Billy’s Boxing Blog

By William Trillo
Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat” Newton

I don’t know why so many websites & newspapers want to trick you to read their premature news breaker about Floyd vs.Shane being a done deal because as everyone including those writers know the fight is not officially official. Yet one look at their headlines and and you want to start making reservations for the first weekend of May in Las Vegas.

A perfect example of this smoke and mirror journalism can be found on Yahoo’s boxing main page. A quick click on that page on Saturday night and you will see a smiling Shane Mosley with the caption on the picture reading, Fight’s On. Click on the picture and you are directed to an article with the headline: Contract signed: Mosley-Mayweather set for May 1. The second paragraph of the article penned by boxing staple Kevin Iole reads: Earlier in the day, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said that a deal had been agreed upon, as reported Thursday by Yahoo! Sports and that contracts were being drawn up. Ellerbe said Mayweather would sign the deal as soon as it was ready.

Wait a minute?

Mayweather would sign the deal as soon as it was ready?

In other words…The Fight is NOT On! Mosley-Mayweather is NOT Set for May 1!

Apparently the premature announcement is more contagious than The H1N1 virus and it is spreading twice as fast as that AKA Swine Flu. Similar headlines can be found across the World Wide Web:

Mayweather and Mosley agree to May 1 super fight

Mayweather, Mosley set to fight

Report: Mosley, Mayweather reach terms

And then every article gets about 2 sentences in before they note, “Mayweather has yet to sign his own deal agreement, but Burstein said he has been assured by the boxer’s lead advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, that the signature would come sometime “in the next two days.”

C’mon guys! Have you not seen this act before? As I recall it was in the not too distant past we were told Floyd was ready to fight before the crap hit the fan and that proposed “Set Fight” imploded.

Now I am sure all of you guys have way better sources than I do and I know you all have a much better education than yours truly as well. But with all those sources and that great education what you have failed to learn is that nothing is official when it comes to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Quite frankly, I hope you guys are right! I hope that Mayweather and Mosley do square off in the ring on May 1st. Nothing would make me happier than to see Shane bouncing leather off Pretty Boy’s face. On the other hand, nothing would make some of you happier than to see Floyd Jr. outclass Mosley and prove he is Pound4Pound on the top of the list of boxings best in recent years.

After a year that has started off with more fight cancellations than I can remember everyone in boxing, especially the fans, need a fight like this to come to it’s fruition.

But my short tem memory still works semi-decently and as I recall we were all led to believe that Pacquiao vs. Mayweather was agreed to in principle and was all but done last year. Well, it’s 2010 now and Manny is fighting Joshua Clottey on March 13th because of Maywether’s drug testing demands. So until we see Floyd Jr. standing in a ring in Las Vegas directly across from “Sugar” Shane this fight is not etched in granite….period….end of discussion.

Check out Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news!

By William Trillo
Photo: Ray Flores

The interview starts as Oscar spoke about the failed attempt to get Mayweather and Pacquiao in the ring in March:

Oscar De La Hoya: I am sure people were very disappointed that the fight wasn’t made…we tasted the waters of how big this fight could be. Will this fight happen? ABSOLUTELY! It has to happen, no doubt about it. It’s too big not to happen. We didn’t make the fight for one single reason, and I think we all know what that reason is. But I am very confident it can be made in the near future because…it’s not that boxing needs it, it’s that boxing wants it!

Question: Will you ask Mayweather to drop his demand about Olympic style drug testing?

ODLH: No! Not at all!

Question: Do you think if you keep the demand the fight will happen?

ODLH: I think it has to happen. Because I think what is happening in boxing is people are starting to open their eyes and realize, “Wow, you have two fighters who want to bash each others brains and if one fighter is on something it could be devastating!”  It could even be mortal to a fighter inside that ring so I think what happened is a positive because, I will tell you one thing, it should be mandatory that fighters go through these tests to make sure that they are clean because it’s our life up in the ring and we can’t risk the fact that you are on something. Even if it’s because you drank 10 coffees your performance elevates that much and we cant risk that, we can’t risk anything. This is what we have to look forward to, the world has to wake up and smell the coffee, this is our life.

Question: Are you talking about Championships or all fights?

