The FJ Fury 01.01.10: Mayweather-Pacquiao Impasse Surfaces a Lot of Hypocrisies, Contradictions, and Ironies

Posted by FJ Parlan on 01.01.2010

FJ Parlan's column "The FJ Fury" finally returns to 411 for the new year. 2010 is all about the superduperfight between Pacquiao and Mayweather.


Make THE fight happen. (Photo via ESPN Boxing)

It's been a while, folks.

First of all, I want to wish you all a happy New Year.

For Christmas day, I know we boxing fans all wished for one thing for the sport: for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight to happen.

Now, after witnessing a lot of tomfoolery go on and on about actually making that fight happen, we find ourselves wishing it again for the New Year.

If you look around at boxing sites from the most obscure internet source to the mainstream newspapers, the section of boxing and sports headlines the potential fight of the century between Mayweather and Pacquiao. There are a lot of nonsense going on, and, as one would imagine, even a lot more of nonsense being written. So, for all your updates and the coverage of the Mayweather-Pacquiao saga, make it a habit to check 411mania.com/boxing.

"The FJ Fury" returns and there's only one thing to talk about.

The negotiations for the pound-for-pound showdown of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is at an impasse.

Now how many times have you read that this week? Strangely though, if the fight is at an impasse and is not moving, there should be nothing much to report about, right?

Well, not really. At least one news writer has filed this case inside the "Man Bites Dog" docket. That tells you a lot about how big this fight is. It could seriously be the biggest fight of all-time that any or all the issues pertaining to it can grab a news heading. First, the purse split; thought to be the detail that would be most difficult to settle, it was fixed most diplomatically. Then, the fight venue; everyone knew the fight was eventually landing in Las Vegas, but Jerry Jones put up a good fight-- damn would Mayweather-Pacquiao be great at the $1.2 billion, 100,000-capacity Cowboys Stadium! Everything IS bigger in Texas. That was headline-worthy as well.

The current stalemate the negotiation is standing at wrings the most balderdash but is also the most compelling so far. Truly a stalemate, as people are now looking at the discussions as a chess match between the two business sides. The fight is reportedly hanging in the balance, and all those problems root from one thing-- the drug tests.

As we all know, the camp of Mayweather Jr. asked for a special drug testing protocol for the fight. This is based on the accusations originally made by his father, Floyd Sr., about Pacquiao being on performance-enhancement drugs.

I guess special fights, with special fighters, should be given special treatments. That's why as baseless as one would argue Mayweather's allegations to be, you would give this one a pass. But as the issue sets sail, I observe a lot of hypocrisies, contradictions, and ironies from everyone involved surfacing.

The primary reason Mayweather Sr. may have sniffed something fishy about the freakish Filipino fighter is his ascension to and domination of the higher weight classes. Pacquiao went up from 106 all the way to a maximum of 144 lbs. in his last fight, and he continues to knock people down and out.

If this is unnatural to Floyd Sr., then how about his son? Junior fought as low as the super featherweight limit to the junior middleweight limit (130-154 pounds). Mayweather Jr. himself has stated that he was around the same weight that Pacquiao was as a teenager, only he was an amateur (he said this to demean Pacquiao's achievement in the professional ranks of winning a title in as low as the flyweight division and moving up in weight like he did). Clearly, Floyd Jr. understands the natural process of gaining weight (and subsequently, the special process of sustaining boxing success in that manner), so what is he yapping about?

A number of others have bought the ticket to the bandwagon, including the owner of Golden Boy Promotions (the company promoting Mayweather for this fight), the Golden Boy himself, Oscar De la Hoya. (By the way, Mayweather Jr. has always said that he is his own boss unlike Pacquiao, who has Bob Arum. So why is GBP promoting him in this fight? Hy-po-cri-ti-cal.)

Making the highly-respected Ring magazine website (which he also now owns) his soapbox blog, De la Hoya wrote these lines recently:

"I'm saying to myself, 'Wow. Those Mosley punches, those Vargas punches and those Pacquiao punches all felt the same.'"

As some of us would remember, De la Hoya blatantly said that Pacquiao doesn't hit hard and he didn't have enough power to knock him out. Bad Left Hook points out that De la Hoya's latest statement was either a contradiction or a lie. I'm picking De la Hoya's poison and picking the former.

The same source offered a 2008 quote from De la Hoya's gopher, and one of the most vocal representatives of Mayweather, Richard Schaefer. Schaefer was defending their stable's fighter, Shane Mosley, against submitting to other drug tests beyond what the Nevada State Athletic Commission requires. Yeah, and now the opponent of the fighter they represent should be enforced to? If Earl Hickey knows this, he would have said that this is hypochronical. Or hypoconjugal. Hypothetical?

Promoters are sometimes understood to be that way. They go out of their way to support their fighter and to criticize other fighters, even if they have to lie. Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum has never been at a loss for that (and hyperbole). Mayweather asked for an Olympic-style drug testing for his fight against Pacquiao, a standard that can be conducted by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Such a test includes random blood testing at any time before the fight. According to Arum, Pacquiao refuses to have blood taken from him 30-days prior to the fight, and will only accept up to three "random" blood withdrawals: one at the kickoff press conference (originally scheduled for mid-January), 30 days before the fight, and right after the fight.

