Can Pacquiao vs. Margarito meet Arum’s prediction of 1.3 million pay per views?

Staying true to the long storied tradition of promoters making very optimistic predictions when it comes to the amount of pay per views that their events will sell, Bob Arum earlier this week made a bold prediction regarding the November junior middleweight showdown between Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito.

Speaking to the Manila Bulletin, Arum stated that he is expecting pay per view sales of well over 1.3 million, which is the amount that Pacquiao sold against Oscar De La Hoya.

Obviously Arum’s predictions before an event are always going to be very high, and few industry insiders initially had the bout selling much over a million. Mainly because the main event isn’t expected to be a close one and that Margarito’s reputation with some of the fans is still in question.

Since the bout was announced though, Margarito has seemingly gained back a lot of the support that he lost due to his suspension, and helped by the big size difference many are now predicting a close fight that could go either way.

However the odds on anything except a knockout win for Pacquiao are growing longer, meaning that despite glowing reports from Margarito’s camp and mixed ones from Pacquiao’s, the big money is still being laid down on the Filipino. This in turn could mean either that the public won’t be as interested, because they see the fight as having only one winner, or that a lot of people are putting money down and won’t want to miss it.

Conversely the undercard of the event is packing a lot more drawing power than any of Pacquiao’s recent fights, featuring the likes of Mike Jones, Kelly Pavlik and Guillermo Rigondeux, as well as several of Pacquiao’s countrymen. Actually putting on an undercard worth watching is a big step in the right direction that both Golden Boy and Top Rank have recently taken, and it can only increase the pay per view sales in this case.

Pacquiao’s March fight against little known Joshua Clottey sold possibly a lot better than expected at 700k, given that the odds were very long and that Clottey has a fairly small fan base. Part of that success though might have been from the novelty of staging a fight at the Cowboys stadium rather than the fight itself.

Against Miguel Cotto, Pacquiao achieved sales of 1.2 million, and the odds for the fight were much closer. Comparatively Margarito has a bigger fan base than Clottey, and is a more interesting character than Cotto, who despite his skill in the ring often comes across as rather flat in hyping up his fights.

Those being the current circumstances, it’s difficult to say for sure just how well the fight will sell, but there is a growing feeling that the jump from welterweight to junior middleweight might be a lot more difficult for Pacquiao than the climb to welterweight was.

If that idea continues to spread, then the sales could well beat those that he achieved with De La Hoya, and if that happens, undoubtedly Pacquiao and Arum will both have an eye on beating the 1.4 million buys Golden Boy achieved with Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley.

Rob Grant, Denver: “Arum is talking straight crap as usual, the fight will be lucky to do more than a million. Margarito is nearly shot and most of the U.S fans don’t like him cos he cheated”

Douggie Taylor, Pitt: “I can see it doing more than the Cotto fight, maybe not as much as Floyd and Shane though”

Pacquiao-Margarito: Arum Confident it Does Big Business

Bubbly Bob Arum, jetting Thursday from the Italian Riviera back to Las Vegas, said Wednesday the Antonio Margarito-Manny Pacquiao fight to be held Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tx., will draw more than 70,000 paying fans.

Some cynics might think that the North Texas area might not be as receptive as it turned out to be on March 13, when 51,000 showed up at the sparkling football playpen which houses Jerry Jones’ NFL Cowboys team to watch Pacman trying to entice Johsua Clottey into an actual fight.

And some may think that genial host Jones might not have the same enthusiasm as he did when he forked over $7 million for Clottey-Pacman, especially since the November date is in the middle of football season.

Nay, nay, sayeth Arum, who is hoping for the official OK on Margarito’s boxing license application on Friday.

“If anything, Jerry is even more enthusiastic. Look, we got a huge crowd with Clottey, a fighter nobody in North Texas knew anything about. Now we’ve got a Mexican fighter in an area with a big Mexican population. I think we can get north of 70,000 fans.

