Horn stuns Pacquiao for unanimous decision win

Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO welterweight world title to Jeff Horn in a stunning, unanimous points decision in a Sunday afternoon bout billed as the Battle of Brisbane in front of more than 51,000 people.

The 11-time world champion entered the fight at Suncorp Stadium as a hot favorite but got more than he bargained for against the 29-year-old former schoolteacher.

Still, Pacquiao dominated the later rounds and had Horn wobbling at the end of the 9th.

“I felt buzzed for sure, but I’m the Hornet — I’ve got to come back,” Horn said of that round. “I’m not a quitter. Australians aren’t quitters to start with. We’ve showed we’re winners.

“It was the battle of Brisbane, that’s for sure. Absolutely unbelievable. So pumped.”

Pacquiao’s long-time trainer Freddie Roach predicted the fight would be short and sweet but Horn — unbeaten in his 17 previous professional fights — applied pressure by winning some of the early rounds and Pacquiao needed treatment during the 6th and 7th rounds for a cut on the top of his head that resulted from a clash of heads.

The judges scored the fight 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113, and Horn declared himself “no joke.”

Roach had said earlier in the week that he’d think about advising Pacquiao to retire if he lost the fight, but that would depend on how he fought.

Horn can’t see Pacquiao retiring any time soon.

“I’m sure he’ll want to come back. It was a close decision and I’m sure he’ll want to come back and prove himself,” Horn said.

Top Rank promotor Bob Arum said there was a clause for a rematch, but he’d give it time before talking to Pacquiao about it.

“I know Jeff would welcome the rematch, but I don’t know Manny’s future position,” Arum said. “Is he going to stay in politics and not continue in boxing? I don’t know, and he doesn’t know now — it’s unfair to ask him now.”

Pacquiao’s camp had talked about a rematch with Mayweather if he got past Horn, hoping to avenge his loss on points in the 2015 mega fight. That seems to be a distant chance now.

Pacquiao, who entered the fight with a record of 59-6-2, 38 knockouts, was defending the WBO title he won on points against Jessie Vargas last November.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pacquiao gives away $1 million on tickets

LAS VEGAS–It’s easy to understand why Manny Pacquiao keeps on fighting.

He’s generous to a fault.

For this fight against Jessie Vargas alone, Pacquiao has spent $1 million (roughly P48 million) for 2,000 tickets given away to friends, relatives and fellow politicians.

That’s a huge amount, considering that he’ll not be receiving the guaranteed $20 million for his third fight against Timothy Bradley in April.

According to sources, Pacquiao will be receiving an undisclosed flat rate plus a percentage of the revenues from The Legend vs The Champ fight card promoted by Top Rank Inc.

Vargas, on the other hand, will get $2.8M outright.

With the lower prices, tickets to the 19,522-seater Thomas & Mack Center, are selling briskly, according to Top Rank honcho Bob Arum.

Despite the absence of HBO, which passed off this time, pay per view sales are expected to rise, hours before the card starts at the home of the UNLV Running Rebels, the 1990 US NCAA Division I champions.

In a mini press conference Thursday, Pacquiao disclosed that nearly 50 percent of whatever he earns from boxing is channeled back to the poor through free housing, hospitalization and other general services programs.

It’s a good thing, sponsors continue to trust Pacquiao’s global marketing appeal. Just this week, Anta, China’s giant sportswear firm, formally announced that it has made Pacquiao a chief endorser.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Arum happy over modest ticket sales, PPV buys

LAS VEGAS—Top Rank chief Bob Arum said Friday that about 2,000 tickets are still up for sale a day before Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. collide in the final chapter of their trilogy Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at MGM Grand here.

But Arum said he expects a lion’s share of those tickets to be gobbled up by weekend walk-in fans before the start of the pay-per-view card at 6 p.m. Pacific time.

But even if the rubber match between Pacquiao and Bradley doesn’t draw enough people to sell out the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Arum won’t mind. It wasn’t an easy promotion, even for an organization that just celebrated 50 years of producing fight cards.

For one, Pacquiao is coming off a long layoff that followed a lackadaisical duel with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr, which fell way short of the “Fight of the Century” hype. Pacquiao lost that match due to an injured shoulder.

Pacquiao also took a hit in his popularity after his comments on same-sex marriage.

That’s why Arum has set modest financial targets for this promotions.

“Whether [it’s a] sold out or 90 or 95% percent, we’re very happy with how the tickets went,” Arum told INQUIRER.net. Arum is also eyeing pay-per-view buys of 700,000, a far cry from the 4.4 million buys the Mayweather duel generated.

Arum is left to count whatever small victories Top Rank lands promotion-wise and one of them is the turnout at Friday’s weigh-in at MGM Grand.

“I think it’s very good [the reception]. The weigh-in was very good. People were well behaved,” Arum said.

source: sports.inquirer.net

No rematch clause, no problem for Arum: Pacquiao will beat Mayweather

Bob Arum is not bothered that there is no rematch clause in the deal for the megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2.

