No news is good news. At least that has been the case for the last year and a half with regards to a possible Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather superfight.

Last Friday, Top Rank boss Bob Arum held a conference call to update boxing aficionados on the latest happenings in the sorry attempt to put together the one fight that all boxing fans are dying to see.

As the story goes, Arum had set a deadline for Mayweather’s camp to get in touch with Top Rank and HBO get the ball rolling. The deadline put in place by Arum was Friday at midnight, Pacific Daylight Time.

The international conference call played host to journalists from all around the globe. Some woke up early or stayed up late, while others abandoned their daily routines and responsibilities all to call in and hear what Top Rank’s grill master had to say.

Further, Top Rank, along with other various media outlets, allowed for a live-streaming of the call on their websites giving boxing fans worldwide access to the call.

Unfortunately for all who possessed even the tiniest bit of hope that Arum would talk about progress, he filled the airwaves and telephone lines with disappointment almost immediately. Arum confirmed that he had yet to hear anything from Money May’s camp. As the deadline came and went, Mayweather and his team stayed silent.

But just when you thought all hope was lost, Arum dangled yet another carrot in front of boxing fan’s faces.

“People have asked me as well as others at Top Rank, does that mean the Mayweather fight is dead?” Arum said. “Even though Mayweather has not responded by the deadline, the deal is dead when we reach a deal with an opponent for Manny’s fight in November.”

To quote Jim Carrey in the 1994 film “Dumb & Dumber”: “Soooooo, you’re telling me there’s a chance!?”

Friday at midnight — on the west coast — marked the time when Arum stopped exclusivity with the Mayweather camp and announced his intentions to explore other options for Pacquiao.

Arum went on to declare that he is turning his attention to making a possible fight with the “Tijuana Tornado”, Antonio Margarito, or a possible rematch with newly crowned WBA Junior Middleweight champion, Miguel Cotto.

Needless to say, neither is remotely as appealing as a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout.

There is little intriguing about a rematch with Cotto, who Pacquiao thoroughly dissected just some seven-plus months ago.

If he were to fight Margarito, who is currently not licensed in Nevada after the infamous hand-wrap scandal, Arum said the fight would most likely take place in Monterrey, Mexico.

For some reason, I don’t see that happening. The number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, traveling into another fighter’s backyard — potentially a hostile environment — where Mexican fans would be rampant in their support of their native fighter.

After Arum acknowledged his intentions to inquire about matching Pacquiao with either Margarito or Cotto, he speculated about the possible reasons Mayweather had stayed silent as the deadline passed.

“One of the reasons could be the uncertainty regarding Roger Mayweather and for people that don’t know, Roger Mayweather is scheduled for court in Nevada regarding criminal charges,” Arum said. “Now I know how Manny would feel if he had to go into a fight like this without the services of Freddie Roach and presumably Floyd would feel the same way going into a fight like this without the services of his uncle Roger who has been training him for a number of years.”

Two days later, the Mayweather camp finally released a statement via Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions.

“Here are the facts. Al Haymon [Mayweather’s manager], Richard Schaefer [CEO of Golden Boy Promotions] and myself speak to each other on a regular basis, and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place, nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13. Either Ross Greenburg [President of HBO Sports] or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying.”

After Arum read the statement, he responded by sticking to his guns, saying Greenburg told him he was active in talks with Haymon, who was relaying messages back and forth to and from Mayweather.

The he-said, she-said all sounds like a childish game of ‘telephone’ — rather than grown men, heads of companies negotiating what could amount to the most prosperous fight in boxing history.

Whatever it is — lack of communication or lies, it all amounts to negativity.

Enough is enough.

No more chasing the elusive carrot.

Arum, Ellerbe, Greenburg, or anyone else involved in the attempt to make this fight a reality should stay silent until legitimate progress is made.

Top Rank has a great stable of fighters and its upcoming bouts should be the focus of Arum’s dialogue, not the constant letdowns that seem to come with the Pacquiao-Mayweather negotiations — whether it be the fault of Team Mayweather or not.

No more conference calls to report disappointing news.

No more public cheap shots at Mayweather or Pacquiao and their teams. There is enough blame to go around for everyone.

Holding an international conference call and inviting the entire boxing world to listen in to disappointing news fails to positively serve the sport of boxing.

Next time there is disheartening news to report, save your breath and let us all move on from what could have been.

And on that note, if the next news out of the Top Rank camp does in fact have to do with a Pacquiao-Margarito bout, or Pacquiao-Cotto rematch, you can stay silent about that too.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said early Saturday that he had not heard from Floyd Mayweather, Jr., by a midnight deadline about whether he would fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13, but Arum said the fight could still happen on the proposed date.

Arum said the deadline – midnight Friday in Las Vegas – was only the end of a period of exclusive negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao. Arum said he will now embark on talks with Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto.

“The fight we want to do is Mayweather,’’ Arum said. “We haven’t said anything different. We haven’t acted any different. …Absolutely, that’s the fight we want.’’

Mayweather-Pacquiao could still happen if Mayweather says he wants it during talks for an alternate bout, also on Nov. 13, with either Margarito or Cotto. Arum said he expects those talks to last 10 days.

“Floyd, for whatever reason and I’m sure he has a valid reason, did not want to commit,’’ Arum said after minutes after the midnight deadline passed without a decision from Mayweather

Arum said he was told by Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports, that Mayweather had agreed to terms, including a timetable for random drug testing. A deal for Pacquiao-Mayweather last March fell apart late last year when Pacquiao balked at Mayweather’s demand for Olympic-style blood-testing.
Arum said he heard from Greenburg a few days after Mayweather’s victory over Shane Mosley in early May. Arum said Greenburg then spoke to Mayweather advisor Al Haymon. It’s no secret that that Mayweather-Pacquiao could set pay-per-view records for HBO. It’s estimated that each fighter could earn between $40 million to $50 million each.

Arum continued to speculate that Mayweather might not want to fight this year because his uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, is facing a trial on an assault charge. If Mayweather decides not to fight in November, Arum has said he hopes the bout will happen in May.

Margarito has yet to regain a license in the United States since his California license was revoked for altered hand wraps discovered before a loss to Mosley in January, 2009 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Nevada State Athletic Commission tabled a Margarito application last week. Arum said he will again try to get Margarito licensed in Nevada. If successful and there is still no word from Mayweather, Margarito-Pacquiao could happen in Las Vegas. If unsuccessful, the fight could happen in Monterrey, Mexico.

If Cotto gets the nod and there still is no decision from Mayweather, possible sites are Las Vegas, Cowboys Stadium in Dallas and Dubai.

There is Greenwich Mean Time and Daylight Savings and maybe even “Money” Time, but there is nothing standard about the digital countdown Top Rank added to its website in an attempt to get a decision, yea or nay, from Floyd Mayweather, Jr., about a proposed fight with Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13.

Mayweather has his own clock.

From minute-to-minute, it is hard to know what that clock says. But it is safe to assume that it doesn’t include any alarms, or even an acknowledgement, for deadlines imposed by anyone other than Mayweather himself.

The guess is that Bob Arum won’t have to check his web site when the final split-second expires at midnight Friday in Las Vegas, where there aren’t many clocks, No yea. No nay. No decision either.

Any answer at all would be a concession from Mayweather that Arum has the upper hand in reported negotiations. If there is anything to be learned from failed talks late last year, it is that Mayweather will not allow anybody to dictate terms or time, especially Arum. They are locked into a deadly rivalry that starts –and thus far ends — with one-upmanship at the bargaining table.

During the last few days, questions have been raised about whether there is an agreement at all. Despite a reported gag order, Arum said there is. Mayweather and his representatives, including Golden Boy Promotions, have said almost nothing, although Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya was quoted in Spanish-speaking media a few weeks ago that a deal was close.

De La Hoya told Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer that he had been misquoted, but nobody has denied that there have been talks. It is safe to say that the talk included more than juts gardening tips. Still, there has been only speculation about all those devils in the details. The purse? Pick a percentage: Fifty-fifty or 55 percent for Mayweather and 45 for Pacquiao. Random blood-testing? Pick a timetable: Two weeks before the welterweight bout or the night before opening bell.

Other than comments from Arum and to a lesser extent De La Hoya, there has been no real way to determine whether terms are in place for a deal that would lead to the biggest fight in years. Maybe you can blame the gag order, although has anybody ever been able to silence Mayweather, uncle-trainer Roger Mayweather and dad Floyd, Sr.? They talk as often as they exhale. Yet, they’ve said nothing.

Then, there is a defamation lawsuit, alleging that Mayweather, his uncle, father, Mayweather Promotions, De La Hoya and Schaefer slandered Pacquiao. The suit charges that Pacquiao, who balked at Mayweather’s demands for random blood-testing late last year, was smeared by comments that made him look like he was guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs despite his clean record in tests conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

There has been no news that the lawsuit has been dropped. As long as the lawsuit is still there, it’s hard to imagine that negotiations can move forward. Maybe, a yes from Mayweather would take the lawsuit and legal expenses off the table. That would be a surprise. Santa Claus in July would be too. But I suspect that Santa is not anybody’s clock.

Instead, Arum is talking and acting as if he doesn’t expect an answer, which presumably will be interpreted as a no. For a couple of weeks, he has said that Mayweather might not want to fight again in 2010 in part because Roger Mayweather faces a trial in August on an assault charge..

Then, Arum traveled to Puerto Rico where he spoke to Miguel Cotto about a rematch with Pacquiao in the wake of Nevada’s tabling last week of Margarito’s attempt to regain a U.S. license since his revocation in California a year-and-a-half ago for altered hand wraps.

A day in May has been designated as the next possibility for Mayweather-Pacquiao. But the next couple of weeks loom as sudden death if Mayweather starts talking not long after he lets the deadline pass without a word. There’s no telling what Mayweather might say. But accusations are possible, even likely, in another chapter of a feud without end or an opening bell against Pacquiao.

NOTES, QUOTES
· Arum says he has an offer for Pacquiao to fight Margarito in Monterrey, Mexico, where Margarito faces no licensing problems. But if Pacquiao-Mayweather is a real possibility in May, a fight for Pacquiao, Arum’s major star, against a popular Mexican in Mexico sounds like a crazy gamble. Talk about Pacquiao in Monterrey is a good way to negotiate, but a bad move. A Pacquiao rematch with Cotto in Dallas or Las Vegas makes a lot more sense.

· Timothy Bradley, who has assumed the title of the fighter most avoided by the game’s biggest stars, tries to get in line for a shot at either Pacquiao or Mayweather Saturday night in his 147-pound debut against Carlos Abregu in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on HBO.

· And Detail magazine’s fascinating Q-and-A with Mike Tyson includes a quote that raises one question: Where were the regulators? In talking about his disqualification on the infamous night in 1997 when he bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield ear at Las Vegas MGM Grand, Tyson says: “I wasn’t thinking. I wasn’t training for that fight. I was on (expletive) drugs, thinking I was a god.” Forget about random or blood. How about a test of any kind?

A reported agreement on terms for Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. should be reason for optimism. Maybe, the biggest fight in years will finally happen. But skepticism is the only reasonable reaction. We’ve been here before, haven’t we? We’re back at the scene of an old accident, waiting on Mayweather all over again. I’d prefer to wait on a root canal.

Mayweather is as unpredictable as he is elusive. Annoying, too, but give him this: He says – ad nauseam –that he is the face of boxing, that everything happens because of him. Few can argue with him on that one right now. In resurrected talks of negotiations that blew apart more than six months ago, Mayweather has the last say, yea or nay.

“It’s up to him,’’ Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum told Yahoo Wednesday.

