Pacquiao VS Margarito Next – Watch Boxing Online

Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum said that he believed the issue of random drug-testing, specifically, the 14-day cutofff agreed to by Manny Pacquaio, to have been “resolved,” adding that all negotiations for a potential bout with Floyd Mayweather

Mayweahter were handled “strictly through” HBO’s president of Sports, Ross Greenburg, as a mediator to Arum and Mayweather

Mayweahter’s manager and adviser, Al Haymon.

Those two items were among the subjects Arum discussed with the international media during a midnight, Pacific time, conference call on Friday — 3 a.m. East Coast Time on Saturday.

The time frame and the date — July 16 — were established as the deadline for the unbeaten Mayweather

Mayweahter to sign a deal to make a November 13 mega bout between he and Pacquaio, who are regarded as boxing’s pound-for-pound best.

That deadline has come and gone with no signature — and not even a word, publicly — from Mayweather

Mayweahter.

“The deadline is the end of the exclusivity period, because, we now have to go out and secure an opponent for Manny Pacquaio, assuming that it won’t be Floyd. We have to go out and mount a campaign. We have to deal with the television networks, and get everything in order,” said Arum.

“Time is going by and we have to start scheduling press conferences,” said Arum. “Because in Manny Pacquaio, I’m not dealing with the normal kind of fighter. He’s over in the Philippines, first of all, and, second of all, he has his duties — which he takes very seriously — as a congressman in the Philippines.”

Arum had said that if the 33-year-old Mayweather

Mayweahter (41-0, 25 knockouts) had not signed by midnight on July 16, then the 31-year-old Pacquaio (51-3-2, 38 KOs), holder of the WBO’s welterweight (147 pounds) title, would seek a deal to go after his eighth crown in as many different weight classes against either WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion, Miguel Cotto, or ex-titlist, Antonio Margarito.

Margarito and Pacquia would meet for the WBC junior middlweight crown vacated by Sergio Martinez, said Arum.

Arum said that he will now begin negotiating with Cotto and Margarito, adding that he hopes to have a deal wrapped up within the next 10 days.

Still, Arum would consider ending negotiations with Cotto and Margarito — providing that a deal had not been reached in principle with either — if Mayweather

Mayweahter “came to the table” and decided to face Pacquaio based on the already agreed upon terms.

“People have asked me if this means that the negotiations for a Floyd Mayweather

Mayweahter fight are dead. And even though Mayweather

Mayweahter hasn’t responded by the deadline, my answer is a simple one. It’s dead when we conclude a deal with an opponent for Manny’s fight in November,” said Arum, who would then try to make a Mayweather

Mayweahter-Pacquaio fight for perhaps May of 2011.

“And then, we’re contractually bound to do that fight, and we would look hopefully to do a fight with Floyd next year,” said Arum. “But if, in the interim, while this was going on, Floyd suddenly emerged and said ‘Yes,’ he wanted to do the fight, then there would be nothing opposed to getting together and doing the fight.”

During the call, Arum indicated that all negotiations were handled through Greenburg, who then forwarded all information — including contracts signed by Pacquaio — to Haymon.

Arum said that he never actually spoke to Haymon, nor, members of Golden Boy Promotions, whose president, Oscar De La Hoya, and, CEO, Richard Schaefer, had been promoting Mayweather

Mayweahter’s fights.

“About two months ago, a few days after the Mayweather

Mayweahter-Shane Mosley fight, I got a call from Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO sports, who asked me frankly whether myself or Manny Pacquaio wanted to do the fight against Floyd Mayweather

Mayweahter. I assured him that yes, I had talked to Manny, and that was the case,” said Arum.

“And, from there, I had a couple of conversations with Ross, and I laid out all of the terms that would be acceptable to our side and I also informed him about the concession that Manny had made about the drug-testing,” said Arum. “He got back to me in a couple of weeks, and told me that he had had discussions with Al Haymon, representing Floyd Mayweather

Mayweahter, and that everything looked good, and we were nearing a resolution.”

