Negotiations for Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao

It's clear from recent interviews with Floyd Mayweather that the negotiations for a Mayweather - Manny Pacquiao mega fight have already started. Floyd is making his case as the best fighter and biggest draw in boxing to get the lions share of the purse in that fight. He's actually made some good points. Firstly, he said he beat Oscar De La Hoya at 154 pounds whereas Pacquiao beat a 145 pound Oscar. Mayweather also indicated that he beat Ricky Hatton so badly that he was never the same fighter and was shot against Pacquiao. Both are good arguments but we have to consider other relevant points. Pacquiao destroyed Hatton in 2 rounds at Hatton's preferred weight of 140 pounds. Mayweather beat Hatton in 10 rounds at Hatton's weaker fighting weight of 147 pounds. Regarding the De La Hoya fight Mayweather has a good point but we have to keep in mind that Pacquiao started his career at 106 pounds whereas Mayweather started at 130 pounds so the move up in weight was greater for Pacquiao. Also, De La Hoya started his career around 130 pounds so he was close to the same size as Mayweather.

Manny as defeated several sure fire hall of famers like Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera. So, despite his losses he has had a much greater level of competition. Mayweather's undefeated record doesn't hold the same weight as Pacquiao's record. For example, Joe Calzaghe was undefeated but he is a borderline hall of famer and no where near Pacquiao because of his lack of competition during his prime. Mayweather has fought better competition than Calzaghe but has generally not looked to fight the best fighters at welterweight (where he has been for a significant portion of his career).

Mayweather has drawn better numbers in his fights against De La Hoya and Hatton but the difference isn't profound by any stretch.

Overall, my opinion is that a 50-50 split is the fairest settlement assuming Mayweather defeats Marquez in July.

Lyoto Machida and Matt Hughes Win

UFC 98 proved to be explosive in the main event when Lyoto Machida KO'd Rashad Evans in a devastating victory. His striking once again proved to be in a class of its own. Machida remains undefeated while Evans suffered his first loss. Up next for Machida will likely be Quinton Jackson unless Dana White can somehow set up a showdown with Anderson Silva. Regardless, the light heavyweight title has once again changed hands and remains slippery. Machida looks like he can hold on to it for a while but only time will tell.

In other action Matt Hughes took a very close hard fought victory from Matt Serra. It was a fight that proved little. Neither of these guys are near the top of the division any longer. Hughes needs to decide if he will retire or attempt to re-commit himself to challenge the top fighters at welterweight again. It's just good that this fight wasn't a main event. Dana White is realizing that we (the fans) aren't dumb and understand the difference between a hyped up meaningless cash grab versus a true main event. I'm not saying that Hughes versus Serra is totally meaningless but just that it isn't a main event between two top guys.

Prediction: Floyd Mayweather versus Juan Manuel Marquez

On July 18th we'll see the return of former pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he takes on lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez at a catch weight of 144 pounds. Mayweather should benefit from the weight since it is only 3 pounds under his most recent weight division of choice - welterweight. For Marquez it is an increase of 9 pounds above his most recent weight division. Weight aside, Mayweather is coming off a long layoff of over 1.5 years and is sure to be a bit rusty. The big question is whether Marquez can test any rustiness that Mayweather might carry into the ring. Marquez is a slow starter based on his historical fights with Pacquiao and his most recent fight against Juan Diaz where he was knocked down early. If Mayweather can win the early rounds he should have enough to carry a decision through to the end. I suspect Marquez will struggle early while Mayweather uses his speed and accuracy to take advantage of Marquez' poor start. I predict that Marquez makes it close proving he is a warrior but still loses a decision to Mayweather. The key will be if Mayweather's speed holds against the lighter fighter and whether he has a power advantage.

Mayweather's layoff makes this fight difficult to predict as we don't know how ready he will be. Given the big payday waiting for him against Pacquiao you have to assume Mayweather does not want to lose against Marquez and will be ready.

Pay Per View Numbers for Pacquiao-Hatton

It turns out that the Manny Pacquiao - Ricky Hatton showdown did 850,000 domestic pay-per-view buys (in North America). This is a huge number and truly great for boxing. I'd also expect some huge numbers to come out of the UK and the rest of the world as none of these fighters were American. Bob Arum has been hiding the numbers from the media for unknown reasons (I got my numbers from Dan Raphael at ESPN). I suspect the reason Arum is hiding the numbers is because Floyd Mayweather versus Ricky Hatton did 925,000 pay-per-view buys and potentially gives the Mayweather camp some leverage in future negotiations with Pacman. Nonetheless, the numbers speak volumes for boxing's popularity in a post Oscar De La Hoya world. I could easily see a Floyd Mayweather - Manny Pacquiao fight doing over 1M pay-per-view buys. Such success indicates that boxing doesn't need the Mike Tyson's and Oscar De La Hoya's to survive and the sport transcends its stars to some degree. Don't get me wrong, people love the stars but they also love the sport itself.