Safe to say, Arum won’t leave it up to Mayweather for long. He’ll give it a couple of weeks. The Top Rank promoter says he will wait until mid-July for an answer from Mayweather. No reply presumably means Arum will turn to Plan B or C, Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto for a Pacquiao bout scheduled for Nov. 13.

But nobody knows how — or even if — Mayweather will respond. Mayweather’s representatives, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Leonard Ellerbe, have honored an initial agreement not to comment. If Mayweather-Pacquiao is going to happen in November, however, it’s time to take off the gag.

Mayweather must enjoy the power of being granted the last word. But it is double-edged with potential enough to destroy Mayweather’s attempts to spin himself into a less profane, more media-friendly personality before and after his brilliant victory over Shane Mosley in May.

In renewed talks however, it looks as if there is a reversal of roles. There was no deal six months ago because of a sudden, deal-breaking demand from Mayweather for random, Olympic-style drug-testing. Pacquiao said no, a refusal that then aroused speculation about whether he was in fact a user of banned substances despite a clean record of tests sanctioned by regulatory agencies, including the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

According to Arum, the drug issue has been resolved. Arum didn’t provide any specifics, but the assumption is that Pacquiao has agreed to some sort of random blood-testing under protocol set down by the Nevada commission, which appeared to consider possible methods and timetables during discussions last month with sports-medicine experts, physicians and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

If Pacquiao has agreed to drug testing, Mayweather has lost the high ground he had occupied amid repeated boasts that he was only try to clean up boxing. Drug testing is no longer the issue. But that doesn’t mean that Mayweather won’t find another one.

If he does, Mayweather will have to face renewed accusations that he just doesn’t want to fight Pacquiao.

Arum is right:

It is up to Mayweather.

Is it ever.

From this corner, it looks as if Mayweather’s only wiggle room is a delay until next year. In interviews with Yahoo and Filipino media, Arum seemed to prepare himself for Pacquiao-Mayweather at a later date.

He has to look only at Mayweather’’s recent record. The unbeaten welterweight has fought only four times over the last four years – twice in 2007 with victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, not once in 2008, once in 2009 with a lopsided decision over Juan Manuel Marquez and once this year against Mosley.

Even if Mayweather’s career is down to only one a fight year, it appears as if there is only one fight for him. It looks as if he can’t say no to Pacquiao. Then again, Mayweather has already shown that he can say just about everything and sometimes nothing at all. It’s impossible to know what he will do. The only thing anybody knows for certain is that he will make you wait.

The silence isn’t exactly deafening. But it is encouraging. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer isn’t saying anything at all. Bob Arum is commenting only on location- location- location, which was one piece of real estate agreeable to all before negotiations for Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. got messy enough to demand that everybody go straight to drug testing.

It even looks as if Mayweather has sidestepped questions about Pacquiao by saying he has retired all over again. Yeah, right. Believe that one and you’ll believe British Petroleum’s early assertions that spewing oil from the Gulf of Mexico’s sea floor was as easy to fix as a leaky toilet.

After a noisy and abrupt end to talks late last year, the absence of chest-thumping, defiant headlines is as good a place to resume as any. The mystery is whether there been any substantive talk at all about a proposed fight on Nov. 13 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand or Thomas & Mack Center.

The guess here: Not much.

But the beginning, a, potential foundation, of a deal looks to be in the works where it should have been all along:

The Nevada State Athletic Commission.

On Wednesday, the Commission heard from U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart, former chief U.S. Olympic Committee medical officer Dr. Robert Voy, commission physician Dr. David Watson and others about random blood testing, the deal breaking issue in December.

Then, the Commission got about as much respect as a tar ball when Mayweather suddenly demanded Olympic-style testing and Pacquiao balked. Despite the Nevada’s agency’s regulatory duties, it didn’t appear to have much of a role months later in the USADA-supervised blood-testing before Mayweather’s victory over Shane Mosley on May 1. Mayweather and Mosley were represented by the same entity, Golden Boy, instead of feuding promotional concerns.

There was progress in Mosley-Mayweather, perhaps, because the random testing went on with few complaints from either fighter. But it will never work in negotiations between Top Rank-promoted Pacquiao and representatives for Mayweather without a supervisory agency that so far only conducts urine testing.

It will be very hard – make that impossible — to put together a deal without a buffer between USADA and Mayweather, whose demand initiated talk ,if not momentum, for Olympic style testing in boxing. If Mayweather can take himself – retire his mouth – from the process long enough for he Nevada Commission to make some kind of accommodation with USADA, then there’s chance.

Some of what was said Wednesday was intriguing. In boxing circles, random blood testing for a variety of drugs is often described in terms that make it sound unbeatable. Voy pointed out that it is not.

Testing for human growth hormone (HGH), he said, is unreliable and impractical. For anybody who has spent times at the Olympics, those are two words often used at pool side during the swimming or at the track between heats.

Instead of guarantees, there are only suspicions.

But a framework for blood-testing sanctioned by the Nevada Commission could create a springboard for negotiations between Arum and Schaefer, Pacquiao and Mayweather. The meeting Wednesday was only a beginning. Between Arum and Schaefer, Pacquiao and Mayweather, there is no room for compromise over the method or the timetable or even the concept. We already know that.

However, Pacquiao has said he would be willing to undergo a blood test within two weeks of opening bell, or within the reported window when HGH can still be detected.

Pacquiao has shown signs that he willing to compromise. But he also has shown that he will just say no to demands from Mayweather or Schaefer or Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe.

For now, he must like what he is hearing.

Or not hearing.

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

Campaign promises in politics are like noses in boxing. They are there to be broken. But Filipino Congressman-elect Manny Pacquiao has one promise he can’t break:

He has to fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

If the Mayweather promise wasn’t exactly stated in Pacquiao’s successful run for the seat representing the Sarangani province, it was there, everywhere. Few would have paid as much attention otherwise. Just ask Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, who a few days ago returned from the Philippines so upbeat that it was as if his flight through time zones included a stop at The Thrilla In Manila.

“It’s amazing how many people came up to me as I was leaving the Philippines and asked me: When is the Mayweather fight going to happen?’’ Arum said Wednesday in a conference call with a few media members. “That’s the fight people want to see. That’s the fight that I’m going to do my darndest to make happen.

’’ This corner, like several others, has been skeptical about chances that Arum or anybody else has at putting together a rare fight that can captivate worldwide attention. Yet, that rare potential is still there, despite the buzz-kill that came with the noisy, then dreary negotiations that fell apart just five months ago. It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly re-invigorated interest. Maybe, the interest was always there anyway.

Whatever it was, Arum re-discovered in his trip to the Philippines that the appetite for Mayweather-Pacquiao is as keen as ever. If there were any misgivings still with him in the wake of the feud, that baggage wasn’t with him upon his return. In part, I suspect, that’s because it’s so easy to get caught up in the phenomenon that is Pacquiao, whose ability to surprise is seemingly endless.

The word after his one-sided decision over Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Dallas was that he couldn’t win in a return to the political ring against a wealthy, well-entrenched rival. Even Filipino writers who chronicle his every move, made it sound as if Pacquiao’s chances at defeating Roy Chiongbian were about as good as Clottey winning a rematch.

Like coming back from a loss to Erik Morales in their first fight, however, Pacquiao learned from defeat, adjusted and added a right to the left for an uninterrupted run of 12 successive victories since 2005. There are no lasting losses for Pacquiao. There are only lessons. If the 31-year-old Filipino can adjust, so can the 78-year-old Arum.

This time, Arum promises not to negotiate in the media, which late last year was like a flame to a fuse. It blew up egos that are never far from exploding.

“Once you start negotiating through the media, it becomes ego driven,’’ said Arum, who is talking about Nov. 13 or Nov. 6 at either Las Vegas’ MGM Grand or Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas metroplex. “People can’t wait to give a statement to the press. The flames just shoot up and there is no real opportunity for rational behavior to take over. Everyone is so interested is setting forth his position to the media that it becomes the contest. That involves me as well as everybody else.’’

Arum’s acknowledgement of his role in the blowup represents a promising sign. But it’s reasonable to remain skeptical about whether he can rein in his quick temper, which has been great for the media but often a deal breaker in negotiations, especially involving a fighter, Mayweather, he doesn’t like.

For Arum , a good starting point – a symbol of good will – would be to drop a lawsuit filed against Mayweather, Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya and others. It charges that Pacquiao, who has never failed a sanctioned drug test, was defamed in what was said and written in the debate over Mayweather’s demands for random testing. If the public didn’t suspect Pacquiao as a user of performance-enhancers before, it does now. That, at least, is the allegation.

Arum said Wednesday that “the lawsuit is still being actively pursued.” However, he also said: “All these issues are on the table and they will be negotiated and nothing cannot be discussed.

’’ OK, can we talk about taking that lawsuit off the table?

It’s a beginning, a tentative step in trying to find out whether Mayweather is really interested. He says is. Then again, he says a lot of things. It’s also reasonable to be wary of Mayweather, a man of many motives, moods and roles. A kinder, gentler and better Mayweather showed up in the pre-fight build-up to his brilliant victory on May 1 over Shane Mosley.

At news conferences during the two weeks before opening bell, he dropped the profanity. It was hard to tell whether he was playing his own brand of politics in Las Vegas while Pacquiao was running a political campaign on the other side of the world. But a likable Mayweather, before, during and after the fight, emerged. That, too, looms as a promising sign for a deal.

Still, the imminent renewal of talks could all be for naught if the impasse over random, Olympic-style drug testing remains unresolved. It’s hard to see how Mayweather, who underwent eight tests before his decision over Mosley, can compromise on that one. He has said he won’t. If he does, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which supervised the testing for Mayweather-Mosley, will surely criticize him.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Pacquiao, who has said blood-testing weakens him, might be willing to soften his stand of no testing within a couple of weeks of opening ball.

Without some sign of compromise from either or both camps, forget it. There’s no reason to even begin talking.

If the drug-testing issue is resolved, another one looms over the money. Before a proposed March 13 fight, they had agreed to a 50-50 split. But the equation has changed. Mayweather ‘s pay-per-view numbers are harder to debate now than they were before he beat Mosley. His victory over Mosley generated 1.4 million customers, or twice that of the 700,000 who bought the HBO telecast for Pacquiao’s victory over Clottey. Depending on the projection, Pacquiao and Mayweather could set the pay-per-view record, meaning their purses could be a split of $100 million.

If the agreement isn’t 50-50, the devil is in the percentages. If Mayweather demands 55 percent, the additional five percent means $55 million for him and $45 million for Pacquiao, who might need some money after spending a reported $6.5 million on his Congressional campaign. The difference amounts to 10 million reasons to fear that the fight won’t happen. For now, however, I’ll bet on the optimism.

It’s the only way to vote.

The first seeds were planted for a potential mega showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather as Dan Rafael of espn.com reported that Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is looking at a November 13th date for the newly elected congressman from the Philippines.

“Manny is definitely going to fight in November,” Arum said during a teleconference in which he addressed a handful of media members upon his return from the Philippines, where he had spent the past week supporting Pacquiao in the final days on the campaign trail and also talking a little business.

“The fight we want to do is the Mayweather fight,” Arum said. “There is no question that is the fight the public wants. I’m very optimistic once we start we will conclude this time [but] you never know.”

“My belief, based on my conversations with him, is that he will engage in probably three more fights,” said Arum, noting that if the Mayweather fight can’t be made Plan B is to match Pacquiao with former welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito.

“It’s amazing how many people came up to me as I was leaving the Philippines and asked me when is the Mayweather fight going to happen,” Arum said. “That’s the fight people want to see. That’s the fight and I will do my darnedest to make it happen.”

