Who is this boxing media guy?

A prominent member of the mainstream media was the object of disdain and the subject of ridicule by some of his colleagues (?) and the people who attended the weigh- ins. Moments before the weigh- ins the lady host announced to clear a particular area in front of the stage so that some photographers in the makeshift podium could take pictures without being obstructed.

But the moment the weigh- ins started, this particular media character with his massive frame moved and stood into the center of 'no man's land' and despite the protests of the photographers behind him, maintained his ground as if he did not hear all the yelling and hollering directed at him to move out of the picture.

Some media members, particularly the photojournalists, can only shake their heads at this man's arrogance and murmured, "Perhaps, being a prominent media personality gave him the license to throw his weight around."


Continue reading on Examiner.com: Looking back: Notes from the Alexander- Bradley 'super fight' weigh- ins - Detroit boxing | Examiner.com

Postmortem: Devon Alexander- Timothy Bradley 'super fight'

"Despite the pre- fight rhetoric, Alexander and Bradley did not throw caution to the wind. Despite all the trash- talking, the fighters did not engage in toe- to -toe exchanges. Despite the promised fireworks, the match- up simply failed to explode."

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Postmortem: Devon Alexander- Timothy Bradley 'super fight' - Detroit boxing | Examiner.com

In Harm's Way: Nonito Donaire, Jr. bludgeons Wladimir Sidorenko into submission

"Filipino boxing sensation Nonito Donaire, Jr. brutalized and hammered his way to a knock out victory over the outclassed Wladimir Sidorenko knocking him down thrice during the fight with the last one coming from a right straight that forced the Ukranian to take a knee and was counted out by the referee 1:48 into the 4th in the co- main event feature of Top Rank's In Harm's Way fight card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA."


Read the full article HERE


/photo credit: Top Rank Boxing/ Chris Farina

HBO and Golden Boy dissapoints boxing fans again

The HBO and Golden Boy Promotion's extravaganza held at the Staples Center last Saturday night did exactly what the promoters wanted and expected at the gates but the main event did disappoint. The undercards did have some fireworks on the surface, but in reality if you dig and look deeper, they were nothing but just set- up fights to enhance the image and pad the records of Oscar de la Hoya's wards.

The show was dubbed 200: Celebrate and Dominate in honor of the bicentennial of Mexico's Independence Day was headlined by Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora in a junior middleweigt bout. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Victor Ortiz, both proteges of the Golden Boy, were also in the cards to further enhance the Mexican flavor and entice the huge Mexican community to spend their night at the fights.

HBO and Golden Boy did everything to maximize their earnings for the said fight. In the weeks prior to the event, they employed several boxing scribes to help them hype the fight. They tried to make it appear that it was a big and significant event that is worth everybody's time and money. They did everything to sell it and hoped the gullible boxing public bites it.

Yes, they had it for $50 on the cable network's pay-per-view and $20 on the big screen in selected theaters all over the country, not to mention the top $200 price at the Staples Center. If they did succeed and earned a huge profit from it, it remains to be seen though.

But the truth of the matter is, the fight card was not pay-per-view material at all.


Visit Detroit Fight Sports Examiner for the full article

The way to a Manny Pacquiao- Juan Manuel Marquez trilogy is through Amir Khan

Juan Manuel Marquez is still living in the past. If he thinks that his performance against Juan Diaz earns him the right to a third fight with Manny Pacquiao, he is surely mistaken. Ever since their last meeting, their paths have taken in different directions that probably will never again meet.

Juan Manuel Marquez' drumbeaters, which immediately proclaim that the Mexican is ready for a trilogy with rival Manny Pacquiao, are themselves living in the past. After the so-so win over Diaz, those people who said that Marquez deserves another shot at the current P4P king should better consult their ophthalmologists to check on their vision for nowhere in the fight screams the necessity of a Pacquiao trilogy.


Click the link for the article-

The way to a Manny Pacquiao- Juan Manuel Marquez trilogy is through Amir Khan

Detroit Fight Sports Examiner Digest #85

If there’s one place that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. can call home, it should be Michigan. Hailing from Grand Rapids, Mayweather put the state on the boxing map for years and many Michiganders are proud of his accomplishments inside the ring.

If there’s one place where Floyd Mayweather, Jr. can clearly claim that his fans far outnumber that of his nemesis, Manny Pacquiao, it will be Michigan. The Grand Rapids native enjoys a huge following in the state and Michigan boxing fans have supported him through thick and thin.

And with Bob Arum’s deadline on the proposed Mayweather- Pacquiao megafight hovering on the horizon, many boxing fans and supporters of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. are clinging to the faint hope that their favorite fighter will sign the dotted line on the eleventh hour.

Click the link for the full article--

Michigan boxing fans want Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to 'Man Up'

Detroit Fight Sports Examiner Digest #84

The writing on the wall even before the Manny Pacquiao- Floyd Mayweather, Jr. megafight was conceived was that it would never happen. Still, many boxing fans are hoping that for a multi-million dollar mega prize all the obstacles will be overcome and the fight will push through. And Bob Arum’s announcement that Manny Pacquiao has agreed to all the demands of the Mayweathers including the contentious random blood testing and purse split brought hope to the boxing faithful. Or so it seems.



Click on the link to read the article-

Mayweather- Pacquiao debacle: Money May passes the buck to Bob Arum via David Mayo

Mayweather- Mosley: Fool's gold?

After an excruciating delay, which could be attributed more to the promoter’s calculated moves to hype the fight, rather than Floyd Mayweather, Jr.‘s seeming reluctance to face Shane Mosley, he finally inked the contract that will put the two protagonists in an All- American welterweight extravaganza on May 1st in Las Vegas.

It is a fight that should have been fought earlier in their respective careers. It is a fight that many boxing fans have been waiting for although it was 10 years, or so, late, so to speak. Still, people in Michigan are excited to see this fight finally happens.