“Having this fight during football season also opens up all the marketing and other channels Jerry uses for the Cowboys, they will all be helping us with the promotion.”

Las Vegan Arum said he feels “bad” that the gambling city will not host a Pacqiauo bout this calendar year, mainly due to the Margarito licensing issues.

“I do feel bad, that is where I live. Las Vegas lives off gaming and a big Manny fight would have been a good financial injection for everyone. There’s nothing like a big fight in Vegas but, at the same, I couldn’t be more excited about going back to Jerry and to his stadium.”

Pacquiao vs Margarito can draw 70,000 fans at Dallas

Promoter In an article at the Dallas news, Arum says “I think we could look to do 70,000 people. [Joshua] Clottey had no fan base. Margarito has a huge fan base of Mexican-Americans.” I don’t know about that. I agree with Arum about Clottey having no fan base, which makes it seem all the crazier that Arum selected Clottey as Pacquiao’s last opponent last March rather than opting to fight a much more popular fighter than him. But that’s beside the point. I think Arum has picked another Clottey-type opponent with 32-year-old Margarito, a fighter who still doesn’t even have a boxing license to fight in the United States.

That may or may not be taken care of by the Texas Athletic Commission now that Margarito has applied to them. But as far as numbers go, I really don’t see this as an attractive fight that boxing fans will be willing to travel great distances to see. Unless Arum is expecting to pull in 50,000 to 60,000 Mexican fans from the nearby area just to see Margarito fight, I think the fight may end up doing worse than the Clottey fight. At the most, I think it might bring in 50,000 but that would take a ton of marketing to make it possible.

Things aren’t helped that Margarito still doesn’t have his boxing license and Arum can’t even begin to market the fight until that happens. Margarito has been turned down by the California and Nevada Athletic Commissions already in his attempt to get a boxing license, but Arum seems to think that the Texas will grant him his license.

One advantage that Margarito has is there won’t be a meeting between him and the Commission. They won’t grill him, in other words. In Texas, the Commission doesn’t meet with the fighters and just decide on the application without any face to face meeting. That’s obviously a good thing for Margarito, because sometimes when you get a group of people together, they can gang up on a person and work him over.

But if Margarito does get his license to fight in Texas, I still have my doubts about whether Arum made the right decision in picking Margarito out as Pacquiao’s next opponent rather than a more popular fighter. Arum has the advantage in that Pacquiao is one of the most popular boxers in the world. Arum can pretty much match him against anyone and he’ll end up doing really well on the fight. But if Arum matches him against one of his own Top Rank fighters, he does even better by serving both of his fighters without having to negotiate with another promoter.

But you have to wonder whether a Pacquiao vs. Margarito bout will bring in the kind of numbers that Arum thinks it will. 70,000 fans is a lot of people to come and see what many boxing fans already see as a gross mismatch. At least when Pacquiao fought Miguel Cotto last year, a lot of people thought Cotto had a chance to win. I don’t know of anyone that thinks that Margarito will win. Arum is expecting people to pay a lot of money by traveling all the way to Texas to see a fight that may not last more than five or six rounds.

I think this isn’t the fight opponent for Arum to get the kinds of numbers that he’s talking about, and the location isn’t a desirable one. Maybe it is for Margarito’s Mexican fans, but I think Arum is overestimating how popular Margarito is. He’s not as popular as Juan Manuel Marquez, that’s for sure. That’s someone that Arum could be matching against Pacquiao in this fight but chooses not to, saying that Marquez has to prove himself by beating Clottey or Andre Berto before he’ll allow Pacquiao to fight him.

source: http://www.boxingnews24.com/2010/08/arum-thinks-pacquiao-margarito-can-draw-70000-fans-in-the-cowboy-stadium/

Arum: Pacquiao vs Margarito Will Happen, Guaranteed

One way or another, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum says the proposed fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito will happen on November 13. Arum flew out on Wednesday to meet with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to discuss the possibility of holding the proposed fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

“We had a very, very good meeting,” said Arum. “But I don’t want to discuss anything about it until after the Margarito thing in California. And then we’ll announce the venue and the press conference schedule. I don’t want to disrespect anybody or anything. California is going to decide on Wednesday and then whichever way California decides, various state commissions will decide whichever way they think is best.”

