Staples Center offers $20 million to host Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight

Staples Center has made a guaranteed $20-million offer to host the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. mega-fight that has been verbally agreed to be fought March 13.

Fabforum "This is the biggest boxing event ever, and we're prepared to step up in a big way," said Dan Beckerman, AEG's chief financial officer. Beckerman said his pitch to Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum is to "activate the entire L.A. Live campus" on fight week.

New J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels would serve as media headquarters, a fan-fest would be staged at Nokia Plaza, a large closed-circuit audience could watch the bout at Nokia Theatre and 20,000 would fill Staples Center, Beckerman said.

"We know there's interest in this fight across the world, but we're very interested and honored to make the most impressive offer possible," Beckerman said. "It's our biggest guarantee ever, and we hope it wins the day. We wanted to push as far and as hard as we could."

Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, which counts AEG as a partner, declined to immediately comment on any site deals. He canceled a planned trip to tour Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Wednesday, but declined to explain why, other than repeating he was busy working to finalize the fight deal.

One of the barriers to staging the bout in California, promoters say, are the state taxes required from the boxers -- payments not required in Nevada and Texas.

"That's certainly a factor in the overall economics, and one thing we'd have to overcome," Beckerman said.

Staples has at least won the right to stage another fight of interest, the fourth chapter between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, on May 22, Beckerman said.

The classic trilogy had two fights at AEG's Home Depot Center, with both bouts won by Huntington Park's Vazquez.

"That's a great L.A. fight and the fourth installment appropriately needs to step up to the bigger venue," Beckerman said.

-- Lance Pugmire

Photo: Staples Center. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/12/staples-center-offers-20million-to-host-manny-pacquiaofloyd-mayweather-jr-fight.html

Pacquiao-Mayweather is almost a go

Manny Pacquiao, above, is expected to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 13 at a site to be determined. (Isaac Brekken/associated Press)

Manny Pacquiao is likely to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 13 after agreeing to a proposal from promoter Bob Arum in Manila on Friday.

Arum presented "what he thought was the best proposal he can bring" during a two-hour breakfast meeting with Pacquiao, said Michael Koncz, an adviser of the Philippine boxing idol.

"Manny has some additional requirements, requests, which Arum didn't think was a problem," Koncz said. "The requests of Manny were so realistic that Arum doesn't feel it's a problem and it's pretty much a done deal."

He said the contract still needs "fine tuning," declining to elaborate.

Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in May 2010 elections and official campaigning won't start before April.


The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120404116.html

Pacquiao-Mayweather bout closer

The proposed super-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather is getting closer.

Mayweather agreed to terms for the welterweight title bout on Tuesday, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations told ESPN.com.

The proposed date is March 13, although there is a chance it could move to May 1, sources said. Mayweather, according to a source close to him, is OK with either date.

Pacquiao and Mayweather have fought recent bouts at catch weights. However if they complete their deal, the bout would be contested at 147 pounds, the maximum for a welterweight fight, a source said.

Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), was flying to the Philippines on Tuesday night to meet with Pacquiao and try to close his side of the deal.

Arum spent much of Tuesday getting open issues resolved in his negotiations with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who represents Mayweather, sources said. Once Arum was able to do that, he left for the Philippines and is expected back on Monday.

If the HBO PPV fight happens on March 13, it would force the tentative HBO PPV fight between light heavyweights Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins to move to another date. Hopkins and Jones both fight Wednesday and must win for their fight to go through.

The site for Pacquiao-Mayweather remains up in the air. There is interest from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to bring the fight to his new stadium. There is also interest from venues in Las Vegas, including the MGM Grand (which has hosted several Pacquiao and Mayweather fights), and the Superdome in New Orleans in hosting a fight many believe will break the all-time record for pay-per-view buys, which is the 2.44 million units sold for Mayweather's 2007 split decision victory against Oscar De La Hoya.

The fight moved front and center with heavy public demand for it following Pacquiao's dominant 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto to win a welterweight title on Nov. 14. The victory gave Pacquiao a title in a record-breaking seventh weight division and 1.25 million pay-per-view units.

Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs), who has won titles in five divisions, came out of a brief retirement in September to dominate Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight that generated 1.05 million buys.

Just a few days after Pacquiao's win over Cotto, Arum and Schaefer began negotiations.

One wrench in the talks was the date. Arum, Schaefer and HBO wanted to slot the fight on May 1. However, Pacquiao announced his candidacy for a congressional seat in the Philippines on Tuesday. With the election scheduled for May 10, it rules out a May 1 fight unless Pacquiao runs unopposed. Pacquiao lost the election for a congressional seat in 2007.

If Pacquiao-Mayweather isn't finalized, Arum has talked about matching Pacquiao with junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman, which would give Pacquiao an opportunity to win a title in an eighth division. Foreman defeated Daniel Santos to win a 154-pound belt on the Pacquiao-Cotto undercard.

Schaefer has talked about bringing Mayweather to England to match him with Matthew Hatton in the event Pacquiao-Mayweather isn't made. Hatton is the brother of Ricky Hatton, the former junior welterweight and welterweight titlist whom Mayweather knocked out in 2007.

