Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Breaking news : Roach Staying Out of Negotiations
The world of boxing always has one man who makes big fights happen, who has the world’s top boxers in his camp and who produces some of the biggest moments in boxing. Don King done it with many including Mike Tyson but the big name in match making today is Freddie Roach. Roach has two of the most branded fighters in his camp Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao. It is a known fact If you have Freddie Roach in your corner, you have half the battle won. This is one of the main reasons every top fighter wants Roach in their corner. Roach is also a perfect match maker, he knows when and how to get the right fight card for his fighters and he understands marketing really well to promote the fights.
The fight every boxing fan is talking about and wants to see is Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather. Everyone wants to know who really is the best pound-for-pound fighter but what is very interesting is that Roach does not want to take part in negations.
Usually, Freddie Roach is a very active participant when it comes to selecting upcoming opponents for the boxers that he trains. In fact, the head of the Wild Card Gym has built a reputation for doing an excellent job of hand picking the right opponents for upcoming fights. However, BoxingScene.com reports that Roach is taking a hands-off approach when it comes to negotiations for a mega fight between his main fighter Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather for dominance of the welterweight division and the unofficial title of “Best Pound-for-Pound Fighter in Boxing.”
According to Roach, he is “staying out” of negotiations and letting them play out on their own. Roach said that the only thing that he knows for sure is that Pacquiao will be returning to the ring this November. However, Roach doesn’t have an exact date, opponent or location. Roach said that he “hopes” that Pacquiao’s opponent is Mayweather, but if that fight doesn’t come together, they will find another opponent.
However, Roach used the opportunity of the interview to get a small jab in at Mayweather. He said that he thought that Mayweather’s unanimous decision victory over Shane Mosley on May 1 showed that Mayweather is starting to age and not “use his legs” – implying that Mayweather lacks the lateral movement that was once a part of his arsenal. While it was true that he ate a legitimate punch from Mosley in the second round of their fight, that was also the only round that Mayweather lost – not bad for someone with supposedly shot legs.
So will the fight happen? That’s the question that seems to have been circling the boxing world for months. However, it appears that several signs are pointing to the fight being on. HBO boxing analyst and veteran journalist Larry Merchant told Boxing Truth Radio that he believes an agreement for the fight to happen in November will happen soon. According to him, sources close to the negotiations have indicated that “most of the issues” that were keeping the fight from happening have been resolved. While Merchant didn’t expand upon what these issues were, the common perception has been that the two big snags holding up the fight have been the Olympic-style testing demanded by Mayweather and exactly how to split the massive purse.
While Merchant isn’t an active participant in the negotiations, he definitely is someone with credibility when it comes to negotiations for the fight. Along with his long history and acknowledged expertise in boxing, he also works for HBO – who would stand to benefit by having the PPV rights to a fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather. It’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility to imagine that Merchant has access to information thanks to his position as an HBO commentator that other people don’t.
So what might happen if Mayweather and Pacquiao can’t come to terms on a deal for a fight? Chances are that Bob Arum has several options in wait. One of them appears to be a rematch against Miguel Cotto. Arum has said that this fight could be a distinct possibility. While that might appear to be a tough fight to sell, considering that Pacquiao was fairly dominant in scoring a 12th round TKO in December 2009, it’s important to keep in mind that their previous fight was at welterweight while this fight would apparently be at the light middleweight limit.
If Cotto wins against Yuri Foreman on Saturday night, this fight could potentially give Pacquiao a chance to win an unprecedented world title in an eighth division. Another possibility for Pacquiao if the fight with Mayweather falls apart could be against Antonio Margarito.
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