Margarito will appear before the California State Athletic Commission on Wednesday. The former three time welterweight champion is attempting to regain his boxing license in the state. His was revoked in February 2009 after he was caught with inserts smeared with a plaster-like substance in his hand wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley which took place on January 24 at Staples Center.

If Margarito regains his license to box in California, don’t be surprised if Arum revisits the possibility of staging his fight with Pacquiao in Las Vegas. Whether or not the California commission decides to relicense Margarito, Arum says the fight with Pacquiao will happen.

“This fight will come off, guaranteed,” Arum said.

The vacant WBC junior middleweight title is going to be at stake, with a catch-weight of 151-pounds for both fighters.

source: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=30069

The most grueling fight: Pacquiao vs Margarito

Bob Arum continues to try and hype the November 13th fight between his two Top Rank fighters Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, despite little fan interest outside of the Philippines. Arum can always count on Pacquiao’s loyal fan base in the Philippines to be interested in whoever he puts in there with Manny. In an article at Philboxing.com, Arum says “I think really think Manny is going to win the fight, but it will be the toughest, the most grueling fight he’s ever had and it’s going to be a sensational fight. This kid [speaking about Margarito] is going to throw a million punches from all different angles. He’s much bigger than Manny is, he has a great jaw and it’s going to be a great, great fight.” That’s what Arum said about Pacquiao’s fight against Joshua Clottey last March, and that turned out to be a real dud.

There was little interest before the fight and many boxing writers saw it as a huge mismatch, despite Arum and trainer Freddie Roach saying how Clottey would make for an exciting fight. He didn’t, as the bout turned out to be painfully boring. I have a feeling that Margarito will be just as boring as Clottey was, only I can see Margarito getting knocked out early. His chin isn’t as good as Arum thinks it is. He was stopped by Shane Mosley last year in the 9th round.

I wonder if Arum saw that fight. I disagree with Margarito making for a grueling fight, unless Arum is talking about Margarito bleeding all over Pacquiao for five or six rounds. In that case, I would consider it a “gruesome fight,” not a “grueling” one. I wish I felt the same way about Margarito as Arum does, but I just can’t forget how awful he looked against 38-year-old Mosley last year and how average he looked against little known Roberto Garcia in his last fight.

Arum is still hoping to have the fight take place at the Cowboy Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. The last time I checked, Margarito still doesn’t have a boxing license to fight in the United States. That’s not stopping Arum from meeting with the Cowboy Stadium owner Jerry Jones to talk about putting the Pacquiao-Margarito fight there. Margarito is reapplying to get his boxing license back from the California Athletic Commission this month. If he gets it, then Arum will get his way and the Pacquiao vs. Margarito fight will take place at the Cowboy Stadium. However, if the California Athletic Commission declines to give Margarito back his boxing license, then it’s going to be interesting to see if the Texas Athletic Commission will ignore what the California Athletic Commission rules.

Margarito has already been rejected by the Nevada Athletic Commission in his attempts to get his boxing license back from them. This fight could end up not happening at in Texas. Arum would then have to probably move the fight to Mexico. I bet by then he’d be wondering why he chose Margarito in the first place. It might have been better for Arum to wait until Margarito already had his boxing license to fight in the U.S. before deciding on putting Pacquiao with him.

I think that was a bizarre move on Arum’s part, but I can kind of understand it because he’s running out of fighters from his stable to put in with Pacquiao. There’s Miguel Cotto, Margarito, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Vanes Martirosyan. Other than maybe Cotto, there’s really no one that boxing fans want to see fight Pacquiao out of that bunch. Even Cotto, they’re not so eager to see another mismatch between him and Pacquiao. Whether they like it or not, they’ll be seeing a Pacquiao-Cotto rematch next year anyway.

