USADA's Travis Tygart: 'Do the Right Thing for Clean Athletes' -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

As the chief executive director of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart will be involved in Wednesday's hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission which will address its protocol for drug testing in general, and for steroids and illegal drugs in particular.

Various officials already have spoken to the NSAC during a meeting on Sept. 20, 2008, according to commission director, Keith Kizer, but this is Tygart's first go-round after having achieved a boxing first by implementing and overseeing the random testing of blood and urine on both Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley during the lead up to their May 1 clash won by Mayweather.

In this Q&A, Tygart speaks about a number of issues, including the testing schedule released for Mayweather and Mosley.

Mayweather had both blood and urine taken on March 22, April 1, April 13 and then on the night directly after the fight. Mayweather provided urine only on April 3, April 6, April 21 and April 24. Mosley provided both blood and urine on March 23, March 31, April 12 and directly after the bout on fight night. Mosley provided urine on April 3, April 6, April 21 and April 24.

FanHouse: Travis, what impact do you believe that the random drug testing of Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley has had on boxing?

Travis Tygart: You know, I think that it's caused a healthy discussion. Certainly, from our perspective, it was a sport that knew very little about the importance of having strong, anti-doping provisions in place. That has created an awful lot of discussion. You know, you had a successful program that was run for one of the biggest fights in history.

The Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight for random testing, that was unprecedented in that it was two professional boxers for the first time who voluntarily submitted to the World Anti-Doping Agency Code testing program, and I think that that speaks volumes about the importance of this issue.

And, you know, there is a hearing set for Wednesday with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that I will actually be testifying at that hearing on Wednesday. I think that the fact that we've been contacted by a number of other state athletic commissions in boxing to have a discussion is a good thing. I don't want to name the different commissions, but we've got meetings set up with some, and have had contact with several others.

So I think it's certainly becoming an educational process you know? Ultimately, people can decide whether they want to do everything possible to protect the integrity of the sport for clean athletes or not. At least they'll have the information available to make that decision.

FH: I understand that Andre Ward and Allan Green have requested Olympic style random drug testing for their June 19, WBA championship bout that will be in Oakland Calif., so have you been in contact with those fighters or that commission?

Tygart: You know, I know that you're doing your job asking that question, but just, at this point, out of respect for those that have contacted us and have preferred that we not have this out in the media right now, I don't want to say. I think that the point that is important is that the discussions have started.

It's important that the first call that we got was a call to us, and not something that we made, and that it was back in December, and that a lot has transpired in a very short amount of time. This has created a good, ground swell. Ultimately will that end up with WADA Code programs being implemented in the 50 states?

I can't say that for sure. That would obviously be the best thing for clean athletes and a clean sport. But it took four years for that to happen within the Olympic movement -- from late 1999 until 2004. So, we appreciate that there are a lot of complex issues, and they deal with science, and they deal with law, and they deal with sport.

That's going to take a lot, particularly on state athletic commissions that have turnover and that are politically driven, meaning that they are typically appointed by the governor who changes from time-to-time in various states. So, hopefully, we're at a point where we can have a good, consistent dialogue with the states.

Hopefully, those that are in power can make the right decisions. It's the same easy decisions that hundreds of sport entities and national Olympic committees and governments around the world have made to implement the WADA code in their territories.

FH: What complicates it to the point where there is a debate as to whether or not this is needed?

Tygart: I think that there shouldn't be. When people understand, there shouldn't be a debate. But it's all based on the level of understanding of the issues. I mean, it's easy to say that you need to do blood testing, and for someone in my seat, it's a no-brainer.

It's simple: If you don't have it, you're not protecting clean athletes and the integrity of your sport. But others out there want to say that you can have a fine program without blood testing. And I think I heard early on, by someone who suggested back in early December around the Floyd Mayweather- Manny Pacquiao negotiations, that blood testing is antiquated.

Well, if that's someone's belief then they're just wrong. And it might take some time for us or anyone else why there is a need for blood testing, and then, to explain the procedures. And to explain that it's not a large amount of blood, but a very small amount of blood.

And that here sort of why you can't have a black out period or a 24-day or a 14-day period where you're not going to take blood or not test. That doesn't mean that you're going to test every minute of every day up to a competition in order to be effective. In fact, you can have an 18-day window [where no blood was taken from either fighter] like we did with the Mayweather-Mosley fight.

That was acceptable and it is an acceptable program when it is coupled with saving samples for later re-testing. A lot of people go into that specific situation. I heard that there was some complaint or criticism of that.

FH: How do you mean?

Tygart: The term random is misused sometimes. It was, from the two athletes' point of view -- Mayweather and Mosley -- completely random. They have no idea when they when they're going to be tested. We really call that 'No advanced notice.' So they don't know when we're going to show up.

But from our perspective, it's not random at all, but highly intelligent. So we map out exactly when we're going to test, and when we're not going to test. We do that to be the most effective. In this situation, with Mayweather and Mosley, we were basing it on a number of tests and the test results that we received.

Based on the fact that we were saving samples for later retesting, we were perfectly comfortable that we were running an effective program and not blood testing them within 18 days of the fight. That was absolutely by choice and by design. If there is criticism of that, then it's not well-based.

Why it's perfectly acceptable is that the athletes, No. 1, didn't know. So that the deterrent effect was still there. No. 2, we look at the total number of tests that we did as well as the fact that we're saving their samples. And they did a urine and a blood test after the fight.

So we're saving those samples for later re-testing. And it's no secret for those that know that there is a new, human growth hormone test on the near horizon that has a much longer window of detection.

So, having that post-fight with the ability to re-test it with that new test made us totally comfortable only having that blood test 18 days before the fight and not needing one more testing day in between.

And importantly, the reality is, the people who want to criticize, they were hoping that we were going to blood test the day of the fight or the day before the fight, or two days or four days before the fight.

And then, they were going to hope and pray that whatever fighter lost, that fighter was going to blame the blood test. So since that didn't happen -- and that testing didn't need to happen to have an effective program -- they now have to try to complain that the window was too big.

But they have no other argument. So, from our perspective, what we decided -- and this is doctors, scientists and people who do this day in and day out -- that we would do the right thing for clean athletes.

Given the re-testing, the new tests for HGH becoming available, and given a number of tests for both blood and urine, and given the no-advance notice, and the no blackout window for testing, we were totally comfortable that this was an intelligently designed program.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Nevada Commission's Keith Kizer on USADA Random Drug Testing -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

On Wednesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will hold a hearing addressing its protocol for drug testing in general, and for steroids and illegal drugs in particular, "as a follow-up from the commission's examination" of the issues during its September 30, 2008, meeting, said director Keith Kizer.

The hearing is to involve input from various officials, including Travis Tygart, chief executive director of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which implemented random testing of blood and urine on both Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley during the lead up to their May 1 clash won by Mayweather.

Mayweather had both blood and urine taken on March 22, April 1, April 13 and then on the night directly after the fight. Mayweather provided urine only on April 3, April 6, April 21 and April 24. Mosley provided both blood and urine on March 23, March 31, April 12 and directly after the bout on fight night. Mosley provided urine on April 3, April 6, April 21 and April 24.

Kizer spoke to FanHouse in this Q&A

FanHouse: What are the chances of random blood testing for steroids becoming a regular part of the protocol for the Nevada State Athletic Commission?

Keith Kizer: Right now, we don't do that. Whether or not that would change, somebody would have to make a damn good case for that to happen. But that's one of the reasons that we have this meeting on Wednesday.

FH: How often do you have these hearings or meetings involving steroids testing protocol?

Kizer: Well I had mentioned to you earlier that we had had one probably 18 months ago, in September of 2008, and that's something that we wanted to take a look at.

We had a lot of information from our last meeting from several doctors, for example, with Dr. Robert Voy, who used to be in charge of the United States Olympic Committee's drug testing policy.

And Dr. Voy had actually left there because he thought it was a little bit weak. So he resigned and he's one of the world's most knowledgeable experts. Dr. Raymond Kelly is out of Buffalo, New York, and he works for the state university out of Buffalo.

And Dr. Kelly is also a leading expert and he was brought in by Dr. Voy the last time. Dr. Louis Jambor came from Quest Diagnostics. Dr. Barry Sample is the main doctor at Quest. But Dr. Sample had gotten Dr. Jambor to call in on our last meeting, so the three of them -- Dr. Voy, Dr. Kelly and Dr. Jambor testified.

Lou Jambor is the director of toxicology testing on the West Coast for Quest Dianostics. Bill Bock was also able to send in some information. Bill Bock is the USADA's lawyer.

FH: What sort of information was helpful?

