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March 08, 2015
BEN DEAN ON THE SCENE
By Ben Dean
**********'s Ben Dean has put together a boxing memo discussing the making of the May 2nd super fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, ESPN's Skip Bayless' disingenuous criticism of Mayweather, Gennady Golovkin's situation at middleweight and why James Kirkland is making a huge mistake leading up to his fight against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao: After years of speculation the big event is finally happening on May 2nd. But let's be clear that there was one individual that didn't want this to occur, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum. In a truly genius move, Floyd pulled rank on Arum and his company, Top Rank (no pun intended) by running up on Manny at a Miami Heat game they were both attending. This direct line of communication kept one man (Bob Arum) from being able to stand in the way of this bout. It countered the typical Arum playbook: playing the press like a puppet, while painting Floyd as a scared reluctant fighter.
It was reported towards the tail-end of negotiations that Team Pacquiao and even others at Top Rank were frustrated with the actions and often contradictory words Arum was supplying the press. I watched Floyd try extremely hard to make the bout for May of 2012 (prior to settling on Miguel Cotto as an opponent). I watched every excuse and an abundance of sliding timelines put forth by Arum: Manny's cut from his prior fight needed longer than six months to heal, making him unavailable until June; Manny would be available in May but Floyd will be in prison; (upon finding out the judge delayed Floyd's prison time until June), the excuse morphed into even though Floyd and Manny are both available in May, we need time to delay and build a temporary outdoor stadium.
Not since the days of Jack Dempsey have I heard construction of an outdoor stadium as a negotiation point in scheduling a bout. Then again, Arum infamously went on the record once as saying 'Yesterday I was lying. Today I'm telling the truth." I understand it’s a promoter's duty to protect their cash cow and investment, only Top Rank didn't count on a single right hand from Juan Manuel Marquez knocking out Pacquiao and changing everything.
People that question Floyd's desire to make the fight must remember he initially agreed to a 50/50 purse split (as the undefeated fighter), only to have the bout fall apart over drug testing protocol. Consider the following quote from Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach: "The first negotiation we were against blood testing.. and it was kind've our fault, that the first time it didn't work." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUs8yAS_qTs
I believe that Floyd always wanted this bout, but just had more options outside of Pacquiao (as evidenced by his superior pay-per-view numbers vs. Oscar De La Hoya and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez), than Pacquiao had outside of him.
Skip Bayless' excuse Building and "explain-aways": Does anyone know what reality ESPN commentator Skip Bayless exists in? He has an almost pathological hatred of Mayweather. This is the same guy that looked like he had just left a funeral the week following Pacquiao's KO loss to Marquez. He was shell-shocked. I haven't seen expressions that bitter since surveying ********** faces the day after Mitt Romney lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack ***** (the same Romney who was ironically ringside for Pacquaio/Marquez 4)!
Bayless has gone on the record for some time now as calling Mayweather a coward who would NEVER step in the ring with Pacquiao. Mayweather was scared, petrified of Pacquiao lamented Bayless frequently. Believing this wasn't true, I openly wondered what Bayless' excuse would be when Mayweather signed to fight Pacquiao. I also wondered what the excuse would be if Floyd beat Pacquiao. Those that have went on the record for so many years saying this was a bout Mayweather wanted no part of naturally would have to build in excuses the minute they witnessed Floyd approach Manny at the game.
Sure enough, the excuse-making has begun. In a piece penned by Bayless appearing on ESPN, he went on a tirade that Floyd was indeed still scared of Pacquiao, but took the bout because he had been shamed into accepting. Not to get too intellectual... but last I checked, a coward wouldn't feel shame, considering cowardice is a shameful characteristic in the first place. LOL.
The other line of thinking as the excuse makers concoct "explain-aways," is "well he took the bout, but he waited until Manny got old." So, Mayweather waited on Pacquiao to get old even though he is 2 years older? Nonsense. It is an unfair attempt to pre-diminish Mayweather's accomplishment should he win, but act like Pacquiao's victory is the greatest thing since sliced bread if he wins. If Floyd wins... "but Pac was old," they say. If Pac wins (even though Mayweather's older at 38), "see I told you Pac was the greatest." Ridiculous. Both fighters have to be given full credit in not only the making, but the outcome of this bout. This playbook was employed before Pacquiao-Marquez IV. I watched as the insinuations flew on performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). I stated at the time that this was wrong and that Team Pacquiao should know better since they themselves had been the victim of PED accusations. I said then and am still of the belief that these sorts of tactics place one camp in a win/win situation. If they win full credit is given. If they lose an excuse to "explain away" the loss has already been built in.