[source: http://www.boxingnews24.com/2010/08/arum-thinks-the-pacquiao-margarito-bout-will-be-%E2%80%9Cthe-most-grueling-fight%E2%80%9D-of-pacquiao%E2%80%99s-career/#more-36905]

Pacquiao’s Adviser Working on Multi-Million Dollar Deal vs. Antonio Margarito

Michael Koncz, the adviser to seven-division champion and current WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao, will stay in Abu Dhabi until Saturday in an attempt to work out what Koncz called a “multi-million dollar deal” for the United Arab Emirates to play host to Pacquiao’s Nov. 13 clash with ex-titlist Antonio Margarito, Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum, told FanHouse on Thursday.

Arum told FanHouse on Wednesday that he had not heard from Koncz since his arrival in Abu Dhabi on Monday, but has since spoken to Koncz, who updated him on the negotiations’ status.

“Michael is still talking to them, and he was supposed to leave today, but then they’ve asked him to stay another couple of days. What that means, I don’t know,” said Arum. “That’s the whole thing. He’s not optimistic, and he’s not pessimistic. He’s staying until Saturday morning, and then he’s leaving.”

Apparently in response to a FanHouse story concerning his whereabouts, Koncz responded to FanHouse in an e-mail on Thursday updating his progress.

“I am not missing in action. I am in Abu Dhabi trying to put a multi-million dollar deal together that is … in the best interests of my boss, Manny Pacquiao. The Royal Family members and the Abu Dhabi Sports authority that I am dealing with are not hungry for publicity at the present time,” stated Koncz.

“When and if an agreement is reached to hold a Nov. 13 bout here involving Manny, then a press conference release will be issued,” wrote Koncz. “If the fight deal is completed, the publicity will come.”

In the meantime, Arum said he plans to meet with Dallas Cowboys Stadium owner Jerry Jones on Wednesday. The Cowboys are the other venue factoring into the negotiations, having played host to Pacquiao’s March 13, unanimous decision victory over Joshua Clottey in a stadium packed with more than 51,000 fans.

“I’m meeting Jerry Jones on Wednesday at The Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium. I’m meeting with him on Wednesday to make a deal. Now, Jerry Jones knows about Abu Dhabi, and doesn’t believe it will happen,” said Arum. “But if it happens, it happens, though, and if it does happen, then I will be the happiest guy going. But we’ll have to wait and see.”

source: http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/08/05/manny-pacquiaos-adviser-working-on-multi-million-dollar-deal/

Fanhouse | Bob Arum: Pacquiao-Margarito, In-House Promoting

FanHouse caught up to Top Rank Promotions’ CEO, Bob Arum, concerning a number of topics, most notably the state of a potential bout on Nov. 13 between seven-division titlist and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Manny Pacquiao , and ex-world champion, Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBC junior middleweight crown.

Arum said that it appears that Pacquiao will be pursuing his eighth crown in as many different weight classes opposite Margarito either at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium owned by Jerry Jones – which Pacquiao packed to the tune of more than 51,000 fans during his March 13 victory over Joshua Clottey- or, Abu Dhabi.

In this Q&A, Arum also addressed the potential for a Paquiao bout opposite Floyd Mayweather, the likelihood of a third match with WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champ, Juan Manuel Marquez, and criticism of his practice of promoting his own fighters against each other — commonly referred to as “In-house” promoting.

FanHouse: Where officially do you stand with Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito?

Well, [Pacquaio's adviser] Michael Koncz is over in Abu Dhabi. And he’s exploring that situation. We’re giving that another two days to see if it’s real or not because obviously, Manny would love to fight there.

But, again, I can’t tell you whether or not it’s something that will realistically happen. I think that it’s much more likely that we’ll do the fight in the Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium.