Kizer: They have a really good wallet card that they give the athletes, where one side shows you what's allowed, and the other, what's prohibited. So this last meeting, and the feedback that we received from it, we figured that it was definitely something where we wanted to take a look at it again.

It's been about 18 months, or a little bit past 18 months, so we figured that now would be a pretty good time again. What comes out of that meeting, I don't know. I'm just as interested as anyone else to hear from the experts.

FH: What was on the wallet cards?

Kizer: Well, for example, you see that steroids are always prohibited. Alcohol is only prohibited during competition. So it's a very good card. In fact, we were sent a bunch of copies of that to link it to our website.

FH: Can you give the website address where the general public can retreive information on what is and is not legal?

Kizer: If you go to our website, you will see there is a thing that says FAQ, which means, Frequently Asked Questions. And you'll see midway through the FAQ, drug testing, and there's direct links to our information and to the World Anti-Doping Association lists and the wallet card that we were talking about. The website is http://boxing.nv.gov/New_FAQ.htm

FH: Were you given any explanation as to why Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley were not blood-tested closer than within 18 days of their fight?

Kizer: We were never given any explanation about that. You would have to ask Travis Tygart that or Richard Schaefer or Leonard Ellerbe or someone else that question. I don't know why they did that after making such a big deal about it.

You'd have to ask them. I've not talk to anyone at Golden Boy or someone from Mayweather's camp. Travis Tygart has told me that they could have done a blood test at any time and at any day or every day of training camp. But they only did four.

And this is Travis talking, 'It just so happened that the last one for each guy was more than two weeks out.' But they could have done it 10 days out, they could have done it five days out, they could have done it two days out.

That's what he's telling me. I have no evidence one way or the other on that.

FH: What is your feeling about what turns out to look like a window where there was no blood testing?

Kizer: I really have no feeling about it. The good thing, I guess, is that if you do it closer, you do run the risk of nicking a vein or infecting the arm, or something along those lines. Bruising the arm is something that might have caused the fight to be called off.

Whether or not that was the reason they didn't do it closer, I don't know. You'd have to ask them. It may be, it may not be. That's completely up to them to decide when and when not to do their blood test. That was a private contract that we didn't get involved with.

But that went on, and everybody tested negative, and that was the good news. I also understand that everyone passed their USADA tests, so that was great. So congratulations to all of the athletes. It was great that the fight was able to happen.

FH: Did anything more conclusive for you come out of USADA's involvement in the blood testing for Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley?

Kizer: The good news is that we had a meeting with USADA at the end of March. Pat Lundvall, the chairman of the Nevada Commission, and I had a meeting with their chief medical officer, Dr. Larry Bowers, and, Travis Tygart. They came to Pat Lundvall's office and we met with them for a few hours.

We gave them some thoughts on how we thought USADA could do a better job, and they gave us some thoughts on how they thought that the athletic commission could do a better job. It was a very fruitful meeting.

Unfortunately, Travis told us that 'Our hands our kind of tied by WADA. We have to follow what WADA says or we'd lose their acreditation.' With the Nevada Commission, we don't have to worry about that.

If we think that there's a better way to do it, we're not hamstrung by WADA. However, I think that there is a lot that we can learn from WADA and USADA. We have a more limited situation because of our budget.

But they have been very helpful, and that's what this meeting is for, to examine ways that we can perhaps improve our drug testing protocol. At the end of the day, no one knows everything. So we want to hear some of the things from the experts.

It's interesting to hear some of the different tricks people play, be it from blood doping to EPO or other things as well. It's good to hear sort of the war stories from the guys in the field.

FH: Was the random testing for Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley a step in the right direction?

Kizer: I don't know if it's either. That was a private deal they had with USADA and it didn't have anything to do with us. As long as it didn't interfere with our drug testing, and it didn't. There's no pro or con on that. The important thing was to make sure that it didn't interfere with our drug testing, and it didn't.

Both guys passed our drug testing requirements. Fighters have their right to do more testing, and as long as it doesn't interfere with the commissions, more power to them. Whether or not other fighters want to do it or should do it or don't want to do it, it up to the fighters.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Floyd still mum on Pacquiao’s offer -- Manila Bulletin

By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin

Floyd Mayweather has remained silent on the breakthrough move made by Manny Pacquiao concerning the touchy issue of random drug testing even though the American fighter may have already had his mind all made up as early as February.

Talking to the Grand Rapids Press, Mayweather's hometown paper, the flashy fighter said his stand on drug-testing and purse-sharing would change if his pay-per-view numbers in the fight with Shane Mosley would do better than Pacquiao's bout with Joshua Clottey.

The Pacquiao-Clottey tiff on March 13 generated over 700,000 buys, while the Mayweather-Mosley match last May 1 drew 1.4 million buys.

Mayweather told the paper: "I gave him a chance, up to 14 days out. But my new terms are all the way up to the fight. They can come get us whenever, all the way up to the fight, random drug test. That’s what it is."

And since Mayweather was able to generate more success in pay-per-view, he is of the belief that the revenue-sharing will no longer be at 50-50, which was agreed upon by the two camps during the heat of negotiations to pit them together early this year.

"Instead of 20 or 25 (million dollars), he may have to drop to 15, or 17. And you know me, they may have to throw that extra five or 10 on mine, and and we can rock and roll. Take it or leave it."

Last Wednesday, Pacquiao said he will be willing to be tested until two weeks before the proposed Nov. 13 fight with Mayweather, something that is seen by ringsiders as a sign that the Filipino is determined to salvage the fight.

Pacquiao stressed that as long as the amount that will be taken is small, he will have no problem giving out blood.

Source: mb.com.ph

Manny Pacquiao's rage against the machine: Like whipping Mayweather, Mosley, Margarito -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

MICHAEL MARLEY'S PHILIPPINE DIARY, PART 24:


What I Learned At Philippine National Elections, 2010

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—I doubted but then I came and I saw.

I was unsure as to whether political novice Manny Pacquiao, a fistfighter first and foremost albeit the best in the world including anyone named Floyd Mayweather, could demolish the deeply entrenched, dynastic political machinery known as the Chiongbians.

In rural, poverty stricken Sarangani Province, the Chiongbian clan, in cahoots the also rich and powerful Alcantra and Dominguez clans (an incestual group to be sure), has had a two decades long jron grip on everything from bullets to ballots, from fishing to farming and from electrical power to mining.

Pacman knocking out the Triad of Chiongbian-Alcantra-Dominguez?

In a political vein translated to boxing, that would be like Manny knocking out Mayweather, Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito on the same night.

Pacquiao, a measly millionaire competing with longtime billionaires, was like a mouse attacking an elephant, like some Joe Blow trying to topple the Mayor Daley regime in Chicago or to defeat a Kennedy in Massachusetts. It could be compared to battling someone named Bush deep in the heart of Texas.

I doubted, I came, I saw, I believe as Pacquiao, learning valuable lessons from his electoral spanking in hometown Gensan at the hands of clever Dazzling Darlene Antonino-Custodio in a Congressional mismatch in 2007, was intelligent enough to put together a team of James Carville, Rahm Emmanuel, Donna Brazile types, veterans of Pinoy politics.

Now, in the wake of a resounding victory which may wind up a 2 to 1 ballot battering, Pacquiao must render unto Cesar what is Cesar's.

In this case, Cesar is a bright fellow named Cesar Y. Yamuta, a Borneo native and political operative who now works out of Iligan City.

Yamuta, working closely with Mayor Tanny Pepito and Zaldy Du, spearheaded the People's Champ Movement with Pacquiao as its standardbearer.

In the wee hours Tuesday morning, at the so called “Pacquiao Pentagon” fortress where a team of youthful workers worked the phones and computers tabulating results, Yamuta explained to me and promoter Bob Arum the winning strategy.

“We aimed our Pacquiao pitch at the poorest of the people in Sarangani, the masses of the people who have gotten nothing out of the established powers that used to be,” Yamuta said.

“Our message was simple, we asked the poorest people, 'Is Manny your idol? If he is your idol, then you should help him so he can go to Congress and help you.' We asked every person who respinded favorably to that to extend our reach, we asked them to reach out to 10 other people with the same mesaage.”

Personally, I saw if not understood the efficacy of Pacman's emotional but also factual appeal to the pobrecitos in Saragani.

When Manny thumped his chest and spoke of sleeping on the street, of peddling cigarettes to get a bowl of rice, of having next to nothing in terms of creature comforts, the “least of them” got the message.

Here is a boxing idol who has not forgotten from whence he came and who might be able to deliver a hospital, school supplies and free medicatuions in a Third World country where it is often said the majority of the people exists on less than $5 per day.

They came to see their ring hero, they listened intently and then they turned out in droves at the polling places despite some scattered reports of harrassment from the other side.

The people of Sarangani have not merely spoken.

