Thursday, April 22, 2010

Mosley-Mayweather 'technically' a non-title bout


MANILA, Philippines – “Sugar” Shane Mosley's World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight crown won't "technically" be at stake when he goes toe-to-toe with former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said the WBA title will only be at stake for its titleholder because Mayweather did not pay the sanctioning fee.

“It's basically a non-WBA fight. The two best fighters fighting each other, that's what's at stake here,” Schaefer stated.

However, Mosley prevails in the boxing main header of the "Who R U Picking?" fight card, the victory would be considered an official title defense.

If he loses, the WBA title will either become vacant or will remain with him. Schaefer said he is still discussing the matter with the WBA.

Mosley, meanwhile, assured that his fight with Mayweather will remain a "super showdown" with or without the title.

“I think I'm as fast as any fighter out there,” Mosley said during a teleconference as quoted by Reuters.

“I've always been one of the fastest. I've never been in the ring with Floyd, so I'm just going to do what I do best, be Sugar Shane Mosley,” he added.

Mosley going for the 'record'
Mosley said that even without the title, he still has a great motivation to defeat his fellow American. He wanted to deal Mayweather his first career loss.

Mayweather remained unbeaten with 40 wins (25 knockouts) while Mosley has 46 wins (39 KOs), 5 defeats and 1 no contest.

“I'm ready to go into the history books as the guy who beat Floyd Mayweather, the guy who beat everybody out there, the last man standing,” he declared.

Mosley claimed that he is the first top welterweight that Mayweather will have to face.

“As a welterweight, he hasn't fought any of the top welterweights… I'll be the first one,” he said.


Source: abs-cbnNEWS.com

Can Sergio Martinez entice Pacquiao, Mosley, or Mayweather Jr to step up and face him at 154 pounds?


It seems that every fighter from 147 to 160 pounds is on the list to potentially fight the newly crowned WBC/WBO middleweight champion Sergio Martinez.

You can add the names of Mayweather Jr and Mosley to that list. In a recent interview, Sergio’s adviser claims that the winner of the Mayweather Jr and Shane Mosley fight could step up and challenge Sergio. Let’s examine further:

“I would not be surprised if the winner of Mayweather-Mosley might want to fight Sergio. It would be a big money fight for everyone.” Sampson Lewkowicz, Boxing-Fighthype.com
Mayweather/ Mosley Winner

Sampson Lewkowicz might be wishful thinking but then again maybe not. He’s right when he said that the fight would be “big money for everyone”. And we all know how much Mayweather Jr wants his money. But would it be enough money to entice Mayweather Jr to move up in weight? Or would Floyd Jr rather fight someone more his size if he can’t force a fight with Pacquiao?

If Mosley wins, he would be obligated to fight Floyd Jr again. However, even if Shane were to split the two fights with Floyd, I can see him earning a fight against Manny or Sergio. Logical thinking would be that Shane would face Manny before Sergio in this likely scenario. It would earn him more money and Shane would have the size and strength advantage.

Pacquiao
“Manny will never do it because really he’s too small” Sampson Lewkowicz,Boxing-Fighthype.com
I don’t see this as an insult to Manny. It’s true; Pacquiao is too small to fight bigger fighters in a higher weight class. This is the same argument against the challenges from Yuri Foreman and Cory Spinks.

Conclusion
Guillermo Lopez Sacramento, CA“Which big name welterweight do you think will step up to fight Sergio for the WBC light middleweight belt?”

Of the 3 fighters mentioned by Sampson, I would say Shane could transition the best into the next weight class. However, due to the rematch clause with Floyd, Shane most likely won’t be available to fight Sergio until summer of 2011. By then, this might all be a mute point. And, like I previously mentioned, I see Shane fighting Manny before Sergio.

Floyd Mayweather Jr doesn’t care about titles, so I don’t see this motivating him unless he can make at least 40 million dollars; and Pacquiao’s too small for Sergio. So, in my opinion none of these guys will fight Sergio.
But, I do have another name that will most likely step up and fight Sergio and that’s Antonio Margarito. I think he’s the odds on favorite to jump up in weight. Plus, Sergio wants to get revenge for losing to Antonio 10 years ago.

