Key quotes from Pacquiao, Mosley, Roach and Arum on Fight Camp 360

By Chris Robinson, examiner.com





Earlier today on CBS, the inaugural episode of Pacquiao-Mosley Fight Camp 360 premiered in advance of the May 7th encounter between the two welterweight stars. Manny Pacquiao defends his WBO crown against Shane Mosley inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and with Showtime pay per view televising the festivities, we are given an all-access look into the two men's lives.

In the first episode the primary focus was on the coast to coat press tour that the stalwarts embarked on as well as the early phases of their two training camps. Mosley is training out of Big Bear, California as is often the case with him while Pacquiao's first month was spent in Baguio City in the Philippines with his grand arrival to Los Angeles, California taking place just hours from now, where he will then shift his focus to the Wild Card Boxing Club.




Also in the episode we were treated to Pacquiao getting a chance to visit President Barack Obama as part of his Washington, D.C. press stop. A congressman in the province of Sarangani in his homeland, a meeting with Obama shows just how far Pacquiao has come from being a poverty-stricken kid wandering the streets of General Santos City.

Read below for some telling quotes from the first episode of Fight Camp 360...

"I am so eager to prove everyone wrong." - Shane Mosleyon his precious opportunity

"Nothing personal...just doing my job." - A very humbleManny Pacquiao insisting that there is no bad blood between him and Shane

"I don't think anybody, even Manny, would have dreamed we would be where we are at today." - Pacquiao's advisorMichael Koncz speaking on the wild ride that he has enjoyed being around Manny

"Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer I have ever seen." - Top Rank promoter Bob Arum being completely honest when assessing his star fighter

"There is pressure but I can handle that." - Pacquiaospeaking on yet another world title fight that lies ahead


"I love a good scrap" - An excited Mosley when told of Pacquiao's aggressive style and how it may play into his hands

"Getting ready to go to Vegas. Should be very interesting now." - Mosley looking ahead to his
press stop in Nevada at the MGM Grand

"He thrives from chaos. He causes it but he's not the result of it." - Publicist Fred Sternburg, a man who has gotten to know Pacquiao very well over the years

"I realized at a young age that anything that was one on one I was going to win. Because I'm that competitive." - An ultra confident Mosley reflecting on his childhood

"Pacquiao is an exceptional fighter. Especially when he moves from different weight classes. It's extraordinary." - Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson showing admiration to the eight-division world champion

"It's really hard to leave the Wild Card but Manny Pacquiao is my man" - Freddie Roach as he embarks on yet another trip overseas to assist his prized pupil

"The thing with Pacquiao is you can see his flaws but nobody has exploited them yet. Sometimes you have to dare to be great." - Richardson on the task that lies ahead.

"Ithought Top Rank didn't do a very good job with Donaire" - Paulie Malignaggi

By Chris Robinson, examiner.com


Logic says that things are going to be a little awkward, at least for a while, for blossoming superstar Nonito Donaire. A few weeks back the Fil-Am fighter made headlines when it was announced that he had opted out of his promotional union with Top Rank by signing an exclusive deal with Golden Boy Promotions, a move that some backed and others couldn't quite fathom.

Promoter Bob Arum took great offense to Donaire's actions, fully believing that his contract with the 28-year old was still binding for various reasons. The 79-year old took the matter to court and earlier this week judge Daniel Weinstein saw in his favor, enjoining Golden Boy from promoting Donaire at this point.

Several people have chastised Donaire for creating this situation but not everyone is so critical. A few days ago I had a lengthy talk with former IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi and we closed our rap session by analyzing the situation.

Always one to wear his own emotions on his sleeve, Malignaggi, who himself recently ponied up with Golden Boy after a stint with Lou Dibella, seemed to sympathize with Donaire.

"I think every fighter has the right to do whatever they want for their career. I don't understand what the backlash is. He's coming off of a big win over Montiel. Nobody said he has to stay with Top Rank. He did the same thing when he beat Darchinyan. He left Gary Shaw and went to Top Rank. Nobody was complaining then. Why is everyone complaining now?," Malignaggi remarked of Donaire's initial interest to pursue life outside of Top Rank.

Malignaggi continued on, showing obvious admiration towards Donaire and a definite bit of disdain towards the way the three-division champion's career was handled by Top Rank.

Marquez dropping third Pacquiao fight in favor of new Golden Boy deal?

By Scott Heritage, Examiner.com

Not so long ago Juan Manuel Marquez was heavily tipped to be leaving current promoters Golden Boy in hopes of securing a big money trilogy fight against pound for pound champion Manny Pacquiao.

Top Rank boss Bob Arum had been mentioning the possibility of a third fight between the pair in the media recently, and Marquez's contract with Golden Boy expired in February. Also upping the ante, Marquez recently turned down a fight with Erik Morales that would have extended his contract.

