Pacquiao vs Margarito | Pacquiao Fight Updates

LOS ANGELES - Sports fans around the world can breathe again as it was announced today that the highly anticipated 12-round welterweight showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez has been officially rescheduled for September 19, after Mayweather, who suffered a rib injury while training for the originally scheduled July 18 date, received clearance from his doctor to participate on the new date..

Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," which will still take place at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View, will now take place on what on what is historically considered boxing's biggest weekend, and falling on the time-honored tradition of Mexican Independence Day.

"I am relieved to be cleared to fight as I was already looking forward to getting back in the ring," said Mayweather. "Trust me, September 19 is a great weekend for boxing, and all of my fans, of which there are many Mexicans too, can certainly hold on to their hats and sombreros when I get back in to the ring and show them what they have been missing these past 18 months. I will destroy Marquez and reclaim my rightful place as boxing's pound-for-pound king all in one night. Don't miss it."

Marquez, who has also agreed to fight on the new date, is excited about appearing yet again on the time-honored tradition of El Grito de Independence.

"I am happy that Mayweather has been cleared to fight and we can get down to business on September 19," said Marquez. "This weekend is not just an important weekend for boxing, but even more so for all of the Mexican and Mexican-American people I will be fighting for who will have a great reason to celebrate my win over Mayweather, which will be for all of the people and for the entire country of Mexico that night. I am sure of victory and si se puede- yes we can and yes we will!"

Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Promotions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and Southwest Airlines.

Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $600, $300 and $150, not including applicable service charges, go on sale Friday, May 22 at 10 a.m. Ticket sales at $1,000, $750, $600 and $300 are limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person with a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com

The Mayweather vs. Marquez pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View®, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Mayweather vs. Marquez fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com



http://www.eastsideboxing.com/

While Juan Manuel Marquez has come out and said that his postponed July 18 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be moved to September 19, the biggest stuff going on is the doubt being bandied about by boxing fans and writers.

While Mayweather's rib injury appears 100% legit, FightHype's Ben Thompson says that poor ticket sales may be just as much if not more to blame for the postponement of the bout. The 11 weeks of promotional time was pretty short, but it seems doable for a Mayweather return. They went on an immediate press blitz, but an anonymous source said bluntly, "Ticket sales suck."

I'm no conspiracy theorist, and I'm no Floyd basher, and I'm a huge Marquez fan, and I was looking forward to the fight even though I had reservations about how competitive it would be, and since I think it will still wind up happening, I maintain those reservations.

But ticket sales were bad and this fight was not measuring up to the level of anticipation I think Golden Boy and Mayweather expected. Part of this may even be blamed on "Mayweather Promotions," which was the lead promoter for this fight, not Golden Boy, but that is pure speculation on my part, and only relevant, I feel, because Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe are not experienced at leading promotion for a card of this magnitude.

I have defended Floyd as a big star, and I still think he's a big star. But I'm ready to accept that he lost a lot of his post-Oscar, post-Hatton buzz with a series of blunders:

1. Dancing With the Stars: Yes, it's a popular show, and yes, it gave him some crossover appeal, but housewives and teen girls aren't about to follow his boxing career just because he has a winning smile. This is the least of the three, since I don't think it mattered much either way.
2. WrestleMania: I've said before I grew up a huge pro wrestling fan, still enjoy the older stuff I've always loved, and that I have no real beef with pro wrestling. But pro wrestling -- while hugely popular in fad periods -- is just not all that popular right now and I don't think it did him any favors. He went from talking about fighting in the UFC to pretend fighting The Big Show, you know? He could have been continuing his successful boxing career as the big dog, but instead he went to Monday Night Raw to cut rotten promos.
3. Retirement: No one bought it, it wasn't real, and all it did was cool his jets. I don't believe for one second he intended to never fight again.

Mayweather had fans, and still has them, but do I think he's really any bigger of a gate draw than Pacquiao right now? No, I don't. Probably less of one, in fact. I don't even think Mayweather could sell a Madison Square Garden fight the way Miguel Cotto can.

He's not the star he thinks he is. And I've said this before, but I think the biggest reason he "retired' was a not-even-lukewarm response from fans and press about his rematch with Oscar de la Hoya. Never forget that that fight was a go -- they had the press tour lined up. Suddenly, Mayweather retired. Why? What changed?

No one wanted that fight. And I don't think there's a whole lot of interest past Mexican fans when it comes to Mayweather-Marquez. It definitely isn't the huge fight HBO and Mayweather and Golden Boy thought it was going to be. You can talk about the economy, and it has a part in this, but people came out for Pacquiao-Hatton and bought the fight in big numbers.