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com

The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4705330

Bob Arum seeks Manny Pacquiao's OK on Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight

The promoter travels to Manila to talk with the Filipino boxer and advisors on a super-bout that would be on HBO pay-per-view.

Negotiations continue in an attempt to make a fight between Manny Pacquiao, left, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. a reality. (Bullit
Marquez / Associated Press; Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Promoter Bob Arum arrived in the Philippines and expected to start face-to-face talks Wednesday with Manny Pacquiao to try to reach terms for a mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Despite reports Tuesday that Mayweather agreed to terms and that a Pacquiao fight was virtually set, Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach cautioned Wednesday that that idea was premature because the Filipino star hadn't reviewed any contract terms.

Roach, in a telephone conversation from England, said, "Manny believes he should get a 60-40 [purse] split too, because he did better in pay-per-view than Mayweather this year. Manny's the bigger draw."

Roach is referring to the 1.25 million pay-per-view buys for Pacquiao's 12th-round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14, compared to the 1 million buys for Mayweather's fight against Juan Manuel Marquez in September. Yet Mayweather's December 2007 bout against Ricky Hatton generated more pay-per-view sales than Pacquiao-Hatton in May.

"I'm obviously over here to talk to Manny," Arum said from the Philippines. "At this point, I've got to find out what my fighter wants to do."

By being there, Arum may avoid the drawn-out theatrics that occurred when Pacquiao handlers complicated the negotiations before his Hatton fight. Arum and Roach were kept at arm's length, and several Arum proposals and Hatton offers were met with delayed counterproposals that nearly led Hatton to walk.

Alone, Arum boarded a flight to Manila, where he was to meet with Pacquiao and his business advisors.

"Bob will sit there and walk everybody through it, so Manny has a full grasp of the situation," Arum's lead matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, said. "He has to respect the culture. Everybody will have eaten and had their libations, and then Bob will start talking turkey."

Roach said his agent, Nick Khan, told him "Arum had a [Mayweather] deal together" when he left the U.S.

This could be a game of leverage too. Mayweather's camp may want to appear more receptive to a deal, casting Pacquiao as the one holding up the welterweight super-bout for more money.

Arum revealed only that he has negotiated with Mayweather's designated promoter, Richard Schaefer. Schaefer declined to comment.

Arum and Roach both said they are uncertain whether a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout has to be fought by March 13 because of Pacquiao's planned run for a congressional seat in the Philippines in May. HBO, which will televise the bout on pay-per-view if it occurs, instructed promoters to make the fight on whatever date is possible.

Roach prefers a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout on May 1.

"March 13 is too fast a turnaround," Roach said. "Manny has a broken [right] eardrum" suffered in the Cotto fight. "I'd like to have more time. I hope the fight happens, yes, but I want us to be in the best possible shape."

Sports book directors in Las Vegas are already posting odds on the unsigned fight. Jay Kornegay of the Las Vegas Hilton has opened the fight as a pick-'em after two other books split by making Mayweather or Pacquiao nearly 2-1 favorites.

"I love Pacquiao, but people forget how good Mayweather is: He never gets touched and rarely looks like he breaks a sweat," Kornegay said. A Pacquiao-Mayweather fight "is obviously a huge event, and doing it right before [college basketball's] March Madness would be a great time."

The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-pacquiao-mayweather3-2009dec03,0,4326739.story

Mayweather-Pacquiao fight nearly finalized

The much-anticipated bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is all but set for March 13, a source told Yahoo! Sports.

Mayweather has agreed to terms and promoter Bob Arum is making a trip to Manila, Philippines, to finalize a deal with Pacquiao, the source said.

Las Vegas, Dallas and New Orleans are the front-runners to host the bout, which is expected to become the highest-grossing boxing match in the sport’s history.

Pacquiao is the top pound-for-pound fighter in nearly every major ranking, including Yahoo! Sports. Mayweather is No. 2 in most rankings and was No. 1 in nearly all of the polls before he briefly retired in June 2008.

Pacquiao is coming off a 12th-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, a bout in which he won the World Boxing Organization welterweight championship and erased fears that he is not a legitimate welterweight.

Cotto was a legitimate welterweight in his prime and Pacquiao dominated, knocking him down twice and cruising to the one-sided victory.

Mayweather routed Juan Manuel Marquez, who had previously been ranked No. 2 in the Yahoo! Sports poll, in a Sept. 19 fight at the MGM Grand.

The public demand for the fight has been enormous, putting pressure on Arum and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who represents Mayweather, to get a deal done.

Promoters had targeted May 1 for the fight almost from the moment that Pacquiao stopped Cotto. But Pacquiao filed Tuesday to run for Congress in the Philippines and the election will be held on May 10.

Given that, the bout with Mayweather had to be moved up to March 13 or pushed back until September.

Though there were reports that Arum was considering matching Pacquiao with new WBO super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman on March 13 in Dallas, that was a diversionary move and was never serious, the source said.

A survey team from Top Rank will inspect Dallas Cowboys Stadium as a possible venue. The MGM Grand Garden Arena and the New Orleans Superdome are also in the running to host the mega-fight, the source said.


The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?prov=yhoo&slug=ki-floydpac120109&type=lgns