Mayweather-Mosley is not the biggest fight out there that everybody wants to see but it is a fight that most boxing fans can live with. So, whether we like it or not, we still need and want to see the fight with the hope that the eventual winner will trade punches with P4P king Manny Pacquaio later in the year.

For Sugar Shane who has been dogging Mayweather for a fight, it is a sweet testament that patience is indeed a virtue albeit with some help from two different forces combining to finally land him his long- cherished wish: Mother Nature wherein his fight with up and coming superstar, Andre Berto of Haiti, was canceled when the Haitian was unable to concentrate on his training because of the huge tragedy that occurred in his homeland, as well as from Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino superstar who Mayweather was about to face in a mega fight on March 13 until huge egos and disagreement over drug-testing protocol put the said fight temporarily on the wayside.

For Money Mayweather, after talks of his mega fight with Pacquiao collapsed (wherein boxing fans blamed him more for its demise than Pacquiao and the Pacman moving on and electing to fight the tough Ghanian Joshua Clottey in Texas) and with rumors that the IRS is breathing on his neck and debt payments accumulating in his midst, Money May was left with no other choice but to fight the next best fighter out there to salvage his sagging reputation (being labeled a cherry picker and a coward for running away from opponents that can give him a run for his money) and earn some moolah on the side to tide him over for the time being. It is also a fight that could silence his critics even temporarily for despite glowing credentials inside the ring, his opponent Mosley is no longer spring chicken and was not the fighter that he used to be at 39 years of age.

So is this supposed ‘mega fight’ for real? Will it live up to the billing of a super fight? Will it help Mayweather earn the respect of his peers and fans alike?

On paper, with the support of a giant network like HBO and a plethora of boxing writers sympathetic to their cause, it has the making of a huge Pay-Per-View event pitting two Americans with enough name recall to sell the fight. It is a fight with great promise if both fighters want it to be.

But despite all the hype and the obvious scripted dramas that are being peddled to us, this so-called mega fight may disappoint rather than excite and could just be a big waste of money especially if the fighters will come to the ring unwilling to wage a war. This fight will become a stinker and a bore if the fighters would rather dance the night away than engage in a real firefight.

But make no mistake about it: the American boxing public will no doubt shell their hard-earned money to support the fight for they are hungry for an American to carry on the torch that many great American fighters like Ali, Leonard, Hearns and Robinson, just to name a few, carried before them in a sport that they used to dominate.

And since many are that hungry to re-live the American glory days in boxing, it will be easy for the dream weavers to weave their tales that many will be gullible enough to buy, turn a blind eye and justify a fight without drama as a showcase of what the sweet science is all about- that is to run around in circles, pop a few jabs here and there, and with ‘great defense‘, try not to get hit by your opponent inside the ring as the epitome of a ‘great fighter‘.

But a huge PPV success is not always synonymous with a Great Fight.

In the past, they could peddle a ho-hum fight and get away with it. In this day and age of a down economy people tend to hold on more to their money; that’s why fight fans will not tolerate a so-so fight and would want more value for their money.

Mosley’s record as a fighter speaks for itself. We also know how skilled a fighter Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is and what he is capable of. That’s why in a fight of this magnitude, people expect that both fighters will bring their best at fight time and are clamoring for a really exciting fight worthy of the millions that the fighters will earn in the process.

But being a highly-skilled fighter doesn’t give one the license for an easy way out, in this case. And unlike in the amateurs, people want to see in professional boxing a highly-charged and entertaining fight. They want the protagonists engaging in a fierce battle with each other at the center of the ring like the gladiators of yore.

So, the question really is, will Mayweather-Mosley live up to its promise?

Or will it be another robbery of epic proportion?

Food for thought: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”


Visit my Examiner page for more @ Detroit Boxing Examiner

Manny & Money: Re-mapping Teddy Atlas' brain

ESPN Friday Night Fights host Teddy Atlas just became a rumormonger and he just made a respected network like ESPN a fish market by peddling fishy tales that reeks of Golden Boy’s rotten propaganda machine about the purported emails that began in Tim Smith’s New York Daily News report allegedly coming from Manny Pacquiao’s camp with regards on what to do if and when he tested positive for PEDs in his fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Reading his answers to BoxingTalk’s G. Leon’s interview, I couldn’t help but laugh and be amused of how this self- styled straight shooter was obviously bumbling and fumbling on his answers. He was trying to look cool and confident but we could easily discern that he was following a crooked script while struggling to deliver straight lines.

If I didn’t have any idea of the man’s personality and reputation and on what he was trying to impart to the ill-informed and uneducated habitués of the boxing world about an unsubstantiated issue that is obviously being rehashed by people with vested interests, maybe I could have been easily swayed.




Maybe the people behind this issue are believers of Nazi Propaganda Chief Joseph Goebbels‘ dictum that “if you tell a lie big enough and keep on repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”, huh? Looking at their records, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are.

But despite the well- thought out and well- rehearsed plan, his slips are quite obvious and his inconsistent statements are glaring.

Teddy Atlas: “I'm really not going to talk too much about this because again, the internet to me is like a graffiti board and it just gets more and more, I mean you got people like Mike Marley out there who are just low-life people. To me, I feel dirty every time I go near the internet. I feel like I got to take a shower or something.”

He can take a shower as many times as he wants but the dirt will not fall off his skin. He belittles the internet and yet he preaches about his belief that the so-called email is genuine and real. If he really understands his thing, he could’ve realized that emails are products of the internet and anybody can make an account, write something and send them to anybody with these and that allegations. Anybody with an understanding of how the internet works should take this kind of allegation as nothing but garbage.

If these alleged emails really exist and that they really came from Team Pacquiao and knowing that there is no love lost between the two camps, they should have come up and showed them to us by now. It’s a known fact that emails can easily be traced to the IP address from where it originated. Thus, these emails simply don’t exist but are, rather, just another black propaganda concocted by people with sinister minds.