“The people are requesting that I fight Mayweather before I retire,” Pacquiao told The Associated Press. “If I ever fight again, I think I will give in to the request of the people.”

“People don’t realize that this victory over the candidate that he beat was a tremendous upset that nobody expected him to pull off,” Arum said. “The Chiongbian family holds all of the major businesses in his province. Every major elected official in the province, congressman, mayor, are related to the family or are associates of the family. Manny was running against the elder son in the family and they hadn’t been defeated. Manny Pacquiao is a fighter and with his grit and determination was not only able to win, but win by a landslide. … To me it is incredible.”

“I don’t want to discuss the issues involved in making the fight because we will be involved in negotiations. Our goal is to make that fight happen,” said Arum, who would not discuss Pacquiao’s stance on the drug testing. “We’re not going to negotiate in the press. If we do, given the egos of both camps, it will never happen.”

“Right now the lawsuit is still in play. The lawsuit is still being actively pursued,” Arum said. “All these issues are on the table and they’ll be negotiated. I assume in the negotiation the issue of the pending lawsuit will be discussed.

“Once you start negotiating through the media it becomes an ego contest. Then each side can’t wait to give its statement to the press and the flames just shoot up and there is no real opportunity for rational behavior to take over. Everybody is so interested in setting forth his position to the media that that becomes the contest, and that involved me as well as everybody else [last time].”

“Negotiations are negotiations and a lot of nice things happen if people negotiate in good faith and people want something to happen and negotiate without going through the media,” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”

“Is it the fight everyone would like to see? Yeah, it is,” Schaefer said. “But everyone would like to see as well LeBron James against Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals, or [Roger] Federer against [Rafael] Nadal in the Wimbledon final, or now that World Cup soccer is coming up, the Brazilians against the Italians in the World Cup soccer final.

“Does it always happen? No, it doesn’t. But I don’t think the success of one event is really the beginning or the end of a sport.”

“Jerry [Jones] is certainly interested and so is the MGM,” Arum said. “It will be, if the fight happens, and I hope it will, in mid-November. It would be in one of those two places.”

“I’m not married to Dallas,” he said. “I love Jerry Jones. He’s a terrific guy but I am going to advocate putting any fight of Manny’s where it will do the best and make the most sense and that is not necessarily Dallas.”

“Obviously, there is a plan and we haven’t started negotiations yet,” Arum said. “There is a plan. I don’t want to go into what’s happening but there are things happening on the ground.”

“I have my marching orders and it will be sooner rather than later,” Arum said.

“There will be a [congressional] session during the month of July and then they are off for a few months,” Arum said. “When he is training he runs in the morning, then sleeps, then trains in the gym and then eats dinner and then he has all his free time. He sings, he’s around with his people. A lot of that free time will be devoted to his political responsibilities. He’ll have plenty of time to do his politics while he is in training and out of training.”

“The one activity I know it will affect is his time playing billiards,” Arum said jokingly. “He will have to slow down on that.”

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The May 1st mega bout between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley drew an estimated 1.4 million Pay Per View buys making it the second largest grossing non-heavyweight bout of all-time.

The buy total ties the fight with the 1999 welterweight unification showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. However, Mayweather-Mosley generated more money because pay-per-view costs more. Trinidad-De La Hoya grossed $70.6 million.

Mayweather’s 2007 decision win for the junior middleweight title against the now-retired De La Hoya, the reigning pay-per-view king in terms of total dollars, set the all-time pay-per-view record with 2.446 million buys and nearly $137 million in revenue.

Last Saturday, two fighters presumed to be among the top three welterweights in the world squared off before millions of viewers on pay-per-view. Of course, Floyd Mayweather Jr. completely outboxed an older version of former pound-for-pound kingpin Shane Mosley in a fight that left many at home wanting. This Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Paul Williams will again be auditioning for an opportunity against one of the top two welterweights as he takes on Kermit Cintron. Their fight will be televised live by HBO and be paired coincidentally with the rebroadcast of the Mayweather-Mosley fight.

Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia will not be fighting at the 147-pound welterweight limit Saturday, but instead in the junior middleweight division. But if you ask Williams if he can still make 147, it won’t be the first time he has heard the query. “I’ve been asked the same questions so many times about fighting in different weight classes that my answers are almost like turning on a recorder and pressing play, but only with my mouth moving,” said Williams Wednesday at a press conference. “But, make no mistake; I don’t mind getting the attention and all the questions. I am confident and comfortable fighting in different weight classes and I will continue to do so for as long as I can and it is feasible.”

Williams has not made 147-pounds since avenging his sole defeat in June of 2008, a first-round stoppage over Carlos Quintana to reclaim the WBO title. In his four fights since, Williams has bested Verno Phillips to claim an interim 154-pound title and fought at middleweight in the three others. The idea of fighting in different weight classes in order to chase the big fights came from the Williams brain trust.

“Originally we came to the understanding that at the welterweight division, which is his natural division, it was becoming harder and harder to find takers for him out there, mainly because of the size discrepancy,” said Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen, referring to himself, Williams advisor Al Haymon and trainer George Peterson.

“But it is not Paul’s fault that he is 6’2” with a longer reach than the Klitschkos. We all came to the solution that the best way to keep his career progressing was by fighting in different weight divisions. But what has never left us was to crack that superstardom. And the way to do it is to make the superfight. The fight we would like to make, with a win Saturday night, is the [Manny] Pacquiao, is the Mayweather [fight]. The [other] top welterweights have gone by the wayside, the Cottos and the Margaritos. So there are three welterweights out there in my opinion that are the top guys today and they should all be mentioned in the same breath, and that is Pacquiao, Mayweather and Williams.”

Maybe it is because the boxing pundits did not understand their plan, but rarely do you hear Paul Williams name pop up as a potential opponent for either Mayweather or Pacquiao. Case in point, at the end of last Saturday’s pay-per-view broadcast. When HBO commentator Jim Lampley asked the rest of the broadcast team who they would like to see in with Mayweather, should the blockbuster with Pacquiao not come to fruition, neither could come up with a definitive reply. Especially considering the fact that Williams would be appearing on their network just seven days later, one would think Williams would be the name that came to their mind. However, this oversight is nothing new in the world Paul Williams lives.

“Every time a fight is mentioned, nobody even mentions my name,” says Williams frustratingly. “They know I am a threat, but most of them don’t want to put me in that category with them guys. So they mention me like real easy and don’t say too much. I’ll let Mr. Peterson, Al and Dan deal with it.”

If those who overlook Williams as a threat to the welterweight elite due so because they doubt his ability to still make 147-pounds, Williams’ trainer George Peterson has their answer. “[The critics] make decisions for people, when they should let the fighters make their own decision,” says Peterson. “Paul is saying, ‘Give me a 147-pounder, and let me show you I can make the 147-pound [weight limit]. And if you are that much in doubt, watch me eat breakfast before the weigh-in.’”

While Goossen mentions both Pacquiao and Mayweather as the fighters that he targets for Williams, it seems farfetched to think that the “Pacman’s” promoter Bob Arum would let his moneymaker in the same building as the 6’2” man known as the “Punisher.” Reportedly Pacquiao’s handlers rejected a fight with 5’11 junior middleweight Yuri Foreman based mainly on his height.

If Pacquiao is out of the question, Mayweather would seem the logical target for Team Williams, which makes Saturday’s fight of the utmost importance. With the Williams-Cintron bout being aired alongside the replay of last Saturday’s fight, everyone will be drawing their comparisons between the two. Many fighters in Williams’ position would feel the pressure of competing against a high-caliber fighter such as Kermit Cintron, knowing many watching will be measuring his performance against Mayweather’s. Williams however is not most fighters. “My main thing is to keep winning and the doors will open up.”

Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Las Vegas, NV- Seasoned welterweight veteran Ishe Smith(21-4 9ko’s) who was invited into pound for pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather’s training camp as a sparring partner is now aiming to make his own return to the ring.

Smith who was recently followed by whispers of a match up with Kassim Ouma, has no fight signed as of now, but would like to make it clear that he is aiming to take on the man that gave him the first loss of his career over five years ago, Sergio Mora(22-1).

“ Coming off the opportunity to spar in the Mayweather camp I learned a lot, and am primed for a major fight. The first time we fought it was a split decision in a five round fight. I’ve been calling for the rematch since then and he has never shown any interest” Smith said regarding Mora.

Smith, who came up short in his last outing against rising star Danny Jacobs(19-0), made a statement in 2008 by handing prospect Pawel Wolak (26-1) the first loss of his professional career. While Mora previously held the WBC junior middleweight title, his last outing was at 160 pounds, a weight Smith has said he has no problem with.

“There is no reason not to fight. People only got to see the edited version of the last fight and didn’t see how bad I hurt him in the last 30 seconds”

Smith and Mora first squared off in the semi finals of the inaugural season of NBC’s The Contender. Mora edged out a split decision, in a five round bout. Although Smith had experience going ten rounds, and Mora eight at the time of the fight, the five round format was a part of the tournament that served as a disadvantage to the more experienced contestants.

Sergio Mora is listed to appear on the recently announced Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz card July 31 at Mandalay Bay, although no opponent has been announced.

Smith has stated that he is open to bouts at either junior middleweight or middleweight.

Ishe Smith turned professional in 2000, and has captured NABO, WBC Continental, and USBA welterweight titles. Becoming a household name by participating in NBC’s The Contender in 2005, Smith has since appeared on national television numerous times.

Along with holding several marquee victories Smith has also shared the ring with Floyd Mayweather, Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley, and Oscar De La Hoya as a sparring partner. Smith is based out of boxing’s capital city of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Floyd Mayweather meets the media following his impressive unanimous decision victory over Shane Mosley

Watch Floyd Mayweather Post Fight Press Conference in Sports  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

On Jan. 31, I wrote, “If he makes this fight with Mosley at the welterweight limit and beats him, however he does it, I’ll give Mayweather nothing but praise.. . . If Mayweather makes May 1 dull, in other words, he’ll deserve our admiration.” I stand by that.

Mayweather made May 1 dull. No one thought a dull fight could be made with Shane Mosley at welterweight; Mosley was too big, too quick, too experienced, too crafty, too physical, too powerful. Turned out, he was none of these things for Floyd Mayweather.

Mayweather just won the most important fight of his career in surprising fashion, but another surprise awaits. Call it the apogee of the Mayweather mood.

Can’t happen. Not after Mayweather took the greatest challenge of his career, on paper, and won it by unanimous scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 119-109. Guys like that experience no apogees! We’ll see.

I had the fight even after round 4. A half hour later, like everyone else not being paid to score the fight, I wondered why I’d bothered.

Whatever you opine of Mayweather’s everyday character, you now must recognize his character in the ring. Saturday night Mayweather was hurt by the best finisher in the welterweight division, and he fought back when flight was still an option. He put his hands up and walked forward, punching. Mayweather was tested, and he passed.

Make no mistake, Mayweather was hurt. He was rocked in the second round, twice. The first time was a right cross on the chin that bent Mayweather dramatically backwards. He grabbed desperate hold of Mosley’s right arm. Gone were the good balance and low lead hand. Mayweather used both arms to pin Mosley’s right glove to his chest. He didn’t let go when referee Kenny Bayless politely asked him to. He barely let go after Bayless and Mosley worked in tandem to wrestle it away from him.

A minute later, Mayweather threw a lead left hook – the one punch he wasn’t quick enough to land on Mosley – and Mosley threw a right hand over it. The punch struck just above Mayweather’s ear; a balance shot. Mayweather’s left knee buckled.

