Mike Tyson has thoughts on Mayweather and Pacquiao

Now days it seems that everyone has a take on the stalemate between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
Everyone wants to know what's the hold up that's holding up the biggest fight yet to be made.

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson put in his two cents about Mayweather and Pacquiao and came up with a pretty extreme solution to their problem.

"I would throw them in jail if they didn’t fight. I’d have them arrested," Tyson said. "You can’t do that but that’s what I would try to do. These guys need to get locked up and find a new profession until they get their heads clear."

I think that's a bit much, but at this pace in negotiations that might be what it takes to finally get these two into the ring.

Mayweather says he offered Pacquiao $40 million for fight

There is a lot of talk about how Floyd Mayweather is ducking Manny Pacquiao, but if you ask Mayweather he'll tell you he's done all he could to make it happen in the past few months. Mayweather seems to be over the drug testing flap that initially put the superfight out to pasture. Now it's all about the money.

Mayweather won't give Pacquiao a 50-50 split and told Bob Costas that he offered $40 million to Pacquiao for a May 5th date. Manny balked and now Mayweather will fight Miguel Cotto instead.


"I tried to get it done. I tried to get it done for May 5th," Mayweather told NBC Sports' Bob Costas on "Costas Tonight." 


"It would have been Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, but, I got turned down."


Mayweather explained why he won't give Manny the 50-50 split. The main reason is that he feels Pacquiao's buy rates aren't high enough to garner a split.




"Absolutely not. I'm not giving up the split. I'm not. I can't. I can't afford to," Mayweather said. "I gave this sport my whole life. I have record-breaking numbers that I've done. He has no record-breaking numbers.

"I had done my homework, seen what he was used to making in big fights. I offered him $40 million. I told him I would wire him $20 (million) within 72 hours. I keep 100 percent of the revenue. So why would I even give a guy 50-50? 


"I'm not just the highest paid guy in the sport of boxing. I'm the highest paid athlete."

To Mayweather's credit he's trying to do something, so all the chatter about him ducking Pacquiao should quiet down. I think Mayweather has seen enough of Pacquiao to find some weaknesses to exploit. People tend to forget that Mayweather is a top notch ring general.

If the hold up id over money it would be a shame that it would be the reason why this fight doesn't happen. Is $40 million not enough. Please. You never saw Roberto Duran or Marvin Hagler say that enough wasn't being offered to take a fight.

Hearns says Pacquaio and Mayweather should "go for it"

Back in the day there wasn't a problem to get a match made in the sport of boxing. I grew up in an era of great heavyweights with a stellar middleweight/welterweight class. Fighters had no problem taking on a megafight. You  think Marvin Hagler had any second thoughts about fighting Thomas Hearns? No. It seemed that the only fighter that ducked anyone was Sugar Ray Leonard. That's another story for a different day.

Thomas Hearns fought in what is considered to be a golden age of boxing, especially the welterweight and middleweight classes. So when he hears about all this posturing and bull about why Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao won't fight, he'll say they should just "go for it".

 Hearns said Mayweather and Pacquiao need to “put it all on the line and go for it.”


“We believed in taking on all comers,” Hearns said. “Every fight wasn’t necessarily a good fight, but to us we knew we had to take the fight in order to move on. If we didn’t take a fight, we couldn’t move ahead.


“We knew we had to perform because if we didn’t do that, another man would get up on us. We never wanted anybody to have the upper hand over us. You wanted to have the upper hand.”


In other words, they were willing to take on the best to be the best because that's where the big money was. Hearns believes that Mayweather and Pacquiao will settle their differences, but every time you look up one of the two are fighting someone else. Hearns wouldn't say he's disappointed but would like the two to come together.

It’s not my concern,” he said. 


Hearns endured some tough losses but doesn't look back on his career with any regrets.


“If not, just think how fights would have been different,” he said. “You wouldn’t have had the chance to see all the fights you saw. You wouldn’t have had a chance to have all the thrills from seeing us fight, me and Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran. You would have never seen that.


“I thank God because God allowed that to happen in my time and I fought great fights.”


Too bad enough boxers today don't have the same mindset about taking on all comers.