In answer to the question, “Why would the Pacquiao people be so stupid to send out such an email?”

Here’s what Teddy Atlas had to say-

"I don't think he has any rocket scientists around his group. You ever watch 24/7? (laughs) I mean none of these guys have rocket scientists around them. That's all I can say. It seems on the surface like a very stupid thing to do, to obviously have a record of something that can be incriminating or potentially look as though there's something that leads towards something inappropriate by even asking such a question? Yeah, I agree. And that was the first thing I asked. Why would somebody be so stupid to leave a paper trail on that? But yeah, these people that are around boxing, both as writers, both on the internet, both as people who get to hang around the camp and wind up becoming people that are involved in their careers, they're not rocket scientists and it just makes me sick.”

Again this makes me laugh really hard.

Obviously, Teddy Atlas has a very low regard with regards to the intelligence of the people on Team Pacquiao as he believes that these people are nothing but a bunch of idiots because they are stupid enough to send incriminating emails to the other side of the fence.

If there is a study in contradiction, it would be Teddy Atlas. He says one thing and does another. He says things as if he is an expert yet his idea of what he is talking about is vague.

I am now beginning to suspect that Teddy Atlas really has no idea what an email is and that he isn’t computer literate at all.

Let me just cite two things in this case-

If he believes that the internet is full of graffiti and dirt, how come he believes an email that is the product of the internet? If he believes that the people in Team Pacquiao are not rocket scientists but are stupid, how come he buys the thinking that they are capable of giving Manny Pacquiao performance- enhancing drugs like hGHs and steroids?

The joke is on Teddy Atlas here and everybody is laughing but himself. Oh, how gullible and silly of him to be peddling this kind of nonsense that should have been confined to the gossip section of National Enquirer where it should be.

As they say in America, show me the money err the emails in this case if it really does exist. Otherwise, he should just keep his mouth shut to spare him of being labeled as a fool.


Note: This article can also be found at Now Boxing

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao: Who's Bad? Part II

(Last of a two- part series)

The proposed mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr on March 13, 2010 is definitely off owing to disagreements in both camps on the how the contentious and controversial drug testing will be done and what agency will handle it.

Let us look back and answer some issues that contributed as to why the said mega fight went kaput.

Bad Move

Whoever made the decision to come out with the Olympic- style drug testing from Floyd Mayweather Jr’s camp should be crucified for putting the death knell on the biggest fight of our time. This is not only unprecedented and unparalleled in professional sports but it borders to the absurd. On the other hand, this is an admission of the amount of respect Mayweather have on Pacquiao’s fighting prowess despite Mayweather belittling his skills and ability in various interviews.

We should remember that in Mayweather’s 40 professional fights, he did not demand this kind of testing which is unheard of in professional boxing until this fight.

Although they may have some valid points with this demand especially in this day and age of Performance- Enhancing Drugs (PEDs), they could have asked the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is the proper venue for this kind of issue to consider them in their drug testing. They could have asked the commission for a hearing to hear their apprehensions and I’m sure the NSAC will be up to the task and educate them about the merits and demerits of such tests. I’m sure Team Pacquiao will not refuse the said tests if a competent authority like the NSAC, who oversees all professional sports drug testing in the State of Nevada, demands it and warrants the test.

Instead, they went full throttle with trial by publicity without showing any pieces of evidence or witnesses linking Pacquiao to using PEDs. Mayweather and their minions slander Manny Pacquiao’s name to anybody who would care to listen. It was a move that borders to idiocy. To me, this smacks of bad faith and utter disrespect to Manny Pacquiao.

Why jeopardize the fight with these unsubstantiated accusations that should have been confined only in gossip columns? Why deal in tabloid stuff when you are negotiating for the richest fight in boxing history?

Some people will say if you‘re clean and have nothing to hide, “why not just take the damn test and be done with it?”

We should understand that there’s a big difference between the Filipino and American cultures playing here. Rudyard Kipling once said in one of his poems that, “Oh East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”

While an American would readily take the test to prove his innocence even if he knows that he is innocent in the first place just to appease his critics, this will not be the case to a Filipino. A Filipino will stand his ground if he feels that he is being coerced to do things that he feels don’t merit any considerations. A Filipino will be stubborn to a fault if he believes that his integrity is being questioned especially if he knows deep in his heart that the accusations are not true.

Manny Pacquiao doesn’t relish the fact that his integrity is being questioned. More so, being blatantly accused of being a cheater without proof by his nemesis. Being a true- blooded Pinoy, I can understand why Manny Pacquiao would rather walk away from millions of dollars than dignify these kind of unwarranted accusations.

Make no mistake about it, like many Filipinos, Manny Pacquiao is a proud man. If this was just an issue between ordinary people in Manila or in any other place in the Philippines and somebody accuses somebody of cheating, you can expect that blood will surely flow in order for the aggrieved party to clear his name.


Bad Press

The press went to town when Manny Pacquiao did not acquiesce to Floyd Mayweather Jr’s demand for an Olympic-style testing. Some media people were blaming Pacquiao for the collapsed of the mega fight yet they turned a blind eye on the fact that the accusations against Pacquiao were concocted by Floyd Mayweather, Sr.

They further fanned the blaze and tooted the line of a convicted felon, a confessed cocaine user and high school drop-out like it was gospel truth. If that is not an obvious indictment of the state of journalism in sports nowadays, I really can’t say. If Floyd Sr. is not the most polluted source that one can find, I really don‘t know.

The media did not bother to check the facts nor research on the issue properly. Instead of reporting facts, they resorted to conjectures. Instead of reporting the truth, they succumbed to rumors and innuendos. Overnight, many respected sports personalities metamorphosed into gossip columnists and tabloid reporters. They stopped being objective and seekers-of-truth and unknowingly became peddlers of lies.


