There’s going to be a fight on March 14, 2010 (Manila Time).  Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will stand at one corner.  The question is, who will stand at the other corner?  Will it be Ghanaian Joshua Clottey  or Floyd Mayweather Jr.?  After weeks of negotiation circus, Top Rank’s Bob Arum finally decided to set the WBO welterweight title fight against Clottey.  The negotiation fizzled out between the two dominant American boxing promotional companies when Mayweather Jr’s camp demanded for a rigorous drug testing procedure –random examination like the Olympics that can be really close to the fight night.  

The boxing commission only requires urine testing but the stringent drug testing will call for random blood and urine sampling prior to and after the proposed fight.  Team Pacquiao couldn’t agree to the blood testing 30 days before the match concerned that this might affect Pacman’s performance.  Pacquiao filed a lawsuit against Mayweather’s camp last month, claiming several members had defamed him by intimating he uses performance-enhancing drugs.

The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight was supposed to be one of boxing’s biggest revenue-generating fights.  There’s still time before March to reopen talks but Arum has closed his doors to Mayweather for March, more especially that he feels Mayweather will start the nonsense media talk again about the testing and regulations.

Pacquiao’s new opponent in Clottey is a strong, aggressive African that beat Zab Judah of the United States for the IBF Welterweight title in August 2008 and lost a split decision to Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto last June.

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Top Rank promoter Bob Arum made a trip to the Philippines to talk to Manny Pacquiao, who broke records of being the only champion with 7 world boxing titles under his belt.  After Pacquiao’s clear welterweight win over Miguel Cotto last November, everyone is slating Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the next in line to face the formidable Filipino boxer.

March 13, 2010 is the date they are eyeing.  This can be the biggest boxing event of next year since people have been anticipating this match-up.  Pacquiao is the top pound-for-pound fighter while Mayweather is currently No.2 –although the No.1 position is not new to Mayweather since he was No.1 before he retired in June 2008.

The public has been clamoring for this fight to happen but according to Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s coach, March 13 is too fast a turnaround.  Remember that Pacquiao suffered a broken eardrum during his duel with Cotto.  Roach wants Pacquiao to be in his best possible shape before he steps again in the ring.  Roach is looking into a May 2010 bout but that will coincide with the election month.  Pacquiao already filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) this week to run for Congress.

Ticket for the live fight is expected to cost around $2,500 (P117,500) while the cheapest seats at around $500 (P25,000).

Will Schaefer and Arum get this deal done and set a fight date before the 2^nd half of next year?  The public will have to wait and see.

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The Pacman still has the hand and foot speed and the left big swing to grab another belt –his seventh world title across several weight classes.  He proves once again that he is the best pound for pound fighter of his time.

The MGM Grand was packed to the roof, with seats all sold-out; the anticipating crowd inside the arena watched one of the best matches of Pacquiao as of late (Pacquiao supposedly got a 13 million dollar purse.  Add the endorsements to that and you have the richest Filipino boxer of all time…). 

Round 1 appeared to be Cotto’s round throwing more punches and with them landing on Pacman’s head and body. 

Round 2 was clearly Pacquiao’s round scoring a knockdown from Cotto.  Cotto showed ferocious counterpunches.  The Pacman was too quick to sustain serious damage.  When Pacquiao unleashed a leftie, Cotto fell to the floor, dazed.  Since then Cotto didn’t look like he was the same fighter that stepped in the ring barely 5 minutes that passed.

Rounds 3-7 were all in Pacquiao’s favor marking another knockdown from Cotto in Round 4.  Everyone held their breath predicting that the bout will end soon with Pacquiao unleashing the deadliest that will bring Cotto down for the third time –and for good.

However, the 29-year old underdog from Puerto Rico didn’t relent so easily.  He got pumped up with his second wind and worked the ring, letting Pacquiao run after him.  He released a few jabs and body shots that connected.  It seems like he was back on his strategy of attacking Pacquiao’s body.