ODLH: Obviously, eventually we would want it for all fights, but you have to start somewhere and show the world that this is something that has to happen. I think it was the perfect opportunity for Mayweather and Pacquiao to be at the forefront of all that but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

Question: What can you tell us about the talks with Mayweather and Mosley?

ODLH: Oh, it’s going great actually. The fight is in negotiations and various camps are working extremely hard to make this fight happen. Obviously we have May 1^st lined up. It’s all about getting a yes from Mayweather and a yes from Mosley . Tha’t the Super Fight that takes boxing to another level because now you are talking about two All-American fighters who are really going to transcend the sport and take it to another level.

Question: Do  you expect that Mayweather will want Mosley to take the same type of drug tests?

ODLH: I believe that Mosley will raise his hand and say, “Take me to the laboratory!”  That’s what Mosley is going to do and I am going to be the first one to applaud him.  Obviously Mosley has nothing to hide and Mayweather wants to make sure he is not on anything for this event, and I call it an event because it is an awesome fight.

Question: Who do you think will win?

ODLH: I have no idea! I have no idea because Mayweather’s style is difficult but I saw Mosley train 2 weeks ago up in Big Bear and he looked in amazing shape. If there is one guy who can beat Mayweather it’s Mosley and if there is one guy who can beat Mosley it’s Mayweather so it’s going to be one of those fights. It really is a Hagler vs. Hearns  or a Sugar Ray against Hearns.

Question:  After that fight do you think Mayweather vs. Paqcuaio will happen?

ODLH: It has to. It’s a big enough fight for the public to demand it. It has to happen, there is no way it can’t happen. We just have to cross one hurdle, that’s it, one hurdle, and that is Manny taking the test.

Question: So what will change between now and the end of the year?

ODLH: Well hopefully the public will make him change his mind? I mean, why would you not want to earn 40 million dollars. Why would you not want to show the public and end the speculation? Why not show them so you can say, “Hey, what are you talking about? I am a clean athlete!”

Question: Do you think people will still want the fight if Mosley beats Mayweather?

ODLH: I think so because now you are talking about like back in the ‘80’s …Sugar Ray, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, they were all in the mix. If Mosley beats Mayweather then your’e in the mix to have fights amongst those 3 fighters. But obviously first things first for Mayweather and he is going to fight the best no matter what.

Question: So how close is Mayweather vs. Mosley…really?

ODLH: Well that’s negotiations with Richard(Schaefer) and Mayweather’s people, but I have to tell you that negotiations are not too far away. Is that fight going to happen? I am very confident that it will!

Question: Oscar one last thing about the drug testing, and I understand what you are saying, but there is the other side of the coin that says why should I have to do this testing, I have never failed any drug tests in the past? As a former fighter do you understand that stand?

ODLH: Well I do but I don’t because I know where Mayweather is coming from with this. Obviously to show the world that these fighters are clean fighters, that’s point A. But this was the perfect stage to show the world these fighters are willing to take the drug tests because in today’s world, you talk about any sport and you know what’s happening out there…all these athletes are taking steroids! So let’s be in the positive with boxing, let’s stand up and say, “Hey, were clean! We have nothing to hide!

This is not like we are running sprints, we are to fighters in the ring bashing on each other heads in and if you are on something it can be deadly!

Question: Who do you propose is going to pay for these tests?

ODLH: That’s obviously a hurdle we have to go through. It’s a matter of figuring it out. But it’s the promoters who are on the forefront of it, asking for it…it’s a positive change for the sport.

Question: Speaking of cheating, what’s your opinion of Margarito probably getting his license to fight in Texas on March 13^th?

ODLH: I am actually disgusted! I am disgusted with the fact that they are going over California and weasling their way in through Texas to get a license. I am very disgusted by it because I just finished watching a documentary on HBO where……whatever type of cheating you are doing is wrong because you are messing with somebody’s life, and when you are messing with somebody’s life in that ring then you should be banned for life, that’s my opinion.

Question: So he shouldn’t get his license back?

ODLH: I think he shouldn’t because again, you are messing with somebody’s life and that’s just wrong!

Question: What documentary was it?

ODLH: It was on HBO…Luis Resto..yes, yes.

Question: That said then, do you think Shane should have been banned?