Arum said that he assumed Haymon had been informing Schaefer and De La Hoya of the process from public statements De La Hoya made that the deal was “close” to being completed.

It was through Greenburg that Arum was being informed that the negotiations were “going well” with Haymon, and that the potential for Mayweather

Mayweahter-Pacquaio was real. At no time has Arum spoken to Mayweather

Mayweahter or his other adviser, Leonard Ellerbe.

“Ross, for the past two months, has said that Haymon had been working very, very hard to the agreement of Floyd Mayweather

Mayweahter. A couple of weeks ago, I told him that, ‘Look, I wanted to do this fight very badly, and so did Manny, but at a particular point in time, we’d have to move on,’” said Arum. “I told Ross that this Friday was our deadline for the end of the exclusivity period, and I tell you that next week, we will talk to the Cotto camp and the Margarito camp regarding a fight with Manny Pacquaio.”

Arum and Pacquaio’s adviser, Michael Koncz, believe, however, that Mayweather

Mayweahter had “valid reasons” for not signing.

“Ross was committed to make the fight happen, and, as head of HBO sports, I figured that the best chance to make the fight happen was to do everything through Ross — almost like he was the mediator. And I still believe that it was the right way to go,” said Arum.

“It obviously didn’t work out, not because Ross didn’t do a good job. He did, in talking to myself and to Al Haymon,” said Arum. “But obviously, the problem was that Floyd, for whatever reason — and I’m sure that he had some valid reasons — didn’t want to committ.”

Arum speculated that those reasons had to do with legal troubles involving his uncle and long-time trainer, Roger Mayweather

Mayweahter.

Roger Mayweather

Mayweahter goes on trial in Clark County District Court in Nevada on Aug. 2 on an assault charge stemming from his allegedly choking and assaulting female boxer Melissa St. Vil last year, and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted — meaning that he might not be available for a November fight.

Although Arum said that Mexico and Abu Dhabi were being considered as potential bouts for the fight, he indicated that Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates — despite the “cooperative” efforts of that country’s officials — would not be advantageous, “logistically.”

For that reason, Arum said that either The Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas would be more suitable for a bout between Pacquaio and Cotto, while the MGM and Monterrey, Mexico, would be more appropriate for a Margarito fight.

“The attraction for the Cotto rematch would be that Manny’s going for a title, fighting at a higher weight, and that Miguel would have Emanuel Steward in his corner, one of the great corner men of our time. That certainly would give Cotto more ammuntion going into the fight than he had last time,” said Arum, referring to the fact that Pacquaio dethroned Cotto as WBO welterweight champ by 12th-round knockout in November.

Margarito still is not licensed in America, stemming from a year-long suspension by the California State Athletic Commission involving an illegal hand-wrapping scandal following his January, 2009, ninth-round knockout loss to Mosley.

Margarito unsuccessfully attempted to become licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission recently, but the NSAC tabled its decision and requested that Margarito first attempt to be re-licensed in California. That could be difficult, however, because Margarito has filed a lawsuit against that state.

To that end, Arum has said that he has applied through the NSAC for a “Conditional,” or, temporary license that would allow Margarito to fight on Nov. 13 in Las Vegas, and that he is hopeful of leniency by that commission.

“Well, number one, we’ve ask for the Nevada Commission, based on California putting it off, to give [Margarito] a conditional license to fight in Nevada on the 13th of November. Hopefully, from Margarito’s standpoint, they will agree to that. If not, then if Manny decides that he wants Margarito, we would do the fight in Monterrey, Mexico. Manny would do the fight outside of the United States,” said Arum.

“We wouldn’t need a signed contract [from Cotto or Margarito.] If Manny committed and I committed to either Cotto or Margarito, and they committed to me, then it would be a deal. A signed contract would be later,” said Arum. “But while these negotiations are going on, and while I was talking to Manny, if Floyd came to the table, that’s the fight that we want more than all others — no question about it.”

Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum is holding an international media conference call at midnight, Pacific time, on Friday — 3 a.m. East Coast Time on Saturday — which is what he and seven-division champion, Manny Pacquaio, have established as the deadline for unbeaten Floyd Mayweather

Mayweahter to sign a deal to make a November 13 mega bout between the two fighters regarded as boxing’s pound-for-pound best.

If the 33-year-old Mayweather

Mayweahter (41-0, 25 knockouts) does not sign, the 31-year-old Pacquaio (51-3-2, 38 KOs), holder of the WBO’s welterweight (147 pounds) title, has indicated that he will go after his eighth crown in as many different weight classes against either WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion, Miguel Cotto, or ex-titlist, Antonio Margarito, either in Mexico or Abu Dhabi.

Margarito and Pacquia would meet for the WBC junior middlweight crown vacated by Sergio Martinez, said Arum.

Mayweather

Mayweahter’s camp has not commented publicly nor acknowledged that the negotiations are going on, although Arum, Pacquaio, and the fighter’s adviser, Michael Koncz, have repeatedly stated publicly that they are. Mayweather

Mayweahter is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

“Again, we’ve done everything that we can to make the fight happen, and we thought that it was going to happen, and Floyd’s got a couple of more hours, but I’m not hopeful and we’re not expecting him to sign the documents, and we’re not going to sit around and wait. As a matter of fact, I just got off of the phone with Manny, and he had just called me, saying that he wants to keep that Nov. 13 date,” said Koncz.

“I explained it to him that the main reason for us fighting outside of the United States is for taxation purposes. There’s no taxation in Abu Dhabi, and there’s no taxation in Mexico. So that mean additional millions in Manny’s pocket that would have gone to the U.S. taxes in America,” said Koncz. “Manny has no preferences as to which one, he just told me to see which one that I can get the better deal out of. We have to look at the economics of it and what’s the best option for him from a financial aspect. The bottom line is that it’s a business.”

Pacquaio has reportedly agreed to a 50-50 split of the purse and random drug-testing as close to 14 days out from the fight — two of the major sticking points.

Arum and Koncz have speculated that the legal troubles of Roger Mayweather

Mayweahter, Floyd’s uncle and longtime trainer, may have caused the fighter to be leery of making the fight.

Roger Mayweather

Mayweahter goes on trial in Clark County District Court in Nevada on Aug. 2 on an assault charge stemming from his allegedly choking and assaulting female boxer Melissa St. Vil last year, and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted meaning that he might not be available for a November fight.

“Well, it’s upsetting, yes. But we would prefer to fight at this time before there is any further damage to Mayweather

Mayweahter’s abilities, whether it be physical or psychological or whatever. We don’t want to be criticized down the road saying that we had fought Mayweather

Mayweahter when he wasn’t in his so-called prime. But even though the fight is not going to happen now, we want to leave the door open for next year,” said Koncz.

“But right now, we’re thinking about our other options, and the way Manny feels right now is that Mexico is a great country and he’s been there before and he’s heard a lot of good things about Abu Dhabi,” said Koncz. “You know, the Royal Family there has been helpful and now it’s just a matter of who has the better deal for us. We wanted to make the fight, we were looking forward to the fight with Mayweather

Mayweahter for the fans, but we can only do so much.”

Undefeated southpaw middleweight (160 pounds) prospect, Fernando Guerrero, rose from an eighth-round, flash knockdown to earn his 19th victory without a loss in the most difficult fight of his career in Friday night’s Showtime-televised unanimous decision over Ishe Smith for the vacant NABF crown at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southhaven, Miss.

A 23-year-old from Salisbury, Md., Guerrero rose to 19-0 with 15 knockouts, winning, 97-91, 96-93, and, 95-93, on the three judges’ cards over the 31-year-old Smith, who slipped to 21-5 with nine knockouts.

A durable opponent who has never been knocked out or knocked down, Smith, a Las Vegas resident, had totaled a 4-0 record in his Showtime, ShoBox televised fights.

The two fighters waged vicious body attacks through most of the first three rounds, with Smith being twice warned for low blows in the third.

Guerrero began to have more success in the second half of the third round behind his crisp, popping right jab and followup left hand that backed up Smith.