A few rows back of the canvas, Oscar De La Hoya, ostensibly the event’s levelheaded promoter, leaped to his feet. An enormous grin – unusually sincere – rushed over his face. He began to shout for Mosley. Nobody in all of MGM Grand, nay Las Vegas, wanted Mosley to stretch Mayweather more than De La Hoya. In that instant, wonderfully enough, De La Hoya’s inner fighter overwhelmed his inner businessman.

Mayweather did enough clinching, elbowing and punching to survive the round. Then he walked to his corner – where Handpad Jockey and Towel Boy merely cried “box!” at him – and rested. Mayweather’s conditioning refilled his legs, and his confidence came shortly behind.

He climbed off his stool, took Mosley’s good fortunate at having hurt him and turned it against the game, if aged, champion. Mayweather showed openings enough to make Mosley flex his fast-twitch muscles, then he closed them right before Mosley’s startled eyes. Then he did it again.

Through round 3, though, things went as Mosley’s trainer Brother Naazim Richardson said they would. Mosley put it on Mayweather, and Mayweather turned into a fighter. Then Mosley tried to box, and well, ah, at least Richardson had the first three rounds right, no?

Confident he could hurt Mayweather with the right punch, Mosley stopped trying to throw anything but the right punch. For the next nine frustrating rounds, Mosley looked and looked. Mayweather was stronger, sharper, quicker and far, far more confident. Between rounds, Mosley nodded along with Richardson in the corner, even audibly promising to do better, but it was little use. Mosley was under 30 punches per round, and nobody will ever beat Mayweather that way.

Other things might have happened in rounds 6 through 12. But if you remember only a blur of silence, potshots and Mayweather’s left elbow, you’re forgiven.

That brings us to the fight “everyone wants to see” between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Spoiler alert: If you’re a company recently contacted by Golden Boy Promotions about a potential sponsorship deal for Mayweather’s next fight, please stop here.

We all admire the hell out of Pacquiao, and his record of 5-1-1 (3 KOs) against Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez likely ensures his legacy as the era’s greatest fighter. But setting aside all paeans to styles making fights, it’s hard to imagine a way for Pacquiao to beat a 147-pound man too quick for Marquez and too physical for Mosley.

Calm down. Once the pay-per-view receipts are counted for Saturday’s fight, anyway, Pacquiao-Mayweather will come to the end of its trip from improbable to impossible. So, we’ll never know. And trust me, Pacquiao fans; it’s better that way.

Which returns us to the apogee of the Mayweather mood. Mayweather’s achievements are nearer his self-assessments, today, than ever before. No, he’s not Muhammad Ali or, God help us, Sugar Ray Robinson. But he’s now done enough to be entitled to delusions. That means the acceleration of his rhetoric can no longer outpace his achievements. He’s antagonized his critics more than he ever will again.

And that’s a marketing problem. Mayweather’s fans enjoy antagonizing others more than they enjoy their guy’s fights – which they never understand. Neither Mayweather nor his fans want capitulation; they want someone to hector.

Denied a way to antagonize critics further, Mayweather is left with what he does in the ring. Aficionados are only going to pay $54 again to see Mayweather genuinely imperiled, and you’d probably need to look to the winner of the “Super Six” for a guy that could do that.

So finally, Floyd Mayweather proved his doubters wrong. And irony says it could be the very day we all started to lose interest.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

Sunday Sizzler Replay! Mayweather Mosley Recap Special! Marc Abrams Live on Air with Mayweather Mosley ringside report! Renowned trainer Anthony Hamm LIVE on air!! – Weekend Fight recaps and upcoming fight previews and Billy from Philly! 15rounds.com’s Johnny Schulz presents: Talking BOXING with JSizzle and New York Dan NYD – A weekly Sunday boxing show covering Boxing from all angles. Alongside and boxing aficionado Danny “NYD” Stasiukiewicz,

LAS VEGAS – Who R U Picking?

Dumb question.

Turns out, Shane Mosley picked the wrong guy. He picked Floyd Mayweather Jr. as an opponent. But it’s hard to beat a legend, which is what Mayweather became Saturday night at the MGM Grand with a unanimous decision that backed up years of bragging about how he deserves a share of the fame that belongs to the greats who fought before him.

Mayweather, 41-0, 25 KOs) survived a dangerous second round and went on to dismantle Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs) in a fashion that was thorough as it was surprising. Mayweather didn’t knock out anybody but his critics. But his one-sided victory said it all, over and over again. Other than perhaps Manny Pacquiao, there is nobody better than Mayweather.

“If he wants to fight,’’ he knows where to find me,’’ Mayweather said of a showdown that didn’t happen in March because Pacquiao would not agree to Olympics-style drug testing.
Mayweather said again that he would fight Pacquiao only if he agrees to random drug testing. It looks as if a resumption of resumption of the controversial talks with Pacquiao will be Mayweather’s next fight. For now, there is only his latest addition to his claim that he has to be considered the best in today’s pound-for-pound world. It’s safe to say he will gte no argument from Mosley, who lost by 119-109, 119-109 and 118-100 on the scorecards.
“I did what the fans came here to see, a toe-to-toe’’ Mayweather said. “That’s not my style. But I wanted to do it.’’
In expectation of Mayweather’s promise, the building buzzed for about 30 minutes before Mosley and Mayweather left their dressing rooms and made that ritual walk, down the aisle, up the steps and through the ropes. Muhammad Ali was there. Sugar Ray Leonard was there. Mike Tyson was there. Thomas Hearns was there. Anticipation was everywhere.

Mosley was the first to enter. His robe was trimmed in a light blue that matched the turquoise shade of his eyes. On the back, there was the image of warrior mask sewn into the silk.

Then, there was Mayweather, choreographed like a concert and overdone like a circus. First, there were the OJs, singing an old-school version of rhythm-and-blues with the emphasis on Money, Mayweather’s nickname. Then, there were clowns and dancing girl on stilts tossing bills of what had to be – what else? Money. Finally, there was Mayweather, who didn’t look as if he was embarrassed by any of it.

Mayweather’s showmanship was predictable. His first round wasn’t.. At the opening bell, he began moving forward, instead of waiting for for Mosley to come to him. If it wasn’t out of character, it was dangerous.

In the second round, Mayweather found out just how dangerous. Mosley landed a head-rocking right. It hurt, hurt enough for Mayweather to hold on for several seconds. Then, there was a left-right combination from Mosley. The combo’s power buckled Mayweather’s knees.

For the first time in Mayweather’s pro career he staggered and stumbled, almost as if he were about to embark on his first fall to the canvas. He didn’t. He stayed upright even on uncertain feet that moved across a padded surface that must have felt as if it were shaking from a quake in some unseen fault line.

That triumph over momentary adversity set the stage for the victory that backs up so much Mayweather’s claim on being a legend. He overcame what many though he could not. He was still stading. Everything else, or at least the next 10 rounds, would belong to him.

From round to round after the dramatic second, Mayweather employed a right hand that grew progressively more accurate against Mosley, whose jab appeared to become as progressively erratic. Stinging rights, one after another, seemed to fuse Mosley. If he had foreseen a plan, he didn’t see anything but that right whistling at him from the fifth until the twelfth.

In the end, there were no surprises. Mosley looked like an old man and Mayweather, still unmarked, looked like the legend he said he has always been.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer calls Saul Alvarez the Mexican James Dean. Schaefer is looking for stardom. He’s still looking.
Alvarez, a much-hyped welterweight from Guadalajara, won, scoring a ninth-round TKO of Puerto Rican Jose Miguel Cotto in the last fight before Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley stepped into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. But Alvarez’ performance in his Las Vegas debut was uneven, at best.

Alvarez (32-0-1, 24 KOs) went from almost getting knocked out in the first round, to nearly scoring a second-round KO, yet not finishing job until the final second of the ninth.

If not for the ropes, Alvarez would have been knocked down by a powerful left in the first from Cotto (31-2-1, 23 KOs), Miguel’s brother. Alvarez stayed on his feet and regained his wits in time to deliver a three-punch combo in the second that had Cotto stumbling across the canvas. It was scored as a knockdown. But Alvarez could not turn it into a knockout, at least not until late in the ninth when Tony Weeks stopped the fight after a succession of right hands from Alvarez.

Mexican featherweight Daniel Ponce De Leon retained the World Boxing Council’s Latino title by surviving a late rush from Cornelius Lock of Detroit for a unanimous decision in a close bout on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.- Shane Mosley undercard.

De Leon (39-2, 32 KOS) built up a lead on the scorecards with consistent aggressiveness and straight shots up the middle. Lock (19-5-1, 12 KOs) appeared to tire in the middle rounds, although he rocked De Leon with a couple of right hands in the ninth and 10th. By then, however, it was too little, too late. Scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94.

Within a couple of minutes, Las Vegas welterweight Said Ouali was down once and threw five punches. If you think that adds up to defeat, you’d be surprised. You’d also be wrong. Ouali (27-3, 19 KOS) won, getting up from the knockdown and making the most out of those five punches for a first-round stoppage of Argentina’s Hector Salvida (31-2, 24 KOS).

“He surprised me when he hit me with that first punch,’’ said Ouali, who would go on to deliver a much bigger surprise after he was floored by a sudden right hand.

Ouali quickly scored two knockdowns, first with a left hand and then with a combination. Salvida got up from the second knockdown, but then staggered into his corner where he began collapse. That’s when referee Russell Mora stepped in, stopping it at 1:47 of the first.

In the final off-tv bout, it was a battle of pro debuter’s from Las Vegas that saw Daniel Reece, 136 lbs score a unanimous decision over Angel Soto, 137 lbs. Scores were 39-37 on all cards—Marc Abrams

There’s no secret to staying unbeaten. Sometimes, there’s just a combination. Las Vegas welterweight Jessie Vargas (10-0, 5 KOs) put the right combo together in an untelevised bout before the Floyd Mayweather Jr.- Shane Mosley showdown.

Vargas threw a left hook and followed with a straight right, backing Arturo Morua (25-14-1, 14 KOs) Mexican into the ropes and leaving him dazed long enough for referee Tony Weeks to declare Vargas a winner by TKO at 1:20 of the sixth round.

North American Boxing Organization junior-lightweight champion Eloy Perez (7-0-2, 4 KOs) of Salinas, Calif., retained his title with stubborn pursuit and punishing left hands for a majority decision over lanky Gilberto Leon (25-14-1, 14 KOs) of Mexico.

In the card’s second bout, super-middleweight Dion Savage (8-0, 5 KOs) of Flint, Mich., scored a unanimous decision over Tommie Speller (5-4, 3 KOs), a Philadelphia fighter who left the ring with his white trucks and dark beard covered in blood. A Savage right hand early in the second round opened up a nasty cut above a left eye that troubled Spiller until the decision was announced after the eighth.

The card began with angry complaints echoing through the an empty building. Junior-welterweight Allen Litzau (13-5, 7 KOs) of St. Paul, Minn., wasn’t happy at second-round TKO loss to Luis Ramos Jr. (15-0, 8 KOs) of Santa Calif. Ramos knocked down Litzau early in the second with a left hand. Seconds later, Litzau, with trainer Roger Mayweather in his corner, got rocked again.

Referee Russell Mora had seen enough. He stopped it at 59 second of the rounds. Litzau howled in protest. He even hit the canvas again, this time rolling around like a kid angry at his parents. Lucky for him, nobody, other than Mora and a few ushers, saw the temper tantrum

Marc Abrams

I subscribe to the Theory that if in forty previous fight, Floyd Mayweather has given me no reason to pick against up and tomorrow night is the same story.