ODLH: With Shane, he came forward and we talked about it and he said yes , but when he said he didn’t know at the time whether he took it or not I believe him.  But in that second fight did he fell different to me? He did! I was lucky enough to have enough talent to stay away from him and not get hit by him. With Shane, he said “Yes I did it but this Conti guy is a bad guy!”  But when you are loading your hands and throwing punches…it’s a different level!

Question: Do you believe him (Margarito) when he says he didn’t know about the plaster?

ODLH: I don’t know? Only he knows.

Question: They say a fighter knows what’s going on his hands when they are getting wrapped, what do you say?

ODLH: These are your hands and these are your weapons. If your trainer puts one more wrap on than normal you are going to know it. If Margarito were to come out clean and say. “Look, I did this and I am sorry,” then that’s a different story because he is admitting it and that’s fine. But admit it, come clean, than at least the commission will have that…you know?

Question: Don’t you think he should have come to California to get reinstated?

ODLH: Yes, that’s (going to Texas) wrong.

Question: He claims he didn’t get treated fairly by California the first time and that’s why he went to Texas.

ODLH:  FAIRLY?? If you were getting ready to go load up your hands and possibly, you never know, kill somebody, if I was the commission I would be the one that is very angry! VERY ANGRY! In boxing you never know, this is a tough sport to begin with, and then you have loaded hands? You don’t know what is going to happen. But at least come clean with it…come clean with it! Be a man and stand up and come clean with it.

Question: If he came clean with it would you be more willing to see him step into the ring?

ODLH: Yes! Because now you’re humbling him! Now you’re making him admit, “OK, I did wrong!” But in his mind he is thinking, “I didn’t do nothing wrong! Why should I apologize?” I mean he had loaded hands and he is not admitting it? It’s the wrong thing to do! It’s a matter of admitting it, that you did wrong, then we can take it from there!

By William Trillo

This

Allan Green’s sudden appointment to the Super Six Tourney is somewhat of a letdown in my opinion. Personally I was on board with the proposed Green vs. Sakio Bika fight off with the winner advancing to the Super Six. The winner could have taken a de facto point or 2 into the round robin and quite frankly fighting to get in would have produced a pretty decent scrap. But I guess no one was surprised to learn Bika was the one to start balking which let Green slip through the Super Six crack. Bika has always been more bark than bite and now he can sit back and watch The New Super Five + One  from the comfort of his own couch.

That

Antonio Margarito appears to have kicked trainer Javier Capetillo to the curb and has taken on the well qualified Robert “Grandpa” Garcia to train him if and when he returns to the ring. From what I have heard Capetillo may not be the only familiar face in the Margarito camp that gets told to hit the street. It’s no secret that Margarito is slated to be on the undercard of the Pacquiao vs. Clottey affair in Texas and if Manny and Tony are victorious it is expected that rumblings of a Margarito vs Pacquiao fall match up will be heard. Now, whether or not those rumblings are a smoke screen to deflect into Floyd Mayweather’s path or not is yet to be seen, but you know Top Rank and Bob Arum will be happy to see both Floyd and Golden Boy sit on “pins and needles” for the rest of the year. And yes, the “pins and needles” pun was intended! 

The Other

With the April 17th date all but promised to Lucien Bute and Montreal by HBO it appears Golden Boy has been asked to move the Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones fight back to April 3rd, soon to be known as April Fool’s Weekend. Look, Bute is a legit young star on the rise and he deserves to be treated as such. I am not sure what the agreement is with HBO dates and Golden Boy but in this case the Network has clearly done the right thing.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

By William Trillo
Photo: Chris Farina – Top Rank

In his last fight the game Mtagwa was known as Rogers, but as HBO reported he shall now be referred to as Roger. A very prophetic pre-fight notation as Yuriorkis Gamboa proceeded to kick the S’ out of Mtagwa in a 2 round blowout. During Mtagwa’s entrance to the ring HBO also noted that the date of birth on his birth certificate was incorrect, but that probably meant little to Roger after the fight as he most likely didn’t recall where or when he was born either.

Allow me to be the first to slap myself silly for picking Mtagwa to KO Gamboa. Good grief!

Meanwhile in the Main Event Juan Manuel Lopez jumped up to Featherweight and upended the 126 pound Steve Luevano with an impressive 7th round TKO. Juanma was in control for most of the bout and his victory over Luevano leaves little doubt that he will continue his winning ways at the new higher weight.