What do Manny Paquiao and Michael Koncz feel are the pros and advantages of doing the fight in Abu Dhabi?

The money. There is a awful lot of it being offered. And also, there is no withholding of the taxes on Manny Pacquiao’s purse.

Can you describe the venue and discuss what your thoughts are about it?

I think that the venue is fine, and I think that the fans will show up. I’m told and I know that the Royal family will come to the fight, and we can sell any number of seats at relatively low prices. And there are hundreds of thousands of overseas Filipinos who work in that area.

So, it’ll be jammed and may very well be a huge, huge crowd. It depends on how many people that they set it up for, but I think that it holds 60 or 70,000 or something like that.

I would guess that it would have to be a pretty sweet deal to go to Abu Dhabi since Manny Pacquiao has proven to be an attraction at Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium, where Antonio Margarito was also popular with the crowd as he watched Pacquiao-Clottey from ringside?

You have to realize that there is a huge population of in North Texas of Mexican origin and Mexican Americans in Northern Texas. Clottey had no natural fan base in North Texas. It was all curiosity and Manny Pacquiao.

And now, you have Manny Pacquiao having endeared himself to the people in North Texas, and you have a natural draw in Antonio Margarito among the Mexican American fans. You have to think that there’s a chance to get 70,000 or more people in the stadium.

I haven’t talked to Jerry Jones. I’ve talked to Jerry’s people, and I won’t be talking to Jerry until next week. But the team is now in San Antonio, and Jerry will be back in Dallas next week because they have an exhibition game a week from Saturday there at Cowboys Stadium.

They’re not home the week before the fight, and they’re not home the day after Nov. 13. They will be playing the hated New York Giants in the Meadowlands on Nov. 14.

Under what conditions if any would Manny Pacquiao fight Juan Manuel Marquez again?

Marquez is a wonderful fighter, but he has shown in the Mayweather fight that he has difficulty fighting at the higher weights. He has performed well at the lower weights.But a 135-pound victory over Juan Diaz is not impressive.

Now, that’s because — and let’s be honest — Diaz really lost two fights in a row with Paulie Malignaggi because the first decision was controversial even though that one went in Diaz’s favor. But the second one with Malignaggi, Malignaggi beat him worse than Marquez did.

So, I would say that to make a legitimate sell for a fight with Manny Pacquiao, that Marquez has to fight a welterweight or even a junior welterweight (140 pounds) who, if he defeats, is a real accomplishment.

Whom would you like to see Juan Manuel Marquez fight before facing Manny?

Well, I’ll throw out three or four names. If he were to fight [WBC welterweight champion] Andre Berto, if he were to fight Joshua Clottey, or he could fight [WBO junior welterweight king] Tim Bradley, or he could fight [WBC and IBF titlist] Devon Alexander.

Any of those four. And if he beats one of them, now he can say, ‘I can compete at the higher weights with Manny Pacquiao.’

Why not a fight with Amir Khan, which Juan Manuel Marquez has discussed taking potentially next?

Not really an Amir Khan, no. I don’t think that Amir Khan really would establish that. It would certainly move him a little bit closer, you know. With a bigger guy. But not really. Look, Pacquiao fought Clottey, and he totally dominated Clottey.

If Marquez fought Clottey, who would you pick as the favorite in the fight? But if he then beat Clottey, that would be great. Or if he then beat Berto, that would be great. Then you and everyone else could say, ‘Man, this guy really is something, and could give Manny a good fight.’

But in your heart of hearts, you know, that what ever happened the first two times that Pacquiao and Marquez fought [a draw and a disputed decision for Pacquiao,] that was years ago and at lower weights.

If he fights any one of those four guys, you could sell him as a legitimate welterweight contender. Nothing would please me more at that point than to do it. In fact, when we were in a bind after the Mayweather negotiations fell through the first time, I went to [Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer.

