Mayweather to keep March 13 date and go head-to-head with Pacquiao
by Scott Christ on Jan 11, 2010 2:26 AM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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Earlier tonight, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reported that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be keeping his March 13 date at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas after all, meaning that as of this moment, Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will have dueling PPV dates. Pacquiao faces Joshua Clottey that night at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
Isn't that grand?
Before I get on with my thoughts on this, Richard Schaefer has assured us all that the pathetic idea to match Mayweather with Matthew Hatton won't happen, and Rafael says three men are under consideration: Paulie Malignaggi, Nate Campbell, and Kermit Cintron.
Malignaggi has campaigned at 140, Cintron has been fighting lately at 154, and Campbell moved to 140 last year after failing to be able to make 135 pounds any longer. Quick thoughts on these possible fights:
- Mayweather-Malignaggi: Pass. Paulie's a good fighter, but his strengths give him no shot against Mayweather.
- Mayweather-Cintron: Pass. Cintron is far, far too slow to pose any credible threat to Mayweather. Kermit can punch, but Mayweather rarely gets hit, and Kermit would be sorely outclassed by Floyd's speed. It would be hideous, and you'd also have Floyd staying as absolutely far away as possible, making it a huge stinker of a fight.
- Mayweather-Campbell: Really? Campbell looked like he was on his last legs against Timothy Bradley at 140, he's 37 years old ... I mean the reasons are endless. Look, I really like Nate Campbell. He's a scrapper, a hard worker, and a truly genuine guy in a sport filled with bulls***ters. He's had a good career and is still a pretty good fighter. But this is as blatant a mismatch as Mayweather-Marquez, and that cannot be tolerated again.
Rafael also mentions Timothy Bradley, and while Showtime would likely be loathe to let him walk, that's about the only fight for Floyd I really have interest in seeing on March 13, save for, like, a ridiculous jump to middleweight to face Kelly Pavlik, which is impossible as Pavlik is a Top Rank fighter, or a fight against Paul Williams at a catchweight between 147 and 154.
Schaefer says he hopes to have an announcement soon.
Right now, I just don't see a scenario where I order any Mayweather fight over the Pacquiao-Clottey bout, but I guess crazier things have certainly happened.
As for how I feel as a fan, I've got to admit I'm kind of pissed off at the entire situation. Basically, these two camps are so childish that they're forcing every boxing fan out there to choose a cup at Burger King like this is freaking Twilight. I'm on Team Floyd! I'm on Team Manny! It's moronic.
I'm on team boxing, and I don't want the two biggest attractions in the sport having a pissing contest to find out who can win the larger portion when they go ahead and fracture the audience -- but remember, $55 either way you go! Hallelujah! Holy s**t! Where's the Tylenol?
It's really kind of preposterous, and I'm not blaming anyone in particular. I'm blaming everyone. Golden Boy, as Schaefer says, has had this date lined up for a while. It was going to be the date of Hopkins-Jones II, and then it was going to be the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, and now they'll do Mayweather-TBA.
Meanwhile, Top Rank could have easily held a fight on March 20/27. They picked March 13 deliberately, which led most of us to assume that Mayweather wouldn't fight in March.
These guys are burning the midnight oil to jab the boxing public, their paying audience. What's next? Free, cheaply-made ballcaps with proof of purchase?
Top Rank is set to produce the Pacquiao-Clottey PPV themselves, and now the question is whether or not HBO will latch on to either fight. I hope they don't. I hope this is an instance where HBO looks at these guys and says, "You said 'we'd all be idiots to not make this fight happen.' Well, you're idiots then."
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D’oh…..comeon GoldenBoy no need for this……if GB and Top Rank were smart they would co-promote a PPV on the 13th with the anticipation they make the biggest cash cow they can dream of work later in the year (man I live in fantasy world just thinking about that)
Bruce Seldon > Ali
then it’d come down to which fighter gets the main-event. it’ll always be something.
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turning every good thing to rust.
by Anthony Pace on Jan 11, 2010 2:40 AM EST up reply actions
This is bad buisness for all involved. First bail out of the biggest fight in history then split your audiance in half. Pac has the upper hand with a better opponent. If they both lost on the same night i would laugh
"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up." - Ali
Could this start another battle between GB and Top Rank?