Marquez announcing his departure from Golden Boy and announcing some kind of deal with rivals Top Rank then seemed inevitable.

More recently however, Marquez seems to have reversed his decision.

Marquez said of his negotiations with Golden Boy in a recent interview with Boxingscene's Jhonny Gonzalez:

"A lot has been said that if I sign with Golden Boy, the third fight with Manny Pacquiao will not happen. But I do not know if that's something that the people still want to see. Right now I'm in no hurry. I liked the offer that they gave me and I will study it."


Judging from Marquez's statements it sounds as if he has been offered both more money and possibly a number of interesting potential opponents not previously on the table.

Could it be then that after years of demanding a third fight with Pacquiao, claiming to have won the first two fights, and even having t-shirts printed, Marquez has finally given up on the idea?

Given his age and time left in the sport perhaps that isn't such a far fetched notion.

After all the Manny Pacquiao that Marquez came close to beating and 2004 and again in 2008 is now a much different fighter, as well as now fighting several weight classes heavier.

Marquez has since then settled at lightweight, and in his one showing higher than 135lbs against Floyd Mayweather looked far from his best, ultimately losing a one sided decision after recovering from being knocked down in the first round.

Also Marquez's comment that he was 'in no hurry' perhaps indicates that he still believes that a fight with Pacquiao might be a possibility in the future even if he remains with Golden Boy.

But does a new deal with Golden Boy permanently take a third Pacquiao fight off the table?

As far as Marquez is concerned, the answer is almost certainly yes.

Golden Boy and Top Rank are currently embroiled in a legal battle over the formers share in the promotional income generated by Manny Pacquiao, and could well take to the courts again in the near future over Nonito Donaire also.

Then there is Manny Pacquiao's defamation suit which names both Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer amongst those who allegedly accused him of taking performance enhancing drugs.

So on the face of things neither Top Rank boss Bob Arum nor Pacquiao himself will be in any rush to work with Golden boy again in the near future.

Still perhaps given where they have both gone since they last fought, Marquez could be better off without Pacquiao and vice versa.

Pacquiao taking on a genuine welterweight instead of a smaller opponent climbing up in weight will likely be more competitive, and Marquez perhaps moving to light welterweight to test himself against the likes of Zab Judah or Amir Khan also makes for more intriguing bouts than a one sided beating from Pacquiao would be.

Gamboa-Lopez? Show Arum the Money

By Steve Kim source- philboxing.com

In the immediate aftermath of Yuriorkis Gamboa’s impressive dispatching of Jorge Solis last weekend in Atlantic City, fellow featherweight standout Juan Manuel Lopez (who faces Orlando Salido on April 16th in Puerto Rico) was brought into the ring for a photo-op. The mere sight of these two fighters had boxing fans salivating at the thought of them meeting under much less friendlier circumstances. There’s no doubt that a bout between these two is one of the very best fights that can be made in boxing.

But the man who promotes both of them, Bob Arum, doesn’t believe it makes the best business sense to consummate, right now.

"Alright, look; you gotta understand," said the veteran promoter on Tuesday afternoon, from his offices in Las Vegas, "it’s a potentially very big fight and there’s two ways you can do the fight: one, on premium television or two, on pay-per-view. So now, let’s look at premium television; it’s a big fight- they’ve got to pay me. Somebody has to step up to the plate and pay me the same money that they paid for [Tim] Bradley-[Devon] Alexander or Bernard Hopkins and [Jean] Pascal. I’m not doing that fight for less than $3 million. Is it because I’m greedy? No, because I give all of that money to the fighters and aren’t the fighters entitled to at least a million-and-a-half apiece?

"So if because they’re smaller guys, the premium networks can’t step up with that kind of money, OK, so now it’s up to me, added Arum. “I have to spend the money to do it on pay-per-view and I...am....the....sole....determinator- the sole determinator- as to when I can do it for that kind of money and not only get my money back but make a profit. It’s as simple as that. Got nothing to do with ’milking’ or anything like that. Let HBO or Showtime- let somebody- show me $3 million and they got a fight."

This may rub some the wrong way, the blunt way Arum has brought in the bottom line, but professional boxing, if anything, is a bottom line business. The great thing about Arum is that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. The bad thing about Arum is that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. If you have the dime, he’ll have the time to do Gamboa-Lopez immediately. If not, he’ll do it of his own volition.

Arum goes all Rod Tidwell in reiterating, "Show me the money. Or if nobody is going to show me the money and it’s now, ’Put up the money.’ I’m going to put up the money when it’s damn well ready for me to put up the money. It’s as simple as that. It’s not rocket science."

