MANILA, Philippines — With the much anticipated November 13 showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito just around the corner, news of the Filipino seven-division champion’s future bout against unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, Jr. refuses to die down in the loop.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, who has been responsible for making Pacquiao the well-rounded fighter that he is right now, says that the fight between two of the best boxers today — that is, Pacquiao and Mayweather — might not materialize in the future, owing to the American’s reluctance to face top boxers of his class.
“I don’t think it (Pacquiao-Mayweather, Jr. fight) will ever happen; it will be one of those fights we’re never going to see,” Roach said in a recent interview with Graham Bensinger of Yahoo! Sports.
Months of negotiations between Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotions and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, who represented Mayweather, fell off after disputes over random drug testing demands were not settled initially.
Pacquiao eventually agreed to undergo the said tests during the second wave of talks, but the deal seemingly took a wrong turn for the worse when Mayweather announced that he’ll be taking the rest of the year off from boxing as he faces a legal battle in the court. (see also: “More Charges Pressed Against Mayweather, Jr.”)
The undefeated American boxer, who carries a 41-0 professional slate that includes 25 victories via knockouts, is now facing eight charges — two felony coercion and one felony robbery charge along with one misdemeanor domestic battery and three misdemeanor harassment charges —which might translate to more than 30 years in prison if convicted, in relation to his alleged beating of former girlfriend Josie Harris last September.
Roach denied allegations hurled by Mayweather’s camp that no negotiations ever took place to pit him and Pacquiao, claiming that they (Pacquiao’s camp) even agreed to go up the ring first and let Mayweather come in second.
“It would have happened by now. With all that money — $40-million guarantee to both sides plus pay-per-view — come on how can you turn that down?” Roach added. “Boxing’s a sport, but it’s a business also.”
“The world knows Floyd is ducking Manny Pacquiao at this point — I think that’s the bottom line,” Roach affirms. “I think Floyd is contented on fighting mediocre fighters, opponents with styles he knows he can beat.”
HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, meanwhile, remains optimistic on the chances of putting up the megabuck showdown between the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters.
"We had two attempts at Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao and clearly, that was a fight that, if it could have been made, would have hit mainstream America hard. I mean, we were right on the cusp of something really special happening, and I'll tell you that I'm not giving up on it," Greenburg reveals.
However, Greenburg admits that he remains puzzled as to why Mayweather decided to take a rest from boxing at such a very opportune time.
“To this day, I don’t know why he wanted to take some time off,” says Greenburg, who Arum notes as the one who was directly negotiating with Mayweather for the fight with Pacquiao.
“Both times, the fight was very close to being made. And, the second time around, all that I can say is that you would have to ask Floyd Mayweather, Jr. why the fight wasn’t made,” Greenburg tells, as quoted by Satterfield. To this day, I really don’t know why he decided that he didn’t want to fight anymore in the fall.”
Still, Greenburg, just like all the other boxing fans all over the world, is keeping his fingers crossed that they could finalize the deal that will make the decade’s most explosive boxing event a reality.
“I have to remain optimistic… if we can clear those hurdles, I’m pretty optimistic about that fight happening if we get a shot at making it again,” Greenburg says.
source:http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/285646/floyd-ducking-pacquiao-roach
P.S. Dont forget to watch Watch Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13, 2010