And I said, ‘Look, we’ll fight Marquez, because I hadn’t thought of Clottey.’ And I said, ‘We’ll fight Marquez.’ And Schaefer said, to me ‘Well it has to be 50-50 and with random drug testing.’ In effect, he told me no. That was insulting with Marquez.

So, the idea that Pacquiao won’t fight Marquez is ludicrous. But to make it a real, attractive fight from a financial standpoint, then it’s a different story. Marquez should fight a welterweight, beat a welterweight, and then he could say, ‘Hey, now I’m one of you, Manny.’

After having tried twice to make a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, what would it take for you to give it a third try?

The first thing that would have to be said, is that Floyd Mayweather would have to make a statement that ‘I’m prepared now to fight Manny Pacquiao in such and such a time period.’ Once he made that statement, then, we would find a way to conduct negotiations .

Hopefully, at that time, we could make the fight. But Floyd would have to make that statement. I don’t want to go on any more wild goose chases negotiating terms if Floyd isn’t on board. And I think that that was the problem this last time.

People were negotiating on behalf of Floyd in good faith, but they never had Floyd on board. I think that he knew that this was all happening, but that he never really cared. I don’t think that he ever really told them. I don’t know.

That’s just what I’m surmising. That he never really told them that ‘I want to fight in November.’ He never said that to them. I really think that that’s the case, but I could be wrong. I really think that there was a disconnect there.

I think that people were hoping to negotiate the fight, and then, to convince Floyd to go along. I’m not going to do that any more.

You have taken criticism for doing Manny Paquiao-Miguel Cotto, Pacquiao-Clottey, Cotto-Yuri Foreman — all promotional stablemates. So can you speak to your critics concerning the notion of in-house promoting and why that is beneficial to you?

Well, that’s a good point. First of all, people have to look at who is putting up the money for these fights. When you look at that, you see that it’s Top Rank. Right? If Manny fought Berto, or if Manny fought any of these other guys, it would be Top Rank putting up the money and taking all of the risks. Right?

And Berto and his promoter, or whomever it is, would be along for a free ride. If I feel in my heart of hearts as a business man, that one of my fighters is going to draw more than the other promoter’s fighter against Manny Pacquiao, and it’s my money, and my risk, then I’m going to do it. Period.

And I don’t care what any media guy has to say. This is not the case where I’m getting money from HBO or Showtime, and I say ‘No, my guy’s only going to fight somebody who is promoted by Top Rank.’ That would be wrong, and I wouldn’t do that. I might suggest that and so forth, but it’s not my money.

So if Showtime and HBO are putting up the money, then they have the right to say ‘No, we don’t want you to fight this guy from under your promotional wing, we want you to fight somebody else.’ Okay, that’s fine. Then it’s not my risk, it’s not my money, and then I’d be more inclined to go along with it.

But this way, the way that I’m doing it, it’s my risk, it’s my money, it’s my team doing the fight. What are they talking about. In my heart of hearts, I don’t think the fight is going to do as much as with a Margarito or a Cotto. I’m the business man. It’s my decision.

Now, if I’m wrong, then I get it in the behind. If I’m wright, I benefit from the fruits of it. That’s capitalism. That’s what this is all about. That’s what a lot of these press guys don’t understand.

For the Manny Pacquiao-Josuha Clottey, and, Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman fights, respectively, at Cowboys Stadium and Yankees Stadium, didn’t you promote the event as much as the fights?

Well, Clottey was an awfully good fighter, as witnessed by the fight with Cotto. But he wasn’t a marquee fighter in the sense that Cotto is, that Margarito is, that Mosley is. So, obviously, in selling that fight, we had to promote the event and the venue as much as the fight itself.

Even though I believed that it was going to be a great fight, it turned out that it wasn’t a great fight. But I never saw Clottey fight that way before. It was boring ,but that can happen in boxing. But that’s correct, I promoted it as an event.

I promoted it as being in this great stadium and I think that it worked. Absolutely the same thing with the Cotto-Foreman fight, and there, it really worked because it was the highest-rated boxing show in two years on HBO.

