Arum, Schaefer Agree: Floyd Sr. Comments are Idiotic

A lot of people were shaking their heads after reading the recent comments that were made by Floyd Mayweather Sr. on BoxingScene.com.

The veteran trainer, and father of Floyd Mayweather Jr., lashed out at Manny Pacquiao on Friday. Despite Pacquiao filing a defamation suit in the state of Nevada; a suit where Mayweather Sr. is a co-defendant - the outspoken trainer continued to voice his opinion that Pacquiao is using performance enhancing drugs.

"He can't beat Clottey without that sh*t in him. Even though he was dehydrated, he couldn't beat De La Hoya without that sh*t. He couldn't beat Ricky Hatton without that sh*t and he couldn't beat Cotto without that sh*t. I don't even think he could beat that kid from Chicago [David Diaz] without that sh*t. He wouldn't be able to beat any of the guys without enhancement drugs, that's what I think. My belief is my opinion and you cannot change it. I know one thing, little Floyd will fight him fair," Mayweather Sr. said.

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, said the comments made by Mayweather Sr. are "laughable" at this point. He think it's a sad situation because Mayweather Sr. probably believes his own comments.

"I think this only demonstrates just how scared the Mayweather family is of this kid. I think they really believe that sh*t. Some stuff from the military, what the f**k is he talking about? To me, it's total craziness. They are just scared out of their minds," Arum told BoxingScene.com.

"When I say Pacquiao is the greatest fighter that I've ever seen, I believe it. They search for some reason [to discredit that] and come up with a fairy tale. Next they'll say he's not really from the Philippines. They'll say he's from planet Krypton and has kryptonite in him. They have turned Manny into Superman."

When I pressed Floyd Sr. for an answer on what exactly Pacquiao was allegedly taking to fight in such spectacular fashion, he told BoxingScene about some rumors that pertain to a performance enhancer being used by the military.

"It's not a steroid. It's something from the Philippines. Something they use in the army. When you hit the guy with a .45 or a .38 and they keep coming after they get shot. Whatever it is it has to be something strong for you to keep coming forward after you get shot," Mayweather Sr. said.

Arum heard similar comments being made by Roger Mayweather, trainer of Floyd Jr. and brother to Floyd Sr. If Mayweather Sr. has information about an alleged wonder drug from the Philippines, then Arum has advised him to take this information to Washington.

"I heard the same thing from Roger. If they really believe that it's true, then how come he's the only fighter from the Philippines who is so blessed. How come in the whole history of the Olympics, there has not been single a Filipino fighter who owns a [gold] medal. This is like some of the people that swear the aliens have landed. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe Manny is really an alien that landed in the Philippines and came to the United States," Arum said.

"If Mayweather has information about something like that, then he has an obligation to go to Washington and speak with the Chief of Staff so we can get some of that and our troops don't continue to get killed. That's big news, he should take that information to Washington."

The comments being made by the Mayweather Sr. is practically comedy relief to Arum. According to the veteran promoter, he is more bothered by the presence of Golden Boy Promotions in this ongoing saga with the Mayweathers.

"You take what the Mayweathers say, and you know that they are Mayweathers, but the real troublesome thing is Schaefer and De La Hoya joining the army. To me, that smells like greed by getting on the bandwagon with this stuff," Arum said.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is surprised that Arum feels this way. Schaefer wants to make one thing clear - Golden Boy Promotions does not support or control any of the comments being made by Mayweather Sr.

Schaefer thinks Arum is more than justified in his outrage. In fact, Schaefer called Mayweather's comments "idiotic" and agrees that people should move on and leave the subject alone. He thinks Mayweather Sr. is wrong for making these kind of comments about Pacquiao, who Schaefer repeatedly called a "great fighter" during our conversation.

"We have never accused Pacquiao of anything nor will we. We don't control what Floyd Sr. says, so we have nothing to do with that. We are going to continue to maintain - innocent until proven guilty. I believe in that. We're not accusing anybody of anything. Manny Pacquiao is a great fighter, a great athlete, a pound for pound king and innocent until proven guilty. I never have and never will accuse Pacquiao. People should just move off that and move on," Schaefer told BoxingScene.com.