Chisora slaps Klitschko at weigh in

Heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora is talking a big game before his title fight against champion Vitali Klitschko. First he went Babe Ruth and called his shot by saying he would knock Klitschko out in the eighth round. Now he came up with the bad idea of slapping Klitschko at the weigh in.

That ranks right up there with jumping in shark infested waters. Be ambitious but be smart. Not many think Chisora has a chance but he thinks he has as good a shot as anyone to beat the 40 year old champion.

"Everybody's tired of you and your brother," Chisora said. "There's no excitement in the ring. It's time for the new king. People want a new relief in boxing. Him and his brother have killed the sport I love."


"I'm looking forward to this fight," Chisora said. "And I trained hard. And the way we're going to be fighting will be a hundred miles an hour from the first round to round eight, which I promise you fans that he's going down on."


"Right now, I can smell fear in this corner right now. If you can't smell it, I can. You know, right here I smell a bit of fear, to the opposite side, because they know they're about to lose something massive," Chisora said as he pointed at Klitschko earlier this week.


"I'm physically, emotionally, mentally looking forward to this fight because it's going to be one heck of a fight, I tell you that now."


After the pimp slap by Chisora, Vitali promised that he'll be the one giving the beating on Saturday.


"I am going to hit back on Saturday," the Ukrainian champion said. "He will get his beating."


"Chisora can hit, and I do, too. So I don't see it going 12 rounds," Klitschko said.


 "I'm really looking forward to teaching this young gentleman a lesson," the champion said. "He is from Great Britain, but he's lacking appropriate manners."


It sounds like Chisora is looking to make this a brawl. I don't know if he wants to do that with Klitschko, who is a skilled ring technician. Chisora might get his shots in but I see another Klitschko stoppage in the seventh round.

Maybe after this Chisora will remember he's Dereck Chisora and not Muhammad Ali.

Mayweather Issues A Twitter Challenge To Pacquiao

The world has been waiting for a Floyd Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao showdown for a few years now. I still think it won't happen until I see both of them touching gloves in the ring. This is the fight boxing needs to gain interest that it's lost over the past decade. There are a number of reasons, but the main reason is the best fighters never fight each other.

Once again Floyd Mayweather has issued a challenge to Manny Pacquiao through Twitter. How else would he do it in today's day and age. It might be for show to see if Pacquiao will take the challenge.

This challenge would be more believable if he came on tv and threw down the gauntlet. Even though Mayweather's sentence was pushed back, is scheduled to fight on May 5, and needs an opponent I have a hard time seeing this fight happen.

Snooki To Get Into The Boxing Business

Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has turned out to be a pretty savvy businesswoman. I'm not calling her Bill Gates smart, it's just that she's turned her reality TV role into business ventures outside of television.

Her next venture is Team Snooki. That is her boxing team that will feature the Hyland brothers. Three Irish brothers that are champions in their weight classes. I don't know which division or belts they hold, but that's what I'm led to believe.  

Patrick “Pajo”, Eddie and Paul Hyland will headline a night of boxing at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

“We are incredibly excited to introduce The Hyland Brothers and Team Snooki Boxing. We’ve seen what these boys can do, and expect nothing less than continued success and ‘living up to the hype’ for each of them here in the States,” Vice President of Final Round Promotions Mike Pascale said in a press release.

I guess the Snooki brand has reached the world of sports.









     

Kimbo Slice Wins By KO In His First Boxing Match

Kimbo Slice has gone from a YouTube backyard brawling sensation to a MMA washout to boxer. For Slice's sake (Kevin Ferguson) he better hope this foray into a legitimate sport goes a lot better than his last one.

Well Slice/Ferguson has gotten off to a good start with a win over James Wade by knockout. Wade was not an impressive opponent, he came in at 0-1 with a loss by KO. But remember, Slice's first MMA fight was against a so-called tomato can and he was taken to the limit in his first bout.  



Just knowing that Slice is in the boxing game might get some of the diehards to watch. I doubt it, but stranger things have happened. As you can see he has a long way to go to be legitimized as a contender.

Michael Irvin: Mayweather Making The Brothers Look Bad

Everyone wants to see a Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather showdown. And ask anyone that Mayweather is ducking Pacquiao and you'll get an emphatic yes from some. That would include NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin.

