Pacquiao vs. Mayweather - Matt-Hughes.com Official Forums

rockdawg21 · #1 11-17-2009, 03:00 AM

Figured I'd start the Pac/PBF thread as the Pac/Cotto match is over, and especially because...

It's on now! Mayweather calls out Pacquiao!

Negotiations are underway, but I'm sure we won't hear much more until the Cotto-Pac PPV numbers are out:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxin...yweather_N.htm

Quote:

Mayweather calls out Pacquiao; talks on fight set to begin

By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY

In the next 24 hours, negotiations will commence to arrange the biggest fight in boxing: Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather.

The former mythical pound-for-pound king before he took an almost two-year hiatus in 2007 — Mayweather — against the current one, an action hero who already is the greatest Asian fighter in history and one of the all-time greats from any era in any weight class.

After Saturday's shocking destruction of Miguel Cotto via 12th-round knockout, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) has earned a share of the lineal welterweight championship and picked up a major belt in his seventh different weight class.

Monday, Mayweather called out Pacquiao, saying the fighter has not come out and actually said he wants to fight Mayweather.

"Manny Pacquiao is the fighter and every time someone asks him if he wants to fight me, he says it is up to his promoter, he's going to take a vacation, whatever the answer is," Mayweather said. "I have yet to hear him actually say, 'yes I want to fight Mayweather.' We are the fighters and if one fighter is talking about fighting another fighter, then they should just come out and say it. Manny Pacquiao doesn't say anything directly about fighting me because he might just know it's not a fight he can win."

Said Bob Arum, chairman of Top Rank, which promotes the Filipino and formerly promoted Mayweather: "All you have to know is that my fighter and his trainer Freddie Roach have gone on record saying they're happy to fight Mayweather. Hopefully we'll be able to put this together," he said. "The one thing I'm not going to do, and the only thing that's going to kill this, is to negotiate through the newspapers. If that happens and egos get in the way, the fight might not happen. From our side, we're willing."

While Mayweather has been reluctant to say he wants to fight Pacquiao, even after his decision win against Juan Manuel Marquez in September, he's been vocal about Arum and suggests the promoter is afraid of putting Pacquiao in the ring with him.

"You know that isn't true," Arum says. "Maybe I prefer not to deal with him. But if your fighter wants a fight, you deal. Mayweather is not one of my favorite people and I'm sure I'm not one of his. What difference does that make?

"If we were talking about some match on (HBO's) Boxing After Dark, then you can have plenty of spite and no one loses very much on a fight not being made. In this case it's more than just the money. It's the fact that boxing is on a roll. It's doing great. If this fight doesn't happen it hurts the momentum of the sport and that does a disservice to the sport. I'm keenly aware of that."

The undefeated Mayweather says he just wants to hear the words come from Pacquiao that he wants to fight.

"Tell Manny Pacquiao to be his own man and stop letting everyone, including his loudmouth trainer (Freddie Roach), talk for him," said Mayweather. "I am my own boss, speak for myself and tell it like it is. If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight me, all he has to do is step up to the plate and say it himself."

EDIT: Damnit, I spelled "Pacquiao" wrong in the title of the thread, lol

J.B. · #2 11-17-2009, 03:16 AM

Well...it's not set in stone yet, but this fight will happen. They risk to lose too much money if they don't make it happen next.

Definitely the biggest fight of this era. This is a great time for the sport.

rockdawg21 · #3 11-17-2009, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.B.

Well...it's not set in stone yet, but this fight will happen. They risk to lose too much money if they don't make it happen next.

Definitely the biggest fight of this era. This is a great time for the sport.

Well, you know it means a lot if Mayweather is going to call out Pacquiao first. Definitely an underlying sign of respect, but you won't hear it from Mayweather

Hope this goes down in March. I think Pac was already looking at March 23 or something like that for his next fight. Would love to see Jerry Jones host this at the new Cowboys stadium! I wouldn't care if I'm in the nosebleeds, I'm there!

J.B. · #4 11-17-2009, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockdawg21

Well, you know it means a lot if Mayweather is going to call out Pacquiao first. Definitely an underlying sign of respect, but you won't hear it from Mayweather

Hope this goes down in March. I think Pac was already looking at March 23 or something like that for his next fight. Would love to see Jerry Jones host this at the new Cowboys stadium! I wouldn't care if I'm in the nosebleeds, I'm there!

Yeah, I read that Arum wants to bring Pacquiao there, that would be cool.

I think that what Floyd said was to be expected. The press was not going to sit back and wait for him to come out and give his thoughts. They were trying to get a hold of him right after the fight. You know, Floyd has been a lot more respectful of Manny than people give him credit for. He's obviously not going to spend most of his time talking about how great Pacquiao is, but he has always shown Manny respect in terms of what he has accomplished in the sport.

rockdawg21 · #5 11-17-2009, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.B.

Yeah, I read that Arum wants to bring Pacquiao there, that would be cool.

I think that what Floyd said was to be expected. The press was not going to sit back and wait for him to come out and give his thoughts. They were trying to get a hold of him right after the fight. You know, Floyd has been a lot more respectful of Manny than people give him credit for. He's obviously not going to spend most of his time talking about how great Pacquiao is, but he has always shown Manny respect in terms of what he has accomplished in the sport.

Yeah, and I hope that's something the press will point out. I don't like him (obviously), but I do take note of what he says. I've noticed he has deep respect for Pacquiao and will be evidenced when they step in the ring together. Even in the past, he said Pacquiao is #2 behind himself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SwlhBdaoBs

Right now, he's just saying what needs to be said to get the fight going and to get the promoters going. He knows what it takes to make money in this sport and he'll pull out all the stops to make this fight big.

As for Pac, he doesn't need to do anything except the basic publicity. He's always exciting when he's in the ring and I think an underlying factor is how much people like his humility and humbleness. It's incredible he's garnered so much love and attention as a foreigner.

J.B. · #6 11-17-2009, 03:52 AM

Now, see I will admit that too. I am surprised Manny has been able to get so much attention here in the states. Even after DLH, I still didn't think he would get to this level of popularity. Boxing has always held on to it's sense of nationalism, and I think it's still there, but the lines are definitely getting more blurry than they were in the 70's and 80's.

I think it's a combination of things. Pac is a very marketable guy. Just his image and his style, this helps a lot. Then, of course there is this whole Mayweather hype. People have been talking about this since Manny beat Oscar, then Hatton, and it is the fight that makes most sense. Mayweather is a easy guy to dislike, just because of the flashiness and old school Muhammad Ali style trash talking. Mix it all together and expose it to the general public and this is what you get...

A flurry of water cooler fans hoping on board the Manny wagon and even some of the old schooler's who just can't stand anything with the name Mayweather, and believe me there are a handful of those people. Then you have the actual Mayweather fans, which believe it or not, there IS a lot of. Not to mention the rest of the general Boxing community who wouldn't dare miss this fight even if they hate both men. It has all the ingredients for a super fight of epic proportions.