people want to do interviews, the only thing they want to know about is negative things. They don't ever want to ask me about the positive things, how many different families I've fed, how many different schools I've came back to. The only thing they want to know is things that are negative. I'm focused on positive things."

We've done plenty of back-to-school and feed-the-needy stories, by the way.

We've also done the legal ones, and it is undeniable that few athletes have come through so many difficult negative situations as brilliantly as Mayweather, who in 2007 participated in almost a quarter-billion dollars worth of pay-per-view sales.

Legal cases, managerial upheaval, promotional disputes, paternal arguments, lawsuits and tax liens have been virtual constants in Mayweather's adult life.

Las Vegas police suspect him of nothing in the current case.

That's just about the effect it will have on Mayweather vs. Marquez, too.

Roger Mayweather, who did six months for battery just two years ago, might have a problem if convicted.

But Floyd Mayweather?

For him, this is nothing.

"In every athlete, they try to find a flaw to bring us down so they can say, 'See, I told you.' That's how it always is," he said. "I'm strong-minded. I have a good team. I'm hungry. And I take the good with the good and the bad with the bad."

Source: mlive.com

Marquez Plans To Shock Mayweather, and Critics

2009-09-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

A good way to know Juan Manuel Marquez better is to go and watch him train in the Romanza Gym in Mexico City’s no frills Iztacalco barrio.

Affable yet incredibly single mindedly focused, through the most excruciating sets of abdominal crunches, sparring sessions or being hit on the head by two handfuls of plastic tubing, to hone his reflexes, Juan Manuel still has time to grin while bearing it.

His only indulgent concession to luxury in this sweatshop, that’s honed burnished master craftsmen like brother Rafael, Daniel Zaragoza, Gilberto Roman and Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, is an occasional swig of water or a rinse of his bubblegum pink mouth guard.

Encased with an ample body shell, trainer Jose Luis Zaragoza gasps and grunts as a massive short right uppercut from Juan wallops his midriff, and then two arched hooks move upstairs to sting his weary padded hands. The whole process is being sagely masterminded, orchestrated and observed by wiry and wily Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, who is seemingly spliced to the top ring rope emblazed with the logo of Golden Boy.

The Juan Manuel Marquez of today is a ripped one hundred and forty four pounds in weight. Popeye would be proud of his pumped arms and noticeably more bulky shoulders. Running at high altitude near hopefully extinct volcanoes, at Nevado De Toluca, has maintained and retained his lightning speed. Juan Manuel has had five meticulous months to prepare himself for his September 19th showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, due to Floyd’s ticklish rib problem. He’s absolutely ready to savor the biggest challenge of his career. The added bonus is that the bell will ring during Viva Mexico Independence week.

Smaller, older and lighter without a perfect professional record, Juan Manuel Marquez is in dazzlingly superb shape. He seems to be splendidly ignoring all the dog eared missives of a well crafted script, that a lightweight can’t grow into a welterweight within the space of one fight. He’s quietly but brimmingly confident that he’s going to hammer the rust off Floyd, who’s not fought since defeating Ricky Hatton in December 2007.

So is sparring partner Abraham Alejandro Barrera from Monterrey. The rangy long armed welterweight who has recorded twelve KO’s in an unbeaten career of thirteen fights, has been standing up to the Marquez onslaught, while Panamanian featherweight Antonio Fernandez (10-1-1), has been losing an almost daily game of ring tag.

Cuban Roberto Norris, a veteran of 230 amateur fights, who was in Floyd’s last two training camps is now with Juan Manuel. He says Marquez is physically and mentally at a peak and Floyd can be defeated. Norris advises one possible key to it, is to pressure Floyd on his left flank and then when he moves right, to drop a big right on him. Watching Juan Manuel Marquez swivel on a dime, jabbing and striking with the speed, but more significantly with cobra like the accuracy, shows something like this is definitely feasible.

Juan Manuel has a much more detailed and varied outlook. He tells BoxingScene.com: “There’s no specific set strategy. It will be tailored round by round to overcome Mayweather’s style. I’m going to use intelligence, savvy, speed and every drop of experience that I’ve accumulated over my entire career to defeat him.