Author: Rick Rockwell

Source: examiner.com

Zuffa to learn if fans' wallets will open for WEC on pay-per-view


Urijah Faber, not so much the kid he once was, has always desired comparisons to the similarly sizedFloyd Mayweather Jr.

Until late 2008, the former WEC featherweight champion could have made a point, though not a very compelling one, about his dominance against the opposition. As far as the exhilaration of knowing how many zeros can fit on a deposit slip, you've never seen such a mismatch. And selling pay-per-views? It's almost inappropriate to ponder.

As "Money" Mayweather gears up for another eight-figure payday on May 1 againstShane Mosley, Faber, the face of MMA's 145-pound division, even after losses in two of his last four bouts, expects to receive the biggest check of his career Saturday. If his prize happens to triple previous paydays, Faber, the highest-paid fighter in the WEC since Zuffa purchased the company in 2006 and the driving force behind Saturday's card in his hometown of Sacramento, Calif., will officially earn just more than $150,000.

Admittedly, that figure is misleading. There's no way really to know how much he made or by what magnitude it increased.

Based on how Zuffa pays out, what mixed martial artists publicly make and what they actually receive can be two entirely different figures. Questions abound as to just how much Zuffa-signed fighters take home because guaranteed salaries (regularly divided into show and win purses) often pale in comparison (and by design) to "discretionary bonuses" -- the infamous "shower room" payment mentioned byRandy Couturein 2007 -- handed out byDana WhiteandLorenzo Fertitta.

"Basically, the way the company works is you help make them money, and they take care of you," said Faber (23-3), who will challenge current featherweight championJose Aldo(16-1) on pay-per-view from Arco Arena in Sacramento. "No guarantees on how things will go. Being champion again is always very lucrative, not just in the fight world but all the endorsements on top of it. It's a great place to be. I have faith that if we help Zuffa make a ton of cash, they'll share a little bit of that."

Zuffa is betting that the time is right to see what kind of numbers WEC, the sister promotion to UFC featuring fighters from 135 to 155 pounds, generates on pay-per-view, a platform the Las Vegas-based promotional company has mastered over the past four years.

"You build a fan base on television. You get these guys some exposure. People know 'em and then you make the leap to pay-per-view and hopefully it works out," White said Wednesday during a conference call to promote WEC 48 (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). "I believe we've done all the right things up to this point to take a stacked card like this with a great main event and co-main event, put it on pay-per-view and take this thing to the next level."

An interesting experiment to be sure, one that has produced generally poor results for promotions branded anything other than "UFC."

For Zuffa, Saturday brings several unknowns into play.

How will fans accustomed to watching Faber and Aldo for free react to being charged $45 -- $55 if you want to catch it in HD -- for a product that doesn't appear all that different from what they can watch on Versus?

White's the anti-Willy Loman. But even for a carnival barker of his caliber, persuading people to buy something they never had to before -- especially in a down economy -- could go over about as well as charging for access to an airplane lavatory. We'll see how he does selling MMA fans, already leveraged to the hilt to make good on monthly pay-per-view fees, on purchasing a card two weeks after an ugly event in Abu Dhabi and two weeks before a rematch betweenLyoto MachidaandMauricio Ruain Montreal.

All those factors matter, but perhaps not as much as the possibility of Zuffa's being victimized by its own branding success with the UFC.

Unable to use those three letters -- Zuffa's most powerful promotional weapon -- the company has blurred lines as much as possible, using White as the ringmaster while the WEC brand has been cast aside in favor of a more boxing-flavored "Aldo vs. Faber" narrative.

Said Faber: "You can definitely see they're doing a little more here, basically lending some of the star power and people they've promoted along the process -- Dana White being one of them,Joe Rogan, whose Q rating is probably the highest rated in the sport. It's nice because it's an event people need to see and they're having influential people talk about it."