They certainly did not whisper.

They shouted it from the rooftops of tin shacks and straw huts, from the rice fields and the tuna fishing boats.

Pacquiao is The People's Champion and The People's Choice.

All hail the Honorable Congressman from the 15th Congressional District.

Or, as he was referrred to by his happy supporters Monday night and into Tuesday, Landslide Manny.

I doubted, I came, I saw.

I consumed kinilaw, balut and quaffed frosty San Miguel Light.

I believe.

Massive popularity, genuine humility, absolute sincerity. His message ran loud and it rang true.

How long before Manny Pacquiao becomes president of the Philippines?

Not long, not long at all.

You can make book on that.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Pacquiao should agree to Olympic-style testing, says WADA -- Reuters

By Steve Keating, Reuters

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Manny Pacquiao should remove the chief stumbling block to a highly anticipated bout with Floyd Mayweather by agreeing to Olympic-style drug testing, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief John Fahey said Monday.

Like millions of boxing fans, Fahey said he is among those hoping to see the undefeated Mayweather and Pacquiao fight for the mythical title of the world's best pound-for-pound boxer.

But attempts to get the two fighters into the ring have been scuttled by Pacquiao's refusal to submit to blood testing, something Mayweather says the Filipino will have to agree to if they are to meet.

"We say time-and-time again, that clean athletes have nothing to hide so why wouldn't you assure that the integrity of the sport you are competing in is kept intact by virtue of undertaking this sort of scrutiny," Fahey said on a conference call to discuss WADA executive board meetings at the weekend.

"I want to say Mr. Mayweather in particular has been a strong advocate that we welcome and we applaud the statements about his sport being clean and doping free.

"We wish him every strength going forward as a result of that."

Mayweather had been expected to meet Pacquiao earlier this year until negotiations collapsed over the American's demand for random drug testing.

Shane Mosley then stepped in to take the Filipino's place after agreeing to have the May 1 bout's drug testing supervised by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Widely regarded as the best defensive fighter of his generation, Mayweather recorded a unanimous decision over Mosley, improving his career record to 41-0 with 25 knockouts.

"We were delighted that the Mayweather-Mosley fight agreed to work with the United States Anti-Doping Agency and undertake a series of advance testing of urine and blood in the lead up to that fight," said Fahey.

"We hope that step encourages other boxers and promoters and the numerous organizations that control professional boxing worldwide to adopt a code compliant approach, a code compliant anti-doping program."

(Editing by Steve Ginsburg)

Source: ca.reuters.com

The Myth and the Reality of Floyd Mayweather Jr -- SecondsOut

By Thomas Hauser, SecondsOut.com

In today’s society, Patrick Kehoe observes, “hyperbole tends to replicate itself as an electronic echo, transmitting the desired information as truth logged into infinite memory. Just keep talking, and something aggrandizing will affix to the culture at large.”

One might cite Floyd Mayweather Jr in support of that theory.

Mayweather is an extremely talented fighter who wants to be superstar famous and mega-rich. His record stands at 41-and-0 with 25 knockouts. In recent years, he and Manny Pacquiao have been vying for the right to be called the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Mayweather lives alone in a 23,000-square-foot house in Las Vegas. “When I was growing up,” he says, “seven of us lived in one bedroom. I got a closet now that’s bigger than that bedroom was.”

Floyd has never been married and has four children by two different women. A seven-man security detail that conjures up images of PEDs accompanies him at public functions. He takes pride in his appearance and has no tattoos. “I like the way I look without them,” he notes. “And I’m not a follower.”

Mayweather is obsessed with money to the point of having changed his sobriquet from “Pretty Boy Floyd” to “Money Mayweather.” When asked to name his heroes, he cites Bill Gates, Steve Wynn, Carlos Slim, Mark Cuban, and Warren Buffet; all hugely successful entrepreneurs. He’s often draped in expensive bling and brags about his winnings at Las Vegas sports books. The probability is that, like most gamblers, he loses more than he wins.

Mayweather can be seductively charming. He’s also very much into control. When he says “jump,” the people in his inner circle tend to ask, “How high?”

“I call the shots,” Floyd says. “Everything that goes my way isn’t always the right way. I know that. But I like things the way I like them.”

Asked for more in the way of self-description, Mayweather offers, “I don’t like to be lied to or disrespected. I ain’t never gonna punch a clock for nobody. I was born to be a winner. I’m happy with my life. I don’t hate on people. Some people say I’m an asshole, but I don’t hurt nobody. I got a heart. God must love me, because look where I’m at.”

The public feuding within Mayweather’s family has been referred to as boxing’s version of The Jerry Springer Show.

The most notable estrangement was between Floyd and his father and lasted for nine years. Floyd Sr fought professionally in the 1970s and ‘80s and later spent five-and-a-half years in prison for cocaine trafficking. During the chill between father and son, Floyd Sr lobbied to train fighters who would be facing Floyd Jr and declared, “Floyd thinks he’s bigger than boxing, and he ain’t. No one is bigger than boxing.”

They reconciled in May 2009. Now Floyd Sr says, “My son is bigger than boxing.”

Floyd has been trained by his uncle, Roger Mayweather, for most of his pro career. Roger was imprisoned in 2007 for assaulting his son’s maternal grandmother. Last year, he was indicted on charges of battery and coercion. The police report on the latter incident states that Roger punched a woman named Melissa St. Vil in the ribs several times and wrapped his hands around her throat, causing her to nearly pass out. When the police arrived, St. Vil was coughing and spitting up blood. Trial on these charges is scheduled for later this year.

Floyd Jr. has had his own issues with women and the criminal justice system. In 2002, he plead guilty to two counts of domestic violence. Two years later, he was found guilty on two counts of misdemeanor battery for assaulting two women in a Las Vegas night club.

The other core members of Team Mayweather are Leonard Ellerbe and Al Haymon. Ellerbe is Mayweather’s personal assistant, administrative aide, and business manager. Haymon masterminds Mayweather’s fight contracts.

In most sports, a fighter has to beat the best in order to reach the top. Corrupt world sanctioning organizations and HBO’s outsized marketing power have deprived boxing of that legitimacy.

Within this environment Mayweather has combined careful matchmaking and a cautious ring style with an attention-grabbing persona and superb boxing skills to build a brand name.

Floyd craves celebrity status. He understands what it can do for him financially, not to mention his ego. As Carlo Rotello wrote in the New York Times, “He wants to be bigger than boxing can make him; kind of like what The Joker has in mind in Batman when he says he wants his face on the dollar bill.”

Thus, Mayweather has expended considerable time and energy to turn himself into a magnet for media attention and build his profile outside the ring. In 2007, he appeared on Dancing with the Stars. One year later, he faced off against “Big Show” on WrestleMania. Truth and the business of combat sports rarely go hand in hand, so Floyd can be forgiven for boasting that he was paid US$20,000,000 for his wrestling foray. Golden Boy promoter Richard Schaefer puts the number at “about $3,500,000.” Still, that’s a staggering sum for a one-night acting gig.

The bulwark of Mayweather’s image-making has been HBO’s TV “reality” series, 24/7. The show has been used to promote eight pay-per-view fights, including Floyd’s outings against Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Shane Mosley.

24/7 has propagated the view that everything Mayweather touches turns to gold and given him a platform to craft his outside-the-ring persona. To some, Floyd symbolizes crass materialism and conspicuous consumption. But as Lou Duva once noted, “Nobody goes into boxing to be loved. You’re in this game to make money.”

Mayweather has made money. His 2007 fight against Oscar De La Hoya engendered a record-breaking 2,446,000 buys. Oscar was the driving force behind that promotion. But Floyd’s seven pay-per-view fights have averaged close to one million buys.

“What’s this fight going to do for my legacy?” Floyd asked before squaring off against Ricky Hatton two-and-a-half years ago. “I got no fake answer. It’s not going to do nothing for my legacy. I’m fighting because I’m a business man. I’m like Bob Barker. ‘Come on down.’ If the price is right, let’s make it happen.”

“People love controversy, and I’m controversial,” Mayweather offers. “If you see Tom Cruise in a movie, that’s not really him. It’s a character he’s playing. Some of what I do in public is me, and some of it is playing a character. You figure out which is which. At the end of the day, it don’t matter whether the media likes me or not. People love me. When I go places, I get a lot of love.”

It might be that Mayweather confuses love with the attention he gets for being a celebrity. Either way, love isn’t central to his image. The pillars of his public persona are money and his ring prowess.