“This is the most important fight for me, due to the type of bout which is beaconing against the best pound for pound in the world, who’s undefeated, with a great defense.

“I’ve been active and busy, but he’s spent more than a year and a half out of the ring. Yet, I know he’s always in condition and I’m ready for the very best Floyd. I am ready and I’m prepared.”

A dedicated student as well as exponent of the noble art of defense, Juan Manuel Marquez also has the ingrained class to praise a more than worthy upcoming opponent. He reflects: “He’s a very complete boxer. Up in the ring I will be very astute, work with speed and reflexes and everything I’ve got, in order to open up routes, because he has great defenses. It’s important to have this appreciation in order to win. I’m going to pressure him, but intelligently.”

And even in the midst of all this dedication and formula one work rate, Juan Manuel is honest enough to admit he’s burning for a third tear up with Manny Pacquiao. He said: “My mind is set on September 19th, but the fans want to see me take on Manny Pacquiao for a third time. My heart is set on that too. It’s a great motivating factor for me right now. I’m looking for and determined to come up with a surprise.”

Source: boxingscene.com

Put your money on Juan Manuel Marquez

2009-09-02T05:43:00.001-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. might have made the biggest mistake of his career when he hand picked Marquez to fight as a comeback opponent.

Being the same old, risk-free, intelligent, business-oriented fighter that he is, he sought to find the easiest fight for himself after he was done with his retirement. However, he might have taken the wrong pill to swallow by signing to fight Marquez.

Whatever legacy Floyd had created, it was swiftly overshadowed by the fearless warrior Manny Pacquiao when the Pacman utterly destroyed the two fighters that define Floyd’s legacy. These destructions prompted Floyd to come back and gain back some real estate in the boxing business.

Floyd needed a comeback opponent to step over to get to Manny Pacquiao, and thus chose the tough and intelligent J.M. Marquez, who nearly beat Pacquiao on two occasions, figuring that he would be too small to pose a threat to him.

But the cold truth is that size is the ONLY advantage Floyd has over Marquez. In every other field of battle, it appears that Marquez has the edge to win the war. The good news is that many analysts are overlooking this fact, and putting their trust on the rusty Floyd Mayweather. I will give you the following reasons to convince you that Marquez indeed is the fighter to be picked as the victor, so that you should not lose your hard earned money in friendly wagers.

1) SIZE

Yes, it is very true that Mayweather has a tremendous advantage in size. He has been fighting as a true welterweight for some time, and at this age the weight had fully embraced him. Marquez is clearly the midget here. Marquez gives up weight, height, and reach.

But what is the point of having all the advantages that size offers? It of course is to dominate your opponent with power. Mayweather has never been the imposing type of fighter, as he was bred to be a boxer and a counter-puncher. Why does he think size offers an advantage to the counter-puncher? Is he thinking about how he was able to nullify Ricky Hatton with his size?

But he should note that Marquez is not a hold-and-punch, rough-and-push type of fighter like Hatton, who was the perfect prey to the bigger and more skilled Mayweather. Size doesn’t matter against Marquez. He cannot hurt Marquez with his size, he cannot rough-up Marquez with his size, and he certainly cannot nullify Marquez with his size like he did Hatton because Marquez never seeks to hold. So size doesn’t matter here.

2) SKILLS

It is very true that Mayweather is one of the greatest defensive fighters possibly of all time. He is extremely hard to find, and awfully difficult to land punches on. But remember that he had trouble with Mexican styled boxers in the past. With his square-on stance and high work rate, Jose Luis Castillo nearly beat him on one occasion. Also, in the fight that could be defined as the ugliest of the decade, Mayweather vs. De La Hoya, Floyd found himself struggling to cope with the style. Even though Floyd won both of those fights, it was because he was able to pinpoint and pick his spots, not because he had the ring generalship.

In Marquez, Floyd will find a highly skilled boxer, who is more technically sound than the two fighters that I’ve just mentioned. Marquez is a supremely skilled fighter when it comes to boxing in distance. He can close gaps to land his punches, and can retreat and pivot like a master matador if need be. He is also a skilled inside fighter when the situation requires him to be.

