Boxing notes: Update on Pacquiao-Mayweather
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Manny Pacquiao has told reporters in the Philippines that he’d be willing to take a blood test up to 14 days before a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., and as the discussions intensify to set up the bout that will likely be the most lucrative in the sport’s history, Pacquiao’s promoter says Las Vegas has emerged as the favorite for the venue.
Promoter Bob Arum said Monday representatives of Las Vegas’ top resorts, most likely those connected to MGM Grand Garden Arena and Wynn Resorts, have informed him ‘it’s not a question’ that Las Vegas will draw several major gamblers during a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight week and would therefore eclipse any live-gate offer that Dallas Cowboys Stadium owner Jerry Jones could offer.
The bout, if agreed upon, would likely be in November.
Arum has previously expressed frustration with MGM/Mirage executives and Mayweather’s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, after Arum first expressed interest in taking the fight to Texas. He then placed Pacquiao’s March fight against Joshua Clottey there, with a crowd of more than 50,000 in attendance.
Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer declined to tour Cowboys Stadium, and Arum threatened never to return to Las Vegas earlier this year when MGM/Mirage didn’t offer to host Pacquiao-Clottey. But all gets forgiven quickly in this sport.
Pacquiao’s movement to 14 days likely still won’t satisfy Mayweather’s camp, which wants the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to preside over random blood and urine testing with a protocol that could include testing in the days before the bout.
Still, in previous negotiations this year that crumbled and forced alternate fights, Pacquiao’s camp would accept a final blood draw no closer than 24 days before the fight. So this is a baby step toward the super fight.
CHAVEZ JR. TO THROW OUT FIRST PITCH: Undefeatedsuper-welterweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will throw out the first pitch before Tuesday night’s Dodgers game versus the St. Louis Cardinals.
The son of Mexico’s famed former champion, Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) is in the midst of training in Hollywood with Freddie Roach in preparation for his June 26 bout against John Duddy in San Antonio, Texas.
JONES SOLID ON HBO: While the premium cable network describes him as a ‘pinch hitter,’ former world champion Roy Jones Jr. did a solid job analyzing Saturday night’s Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman super-welterweight title fight at Yankee Stadium.
Jones, likely headed to retirement after his disappointing April showing against Bernard Hopkins, lent solid insight into the bout, which Cotto won by TKO after Foreman’s knee buckled. Foreman stubbornly fought on through the pain until referee Arthur Mercante Jr. stopped the fight.
Jones was filling in for Emanuel Steward, who trains Cotto and was in the corner Saturday.
‘Everybody was pleased with how Roy did,’ HBO spokesman Ray Stallone said. ‘We’ll need a pinch-hitter for whenever Manny has a fighter. I’m not sure when another assignment is coming for Roy, but we enjoyed having him.’
-- Lance Pugmire