Mayweather’s skill as a fighter is a matter of record, and he’s boastful when it comes to extolling his place in the sweet science. Among his claims: “I’m the face of boxing . . . I can make anybody look like a nobody . . . When fighters are facing me, they’re facing the best. When I’m facing them, I’m just facing fighters . . . Some fighters do different things good. I do everything great . . . There’s no remedy on how to beat Floyd Mayweather. It’s like a difficult math problem that no one can solve . . . I’m the king of the throne. I do what I want to do . . . All roads in boxing lead to Floyd Mayweather.”

Mayweather also maintains, “I’m the reason people don’t watch heavyweights no more. I made the world pay attention to the smaller man in boxing.”

That will come as a surprise to Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran, whose internecine warfare captivated the world several decades ago. Fans of Manny Pacquiao might also take issue.

Then there’s the claim, “I’m the best fighter ever. Muhammad Ali? He lost to Leon Spinks, a guy who had seven pro fights. Sugar Ray Robinson? He didn’t win a championship after just one year like I did.”

In truth, Mayweather won his first world title belt after two years, not one. Robinson had to wait six years and fight 75 fights before he was given an opportunity to fight for the championship. In his first 131 fights, Robinson lost once. During that time, he beat Sammy Angott (twice), Fritzie Zivic (twice), Tommy Bell (twice), Kid Gavilan (twice), and Jake LaMotta (five times).

As for Ali; he had the toughest inquisitors of any champion ever and won five of six fights against Sonny Liston, George Foreman, and Joe Frazier. His greatness is untouched by what happened when he got old.

That said; even Mayweather’s critics acknowledge that he’s a formidable fighting machine.

The foundation of Floyd’s success in the ring is preparation. He knows how to do things right in the gym and trains his ass off. Getting ready for a fight, he always pays the price.

“You got to be ready every time you step in the ring,” Floyd says. “You got to be mentally ready before you can do the things you have to do to get ready physically. Then, when you’re physically ready, you can take the final mental steps. The mind tells the body what to do, but it’s all tied together. I’ve never been in a fight where my mind said something and my body wouldn’t do it.”

Those looking for a hole in Mayweather’s discipline point to his penchant for fast food. In response, Floyd notes, “Fast food is better than drinking. Fast food is better than drugs. Nobody works harder than me in the gym. That’s one of the reasons why, in fights, I don’t get tired.”

Mental burn-out is another matter. On October 23, 2007, an uncharacteristically somber Mayweather told the media, “It’s not like it used to be. I think I liked this sport better when I was fighting for free. When you’re young, you don’t have concerns, so you’re not worried about nothing. I mean, you never know what can happen in boxing. A lot of times, you worry about certain things like, if I die in the ring, what’s going to happen with your family? When I didn’t have no kids to live for, I really wasn’t worried about nothing. I was like, I don’t care what goes on. I’m just going there to fight. If I die, so be it. Now that I’m a lot older and a lot wiser, it’s more like I’ve got something to live for. I’ve got some people who love me. So that worries me a lot, because I feel like my job is like a cop. One shot can end your whole career.”

Seven weeks later, Mayweather knocked out Ricky Hatton. Then, on June 6, 2008, he announced that he was “permanently retiring from boxing.”

“I needed a rest, physically and mentally,” Floyd says. “I was burned out.”

Few people in boxing took Mayweather’s retirement seriously. The assumption was that he’d be back in the ring, sooner rather than later.

The return came against Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19, 2009. Maybe Floyd missed the spotlight and the competition. Just as likely, he needed money. On July 3, 2009, the Associated Press reported that the Internal Revenue Service had filed tax liens against him totaling US$6,170,000 and that he owed another $193,000 pursuant to a New Jersey Superior Court judgment.

There were also persistent rumors, denied by Leonard Ellerbe, that Floyd had been swindled out of millions of dollars in a financial scam.

Equally important, Mayweather thought at the time of his retirement that he could make a fortune without boxing; through endorsements, investments, and business ventures. That was easier said than done.

“He wasn’t broke,” Floyd Sr says. “But he had a money problem.”

Against Marquez, Mayweather showed that he was still a superb fighter. The one sour note in the proceedings came when Floyd blew off the agreed-upon contract weight of 144 pounds (nine pounds above Juan Manuel’s previous high) and weighed in at 146 pounds. The contract was hastily amended. Mayweather paid Marquez an additional US$600,000 out of his reported $10,000,000 guarantee, and the bout took place as scheduled. Floyd won a lopsided decision.

Eight weeks after Mayweather decisioned Marquez, Manny Pacquiao annihilated Miguel Cotto. That set the stage for Mayweather-Pacquiao, which, it was presumed, would be the largest-grossing fight in boxing history.

Not.

Mayweather-Pacquiao fell through to the dismay of the boxing community. Depending on one’s point of view, that was because Floyd made unreasonable demands with regard to PED testing that he knew would interfere with Manny’s training (a/k/a “the Pacquiao avoidance program”) or Pacquiao had something to hide.

Either way, Floyd needed a name opponent to counterbalance the fallout from Mayweather-Pacquiao falling out. Meanwhile, Shane Mosley was scheduled to fight Andre Berto (who, like Mayweather, is managed by Al Haymon) on January 30th.

On January 12th, Berto’s ancestral home of Haiti was devastated by a catastrophic earthquake. Six days later, citing concern for members of his family and the fact that he was mentally and physically exhausted, Andre withdrew from the Mosley fight. That same day, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy (which promotes Shane and co-promotes Mayweather) announced that he was working to put Mayweather-Mosley together for May 1st.

A decade ago, Mosley and Roy Jones vied for pound-for-pound honors, although the consensus was that Jones reigned. Then Shane lost to Vernon Forrest and the debate ended.

Mosley is now thirty-eight years old and had fought only twice since 2007. In one of those fights, he struggled on old legs against Ricardo Mayorga before knocking the Nicaraguan out in the twelfth round. Then, on January 24, 2009, Shane scored an impressive knockout victory over Antonio Margarito to capture the WBA welterweight crown.

Margarito-Mosley was the platform on which Mayweather-Mosley was built.
Shane has a name. Unlike many elite fighters, he really will fight anyone. And Mayweather felt that beating Mosley convincingly would legitimize his own claim to greatness.

Shane had the same agenda as Mayweather, but hoped for a different outcome. “Everybody has Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather on their mind,” he said. “I’m going to make sure that they know that I’m here. I want to make a point that I’m the best welterweight fighter right now. I’m not just going to talk about it. I want to be about it. There’s no welterweight out there who can beat me.”

The marketing theme for Mayweather-Mosley was “who R U picking?” That rang a bit hollow, since virtually everyone in the know was picking Mayweather. The odds opened at 3-to-1 and rose as high as 9-to-2 before settling at 7-to-2.

At the March 2nd kick-off press conference in New York, Schaefer proclaimed, “This is one of the best fights in the history of boxing” and predicted three million pay-per-view buys. Later in the promotion, when Mayweather was referenced during a tele-conference call as “the greatest fighter in boxing today,” Schaefer corrected, “Not of today; the greatest of all time.”

One hopes that, in his previous career as a banker, Richard fulfilled his fiduciary obligation to clients with more acumen and/or candor.

Mayweather has the habit of demeaning his opponent in the build-up to a fight, and Mayweather-Mosley was no exception. After calling Shane a “dumb motherfucker,” Floyd opined, “He’s desperate, so he has no choice but to fight me. His career is coming to an end; and before he goes, he wants that last big payday. I don’t really like to speak on people’s personal business, because his personal life is his personal life. But he just went through a divorce, and sometimes going through a hard divorce can be very excruciating. It can cost a lot of money.”

“This is our legacy on who’s the best fighter,” Shane responded. “It’s a challenge that I’m ready to take. It’s nothing personal. I’m ready to go into the history books as the guy to beat Floyd Mayweather and the guy that beats everybody out there. The last man standing; I’m into that. I don’t bark. I bite.”

But when pressed, Shane added, “He wants to talk about my suit. He’s talking about the curls in my hair and if I’m getting a nose job. Is he gay or something? You know, all of these different things about my personal stuff. I mean, you’ve got to watch out. There’s different things that don’t sound right.”

Then there was the issue of performance-enhancing drugs.

The contract for Mayweather-Mosley gave Floyd the right to dictate the terms of drug testing. Anything he wanted would be put in place as long as each fighter was subject to the same testing requirements.

Mayweather might be sincere in his claim that he wants elaborate PED testing for all of his fights as a way of ensuring “a level playing field for clean athletes.” Or he might be avoiding a showdown with Manny Pacquiao (whose phobia for needles is genuine). Let’s give Floyd the benefit of the doubt on that one.

Golden Boy appears to be less committed to PED testing. How else to explain the fact that it never raised the issue in conjunction with Hopkins-Jones II, Haye-Ruiz, or any of the other high-profile fights that it promoted recently?

