Grand Opening/Grand Closing: Pacquiao Rebuffs De La Hoya Offer

Not even a full week after announcing that negotiations had begun, Top Rank head Bob Arum has confirmed that his client Manny Pacquiao has declined to accept Oscar De La Hoya’s proposal for a December superfight.

The stalling point was De La Hoya’s proposed 70-30 revenue split in his favor. Floyd Mayweather accepted a similar deal last year, and received a purse of $20 million after PP V sales were counted.

“Oscar wanted 70-30 and Richard (Shaefer, Golden Boy CEO) and I figured that there would be room for movement. Oscar was supposed to come in [to Los Angeles] this week to meet with Richard in person, but he didn’t make it and had to do it on the telephone,” Arum explained to ESPN. “Oscar was adamant about it being 70-30 or no deal. Richard told me that and then I transmitted it to Pacquiao and his people in the Philippines. They told me that there was no deal and to look to make another fight.”



Golden Boy CEO Richard Shaefer was shocked at Pacquiao’s refusal, and made it clear he felt the lightweight star did not have a clear grasp of how much money he’s turning down.

“Pacquiao has an adviser and lawyer [Franklin “Jeng Gacal] who basically is caught up in percentages. But if you go buy a car or a house or food do you pay in percentages or in money?” Shaefer reasoned. “The answer is you pay in currency not percentages. I hope this has been properly explained to Manny.”

With the fight off the table for now, De La Hoya has turned attention to an underwhelming final bout against 154 pound title holder Sergio Mora. Mora is coming off an upset win against Vernon Forrest, and the Latin Snake will have to repeat the feat next month to secure the December 6 date against the Golden Boy.

Pacquiao is now working towards securing a fight with junior lightweight Humberto Soto, who would move up to 135 for the bout.

It’s interesting to note that Mayweather attempted the same hardball negotiations with Oscar, but after one week relented when De La Hoya gave him the same “take it or leave it” demand Pacquiao now has.

It turned out to be a wise decision for Floyd, as he became a mainstream star and went on to have the highest grossing year of his professional career ($50 million including the Hatton fight).

Pacquiao’s situation mirrors Floyd as he is now the pound for pound number one fighter in the sport. But he lacks the popularity Mayweather had going into his bout with Oscar in 2007. Pacquiao’s last PPV with David Diaz fell short of 200,000 buys, while Floyd was able to do over 300,000 with Carlos Baldomir of all people.

Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach is attempting to get in contact with Manny, as he also feels a mistake is being made in rejecting this bout.

And with how limited De La Hoya looked in his last bout against Stevie Forbes, Pacquiao should definitely reconsider this superfight that will make him at least $15million, besting his previous career-high payday of $5 million.


Poll Answers

Calzaghe Claims He Will Retire After Jones Fight, Dismisses Pavlik

At a recent media conference super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe confirmed that he will be retiring after his November 8 superfight with Roy Jones, Jr.

“It’s a massive fight and it will be my last,” Calzaghe explained. “I’ve known for awhile when I wanted to go out and as long as I put on a great performance this is my time.”

Calzaghe went on the offensive against middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, who last week accused the Welshman of ducking a potential fight.

“We actually tried to get Pavlik after the Jeff Lacy fight and he declined,” Calzaghe detailed to Wales Online. “We asked him again after he won the middleweight title and he declined again. So it’s funny how people come knocking on your door when you decide to fight someone else. I think he is just trying to get publicity off the back of me which is something lots of fighters try to do.”

Pavlik will be facing Bernard Hopkins in October, and currently sports an undefeated pro record with two wins over Jermain Taylor. Calzaghe remains unimpressed and defends his choice of facing a faded Jones.



“You can’t even speak of him (Pavlik) as a great fighter yet because to be one you have to consistently be in the big fights. Roy Jones is a legend, that’s the difference,” Calzaghe reasoned. “You’re not fighting a promising champion, you are fighting a legend and that’s what it’s all about.”

Even though Calzaghe is obviously facing Jones for the big payday, you cannot ignore his record over the past two years.

He’s faced the two most dangerous young challengers to his super-middleweight throne (Lacy, Kessler) and defeated both soundly. From there, he moved up in weight and defeated the linear light-heavyweight champion.

I hope he decides to go for a triple crown and defeat Pavlik, but if he doesn’t Calzaghe has more than proved himself to critics who derided him as a protected champion.

Margarito Camp Lashes Out at De La Hoya and Williams



After a week of seeing his name dragged through the mud, welterweight champion Antonio Margarito is furious at Oscar De La Hoya and Paul Williams for what he feels are petty games being played by his rivals.

Since his spectacular win against Miguel Cotto last month, Margarito has seen De La Hoya dismiss him as a potential opponent for his final December 6 bout.

Sure that Cotto would emerge victorious; Oscar expressed his desire to face the winner of Cotto-Magarito. But now with Margarito coming out the victor, De La Hoya stated on ESPN radio that Margarito has unfinished business with Paul Williams and doesn’t deserve a shot. The Golden Boy went on to say that Margarito was being “disrespectful” to Paul Williams by even proposing a bout with him.

Margarito of course is not pleased with De La Hoya’s comments.

“Oscar needs to stop disrespecting the boxing fans,” a fuming Margarito told boxingscene.com. “The fans are demanding this fight to take place. The fans are the ones who have made him who he is.”

Margarito went on to explain he desire for this fight goes back years to a promise De La Hoya when he served as the Golden Boy’s sparring partner.