The Top Rank promoter is confident that the eight-division champion will defeat the yet unbeaten Mayweather in the single-bout affair.

"I tell you, there's going to be one winner from this fight, and it's gonna be the congressman from Sarangani, Manny Pacquiao," Arum told 24 Oras in an interview.

The fight was officially announced by Mayweather on his Shots account on Saturday (PHL time), ending five years of on-and-off negotiations.

The talks to make the happen took months after Pacman called Mayweather following his demolition of Chris Algieri in Macau in November.

According to Arum, the negotiations were stalled due to the "mistrust" between the two camps and the "lies" spread by the press.

"The negotiations were very difficult," he said. "A lot of it was impeded by some elements of the Philippine press who were reporting lies that had no basis in reality but impeded the negotiations." — Marisse Panaligan/JDS, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

With fight talks ongoing, Mayweather takes another jab at Pacquiao on social media

 

Floyd Mayweather hasn't expressed whether he would finally fight Manny Pacquiao, but the unbeaten American took another jab at the Filipino ring icon on social media.

 

On Wednesday, Mayweather posted on his official Facebook page a video of Pacquiao getting knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez.

 

 

 It isn't the first time the brash fighter has taken this tack. Last September, Mayweather also posted photos of that same knockout.  

The latest stunt comes amid news that talks for a much-awaited fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao are back on.

After Pacquiao demolition of Chris Algieri this past weekend, the pressure is on Mayweather to finally say yes to a fight. Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum said American television bigwigs are taking the lead to make the fight happen. — JST, GMA News

 

source: gmanetwork.com

Manny Pacquiao to Floyd Mayweather: 'It's time to say yes'

"It's time to say yes."

That's Manny Pacquiao's plea to Floyd Mayweather to finally make the much-awaited fight between the two top fighters in the world happen.

Pacquiao was coming off a rousing victory over Chris Algieri on Sunday in a one-sided fight that saw the American fighter hit the canvas six times.

Predictably, Pacquiao was asked about the possibility of finally fighting Mayweather just moments after his hand was raised. 


"It's a good thing that we talk about that fight. It's time to say 'yes,'" Pacquiao said in the post-fight press conference.

"It's been a long time since I wanted that fight."

Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said the Mayweather fight was the top priority for their camp.

"Enough is enough. Let's make the fight happen," said Arum.

After years of frustration in making a fight between the two top fighters in the world, there was some light earlier this week after news leaked out that Mayweather was finally open to a fight, according to his network Showtime. No less than CBS Corporation CEO and president Les Moonves is reportedly spearheading the negotiations to make the fight happen. — JST, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Bob Arum sees blockbuster hit in Pacquiao-Algieri

MACAU — The opening bell has yet to ring, but Bob Arum is already predicting the overwhelming success of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title clash between Manny Pacquiao and Chris Algieri this Sunday at the Cotai Arena inside The Venetian here.

Arum, the 82-year old Top Rank founder and CEO, said Thursday that the event will be way bigger than the previous year's card in terms of attendance, publicity, pay-per-view buys, production and all-out boxing action, especially with Pacquiao trying to essay an emphatic finish for the first time since knocking down Miguel Cotto in 2009. Last November, Pacquiao fought American banger Brandon Rios in his first outing in the Asian sin city.

In fact, the world's top sports journalists are in attendance, together with a handful of international icons led by action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger with a Christian choir singing the Philippines' national anthem.

According to Arum, the pay-per-view buys have already moved to close to a million, more than doubling the 475,000 buys generated by last year's Rios fight.

"This is so much bigger than last year," Arum told a handful of Manila-based reporters.

"Every New York paper is here as well as the LA Times, the Associated Press, Yahoo, ESPN, Reuters. Everybody is here to witness this fantastic show. The publicity is tremendous. People are very interested in witnessing this fight. I'm looking forward to a great promotion, a great week and an even greater result."

Arum said with the tremendous result of their promotion in this Chinese gambling resort city, they are planning to come up with more boxing shows and other activities while developing potential Asian boxers aside from Pacquiao and Zou Shiming, who will battle Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym of Thailand in a flyweight match in one of the undercards.

According to him, the market has the ability to match, or even surpass, the income generated by boxing promotions done in the United States.

"The plan is to develop good Chinese fighters," Arum said. "It is necessary to do that to further take advantage of the good Chinese market. We have to develop Chinese contenders because the market is so good and full of potential."

"I think Macau can afford anything they want. Money is so enormous here in Macau. It dwarfs anything that can be done in the United States. The numbers here are totally crazy compared to any place in the world."

He added that they have no plan of slowing down.

"We're still working on four more events here in Macau. Three will be shown in regular Asian time and one in the morning to accommodate viewers from the United States," said Arum, who once promoted the epic clash between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

"People here want to see a show, a complete show. And that's what we're giving. This is just the start." — STR/JST, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com