BEN DEAN ON THE SCENE
By Ben Dean
**********'s Ben Dean has put together a boxing memo discussing the making of the May 2nd super fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, ESPN's Skip Bayless' disingenuous criticism of Mayweather, Gennady Golovkin's situation at middleweight and why James Kirkland is making a huge mistake leading up to his fight against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao: After years of speculation the big event is finally happening on May 2nd. But let's be clear that there was one individual that didn't want this to occur, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum. In a truly genius move, Floyd pulled rank on Arum and his company, Top Rank (no pun intended) by running up on Manny at a Miami Heat game they were both attending. This direct line of communication kept one man (Bob Arum) from being able to stand in the way of this bout. It countered the typical Arum playbook: playing the press like a puppet, while painting Floyd as a scared reluctant fighter.
It was reported towards the tail-end of negotiations that Team Pacquiao and even others at Top Rank were frustrated with the actions and often contradictory words Arum was supplying the press. I watched Floyd try extremely hard to make the bout for May of 2012 (prior to settling on Miguel Cotto as an opponent). I watched every excuse and an abundance of sliding timelines put forth by Arum: Manny's cut from his prior fight needed longer than six months to heal, making him unavailable until June; Manny would be available in May but Floyd will be in prison; (upon finding out the judge delayed Floyd's prison time until June), the excuse morphed into even though Floyd and Manny are both available in May, we need time to delay and build a temporary outdoor stadium.
Not since the days of Jack Dempsey have I heard construction of an outdoor stadium as a negotiation point in scheduling a bout. Then again, Arum infamously went on the record once as saying 'Yesterday I was lying. Today I'm telling the truth." I understand it’s a promoter's duty to protect their cash cow and investment, only Top Rank didn't count on a single right hand from Juan Manuel Marquez knocking out Pacquiao and changing everything.
People that question Floyd's desire to make the fight must remember he initially agreed to a 50/50 purse split (as the undefeated fighter), only to have the bout fall apart over drug testing protocol. Consider the following quote from Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach: "The first negotiation we were against blood testing.. and it was kind've our fault, that the first time it didn't work." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUs8yAS_qTs
I believe that Floyd always wanted this bout, but just had more options outside of Pacquiao (as evidenced by his superior pay-per-view numbers vs. Oscar De La Hoya and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez), than Pacquiao had outside of him.
Skip Bayless' excuse Building and "explain-aways": Does anyone know what reality ESPN commentator Skip Bayless exists in? He has an almost pathological hatred of Mayweather. This is the same guy that looked like he had just left a funeral the week following Pacquiao's KO loss to Marquez. He was shell-shocked. I haven't seen expressions that bitter since surveying ********** faces the day after Mitt Romney lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack ***** (the same Romney who was ironically ringside for Pacquaio/Marquez 4)!
Bayless has gone on the record for some time now as calling Mayweather a coward who would NEVER step in the ring with Pacquiao. Mayweather was scared, petrified of Pacquiao lamented Bayless frequently. Believing this wasn't true, I openly wondered what Bayless' excuse would be when Mayweather signed to fight Pacquiao. I also wondered what the excuse would be if Floyd beat Pacquiao. Those that have went on the record for so many years saying this was a bout Mayweather wanted no part of naturally would have to build in excuses the minute they witnessed Floyd approach Manny at the game.
Sure enough, the excuse-making has begun. In a piece penned by Bayless appearing on ESPN, he went on a tirade that Floyd was indeed still scared of Pacquiao, but took the bout because he had been shamed into accepting. Not to get too intellectual... but last I checked, a coward wouldn't feel shame, considering cowardice is a shameful characteristic in the first place. LOL.
The other line of thinking as the excuse makers concoct "explain-aways," is "well he took the bout, but he waited until Manny got old." So, Mayweather waited on Pacquiao to get old even though he is 2 years older? Nonsense. It is an unfair attempt to pre-diminish Mayweather's accomplishment should he win, but act like Pacquiao's victory is the greatest thing since sliced bread if he wins. If Floyd wins... "but Pac was old," they say. If Pac wins (even though Mayweather's older at 38), "see I told you Pac was the greatest." Ridiculous. Both fighters have to be given full credit in not only the making, but the outcome of this bout. This playbook was employed before Pacquiao-Marquez IV. I watched as the insinuations flew on performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). I stated at the time that this was wrong and that Team Pacquiao should know better since they themselves had been the victim of PED accusations. I said then and am still of the belief that these sorts of tactics place one camp in a win/win situation. If they win full credit is given. If they lose an excuse to "explain away" the loss has already been built in.