Boxing

[Mike]

And even less surprising is the vacating of the title by a man who in the past was scathing of other boxers who vacated their titles.

Bit rich seeing him calling out Calzaghe only to do the same himself. FWIW I can't see him retiring just yet, he'll have one more go at getting a Vegas fight.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Bit rich seeing him calling out Calzaghe only to do the same himself. FWIW I can't see him retiring just yet, he'll have one more go at getting a Vegas fight.

Yep. He is most likely chasing a big payday rather than defending his title against a challenger he does not fancy taking on.

Funnily enough that is yet another thing that he used to slag other boxers off for doing.


He has certainly proven to be a great man for the old "Do as I say and not as I do"


The worst thing about the man is that you get the impression that he actually believes the utter shyte that he spouts, and his brother seems to be cut from the exact same cloth.

[Chazza]

A fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao wasn't announced during Sunday's Super Bowl, nor is it a done deal, but the two sides are approaching a likely make-or-break next few days.

After six years of on-again, off-again talks in which negotiations have failed multiple times, the two camps have hit a wall as they attempt to make a May 2 fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas happen.

"The thing that really concerns me is that we are running out of time for May 2," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who represents Pacquiao, told ESPN.com on Monday. "If you want to drag this out a little longer then move the fight to later in May -- May 30 is a good date -- or go in June. We agreed to go on May 2 because that is the date Mayweather is hung up on, but if we're going to go on May 2 we need to get this done."

If a meeting between the two welterweight champions in Pacquiao's Miami hotel suite last Tuesday night -- after they met face-to-face earlier in the evening and exchanged cell phone numbers during a chance halftime meeting at the Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks game they were coincidentally both attending -- led to the fight talks taking two steps forward, they have taken one step back in recent days.

While many were led to believe that the fighter camps were on the same page following the hotel meeting, and that the deal hinged only on CBS/Showtime, which has Mayweather under contract, and Time Warner/HBO, Pacquiao's exclusive network, finalizing a deal for a joint pay-per-view telecast, there are still open deal points between the fighters.

"There are issues that should be solved in 10 minutes, but it's a slow dance," Arum said. "We send one draft to their side and their lawyer sends back a draft with something else that's an issue. And there doesn't seem to be any urgency about it on their side. It's terrible."

Arum has negotiated many of the deal points for the bout through CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves, who has acted as a go-between for Mayweather and his adviser, Al Haymon. Arum said he continues to remain in touch with Moonves and that they exchanged emails on Monday trying to work out the issues.

"I've asked Les to expeditiously handle the points there are issues with," said Arum, who declined to go into the specific issues. "Moonves can handle it. The question is whether the Mayweather side will listen to him. If they're sincere about trying to make the fight it shouldn't be an issue, or are they playing a game? I don't know. I go back and forth. I thought they were always playing a game, that Floyd didn't want the fight.

"Then Manny and (adviser) Michael (Koncz) spent an hour or so with Mayweather in the hotel suite and they read it that, no, Mayweather really wants the fight. But I don't know. If people were really concentrating on this it could be done in no time."

Many of the issues that come up in a fight negotiation have been agreed to as Pacquiao, who has agreed to extend his Jan. 31-imposed deadline, and Arum have given in to one Mayweather demand after another. They include the financial split (60-40 in Mayweather's favor), Mayweather's preferred drug testing protocol (the one deal point that killed the initial negotiations in late 2009 and early 2010), the date, site, order of the ring walks and introductions and the name of the fight (Mayweather-Pacquiao). But there are still issues to work out.

"There are unresolved issues on both the fighter deal and the network deal. (The fighters are) on the same page regarding basic deal points but there are lot of meaningful items still unresolved," said one source involved in the negotiations.

The networks have been working on the terms in recent weeks, dealing with such issues as how to blend their on-air talent for the telecast, who will actually produce and direct the telecast in addition to numerous other production issues and how to handle the delayed broadcast.

According to sources involved in the talks, Showtime has pushed for a similar scenario they agreed to in their landmark 2002 deal to do a joint pay-per-view for the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight when Lewis was signed to HBO and Tyson was with Showtime. For that deal, they agreed that the network whose fighter won the fight would get the replay rights and pay the other network $3 million. HBO, however, according to sources, is pushing for simultaneous network replays of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Stung by recent media reports that it is holding up a deal, HBO, which has not even publicly acknowledged the negotiations in the first place, issued a surprising statement on Monday in which it essentially said that nobody should blame it if the deal doesn't get done.

"We are not an impediment to this fight. We stand ready to go. The principals need to agree to terms and come to a deal," HBO Sports said in the statement.

If the fighters and networks do not reach terms both sides need to make alternative plans. Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) has said he intends to fight on May 2 whether it's against Pacquiao or somebody else, perhaps middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, of Puerto Rico, or former unified junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan of England.

The main target for Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) in a backup plan to Mayweather is a May 30 fight against Khan, whom he met with and talked to about a possible deal during a trip to London two weeks ago.

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/12270429/floyd-mayweather-jr-manny-pacquiao-camps-hit-wall-negotiations-megafight

[Doc_Piptorious]

According to sources involved in the talks, Showtime has pushed for a similar scenario they agreed to in their landmark 2002 deal to do a joint pay-per-view for the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight when Lewis was signed to HBO and Tyson was with Showtime. For that deal, they agreed that the network whose fighter won the fight would get the replay rights and pay the other network $3 million. HBO, however, according to sources, is pushing for simultaneous network replays of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id...ions-megafight

In other words HBO know that their guy is favourite to lose the fight, and are pretty much admitting it if they are pushing for this option. Great way to show confidence in your own guy HBO.