Bad Medicine

If we study the history of doping in sports, we can easily deduce that the usual culprits are athletes from first world countries who have the capability to do systematic sports doping. It all started with the athletes of the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations to give their athletes the edge against their western counterparts during the height of the Cold War.

The Mayweathers showed their ignorance regarding the Philippines’ capability when it comes to doping in sports by saying in one of their interviews that “we don’t know what they are capable out there”, or something to that effect, when referring to the country as a haven for steroids and other PEDs.

The only Asian country that is known to conduct systematic doping with its athletes is China. Who can forget the notorious Ma’s Army in athletics and their record-breaking swimmers a while back?

But the US and other western nations are not immune to cheating in sports. The names of Ben Johnson, Linford Christie, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery are now forever linked to steroids and doping.

In the US professional sports ranks, the baseball ‘roid warriors like McGwire, Clemens, Bonds, Canseco and Sosa forever tarnished baseball. Even Tiger Woods is now being linked to PEDs because of his trainer. Boxing is not spared either. Fighters like Roy Jones Jr, Evander Holyfield, Fernando Vargas and Shane Mosley, just to name a few, have tested positive for steroids at some point in their careers.

In all of these cases, the accusations are backed up with pieces of evidence (syringe for Clemens) and witnesses (trainers) accusing a particular athlete of wrongdoings. In all of these cases, the accused athletes have been linked to people or laboratories/ companies like BALCO (Mosley and Bonds) that are known to deal in sports doping. In all of these cases, the accused athletes have been caught or have tested positive for doping (Jones).

In Manny Pacquiao’s case, not a single piece of evidence has been shown. In Manny Pacquiao’s case, not a single witness has come forward to accuse him of using PEDs. In Manny Pacquiao’s case, he has never tested positive for PEDs. In Manny Pacquiao’s case, the people around him have never been linked, accused nor convicted of engaging in illicit drugs.

Also Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy's CEO was caught lying through his teeth and showed us his plain hypocrisy on this issue. He was on record of refusing a more thorough drug-testing on Shane Mosley, an admitted steroid user in his proposed fight against Zab Judah yet they were very adamant to do this on Manny Pacquiao.

"Whatever tests they want them to take, Shane will submit to that. We are not going to do other tests than the Nevada commission requires.”

"The fact is Shane is not a cheater and he does not need to be treated like one."

The reason Olympic-style drug testing is usually done on athletes in the off-season (e.g. when they are deep in training) is because that’s the time that the benefits of PEDs (e.g. hGH & anabolic steroids) will come in handy to build those muscles and tissues. An athlete should have been using these banned substances for a long time for any changes in the body and the desired results to occur. It’s not as if you will just shoot them into your system, and voila, the dramatic effect will take place immediately. Besides, if one is a long-time user, there will be very visible changes not only in appearance but also in the psychological make-up of the user.

Nowadays, steroids can now be detected in the hair and when a positive test comes back, the urine sample is then tested for confirmation. Also, hGH is only effective if they are used in conjunction with steroids, and contrary to popular belief, it can also be detected in urine (aside from blood) by using molecular ‘markers’ which could be used as evidence of doping.

So in this case, whether you test Manny Pacquiao for hGH and anabolic steroids, 24- days or 14- days or post fight, is really immaterial since if he was really using them in the past, he would have tested positive for both, while on the other hand, if he will be using them just weeks before the fight, with a window period of less than 30 days, the desired outcome will not take effect nor make an impact on his performance. They should be looking for amphetamines and its derivatives instead.


Badass


In this mega fight fiasco, finger-pointing is the order of the day. But one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out who’s the real badass and who’s not between the two protagonists.

They say, being a badass is not an act but a way of life. They say a badass doesn’t lie because a badass doesn’t need to lie. He is brutally honest and has a soft spot for the weak. He is a rugged man but possesses a calm and cool demeanor when dealing with everything in life.

So, between Manny and Money, who do you think is the real badass?


Note: This article can also be found at Now Boxing

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao: Who's Bad?

(First of a two-part series)

The proposed mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr scheduled on March 13, 2010 is definitely off owing to disagreements in both camps on the how the contentious and controversial drug testing will be done and what agency will handle it.

Let us look back and answer some issues that contributed as to why the said mega fight went kaput.



Bad Blood

There was bad blood between both sides and they were wary of each other’s intentions and sincerity from the very beginning. It did not bode well that Floyd Mayweather, Jr has a bad history with Bob Arum and so does Manny Pacquiao with Golden Boy Promotions. Add the fact that Pacquiao gave Oscar de la Hoya, GBP’s owner, the beating of his life and turned his pretty face into a punching bag.

Also, Freddie Roach and Pacquiao terribly embarrassed the Floyd Mayweather, Sr- trained Ricky Hatton in just two rounds that made Mayweather, Sr cope out on the Mancunian fighter by blaming him of not listening to his instructions instead of his poor fight plan and strategy.

After these two fights, rumors began to swirl around about Manny Pacquiao’s alleged steroid use without any evidence to show but mainly coming from Mayweather, Sr.’s mouth that was soon picked up by fighters with hidden agenda, some people with an axe to grind, and some media people who are skeptical of Team Pacquiao’s success.

Bad Intentions

Pacquiao shamed Oscar de la Hoya when he made him quit on his stool after the 8th round and failed to answer the bell for the 9th round of their fight that Oscar was predicted to win handily. The Golden Boy’s image was tarnished and he still cannot get over the fact that the last image of him being remembered was of a defeated man sitting forlornly in his corner while Team Pacquiao and the boxing world were celebrating around him.

Oscar de la Hoya’s huge ego was irreversibly pricked when Freddie Roach proved to the whole world that he “can no longer pull the trigger”, and was made worse when Pacquiao made him eat his word. Who can forget what he told Pacquiao during one of the press conferences before the fight, “I will knock you out“?