Floyd may be in for the toughest night of his life but somehow someway he will win this fight by pounding a tough and well earned decision that actually may turn some of his harshest critics to realize that Mayweather is a superior talent and hopefully set up a fall mega matchup with Manny Pacquiao

Bart Barry

One thing I know about picking fights is that if you do it with your
heart instead of your head you’ll live a happier life on fightnight. My
head says Mayweather. My heart says Mosley. It says here: Mosley TKO 11.

Mario Ortega Jr.

First off, this is the first Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight I have had an above moderate excitement level going into fight week since he fought Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. This is also the first time since he fought the rematch against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002 that I can really envision a scenario in which he could lose. Shane Mosley is one of the best fighters of recent times, but Mayweather is the best fighter of recent times. I was in the minority of writers for this site that voted him the fighter of the past decade over Manny Pacquiao and I see him taking the decision over Mosley on Saturday.

Anson Wainwright

I believe this is a tougher fight for Mayweather than a fight with Pacquiao. Mosley will most likely be the fastest guy Mayweather has fought and visa versa. I think early Mosley may pose several problems for Mayweather round by round Mayweather will figure things out and win a close but deserved points decision.

Joon Lee
Mayweather on points.
Stylistically, this would’ve been a much more intriguing duel had it taken place when it was first proposed back in ‘99. Shane’s blend of speed, power, and naturally superior strength might have prevailed then, but with his inevitable decline in those departments with an exception of strength, I have to favor the younger, faster, and better defensive boxer in Mayweather. Mayweather doesn’t throw punches nearly as much as in the past, nor is he as mobile as he was at lower weights, but he’s still the sharper technician and I anticipate his speed and impenetrable defense to be the factor in out-pointing Shane over twelve rounds.
Natash Aiello

Mayweather by decision

David Winston

Mayweather by unanimous decision. Floyd is still in his prime, Shane is not. PBF almost never gets hit in the head; Mosley knows this and will concentrate on the body. This will open up Mosley to Floyd’s right hand upstairs. Remember, Floyd is an extremely selective, but accurate puncher. Sugar Shane is not known for defense the way Money is. Both quality and a surprising quantity of shots will carry The Money Man to a clear victory.

Matt Yanofsky

Mosley by knockout: I have a crazy feeling about this one much like I did with Baldomir-Judah. This will be Floyd’s first test against a real welterweight that appears to have a good amount left in the tank. Mosley also has Nazim Richardson, the best trainer at depicting styles not named Freddie Roach, in his corner. The always prepared Richardson helped Bernard Hopkins demolish previously unbeaten fighters in Felix Trinidad and Kelly Pavlik, while giving the great Joe Calzaghe the toughest fight of his career. I expect him to provide the same guidance to Mosley, who will break through Mayweather’s shoulder roll defense with straight right hands en route to a stoppage that will go down as one of the most unforgettable moments in boxing history.

Rick McKenzie

I feel as if I’m having a deja vu..last time I said “this is the fight Floyd will lose” was against Hatton, and PBF KO’d him. Blueprint is there, pressure fighter with skill, speed , and power. Sugar should win right? Wrong! PBF is the top 3 defensive fighters of all time IMO…I got Mayweather winning UD. I’ll even give him 7 rounds.

Brett Mauren

I’ll take Mayweather via UD in the fight of his life.

Dominick Panfile

This fight will not be a matter of whether Sugar Shane will figure out a way to win. It’s simpler than that. Mayweather does not know how to lose, and the fight Saturday night will be no exception to the rule. Shane will keep it close early getting in some good shots during exchanges, but as the fight progresses and Floyd slows him down, Mosley will increasingly end up on the shorter end of the exchanges. Shane can be a solid defensive fighter as well, so I’ll give him some credit for that and predict that Mayweather wins a Unanimous Decision. A tenth round stoppage would not surprise me either. Either way, there is no path to victory for Sugar Shane Mosley.

Joseph Davey

There are two fighters in boxing I never pick against: Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio. If a fight ever does take place between the two, I’ll make my choice then. Until that moment, I’m staying the course and going with Mayweather by unanimous decision. I think by the fourth round he’ll have timed Mosley well enough to start taking command of the fight en-route to a fairly wide points victory.

Adam Berlin

When Mosley, with the help of Nazeem Richardson’s insightful eyes, figures out how to get inside Mayweather’s pocket, he’ll strafe Money with brutal shots. And when Mayweather goes back to his corner, he’ll realize how alone he is. Punch-drunk Roger will provide no answers. As this fight progresses Mosley will take Mayweather’s mind and shut down Floyd Jr.’s mouth. It may be wishful thinking, but I see Sugar Shane beating Pretty Boy Floyd inside the distance.

Alejandro Echevarria

For a few years now I’ve thought Mosley to have the biggest chance of beating Mayweather. His combination of speed, power and experience might just be enough to solve Floyd’s defensive enigma. I expect to see Sugar tagging Money’s body with both hands when the latter goes into his shoulder roll defensive posture but not sticking long enough to get countered that often. Mosley is also wise enough (especially with Nazeem Richardson in his corner) to be able to tell when a round is going his way so as to force Mayweather to come forward and fight.

Floyd Mayweather is closer to his peak in physical condition than Shane is. At 38, Mosley may age overnight and get outhustled all might long. If the Pretty Boy were to press the action and throw over fifty punches a round there would be little Mosley could do as he usually gets beaten to the punch when his opponent doesn’t let him get into rhythm.

I’m going against the odds in this one and I’m picking Mosley to pull off the upset. Most of my brain suggests otherwise but Mayweather may finally hit a bump in the road when he gets in the ring with an elite welterweight.

Johnny Schulz

Floyd Mayweather will be all money Saturday night. His natural skill and amazing slick defensive will prevail here as he will win a unanimous decision over Sugar Shane Mosley. I say he will win at least 9 out of the 12 rounds. Nonetheless this proves to be a very exciting bout, and great for boxing fans, new and old! The sport needs more of these types of match ups.

Claudia Bocanegra

Out of the list of men that Mayweather has beat under his belt, Mosley may well be one of those challenges that will shine on your resume. But even with that, I still think that Mayweather’s speed and defensive skill overpowers Shane. Money May UD.

Dan Stasiukiewicz

I predict a close decision in favor of the younger, slicker Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather will use his elusive defensive techniques to fend off the agressive Mosely. In the early rounds Mosely’s pressure will win him a few of the early rounds but the age and mileage on Mosely’s body will become apparent in the later rounds. Neither fighter will be seriously hurt and I do not see a knockdown for either fighter as well. Also look for Mosely to make this fight interesting early by pressuring Mayweather and taking him out of his element but look for that attack to wane in the later rounds. The end result of 8 rounds to 4 in favor of Mosely.

On September 19th Floyd Mayweather’s successful return to the ring was interrupted by a welterweight champion who commanded the respect of the boxing world by demanding Mayweather face him. The best move for Mayweather at the time seemed naturally to be taking on Manny Pacquiao. I don’t think I need to go into how Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fell apart, but it’s clear that if one man benefited from the debacle it was Shane Mosley. Mosley will have an opportunity to grab his largest pay day to date, and grab the boxing world’s respect by taking on the best in the sport on May 1. Here is a breakdown of what looks to be the toughest bout of both fighters’ careers.

Mayweather
40-0 (25 KO’s)
Age: 33
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Notable wins: Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Zab Judah, Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo

Shane Mosley
46-5 (39 ko’s)
Age: 38
Hometown: Pomona, California
Notable wins: Oscar De La Hoya 2x, Fernando Vargas, Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga
Notable losses: Winky Wright (twice), Vernon Forrest (twice), Miguel Cotto
Speed/Athleticism

This fight is nothing short of comparing a Ferrari to a Lamborghini. I don’t care that both fighters are well into their 30’s both men are capable of blinding combination, and both have solid reputations as gym rats. Mosley at his peak is one of the fastest fighters of my lifetime pound for pound, and he showed the world he isn’t slowing down when he dismantled Antonio Margarito in 2009.

Floyd’s hands on the pads are a sight to be seen, and at this point in his life he probably is faster than Shane, but athletically I think Mosley may have more tools. Strength and speed are a deadly combination and I think Mosley still has a world of both. It’s not often I’d give another man the edge over Mayweather in this category but I think Shane at his own weight is the guy to take it.
Advantage: Mosley by razor thin margin

Matt’s Take: Mosley-Mayweather was always a fantasy match up amongst fight fans, especially as the latter rose to the top of pound for pound lists. Shane was always one of the few men who could match him athletically. Both had lightning fast hands and were elite natural athletes. The two are arguably the most gifted fighters in the last 15 years with all due respects to Roy Jones Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. As of their last bout, both had their athleticism and speed in tact. Unfortunately for Mosley, 39, his last bout was almost a year and a half ago.

By watching HBO’s award winning 24/7 series, it is evident that Shane has aged considerably since we saw him demolish disgraced Antonio Margarito in January 09 and fighters don’t improve athletically in their late 30’s. This gives me every reason to believe that there will be SOME repercussions on fight night, especially considering who will be standing across the ring from him.

Whether you like it or not, Mayweather has shown few (if any) signs of slowing down. The snappy jab and famed shoulder roll were intact when he fought Marquez, so without serious aging issues or injuries, expect his elite athleticism to be full in effect.

Advantage: Mayweather

Power
If there is one category Shane takes the cake in its power. The fight is at 147, where Mosley has dropped some major names. A Dazzling left hook that stretched both Vargas, and Mayorga is an image that stands out when weighing Shane’s power, and that’s a weapon Floyd will have to look out for.

Mayweather is not known for his power. Despite knocking out Ricky Hatton, and putting Marquez on the canvas Mayweather probably won’t be banking on knocking Mosley out. I’m not saying he doesn’t have the ability, but with his prowess Mayweather’s best bet is aiming for a 12 round outclassing of his foe.

Advantage: Mosley

Matt’s Take: Even if my observation about Mosley’s aging is correct, anybody that knows boxing will tell you that the last thing a fighter loses is his power; just ask Michael Moorer, who was knocked out by a 45 year old George Foreman. From lightweight to junior middleweight, Sugar Shane exemplifies what “Pound for Pound” punching power.

He has the ability to finish a fight with either hand and his last two bouts ended in dramatic knockouts, putting both Ricardo Mayorga and Margarito to sleep impressively. Against Mayweather, Mosley must use his biggest advantage if he hopes to be victorious; power.

The majority of Mayweather’s offense is jabs and counter shots, giving him little opportunity to knockout a naturally bigger opponent. Mayweather’s two knockouts above 140 lbs came against blown up (perhaps literally in Ricky Hatton’s case) opponents. He was unable to hurt Carlos Baldomir, Zab Judah or Oscar De La Hoya and deep down, the six division champion knows this category isn’t one he takes the nod in.

Advantage: Mosley

Defense/Chin

Mayweather’s best weapon is his own defense. When he is in the zone he is virtually un-hittable. Mayweather’s patented shoulder roll defense has been giving opponents headaches for years and that will be Mosley’s egg to crack on May 1.

The category is defense and chin, Mosley showed the world he has a chin when he fought Miguel Cotto in 2007, but it’s hard to make up ground in this category on one of this era’s great defensive fighters. Floyd’s elusiveness could very well end up being the storyline Saturday night and with that said this category belongs to him.
Advantage: Mayweather

Matt’s Take: Mayweather’s defensive abilities rank alongside fighters such as Willie Pep and Pernell Whitaker as the greatest ever. His tremendous movement, aforementioned reflexes and shifty shoulder roll are yet to fail him. This has helped him steer clear of danger throughout his career and he has rarely been hit flush.