3) POWER

This is one sided. Marquez hurts his opponents on the regular, and his smaller stature will not halt his power against Mayweather.

4) SPEED

This will be even.

Marquez will be relatively slow as he is forced to gain a tremendous amount of weight to face Floyd. However, one should consider the bigger Floyd’s regular work-rate, as he is not known to unleash torrents of punches, but rather only a few at a time. This will be in contrast to Marquez’s constant attempts to engage efficiently.

Even with the added weight, I conclude, Marquez will be able to match or exceed Floyd’s work-rate and speed.

5) HEART

This is also one sided.

Marquez made himself by challenging the best and the riskiest. He is not known to make safe, “money” decisions to avoid fighters. He showed his willingness to fight hometown fighters, completely ignoring the biased judges. Marquez believes in himself. He will never question his own heart and hesitate.

Remember that Marquez possibly is the fighter with the best recovery capacity. His wars with Pacquiao can be the witness to his heart. Floyd, on the other hand, had never been seriously hurt or had to force himself to recover for the next round after knockdowns.

6) INTANGIBLES

Whatever advantages Floyd have going into this fight, they will be neutralized by the aforementioned factors. Also let us remember that Floyd is rusty, coming off of a year long layoff, witnessed by his brittle ribs covered by the fancy body armor.

Also, it seems that the whole world is underestimating his dangerous opponent, laying the perfect siege for a huge upset. He doesn’t seem to realize that he is not fighting just another Hatton or a Baldomir. He is fighting the highest skilled Mexican warrior-fighter of the past ten years, arguably.

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Put your money on Juan Manuel Marquez

2009-09-02T05:43:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. might have made the biggest mistake of his career when he hand picked Marquez to fight as a comeback opponent.

1) SIZE

2) SKILLS

In Marquez Floyd will find a highly skilled boxer, who is more technically sound than the two fighters that I’ve just mentioned. Marquez is a supremely skilled fighter when it comes to boxing in distance. He can close gaps to land his punches, and can retreat and pivot like a master matador if need be. He is also a skilled inside fighter when the situation requires him to be.

3) POWER

This is one sided. Marquez hurts his opponents on the regular, and his smaller stature will not halt his power against Mayweather

4) SPEED

This will be even.

Even with the added weight, I conclude, Marquez will be able to match or exceed Floyd’s work-rate and speed.

5) HEART

This is also one sided.

6) INTANGIBLES

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr. says distractions, Pacquiao, won’t hurt him Sept. 19

2009-09-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was the first day of a new month and it’s unlikely any athlete was happier to see August end than Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Within the last 31 days, Las Vegas police had seized two handguns, ammunition and two bulletproof vests from Mayweather’s house in connection to a shooting at a skating rink on Aug. 27, as well as arrested his uncle/trainer, Roger, for battery-strangulation when he was reportedly found assaulting a 25-year-old female.

Over a conference call on Tuesday, Mayweather (39-0, 25 KO) insisted that all that had happened in the month of August was behind him and has not distracted him from training for his upcoming fight with Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO) on Sept. 19.

“My main thing is to focus on the fight on Sept. 19, try to focus on the positive things,” Mayweather said. “The majority of the calls and interviews I’ve had, the only thing they want to know about is the negative thigns. They never ask me about the families I’ve fed or the different schools I’ve given to.

“We try to focus on the positive things.”

Mayweather turned to a number of examples of stories he says hasn’t made it to the public, including his dedication to under-privileged families in Las Vegas.

According to Mayweather, a great deal of the time off he’s taken from boxing has been devoted to giving back to the community he lives in.

“Just giving back to my American people,” said Mayweather, when asked what he’s been doing most since retiring from boxing in 2007. “I’m a giver. I love to help people less fortunate than myself.

“This one time I can remeber I went to the worst spots in Las Vegas and bought every kid shoes for Christmas. I went downtown to where people were living under tents, in extremely hot, 110-degree weather, and just gave away lunches. You hear a lot of negative thigns about Floyd Mayweather Jr., you never hear the positive things.”