And after proclaiming to anybody who cared to listen after his surrender that Pacquiao’s punches had no power at all and that he could’ve have stood there all night and Pacquiao would not be able to knock him out, he made a 180 degree turn around and wrote in his blog that, “Now I have to wonder about him. I’m saying to myself. Wow, those Mosley punches, those Vargas punches and those Pacquiao punches all felt the same!”

Thus, we can forgive his conflicting statements since he was on the receiving end of many powerful and wicked blows to the head in his fight with Pacquiao and could have resulted into him not being his old self. Now, we have to wonder if he is the same sane old man that he believe is.


Bad Education

Manny Pacquaio’s accusers lack the necessary smarts to understand the nature of anabolic steroids and human-growth hormones and their functions and effects on the body. They don’t possess the necessary educational attainment to even understand the essence of what they are talking about.

Floyd Mayweather, Sr. who started the ball rolling never finished high school to have even an iota of understanding the basics of what he is accusing Pacquiao of doing. Obviously, Team Mayweather lacks the knowledge to separate the facts from fiction regarding the tests that they are demanding.

First, they asked for blood tests to look for steroids in Manny Pacquiao’s blood. Manny Pacquiao agreed to 3 tests that are not even part of the mandated drug testing by the NSAC, the sole authority in conducting such tests on fighters in the State of Nevada. When told that this could be done through urinalysis, they changed their tune and now added Human- Growth Hormones (hGH) to the lot. While it’s true that hGH can be detected in one’s blood, contrary to popular beliefs hGH can also be detected in the urine by using molecular ‘markers’ to detect its presence in the urine in this day and age.

I will not be surprised if they will raise the EPO- question in the future. This is an obvious witch- hunt that Team Pacquiao did not tolerate. More so, a ludicrous demand coming from a fighter who belittles Manny Pacquiao’s skills and says that he will “whip the Pacman’s punk ass“.


Bad Company

Team Pacquiao is not known to harbor people with questionable characters in their midst . Team Pacquiao has no links to companies with bad reputations. They have not been involved nor linked in any controversies in and out of the ring. Team Pacquiao has no links to laboratories/ companies like BALCO nor to any dirty and unsavory characters both at present and in the past.

Freddie Roach is as straight a shooter as you can get. He is so transparent and speaks his mind out without regard for anything. He is the “what you see is what you get” kind of guy.

Conditioning coach Alex Ariza who admitted that he prepared everything that he gave to Manny Pacquiao himself. He said that if there is any person in the team that should know what goes into Pacquiao’s system, it should be him. His record is impeccable and speaks for itself.

Alex Ariza, who was obviously irritated by the issue, said in an interview -

“I didn’t really do any interviews before this because I didn’t feel it warranted it. But I’ve seen stories like Lou DiBella said that members of Team Pacquiao have a history of steroid use? Show me. Where’s his paperwork that leads to BALCO? I’ve worked with Diego Corrales, Erik Morales, Angel Manfredy. None of those guys has ever even tested for a diuretic, cold medication, antibiotics, nothing. I don’t give any of my fighters that would be considered illegal or a performance enhancing drug. I don’t know where people are coming up that I’m linked to BALCO. I’ve never been associated or questioned about anything.”

As for Team Mayweather, I’ll just give you three names and I believed no further explanations are necessary to put the message across - Floyd Mayweather, Sr., Roger Mayweather and Richard Schaefer.


Bad Reputation

Manny Pacquiao earned the mythical P4P title the hard way. He persevered against the odds and fought his way to the top against worthy and world class opponents. The list of his victims are worthy of Hall of Fame status themselves. He may have been involved in some controversies in the past with regards to his dalliances with show business but his record in and out of the ring when it comes to the sport is spotless. He quietly made his mark and fought the best there is.

On the other hand, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.’s reputation in and out of the ring left something to be desired. His name was mentioned in relation to a shooting incident in a Las Vegas skating rink and his mansion and limo were subjected to a weapons search by authorities. The IRS is after him for several years now and also has several pending cases for foreclosures in court. Recently, he and his entourage were involved in a night club scuffle with a rapper and his crew.

True, Mayweather fought some good fighters like Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo (although he was gifted a win in their first fight) when he was still in the lower weight divisions but as he scaled the weights he was also accused of cherry- picking his opponents to preserve the “0” in his record. His most impressive win in the last 5 years was the 10th round knockout of Ricky Hatton who was fighting out of his natural weight for the first time.

His biggest fight was an unimpressive split decision win over Oscar de la Hoya wherein de la Hoya, learning from his mistakes in the first fight, could have whipped his ass the moment they faced again but he never gave him the rematch. So, that is subject to debate until now.

His comeback fight against a very bloated Juan Manuel Marquez (which earned him the laughable no. 1 P4P ranking over Pacquiao from Yahoo Sports for some time) is nothing spectacular either. It did not sit well to boxing fans that he came out two pounds over the catch weight limit and refused the customary weigh-in again on fight night. Although he showed his vaunted defensive skills in that fight, the fans were dissatisfied when he failed to engage and knockout the smaller Mexican.

While Manny Pacquiao continues to take on all- comers throughout his career, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fought patsies and second- tier fighters while dancing en route to victory. He conveniently ducked the people who could have challenged his skills and defined him as a fighter. Mosley, Margarito, Cotto and Williams are just some of the names that could have cemented his legacy, but rather than facing them in the ring, he opted to retire.

Bad Mouth

Manny Pacquiao is a soft- spoken person and is not known to bad mouth his opponents. He respects his opponents even if some of his opponents disrespect him. He just smiles at all the trash talk and lets his fist do the talking inside the ring.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. shoots from his mouth without regard for anything. He brags about his ‘greatness’ and trash talks anyone that he wants to or got in his way. Everyone is fair game to him and he will disrespect everyone if it will suit and further his cause.