Irvin is so disenchanted by the fight being put off for various reasons, that he had something to say about it. This might actually make Mayweather take the fight if you ask me.

"I like both of them but I’m telling you right now, I wish Mayweather would go ahead and fight the guy. It makes brothers look bad with all of this running."




After their respective fights against Victor Ortiz and Juan Manuel Marquez, if they both win of course, many would like to finally see them get it on. Boxing and the boxing fans that remain need this fight. The sport is dying a slow death and a Pacquiao/Mayweather bout would give it the shot in the arm that it desperately needs.  

Ray Edwards Has His Next Fight Canceled

Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards' boxing career might be brief. His next fight that was set for June 24 against Larry Butler was canceled because Butler backed out for reasons unknown. He might have gotten a peek of Edwards' last fight and changed his mind.

Edwards and Butler both won their respective first pro fights on May 20. Edwards is now trying to line up a fight in late July or early August, but that might not matter if the NFL lockout comes to an end. That's only if he signs somewhere or returns to Minnesota.

Edwards says that he doesn't want to return to Minnesota, unless he gets a nice deal because money talks. He currently gets less than his backup (Brian Robison).

A Full Moon

Saturday night Evander Holyfield will be taking on Danish heavyweight Brian Nielsen in Germany. The same night Manny Pacquiao will be taking on Shane Mosley. Guess which fight most will be watching.

There's nothing good coming out of that fight between the two aging fighters that probably shouldn't be setting foot in any kind of ring. What I call a stunt to try to sell the fight Nielsen thought it would be a good idea to 'moon' the audience at the weigh-in. I guess any interest in this fight is good since no one really cares about it. You know the question, "If a tree falls in a forest?"     

That's probably the last we'll hear anything about this fight.

Floyd Mayweather Has Too Much Time On His Hands

Floyd Mayweather has entirely too much time on his hands. Why do I say that? Because instead of trying to make a fight with one of the up and comers in the welterweight division or trying to negotiate a fight with Manny Pacquiao, he makes videos detailing his excessive wealth.



Come on Floyd concentrate your efforts to being the best in the ring and not making videos. If you just want to go out on top, just say so. I, for one, will understand. It looks like Mayweather is on track to be one of those boxers that will "retire" and keep coming back.  
 

Quote Of The Week: Don King

After seeing this I had to give this week's award to Don King.

"I have a PhD in Caucasianism."

He also says he graduated from the university of the ghetto the school of hardknocks and broken dreams and describes his political affiliation as "republicrat."

Don King Puts $1 Million On Mayorga vs. Cotto

Well known boxing promoter Don King has been known to bet on his fighters as well as the opponent. Saturday night one of his fighters, Ricardo Mayorga, will be taking on Miguel Cotto, for Cotto's super welterweight title.

The fight should be an entertaining one with Mayorga's wild, drunken style against Cotto's natural boxing skills that have been honed by legendary trainer Emanuel Steward.

With this being a Don King promotion, along with rival promoter Bob Arum, that should add to the entertainment factor. Add this in also. King has bet $1 million dollars on Mayorga. Now maybe King knows something we the public don't know or he's just smarter than us. I think he would claim the latter. Mayorga is an 8-1 underdog and even though he has fought with the best, he's slowing down. If I'm King I would bet a few million on Cotto to cover possible losses. King is a sly fox so you never know what can happen.  

Quote Of The Week: David Haye

The Wladmir Klitschko-David Haye fight has finally been finalized after a few years of trash talk between both fighters. Klitschko just pulled out of a fight with Derek Chisora, so let's hope that there are no injuries that derail the fight. Also we'll finally be able to see if Haye can back up all his woofing he's been doing since joining the heavyweight division.

Haye provided the press with this nice statement when speaking on the fight finally being made.

“Klitschko is ready made for me. I eat tall, chinny Eastern European heavyweights for breakfast. Wladimir is a fighter that doesn’t like to fight,” said Haye. 

I do believe Wladmir can be had. Whether Haye is the one able to pull it off remains to be seen. We'll finally be able to see the end result in late June or early July. 