Mosley’s chin is amongst the best and he was only dropped twice in his 52 fight career while standing up to punchers like Fernando Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto. He is usually found standing directly in front of his opponent but tremendous ring awareness and staying on his toes help him avoid punches. Defensively, he is no Mayweather, but is adequate.

Advantage: Mayweather

Heart
If there is one thing we don’t know about Floyd its how would he react when he’s under fire. Mayweather’s defense is so remarkable he has not honestly been in a firefight and hasn’t had an opportunity to show the world his heart. Mosley on the other hand has shown a number of different sides, including brawler. His fight with Cotto should serve as a prime example of what the man is willing and able to go through.

It’s hard to fathom one fighter losing a category based on his excellence in another but that is exactly what is happening right now. Shane Mosley wins the heart category by default, because it’s an asset Floyd has never had to use.
Advantage: Mosley

Matt’s Take: Mayweather’s only true test under pressure was in his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo. Many considered his antics unsatisfactory due to his inability to deal with adversity down the stretch. Outside of a few rough rounds against Castillo, his exceptional skills have cleared him free of anything more than an in fight hand injury. He has never been completely knocked off his feet as a pro, yet to bleed and outside of being briefly buzzed by Demarcus Corley many years ago, hasn’t had to fight in danger. Mayweather deserves the world of credit for being able to avoid danger all these years, but at the same time, his heart remains a big question mark.

Mosley has never backed down in a fight. His ability to take shots and keep on coming is a major attribution to his heart. He stood directly in front of some of boxing’s best and is yet to be phased. Being able to overcome distractions from a nasty, well publicized divorce prior to dominating Margarito also earns him major kudos.

Advantage: Mosley
Experience

Both have taken part in highly publicized fights, and shared the ring with only the best over the past five years. Mosley has tasted victory and defeat, whereas Mayweather has seen only success. When a fight of this magnitude goes down, I almost feel like experience goes out the window.

When you have stared down Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and even Ricky Hatton you’ve peaked. Both Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather have fought on the biggest possible stage over the course of their careers and both have been to this dance before. Neither fighter’s experience will make a difference come May 1.

Advantage: Draw

Matt’s Take: Simply put, Mayweather and Mosley, two of boxing’s top fighters in the last 15 years, have fought some of the biggest names to get to the top. Collectively they have faced Oscar De La Hoya (three times), Winky Wright (twice), Vernon Forrest (twice), Fernando Vargas (twice), Jose Luis Castillo (twice), Miguel Cotto, Diego Corrales, Ricky Hatton, Arturo Gatti, Antonio Margarito, Zab Judah and Juan Manuel Marquez. If this were chess, it would be a stalemate.

Advantage: Draw

Verdict

Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era, and possibly of all time, but on May 1 he will face a fighter that is in that same category, and five years younger. Mayweather opponents are almost automatically labeled underdogs, but I don’t think there has been one as live as Mosley. Live as he may be, Shane is still an underdog.

If Floyd brings his A game I don’t feel like anyone in the world can beat him, and if you expect anything less than his a game for this bout you are mistaken. I see Floyd showing up in one of the toughest fights of his career and coming out on top again. Mosley will make it a war, and probably get the respect he’s sought in what may be one of his final appearances. Mayweather meanwhile will pick up a major victory and some heavy negotiating leverage for a bout with Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather UD

Matt’s Take: Mayweather has plenty of advantages. His body is fresher. He is younger. His last bout was more recent than Mosley’s. But something tells me Sugar Shane is going to pull out one for the ages. This bout has been proposed for years and a victory moves either fighter up on the all time pound for pound list. With the huge fight just days away, Mosley is humble as always, while Mayweather is cocky as ever. Physically, Mayweather has plenty of reasons to be, as he looks to be in perfect form, but there is one major x-factor Sugar Shane has that Floyd doesn’t; Nazim Richardson.
Richardson has long been boxing’s most underrated trainer, as few give him the proper credit for helping Bernard Hopkins expose previously unbeaten opponents in Felix Trinidad and Kelly Pavlik. Those that know Richardson will tell you that he is more prepared than any trainer in the world. In his lone appearance working with Mosley, he helped him upset the highly favored Antonio Margarito in what many considered the best performance of his career.

Richardson and Mosley will be the team to figure out Mayweather’s seemingly unbeatable style, and while Shane may get outboxed in the early going, he will be the first man to really catch “Pretty Boy” Floyd. Expect to see Mosley use feints followed by right hands to bust up Mayweather’s shoulder roll. Enough clean shots from Mosley are enough to end any opponent’s night, including Floyd Mayweather, who will get stopped in one of the most storied victories in boxing history.
Mosley by late stoppage

LAS VEGAS – Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns were two of the defining faces of the 1980s. Floyd Mayweather Jr. calls himself the face of boxing, better than Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali and presumably better than either Leonard or Hearns.

To Leonard and Hearns, however, that Mayweather face looks like a beaten one if it had come along during their era.

“I really think Floyd would have been too small for us,’’ Hearns said Friday at a news conference that included Leonard, his current friend and old rival. “We were big welterweights.’’

Leonard agreed and added a twist of humor when asked to say how Mayweather would have fared against Hearns.

“I don’t think anybody could have beat Tommy Hearns but me,’’ said Leonard, who scored a 14th round stoppage of Hearns in a 1981 classic and fought him to draw in a 1989 rematch.

There’s some talk that boxing would be better off if Shane Mosley upsets Mayweather Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. It would create other big bouts, including Mosley versus Manny Pacquiao. If Mayweather beats Mosley, there is doubt that he and Pacquiao will ever agree on a deal. Talks for a Pacquiao-Mayweatherfight in March fell apart over Mayweather’s demands for Olympic-style drug testing.

No matter what happens in Mosley-Mayweather, neither Hearns nor Leonard foresee a time that would approach their era, which included Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler.

“It just happened,’’ Hearns said. “It was nothing we planned. In our day, we couldn’t pick and choose. We couldn’t duck fights. We had to fight the next guy out there. And we always did. That why, that time is remembered, even now.’’

LAS VEGAS – There wasn’t much to say about the weigh-in. In fact, Floyd Mayweather Jr. said nothing at all to Sugar Shane Mosley after the two posed, face-to-face, like a couple of predators waiting for the other one to blink. Mosley said something. But Mayweather, never known for a loss of words, had no counter.

Maybe, there’s nothing left to say. Or, maybe, Mayweather has decided that his next counter will happen tonight in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

That counter is Mayweather’s most reliable punch. It might be his biggest edge, a reason he is about a 4-to-1 favorite over Mosley in a welterweight fight that has some fans thinking about legends. A couple of those were there for Friday’s ritual trip to the scale. It was impossible to ignore Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, who battled three decades ago in a welterweight classic.

It’s hard to argue with legends. Mayweather has said, ad nauseum, that he is one. At 40-0, he has numbers that add up to the possibility. But that 0 might as well be a doughnut hole. His unbeaten record, including 25 knockouts, is missing the defining fight that proves he is a worthy successor to Hearns and Leonard. The dangerous Mosley, who has his speed and perhaps more power than he has ever encountered, is the opportunity for him to claim ownership of a legacy he has talked about almost as if it is birthright. For the first time in his career, there’s nothing left to say. There’s just a lot to do.

Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) looks like the bigger fighter. On the scale Friday, he was — by one pound, 147 to Mayweather’s 146. On a tale of the tape, Mosley is also taller – by one inch, 5-foot-9 to Mayweather’s 5-8. But what we know might not matter. Marks on a tape and indentations on a scale might not measure anything of significance at opening bell. Instead, it’s the unknown that has made this crossroads in the careers for both fighters so intriguing.

Already, there have been signs of some surprising role reversals. Mosley has begun to talk more than Mayweather. It makes you wonder whether more reversals will happen in the ring. Mosley is said to have more power than Mayweather.

“I’ve always had power, even as lightweight and also in this weight class,’’ Mosley said after a weigh-in that attracted a reported crowd of 6,000 fans. “Even in this weight class I’m strong and can knock anybody out.’’

In the beginning, Mosley’s power looms as Mayweather’s biggest test. That, at least, is the conventional wisdom. In the early rounds, a jab followed by a body shot represents an early warning sign for Mayweather. How will he react, especially if the body shot lands often? If the fight is prolonged and the chess match that both say it will be, the early punches figure to be nothing more than pawns on a much bigger board.

Leonard’s 14th-round stoppage of Hearns at Caesars Palace years before the MGM Grand’s addition to the Strip’s neon-lit skyline is memorable for the ebb-and-flow of personalities and punches a conflict that saw the fighters reverse roles. Hearns began as the feared power puncher. Leonard was the boxer. Midway through the fight, however, Hearns became the boxer and Leonard the puncher.

For few days, Mayweather’s surprisingly understated demeanor has hinted that a different kind of fighter might emerge. The hint was there again after the weigh-in.

“It could end in a knockout if he comes in,’’ said Mayweather, who didn’t have to say who would knock out whom in that scenario.

He also didn’t have to say he would finally be the fighter he says he is. With a knockout, Mayweather would break out of his assigned role, which has left him typecast as a fighter primarily concerned about safety. A knockout would prove he can do something else, be something more.

Maybe, even be a legend.

Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley weigh-in for their mega showdown this Saturday on PPV

Watch Mayweather – Mosley weigh-in in Sports  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Floyd Mayweather 146 – Shane Mosley 147
Saul Alvarez 150 – Jose Miguel Cotto 149

LAS VEGAS – Only news conferences are supposed to be predictable. But one Wednesday for Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley wasn’t. It was tame, almost as peaceful as a church picnic.

Mayweather’s appearance at a press luncheon is almost always a screaming succession of four letters from erupting into a food fight. But Kumbaya was the main course at the MGM Grand.

Mayweather, perhaps in another one of his many roles, sprung an upset by just being nice. Who knows? Maybe, Mosley has a chance to spring another one Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena over Mayweather, a 4-1 betting favorite Wednesday afternoon and an overwhelming pick in an informal poll of writers to win by decision.

“Maybe, you’re going for the safe bet,’’ Mosley told a circle of writers after the news conference.
Maybe, safe is for suckers.

Or, maybe, Mayweather as Mr. Nice Guy is just a con, a feint before the counter.

Nobody can ever be sure what side of Mayweather will show up from day to day. It’s just that a low-key Mayweather was almost out of character for a stage that seemed to demand an over-the-top personality that has been there before.

Mayweather’s unpredictability might be one mechanism in a defense that has kept him undefeated and mostly unmarked.

“It’s not cool to take punishment,’’ he said, repeating a comment that has almost become his mantra.

When asked if he ever just wanted to abandon the defensive mechanisms and indulge in a free-for-all exchange of punches, Mayweather started chuckling.

“Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha,’’ Mayweather said. “Nobody is messing up this nice face.’’

It’s hard to hit what you don’t know, and it is virtually impossible to know what move or mood is about to appear from Mayweather, who is either mercurial or maddening or both. Let’s just says that Mosley and trainer Naazim Richardson don’t sound as if they’re sweating it out. In fact, if there was a theme to the news conference it was simply the absence of nerves. Both fighters played it cool.

At 38, Mosley seems to be enjoying his moment back on the big stage. He doesn’t have to act. Unlike Mayweather, he doesn’t tell anybody he is the face of boxing or better than Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson.

“Shane Mosley is an HBO fighter,’’ Mayweather said, suggesting that Mosley has bit part in his ascendance. “Floyd Mayweather is a mega-superstar.’’

All the better, Mosley seemed to say.

Mosley has been cast in the support role often. Consider a couple of results: He upset Oscar De La Hoya and then Antonio Margarito. It’s almost as if he has spent his career rehearsing for Saturday, although even he might be surprised if he delivers the knockout he promised.