Manny Pacquiao's Future Options

Just a week ago Manny Pacquiao produced one of the most exciting knock outs of recent memory against the best junior welterweight in the world (Ricky Hatton). It was only Pacquiao's first fight in the division. Now we have to ponder what his next steps are going to be. Bob Arum has already started talks of a Miguel Cotto - Manny Pacquiao fight for later this year. My speculation is that they will use this as a negotiation tactic against the Floyd Mayweather camp. Mayweather has already indicated he will be difficult to negotiate with by saying he wants the lion's share of a 60-40 split against Pacquiao. As ridiculous as that sounds, we already know Pacquiao is a tough negotiator as well so Mayweather too is setting the stage early for negotiations. Both camps understand the significance of the fight and want to ensure it does not get delayed by negotiations in the event that Mayweather defeats Juan Manuel Marquez. Cotto is a fight Arum could easily make since both Pacquiao and Cotto are in his camp. Also, Cotto has enough name recognition to be considered seriously for a fight with Pacquiao. In fact, most media outlets are reporting this as a real possibility even though it is likely just a negotiation tactic from Arum.

Assuming Floyd beats Marquez on July 18th, I couldn't imagine any other fight could possibly delay a Pacquiao-Mayweather super showdown. There's by far more money in that fight than anything else on the planet at the moment. Expect the negotiations to be interesting but make no mistake their is only one option for Manny Pacquiao and that is Floyd Mayweather.

Chad Dawson Decisions Antonio Tarver Again

Chad Dawson won again via decision against Antonio Tarver except this time it was a lot closer. Tarver had previously won rematches against Glen Johnson, Roy Jones and Eric Harding. He couldn't do enough to win this one although he certainly brought a lot more to the table. Tarver was more active and threw more punches than Dawson but landed fewer. Dawson faded a bit in the later rounds but was ahead enough to pull out a clear win.

Dawson now has very few options as his name recognition is not enough yet to attract a Joe Calzaghe or Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight. He may have to move weight classes and see if Carl Froch will consider fighting him or settle the score with Glen Johnson who he beat in a very controversial decision. Johnson is the most likely fight out there but beyond that there doesn't seem to be much going on at light heavyweight for Dawson. There has also been some discussion of a fight with Paul Williams at a catch weight which would be interesting given the size difference but at the moment nothing solid has been announced.

May Pound for Pound List

Here is the pound for pound list for May:

1. Manny Pacquiao

Manny erased any doubt about who is the best in the sport by knocking out Ricky Hatton brutally within 2 rounds. He now owns significant victories from 112 lbs all the way to 147 lbs. Those types of stats are almost unheard of in this day and age.

Up Next: Likely the winner of Juan Manuel Marquez and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

2. Bernard Hopkins

Bernard has been inactive for a while now but his recent wipe out of Kelly Pavlik hasn't been forgotten. B-Hop has resume full of fights against future hall of famers. Marquez is closing the gap on Hopkins and could surpass him on July 18th.

Up Next: Possibly a fight with Carl Froch which would be very interesting.

3. Juan Manuel Marquez

Two incredibly close fights with Manny Pacquiao, a solid victory over Joel Casamayor and an entertaining TKO of Juan Diaz. Marquez has hardly made any mistakes but Manny's destruction of Hatton creates a lot of room between them unless, of course, Juan Manuel Marquez can defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr on July 18th..

4. Paul Williams

Still underrated but clearly one of the top fighters today. His victories over Winky Wright, Antonio Margarito, Verno Phillips and Carlos Quintana along with his versatility across weight divisions plant him solidly in the top 5. Williams' biggest challenge is to attract fights with top opposition given his lack of name power.

5. Shane Mosley

Close fight with Miguel Cotto and destruction of Antonio Margarito makes him the top welterweight and puts him 4th on our list. He now needs to stay active and probably settle the score with Cotto or land a big fight with Pacquiao or Mayweather to avoid slipping.

Pacquiao Destroys Hatton and Makes History

Manny Pacquiao solidified his legendary status as boxing's pound for pound king and possibly one of the best (maybe the best) of recent decades. Ricky Hatton tried to brawl in the first round but when they boxed he got smashed with power shots. He went down twice in the first round and got saved by the ref as he allowed Hatton to recover. In the second round, Pacquiao and Hatton started letting loose until Manny took control late in the round and landed a monster power shot that had Ricky Hatton stretched out for several minutes on the canvas. Manny makes a huge statement by KO'ing Hatton in the second round.

Next up is likely the winner of Juan Manuel Marquez and Floyd Mayweather. If Foyd wins, Pacquiao and Mayweather will be the two undisputed pound for pound kings of the sport. The fight would be absolutely massive.

Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton ready to make history

The much anticipated show down between pound for pound champion Manny Pacquiao and 140 pound king Ricky Hatton is now at our doorstep. Manny Pacquiao looks to become the lineal champion in a fourth different weight class which would perch him at the top all by himself. No one else in boxing history has done that. For Ricky Hatton, this is an opportunity to get himself back on the radar as a serious challenger for Floyd Mayweather. If Hatton can take victory it will set him up nicely for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather assuming Mayweather beats Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18th.

We predicted a victory for Pacquiao via unanimous decision or late round TKO. However, Hatton can certainly make it interesting. I don't foresee Pacquiao letting Hatton have his way ever in this fight. Pacquiao's punching accuracy and deceptive range will make it hard for Hatton to avoid punches so it really matters how well he can take the hits in order to fight his own fight. Pacquiao can afford to play it safe a little bit but Hatton will have to be on the offensive throughout that fight.

Make sure not to miss this great fight. One thing is for sure - this fight will be interesting and exciting the entire way through.