Consider Floyd mumbo-jumbos on fighting Pacquiao-

“He has to call me out first- he knows he can’t beat me- it will be an easier fight than Marquez- 60-40- I’m the best fighter of all time- God doesn’t want me to lose- I’ll promise I’ll fight Mosley instead”

When Pacquiao called out his bluff, he proposed an unprecedented and unparalleled Olympic- style testing which no boxing commission in the United States uses despite the fact that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has the most sophisticated testing facilities and the most stringent measures in drug testing.

If he thinks Pacquiao will be of no match to him, why be adamant with his senseless demands since he once admitted that he was the bigger man, anyway? Why not just sign the contract and prove that he is the greatest fighter of all time inside the square ring?

Sadly, for all of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.’s pronouncements, deep inside he is afraid to fight Manny Pacquiao and lose his cherished “0” to the Pacman. For all of his braggadocio, deep inside he is a big coward. Floyd Mayweather, Jr should remember that being a loud-mouth will not gain him respect. He should also take to heart the old saying that “Still water runs deep.”


Note: This article is also featured at Now Boxing

Floyd Mayweather, Jr.- I'll whip Manny Pacquiao's punk ass!

Now that the fight is definitely off, Floyd Mayweather, Jr is back talking some sh**. Now that the fight is not going to happen Floyd Mayweather, Jr is talking about whipping Manny Pacquiao’s punk ass. Finally, it’s no longer quiet on Floyd Mayweather, Jr’s front but this time the typical Mayweather mumbo- jumbo is falling on deaf ears. Floyd Mayweather, Jr can keep on talking about his greatness, his wealth and his fighting ability until eternity but nobody is listening.

Mayweather in a statement released earlier today said-

“Throughout this whole process, I have remained patient, but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them.

“First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao. I want to whip his punk [rear]. Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no-blood-testing window leading up to the fight. But it was rejected. I am still proposing the 14-day window, but he is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn’t want to take the tests.

‘In my opinion, it is Manny Pacquiao and his team who are denying the people a chance to see the biggest fight ever. I know the people will see through their smoke screens and lies. I am ready to fight and sign the contract. Manny needs to stop making his excuses, step up and fight.”


Now, that the fight is never going to happen, Floyd Mayweather, Jr is talking tough and cheap.

I say, man up Floyd and stop making excuses, step up and fight if you really want it to happen. I say, stop the tough talk, back up your mouth, be a man and fight Manny Pacquiao in the ring. But since you don’t want to take a chance against a fighter that could erase the “0” in your resume, you won’t do that.

How naïve of some people who didn’t get the charade you were playing early on. You never really liked this fight in the first place after seeing how Manny Pacquiao manhandled Miguel Cotto (a fighter of your own size where you took the easy way out and retired instead of facing him in the ring).

Despite all your talk and press releases, I know that you are just engaging in double- talk and trying to find a way out of the hole that you dug into when your loud mouth proclaimed that you want to fight the Pacman.

The moment you asked Richard Schaefer to cancel the Texas flight, I knew that you were having a change of heart -- for how come the so-called "greatest fighter of all time" refused to fight mano-a- mano in an 80,000 seating capacity arena? How could the fight’s "greatest showman" refuse to show his greatness in front of thousands of fans and suddenly suffer from stage fright?

It’s simple, you‘re just afraid of Manny Pacquiao. Your demand for an unparalleled and unprecedented Olympic-style drug testing is an indictment of how you really fear the Pacman. In the end, you would rather be labeled a coward than enter the ring and have your pretty face busted by the fists of the Pacman.


NOTE: The reason Olympic-style drug testing is usually done on athletes in the off-season (e.g. when they are deep in training) because that’s the time that the benefits of PEDs (e.g. hGH & anabolic steroids) will come in handy to build those muscles and tissues. An athlete should have been using those banned substances for a long time for any changes in the body and the desired results to occur. It’s not as if you will just shoot them into your system and the dramatic effect will take place immediately. Besides, if one is a long-time user, there will be very visible changes not only in appearance but also in the psychological make-up of the user.

Nowadays, steroids can now be detected in the hair and when a positive test comes back, the urine sample is then tested for confirmation. Also, hGH is only effective if they are used in conjunction with steroids, and contrary to popular belief, it can also be detected in urine (aside from blood) by using molecular ‘markers’ which could be used as evidence of doping.

So in this case, whether you test Manny Pacquiao for hGH and anabolic steroids, 24- days or 14- days or post fight, is really immaterial since if he was really using them in the past, he would have tested positive for both, while on the other hand, if he will be using them just weeks before the fight, with a window period of less than 30 days, the desired outcome will not take effect nor make an impact on his performance. They should be looking for amphetamines and its derivatives instead.

Manny & Money: Geoff's Gaffes

The current brouhaha on the Olympic Style Drug Testing proposed by the camp of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on Manny Pacquiao to which the Filipino and current P4P King refused to heed has elicited a lot of controversies that were further fanned by partisan as well as ignorant boxing writers on the subject.

At first, I chose to keep quiet on the matter since I still believed that the megafight between Money and Manny will push through despite all the reports of disagreement and bad press from both sides.

But sometimes I come across articles written by people who simply have no business writing such stuff that merit some retorts lest they continue with their myopic points of view and self- proclaimed knowledge on the subject when in reality they don’t have an iota of expertise on what they are talking about.

We could easily classify them into three classes- simply biased, paid hacks, dumb & dumber.

I will not speculate in what category Geoff Poundes (RingsideReport.com) belongs to, but instead I will leave it up to the readers to put him in his proper place. I read his article the other day entitled “Did Roid Rage Ruin the Manny Pacquiao- Floyd Mayweather Super Fight?”



