Billy’s Boxing Blog

Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat” Newton 

With a confidentiality clause slapped into the Mayweather vs. Marquez contracts no one was allowed to utter a word about the contracted/negotiated weight, but anyone with a lick of boxing sense knew there was no way Marquez would have agreed to allow Floyd to come into this fight at the 147 pound welterweight limit.

As it was revealed today for the first time there was a “mums the word” stipulated weight maximum of 144 pounds and there would be a $300,000 fine for every pound over that limit. As we now know Floyd came in at 146 pounds and now Marquez is $600,000 richer.

It’s my opinion that just like the contract Floyd signed when he “purchased” his recently repossessed Maybach wheels, the man who calls himself “Money” had no intention on living up to his end of the deal.

Why you ask?

Because Mayweather knows that anything other than a smashing victory over Marquez will put him in the back seat of any future fight negotiations. Especially if those talks include the name of Manny Pacquiao . Without an impressive victory over Marquez, Floyd’s future earning power will be in the tank.

Speaking of Marquez, the tough lightweight came in at a career high 142 pounds and it’s pretty safe to assume he won’t be adding much more weight before Saturday nights brawl. On the other hand you have Mayweather who will more than likely come in to the fight at 150 pounds if not higher. It’s been pretty clear to anyone paying attention that this was Mayweathers plan all along, it’s not a difficult smoke screen to see through.

Not coincidentally both the HBO & L.A. Times polls have Marquez the clear favorite of the fans to defeat Floyd. In reality it may be a case of a lot more people picking with their hearts rather than their heads, but with the tired act Mayweather has been putting on over the past few weeks it’s easy to understand. 

From the rib injury he refuses to talk about to the contracted weight he did not try to make and a $600k over the weight fine, Floyd Mayweather has once again done everything he can to tip the scales heavily to his side to ensure a victory. It’s a steep price to pay but Mayweather was willing to roll the dice on this one. Maybe he felt he had no other choice.

The self proclaimed “Cash Cow” of boxing will be $600,000 short in the paycheck tomorrow night and if boxing fans get their wish his paycheck won’t be the only thing he comes up on the short end of.

 Update:  I just got back into my room after an early press conference a la Golden Boy and it has become evident that Floyd Mayweather got Juan Manuel Marquez to waive the per pound penalty on the contract.  As the story goes Mayweather was some 8 pounds overweight 8 days before the fight and from that point on he was looking for an “out” in the penalty clause in the contract. He got his wish when Marquez waived the stipulation.

This however does not change the point of my story, which is this:

Floyd Mayweather never intended on coming in at the agreed on upon 144 pound limit and he would have done whatever it took to fight Marquez at 147 or higher. He was willing to eat the fine if need be. But because of the huge financial gains that were on the line for ALL parties concerned, Mayweather was once again allowed to throw a little tantrum and get his way.

I’d like to go on a rant about enabling right now. You know… dysfunctional approaches that are intended to help but in fact may perpetuate a problem (Floyd). A common theme of enabling in this latter sense is that third parties (Golden Boy Promotions, Marquez) take responsibility, blame, or make accommodations for a person’s harmful conduct (often with the best of intentions, or from fear or insecurity which inhibits action). The practical effect is that the person themselves (again Floyd) does not have to do so, and is shielded from awareness of the harm it may do, and the need or pressure to change. It is a major environmental cause of these kinds of compulsive problems.

But that rant wouldn’t help now…the damage has been done.

Stay tuned to www.Pound4Pound.com for the Mayweather vs. Marquez full fight report

Although Joe Goossen’s Gym in Van Nuys isn’t exactly in my neck of the woods, I must say I had a grand ol’ time last week at Chris Arreolas open workout. Yes of course Chris was why we were all there and for the most part all the cameras were pointing in his direction…and rightly so.

I wont belabor the day as I am sure most of you have read all the stories about how Chris looked better than anyone expected. As I said in my earlier report he did look like he dropped a good number of pounds and had moments of looking pretty darn sharp.

Now…Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe I am the only one to mention his unexpected trips to the back room after rounds on the heavy bag. 3 minutes on, 3 minutes off. The second time he went back a well known Southern Cali journalist wondered aloud, “What the hell is he doing?”  No one had an answer.