"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up." - Ali
absolutely
like the Twilight cups….hilarious! They do seem intent on making boxing a gang war. Are you down with Golden Boy or Top Rank? Only the two sides won’t fight each other…what the hell is going on?
by ReverendRocket on Jan 11, 2010 2:29 PM EST up reply actions
I'll believe it when it happens
Didn’t Schaeffer state FMJ will face Mosley? Now they’re stating he’ll fight March 13th? Do you see the contradiction? Is he avoiding Mosley again? What if he fights Mosley later in the year? Mayweather himself stated he’ll only fight twice in a year. So if he fights March 13th, then takes on Mosley → he avoids Pacquiao, at least for 2010.
One thing I’ve learned about Mayweather(s), GBP, Schaeffer – don’t trust a word they say. Will FMJ fight Mosley, Pacquiao, (or) on March 13th? I’ll believe it when it happens.
He has to fight someone of decent standing now he’s had his tune-up with Marquez but I think he would swerve a Mosley fight although I would love to be proved wrong. Maybe a rematch with Judah could work??
no credibility
Judah’s only in anybody’s welterweight top 10 anymore because of his name value. He’s zero threat and more a clown than a fighter these days.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Jan 11, 2010 5:23 AM EST up reply actions
Attn Floyd:
Get me in this fight! I have absolutely zero boxing training and I can make 147 if I have to and I promise to not even try to hit you during the fight. Your perfect record is under no threat whatsoever and I’ll do the fight for an 80-20 split.
Get in touch Floyd, we’ll make history.
Keep firing Assholes!
"If all else fails immortality can always be assured by spectacular error." - John Galbraith
Stop stealing my schtick!
I’m getting that fight!
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
Not interested in any of those fights
At least not on PPV.
Clottey is a good opponent. Mayweather needs to step up his opponent game if he wants to compete on the same date.
I agree
I don’t see myself paying $50 for either one. Clotty is good, but not that good. And Mayweather is fighting someone even worse. I’ll keep my 50 bucks, thanks anyway.
by ReverendRocket on Jan 11, 2010 2:32 PM EST up reply actions
This is stupid and childish
I hope HBO stays out of the way as well if they’re going to keep the same date. This is like the prisoner’s dilemma gone nutzoid. The two sides just agree and it’s by far the best situation for everyone involved, but not both sides are just cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I love this:
I’m on team boxing, and I don’t want the two biggest attractions in the sport having a pissing contest to find out who can win the larger portion when they go ahead and fracture the audience — but remember, $55 either way you go! Hallelujah! Holy s**t! Where’s the Tylenol?
Just give of some good boxing damnit!!!
"I guess I can’t do anything if you’re just irrational, but to point it out and move on."
- fundamentallysound
Bum Fights
I wouldn’t watch any of these crappy fights,never mind pay $50 for them.I can’t stand Mayweather as it is so he’s got to offer better than this to get my interest.Even the Bradley fight doesn’t appeal to me as he is a 140lber.The only fight left that appeals to me is versus the Berto v Mosley winner.
Order both!
If your TV has picture-in-picture it will only run you about $110 for a great night of boxing!
I’m kidding. I might order Pac-Clottey if there’s not much else going on, but the undercard is going to have to rise at least slightly above crap level. No way in hell I order the Mayweather PPV short of him fighting Paul Williams, which we know isn’t likely even if Paul wasn’t recovering from cuts.
When my sister was little she would call things “over dumb.” This whole situation is over dumb.
Paul Williams or Sergio martinez are the only opponents i would pay to watch other than Mosley/Berto.I’m afraid there’s more chance of him fighting me than those 2 though….Mind you,he’s thinking of fighting Ricky’s brother so maybe he would fight me!…But only if the money was right and i agreed to get down from light-heavyweight to 147!
by Matt Mosley on Jan 11, 2010 10:47 AM EST up reply actions
By The Way
When i said ‘Bum Fights’,i was referring to Mayweather’s BS opponent options.I was not including Pac v Clottey and I would pay to see that fight.Thats 2 top 10 welterweights and the best alternative.