Speaking of weight, the Mtagwa vs. Gamboa fight had more than a little weight discrepancy. The tough Mtagwa weighed in at 122.5 and most likely entered the ring at about that same weight. Meanwhile Gamboa tipped the scale at a dried out 126 pounds 24 hours before the fight and looking at the size difference in the ring it’s safe to assume Gamboa was rehydrated to well over 130 pounds when he walloped Roger.

Point being…for those who say Gamboa’s victory was more impressive than Jaunma’s I want the record to be clear that while Gamboa beat a smaller guy who at best is a B+ fighter, Juanma stepped up in weight and not only defeated but stopped the reigning Champion.

NO! I am not making any prediction….not yet anyway’s…..   :/

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.  

By William Trillo

Kassim Ouma got screwed.

Am I really supposed to believe Floyd will now fight Shane?

Who is buying (literally or figuratively) Bernard vs. Roy and why?

DO NOT MISS Shumenov vs. Campillo 2 on January 29th!!

Mtagwa over Gamboa by KO.

Green + Bika = Barnburner

Amir Khan really doesn’t want any part of Marcos Maidana does he?

According to ODLH, Pacquiao hits, A. as hard as Vargas and Mosley  B. not very hard  C. both A & B

March 13th has always belonged to Manny Pacquiao & Top Rank….ALWAYS…

…Pants On The Ground, Pants On The Ground, Looking Like Fools With Your Pants On The Ground!

Anyone second guessing Welterweight Champion Andre Berto’s motives while his country is buried in rubble needs to check themselves….permanently.

Check www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news

By William Trillo

When I read that Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones was going to happen in Las Vegas I couldn’t close my browsers window fast enough. I didn’t need to read any more. How this fight is going to take place after Jones was decimated in one round by Danny Green pretty much left me speechless.

A few hours later I received a voice mail from one of my Los Angeles boxing writing peers, “Why in the F… is Golden Boy going to put Hopkins vs. Jones on April 17 head up against Lucien Bute? What the hell are they thinking,” the irate vice asked?

It was only then that I realized the tragic mistake that might be getting perpetrated on an already ticked off boxing community?

He was right.

According to Montreal press it was being reported that the likely foe for Bute on the same April date is Edison Miranda. That should be good while it lasts.

Having spent some time in Canada with HBO brass I know first hand that the network has HUGE plans for Bute and they plan on making him and the great fight city of Montreal stars in 2010. So why indeed would anyone consider putting up that Hopkins vs Jones PPV debacle up against Bute?

The only logical hope is that Golden Boy may be planning a split feed PPV on HBO and both fights will get aired, although I don’t see much interest in Hopkins vs. Jones. One punch like Hopkins landed on Joe Calzaghe and Jones will be doing the chicken dance a la Zab Judah.

I am going to hold out hope that this is the plan for that April night, otherwise it’s going to be another case of boxing promoters shooting the sport they claim to love directly in the foot.

In other Canadian news my Montreal source informed me that Jean Pascal’s June 19 date with Chad Dawson as his opponent is still not a certainty and Showtime is pitching Antonio Tarver to go up against Pascal on that Montreal summer night.

If it’s Dawson I am Canada bound, if not I will be basking in the Southern California sunshine.

Speaking of Pascal, according to my Montreal guru the Haitian Pascal has heard from his Father from Haiti and he is alive and well, or as well as one can be after living through the turmoil after the devastation in Haiti.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all in the earthquake ravaged country.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

By William Trillo

If Golden Boy Promotions has their way then they will convince Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fill the gaping hole left by Manny Pacquiao with former lightweight Champ Nate Campbell. Be that as it may, I have been told that Floyd is not so keen on the Campbell fight and he has a yet to be named “Mystery Opponent” to spring on Golden Boy and the World soon.

Looking over the lists from all the experts there is a bevy of stars from Kermit Cintron to Devon Alexander suggested as foes for Floyd. Let us take a look at one so called experts “Who Floyd Should Fight” list:

1. Manny Pacquiao
2. Shane Mosley
3. Paul Williams
4. Andre Berto
5. Sergio Martinez
6. Timothy Bradley
7. Kermit Cintron
8. Nate Campbell
9. Devon Alexander
10. Luis Collazo 

Now, if my source is right you can take that list and throw it directly in the garbage!!