When reading the said article of this self- proclaimed “Professor,“ I noticed there was nothing of note in it except already known facts and baseless contentions with some “new” malicious lines attributed to a so-called unnamed “Philippine” source.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

“ I was apporached recently by a contributor who laid out for me several reasons why he was convinced that Pacquiao was on steroids. His reasons mostly centers around the Pacman’s physique – the argument being that Pacquiao’s muscularity was impossible in the time span and in light of the level of weight gain – and a view of the Philippines and that country’s attitude to competition and fair play. He was a Philippine himself, so I can repeat his assertion that cheating and corruption are endemic in the Philippines in most areas of life (a cursory examination of the political history of Pacquiao’s homeland pretty much tells its own story). “


The Professor’s time in the ring as a referee might have warped his sense of reality and judgment although not a single punch has landed on his head during his long career to even suggest that he is already punched drunk. Maybe it is just endemic that he lacks the requisite grey matter to fully grasp and comprehend the enormity of his theories and beliefs.

Let me just pound on Mr. Poundes’s assertions and assumptions. As if appointing clowns like Paulie Malignaggi and Kermit Cintron as boxing dignitaries was not laughable enough, he compounded his ignorance by referring to his source as well as to Manny Pacquiao as a “Philippine.” For the record, it is a known fact that no such term exists except maybe in the minds of ignorant and uneducated people that proliferate the boxing world. The correct term is FILIPINO.

Once again, he showed his ignorance and lack of knowledge when he asserted that cheating and corruption are endemic in the Philippines. As if the Philippines has a monopoly of those things. I will not go into some historical details about how the British Empire acquired most of its wealth through conquest and plunder, but let me just state the fact that while the Philippines might be a known place for acquiring cheap drugs like methamphetamines and marijuana as well as being the transit point for cocaine and heroin from the Golden Triangle en route to the West, there is no evidence to support that the Filipinos are capable of manufacturing performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), more so of doing systematic sports doping.

It is a fact that Manny Pacquiao has never failed any drug tests administered on him by any sports bodies at any point of his career. It is also of record that NO FILIPINO ATHLETE HAS TESTED POSITIVE OF USING PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS in any sporting event that the country has participated in, which cannot be said of their MORE ILLUSTRIOUS AND HONEST BRITISH COUNTERPARTS like Dwain Chambers, Greg Rusedski, Gary Cadogan, Perriss Wilkins, Doug Walker and LINFORD CHRISTIE (who won gold in the Olympics, World, Commonwealth and European Championships).

I wonder where Professor Geoffs got his education for there is nothing professorial in the way he writes his opus. It is full of gaffes and lacking in substance. In fact, it is a shame that despite being British, he simply doesn’t have the chops nor the flair of the traditional and contemporary English writers like Conan Doyle et al in his veins. It is really very elementary but the sun has long set on the British Empire and its people.

Cheap Talk: Floyd Mayweather Jr. belittles Manny Pacquiao

Right after Manny Pacquiao’s annihilation of Miguel Cotto came in Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and his big mouth belittling the Pacman’s ability in the ring as well as implying that the Filipino is evading him. Money May’s pronouncements only confirm what many people think of him as nothing but a fool. He doesn’t have any idea of what he is talking about.

Manny Pacquiao is not of the habit of calling any fighter out there but would rather let Freddie Roach do the talking and Bob Arum do the dirty work for him for a fight to happen. Manny Pacquiao has proven time and time again that he is not afraid of anybody and has not ducked anybody in his long storied career. The quality of fighters that Mayweather had faced pales in comparison to what the Pacman has fought and beaten in the ring. The quality of opposition that they had speaks for itself.

Unlike Mayweather who is a loud- mouth, Manny Pacquiao remains humble and would rather make his fists do the talking when the right time comes. Unlike Mayweather who picks his opponent wisely, Manny Pacquiao fights the best fighters out there. Unlike Mayweather who feasted on patsies to pad his ‘undefeated’ record along the way, Manny Pacquiao has annihilated a veritable Who’s Who in the boxing world to become a seven division champion. Unlike Mayweather who toot his own horn, Manny Pacquiao would rather make the people be the judge of his abilities and achievements.


And now Floyd, you’re saying you want to earn $65-75M for one night. Isn’t it just like you’re asking for the moon and ridiculously pricing yourself out to avoid the mega fight that most people want to see?

I say, enough of the cheap talk Floyd. If you really want the fight with Pacquiao to happen--

Man up and tell your people to start the ball rolling and be reasonable. I’m sure once you sign on the dotted line for the Pacquiao fight, you’ll have more than enough money to pay the IRS and support your lavish lifestyle.

Man up and prove yourself that you are the best by fighting the best one out there. Yeah, Floyd, even just for once, back up your talk like a real man and do what a real man should do. That is, fight the Pacman.

Firepower Redux

Firepower from pacmania on Vimeo.

password: pacman

HBO: Miguel Cotto's Greatest Hits

Pinoy Power 2

The Pinoy Power 2 boxing showcase at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas did not live up to its billing. At least, 'power'-wise.

Although the massive fireworks expected by the crowd and predicted by experts did not occur, still, the fight card assembled by Top Rank was competitive and entertaining because of some unpredictable events that occurred in the fight.

The Filipinos in the card, namely Nonito Donaire Jr, Bernabe Concepcion and Mark Jason Melligen, had contrasting fortunes when the night was over.


The Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire, Jr won a 12- round unanimous decision despite riding his bicycle up to the finish line in his Super Flyweight debut against a really tough opponent in Rafael Concepcion of Panama. The Panamanian who earlier failed to make the weight and was fined with 20% of his prize money gave Donaire all that he could handle in the fight.

In the early rounds, many ringside observers felt that Donaire would be too much for Concepcion and it will be a short night as the Filipino connected with several power blows that rocked his opponent. But Concepcion withered the storm and came back with a fury of his own against the Filipino. He rocked Donaire on numerous occasions with his heavy right hand especially in the middle rounds whenever he would engage him.

Sensing that Concepcion’s added weight could handle his power punches and he was getting hit in close-quarter exchanges, the Filipino Flash switched to his dancing shoes as he sniped and countered the game Concepcion from afar for the rest of the fight to earn the decision.

