Season’s Beatings!
Christmas Day, there were no shots fired in the continuing gang war between Team Mayweather and Team Pacquiao and their assorted acolytes.
But now, today, it’s on, as in back on.
In a mad world, in which terrorists are trying to blow up commercial airplanes in the name of religion, this ongoing boxing drama may seem like incessant trivia and drivel but, hey don’t blame me, I only work in the toy department.
Just because Bob Arum, 78 year old OG is, relaxing at Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo and doing shots of the rock star’s premium tequila, doesn’t mean he is not focused on repairing the damage done to the almost completed negotiations for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao March 13 fight negotiations.
Arum made these comments Friday to Kevin Iole of Yahoo:
“Ronnie (Filipino reporter Nathanieldz) said he came over early for the [Mayweather-Marquez] fight and he met with Schaefer,” Arum said. “He said they met for a half hour and that Schaefer went on and on and on that Manny is a cheater and that Manny uses steroids and that Manny was on performance-enhancing drugs.
“Ronnie asked him, ‘Why would you take this attitude with this young man?’ Ronnie told me he thinks Schaefer is pissed off that Manny chose us over Golden Boy, though Schaefer is happy to take the money.”
The deal was inside the 20 yard line, definitely in the NFL Red Zone with agreements on nearly all the major issues, when Gold Mine Promotions, the new corportate name adopted by Oscar de la Hoya and his sidekick Richie Rich Schaefer, fumbled bigtime.
Gold Mine—their new motto is “We Get The Gold, You Get The Shaft”—has trust issues concerning the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That’s curious since GBP makes chump change in California, where it is based in downtown Los Angeles, and rakes in millions selling fights to the MGM Grand Mirage boys over in Las Vegas.
As Gold Mine spits and sputters, babbling like a toxic brook, the Big Fight is in limbo.
May I remind you that the Golden Miners will get paid off the backs of both Manny and Floyd unlike OG Arum, whose company only gouges Manny money.
Meanwhile, there are more than rumblings of discontent within the Gold Shaft fistic empire.
Training up at Big Bear for his late January bout against Andre Berto, Gold Shaft VPO Sugar-Steroid Free Shane Mosley told boxing scribe Robert Morales he “doesn’t understand” why his promotional company does everything but stand on its coporate head for L’il Floyd when it doesn’t even have a l’il contract with him.
“But some things you’re not supposed to understand,” Mosley said, wisely.
A brilliant observation from the world’s second or third best welterweight fighter.
While OG Arum barks about fighting Pacman steroid accuser Paulie Malignaggi or the not yet ready for prime time Tim Bradley in place of Mayweather as the next Pacman foe, the Goldies stay silent on Mosley.
Maybe OG Arum was right, maybe Manny should’ve targeted Mosley instead of Mayweather in the first place.
Less aggravation, you see.
I may be blind, deaf and idiotic. It wouldn’t be the first time.
I remain convinced that forces such as HBO, which bankrolls so many lesser bouts for Gold Shaft (with their ridiculous “output deal” running two more years with the cable network) and the MGM Grand Mirage suits will shove the parties back to the negotiating table.
You don’t trash the richest fight in history because of a minor dispute about when a fighter will have to give some blood for a drug test.
You just don’t do that, not if you want to keep yourself off of prime customers HBO and MG Grand Mirage spit list.
After all, then who would buy Berto-Mosley and all those other loss leaders?
It really will be Gold Mine Productions, with Oscar and Richie Rich getting no more gold and only the shaft from HBO and MGM Grand Mirage, if this disaster happens.
What part of “output” doesn’t Gold Mine understand, Ross Greenburg will rightly ask.
Both sides must deliver this fight, albeit it could slide back a few months in time.
Either they deliver or the MGM boys and Greenburg will lose their phone numbers.
Now, that’s what we call real talk.
Blood in, blood out.
See y’all at the Mayweather-Pacquiao press conference in New York.
If Malignaggi and Bradley are there, it will be as spectators. Come to think on it, why don’t they fight each other and, by the way, don’t Popgun Paulie can’t win that fight.
Blood in, blood out.