Regardless, drug testing was in place for Mayweather-Mosley. During a March 18th conference call, Travis Tygart (CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency) advised the media, “Both athletes have agreed to USADA’s testing protocols, including blood and urine testing, which is unannounced, which is anywhere and anytime. There is no limit to the number of tests that we can complete on these boxers. Any positive tests will be published following a thorough legal process provided under our protocols.”

Initially, Tygart said that a positive test could result in a two-year suspension of the athlete and cancellation of the fight. But it was later acknowledged that punishment could come only after “a full legal process.” That would include, among other things, an arbitration proceeding before the American Arbitration Association to be conducted under restrictions of confidentiality, which would delay punitive action until after the fight. Tygart also admitted, “We have no direct control to enforce compliance.” In other words, the Nevada State Athletic Commission would have to impose the suspension.

Judd Burstein (Mosley’s lawyer) elaborated on that theme, saying, “There is no provision one way or the other in the contract for public disclosure of the test results; although I would think that the parties would be bound to report a positive test result to the Nevada commission.”

Meanwhile, Mosley was in the embarrassing position of having to acknowledge yet again that he’d used banned performance enhancing drugs prior to his 2003 victory over Oscar De La Hoya. That much was clear from Shane’s own testimony before a grand jury that investigated BALCO and its founder, Victor Conte.

Mosley claims that he took the drugs unknowingly, although circumstances suggest otherwise. He also notes that he never tested positive for PEDS and, during an April 21st conference call, told the media, “I don’t feel that I should be condemned for something that I never tested positive for.”

Of course, one reason that athletes sought Conte’s services was because he put them on regimens that would allow them to avoid tested positive for PEDs.

Mayweather, for his part, expressed the view that Mosley knew what he was putting into his body before he fought De La Hoya. “Marion Jones lied under oath and she went to jail,” Floyd trumpeted. “So what’s supposed to happen to Shane? We know what he’s done. He lied under oath.”

Then again; Mayweather repeatedly ducked questions about his own use of xylocaine to ease the pain in his hands during fights. Xylocaine is now legal under the rules of the Nevada State Athletic Commission if administered under the supervision of a doctor. That wasn’t always the case. USADA did not test the fighters for xylocaine.

When fight week arrived, Team Mayweather was in full bloom. Uncle Roger dismissed the media with the thought, “You guys don’t know shit about boxing so it don’t make no difference what you say.” Floyd did his part for good media relations by refusing to attend the HBO fighter meeting on Friday and declaring “I created 24/7.”

Floyd also proclaimed, “I’m doing Shane Mosley a favor. I’m letting him share the ring with greatness . . . Shane Mosley is an HBO fighter. Floyd Mayweather is a mega-superstar . . . He’s good at what he do. I’m great at what I do . . . Shane has checker pieces on the board. I’m playing with chess pieces. Most fighters have checkers pieces. And if they have a few chess pieces, they can’t move them as well as me . . . My game plan is to be Floyd Mayweather.”

One refreshing aspect to the promotion was that the sanctioning bodies were largely ignored. Mosley was the WBA welterweight champion. But Mayweather refused to pay the WBA sanctioning fee, noting,” There should be just one belt in each division. The way things are now, anyone can get to be a champion.” Shane followed suit on the theory that, if he lost, the title would be declared vacant; and if he won, he wouldn’t need the WBA belt to make money.

The WBC tried to get into the act by offering its “diamond championship” belt to the winner for a one-percent sanctioning fee. That was rejected as a bad joke, after which WBC president Jose Sulaiman offered the belt “at cost.” That offer was turned down on the theory that Mayweather-Mosley would be a happier occasion with $45,000 less in expenses and without a WBC presence.

Ticket sales were a bit disappointing. Ultimately, the attendance on fight night was 15,117, which meant that a thousand tickets went unsold. But during fight week, the buzz was that Mayweather-Mosley would do huge pay-per-view numbers. HBO believed that Floyd had developed an “anchor fan base” among urban African-Americans. And Mayweather-Marquez (which drew poorly at the gate) had engendered 1,080,000 pay-per-view buys.

No one took Schaefer seriously at the final pre-fight press conference when he said, “Our goal is to break four million buys.” But 1,500,000 seemed like a realistic number, which would have pushed Mayweather-Mosley past De La Hoya-Trinidad into second place on the all-time buy list for non-heavyweight fights.

Mayweather (who had a US$22,500,000 guarantee plus an upside) was telling people, “I should walk away from this with about sixty million.” Mosley had a guarantee of $5,500,000. As of this writing, it appears as though the pay-per-view number will settle in at between 1,100,000 and 1,200,000. That’s impressive, but might not be enough to give either fighter more than his guarantee.

The most popular figure in the media center during fight week was Mosley’s trainer, Naazim Richardson. Brother Naazim (as he likes to be called) is part philosopher, part story-teller, and all trainer. “Verbally, I can dance with you,” he says.

Richardson dismissed Mayweather’s mouth as “playing to the barbershops” and expressed dismay at the “Money Mayweather” persona. “You can have a guy who’s an idiot,” Brother Naazim elaborated. “But he can look at your car and fix the carburetor in a minute, so you got to respect what he does on the cars. I respect Floyd’s genius as a fighter, but I don’t like the way Floyd handles himself outside the ring sometimes.”

Asked for more, Richardson observed, “This is a battle for greatness. You have fighters. You have champions. And you have guys who are special. These guys are special . . . Shane is tenacious. You can’t be cute against Shane Mosley for twelve rounds . . . I had an old guy [Bernard Hopkins] who fought a young guy from Puerto Rico [Felix Trinidad] who was undefeated and knocking everyone out. We all remember how that one ended . . . Shane has to start fast. When you have a slow start against a fast rabbit; that story about the tortoise and the hare is bullshit. We all know the rabbit is going to win.”

Mosley’s partisans took hope in the fact that this was the first time Mayweather would be facing someone his own size since he fought Oscar De La Hoya three years ago. Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez were much smaller men.

Shane voiced optimism, declaring, “Floyd says a lot of things that are out of bounds. But I don’t care about what Floyd says. I care about what I believe and do. He has good hand-speed, but my hand-speed is good, too. I’m just as fast as him, just as slick as him. I’m going to beat him at his game. I won’t spend the whole fight trying to outbox Floyd, but I’ll do it from time to time. My power will be the icing on the cake. I pretty much know his thinking process, what he’s going to do. He’s a counterpuncher. He only strikes when he knows he’s got you beat. I’m not worried about that. Floyd fights fighters at what he thinks is the right time. But this time, he made a mistake.”

When Mosley was young, he radiated energy and strength. During fight week, that no longer seemed to be the case. At a Thursday sit-down with a group of writers, his face was puffy. There was no sparkle in his eyes. He looked tired. At age thirty-eight, he was the oldest opponent that Mayweather has ever faced.

“As you get older, your body changes,” Shane told the writers. “Things stop working the way they used to. You can’t work out all day and come back and train the same way the next day. You can’t spar every day.”

That reinforced the view that boxing has seen the best it’s going to see of Mosley. At the weigh-in on Friday, he looked good. But Mayweather had a glow about him.

“Mosley can’t beat me,” Mayweather said. “He beat Margarito. So what? Margarito got beat by Paul Williams. Margarito got beat by Daniel Santos. Margarito lost six times. Mosley lost five times. Mosley got out-boxed by Cotto. Mosley is dreaming when he says he can outbox me. He may be stronger when it comes to lifting weights. But this is boxing, not a weightlifting contest. I got too much for Mosley to compete with me.”

On fight night, Chris Brown sang the National Anthem. Given Mayweather’s history of criminally abusing women, it wasn’t a wise choice. Last year, Brown was charged with felony assault against his then-girlfriend Rihanna. He pled guilty and was sentenced to five years probation plus six months of community service.

Mosley was the first man in the ring. Mayweather kept him waiting before making a well-choreographed entrance punctuated by loud simulated gun-shots.

Round one of the fight was even and tactically fought. Fifty-five seconds into round two, Mosley did what he wasn’t supposed to be able to do. He whacked Mayweather with a hard right hand that had Floyd holding on.

Earlier in the week, Naazim Richardson had said, “The opportunities will be few and far between. Shane will have to take advantage of them when they’re there because the window will close pretty quickly.”

The window closed. When Mayweather’s head cleared, he didn’t run. He fought back. From that point on, he was the aggressor, controlling when and where exchanges took place. When Shane got inside, Floyd roughed him up, pushing down hard on the back of Mosley’s head and neck and using his elbows to maximum advantage. He out-boxed Shane and he outfought Shane.

Meanwhile, Mosley couldn’t let his hands go when the opportunities were there.

“The muscle twitch fiber goes first,” Richardson had said. “In your head, you’re making the move the way you used to, but the other guy is getting off first.”