But, as one of my colleagues here at 411 noticed, Pacquiao was taped to have taken a blood test as close as 14 24 days to fight night (against Ricky Hatton in the HBO 24/7 show). Arum also indicated that Pacquiao doesn't have a liking to needles making contact with his body, but Pacquiao has tattoos all over his body.

Was Arum just putting words into Pacquiao's mouth? If he lied, no surprise there. Arum is a promoter now and a lawyer before that-- it just ups the chances of committing a lie! Furthermore, if Pacquiao really does think that blood withdrawal close to the fight can physically or mentally weaken him, or that he's just superstitious about it, then that HBO 24/7 clip puts punch holes in his argument. Thus, even Pacquiao doesn't escape this hypocrisy hysteria.

Another promoter, Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather's promotional outfit, said that his client has taken concessions to Pacquiao in the fight deal (the 50-50 purse split and the 147 lb. limit). If that doesn't fall under hypocrisy, contradiction, or irony... it's a lie. Oh, these promoters. The 50-50 purse split is arguable both ways, but at the end of the day, it is just. And the 147 lb. limit? Can anyone please tell me how that favors Pacquiao more than Mayweather? If I remember correctly, some reports indicated that Mayweather made absurd demands for the fight to take place at 154. Whether those are rumors of not, it's still absurd. So is Ellerbe's lie.

So Mayweather Jr. has conceivably trapped Pacquiao in the warfare outside the ring. Mayweather necessitated a stricter drug testing in the contract, Pacquiao budges at it, and now, some people are doubting Pacquiao. But it continues to befuddle many smart boxing fans how the onus is on Pacquiao to prove his innocence. It's a baseless accusation in the first place, something that should simply be ignored. Instead, it has worked its way as a legit concern. Shrewd Mayweathers.

So, what does Pacquiao do? He sues the Mayweathers.

The craziness in the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations has intensified another notch.

Those craziness floated up some normal human errors like hypocrisies, contradictions, ironies, and lies for the people involved. Perhaps they all should use mirrors and memory boosters to avoid it.

I'm susceptible to it as much as we all are. Like William Detloff, I think that if Mayweather really thinks that Pacquiao is on something, then by all means he is on his right by pushing it, if only to find the truth and protect himself. But I can't blame Pacquiao either by telling Mayweather Jr. to go screw himself and refusing to be pushed. He's on his right too. I'm pointing my finger at it yet I don't espouse the most constructive and fair solution. Maybe I'm hypocritical, contradictory, ironic, or a liar. I don't know.

But I do know this: amidst all this craziness, the craziest thing is both Pacquiao and Mayweather walking away from the kind of money they will make in this fight.

Crashing Right Hooks:

The random thoughts return as well, readers...

- If this fight falls through, there wouldn't be a replacement. And what I mean is there's no substitute to this event. You can't call a new opponent a "replacement." It just won't deserve it. This bout is as big as it ever, ever gets.

- But if it does, and hopefully and begrudgingly not, Pacquiao could be fighting Paulie Malignaggi. I know you would easily dismiss that as an easy Pacquiao win, but I have my reservations (not saying Pacquiao loses, though). If the news about Mayweather-Pacquiao still come along this slowly, I would write about it.

- This portion is called "Crashing Right Hooks", but I will talk about a certain left straight. It's called "The Pacquiao" over at the "other" sport (if you may label it) and it's getting pretty popular there. BJ Penn and Frank Mir said they used it to win their recent fights.

- It really sucks that Pacquiao is running for politics right now. The fight with Mayweather could be delayed and the event will be set up even bigger. If it gets pushed to late 2010 and they both take tune-up fights, I'll also be fine with it. Pacquiao can fight Yuri Foreman at 154 for a title, or Malignaggi. As for Mayweather, err...

- If Malignaggi is not fighting Pacquiao, some have suggested that he fight in the undercard of Pacquiao-Mayweather to face Timothy Bradley. It's a main event on its own but for this once-in-a-generation event, a great undercard is a must.

- This just in: A video from TMZ was posted right here at 411 Boxing showing Mayweather toying and trash talking with a sparring partner (I won't give you the link but you can check it out, as it may be transferred to the Media section from News when our ed. comes back). Here's what I had to say in the comments: "What unimpressive? Did you see how Floyd quickly docked that punch early in the video? He was toying with this guy. What's unimpressive is him trash talking with the guy working with him. Good boxing, bad talking."

- Told you, it's all about Pacquiao vs. Mayweather.

- I will write about my decade's boxing awards soon. Just stay tuned.

- 411Maniacs, boxing fans, and everyone in between, let's talk about sports, stuffs, and everything in between! Follow my on Facebook and Twitter. Hit me there, and I'll hit you back. Thanks a lot!