And that’s because we promoted it not only as a fight, but also, as an event in Yankee Stadium.

[via: Fanhouse]

Pacquiao-Margarito opens Filipino boxing fans eyes’ to ‘the Business of boxing’

No doubt about it. Manny Pacquiao versus Antonio Margarito is not a fight fans want to see. The fact that Top Rank is struggling to find a venue for it, should’ve been an easy deal killer had it been against somebody else. But the reality is, in boxing, MONEY is king- and I’m not talking about that boxer who claims he’s the best but refuses to fight the best.

This is ‘the business’ and the BS of boxing. They will bend backwards to make a fight fans do not care to see if it’ll make them a lot more richer as opposed to giving fans what they truly want if the money isn’t as lucrative.

Because fact of the matter is, fans would rather see Pacquiao fight someone like Andre Berto, Sergio Martinez, Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley or even Paul Williams who said he would come down to 147 to fight him? These names are all on top of boxing’s top fighters list, but instead, boxing fans will just have to swallow a bitter pill that is Pacquiao-Margarito.

Truth be told, Margarito would take anything he could get right now. He’d fight Mike Tyson in a ladder match or box a polar bear in Antarctica if people would pay him to do it. But to share the stage with boxing’s Fighter of the Decade? He’s in there like swim wear. I won’t be the least surprised if he accepted a 90-10 split with Pacquiao because that would still be better than anything he’d make against anybody else not named Miguel Cotto right now. But there’s a reason why Margarito is disgraced. He cheated and was beaten up by Shane Mosley in the process. His stock fell like Enron and Bob Arum, his promoter, is trying to get any value he can for his fallen investment at the Filipino boxing fans’ expense.

I don’t know about you, but I am not gullible. I wear the colors of my country not because everyone is doing it. I wear it because it symbolizes what it stands for to me- the Filipino Dream. That someone like Pacquiao can make it big, just like how every single little Filipino hustling in the streets of Manila, like those who migrated to a foreign country to provide for their families and every body trying to rise above from the struggle dreamed.

Instead of doing what’s right by boxing, Bob Arum would rather keep all the money in house and search the 7 seas for a place where he can stash this fight in (except the Philippines of course, and you know why? Yes you guessed it. Dollar signs). I mean, are we seriously talking about Abu Dhabi right now as a possible venue for Pacquiao’s next fight? Come on. Abu Dhabi? Where Blackberry phones and cerveza are as illegal as AK-47s and drug trafficking. Yea, because putting a Filipino and a Mexican inside a boxing ring in the middle of the desert makes absolute sense for boxing. Shoot, I won’t be surprised if they had chupacabras and camel racing for the under card.

If I were Manny Pacquiao, I’d simply say F this. Why would I fight Margarito? What will this dude do for my legacy and what does he really have to offer me? An 8th belt at a catch weight against a guy who doesn’t even deserve contender status at the junior middleweight division? F THAT! If they’re too big for me, why would I even have them come down to fight them. Dela Hoya was a different case, and Cotto was a trial stage. I am good at 147 and I can even go down to 140, so I’ll stick to fighting the best at those divisions to please my fans. I’m going to make a lot of money anyway.

Or the huggers can simply blindly rejoice and accept that “Yay! Margarito is the best fight for Pacquiao because Arum and Pacquiao said so. Yay!!!” Bull flying spit. By huggers, I don’t mean those who want to see the fight because it might very well be an action-packed one. That’s understandable, and if there’s one thing Margarito can offer, is a fighter that will stand in front of Pacquiao and trade blows. It’s still not the best fight Pacquiao can make though, and money-wise he might even make more against Marquez in a trilogy for the simple fact that it will generate more interest, drama and Pay-per-View buys. Think about it, Pacquiao’s best fights in the last 2 years were against Golden Boy fighters. So what if he gets a slight pay cut. He’s making a ton of money anyway. The real pay cut will be Arum’s not Pacquiao’s. And if you’re a true boxing, why wouldn’t you want to see the best match up possible? Think about Nonito Donaire Jr.’s career under Top Rank. All I’m going to say is, Arum better deliver on his promise of Montiel vs. Donaire before the year closes.