How much the maneuver pumps up Saturday's pay-per-view tally, said White, no one knows, yet anything less than twice the 70,000 to 90,000 reported buys for an April 3 boxing bout betweenBernard HopkinsandRoy Jones Jr.would be "terrible."

White, as he's done in the past, pushed the event as something "true fight fans" will watch, suggesting unfairly if you won't, you aren't. He highlighted the depth of the card -- including a rematch of SI.com's 2009 bout of the year between WEC lightweight championBenson HendersonandDonald Cerrone-- though that may do little to assuage fans working through an understandable bout of déjà vu.

White's main argument for moving to pay-per-view centers on fighters deserving a chance to make the kind of money they can't competing on Versus, which is impossible to argue against even if it manifests as a tax on the consumer.

"There's a lot at stake to prove that people want to see us fight," Faber said. "This is an opportunity for fans to get behind the growth of the sport and continue to have amazing fights, because this is what fuels it, the pay-per-view shows."

The highest official payout for a WEC telecast on Versus is $287,000. By comparison, when the UFC appeared on the network on March 21, Zuffa paid $713,000 in purses, including $110,000 for unranked heavyweightCheick Kongo.

Faber, like other fighters on the card, will wait to receive his "discretionary bonus," which Zuffa-signed mixed martial artists have come to rely on like social security, before deciding whether he was given his fair share.

White, too, will reserve judgement. If the fans don't respond, if another non-UFC brand fails to deliver like so many others, "yeah," he admitted, "we're going to be a little deterred" on the future of WEC on pay-per-view.

Author: Josh Gross

Floyd Mayweather: Call Me Champ... But I'm Not Paying For It


Floyd Mayweather must be awfully tired from all of the standing he’s doing of late. First of all, he took a stance against performance enhancing drugs within the sport, one which, to all intents and purposes, cost him his mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao. Now, he’s leaping into action against the alphabet bandits by refusing to pay the WBA a fee so that he can fight for their title. If he’s not careful, he’ll end up blowing his role as Vader to Shane Mosley’s Skywalker.

Whilst the truth behind both of Floyd’s stands can be questioned, the principles are to be applauded. The removal of drugs from the sport is a good thing, of that there’s little doubt. There are many also who would welcome random testing to eradicate alphabet organisations, who charge fighters fortunes each year in sanctioning fees yet offer little in the way of good influence over the sport.

So, in light of Mayweather’s rebuttal, what exactly does that little black belt, the one Shane Mosley pays thousands of dollars to sling over his shoulder for the briefest of spells at the end of each contest, actually represent? Join me now on an odyssey of discovery… (warning: this may cause drowsiness, nausea and mild confusion).

Picture a time when clarity reigned, when times were that little bit simpler… and the IBF hadn’t yet come into existence. It’s 1981. Prince Charles has just wed Lady Diana Spencer, MTV has been launched over the airwaves, Bob Marley has been laid to rest alongside his trusty guitar and two titans of boxing hold welterweight world titles simultaneously.

Maryland’s Sugar Ray Leonard sported the little green WBC number whilst his nemesis Tommy Hearns donned the charcoal WBA version. The two met up in the September (folk weren’t as averse to finding out who was best back in those days) and Leonard was crowned the undisputed king of the welters. Then, after defending against Bruce Finch in Reno, he retired.

With his titles scattered to the four winds, it was decided that the winner of Milt McCrory and Colin Jones could have one of them (WBC), whilst Don Curry and Jun-Suk Hwang would take the other (WBA). Curry and McCrory were victorious and the pair followed the trail their predecessors set by duelling to determine superiority (by which time a WBA splinter group calling themselves the IBF had thrown another trouser-holding device at Curry for beating Marlon Starling).