By round five, Mosley was tired and discouragement was etched on his face. Mayweather’s jab was like a snake’s tongue and his right hand like the lash of a whip. In the second half of the fight, he beat Shane up.

Mayweather out-landed Mosley 208-to-92 with a 123-to-46 edge in power punches. Those numbers become even more lopsided in light of the fact that thirteen of Mosley’s power punches landed in the second round.

The outcome was determined by the variables that most people thought would dictate the result. Mosley was too old and too slow. Mayweather was too fast and too good. The judges were on target with a 119-109, 119-109, 118-110 verdict.

“I tried,” Shane said afterward. “I couldn’t pull the trigger when I wanted to.”

Mosley has now had fifteen fights since 2001. His record in those fights is 8-and-6 with one no contest.

So . . . How good is Mayweather?

Smoke and mirrors don’t work in the ring. A fighter can be hyped before; he can be hyped afterward. But those three-minute intervals are unscripted and real. During that time, he’s alone, exposed, and fully reliant upon his skills for survival.

Mayweather is a great technical fighter. He wastes no energy. Every move he makes is purposeful. Over his last six fights, he has landed 47 percent of his punches compared to a connect rate of 17 percent for his opponents. That’s a thirty-percent differential; far superior to that of any other active fighter tracked by CompuBox.

Floyd knows his own abilities and has a keen awareness of what each opponent brings to the table. “A good boxing mind,” he says, “means instinct, understanding strategy, being tough, and knowing the right moves to make.” He has all of that and more.

In the ring, Mayweather is risk-averse. “You got to be cautious in boxing,” he says. “I don’t have to be bloody and knocked down and getting beat up to prove that I’m great. There’s something greater than that, and that’s not getting hit. There’s nothing cool about taking punishment. What’s cool is dishing it out.”

But Floyd can fight rough. Anyone who doubts that should look at DVDs of his bouts against Mosley and Ricky Hatton.

“In the ring, I’m the predator; never the prey,” he says. “I’ve always felt that way. You need killer instinct to be a great fighter, like an animal in the wilderness.”

Mayweather has the respect of his fellow fighters. They know how good he is. It would be nice if he showed them more respect in return. Right now, he’s a great athlete, but not a great sportsman. And more important, if Floyd wants to prove himself in the eyes of history, he’ll have to be more consistent in seeking out the best available competition.

When people talk about why Sugar Ray Robinson was great, they don’t mention his win over an aging Henry Armstrong. No one says that Muhammad Ali was great because he beat an elderly Archie Moore. Robinson and Ali proved their greatness against the toughest opponents imaginable, as did Sugar Ray Leonard by conquering Wilfredo Benitez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, and Marvin Hagler.

Mayweather hasn’t had the inquisitors that those men had. He doesn’t seem to want them. That might be a good marketing decision, but it makes it harder to consider Floyd an all-time great.

History judges fighters by what they did in the ring; not by whether they were on Dancing with the Stars and how much money they made.

Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His next book about boxing (a novel entitled Waiting for Carver Boyd) will be published in June by JR Books. Hauser says that Waiting for Carver Boyd is “the best pure boxing writing I’ve ever done.”

Source: secondsout.com

Paulie Malignaggi: “Amir Khan is going to get knocked out next Saturday night—I promise” -- Eastside Boxing

By Geoffrey Ciani, Eastside Boxing

This week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi who is scheduled to challenge reigning WBA champion Amir Khan on May 15. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

On preparations for his May 15 fight against Amir Khan:
“Everything is good. I’m excited, I’ve been working very hard, I feel very prepared, and I can’t wait until next Saturday, I really can’t.”

Regarding Freddie Roach’s claim that Khan will knock Malignaggi out inside of three rounds:
“Amir Khan is going to get knocked out next Saturday night—I promise. You have my word on that. Amir Khan is going to get stopped next Saturday night. I don’t think I’ve ever had a dislike for an opponent more than I have for this guy. There’s always trash-talking and there’s always stuff that gets said back and forth with camps. It’s just a part of boxing, but this guy, the arrogance this kid has coming into this fight is a little bit too much now. I think he’s been misinformed. I think he thinks he’s been fighting at a world class level. I think he’s been reading too much of his press. He has no idea what it is to step up to this level and next Saturday night he’ll find out..”

On what he sees in Amir Khan as a boxer:
“I don’t know. I guess he’s a decent boxer, but again, he’s been misinformed. He thinks he’s a world class fighter. He’s decent, you know. He does things okay. He’s not the strongest guy. He thinks he’s fast; he’s really not that fast. He just tries too hard. He tries so hard to be fast that gives up on a lot of other things trying to be fast. If you’re fast, you should just come out fluid—you shouldn’t have to get so stiff to throw fast punches and if you notice that’s what Amir Khan does. There’s just a lot of things. You’ll find out next Saturday night just how limited he is after what I do to him.”

Regarding Khan’s first round knockout loss against Breidis Prescott:
“It’s funny you mention the Breidis Prescott loss because you can’t really name a name fighter on Amir’s resume. He hasn’t fought one name fighter but he’s got a knockout loss. This guy is totally misinformed. I don’t know who he thinks he is, I don’t know how they treat him in England, but they got him thinking he’s somebody he’s not and man, he needs a real reality check and next Saturday night I can’t wait to give it to him. I really can’t wait to give it to him.”

On his claim that he will stop Khan inside the distance:
“I’m not going to come in here telling you I have a lot of punching power. I’m coming in here telling you I’m knocking out Amir Khan. I’m not coming in here saying I punch like Mike Tyson, I punch like Prince Hamed used to punch in the day, I’m not saying any of that. What I’m saying is Amir Khan better bring his pillow next Saturday night because we’re going to find a soft spot on the canvas for him and then we’ll put him right to sleep.”

On whether he thinks he will partake in any “clowning around” with Khan or whether he is focused on sticking with a game plan:
“Yeah, that’s a good question. That’s a very good question, it’s funny you bring that up. Yeah, sometimes I do get bored just because the pace of the action is always going the same way. In the Diaz fights sometimes that was the case. I didn’t have a personal beef with Juan Diaz. I’m not going to say I didn’t try to win because obviously I was trying to win both fights. I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t trying to win, but you get kind of sidetracked and distracted. I don’t see a way I can get sidetracked or distracted fighting Amir Khan just because I dislike him to the point where I want to stop him so I don’t see myself getting sidetracked at all. Like if I’m beating him up, instead of getting bored like the second Diaz fight I was beating him up so I was getting bored so it was the same thing every round, if I got bored I started showboating. If I’m beating up Amir Khan like that, my mind is going to be on taking him out so I’m not going to be sidetracked with trying to showboat or trying to have a good time. The goal is to take out Amir Khan. The goal is to make him understand that this is a world class level here and buddy, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. I’m not saying, oh, we’re going to fight a careless fight. The game plan is always the game plan for Pauli Malignaggi, but we’re going to up this tempo up and we’re going to knock his ass out next week.”

His thoughts on Amir Khan’s punching power:
“Who did Amir Khan knock out that we should be worried about oh, this guy’s a strong guy he’s got punching power. Who has he knocked out? I don’t worry about that. I feel like that if I just train and get in shape, work on my game plan, and execute that and then from there we’ll take it. I don’t have to worry about Amir Khan as this monster puncher and all of this, because I’ve faced bigger punchers than him.”

On Floyd Mayweather Junior’s dominant victory against Sugar Shane Mosley:
“I thought it was a real masterful performance by Floyd Mayweather. Everybody knows I’m really big on Mayweather but he even surprised me as to the way he handled Mosley and not just the way he handled Mosley, but he was rocked pretty badly in round two. To make an adjustment that fast, to really come back from being hurt like that—how many people give the man enough credit? People always say, oh he fights like that because he’s scared. He doesn’t want to get hit. We saw Mayweather not only get hit but get hurt, and his instant reaction was to take the fight to Mosley. His instant reaction was to go get it together and go win this fight. I think people need to stop questioning a guy who doesn’t get hit. See, if a guy doesn’t go to war that doesn’t mean he’s scared to go to war. If he has to, he will. Why would a guy who has the ability to not go to war go to war? Sugar Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao, if they had fought Saturday night they would have went at it because Pacquiao doesn’t have the ability to control somebody. Pacquiao just has to walk right through them. Mayweather had the ability to control somebody. He had Sugar Shane Mosley second guessing himself on getting punches off and when have you ever seen Sugar Shane Mosley doing that. Sugar Shane Mosley lets go of punches all over the place, but Floyd varied his attack to the point where it was such a variation, such a good mix, and his defense and offense were so well balanced that it was really a natural performance.”

