Negotiations to putthe March 13 superfightbetween Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Cowboys Stadium have been revived and an offer has been made by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a source close to the proceedings said Friday.
Surprising news, especially after Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer — representing Mayweather — reportedly pulled a fast one on Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum and HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg on Wednesday by bailing out of a trip to Dallas to meet with Jones and tour the Cowboys’ new billion-dollar palace.
The hiccup apparently didn’t faze Jones, who seems serious about this fight.
Now, Cowboys Stadium is the only serious challenger to Las Vegas, still thefavorite to get the nod,but not automatically.
That’s a good thing.
This is boxing’s opportunity to do something outside the box and make an impact on millions of potential new fans — announcing itself as a player again in the sports world. Even if Las Vegas ends up being the venue — not a bad thing by any stretch — at least Arum and Greenburg were smart enough to have an open mind and listen to what Jones had to say. Maybe that will allow for more discussion in the future.
With his 11th-hour tantrum, Schaefer made himself look selfish and small-thinking; someone who is more interested in putting his own best interests ahead of those of his sport. And we all know his interests lie in Vegas — not Dallas.
Wasn’t Golden Boy’s early mantra that it was a different kind of promotional company? That it would look out for the fighters,and for boxing? Schaefer’s actions this week make that claim dubious.
Now, though — despite Schaefer — the talks are back on. It will be interesting to see where they lead.
Big fight weekend
A big fight weekend will be topped off by an intriguing rematch between junior welterweights Juan Diaz and Paulie Malignaggi (8:15 p.m. today, HBO).
The first fight was controversial, as Diaz (35-2, 17 knockouts) took a tight decision in his hometown of Houston in August. Malignaggi (26-3, 5 KOs) swore he’d never go back to Texas, and so the return is scheduled for neutral ground — the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
With a rabid Hispanic fan base expected to show up in support of Diaz, don’t expect much neutrality, Paulie.
For all of his boxing skill, the plain fact is that Malignaggi has no power. Diaz is aggressive and is constantly moving forward.
From a purely aesthetic view, the slugger is always more eye-catching than the stylist. So don’t expect a different result. Diaz by unanimous decision.
Klitschko in action
On the same HBO broadcast, Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KOs) defends his WBC heavyweight crown against Kevin Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KOs) in a tape-delayedbattle from Switzerland.
Despite looking great in recent stoppages of Samuel Peter and Chris Arreola,Klitschko is 38 years old. He’s got to slow down sometime. And Johnson is hungry, good — and eight years younger.
Unfortunately for Johnson, he’s not better than Arreola.
Klitschko — showing no signs of slowing down — wins by 9th-round TKO.
Finally, former junior welterweight champ Timothy Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs) takes on good buddy LamontPeterson (27-0, 13 KOs) in a battle of undefeateds; while former multi-champ Vic Darchinyan (32-2-1, 26 KOs) meets Tomas Rojas (32-11-1, 22 KOs) in a bantamweight fight from Rancho Mirage, Calif. (7 p.m., today, Showtime).
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at [email protected]