Floyd’s choices are just typical Floyd bullsh*t.I bet him and Golden Boy were suprised by how quickly Arum made the move for Clottey because he is really the only other viable option at 147 and Floyd would have more than likely boxed him to a comfortable decision.
by Matt Mosley on Jan 11, 2010 12:25 PM EST up reply actions
Protest the BS and watch both on streams
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
Golden Boy and Arum think they can f**k a great fight like this up,take 2 much less appealing fight’s and the fans will just swallow it and fork out the cash.
What Matt Miller posted is right and it hink the fans should speak by keeping their money in their pocket and not falling for all this crap.
best idea yet
don’t pay for this crap
by ReverendRocket on Jan 11, 2010 2:35 PM EST up reply actions
Mayweather-Malignaggi: Pass. Paulie’s a good fighter, but his strengths give him no shot against Mayweather.
Ya, but the shit talking between the two would be an unbelievable contest in itself.
I guess
I find Floyd to be an uncreative and rudimentary shit talker.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
me too
Especially if someone is actually clever with him. Then he sometimes just starts making noises and dancing to draw attention to himself. He wouldn’t be in my top 10 shit-talkers.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jan 11, 2010 7:52 PM EST up reply actions
Dirrel is pretty good
He was a real asshole to Froch, which I rather enjoyed watching.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 12, 2010 6:32 AM EST up reply actions
But he is really good at clapping!!
In Bayless I trust.
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I'm going to pass on both
no matter what the date. My own small contribution to the punishment of each fighter, camp and promotion team starts by not making a purchase of the silly placation fights.
I'm with you
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
As far as the double-booking issue goes, this is clearly the fault of both sides.
But I’ll be buying the Pacquiao fight. Pacquiao vs. Clottey is a good fight on its own merits that I would have been willing to pay to watch anyway, regardless of whether this debacle with Mayweather had happened. Mayweather vs. any of the three options Schaefer names is not. Even if GBP puts together the better undercard, that won’t be enough to make up for the difference.
Watch them work it out so that the Mayweather fight is on free HBO
instead of PPV.
I wouldn’t put that beyond GBP, if Floyd’s ticked off enough that he’s willing to cost himself money in order to be vindictive.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
That would be almost amusing in its obnoxiousness. In that case, I would probably record the Mayweather fight and pay to watch the Pacquiao fight live, but obviously it would still impact the latter’s sales in the aggregate. There are many people out there who will think the Mayweather fight is the better fight, against all evidence to the contrary.
I take it by ‘people’ you mean people who know very little about boxing?….And Mayweather fans……They can’t possibly get a respectable fighter for that date or if they can.Floyd doesn’t have the balls to risk his 0…..It would be a much wiser move for them to wait until after Mosley v Berto ande fight the winner in May.
by Matt Mosley on Jan 11, 2010 12:11 PM EST up reply actions
I Meant To Write
or if they can,Floyd won’t risk his 0.Against a real threat like Paul Williams.
by Matt Mosley on Jan 11, 2010 12:13 PM EST up reply actions
I actually had a couple of specific people in mind, namely two local sports talk radio hosts I was listening to on the afternoon of the day of the Mayweather-Marquez fight.
You might recall that most serious boxing fans thought that fight was something of a joke, and didn’t expect anyone to buy it except for themselves, only to be very surprised when it sold a million buys.
I would describe these radio hosts as serious sports fans who knew a little bit about the technical aspects of boxing but who were clearly not up-to-date on boxing news, and who were psychologically conditioned, as a great many American sports fans are, (a) to believe that the American with the most hype is always the best around, and (b) to be dismissive of foreign athletes.
They showed no indication of being aware that the fight was a size mismatch, or that there were even questions among boxing observers about the quality of Mayweather’s recent opposition. They just gushed about Mayweather’s amazing artistry in the ring yada yada, and appeared to be operating under the assumption that he was a top-three all-time great that we were lucky to get to see in our lifetimes, along the lines of being the Tiger Woods of boxing. Now obviously, Floyd really is an outstanding boxing talent, including by historical standards, but this was just way over the top. I suspect that guys like these two radio hosts are not uncommon. They just don’t post on boxing blogs.
by taco pal on Jan 11, 2010 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Ok Taco Pal
Good response and what you say is interesting.It annoys me that the media has so much power to influence people(and lets be honest,there are some people who will believe anything they read or hear),yet some of them(the media) are inept and ignorant of the truth to what they are talking or writing about.