Curry blitzed McCrory in chilling fashion and lucidity triumphed... for all of nine months. When “The Lonestar Cobra” fell to Bermondsey’s unheralded Lloyd Honeyghan the following annum, the championship fractured after Honeyghan found himself in bit of a pickle. The WBA, in their wisdom, chose Harold Volbrecht as their mandatory challenger; however, Volbrecht was South African, which meant if Honeyghan were to face him, he would receive a two-year banning order by the WBC (who’d have thought the alphabets would interact so incoherently?). Honeyghan withdrew, citing a protest against apartheid, and the WBA title meandered off on its own little journey, which we’ll ignore for now and come back to later.

Honeyghan was then forced to defend his remaining titles separately (IBF title fights were 15 rounds, WBC over 12… sigh…) before he was eventually upset by Mexican Jorge Vaca in London. “Honey” revenged the loss pretty sharpish, yet the IBF belt, which had not been on the line against Vaca first time around, was stripped from him and, like the WBA title (which remember, has veered off course at this point), was passed onto new and willing fee donors.

I think it's fair to stick with Honeyghan here and in a nice linear fashion, we’ll transport from 1988 to 1999 via Marlon Starling, Maurice Blocker, Simon Brown, Buddy McGirt, Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De La Hoya and finally, Felix Trinidad. At which point “Tito” breaks the chain again by moving up to 154 lbs. to ruin David Reid and Fernando Vargas.

Trinidad posted back the WBC bauble Honeyghan once carried, along with the IBF version which had somehow returned to the party via Simon Brown (the WBA title was still off doing its own thing).

As is usual, both organisations went their own merry way, with the IBF hosting a bout between Vernon Forrest and Raul Frank to find their champion, whilst the WBC plumped for the vanquished De La Hoya and former lightweight boss Shane Mosley as their contestants.

Mosley and Forrest would take the spoils and like Leonard & Hearns and Curry & McCrory, they met to consolidate matters. Forrest trumped Shane, twice, yet his IBF title would not survive the fracas ("The Viper" had to vacate to accommodate the showdown).

Yet again, a nice lineage ensues from 2002 to 2006 via Ricardo Mayorga, Cory Spinks, Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir and finally, Floyd Mayweather. “Money” then embarked upon an extended sabbatical the following year, leaving the alphabet boys to take flight, again, inevitably, on diverging courses.

Oh I almost forgot, the WBA title had returned to the fold once more by now, only it had now transmogrified into a "super title" just prior to Mayorga trouncing Forrest, so three had become four... spooky… before returning back to three when the WBA decided that describing Baldomir as a "super" anything could invite a visit from the trade descriptions people.

I digress… oh yes, Shane Mosley whupped Luis Collazo for one of the remaining three trinkets (WBC), Kermit Cintron stopped Mark Suarez for another (IBF), whilst Miguel Cotto starched Carlos Quintana for the third (WBA).

Cintron would eventually lose to Antonio Margarito, who would gobble up Cotto, who’d bested Mosley, yet he’d emerge with just the one title, the WBA edition, although crucially, neither IBF nor WBC honours would be lost from any of the four in the ring.

So tentatively, and despite not having gained Ring Magazine approval, we could take a punt at Margarito having been a deserving welter champ. And of course, Mosley tore him a new one last year, so it can be argued that this is a legit welterweight championship fight, despite the actual "title" being anything but. When Mosley fought Margarito, the WBA strap the Mexican took from Cotto, mutated into a "super" version once again with the "normal" version winding up in the Ukraine, around the waist of Vyacheslav Senchenko.

It can be debated as to whether belts really do just gather dust, but you can’t gripe over Floyd’s logic. Why would you pay a fee to fight for something which may or may not relate to something Ray Leonard once held back when the Jheri curl was in vogue?

Author: Andrew Harrison


Source: queensberry-rules.com

Mayweather vs. Mosley - A Throwback to the Rich History of American Fights and the Welterweight Division


LOS ANGELES (April 21)...Check your almanac: On the night of September 16, 1981, time stopped for one hour while welterweight champions Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns traded punches in Las Vegas. That's how big a fight it was. On May 1, welterweights Floyd "Money" Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley will clash in the biggest bout of 2010. The mega-matchup of multi-division champions, pound-for-pound kings and future Hall of Famers summons memories not only of Leonard-Hearns, but also of the rich history of American welterweights.