[Hollowman]

Maybe, but it only serves Showtime to leak news. They're in a harder financial situation than HBO. They're paying Mayweather stupid money, and now have to split the distributor fee with HBO. They need the exclusive rematch, where as it's all gravy to HBO.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Of course it serves Showtime to leak that. I remember how loud the HBO folk were with their "winner takes all" spiel when the two networks came together for the Lewis/Tyson fight that is mentioned in the article.


Lots of claptrap about how a network should stand behind their fighter, and that there should be a "to the winner go the spoils" outcome with regards replays of the fight and what not.


Now the shoe is on the other foot, so hard to blame Showtime if they want to go down the same route that HBO did the last time the networks looked to come together over a big fight.


At the end of the day money will be the deciding factor and prior precedent is ultimately worthless save for it being something for us keyboard tappers to prattle on about.

[marcus50bucks]

Dan Rafael @danrafaelespn · 1h 1 hour ago
It's official: @DannySwift vs. @kingpete26 will take place at @barclayscenter on April 11. #boxing

[Zapater]

It's a good fight which Garcia should win. He hasn't had a real opponent for a little while now, so it'll be good to see how he gets on. I used to think that he was pretty average and his dads **** gave him the hype, but he's a very organised, intelligent fighter. Peterson is decent, but isn't quite top level and will most likely show that on the night.

[marcus50bucks]

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather agree £160m Las Vegas mega-fight
Two fighters finally end years of tortured negotiations by agreeing record-breaking MGM Grand date, which is likely to be May 2

By Gareth A Davies, Boxing Correspondent
4:22PM GMT 14 Feb 2015

The richest match-up in boxing history between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao has finally been agreed after years of haggling.

A source close to the Filipino boxer and congressman revealed to The Sunday Telegraph that Pacquiao completed his contractual agreements on Saturday and that Mayweather is set to sign and will announce the contest which is expected to be worth $250 million (£162 million) in the coming days.

Mayweather was in New York on Friday, buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewellery, and there are indications that the unbeaten American boxer could even decide to announce the superfight officially at the NBA All-Star Game tip-off, which takes place on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

“Manny has 100 per cent signed his side of the deal,” the source told Telegraph Sport. “It is now over to Mayweather to close the deal and announce the fight.” Pacquiao himself revealed Friday that he has started training in General Santos City, Philippines for his next fight.

Before his face-to-face meeting with Pacquiao last month at a basketball match in Miami, where the pair later met for an hour in the Filipino's hotel suite, Mayweather had appeared on CBS coverage of a boxing event in December and announced that his decision was to face Pacquiao in the ring on May 2.

Through January, however, leaked comments from both sides led to claim and counter-claim over negotiations, which appeared to have stalled again.

But the meeting in Miami re-ignited the deal. Both parties agreed that MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas would be the venue of the fight.

Mayweather has had his past 10 fights there, while Pacquiao has had five of his past seven bouts there.

The fight the world has waited for, on and off for almost six years, now looks set to take place at the MGM Grand on May 2, although it is believed that there are two other dates on the table.

Behind the scenes, the talks have been complex. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, has overseen his side of the negotiations for the bout since November last year through Leslie Moonves, the president and CEO of CBS, whose subsidiary network Showtime has two more fights left on a six-fight deal with Mayweather.

It is understood that Mayweather's adviser, Al Haymon, has secured a 60 per cent cut of the revenue for his fighter, with Pacquiao, 36, having agreed to a 40 per cent cut.

Mayweather, unbeaten in 47 fights with 26 knockouts, who turns 38 in nine days' time, will take his career earnings to over half a billion dollars from this contest. But the greatest risk to 'Money' Mayweather in this fight is the loss of his status as an unbeaten fighter.

The megafight between the pair of welterweight world champions is expected to shatter all boxing's box-office records, including the all-time pay-per-view buy record of 2.4 million (Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya), the pay-per-view revenue record of £100 million (Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez) and the all-time gate record of £13 million (Mayweather-Alvarez).

The teams, according to the Pacquiao side, have also agreed on the policy for the 8-ounce gloves they will wear, and have concurred on a pre and post-fight drug testing programme, the latter issue having scuppered talks in 2009, and then in 2010.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency will be assigned for random drug-testing leading into the fight, with all other matters for the bout to be overseen by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Pacquiao is under contract with cable network HBO/Time Warner, and it understood that both broadcasters will air a joint pay-per-view event.

The rival television networks had a similar agreement when heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis fought Mike Tyson in 2002.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/manny-pacquiao/11413250/Manny-Pacquiao-and-Floyd-Mayweather-agree-160m-Las-Vegas-mega-fight.html

[Shaggy]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[marcus50bucks]

It's official

Floyd Mayweather
What the world has been waiting for has arrived. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao on May 2, 2015, is a done deal. I promised the fans we would get this done, and we did. We will make history on May 2nd. Don't miss it! This is the signed contract from both fighters. www.themoneyteam.com @melissiarene @moneyyaya @badmedina @theharlemhotboy @lizahernandez23 @rickibrazil @thatjessilee @kitchie

[Tee]

Great news, just several years too late. Nonetheless it should be some night of boxing!

[marcus50bucks]

Great news, just several years too late. Nonetheless it should be some night of boxing!

Already planning on where I'll be watching the fight. I can't wait bro

[RichC]

I'm going to be a mess at the European rugby final that day but will be planning to watch this live

Money on Mayweather

[G]

They should have fought several times by now but better late than never.