Shane Mosley Feels He's Doing Mayweather's Dirty Work

While Shane Mosley was out doing some promotional work for his upcoming fight with Manny Pacquiao, Mosley said he felt he was doing Floyd Mayweather's 'dirty work' for fighting Pacquiao. I guess you can count Mosley among many that feel Mayweather is dodging Pacquiao.

"I don't know what to make of Floyd not fighting this fight. It's mind-boggling to me," said Mosley, who lost a lopsided decision to the unbeaten Mayweather last year. "It's like I said on Twitter, it feels like I'm doing Floyd's dirty work."


I'm no boxing expert, but I've seen enough of Mosley to know that he isn't doing anyone's dirty work. I can understand how he feels, since Mayweather has ducked the issue of facing Manny in the past. Mosley is taking this fight because he feels he can actually win the fight. Mosley has never shied away from fighting the best in his career. He's had his share of losses, but also has beaten some of the best in his career. He lobbied promoter Bob Arum to take this fight. So I don't want to hear about him fighting somone else's battles. I don't see that being the case. I would hate to see him be totally outmatched in this fight, which many think he will be.

Mosley thinks Mayweather hasn't fought Pacquiao because he's a lefty and Mayweather has had trouble in the past against southpaws. As time goes on I'm starting to think Mayweather really doesn't want this fight. First there was the request for Olympic style drug testing. Now there are Mayweather's legal problems that are threatning to derail the fight altogether.

Mayweather's legal problems are far different from Mike Tyson's, but it does mirror the way how Tyson went in the tank before fighting Evander Holyfield. Remember that fight was going to be made before Tyson went to prison. The fight hd to be made after Tyson's prison stint and he was never the same fighter. I'm not saying that's how Mayweather's career will go but at the rate he's going he may never see the inside of a ring again.

Which will lead others to say they're doing his 'dirty work'.

Fernando Vargas To Attempt A Comeback

Fernando Vargas is the latest boxer to attempt a comeback after a three year layoff. Personally I think he should stay retired. The motivation is unknown, although there is plenty of suspicion that he's fighting for the money. Translation, he's broke. I won't go that far because I don't know his situation, it's just what I've read on lots of message boards and you take with a grain of salt.

I believe this is a bad move. He thinks it's a good one. He still feels he can compete at a championship level and eventually win another world title. Of course that remains to be seen. He'll be facing Henry Buchanan on April 16 in Las Vegas. I don't know much about Buchanan (20-2, 13 KO's), except that he went the distance with titlist Andre Ward. I don't think that's going to be much of a measuring stick if he expects to be in the title mix. The only thing that'll be able to tell is if he still has any skills left after three years. If he looks good and stops Buchanan or at least is dominant he might can get a fight against a name opponent that can boost him back into contention. If not, it'll be a long climb back and he'll be a name fighter that gets beat by up and comers.

Vargas has been training with Floyd Mayweather Sr. lately and is down to 187 pounds after hitting 270 on the scales. He fought mostly at 154 pounds and that seemed to be a problem since he always had trouble making weight. That was something he cited in losses to Shane Mosley and Oscar De La  Hoya and was a reason he left the fight game.

"I was tired of these guys never fighting me unless it was at 154," Vargas said. "Oscar [De La Hoya], Shane [Mosley] -- none of them would fight me if it wasn't at 154. I was always crunching down my body and not eating."


Vargas (26-5, 22 KO's) will act as his own promoter and will only book fights and 168 pounds. Knowing about his weight problems, he'd be better off moving up to light heavyweight. Vargas was an entertaining fighter, but didn't know when to back away from a punch. I hope for the best for him but I think it's best he stayed in retirement. Vargas lost most of his fights in entertaining but brutal fashion. After a three year layoff he'll have to shake off a lot of rust and that could possibly lead to another bad loss for Vargas that could finish him for good.

Quote Of The Week: Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Kltischko on David Haye, who talks a good fight but dodges a Klitschko at every turn.

"David Haye is a piece of sh$$". Fill in the blanks on that one.

Tarver Throws Out A Challenge To Haye

Apparently the Klitschko brothers aren't the only ones that want a piece of WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. That is a fight that could possibly replace the mandatory defense against Russian heavyweight Ruslan Chagaev.