“I have known Oscar for years. I was his sparring partner, I helped him prepare for fights,” Margarito revealed. “During that time I would ask Oscar if he would ever give me the opportunity to fight him. He said yes, but only if and when I won a title. Well I won a title. I saw him at a press conference and again I asked him when would he give me an opportunity , he then smiled at me and told the media that I was a possibility, but a couple days later he said he could make more money fighting someone else. He said no one knew who I was and there was no demand for that fight.”

Regarding Paul Williams, who defeated Margarito in 2007, Margarito’s manager Sergio Diaz countered claims that the Tijuana Tornado is ducking a rematch.

“Mr. Goossen (Paul Williams’ manager) flies Williams to LA, invites media to lunch and begins to call out Antonio because Paul just beat the fighter (Carlos Quintana) who gave him a beating back in February,” Diaz explains. “If anything, Mr. Goossen and Paul should be thanking Top Rank and Antonio for taking the Cintron bout. It left the door open to rematch Quintana. They weren’t saying we were making the wrong decision back in February. They weren’t calling Antonio out after he defeated Cintron. They had their own agenda and it did not include Antonio. Now that Antonio beat Cotto and Paul regained the title he should of never lost to begin with, Mr. Goossen and Paul are making their demands. Paul needs to pressure his promoter to keep him busy. What Oscar needs to do is sit down and think about who is disrespecting who.”

It’s only been a few weeks, but already the bickering back and forth is getting tired. For the sake of the sport, I hope De La Hoya picks a dance partner soon to end all this nonsense. As long as the Golden Boy is dangling 8 figure paydays out there, the best fighters from 140 through 154 pounds will have their attention focused not on fighting the best in their respective divisions, but seeking any way possible to land a fight with a semi-retired, faded cash cow in Oscar De La Hoya.

It’s quite ironic that Paul Williams is going after Margarito for the same thing Antonio slammed Mayweather for doing, which is chasing De La Hoya over top challengers in their division.




Poll Answers

Results from Telefutura and ESPN Friday Night Fights

In another bizarre ESPN night at the fights (August 15), former promising prospect Anthony Thompson (23-3, 17 KOs) was screwed out of a victory when a headbutt was ruled a punch, resulting in a TKO win for his opponent Ishmail Arvin (15-14, 7 KOs).

Thompson was in firm command of the junior middleweight bout, scoring two knockdowns before a clash of heads halted the fight in the sixth round.

Even though the referee and commission viewed clear ESPN footage showing the bad cut was the result of a headbutt, the ref chose to award an undeserved TKO victory to Arvin.

You can expect that Thompson will dispute the decision, and rightly so.

Returning from a near two year layoff, former 130 pound champ Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez won a close split decision over unheralded Hector Alatorre.

Fighting at lightweight, Hernandez outworked Alatorre but took a physical beating throughout the contest.

The final scores read 97-93, 96-94, and 93-97 for Hernandez, who improves to 43-7-1, 24 KOs. Hector Alatorre falls to 15-5, 5 KOs.

For those who like trivia, Hernandez faced a young Floyd Mayweather back in 2001 in a competitive bout. Mayweather won a clear unanimous decision but suffered his first knockdown after injuring his hand.

Throwback Fighter of the Week: “Irish” Jerry Quarry



Not only did heavyweight contender Jerry Quarry possess the raw aura of a fighter, but his tenacious spirit helped make the 1970s the most talented and competitive era in heavyweight boxing history.

Starting his career in the mid 60s, Quarry ran through mid-level competition until he was out-boxed by slickster Eddie Machen in 1966.

Learning from that fight, he went on to battle former champ Floyd Patterson to a draw in a bout where both men hit the canvas. Despite this, many still felt Quarry did enough to get the nod.

In the rematch, Quarry again dropped Patterson and this time secured a close majority decision.

He got his first shot at the title in the WBA title tournament, created to crown a new champion in the wake of Muhammad Ali’s suspension.

After destroying promising contender Thad Spencer, Quarry was outpointed in the semis by Jimmy Ellis.

In 1969, he met a young Joe Frazier in what RING magazine crowned as the fight of the year. There was no give in Quarry that night, as he battled Frazier tooth and nail on the inside. However, a nasty cut caused the bout to be stopped after round 7.

After another disappointing KO loss to iron-chinned George Chuvalo, Quarry rebounded with a knockout of undefeated power-puncher Mac Foster in 1970.

The momentum was short-lived, as a returning Muhammad Ali easily cut up and dispatched Quarry in three in October 1970.

Quarry would fare no better in the 1972 rematch, where Ali toyed with him in route to an 8th round TKO.

Undeterred, Quarry retained his top 10 ranking by posting impressive wins over undefeated Ron Lyle and Earnie Shavers in 1973.

1974 proved painful as Joe Frazier gave Quarry a frightful beating over 5 rounds in a rematch.

The following year, a now declining Quarry was beat worse by Ken Norton for another 5th round stoppage.

Done as a top flight contender, Quarry continued fighting sporadically over the next 17 years, which resulted in him suffering from Pugilistic Dementia. He died in 1999 at the age of 53.

The Jerry Quarry Foundation for Pugilistic Dementia was set up and can be viewed at this website http://www.jerryquarry.com/

Inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995, “Irish” Jerry Quarry’s final record stands at 53-9-4, 32 KOs.

Jerry Quarry Chronicles, Part 1

Jerry Quarry Chronicles, Part 2

Quarry vs. Shavers

Quarry vs. Foster

Quarry-Frazier I