Guerrero kept the right jab, and left hands coming until midway through the fourth round, when he pressed the inside game and rallied with beautiful uppercuts and crosses to the head and body during in-close exchanges. Smith’s hands began to drop near the end of the fourth.

Smith’s trainer, Barry Hunter, told him before the fifth round to keep pumping the jab, forcing Smith’s head down and into the hard left hands.

Guerrero followed instructions in the fifth round, ripping solid jabs forward and pounding the head and the body with both hands while, at the same time, drawing his hands and forearms back around his own head and cheeks to protect himself, defensively.

Guerrero cranked up the pressure even more in the sixth round, ripping home left hooks with authority. The inside of his lower lip beginning to drip blood, Smith was penalized a point for low blows as well in the sixth.

Smith, nevertheless, stayed with his body attack in the seventh, out-working Guerrero and splitting the undefeated fighter’s tight defense as he rose to the head during the second half to perhaps take the round.

Guerrero was winning the eighth by fighting more in retreat, dropping his hands and boxing and pot-shoting from a distance as Smith loaded up and often missed his punches.

But with six seconds left in the eighth, Guerrero was caught off balance with a glancing, straight right hand and went down — though unhurt — for only the third time in his career.

Smith loaded up on his punches, yet again, in the ninth, even as Guerrero came forward. Smith was able to win a nice exchange with crisp uppercuts and crosses, out-landing Guerrero over the final 30 seconds to perhaps take the round.

In the 10th, the two fighters ripped blows upon each other virtually from beginning to end, with Smith seeming to have more potency on his punches. At one point, with about 35 seconds left, Smith shook Guerrero with a five-punch combination that began with an uppercut.

Although Smith probably won the final round, the duo ended it fighting toe-to-toe in a fight that was fought evenly throughout and difficult to score.

Guerrero was coming off of second straight stoppage, which was April’s Showtime-televised, second-round knockout of Michael Walker for the fringe interim WBO NABO title.

Walker, of Chicago, slipped to 19-4, with 12 KOs against Guerrero, who is a southpaw promoted by Lou DiBella.

Smith was coming off of August’s 10-round, unanimous decision loss to 23-year-old, unbeaten prospect Daniel Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs).

Unbeaten junior middleweight (154 pounds) prospect Shawn Porter (pictured above at left) scored a sixth-round knockdown on the way to a 10-round unanimous decision for his 16th victory without a loss, even as he failed to earn his 13th stoppage against twice-beaten southpaw Ray Robinson (pictured above at right) in Friday night’s Showtime-televised bout from The DeSoto Civic Center in Southhaven, Miss.

Porter won by scores of 99-89, 98-91, and, 97-92, over the course of the three judges’ cards.

With about a minute left in the sixth round, Porter pounded Robinson (11-2 four knockouts) along the ropes, this, on the way to causing his sinking him to the canvas with a right, left, right, left, right combination.

Robinson arose at the count of seven on unsteady legs and was punished for much of the round’s remainder, even holding on to the ropes at one point to prevent himself from going down again.

In the seventh, Robinson maintained a safe distance, even as Porter pressed, unsuccessfuly, for the knockout.

But with about 22 seconds left in the ninth round, however, Porter rocked Robinson with a left uppercut that had him on unsteady legs and holding on, yet again, to escape into the 10th.

The 22-year-old Porter, of Akron, Ohio, was coming off of April’s first-round stoppage of Raul Pinzon in a Showtime-televised bout. A former sparring partner for Manny Pacquaio, Porter dropped Pinzon to 17-5, with 16 knockouts.

The 24-year-old Robinson, who stood at 5-foot-10 to Porter’s 5-7, was coming off of the first loss of his career — December’s unanimous decision setback against Brad Solomon.

In a third featured bout between unbeaten welterweights, 23-year-old Mike Dallas (15-0-1, five KOs) of Bakersfield, Calif., earned an eight-round, unanimous decision over 27-year-old Lanard Lane (12-1, seven KOs) of Philadelphia.

Dallas won, 78-74, on all three judges’ cards.