Judging from Pacquiao’s cauliflower ear and minor cuts under his eyes along with some bruises, Cotto did land some heavy shots of his own.  It was definitely a toe-to-toe match than Pacquiao versus Hatton or Dela Hoya.  You definitely got your money’s worth watching the fight.

Despite a puffed and brutally bruised face and spitting blood, Cotto stayed in the game, unyielding, hanging on to every round, surviving.  He earned my respect with his athleticism -I heard he’s also loved like Pacquiao because he’s really a very nice guy outside the ring.  Rounds 9 and 10, he looked hopeful to land a devastating left hook that can knock Pacquiao out.  But Pacquiao just wouldn’t have it –and he also didn’t want the fight to go to scorecards even if it was clearly his arm the referee would raise at the end of the day.  He wanted a knockout that his coach, Freddie Roach predicted.

Referee Kenny Bayless stepped in for the boxer’s safety and waved his hands to put an end to the fight after Cotto received a big left to the head and looked like he couldn’t defend himself intelligently. The end came in the 55-second mark of the final round.

Pacquiao has successfully stripped off Cotto his WBO welterweight belt.  Pacquiao’s speed coupled with throwing many punches from different angles is a firepower that is tough to extinguish -plus the fact that he has the unwavering heart of a champion.

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After a soiree of dialogues and press releases, Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao will face Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto in the ring.  The next Pacquiao event is slated on November 14, 2009 and will be held in Las Vegas.

Both fighters have agreed to meet at a catch weight of 145 pounds, which is two below the welterweight limit and five above the light-welterweight maximum limit.

World Boxing Association welterweight titleholder Shane Mosley has publicly showed in the past several weeks his eagerness to fight the boxing superstar, but promoter Bob Arum who handles affairs for both Pacquiao and Cotto, is more keen on setting a match-up between Pacman and Cotto.  Mosley was even willing to fight at 140 lbs and at only 40% revenue cut.  The 10% give on the purse wasn’t too attractive for Pacquiao’s camp and have decided to close the deal with Cotto’s camp.

Expectedly, the Mayweather Jr. and Marquez fight in September 20 (Manila Time) will also be highly anticipated since this is Mayweather’s comeback after his retirement.  The fight was postponed to September (from May) due to Mayweather’s rib injury sustained during training. 

Both Mayweather and Marquez return to the ring in September, while Pacquiao’s rumored 2^nd to the last fight is set 2 months after.  Boxing fans are eager to see if Mayweather will triumph in that meet to face Pacquiao.

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Is the Pacquiao fight in November against Cotto coming around the bend?  Or are there still talks underway for a Pacquiao versus Mosley meet?  Since it’s taking time for Pacquiao’s camp to negotiate the weight issue with possible Puerto Rican foe Miguel Cotto, Mosley is lurking again trying to outbid Cotto’s camp for the fight.

Shane Mosley is yapping again challenging the best pound for pound Filipino boxer and he agrees recently to go down his weight division and fight Pacquiao in the junior welterweight division at 140 pounds.  Previously, he expressed his willingness to go down to 144 lbs just to get the premium fight.  He wants the opportunity to steal the elusive belt from Pacquiao and was even offering Pacman a 60-40 revenue cut in favor of the latter..

“I thought about my legacy and my history,” said Mosley. “I think that me being willing to fight and the only thing that stands between us is 143 or 144 and we’re going back and forth and he’s playing games with Cotto.”

With his current offer at 140 lbs., Mosley said Pacquiao would surely run out of excuses not to fight him.  He is waiting for Pacquiao to say, “yes, let’s go ahead and do it… and let’s fight”.

“There should be no excuses. There should be no hold ups for Bob Arum or nobody.  I’m the only one stepping up to the plate and willing to do something, willing to fight, willing to give the fans what they want… a great fight,” said the welterweight champ.

Meantime, the Marquez and Mayweather fight is scheduled on September 19 in US and September 20, Manila Time.

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