"I think the comments are wrong that he's [Mayweather Sr.] making. He should move on too. I don't control what other people say. I don't control what Arum says, or what Mayweather says. I only control what I say, and I say innocent until proven guilty. The comments that Mayweather Sr. is making are idiotic. There is only one word - idiotic."

Based on his actions, Mayweather Sr. is not intimidated by the pending lawsuit. Both Arum and Schaefer are in agreement - Mayweather Sr. [or anyone else] should face the music for these kind of comments.

"Everyone is held accountable for the comments they make. I think comments like that are wrong. If someone was making comments like that about a fighter who was under contract with Golden Boy, I would be pissed off too. We have a promotional piece of Manny Pacquiao and I think Manny is a great fighter. People should just move on."

Source: Rick Reeno  | BoxingScene.com

‘Be Man Enough, Own Up to Your Words,’ Pacquiao Tells Mayweathers, Golden Boy Execs

Boxing’s pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao became more incensed at Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Sr. and executives of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) for twisting facts and coming up with false statements that intended to cover up the mess that they created even as they put the blame on the Filipino and his team for the snag of talks to make the projected biggest fight in history from happening.

“I can’t believe these guys can lie without batting an eyelash and they would even make it appear that I am the culprit for the delay of the fight and saying that I don’t want it to happen,” said Pacquiao in Tagalog, as he released part of the information that he has been keeping—proof that Mayweather Jr. directly accused him of performance enhancement drugs (PED) use.

“Liars go to hell. They should be man enough and own up to their words,” said Pacquiao, as he recalled information that pointed out to Mayweather Jr. categorically stating that “the Philippines has the best (performance) enhancement drugs,” supporting what his father, Mayweather Sr. and his uncle Jeff Mayweather, have openly claimed in past interviews. They all claimed that Pacquiao was into some kind of “roids” (steroids) or has used other banned substances..

“It’s all over the internet. They all went on record and there is no denying as to who is lying or not,” added Pacquiao, who thinks he is becoming a victim of black propaganda with the intention of systematically besmirching, tarnishing and destroying his legacy as one of the best fighters of all time. In the audio recording, Mayweather linked him to drug use by maliciously stating that the Philippines is a producer of the best PEDs. “For including my country in the picture, claiming that we are producers of the best performance enhancing drugs, Mayweather and those who are guilty need to get punished, the sooner, the better, whether it be in the courts or in the ring.”

The now-famous Mayweather versus “RA, the Rugged Man” radio interview in October said it all about how Mayweather accused Pacquiao and the whole Filipino nation. Mayweather exploded at the 15:18 minute mark of the 21-minute interview. This transpired even before Pacquiao was to fight Miguel Cotto in November 2009.

Pacquiao reserved and kept other proof of defamatory statements made by other individuals, who will be charged later on in court. His legal team is readying materials in order to file a lawsuit soon. A lawsuit will be filed whether or not his fight with Mayweather will push through on March 13, 2010 in Las Vegas.

The Mayweather camp and Golden Boy Promotions, have required Pacquiao to undergo a new set of drug testing procedures other than those already required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

“I want to put this on the record again, that I will abide by the NSAC requirements like in all of the fights in boxing history, including all of my fights,” said Pacquiao, who vehemently denied claims that he was against drug testing.

“In all my years of fighting, I have never tested positive for any steroids or performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) use. I will provide any specimen, whether it be blood or urine samples, just right after the fight but not a day or two before, for obvious reasons. That should stop these clowns from asking for other drug testing procedures other than the ones already required by the NSAC.”

On Monday, Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions issued a joint statement in order to set the record straight. “They claimed that I threatened to walk away from the largest fight in history. That's their first lie! Last week, I told Floyd Jr. to shut his big, pretty mouth and that we should fight so that the world will get to see who is the best fighter in the planet,” said Pacquiao.

The Mayweather-GBP release also stated: “Let it be very clear that nobody from Team Mayweather or Golden Boy Promotions is accusing Pacquiao of anything. But the reality seems to be that for whatever reason Pacquiao does not want to participate in random blood testing, which has already been deemed a harmless procedure that many current athletes are subjected to prior to and during competition.”

“Again, all we need to see are the other recorded transcripts of what they said in websites and blogs. It is a pity that Oscar “Golden Boy” Dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions should have been supporting me, too, because his company has a promotional stake in my career. They all say they got my back, but yes, they stab me, too, when I turn my back,” said Pacquiao.