Having been the one who shot the photo on August 1st in Rancho Mirage I felt it was only fair to take another shot from a similar angle to show how good Arreola is looking. As everyone said, it’s a big difference. And please, if you have any comments on the look of this picture, (which you should), I want to say right now:

JUST LIKE THE AUGUST PHOTO,THIS PICTURE HAS NOT BEEN PHOTOSHOPPED!

Also on hand was Edison Miranda who has an October 20 fight date. Miranda who is now under the Joe Goossen tutelage was working pretty hard. According to his team, a win in October will put him in position to challenge the winner of Bute vs Andrade 2. I think that’s a pretty tall order for Miranda but his team insists Goossen has brought out the best in him. One thing for sure, we know Miranda has the fire, so maybe a little fine tuning by Goossen will do the trick….maybe. 

Goossen hot prospects John Molina and Shawn Estrada were on hand making ready to be on the undercard of their stablemate Arreola’s card in September.

Both these fighters are undefeated and a good showing on this card could easily launch Molina into a regional title bout and another KO victory by Estrada will put another notch in the young fighters ledger.  

Another Goossen heavyweight, Manuel Quezada was on hand but he was just an interested onlooker on this day. You might remember Quezada, he recently demolished Travis Walker in 1 round. The same Walker who put Arreola down with one straight right hand before getting KO’d's himself in round 3.

And of course, the obligatory Bulldog was in da house.

Yes, I know it’s been a while since I fired off a blog, but as the old entertainers saying goes, “You gotta keep ‘em coming back for more.” With that in mind I took a brief hiatus from cramming my everyday minutia down your collective throats. Something a few of my peers ought to try once in a while, ‘cuz really, the saying isn’t, “Keep ‘em coming back for snore!”

With that said let me go over a few of the weeks highlights & lowlights.

Standing In 106 Las Degree Las Vegas Heat

Media Gets Stiffed For Over an Hour By Mayweather

The Floyd Mayweather Jr. open media workout was scheduled last Wednesday at Noon but as is often the case, Mayweather showed up 1 Hour & 15 minutes late. To add insult to injury the media was forced to stand outside in the Las Vegas heat (106 degrees). Yes there was a tent provided and the media was fed, but really, it’s just another sign pointing directly to Floyd’s arrogant “the world revolves around me” behavior. 

Speaking of Floyd…

The day before his workout Floyd held a conference call with the media to discuss his battle with Juan Manuel Marquez and it didn’t take long before things went a tad askew. An obvious Floyd fan..errr, impartial journalist got on the phone and started his thoughts with this brilliant statement:  

Floyd one of the things that I kind of have always looked at in the two fights that you guys have in common, De Le Hoya and Hatton is the fact that…..blah blah blah

WHOA!!! Fights you have in common? Please someone, anyone, tell me when Marquez fought either Oscar or Ricky.

That’s what I thought.

In the same statement the genius went on to add:

What occurs to me is that Pacquiao did beat two guys that you had already exposed and perhaps even De La Hoya was maybe drained at 145 pounds.

This is when Mayweather chimed in with:

Whoever this dude is we need to get him to our gym and we need to do more interviews with more guys like this. Whoever this dude is he knows boxing, he knows boxing. He understands boxing. You done made me stand up in the big boy mansion.

KNOWS BOXING? Dude thinks Marquez fought De La Hoya and Hatton! And since when does regurgitating some of Floyd’s pre-chewed mush make anyone a boxing expert? Only when Floyd is the judge, that’s when.

Arreola’s Nightmare

The only thing spreading faster than the Southern California wildfires are the constant rumors that Chris Arreola has not taken this training camp very seriously. In fact the word is that even though Arreola will be taking on WBC Heavyweight Champ Vitali Klitschko on September 26th he has been less than punctual for scheduled workouts. In fact from what I have been told one sparring partner was completely stood up by Arreola. Yes, that implies that the sparring partner showed up to the Arreola camp as requested but was left without a dance partner. No call, no show, no commitment, no nothing!