One of the issues that Arum might have is that Gamboa, for as gifted as he might be, is still anonymous to the general public and he’s much less of a draw than Lopez (who can always count on Puerto Rico to draw sizable gates). But Arum says, "We need to work on both profiles; only boxing people know them. Remember, two ways to go: premium television, it’s certainly ready for premium television if they’ll come up and pay the money, number one. I’m not asking for two fights for Sergiy Dzinziruk, I don’t do that. I’m not looking for comeback fights. Just pay me the f**king money and they get a fight. If they don’t want to do it- and that’s a decision they have to make in their own best interest, the two networks- then it’s a question of me putting up the money and I ain’t putting up the money until it’s damn well ready for me to put it up.

"Not anyone else is going to make that determination- except me- because then, it’s my money."

The January 29th bout between Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander was hailed by many as a significant fight because, well, nobody is really sure, except that it was hailed by many as such, despite the relative anonymity and inactivity of both participants coming into the contest. In the dreary setting of the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, Bradley defeated Alexander in a fight that failed to even come close to living up to expectations and in reality, was a flat-out dud in almost every aspect.

A fight that should’ve been cooked was instead microwaved at the behest of television packagers and a network.

"People get so carried away that they do anything to make a deal like they did with Alexander and Bradley and indeed, they could’ve waited a little bit and it probably would’ve been a bigger fight," Arum opined.

Over the course of time, Lopez, should he stay on course, will become the next big bona fide Puerto Rican star, taking the mantle for Miguel Cotto, who took it from Felix Trinidad and so on. What’s more problematic is Gamboa, who, like many of his Cuban compatriots, is having problems gaining a foothold with boxing fans in the States. However, he did take a positive step in not only putting on a dominant performance this past weekend but completely selling out (with the help of local draws Teon Kennedy and Jorge Diaz) the 3,000 seat Philips Ballroom.

"Now, the biggest step was Ken Condon (the Sports and Entertainment Consultant for Caesars AC) said that they wanted [Gamboa] back over the summer and we’re going to do it in the big hall, which were going to scale for 6-7,000 people," stated Arum. "That, to me, means that the guy has arrived because number one, he brought out the Cubans. I know the Cubans [come to] Union City but he brought Cubans to the fight. Now, you still have to do local guys and I’ll probably pair him up on a card with Mike Jones (who hails from Philadelphia) in a fight to bring it in but the next time, I’m pretty confident I can sell 6-7,000 tickets."

According to Arum, Gamboa’s next fight will be on the “Network of Champions.”

"HBO has a position on Gamboa, just like Showtime has on Lopez and HBO is going to bring him back, I believe, in August."

Shane Mosley to counter-punch Manny Pacquiao

source- philboxing.com


Boxing  -  Welterweight "Sugar" Shane Mosley (46-6-1) will likely bring a counter-punching and boxing style when he steps into the ring against pound-for-pound king Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao (52-3-2) of the Philippines, according to a source following the boxer's training at Big Bear, California.


"Shane has been studying Pacquiao's fights against [Juan Manuel] Marquez and [Erik] Morales looking for weaknesses in Manny's offense and any tendency to be off-balance or to be open for a shot.  Expect Shane to counter-punch Pacquiao.  If he catches Manny with that strong right of his, watch out, those knees could buckle," said the source.


Mosley, 39, has fought many of the sport's elite fighters throughout his career including Floyd Mayweather Jr (2010), Antonio Margarito (2009), Miguel Cotto (2007), Fernando Vargas (2006), Winky Wright (2004), Oscar de la Hoya (2003 and 2000) and Vernon Forrest (2002).


Pacquiao won a close split decision bout against the counter-punching Marquez in 2008 and earned a draw against the Mexican in 2004.  The Filipino's last loss came at the hands of Erik Morales who outboxed Pacquiao en route to a unanimous decision victory in 2005.

Top Rank and Golden Boy verbally spar over Nonito Donaire, Juan Manuel Marquez

source- philboxing.com





Fresh on the heels of losing Nonito Donaire to Golden Boy, it appears that Top Rank are preparing for a promotional coup of their own with the imminent signing of soon to be free agent Juan Manuel Marquez.


Statements from GBP's Richard Schaefer in a recent interview with BoxingScene accused Bob Arum et al of attempting to steal Marquez away through the use of a third party. Namely the Top Rank affiliated Mexican outfit Zanfer promotions, who Marquez said offered him a fight with Manny Pacquiao if he agreed to leave Golden Boy.


Arum of course denied all knowledge but it should be noted he has hinted about the possibility of a third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Marquez taking place in the near future several times recently.


This in itself doesn't mean anything but is probably enough to subtly suggest to all parties that if Marquez leaves Golden Boy and signs with Top Rank then the fight he wants will happen.


Some would call that an underhanded tactic from Top Rank, others would rightly point out as Arum has continued to, that he has had no contact with Marquez since he last fought Pacquiao back in 2008.


Is the biggest difference between the two promotional giants then that Top Rank have mastered a more subtle way of getting what they want and that Golden Boy simply don't care to?