His views on a potential match-up between Mayweather and Pacquiao:
“You do that test on the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight and you make Manny Pacquiao take that test, Mayweather not only beats him, Mayweather stops him because you will not see the same Manny Pacquiao you’ve seen the last couple of years. He would be a totally different guy, and Mayweather is a legitimate welterweight with welterweight strength. I mean you seen him pushing Shane Mosley around? I didn’t even realize Mayweather had that kind of strength on the inside. He is a legitimate welterweight who would walk through Manny Pacquiao if they take those tests, but not having the tests, you do a 180 because now you have a Manny Pacquiao who is just an amazing physical specimen who will throw 100 punches a round at a 100 miles per hour and not even breathe heavy so something’s up, obviously.”

On his criticisms aimed towards Manny Pacquiao:His final round prediction for his upcoming fight against Amir Khan in which he predicted a knockout:
“No, I don’t have a round. I’m not Muahammad Ali. I’m just looking to stop Amir Khan next Saturday.”

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Mayweather in charge after big PPV win -- Miami Herald

By Lyle Fitzsimmons, The Sports Network

About a minute into round two of Saturday night's mega-event in Las Vegas, anyone waiting years for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to face real adversity in a ring got their wish.

Courtesy of two booming right hands from Shane Mosley -- the second of which noticeably buckled his knees -- those with a notion the former five-division belt-holder was simply a combat-averse frontrunner who'd feasted on subpar competition had their day in in-ring court.

In Mosley, they said, a Hall of Famer who'd ruled two divisions before earning lineal championship status at welterweight, the caustic windbag known as "Money" would hardly be permitted to employ the shoot-move-grab techniques that had maddened 39 previous challengers.

It was a fight he never wanted, they insisted, and, presented with a similarly quick and more powerful foil, Mayweather would either be compelled to dig into an unexplored bag of tricks, or, more likely, exposed in its absence as a mouthy made-for-reality TV wannabe.

And at the moment the second right landed and momentarily lowered their stricken villain's backside toward the canvas, you could almost hear blissful clicking as keyboard soothsayers far and wide readied their pithy "See, I told you so" submissions.

But then, just as quickly... the moment passed.

Not only had Mayweather regained any lost equilibrium by round's end, he spent a majority of 30 remaining minutes beating an insistent drum both on the left side of Mosley's head and on any remaining logic that he's somehow unworthy of the title "best pound for pound."

He's a jerk. He's a punk. He's a loudmouth.

But he can fight as well as anyone. Foreign or domestic.

And as the evening faded, more people were acknowledging the fact.

Notably, as one-sided rounds piled up on cards belonging to Harold Lederman and three official ringside judges, some previous high-profile doubters -- at least in the forms of HBO blow-by-blow man Jim Lampley and analyst Emanuel Steward -- had begun the buy-in process.

Both Steward, who'd given Mosley a strong chance at an upset; and Lampley, who'd drawn notice for a wordy Pacquiao pep rally two months ago in Dallas; were complimentary enough of Mayweather to wonder aloud if a fight between the two would actually be in Manny's best competitive interest.

Larry Merchant stayed predictably in character as the crotchety old man, grilling the winner with a flawed "so, you think everyone else is on drugs" assertion before revising widespread pre-fight opinion to claim "everyone knew" Mosley had no chance to win in the first place.

Everyone, that is, not named Pacquiao, Bert Sugar, David Avila, Bobby Cassidy, Paul Williams, Kermit Cintron, David Haye and Angelo Dundee... among others.

Still, Merchant or no, the dismantling nature of Mayweather's triumph triggers a subtle shift in a public relations battle that initially surrounded failed negotiations for a March 13 get-together and has raged via media barbs since while the two camps salved wounds in divergent directions.

Because Mosley, a past user of performance enhancers, was willing to endure the irritation of stringent testing to prove himself clean, the question of "Why won't Manny agree to it?" is being asked louder than before, when it was drowned out by those with a "Why is Floyd asking for it?" viewpoint.

Additionally, now that Mayweather has overcome brief difficulty to thrash a legitimate title-holding welter, any stubborn posturing by Team Pac in pursuing other competitive options would similarly result in more momentum for the "Floyd is the real P4P champ" mindset.

Recent win streak and tremendous fan zeal aside, would anyone really be happy with the Filipino and his handlers if 147-pound retreads/offenders like Cotto or Margarito were suggested for traditionally-tested matches before a USADA- monitored meeting with Floyd?

Especially if Mayweather -- as he hinted early Sunday morning -- would really consider tasty prey like 154/160-pound champion Sergio Martinez if Manny and Co. chose not to toe the line?

While I haven't asked them all directly, the two I queried Monday leave me confident most swimmers in the "prospective Mayweather opponent" pool would gladly sign off on a few extra blood draws if it yielded the chance at extended 24/7 exposure and the accompanying windfalls it yields.

"It doesn't matter to me if we take the test or don't take the test, just make the fight," said Cintron, who'll face ex-welterweight claimant Williams this weekend at 154 pounds in California. "Whatever happens happens. Just make the fight."

Williams' trainer, George Peterson, agreed.

"Paul Williams is a fighter. He wants to fight," he said. "Regardless of the prerequisites, he wants to fight. This is a guy who wants to be considered the greatest."

Promoter Dan Goossen finished Peterson's statement with "I think that's a yes."

And ultimately, it's that reality that'll get the bigger fight made first.

Seeing potential for an immediate post-Mosley cash-in, cooler adviser heads will almost certainly prevail -- as was hinted on last week by Robert Morales, who quoted Freddie Roach saying "I'm sure negotiations can be made somewhere along the line" to bridge the testing gap that now exists.

Even promoter Bob Arum -- No. 1 contender to Merchant's irascible senior citizen crown and well-documented Floyd loather -- was said by Roach to have desired a Pacquiao match with Margarito "after Mayweather" rather than before.

Grudges notwithstanding and violated superstitions aside.

And even more so after Saturday night.

Simply, it's an event no businessman of Arum's acumen and no competitor of Pacquiao's prowess would walk away from based solely on shoddy principle or unreasonable voodoo, lest they be branded forever as "the ones who sabotaged the biggest fight in history."

It's my guess neither of them want that sort of title.

For boxing's sake... I hope they're both as smart as I think.

This week's title-fight schedule:

No fights scheduled.

Last week's picks: 2-1 Overall picks record: 188-68 (73.4 percent)

Lyle Fitzsimmons is an award-winning 21-year sports journalist, a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a frequent contributor to sports radio talk shows throughout the U.S. E-mail him at fitzbitz@msn.com, follow him at twitter.com/fitzbitz and read more at fitzbitzonfights.wordpress.com.

Source: miamiherald.com

Mayweather Or Pacquiao: Who Will Be The First To Give A Concession? -- The Sweet Science

By Frank Lotierzo, The Sweet Science

After hearing Floyd Mayweather interviewed at ring center by HBO's Larry Merchant last week moments after his unanimous decision victory over Shane Mosley, it doesn't sound as if the biggest welterweight clash of 2010 will be realized. The same stumbling block that prevented Pacquiao-Mayweather / Mayweather-Pacquiao from being realized this past March, that being the format as to how drug testing for PED's are to be conducted, looms just as large today as it ever has.

Since the proposed bout between them fell apart this past January, Pacquiao dominated Joshua Clottey over twelve rounds enroute to a lopsided decision victory - and Mayweather accomplished the same feat last weekend versus Shane Mosley. The anti-Pacquiao faction has implied that Manny's showing was due more to Clottey's ineptness than it was a testament to his ability, just as the anti-Mayweather faction is suggesting Floyd's brilliance was more the case of Mosley's age and long layoff. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle on both accounts. However, it cannot be disputed that both Pacquiao and Mayweather scored overwhelming victories against fighters who despite being big Vegas underdogs, were expected to be more competitive than they were.

Mayweather is adamant about the drug testing issue and Pacquiao is just as adamant about not letting Floyd win the first two rounds by dictating the terms of the fight. Amazingly, Mayweather looked pretty muscled up against Mosley who probably struggled to get down to 147. Yet no one is talking about that? If I were Pacquiao, I'd agree to the Olympic style drug testing if Mayweather was willing to part with some "money" or made a concession of his own like agreeing to fight in a sixteen foot ring.

With both fighters looking terrific and appearing to be at the top of their game, it's hard to see either side giving into the other. Had Mosley come out on top against Mayweather can anyone imagine Shane looking to tilt the field in his favor against a fighter who began his title tenure as a flyweight? Of course not. And after how big Floyd looked in the ring against Mosley, he has a lot of nerve being accusatory about Pacquiao's physical stature.