It was not an impressive one for Donaire but he did what he had to do to make his debut in a higher weight class a success. A win is a win but he needs a lot of work in order to emulate Manny Pacquiao’s success in hopping from one division to another.

The much-hyped Bernabe Concepcion who’s being groomed by some quarters as the next Manny Pacquiao was quite a disappointment. Sure, he has the moves and power like the Pacman as shown in his previous fights but tonight he was nothing but a very ordinary and boring fighter.

When he finally showed his vaunted power to his opponent, it was too late. It was too late because when he sneaked a vicious right hand into Luevano’s chin that flattened him to the ground, the bell ending the 7th round had sounded. Hence, the well- deserved disqualification.

WBO Featherweight champion Steven Luevano, a pitty-patty puncher with sound fundamentals gave him a neat boxing lesson and showed us that one doesn’t need to have a lot of power in one’s hands to be a champion.

Despite Freddie Roach’s presence in his corner, he is still a work in progress and needs a lot to learn on how to adjust his game plan in the ring.

Of the three Filipino fighters in the card, it was Mark Jason Melligen’s power that impressed us the most when he delivered a masterful beating en route to a fourth round demolition of Mexican veteran Ernesto Zepeda.

Slowly but surely, Melligen’s stock is rising as he has now won his 10th straight fight and boosted his record to 16-1, 12 of which inside the distance.


Let's re-live Bernabe Concepcion's 'impressive' hard right at the bell-




and Mark Jason Melligen's frantic finish--




video credits: S2p0r0a0y9

Yes, He KHAN!

Amir Khan’s convincing win over WBA light- welterweight crown-holder Andreas Kotelnik at the MEN Arena in Manchester Saturday night to become one of the youngest world champions in British boxing history proved once again that there is life after a devastating knockout loss with the right formula.

And the right stuff that help Amir Khan’s remarkable comeback to the top (after being knocked out cold by Breides Prescott in less than a minute in the first round 10 months ago) was Freddie Roach.

They wrote him off after that bitter loss as nothing but a pretender with a glass chin; a product of British media hype long hungry for another boxing hero. But he did the right decision when he left England to hook up and train with the venerable trainer in his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood right after his loss to Prescott.

And he showed improvement in his arsenal since then. Still, his win on a technicality over Marco Antonio Barrera was branded a fluke because of the Mexican Hall of Famer’s cuts and many thought that he, fighting for the title just 10 months and three fights off his knockout loss was premature.

But Roach said that his ward will be ready and will win the title come fight night. And Khan did not disappoint and proved the skeptics wrong when he fought a calculated, slick and effective fight on the way to victory against Kotelnik, a fellow Olympic silver medalist from Ukraine.

Obviously he gained a lot of confidence by holding his own with Roach's prized fighter P4P- King Manny Pacquiao in their sparring sessions at the Wild Card Gym. And with that kind of exposure, any boxer worth his salt will come out a lot better fighter than expected.

He showed his improvements in various departments: his footwork was great; his lateral movements were a sight to behold; his defense improved; his hand speed was fast and his jabs were effective. But Khan certainly needs to pack more power in his fists if he wants to be considered an elite fighter and be in the hunt for bigger prize money in the future.

Amir Khan’s chin will always be suspect until he face and overcome a heavy-handed hitter like his fellow Brit Ricky Hatton. But for now, he showed that he was able to handle a big fight and overcome the pressure of being in the ring with a veteran like Kotelnik. Surely, he is not yet in the Pacman’s class at this stage of his career but he is surely taking some small baby steps in the right direction.

After all, he is only 22 and still has a lot to learn to improve his game. And with Freddie Roach beside him, we can only see a bright future in the ring for this young lad from Bolton.

Pacman vs. Hitman

Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton

IBO Light Welterweight Championship
Ring Magazine Light Welterweight Championship

Much has been said about Hatton being the bigger and stronger fighter but there's a saying that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Floyd Sr. said that Hatton will knock Manny out early or late in the fight. Freddie said, the Mancunian fighter will go down in the third.

But I'm going out on a limb here, Pacman will gobble the Hitman early and he will hit the canvas and go straight into dreamland in the Second Round.

Live Stream HERE

Champion versus Champion

Veteran Filipino WBO Bantamweight Champion Gerry Penalosa (54-6-2) will climb the ring tonight a heavy underdog against Puerto Rican sensation and WBO Junior Featherweight Champion Juan Manuel Lopez (24-0) in the latter's hometown hoping to turn back the time and win his third world title in three different weight divisions.

It's a tall order for him though since JuanMa is a very heavy- handed fighter and is undefeated in 24 professional fights with 22 inside the distance aside from the fact that Gerry is moving up in weight at this late stage of his career.

The Puerto Rican Champion is the taller, bigger and faster fighter with impressive knockout victories in the first round in his last three fights including one with erstwhile Champion Daniel Ponce De Leon of Mexico who defeated the Filipino via a unanimous decision in 2007.

If style makes fight then JuanMa's style is tailor-made for Penalosa though. JuanMa comes forward, loves to mix it up inside and sometimes throws wild punches which makes him susceptible to Gerry's counter punches.

And if Gerry can withstand the powerful bombs early and carry the fight into the later rounds, his chances of a huge upset is plausible since JuanMa has never been really tested by a fighter of his class.

I'm picking Gerry to win the fight in the 10th.


UPDATE: Freddie Roach, Gerry Penalosa's Trainer stopped the fight in the ninth round to spare his ward from more punishment. Gerry was game and fought a defensive but courageous fight in his second foray at 122 lbs but JuanMa was simply too fast and too big for him.

JuanMa is the real deal and will be a force to reckon with in his division but he needs to work more on his defense as Gerry was able to tag him with several right hooks as he came forward in the course of the fight.