In recent years, boxing's headlines have been made largely by foreign-born fighters like Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao, Joe Calzaghe and Juan Manuel Marquez. At welterweight or otherwise, there have been precious-few all-American matchups. In that sense, Mayweather-Mosley is a throwback fight.

In the boxing-rich 1980s, the majority of super-fights were contested between Americans. Among the memorable matchups were Leonard-Hearns, Leonard-Marvin Hagler, Hagler-Hearns, Larry Holmes-Gerry Cooney, Holmes-Muhammad Ali, Michael Spinks-Holmes and Mike Tyson-Spinks.

The same can be said for many of the major fights of the 1990s, including Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe, Holyfield-Tyson, Holyfield-George Foreman, Michael Moorer-George Foreman Roy Jones-Bernard Hopkins, Jones-James Toney and Pernell Whitaker-Oscar De La Hoya.

The first decade of the new century has seen a shift. There have been big fights involving Americans (De La Hoya-Mayweather, De La Hoya- Hopkins, Mosley-De La Hoya I and II), but nowhere near as many as in previous years. Perhaps Mayweather-Mosley represents the beginning of a shift back to the way it used to be.

No one is quite sure of the origin of the word "welterweight," but boxing historians are certain that the 147-pound division's first world champion was Boston's Paddy Duffy, who was crowned in 1888. In the 122 years since, the division has been dominated by Americans.

Consider the following:

*In 1939, St. Louis' Henry Armstrong, who is usually ranked below only Sugar Ray Robinson on all-time pound-for-pound lists, defended his welterweight title an incredible 11 times. This feat took place only a year after Armstrong defeated Chicago's Barney Ross, an all-time great himself, to win the title.

*New York City's Sugar Ray Robinson is remembered primarily as a middleweight, but was at his fighting best as a welterweight. He defended his title five times and was beaten only once, by a middleweight...Jake LaMotta.

*A handful of the fighters who have held the mythical pound-for-pound title did so as welterweights, including Whitaker (Norfolk, Virginia), Leonard (Palmer Park, Maryland), Mayweather (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Mosley (Pomona, California), De La Hoya (Los Angeles) and Donald Curry (Fort Worth, Texas).

*Other legends who held the welterweight title before jumping to middleweight include Mickey Walker (Elizabeth, New Jersey) and Carmen Basilio (Canastota, New York).

*Four of Ring Magazine's 10 best welterweight fights of all time were all-American affairs: Basilio-Tony DeMarco II, Leonard-Hearns I, Simon Brown-Maurice Blocker and De La Hoya-Mosley I.

American athletes have historically been bigger than their foreign counterparts. Scan boxing's various divisions and you'll see that while the vast majority of heavyweight champions have been American, the United States has produced very few notable flyweights and bantamweights.

With a limit of 147 pounds, the welterweight division lies somewhere near the middle of boxing's eight original weight classes. One might say it is the average or median of all weight classes and as a result, there have been great fighters from all over the world competing in the division. Pacquiao hails from the Philippines; Miguel Cotto, Felix Trinidad, and Wilfred Benitez from Puerto Rico; Ike Quartey from Ghana; Ted "Kid" Lewis from England; Joe Walcott from Barbados; Jimmy McLarnin from Ireland; Pipino Cuevas from Mexico; Roberto Duran from Panama and Jose Napoles and Kid Gavilan from Cuba.

Still, Ring Magazine lists Americans as the four best fighters in the history of the division (Armstrong, Robinson, Leonard, and Ross). Until the recent influx of titlists from the former Soviet Union and elsewhere, Americans dominated at heavyweight, and their excellence was best explained by genetics. Not so at welterweight, where the fighters have always battled on an even playing field.