Source: EastSideBoxing.com

Golden Boy CEO: 'Trying to Save' Mayweather-Pacquiao

FanHouse caught up to Golden Boy Promotions' CEO, Richard Schaefer, whose company is handling the negotiations on behalf of Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) for the potential blockbuster bout with seven-division world champion, Manny Pacquiao, who is the current WBO welterweight (147 pounds) titlist.

Tentatively slated for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather-Pacquaio was all-but done until a controversy surfaced over pre-fight drug-testing.

Mayweather's camp is demanding that both fighters be tested using random urinalysis and bloodwork; Pacquiao is fine with the urine-testing, but would prefer not to have blood drawn within 30 days of the fight.

Mayweather's side has softened its position of having the United States Anti-Doping Agency do the testing, just as Pacquaio's promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, seems to have eased up on the notion of random blood-testing, as long as it is done by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Arum stated that Monday is the last day to get the deal done, or he will move on to signing up Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) to face either New York's, junior middleweight (140 pounds) Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, five knockouts) or New York's WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) on March 13.

"I can't imagine Manny Pacquiao walking away from $25 million because he refuses to have blood and urine drawn, and then going off to do something else and making half of that," said Mayweather's adviser, Leonard Ellerbe. "The clock is ticking, but I think that Manny Pacquiao will eventually step up and take the test."

Schaefer sheds his views on the state of affairs in this Q&A below:

FanHouse: Where are the negotiations now?

Richard Schaefer: Well, obviously, the fact that our side was requesting random blood and urine testing is something which the Nevada Athletic Commission is not doing. And based on the comments that I've read from Mr. [Keith] Kizer, I don't think that they are likely to adapt.

Basically, our position was that both sides would jointly agree on a procedure which would be random, which would be blood, and which would be urine, and which would be cut off prior to the fight at a reasonable time.

That time would be at two, three days, four days, whatever the right number of days are to insure that the integrity of the test can still be maintained. That was our position. That was one of the deal-points, like there were many other deal-points.

And the fact that Manny Pacquiao and Bob Arum are not willing to do that and are setting these deadlines -- I think that they set another deadline, which was last Thursday, which came and went. Now, they're setting another one for today.

If they're going to impose these deadlines, I don't think that's a very good manner in which to conduct these negotiations. A better way would be to work out a mutually agreeable procedure. But it seems that they don't want to do that.

They've stated -- at least Bob Arum has stated -- that they are going to be moving ahead with another fight. I can't stop Arum from doing what he's doing. There's nothing we can do about that.

FH: Bob Arum has said that Top Rank president, Todd duBoef has tried to get in touch with Goldben Boys' Bruce Binkow today, so to your knowledge, has there been any contact between the two?

Schaefer: Well, Bruce has been trying to reach Todd for the last two days and to work out a procedure, but their position is clear: The cutoff for the random blood-testing is 30 days before the fight. Unless the Nevada Commission rules differently.

But again, this is not a commission issue, this is a contract issue. Just like many other issues were contract issues that had nothing to do with the commission. I think the commission should do the testing as they do, but this is a contract issue and not a commission issue.

So, I don't understand where they are coming from. So there's nothing to really add to that. I need to focus on either getting this fight done or not. If it does get done, great, then I'll be very busy. And if it doesn't, then we're going to be very busy too.

FH: At this point, what do you think it would take to make this fight?

Schaefer: What it would take is something which I recommended a week ago is that we would have Todd and Bruce pick up the phone and talk to each other and work out a reasonable procedure conducted by a third party agency that we would all mutually agree to.

Bruce has reached out to Todd many times, and the only thing that has been communicated to us is this final and last position, which I don't have to repeat. That's all that's been said. There's been no movement, no willingness to really work out anything.

I think that it is that hard-nosed negotiating which is going to ultimately kill the fight, because it sounds like to me that Bob Arum is already working on getting another fight done -- I believe with Paulie Malignaggi.

FH: If there was a third party involved or hired to do the blood-testing, who or what would it be?

Schaefer: I have some suggestions. One of which was actually the one which Top Rank had recommended, which is the agency that does the NFL and Major League Baseball [The National Center for Drug Free Sports, based in Kansas City, Mo.] The problem is they only do urine.