Since May of last year boxing has experienced five significant PPV bouts: Pacquiao-Hatton, Mayweather-Marquez, Pacquiao-Cotto, Pacquiao-Clottey and Mayweather-Mosley. Three involving Pacquiao and two involving Mayweather. That pretty much says everything regarding the current state of professional boxing in 2010. The fact is Manny and Floyd are the face of it beyond a doubt. Minus Pacquiao or Mayweather, there's no super-fight out there that could generate monumental fan interest without one of them being part of it. Perhaps David Haye meeting either Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko with a few of the alphabet heavyweight title belts on the line, but that's certainly not a given.

The problem is both Pacquiao and Mayweather have other options where they could make a ton of money. Manny can make a fight with one of the junior middleweight title holders in an attempt to gain his eighth title and Floyd could make a ton of money fighting one of the belt holders at 154 just as well. Neither fighter holds an advantage over the other as to who should be promoted as the marquee attraction. They both need each other to make a legitimate super-fight. The only hope is Bob Arum (who promotes Pacquiao) needs them to fight in order to get paid a percentage of what would most likely be the biggest grossing fight of all time. So it's plausible that he'd be more willing to help nudge the fight along behind the scene than he would appear to in public.

The stumbling block preventing a showdown between the two biggest stars in boxing will be Floyd Mayweather's insistence that Manny Pacquiao unnecessarily subject himself to the same type drug testing that Shane Mosley did. The difference is Mosley needed Mayweather and admitted to using a so-called performance enhancing drug before, knowingly or not. Pacquiao has never failed a drug test during his seventeen year career. And this is where Mayweather just doesn't get it as to how he comes off as a fighter who won't agree to a fight to where as he likes to say, "the field of play is level."

Floyd Mayweather may be one of the two best fighters in boxing, but he can't deal with facts. Yes, he looked great versus Mosley, but beating Shane at almost 39 is not the same as Vernon Forrest dominating him when he was 30. On the other hand it is Mayweather's signature career victory and sets him up perfectly to meet another great, all be it a smaller fighter, in his prime.

If Mayweather wants his just due, something no educated boxing fan wants to deny him, maybe he should consider dropping the ridiculous drug testing subterfuge after looking like a bigger welterweight than Emile Griffith in his last fight. Coming off such a masterpiece of a performance against Mosley, this is the ideal time for Mayweather to prove his critics wrong, just once. But based on Floyd's track record does anyone expect him to agree to one fight against another great in his prime without working an angle to his advantage before the bell rings for the first round?

Boxing needs the infusion that a bout between its two greatest fighters could provide it. Sadly, the fight is as far away from being made as it's ever been, and everyone knows who the force behind that is. The guess here is if the fight is to be made, once again Mayweather's opponent, not him, will be the one who steps up and makes some sort of a concession in order to make the fight a reality. Like the boxing public expected it to unfold any other way!

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

Source: thesweetscience.com

Better Than Ali? -- SecondsOut.com

By Allan Scotto, Examiner.com

Zzzzzzziiiipppppp!

That was the sound the zippers made, this past Saturday night, on the mouths of all of Floyd Mayweather’s detractors, this writer included.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather answered just about every question or criticism that has been leveled at him with a stellar performance against “Sugar” Shane Mosley and, like him or not, one has to give him props.

When Mosley caught Mayweather with an overhand right in the second round, buckling Floyd’s knees, there was probably little doubt that the fans who felt that Mayweather couldn’t beat a “legitimate” welterweight thought, “This is the fall of the mighty Mayweather!”

Not so.

As Mosley moved in for the kill, Mayweather covered up, held and, as he got his legs back, unleashed a barrage of punches that backed off his opponent.

In the third round, Mosley, who had set up the right hand by jabbing to the body, bringing Floyd’s left hand down, abandoned that technique, primarily because Mayweather had figured him out. When Mosley went to jab to the body, Mayweather countered with right crosses that were finding their mark, leaving Shane with just one option; try and land a lucky shot that would rock Mayweather again.

That was not going to happen, especially in light of the fact that Mayweather did something that no one expected. He became the aggressor, the hunter. As the camera focused on Mosley at the end of the third round, one could see by the look on his face that the fight was over right then and there, which proved Floyd’s assertion that criticism of his fights being boring lies more with his opponents than it does with him.

And he has a valid point, because it’s hard to fight someone who doesn’t want to fight you back.

As you watched Mosley return to his corner at the end of the third, a strange phenomenon was happening that fans don’t get to see that often. “Sugar” Shane Mosley became 38-years-old right before our eyes.

As the fourth round began, it was obvious that winning was off the table in Shane’s mind.

For Mosley, surviving had become the soup du jour.

It was actually rather sad.

From that moment on, one of the most highly anticipated nights- and fights- in boxing belonged to Floyd “Money” Mayweather.

Interestingly enough, no sanctioning body trinkets were on the line because Mayweather refused to pay the WBA’s 3% sanctioning fee…and good for him!

When it comes to Floyd Mayweather, or Manny Pacquiao, for that matter, a trinket from some corrupt sanctioning body is useless and unnecessary, because when Mayweather asserts that he is the face of boxing, whether you like him or not, he’s absolutely right.

Mayweather doesn’t need the sanctioning bodies, they need him, and if they want him to fight for their belt, they should pay him 3%!

And that was evidenced by the plethora of “A”-list celebrities sitting at ringside. So many were in attendance that HBO made a point of letting us all know they were all there.

Some of the stars at ringside included Arnold Scwarzenneger, Will Smith, Eva Longoria Parker, Magic Johnson, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Jamie Foxx, Mariah Carey and, never one to miss a photo op, Paris Hilton was there as well-and very likely not knowing why.

And wasn’t it really nice to see Michael J. Fox in attendance?

And that was just the Hollywood crowd.

From the boxing world, we had Mike Tyson, Tommy Hearns, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and the biggest and nicest surprise of all, Muhammad Ali.

The magnitude of this event has been unseen since the times when those warriors were fighting.

And it wasn’t because Shane Mosley was there.

So what’s next for Mayweather? Who’s left if you think about it?

Of course, there is only one answer to that question, and that answer is Manny Pacquiao, who has steadfastly refused to submit to Mayweather’s demand that he undergo Olympic-style drug testing.

Top Rank head Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, has stated the Manny will only do what the ruling commission tells him he has to do, not what Mayweather dictates.

But is Mayweather being unreasonable, or has he touched upon something that every boxing commission should think about, especially Nevada, the commission that used to set the standard to be followed? Because after all the excuses that are, for the most part, silly, most people feel if you have nothing to hide, what’s the difference?

But let’s not forget that Bob Arum is, above all other things, a businessman. After Mayweather’s one-sided victory over Shane Mosley, rest assured there is a ton of money on the table, which puts Mayweather and Pacquiao on an inevitable collision course, much like Tommy Hearns and “Sugar” Ray Leonard were years ago.

Fans are not interested in watching either of them fight anyone else. They want to see them fight each other, and it will be, beyond question, the biggest money-making fight in boxing history.

But can Manny beat Floyd?

My man Marvin Banks looks at it this way, “Manny is a good fighter and he will have glimpses in the fight, but I think, ultimately, he will find out why Floyd is such a special, special fighter.”

And he may have a point.

Although Manny’s attack on Floyd will be relentless, Floyd is a master of landing short crisp punches inside wide looping shots, which Manny throws quite often.

Of course, the counterpoint is, if Pacquiao hurts Mayweather the way Mosley did, he’ll keep coming. He won’t get old like Mosley did, and he’ll never quit. And that could prove to be Floyd’s undoing.

It is a debate that will begin as soon as the fight is announced, and continue until it’s over.

Make no mistake, with that much money on the line, this fight gets made one way or another.

Now, all that being said, could someone please tell Floyd Mayweather to shut the hell up?

His pre-fight rant boasted that he’s better than both Muhammad Ali and “Sugar” Ray Robinson.

There’s no need to compare records, and there’s no need to compare quality of opponents.

Simply put, Floyd Mayweather praising Floyd Mayweather by trying to diminish the achievements of former champions is not going to endear him to anybody.

Floyd seems hell-bent in becoming this era’s version of the trash-talking Ali, and that’s fine, but he needs to take note that Ali never mocked a former champion or compared himself to them, unless he was fighting them.

Ali claimed to be “The Greatest,” and then went out and proved it. And it’s one of the many reasons that Muhammad Ali has transcended boxing, in and out of the ring.

Floyd Mayweather has impressed even his harshest critics with his performance Saturday night, and there is no need to ruin that by comparing himself to champions that have come before him.

So, is Floyd “Money” Mayweather better than both Ali and Robinson?

Probably not, but one can no longer deny that he is at least that good.

Allan Scotto can be reached at boxingriter@aol.com

Source: secondsout.com