Mayweather-Mosley serves as a reminder not only that Americans remain among the world's best fighters, but also that the welterweight division is still red, white and blue.


Opposites attract: Former champion Steve Forbes speaks from within camp Mayweather


As he gears up for his May 1st clash with ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been full of bravado and bold proclamations. While never being one to shy away from boasting of his own abilities, Floyd has seemed to kick things up a notch for this fight in particular. Perhaps it is the fact that he is getting a taste of the spotlight again after a long layoff from the sport or maybe it is because those around him, such as his father Floyd Sr. and Uncle Roger, have rubbed off on him but either way it’s obvious to see that Little Floyd is in rare form.

Inside of camp Mayweather you will find your share of egos, opinions, and contrasting characters. One man who doesn’t seem to fit the mold of others around him despite his obvious contributions is mild-mannered former champion Steve Forbes who was brought in near the end of last month as a sparring partner for his longtime friend Floyd. When thinking of the relationship that Forbes has with the Mayweathers it is obvious that the Oregon native may have a different temperament yet it is obvious from hearing him speak how apparent their camaraderie is.

“Well I’ve been working and training with the Mayweathers pretty much my whole career,” Forbes said recently. “I won a world championship with those guys, I prepared for the Contender with those guys so there is just a long history there. They called me a few weeks ago and asked me if I could come out and help Floyd and I said that I could switch my schedule around and I would be honored to come out and help.”

Elaborating further, Forbes revealed that his association with the Grand Rapids clan was one that impacted his career in several different capacities. Years before young Floyd was getting his first taste of fame Forbes was by his side witnessing his early progression and the paths of both men has been eventful and noteworthy.

“I first met Roger when I was sixteen,” Forbes stated. “I met Floyd when he was in the amateurs. It’s funny because he was fighting at 106 pounds back then. I would come here for the regional golden gloves and one of my trainers in the amateurs told Roger than when I turned pro they wanted him to train me. I pretty much knew by then that I would be moving to Vegas. I came up here and I sparred with Floyd Jr. and he told met hat I was going to be a champion too. This was back in 1996 when we started together. He had his first pro fight and I turned pro two months later.”

Two years after turning professional Mayweather would capture his first world title with a thorough thrashing of Genero Hernandez at the Las Vegas Hilton. Forbes’ road to a title was much more checkered, as fought in obscurity for a great duration of his career before breaking through with a title-winning effort against John Brown in September of 2001. In time Mayweather would stamp himself as one of the sport’s premier fighters and while Forbes has yet to regain that championship glory he did introduce himself to American audiences with his successful campaign on the second season of The Contender series. While Floyd’s star has always shined a little bit brighter there is no animosity stemming from Forbes, who points out the secrets to Jr.’s success.

“It’s been real good,” Forbes said of their relationship. “I’ve seen guys work out and I’ll say this. After you’ve seen Floyd work out you have to re-evaluate your whole workout routine. This guy is the hardest worker I have ever seen, bar none. I have never seen a guy work out so hard and so intense. Floyd trash talks and stuff like that but for every bit of trash talk he works ten times harder in the gym. It’s been great just being here and getting in there and working with him. It’s been tough and it’s been great. He’s a truly great fighter.”

While in camp Forbes has had a chance to again witness Mayweather’ s dynamic personality on all fronts. While the public is often only aware of the brazen and brash nature that Floyd exhibits, Forbes has gotten to see many facets to his persona.

“I don’t think people really get to see Floyd for who he really is,” he claimed. “I mean you always see the trash-talking and that’s fun and stuff. I will tell you one thing, he doesn’t curse and stuff like that around little kids. And he just has a good heart. He’s one of the nicest people that I have met and who I have grown up with. It’s funny because when I was turning pro he was actually getting me fights. He was with Top Rank and he would call them and tell them about me. He and I fought on a few cards together. It was great to have the Mayweathers around and it was like a big family atmosphere.”