But I'm sure that if they do urine, they could probably retain someone else to do the blood testing as well. If it would be that agency, that would be okay with us as long as it's random, it's urine, it's blood, and it is cut off at a date prior to the fight which maintains the integrity of the tests.

FH: If the fight with Manny Pacquiao doesn't happen, would you still work with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on his next endeavor?

Schaefer: Floyd and myself and Mayweather promotions, we have a great relationship and we're growing into a friendship as well, so I absolutely think yes, as it relates to working together. As it relates to what's next for Floyd Mayweather, I don't really know. Because, unlike Bob Arum, we haven't looked at anything else.

If Arum walks away, then we obviously will be starting discussions in that regard. But right now, unlike Top Rank which has pretty much said for the last week, 'We don't need this, we don't need this' and has been setting deadlines, we have been trying to save the fight.

I wanted to make sure, and I want to make sure that we've exhausted all avenues to see if this fight can be saved. But it seems to me that, based again on the statements Bob Arum has been making -- 'final' and 'last offer' and 'deadlines' being Monday morning.

Based on the ultimatums that Top Rank has issued, it seems like this is not going to happen. It seems to me that they have made up their mind that they want to go in a different route. And if they're walking away from this, then they're walking away from this.

Arum to proceed with lawsuits against Golden Boy

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says that the planned lawsuits against Golden Boy Promotions will proceed even as he revealed that the major litigation will be against Golden Boy for the promotional rights of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.

In a lengthy interview with Greg Leon of Boxing Talk, Arum said that as a result of the settlement he had reached with Golden Boy Promotions over the Pacquiao contract which was resolved through arbitration, Golden Boy Promotions was making money on Pacquiao fights and that he was “going before the arbitrator to get that removed and that’s going to cost them millions of dollars.”

Arum told Leon that it would include the profit that Golden Boy would have gotten from the Cotto fight which is probably between $1.5 - $2 million on their end.” Arum said the Golden Boy take on Pacquiao fights is about to go “bye bye.”

Arum insisted in his conversation with Leon that “Manny Pacquiao is 100% an honest kid. He’s never cheated and virtually every doctor except for this guy from USADA says you can determine everything from urine analysis. People in that organization hate that guy that has been a loudmouth. Ask him how many blood tests there were from 29 days before the Olympics until after the competition was over. You know what the answer is? ZERO. If they didn’t do any blood tests until after the athlete competed what the hell are they talking about? What are we trying to subject these fighters to?”

Arum and Pacquiao who had agreed to having Pacquiao’s blood tested one d ay before the kickoff press conference to announce the fight officially, 30 days before the fight and in the dressing room immediately after the planned March 13 bout conceded that there is a need for better standards of testing. He told Boxing Talk that while he thinks there should be more pre-fight urinalysis the doctors and experts Top Rank consulted have said that “ every single thing that can be picked up in blood, is better picked up in urine analysis. The only reason they do the blood after the guy competes is because they freeze the blood and it stays good for eight years, the urine decomposes after a while. If they want to take blood after the fight, if they want to freeze it fine, who gives a shit? But that’s why there’s no blood testing until after the competition at the Olympics and that’s something this scumbag never said.”

The astute Top Rank promoter who remain livid over the allegations that Pacquiao was on performance enhancing drugs referred to this reporter’s conversation with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer in h is office last September before the Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight in which Schaefer told us he was sure Pacquiao was on some performance enhancing drug although in the face of a planned huge lawsuit, Schaefer denied making the statement although he confirmed the other details of the meeting in the Golden Boy Promotions conference room

Arum said there was no way he would bend after he learned what Schaefer told us. He told Leon “ And his dialogue with this creep from the USADA started in September. We have evidence of that, we have all of the inside stuff. This is a whole campaign on his and that creep Oscar’s part to smear Pacquiao because he chose us over them. I’ll bet you all the money in the world, I don’t know this for a fact, but this whole idea was put in their ear by Schaefer.”

Even WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman Sulaiman told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports from his home in Mexico “Manny has had many WBC title fights . He’s always been clean. I know him as a decent, exceptional, clean person and I don’t think it was fair” for such allegations about being on performance-enhancing drugs to be made.