“I’d be shocked to see him there, flat on his back,’’ Molsey said. “Happy, but shocked. I’d also be concerned. Fighting me can be hazardous.’’

Safe to say, Mayweather wasn’t concerned. There’s plenty of talk about Mosley’s perceived weaknesses, including an inconsistent jab and a layoff of more than 15 months since his stunner over Margarito.

“I’ve already read him,’’ Mayweather said as if he has studied, cover-to-cover, everything there is to know about Mosley.

However, Mayweather conceded one detail remains unknown, which at a news conference was exactly what Mayweather wanted. Molsey’s widely-reported links to Balco and performance-enhancers have dogged him since 2003.

“We don’t how many fights he was in when he was clean,’’ Mayweather said. “Even against Margarito, we don’t know.’’

At Mayweather’s insistence, he and Mosley are undergoing random Olympic-style drug testing – urine and blood. As of Wednesday, Mosley had undergone eight and Mayweather seven. The testers, showed up, unannounced, at Mosley’s door.

“Eight times at my house is a little excessive,’’ said Mosley, who says he has been eating natural and feeling stronger than ever over the last several years. “This thing (Balco controversy) has been played out, over and over again. I don’t know why.

“But I’m a clean product.’’

A confident one, too.

Maybe, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was celebrating Earth Day. Or, maybe, he was being a good dad. His daughter was said to be nearby. Whatever the occasion or motivation, a thoughtful, likable side of Mayweather showed up Thursday without the profanity that pollutes so many of his other dates with the media.

“Thanks,” he said.

Huh, I thought.

I was tempted to suspect that the voice on the conference call was Frank Caliendo doing Mayweather in a planned addition to an act already well-known for impersonations of Charles Barkley, John Madden and Donald Trump. But, no, this was exactly the Mayweather many encounter and would like to hear more often. Mayweather’s best known role, heavily bleeped by HBO in early-evening versions of 24/7 for kids still in the audience, is reason to hit the mute button even for bored adults who have heard it all. Mayweather has said it all, ad nauseam, which also means the edgy potential to outrage has been deleted from the expletives.

Mayweather is good at playing the bad guy. He knows the lines. That’s for bleeping sure. But there’s also a sense that he too has grown weary of it. Perhaps, he has outgrown it. Shane Mosley has been cast in the good-guy role for their May 1 showdown at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. Yet, even Mosley is skeptical about a story line that is as old and clichéd as a movie script for an old Western.

“Good versus evil?” Mosley said Tuesday. “I don’t know. I don’t really think so. I think that Floyd just acts out because that’s just him being himself. But you know, probably outside of the fight, you probably could see some good qualities Floyd has. He can charm up a little bit and be more friendly or whatever. It’s just when the fight happens. He just starts getting a little crazy and starts going back to the things that he’s used to doing.

“…Some of the things that he says, it’s bad and it reflects and looks bad on him when he says the different things. Some of the things he says I don’t really think he means. He just kind of says it to get a reaction out of you to see what happens and see what you do and that’s probably part of his plan or his strategy before the fight. It’s like fighting before the fight. He’ll just say what’s on the top of his head and just get a reaction out of you. If he gets a reaction out of you, then he’s done a good job, he’s won. So, I don’t perceive him as being a real, like an evil person. That’s just sometimes his nature.’’

If true character is revealed by what happens in a fight, however, Mayweather is as careful and calculating as anyone has ever been. The bad guy is Tyson-like, raging at everyone and everything before opening bell and after it. That guy is not Mayweather, a tactician who doesn’t let emotion interfere with the dangerous business of ducking and delivering punches. A lot comparisons have been made in the buildup for Mayweather-Mosley, which Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer believes will set a pay-per-view record. Other than the ring they will share on May 1, however, Mayweather says there are no similarities between him and Mosley.

“We’re totally different,’’ Mayweather said while attending a school function for his daughter.

Mayweather made the fight sound like target practice. It’s all about location, location, location.
“I look at my opponent and where I’m punching,’’ Maywather said.

Mosley doesn’t, he said. Instead, Mayweather said Mosley closes his eyes when he throws a punch with power, which is thought to be a Mosley advantage.

“I think he’s a fighter who worries about landing a big shot,’’ said Mayweather, whose father, Floyd Sr., and uncle/trainer Roger already have said that they believe Mosley doesn’t have the smarts to win a welterweight fight that is being hyped as the modern-day sequel to Sugar Ray Leonard’s victory over Thomas Hearns in a 1981 classic.

The suggestion is that Mayweather can do more. Maybe, he can. Until opening bell, however, Mayweather’s verbal sparring, as well-rehearsed as it is well-known, is expected. Its impact, if any against the 38-year-old Mosley, is harder to figure. Mayweather is confident it has had its intended effect. He repeated Thursday that Mosley is acting out of character, including reports about comments a few days ago on a Los Angeles radio show in which he wondered whether Mayweather had dabbled in steroids and questioned his sexuality.

“…He wanted to talk about my suit, curls in my hair, getting a nose job …is he funny? Is he gay or something,’’ Mosley said on ESPN 710 in Los Angeles.

The comment might have angered a lot of fighters. Not Mayweather. He didn’t even mention it during the conference call. But Mayweather’s comment fits like another piece in the puzzle that Mayweather methodically puts together in training camp, at press conferences, in E-mail and on twitter. It’s all business, which means everything is an opportunity.

“His trainer said he wouldn’t trash-talk,’’ Mayweather said of Naazim Richardson’s plan to keep Mosley from getting distracted by “hysteria” from Mayweather. “We’re up one, I guess, cause we baited him into talking trash.’’

Maybe, that’s why Mayweather didn’t talk trash Thursday. He didn’t have to.

In simply doing his job, Naazim Richardson already has done more to clean up boxing than any grandstanding proclamation from Floyd Mayweather Jr., who has anointed himself as the game’s undisputed savior with Olympic-style drug-tests that apparently happen as often as conference calls before his May 1 showdown with Shane Mosley at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

If not for Richardson’s due diligence before Mosley’s last victory more than a year ago, Antonio Margarito might have continued to fight with hand wraps described as everything from irregular to criminal. Whatever they are called, there would be no debate and perhaps no movement for regulatory change in how wraps are applied and provided if not for Richardson. His instinctive eye for detail is about survival, which he learned on the street and practices in a corner. Ropes don’t confine the task. It doesn’t begin or end with an opening or closing bell. It’s just the job, which is as challenging as ever for Richardson in preparing for a May Day that Mosley says will belong to him.

As Richardson proved before Mosley’s stoppage of Margarito more than 15 months ago in Los Angeles, fights often turn on what happens before they ever begin. It’s a lesson not lost on the heavily-favored Mayweather, who launches his sharp-edged rhetoric like artillery-fire long before the fighters invade the ring. Mayweather is at it again. He wonders if Mosley already is feeling pressure.

Why else, he says, would he suddenly show with a Polynesian-style tattoo across one shoulder.

“Why would someone wait until they are 38 years old to get a tattoo?’’ Mayweather said Wednesday during a media day while working out in Las Vegas.

Crank up the volume. Mayweather, trainer-and-uncle Roger and father Floyd Sr. are just getting started.

“Hysteria,’’ Richardson says of the predictable storm of expletives and insults.

That’s a good description. It’s also been a good weapon for Mayweather, a cautious, clever and unbeaten fighter who waits on the other guy to make a mistake. If his jab and defense don’t create one, maybe anger from a well-timed insult will. From day-to-day through the next two-plus weeks, the detail-oriented Richardson will try to guard against exactly that.

“I will keep him focused on the task at hand and not let him get caught up in the Mayweather hysteria,’’ Richardson said at Mosley’s media day Monday in Los Angeles.

Easier said than done, perhaps, simply because the Mayweathers will say whatever they can for as long as they can in a noisy attempt to find a chink in Mosley’s psychological armor. If there is a silencer, however, it might be Richardson. Listen to him and you get the idea that specifics matter. Noise doesn’t.

During a conference call Tuesday that included Roger Mayweather and some contentious give-and-take about drug testing, Richardson: “If you asked me to respond to everything Roger is saying. I wouldn’t have time to train my athlete.’’

Richardson’s stubborn adherence to detail — and only detail — looms as an effective counter to the many distractions inevitable in any fight against Mayweather. One important detail is character. It’s a lot more subjective than, say, a problem in an opponent’s hand wraps. But it is there, fundamental to the job and getting it right. In Mayweather, he sees a fighter who loves to talk and uses negotiations, media days and conference calls as if they were the early rounds. In Mosley, he sees somebody who just wants to fight.

“I respect Shane and I love his approach as an athlete, how he does his job and takes it on,’’ Richardson said when asked if Mosley conceded too much at the bargaining table when he agreed to random drug testing and a rematch clause for Mayweather. “But I tell him to his face: I think he is a poor negotiator. He wants to fight so bad he doesn’t care. He’d let Roger be one of the judges.
“Shane would agree to it. He just wants to fight.’’

The trainer went on to say that Mosley would agree to fight with one hand tied behind his back. He was exaggerating. Kind of. It couldn’t happen. Richardson. Who has Mosley’s back, wouldn’t let it happen any more than he would have let Margarito fight armed in altered hand wraps.

To say that Olympic-style drug testing is the right thing to do is the equivalent of a beauty-pageant contestant saying she believes in world peace. Between believing in it and doing it, however, there are arguments about procedure, ego and potential rancor, otherwise known as devils in the details. If it was so obvious and so righteous, we already would have seen Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

We haven’t, of course.

I couldn’t help but wonder if we ever will after listening to Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, Shane Mosley attorney Judd Burstein and Travis Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) talk Thursday in a conference call about an agreement for blood-testing before the Mayweather-Mosley fight on May 1 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

USADA officials met with both fighters and their camps last weekend. According to a Golden Boy release, the random testing can begin on Monday.

“If you’re clean, you have no reason not to be part of this program,’’ Tygart said. “In fact, you demand it.’’

Fact is, however, demand for the procedure, from sport to sport, is not exactly universal. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but as Tygart talked, World Anti-Doping Agency President John Fahey took some pointed shots Thursday at Major League Baseball and the Players Association. In a story from Montreal, Fahey urged baseball to do what Mayweather and Mosley will, Mark McGuire didn’t and Pacquiao wouldn’t.

In boxing, the blood-testing demand has only been heard from Mayweather, whose insistence killed the deal for a March 13 bout with Pacquiao, the Filipino icon who just said no to the comprehensive process and instead battered Joshua Clottey around like a blocking dummy last Saturday at Cowboys Stadium.

There’s a part of me that wants to admire Mayweather. It’s the same part that wants to agree with Ellerbe when he says that Mayweather is exercising some overdue leadership in a forever fractured business.

“Obviously with Floyd being the face of boxing, he wanted to clean up the sport,’’ Ellerbe said

I’m not sure what kind of face Tygart’s lieutenants will see when they show up, unannounced with test tubes and needles in hand, at the Big Boy Mansion in Las Vegas for a random test. The face of boxing might look at them as though they were Filipino journalists and throw them out onto the Strip. There’s another part of me that is wary of Mayweather, whose many faces can make him as hard to read as he is to hit.

To wit: Weight-gate. Before he humiliated Juan Manuel Marquez in a one-sided September decision, he willingly paid him $600,000 — $300,000 per pound – for being two over the catch-weight in their contract.

Then, he refused to step on Home Box Office’s unofficial scale the next night before opening bell. When asked why, he said it was nobody’s business.