It should also be noted that this is the second high-profile camp that Forbes has been a part of in the past few months as he helped prep Manny Pacquiao for his March 13th clash with Joshua Clottey. Working with the Filipino icon at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles may have been something new but it was an experience that Forbes was able to appreciate.

“Manny is a great guy also,” Forbes said. “I never was really close to Manny but we did become cool. But still he was just concentrating on his work, it wasn’t like this camp where I have known guys my whole life and career. It was similar because Manny also have friends supporting him but people in Floyd’s camps have been there for years and years.”

With a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout easily the most desired contest around town it is only natural to ask Forbes for his opinion, as he has had an intimate view of both men in recent times. Forbes closes out by giving his thoughts and slightly favoring the man he knows best.

“I think both guys work hard but I will say that I never have seen a person work like Floyd Mayweather. I’m not saying that because I am here I am saying that because it is the truth. If they met it would be a good fight but me personally I would have to lean towards the guy that has never been beaten. There is no book on how to beat him. I think it will be a great fight.”

Author: Chris Robinson

Source: examiner.com

Mayweather Jr cements legacy as being all about the 'Money'; Floyd doesn't pay WBA sanctioning fees


Is it a surprise to anyone that Mayweather Jr only cares about the money? Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, announced today that Mayweather will not be fighting for the WBA welterweight title when he squares off with Shane Mosley on May 1st. Apparently, Mayweather Jr didn’t want to pay the WBA sanctioning fee.
“This is not a WBA championship fight. But on a separate side, we are currently discussing with the WBA, for Shane, that Shane would be defending his belt. But for the purpose of this call, it's basically a non-WBA fight. It's the two best fighters fighting each other, that's what's at stake here." Richard Schaefer, Fanhouse
Now, this should not come as a surprise to anyone especially since Mayweather has been saying that he doesn’t fight for belts he fights for the money.
“Belts only collect dust.”
"I am not only in the fight business; I am in the check cashing business.”
“Shane Mosley says Floyd Mayweather fights for money. You fu*kin dummy. I’m a prizefighters. That’s what I’m supposed to fight for, a prize, duh.” Mayweather Jr, HBO 24/7
Apparently Shane Mosley didn’t read these comments from Mayweather or didn’t truly believe that Mayweather was all about the money. Shane made the following comments:
"I don't know what to think about that. Everybody grows up wanting to fight for a belt and wanting to be a world champion. For him to dismiss it like, 'Oh, I'm bigger than this belt,' that just doesn't seem like he's in this sport for the sport, He's in it just for the money. Which is good, I mean, if he's in it for the money, to each his own. I love the glory and the legendary status of being a champion and winning belts, and beating the best guys out there. If you do that, then, the money's going to come regardless." Shane Mosley,Fanhouse
Billy O’Connors Sacramento, CA“What do you think about Mayweather Jr not fighting for the Shane’s WBA title?”
Honestly, it doesn’t really bother me. Floyd doesn’t pretend that he’s out for anything other than the money. How many interviews has he done where he’s said that he’s all about the money? I don’t understand why people are surprised or upset about it. Floyd wants the big payday not a title. What has Floyd done in his career that would make people think he truly cares about the sport of boxing? This is the same guy who says he’s better than the 2 greatest boxers ever Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. This is also the same guy who says he doesn't care about the fans.
Shane Billings Sacramento, CA“Floyd is a disgrace to boxing when he refuses to fight for the WBA title.”
I can come up with a list of reasons why I think Floyd can be considered a disgrace to boxing, but not fighting for the WBA title isn’t one of them. Floyd wants the money and the undefeated record. Honestly, I think it’s a smart move for Mayweather. He won’t have to make any mandatory title defenses. He can still pick and choose whomever he wants to fight. He can continue to fight only those he thinks will give him a chance to make the money. For Mayweather, this makes sense.
For other fighters that actually care about the sport of boxing and boxing fans, they fight for a title. Like Shane Mosley said “Everybody grows up wanting to fight for a belt and wanting to be a world champion.” Well Shane, apparently everybody but Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Author: Rick Rockwell

Source: examiner.com

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