Tarver who has one fight in the heavyweight division, a win over Nagy Aguilera says he's looking to "chop down a giant". Mighty bold words for a bulked up light heavyweight. Tarver would want the fight to be in the U.S., but it seems that Haye is reluctant to fight outside of England. I feel Tarver would take the fight anywhere, but knows he wouldn't get a fair shake in foreign territory. Few fighters ever do. Haye's mandatory defense is on shaky ground since Chagaev has Hepatitis B and isn't permitted to fight in England.

Haye, who says he will retire in October, is looking for a marquee fight, since he dodges the Klitschko's like a crack addict avoids rehab. Haye talks a good game but is quick to back down when it comes down to actual fighting.

@mrdavidhaye David Haye it's Antonio Tarver I hear you got some free time on your hand since you and Wladimir Klitschko had to push back. How about you and I get a date around April you can call it your US debut, it's the biggest fight you can make that name don't end in Klitschko...  That's what Tarver sent to Haye via Twitter.

@AntonioTarver Thanks for offer. I've a Mandatory to K.O.(May-June) before I'm free for any Unification/Voluntary. Keep doin ya thang! ;-) ... Was Haye's response.

A unification bout in serious doubt. Hey I'm a poet! Anyways, Haye needs to step up and stop dodging anyone who throws a challenge his way. All talk and no action seems to be Haye's m.o.

Ronald Hearns To Get A Title Shot

Ronald Hearns, the son of legendary Thomas "Hitman" Hearns will get a shot at the middleweight championship that his father held 23 years ago. He'll have to go a long way to do it. Hearns will be fighting WBA champion Felix Sturm in his backyard in Germany on February 19. This will be Hearns' toughest test by far. Sturm has held the title since 2007 and has one of the best chins out there. And for those that forget, there were others who felt Sturm was robbed against Oscar De La Hoya back in 2004.

Even though Hearns boasts an impressive record with 20 knockouts in his 27 fights (26-1), but Hearns is not ranked in the WBA top 15 and hasn't beaten anyone of note in his career. Many feel that Sturm is taking this fight so he doesn't have to face the top middleweights in the game (Sergio Martinez,Paul Williams). It's what you would call a safe fight. On his home turf against an unheralded opponent.

It's a big opportunity for Hearns. It'll be tough but he does have a puncher's chance to win. Only if he had Manny Steward in his corner and can avoid getting hit with a big shot, I'd have a lot more confidence in Hearns to go into enemy territory to come out with a win. In his only loss to Harry Joe Yorgey he was knocked out in the ninth round. Even though he exhibits his dad's punching power, he also has his suspect chin. I wish the best of luck to Ronald.

An All Sports Wish List

In the spirit of Christmas, this is what I think what players, coaches, teams, and organizations will be wishing for under the Christmas tree.

Another year for Michigan's Rich Rodriguez so he can finally get some progress going in Ann Arbor. But they still won't call off the dogs.

For Greg Robinson, another job where he can run his own scheme and not have one forced upon him where he couldn't succeed.

For Jim Leyland, another bat in the lineup that can go for .280, 20 homers and 80 rbi's. Also another starter that can win 10-15 games and eat some innings. Brad Penny anyone?

For Joe Dumars, a new owner so he can take the handcuffs off and rebuild the Pistons and Jared Sullinger

For the Detroit Lions, a referee that can interpret the rules properly.

For North Carolina's Butch Davis, a wish for the NCAA to stop digging up more allegations against his program.

For Tom Izzo and Michigan State, a win against an elite, top level opponent.

For John Beilein and Michigan, a win over Michigan State and to truly close the gap on the Spartans.

For Houston Cougars basketball, a return to their glory years.

For John Pelphrey, another year so he can see his best recruiting class pay off.

For Virginia Tech basketball, an NCAA bid.

For the Detroit Red Wings, an injury free season.

For the San Jose Sharks, to breakthrough and win a Stanley Cup

For the Miami Heat, a strong bench to complement Miami Thrice

For Carmelo Anthony, a home in New York City

For the New York Yankees, another top shelf pitcher