Perhaps, it is an apples-to-oranges comparison, but the weight flap provides a glimpse at Mayweather’s unpredictable nature. He has taken the high-ground with the blood-testing demand. But the demand is nothing more than a beauty contestant’s prayer for world peace if he isn’t compliant with a process that Olympic athletes have called inconvenient, if not intrusive.

USADA enforcement power is another issue altogether. If an Olympic athlete tests positive for a banned performance-enhancer, the penalty can be a suspension for as long as two years. That punishment is part of an agreement with the International Olympic Committee. In boxing, however, the sport still is regulated by state commissions, which for Mosley-Mayweather means Nevada.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has the power to license fighters. It also has the final say-so in whether to revoke or suspend a license. USADA can poke, prod, draw and recommend. But it can’t suspend. Mayweather’s blood-testing demand looms as another argument for a federal commission, which Arizona Senator John McCain has tried to put into place for years.

According to news reports this week, the New York State Athletic Commission will consider Olympic-style testing after a study by its medical board. Ellerbe said he hopes the New York study will create momentum that will result in more vigilant testing in other states.

Mosley-Mayweather, Tygart says, “shows it is affordable at the right level. I always say it (a sport) can’t afford not to do it.’’

With legislative budgets in crisis during a lousy economy, however, chances of uniform blood testing from state-to-state appear slim.

Maybe, the fighters themselves can change that, although the nature of the beast is conflict, which precludes cooperation and fosters suspicion that whatever is done or said — including Mayweather’s blood-testing demand in the abortive Pacquiao talks — is driven by a personal agenda.

Nevertheless, Mosley, more than Mayweather, could be the real face of that movement. By now, it’s no secret that Mosley was tied to the BALCO scandal. He said he inadvertently took performance enhancers before a victory is 2003 over Oscar De La Hoya. He has a defamation suit against BALCO founder Victor Conte, who says he knowingly took performance-enhancers. Burstein says Mosley was misled.

“Shane would not be doing this is if there were any doubt in his mind that he is a clean athlete,’’ Burstein said.

Let’s just say that Mayweather gets Mosley and then other fighters to join him in a chorus for blood-testing. Maybe, then it works. Mosley has said he would fight Pacquiao without the testing he will undergo before and after the Mayweather bout. But let’s say that Mosley changes his mind. Let’s say he, like Mayweather, demands that blood-testing would have to continue against Pacquiao.

Something tells me we’ve already said too much for Pacquiao and his promoter, Bob Arum. In Dallas, Arum already has plans for Pacquiao to fight Edwin Valero, or Marquez, or even Antonio Margarito, who can re-apply for a license revoked in California more than a year ago for tampered hand-wraps.

In a prepared release Thursday, Mayweather and Mosley asked other fighters to follow them

But it sounded as if Arum had something else to say, something like:
See ya.’

NOTES, QUOTES
· In talking to the media a week ago in Dallas for the first time since his gloves were found to be loaded with a plaster-like substance before a loss to Mosley in January, 2009, Margarito took an initial step toward convincing the public that he deserves a second chance in the United States. But he needs to say more. Again, Margarito said that he didn’t know disgraced trainer Javier Capetillo had tampered with the wraps. Okay, but he also needs to say “Sorry, I should have known.’’
· After a long absence, boxing might return to Phoenix under the Showdown Promotions banner, which also represents Margarito. Showdown has reserved two dates, July 17 and July 31, at Wild Horse Pass Casino in the Phoenix suburbs.
· The more Top Rank watches 17-year-old Jose Benavidez Jr., a junior-welterweight from Phoenix, the more it sees an emerging star. Benavidez is 3-0, including a third-round stoppage of Bobby Hill on March 12 in Dallas on the eve of Pacquiao’s decision over a passive Clottey. Although hard to judge, Benavidez’ performance was solid. More significant, perhaps, there were young fans surrounding him after the bout. They stood in line to get his autograph. He has charisma, which is almost as fundamental to stardom as a jab.
· And Arum, on whether Pacquiao would have enough time to continue his boxing career if he wins a seat in the Filipino Congress: “If Filipino Congressmen are the same as U.S. Congressmen, they sit around and do nothing most of the year. So why wouldn’t he be able to fight?’’

Photo by Chris Farina /Top Rank

What a scene it was, downtown Los Angeles across from Staples Center, where two of the best fighters of the last decade met to have it out in a war or words. Welterweight champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley, a native of the Pomona, CA, about 30 miles outside of Los Angeles, received much love and support from the crowd. The hometown fighter appeared to be very confident in his money green suit as he acknowledged the cheers from the fans. His nemesis, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, on the other hand, lived up to his role as the bad guy, as he was greeted by boos from most of the crowd. The two guys faced off and there was some jawing back and forth, but no pushing and shoving like a few days prior in New York. Both sides, as expected seemed confident, but the usually subdued Brother Naazim Richardson was the outspoken one. “Floyd is going to have to learn to deal with his first loss, and we will see who is still in his corner and on his bandwagon on May 2,” quoted Naazim. The overall theme of the press conference was that this is a fight for the ages…Ala Ali/Foreman or Leonard/Hearns. Whether or not it lives up to that billing, we won’t know until May 1st, but this will be as big a fight as we’ve seen in the last 10 years.

15rounds.com Claudia Bocanegra was on the scene when all the sparks flew between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley as they announced their May 1st Mega Fight at a press conference in New York City—Click to see the biggest photo Gallery anywhere–also click each individual picture for enlarged pictures

Anxiety gave way to relief Wednesday when it was announced that Floyd Mayweather, Jr., had finally signed for a May 1 fight with Shane Mosley, whose promotional point man, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, sounded as though the wait for Mayweather’s signature was a little bit like anticipating a dental appointment.

As it turns out, it was routine, a mere formality. Let’s just hope it stays that way until opening bell at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand for a May Day of a fight that won’t generate as much money as Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao would have, but promises to be as good, if not better.

The temptation is to say thanks to Mayweather for a convincing counter to everybody who parrots Bob Arum’s criticism that he is afraid of any threat to his unbeaten record. Well, Mosley, a natural welterweight, is that threat, bigger on a tale of the tape than Pacquiao, a relative newcomer to 147 pounds.

But you can never be sure with Mayweather. Schaefer’s angst, reflected in various news reports, sums up the uncertainty about a fighter with wonderful talents, yet as hard to pin down as he is to hit. Mayweather’s unpredictability is good for HBO’s 24/7, but exasperating for everybody else, including media quick to report that Mayweather had not signed only four days after the agreement — complete with Mosley’s signature — was announced.

The delay, not matter how brief, was enough to make everybody wonder what Mayweather was up to now. Plenty of skepticism is left in the messy wake of failed negotiations for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, which won’t happen on March 13 because Pacquiao said no to Mayweather’s demand for random, Olympic-style blood-testing. Everybody has been blamed, which only means that nobody’s reputation escapes unscathed.

Mayweather and Mosley now are scheduled to be in south Florida Sunday for the Super Bowl Sunday. It’s an interesting setting. Mayweather-Pacquiao had been called boxing’s Super Bowl. Peyton Manning and Drew Brees will never have to explain why the Colts and Saints couldn’t agree to a game. I’m not sure Mayweather will be able to explain why he couldn’t agree on a fight with Pacquiao. But it is safe say he will hear the questions and I’m sure he will blame Pacquiao, although familiar trash-talk might be punctuated with caution because of a defamation lawsuit.

Mistrust is everywhere. Mayweather-Mosley represents a real chance to move on. But it won’t be easy. In just a few days, the familiar jitters were there with questions about when – indeed, if — Mayweather would sign. The abortive talks for Mayweather-Pacquiao are just the latest reason.

In September, there was weight-gate before, during and after Mayweather’s unanimous decision over Juan Manuel Marquez. At 146 pounds on the day before the fight, Mayweather failed to meet the catch weight, 144, and willingly wrote a check for $600,000 — $300,000 for each excess pound – to Marquez.

From a ringside seat the next night, Mayweather often looked like a middleweight, especially when his back was to me. I can’t help but think it was no coincidence that he refused to step on unofficial scales for HBO not long before opening bell. After the one-sided fight, he dissed anybody who wanted to know how he heavy he was.

There are some things Mayweather just doesn’t want anybody to know. No wonder Schaefer and many in the media were nervous.

Here’s a suggestion: Andre Berto withdrew from a bout on Jan 30 with Mosley because of concern for family caught in the Haitian earthquake. Tell Berto to stay in the gym. You never know.

NOTES, QUOTES

· According to various reports, Mayweather and Mosley will undergo Olympic-style drug testing. Given Mayweather’s demand in talks for Pacquiao, he will have to insist on the procedure from now on. For Mosley, it’s a significant step. He was linked to performance-enhancers years ago in testimony to a grand jury investigating Balco. What’s not clear is who will conduct the tests. The Nevada State Athletic Commission? The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency? And who will pay for the tests? The fighters? The promoters? The lousy economy would seem to preclude any state commission from taking on the expense.

· News from the World Boxing Association says it will investigate Beibut Shumenov’s controversial split decision over Gabriel Campillo for the light-heavyweight championship on Jan. 29 at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. While the acronym is at it, how about a few questions asking how a fighter, Shumenov, with only 10 pro bouts could even qualify for a shot at so-called major title?

· Intriguing Jose Benavidez, a 17-year-old junior-welterweight from Phoenix, is scheduled for his second pro fight on Feb. 13 against an unannounced foe at the Las Vegas Hilton on a card, Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3, featuring super-flyweight Nonito Donaire (22-1, 14 KOs) against Gerson Guerrero (43-8, 26 KOs). There’s been some hope that Benavidez could help resurrect a Phoenix market, mostly dormant since Arizona began to enforce tough immigration laws. “I’d really love to fight in Phoenix,’’ Benavidez said. “Hey, it’s my hometown.’’

· And kudos to Chad Dawson, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Top Rank for promises to help in the Haiti relief. Dawson said he has started Champions Challenge. He has invested $5,000 of his money has asked other champs to match it. Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, says he will donate his purse from a fight Friday night against Adolfo Landeros in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to the Children of Haiti Fund. Top Rank announced it is setting aside a percentage of ticket receipts for the earthquake victims.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, After the recent withdraw by Andre Berto for next week;s Welterweight unification bout with Shane Mosley, representatives for Floyd Mayweather have indicated that Mayweather would be ready for a fight with Mosley this Spring.

“I know everyone is rushing to make this fight with Mosley, but I want people to know that Floyd feels awful for Berto and his family for what they and their country are going through,” Said Maywethaer’s close advisor Leonard Ellerbe . “That is first and foremost. But if, in fact, Shane Mosley is available, that’s the fight that Floyd would love to make. It’s no secret that Floyd has been trying to make a fight with Shane for the last 10 years.

“Our condolences go out to Berto and his family because that is the human side of this. Everyone is talking about us making a fight with Mosley, but Floyd wants people to know that his prayers — all of ours — are with Berto. But he also wants people to know that he is ready to fight Mosley. That’s the fight he wants more than anything. And Floyd has instructed me and Al [Haymon, Mayweather’s other adviser] to make the biggest fight possible. We will be talking with [Golden Boy CEO] Richard [Schaefer]. Floyd against Shane is the biggest fight in boxing right now that can be made.”

According to Schaefer, he has the MGM Grand Garden Arena on hold for May 1 and May 8. Ellerbe said that time frame is fine with Mayweather for a fight with Mosley.

“Most definitely,” Ellerbe said. “Shane is a great fighter and if a deal could be made, Shane would be the toughest fight out there. That fight is tougher than the other fight [Pacquiao-Mayweather]. It’s a mega fight if it can be made.”