Insider Notebook: Pacquiao is MIA, Mosley is Confident

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Robert Morales - Promoter Bob Arum had just gotten off a plane in Los Angeles about 2:30 p.m. West Coast time Wednesday when he engaged us in a telephone conversation. He confirmed what had already been reported on BoxingScene.com, that the proposed May 2 fight between his Manny Pacquiao and Golden Boy Promotions' Ricky Hatton "is off."

The deadline for Pacquiao to sign the revamped contract that called for a Pacquiao guarantee of $12 million and a 52-48 split of upside revenue favoring Pacquiao had come and gone early Wednesday morning. Arum was not a happy camper. He was asked straight out if he was perturbed at Pacquiao and his lawyer - Franklin "Jeng" Gacal - for
not accepting the deal.

"Well, it doesn't make me happy," said Arum, trying to practice some diplomacy.

Originally, Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer had agreed on a 50-50 split. The two then came to terms on the 52-48 split. The original guarantee was $11 million for Pacquiao, which was his guarantee for his fight last month against Oscar De La Hoya.

"They had copies of the contract and they were fussing about this and that and so they told me that Manny wouldn't sign and I said, 'OK,' " Arum said. "So the fight goes off and life goes on. I think everybody is sorry to hear that. What can I do? It's Manny's
decision."

Was it? Arum said that after the pot was sweetened, he was led to believe that that would seal the deal.

"Then they came back with more demands and the deal fell apart," Arum said.

Perhaps what is sticking in Arum's craw the most is the very idea that Pacquiao never touched base with him or trainer Freddie Roach. [details]

[MANGLER]

SSM's performances, win or lose, have always fallen on him and not his trainer imo. Richardson is good, but he alone can't be the factor in SSM winnin this fight. SSM has the skill to box, but his heart is too big. You can;t fight a flawless fighta aginst Marg. Sooner or later he'll get to SSM wit sumthin that brings out the beast in him. SSM will go to war, and Marg will take advantage. As for Pac, he's bein ******, but as long as he takes a tough fight next I can get over my anger at this greedy **** he's pullin now.

[Silencers]

Pacquiao has kinda dug himself into a hole now, I mean it seems like he's banking on a Mayweather fight or a big fight at welterweight against either Margarito or Cotto, who as Roach pointed out, are tied up, Mayweather would never let him have a bigger percentage of the purse and I would be very surprised if Mayweather gives him 50-50, if Mayweather comes back, he'd probably fight Hatton anyways because there's still more money there.

Richardson makes some good points but Hopkins never relied as much on speed and reflexes as Mosley did, student of the game or not, Mosley relied on his speed and reflexes to get in and out on his opponents without getting hit, now that he has slowed down and his reflexes have started to slow, he's getting hit much more, especially with right hands over the top. But they do seem very confident in winning.

I didn't think Cotto won the Mosley fight with his pressure, his pressure was pretty ineffective against Mosley, he was outboxing Mosley with his jab. I respect Palomino though.

[KJB]

I've said this before: Pacquiao being unwilling to talk directly to his trainer is a VERY bad sign of where he is at mentally.

[Piper the Great]

i think arum is making deals without his fghters knowing. the shane/tony fight had the same problems. arum told golden boy 50/50 & they agreed. but when it was time for tony to sign he was like **** that & disappeared. now the same thing is happening with this fight.

[titleholder]

One day when pac gambles all his money and gives it away to people he don't even know and is broke as **** he'll be wishing he would've accepted Hatton's offer. Oh well, As a boxing fan I'll settle for pac-valero, it would still be an alright fight (that is if gacal doesn't interfere again).

[Mr. Philadel]

I like Shane's frame of mind .......****m made a good point, the 20yr old RJJ would destroy todays RJJ while todays B-Hop would take the 20yr old B-Hop to school......I never heard this type of comparison before....this got me thinkin' now ......as far as Pac, if he gets 50-50 from Floyd I'll be shocked! Pac f.u.c.k.e.d. up!

[mistermartin]

i think arum is making deals without his fghters knowing. the shane/tony fight had the same problems. arum told golden boy 50/50 & they agreed. but when it was time for tony to sign he was like **** that & disappeared. now the same thing is happening with this fight.

Good observation.

I don't know if Manny is trying to take a page out of tony's book. Even tho manny is diff from tony in the fact that tony is the champion & is the big mexican draw at the moment. That aint the case w/ pac. He's popular. But Eicky brings the money & is sacificing his lineal title. Totally diff leveraging points manny is resting on... they seem weak.

[PROD]

Shane's speed and athleticism will be the deciding factors in this fight. He's not going to let Margo rumble forward, which will cut his output in half.

[BennyST]

You know what, ****m is very wrong here, in my opinion. Mosley is not the student of the game that Hopkins is. Not at all, and when the going gets tough Mosley falls back on bad habits. We saw it in the Mayorga fight, we saw it against Wright and Forrest. He might train like a twenty year old student of the game but when he gets in the ring on fight night he is a different fighter, and he does rely too much on his old style, which he needs to change more if he is truly a student of the game, like Hopkins has.