Why?

Because according to the proverbial unnamed source the Floyd foe is a MYSTERY which means no one has a clue whom it might be!

It’s time To Tell The Truth…Will the mystery guest sign in please?

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

 By William Trillo
 Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat” Newton
 
 
 
 How many different ways can Floyd Mayweather twist, stretch and bend the truth before all you Kool-Aid drinkers see things for what they truly are? Or are all you just going to keep swallowing that toxic punch that Floyd is serving up until the end of time?
 
 Immediately following his victory over Juan Manuel Marquez Mayweather was asked about fighting Manny Pacquiao. Floyd said Manny is a good fighter but we would have to talk to his management.
 
 A few weeks later Floyd went on ESPN chiding Pacquiao for doing exactly the same thing. Floyd tried to rip Manny for when being asked about a possible fight with Floyd the Filipino replied, “You have to talk to my promoter.” Floyd said Manny needed to say for himself that he wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather.
 
 I guess what is good for the goose Goose isn’t always good for the Gander.
 
 When Manny finally did say he wanted to fight Floyd the fight negotiations seemingly got off to a great start until Floyd came up with his own set of rules outside of any sanctioning body or State Athletic Commission. Basically what Floyd was saying is you take this fight on my terms with my rules or the fight is off.
 
 Mayweather wanted random blood testing because he suggested he had suspicions about Pacquiao’s weight gain although the record clearly shows that Manny and Floyd grew at pretty much the same rate since they both weighed 106 pounds at 16 years of age.
 
 After some compromising on Pacquiao’s part and mediation there was little budging Floyd and the fight went into the ash can.
 
 In a press release concocted to make Floyd look like a hero, the fighter wrote, “I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them. Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight. But it was rejected. I am still proposing the 14-day window but he is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cut-off. The truth is he just doesn’t want to take the tests.”
 
 NEWS FLASH! Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not the Nevada State Athletic Commissioner. He does not make the rules, he does not mandate drug tests to ANYONE!
 
 Floyd then blathered on about how it’s Manny who is denying the people a great fight and we should see through his smokescreens. He also said something about how he still wants this fight to happen so he can whip Pacquiao’s “punk ass.”
 
 Apparently Floyd is sipping a lot of that Kool-Aid himself.
 
 He has never wanted this fight from day one. He knows it is a fight he could EASILY lose. And YES, his undefeated record is worth more than 45 million dollars to him.
 
 Floyd feels that without that ZERO he will lose his identity if not his manhood. These are deep seeded problems that go down deeper than just getting beat up physically. Bob Arum hit the entire problem on the head when he said of Mayweather, He’s a psychological coward who doesn’t want to fight anybody who has a chance of beating him!”
 
 It’s time for everyone close to Floyd to stop enabling him. Mayweather has been coddled for too long now and he believes he is bigger than the sport of boxing. Until Floyd’s family, friends & fans stop giving in to his every whim things will never get any better and scenarios like we have seen play out over the past month will become commonplace in any Mayweather negotiation.
 
 Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

By William Trillo
Photo-Chop: Bret “the Threat” Newton

When is zero greater than 40 million dollars?

When you are Floyd Mayweather Jr. and you don’t want to fight Manny Pacquiao because you fear losing your undefeated record, that’s when.

It’s no secret by now that even a mediator could not save the proposed Pound4Pound mega fight between Manny and Floyd this March.

Of Mayweathers reluctance to compromise on his random drug testing demands Bob Arum said, “I knew this was going to happen. I’ve been saying this for years: He’s a psychological coward who doesn’t want to fight anybody who has a chance of beating him,” Arum said. “He walked away from a rematch with Oscar (De La Hoya) that would have paid him a fortune because De La Hoya held him close in the first fight (in May 2007).”

As of yet there has been no statement from Team Mayweather or Golden Boy but at this point the record pretty much speaks for itself. Mayweather never truly wanted this fight and although Pacquiao did agree to testing outside the normal Nevada State Commission rules, Mayweather refused to budge.

The fight is off “for now” and there is a small chance the fight could be made at a later date.

I will believe it when I see it.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.