I’m from the UK but i have travelled to the US a few times and i love the country and all the great things it has produced,etc but what you say about American’s believing the hype and favouring their fellow American’s without knowing anything about the other guy does ring true.The undefeated record also adds to the hype as mainstream American’s will love the fact that Floyd has never been beat(even though he hasnt had a REAL challenge for years).
I have to say though that i think there may be a bit of a difference with the sales for the Marquez fight and the numbers for this next one fof these reasoins:
1/He is going up against Manny this time around.
2/He was coming back to boxing after being away for close to 2 years when he fought JMM.
It’s a sad state of affairs when someone can be very good at what they do but then equally,if not more so,manipulative and devious in fooling the general public about just how good/great they are…..‘Fraud Mayweather’ is quite an apt nickname,imo.
by Matt Mosley on Jan 11, 2010 1:00 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
What a joke......
We, the fans can stick it to everyone involved by not buying either fight, which is exactly what I plan to do.
by SmittytheCutman on Jan 11, 2010 11:14 AM EST reply actions
My thoughts
Fighting Campbell would be a joke and would just cement the idea of Mayweather being a coward.
My first pick would be Cintron because Cintron has a chance of knocking out Mayweather believe it or not.
My second pick would be Malignaggi because he deserves the shot and his speed could offer Mayweather some problems.
Less & less
willing to shell out money for these PPV’s; for this fan, a really strong undercard (even ifthat = one really good fight) would make a difference. I like Manny’s choice of opponent, but not sure that I’d pay $50 to see the main event alone; the undercard does not interest me.
I don’t think I could have dreamed up a lamer conclusion to the Mayweather/Pac debacle. Pathetic, just pathetic.
Pac-Foreman and May-Malignaggi, both in Vegas
probably is somewhat lamer
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
WTF ? At least Pac is fighting Clottey , a huge 147 pounder who has never been convincingly beaten . Floyd v Nate Cambell? the same Nate Cambell that Robbie Peden beat twice? THe same Nate Cambell that is a much smaller bloke than Floyd ? Beyond a joke . As for Paulie , again WTF . A natural 140 pounder who Hatton and Cotto have already beaten easily. A bloke with no punching power at all . Another bad joke ! Cintron at least is big but he has only fought 3 world class fighters and lost to em all . Margarito hunted him down twice and he received a gift against Sergio Martinez. I believe Mayweathers team realize that his unbeaten record is his only real marketing tool and they are loathe to risk it . Gimme an Ali who fought em all over these modern frauds anyday. Cheers Blokes.
I'm going to buy Pacquiao/Clottey
Clottey is perfectly capable of beating Pacquiao and that on its own makes it worth the money, the unknown. Because I love boxing, I might be able to convince myself to buy Mayweather/Cintron too if it were another not. Cintron has power and is coming off one of his best wins. Plus, he’s actually a welterweight and, frame wise, a big one at that. Mayweather v Campbell or Paulie is beyond a joke.
I wish HBO would somehow swing a split site PPV where they cover both fights for the $60 price tag, but… yeah right.
I really wish Sugar didn’t already have the Berto fight booked. IF we were lucky we could then be looking at a night of Mayweather vs Mosley and Pacman vs Cotto, the four highest ranked welterweights and 1,2,3 and 7 on the p4p list. It would come across as a greatest 4 man tournament in fight history.
I really wish Sugar didn’t already have the Berto fight booked. IF we were lucky we could then be looking at a night of Mayweather vs Mosley and Pacman vs Cotto, the four highest ranked welterweights and 1,2,3 and 7 on the p4p list. It would come across as a greatest 4 man tournament in fight history.
A four-man tournament where the winners don’t fight each other and you can’t see both fights live.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jan 11, 2010 7:54 PM EST up reply actions
Admittedly that part sucks
I should have been clearer that if Pacman-Mayweather isn’t happening in March, the top 4 four welterweights meeting on the same night with the implication that the winners would face each other later in the year, would have been the best consolation prize we could have hoped for. It also would have been the best way, public relations wise, to pull something good out of this mess.
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