Of course besides the negative press on his personal issues, another possible distraction for Mayweather has been the topic of a future fight between himself and Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KO), a matchup that the public is clearly dying to see.

When talking about maintaining his unbeaten record on Tuesday, Mayweather included a possible matchup with the Filipino champ in his answer.

“When anyone is facing Floyd Mayweather, there’s no pressure on them because they’ve got nothing to lose,” he said. “If Marquez gets beat 12 rounds or gets knocked out, the fans are still going to love him in his country because they’ll say, ‘You lost to the best.’

“When I face Pacquiao, they’re going to love him in his country because they’ll say, ‘At least you tried. You faced the best, we still love you.’”

When it was pointed out to Mayweather he had inferred that he would eventually face Pacquiao he quickly added, “He’s just one of the names I’m throwing at you.”

Whether or not that super fight happens or not, plenty of preparations are in place to make sure that Mayweather’s fight this month is a financial success.

The event will feature a few different promoting styles fight fans haven’t seen from boxing recently, including implementing roughly 170 movie theaters nationwide to show the fight live.

According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, targeting younger audiences through broader mediums has also been a focus for this fight.

“The way you promote to a younger audience is you embrace the new media and Floyd has been instrumental in doing that,” Schaefer said. “We’re using social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

“AT&T will be streaming the weigh-in live to its users. We are embracing the younger audience and exposing the fight in mediums that they use.”

Schaefer also announced that the clothing brand Affliction, widely recognized for its marketing within the mixed martial arts industry, will be designing the official fight shirt of the event.

Source: lasvegassun.com

Will Mayweather Retire if He Loses to Marquez?

2009-09-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

Next month, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KO’s) will be fighting one of his biggest bouts of his career when he fights Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO’s) at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. For Mayweather, he has a lot riding on the line for this fight. He’s 32, which is getting up there in age for small fighter like him, and hasn’t been active for the past two years due to an ill conceived retirement.

There are some who say that Mayweather needs the money badly to pay off huge debts to the IRS. But, if Mayweather is defeated by Marquez next month, Mayweather could see his popularity with boxing fans plummet, and along with it his future chances for big money paydays.

The question is would Mayweather be willing to fight for less than a million dollars per fight? He would likely have to accept taking smaller paydays until he builds himself back up as a star attraction. Unlike Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, Mayweather doesn’t appear to have a huge fan base that are totally loyal to him.

It’s hard to say why Mayweather hasn’t won over fans in the same way that Hatton and De La Hoya, because he’s accomplished more than either of them during his career. I think a loss to Marquez would hurt Mayweather dramatically in terms of future paydays.

The only way I can see it not hurting Mayweather is if he was able to lure a big named fighter like Ricky Hatton or De La Hoya into a bout, and then could ride their coattails for another big payday. There are some people who say this is exactly what Mayweather did in his fights against Hatton and De La Hoya. Although some people would disagree about that, his Marquez bout seems to be far from proving that Mayweather was the reason why the Hatton and De La Hoya bouts did so well.

What does Mayweather do if he is beaten handily by Marquez and made to look like an over-the-hill fighter? Would Mayweather fight on to keep getting a paycheck or would he have too much pride to start over with his career. A lot of famous fighters like Mayweather often go to pieces after a loss and grow bitter and end up retiring for a spell.

By the time that they do come back, they’re much less effective than they were before because of the time away. Mayweather has already lost two of his best years after a retirement. Would he decide to do it once more? I wouldn’t consider it a permanent retirement, because I think Mayweather would end up needing money at some point in time and would come back for that.

But will Mayweather take a loss to Marquez badly and fold up the tent for the second time in his career? A loss to Marquez would hurt Mayweather in a big way, because it would wipe out a big money fight with Pacquiao, you would think. It might not, though. In some cases, a popular fighter losing doesn’t stop them from being used immediately against another popular fighter who is in need of a big named opponent.

Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to Marquez, since he rightfully should be the one that fights Pacquiao next if he beats Mayweather. But, I could see him being ignored by Pacquiao and skipped over so that Pacquiao could get his fight against Mayweather anyway.

Source: boxingnews24.com