PACQUIAO, MAYWEATHER BOTH PREFER LAS VEGAS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 18 Dec 2009
If the fighters have their way – and they normally do – the planned March 13 super-fight between the reigning and the past pound-for-pound kings Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz has told us that the seven division world champion who is coming off a smashing twelfth round TKO victory over WBO champion Miguel Cotto last was dead set against fighting at the Staples Center which was originally pushed by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer who is negotiating on behalf of the Mayweather camp.
While Jerry Jones who owns the new state-of-the-art $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys stadium has offered a $25 million guarantee which Top Rank promoter Bob Arum believes he has a duty to consider since it would mean more money for his fighter, both fighters have indicated a preference for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The Mayweather camp not only prefers the venue they are, like Team Pacquiao, comfortable with the Nevada State Athletic Commission who will appoint the officials for the fight.
In the meantime Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin “Jeng” Gacal told us that while “it is possible to file a case” against Floyd Mayweather Sr for his unsubstantiated allegations that Pacquiao has been on performance-enhancing drugs, Pacquiao has told him he “doesn’t want to glorify” the statements of Mayweather’s father even as he supported condition expert Alex Ariza’s stand that perhaps Floyd Mayweather Sr should have his head examined first.
While side issues keep cropping up such as questions on the weight, the demand by Mayweather’s camp for Olympic-style drug testing and the claim by Arum that the Mayweather people bring up an issue a day, Mayweather’s adviser Leonard Ellerbe has told respected boxing writer David Mayo of the Grand Rapids that “both sides are working very hard to get it (the fght) done” even as he branded as “absolutely absurd” an internet report about a disagreement over the weight likely to derail the fight.
Arum who is in Youngstown, Ohio for the title defense of Kelly Pavlik told us earlier he was hopeful that something definite may emerge over the weekend.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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