You know the only thing that would make sense for me if Pacquiao is really bent on fighting Margarito? Do the fight in Manila or General Santos City so that the same people that supported Pacquiao from day one can be a bigger part of it.

[via: examiner]

Why did Arum match Pacquiao against Margarito?

Manny Pacquiao had plenty of options for his next fight, such as Paul Williams, Andre Berto and Timothy Bradley, which would have all been very intriguing fights for hardcore boxing fans. But Bob Arum only had two fighters on his mind – Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto – both promoted in Arum’s Top Rank stable. These were the only fighters Bob mentioned putting fights together with Pacquiao.

Miguel Cotto has already been destroyed by Pacquiao, last November, but the Puerto Rican is now the WBA Light Middleweight champion and Bob wants Manny to win a title in an eighth different weight class.

Arum though preferred a fighter who Pacquiao hadn’t yet fought, Antonio Margarito was chosen. Antonio as you all know is still looking to get his boxing licence renewed in most American States after being caught with a plaster-like substance on his hand wraps in January 2009 before his one-sided defeat to Shane Mosley. Margarito has since fought once, looking poor in his victory at 154lbs against Roberto Garcia. What’s made fans even angrier is that this is for the WBC Light Middleweight title, how have these fighters got the shot at the title, when Pacquiao has never fought above 145lbs and Margarito isn’t really deserving a big fight let alone a title shot.

For Arum it’s easy money, and if the Pacquiao-Floyd fight fails next year he’ll put together Pacquiao-Cotto II, so he isn’t expecting Margarito to beat Manny with that type of talk. Plus Manny’s last two opponents – Miguel Cotto and then Joshua Clottey – are also both promoted by Arum.

Well Pacquiao isn’t the only one only fighting fighters in the same stable, Miguel Cotto was looking like he could have been heading for a fight with Andre Berto, but talks have been cut off and now Arum wants to set up Cotto-Vanes Martirosyan, who is also promoted by Bob Arum.

source: http://www.boxingnews24.com/2010/08/why-didnt-arum-match-pacquiao-against-berto-paul-williams-or-bradley-instead-of-margarito/

Arum adds more U.S. sites as options for Pacquiao vs Margarito

Bob Arum has a love-hate relationship with Las Vegas and the Nevada State Athletic Commission so he’s not about to wait around while the powers that be mull over their decision to grant Antonio Margarito a license to fight. If Top Rank successfully strong-armed the NSAC, it was initially thought that Las Vegas was the favorite to get the Margarito-Manny Pacquiao fight. But just in case the NSAC refuses to reinstate Margarito, Arum is throwing Cowboys Stadium and Atlantic City into the mix, according to Keith Idec from the North Jersey Herald.

MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, are considered Arum’s top two choices, but sources close to the situation believe Boardwalk Hall has become a viable alternative because executives at Arum’s Top Rank Inc. think New Jersey’s State Athletic Control Board would approve Margarito’s application for a license to box in this state. Haledon native Nick Lembo, general counsel for the SACB, declined comment Tuesday because Margarito has yet to submit an application.

This is an interesting twist since the NSAC already tabled Margarito’s initial request and told him to head back to California, the state that initially handed down a one-year suspension back in February of 2009. If New Jersey approved Margarito’s license, it might indicate that Nevada is no longer the standard-bearer when it comes to state commissions.

Margarito will fight Pacquiao at one of the three U.S. sites mentioned. If all three states turn away Margarito then Monterrey, Mexico, could be the backup plan.

source: http://sports.yahoo.com/box/blog/box_experts/post/Arum-adds-more-U-S-sites-as-options-for-Pacman-?urn=box,258796