Was an "ehhh" response from those in and around boxing partly to blame for Mayweather-Marquez getting pushed back? I'm not one to be sure about these things, but I think there could be something to it. If Mayweather-Pacquiao is to eventually happen, Mayweather will go out of his way to leverage the lion's share of the split. A poor financial showing with Marquez would've really hurt his position, no matter if or how he won the fight.

It's food for thought, at the very least.



http://www.badlefthook.com/

"I am extremely disappointed that this fight has to be postponed," said Mayweather. "I was training very hard and looking forward to getting back in the ring on July 18th."

Funny, an injured rib is much harder to verify than a broken hand or torn ligament. The ambiguity of Floyd's injury timed with a recent report of Bob Arum's willingness to split the purse 50-50 for a future fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao makes me think Floyd became injured to go directly to a fight with the Filipino.

Sure Floyd was favored to beat Marquez -- a man coming up to fight as a welterweight for the first time -- but the Mexican ring technician was no walk in the park tune-up.

Look for Floyd to skip past Marquez, with no re-scheduling, and fight Manny Pacquiao during November, 2009.

Pacquiao Would Whip Cotto?

My column yesterday caused a handful of Manny-Maniacs to tell me that their idol could whip Miguel Cotto based on the Puerto Rican's performances against Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey.

Don't get it twisted my Filipino friends, Manny is one for the ages, but Cotto was being challenged by legitimate welterweights, not souped up featherweights.. Manny does not have the physicality to over power Cotto in the manner that Clottey and Margarito were able to. Not to say that Manny could not when, but Cotto vs. Pacquiao would be an even ordeal -- at best!


http://www.examiner.com/

LAS VEGAS (June 14, 2009) - The highly anticipated July 18 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez has been postponed due to a rib injury sustained by Mayweather while training. The mega-fight was scheduled to take place at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View.

"I am extremely disappointed that this fight has to be postponed," said Mayweather. "I was training very hard and looking forward to getting back in the ring on July 18th."

"I was very disappointed to hear the news about the fight being postponed," said Marquez from his training camp in Mexico. "I will remain focused, in shape and ready to fight whenever the fight is rescheduled for."

Information about rescheduling the fight will be made available as soon as possible.



http://philboxing.com/

LAS VEGAS (June 11, 2009) - Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez hope to unite the stately leaders the United States of America and Mexico by inviting their respective Presidents Barack Obama and Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa to their Saturday, July 18 Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," mega-fight at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. The bout will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

"It would be amazing to have President Obama ringside for my fight," said Mayweather. "With all of these patriotic holidays coming up, and the fact that I met him when he was campaigning to become President, I wanted to extend an invitation to the fight as my congratulations for his knock-out victory."

"President Calderon is a true statesman for our country and it would be an honor for me to have him come to the fight," said Marquez. "Mayweather is the biggest challenge of my career and having my president there to witness my victory that night would be bigger than the victory itself."

In addition to the Presidents, Mayweather has also invited Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate Majority Leader and a long-standing supporter and fan of the sweet science, to the fight. Reid also hosted Mayweather on Capitol Hill after the fighter's triumph over Oscar de la Hoya in May 2007.

Mayweather vs. Marquez -"Number One/Numero Uno," is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and Southwest Airlines. The 12-round welterweight bout will take place July 18th at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Mayweather vs. Marquez pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View®, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Mayweather vs. Marquez fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.

Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $600 and $300, not including applicable service charges, are on sale now. Ticket sales at $1,000, $750, $600 and $300 are limited to a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800)745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

HBO's Emmy®-Award-winning all-access reality series "24/7" returns to HBO® with an all new edition as "Mayweather/Marquez 24/7" premieres Saturday, June 27 at 9:30 p.m. The four-episode series will chronicle the preparations and back stories of both fighters as they train for their July 18 pay-per-view showdown.



PhilBoxing.com

Golden Boy Promotions announced the return of Floyd Mayweather Jr. to the boxing in a press conference at the Hollywood Theater of the MGM.

Mayweather will fight Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a tiff dubbed as “Number One vs. Numero Uno.”

Mayweather, 32, has not fought since his 10th round stoppage of Ricky Hatton in a WBC welterweight title bout in December 2007. He has a career record of 39-0 with 25 knockouts.

Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) on the other hand, the World Boxing Association lightweight champion, will move up in weight for the fight.