[bnoles4life]

Why stop with Hopkins? Calzaghe wanted Taylor to come to the UK at 168 three months after he fought Cory Spinks, when he didn't Calzaghe said "See? Nobody wants to fight me wah wah wah," (The formula Calzaghe followed his whole career btw). Pacquiao is doing the same thing with Marquez, but it's okay then? Marvin Hagler and Bernard Hopkins made their careers by waiting out the smaller guys, I wrote it in my article about Sergio Martinez posted today, and yeah it is a double standard but that's just when your bullshit sensors have to go off and just go with it. Every fighter is granted a different set of rules by the public, hell I bet Pacquiao might fight Brandon Rios soon and people will be like "Okay, well he's a tough fighter cause that's what they want me to believe and Pacquiao only fights the best?" GTFO, but that's an unfortunate reality in boxing.

Thing about Bernard is that even though he made guys like Wright and Pavlik go up to fight him, I don't think Bhop was favored in any of those fights, people were actually thinking Pavlik was going to stop him! So Bernard does it to his advantage, he's a master-matchmaker, but I get your point.

Thanks for the questions!

Great point. I mentioned Bernard in this instance, b/c this isn't the first time he's been the recipient of the "double standard". First, let me point out, Bernard's 10 year reign and 21 MW title defenses is almost unfathomable. It's likely NEVER to be duplicated, at that weight, again. The double standard he benefits from is he stayed at MW, beating decent fighters for 10 years, but no superstars at that weight. His most notable wins come from beating guys who started 140 or lighter. Now, the one thing you hear about Roy Jones, Jr. is how he fought cab drivers and avoided the toughest fighters (Benn, McClellan, Eubanks, Michelczewski, etc.). My question is/was, "wasn't all of those fighters within 8 lbs of B-Hop?

[dhoward126]

Great point. I mentioned Bernard in this instance, b/c this isn't the first time he's been the recipient of the "double standard". First, let me point out, Bernard's 10 year reign and 21 MW title defenses is almost unfathomable. It's likely NEVER to be duplicated, at that weight, again. The double standard he benefits from is he stayed at MW, beating decent fighters for 10 years, but no superstars at that weight. His most notable wins come from beating guys who started 140 or lighter. Now, the one thing you hear about Roy Jones, Jr. is how he fought cab drivers and avoided the toughest fighters (Benn, McClellan, Eubanks, Michelczewski, etc.). My question is/was, "wasn't all of those fighters within 8 lbs of B-Hop?

Roy didn't avoid them per se, but he was just as unwilling to fight them in the UK as they were to fight him in the US when they were all competing together. However, Roy would've beaten all those guys and they were all a bit past it so he wouldn't have gotten his props. One thing I'll say about Roy's derided competition is that he fought in a time where nobody was really around to challenge him, much like Sergio Martinez or Yuriorkis Gamboa when he moves up to 130.

Hopkins did the right thing by staying down at 160, I don't think he would have beaten the younger versions of Toney or Jones back in the day. He waited at 160 because Brother Naz told Hopkins that De La Hoya and Trinidad would eventually have to make their way up to him with how much weight they were cutting down to make 147, and that's exactly what happened. Hopkins fights Jones in 2001 when they were exploring that, Jones would've handled him in a boring fight. Now that I think of it, maybe I should do a "What If" post and give my creative writing skills some exercise. Thanks for the idea.

Thanks for the questions! Keep them coming guys.

[bnoles4life]

Roy didn't avoid them per se, but he was just as unwilling to fight them in the UK as they were to fight him in the US when they were all competing together. However, Roy would've beaten all those guys and they were all a bit past it so he wouldn't have gotten his props. One thing I'll say about Roy's derided competition is that he fought in a time where nobody was really around to challenge him, much like Sergio Martinez or Yuriorkis Gamboa when he moves up to 130.

Hopkins did the right thing by staying down at 160, I don't think he would have beaten the younger versions of Toney or Jones back in the day. He waited at 160 because Brother Naz told Hopkins that De La Hoya and Trinidad would eventually have to make their way up to him with how much weight they were cutting down to make 147, and that's exactly what happened. Hopkins fights Jones in 2001 when they were exploring that, Jones would've handled him in a boring fight. Now that I think of it, maybe I should do a "What If" post and give my creative writing skills some exercise. Thanks for the idea.

Thanks for the questions! Keep them coming guys.

Danny...what do you think of this? If you would, bring Ben in on this. I"m interested in his perspective as well. I got this from Stephen "Bread" Edwards Mailbag over on Btalk:

Manny has had about five fights since the (Money Team) has accused him of using, he doesn't need Floyd or anybody else to prove he's not, if I was handling Manny I would just have USADA do the testing for one or maybe two of my fights and show the fans, Mayweather is running scared so easy to do.

If I went and got a job making 10M a year and got the job without taking blood but got it taking a urine sample, some big boss comes along and changes the policy and the new drug test are blood test, how many people quit the job cause they feel offended? you have to take a drug test to work @ WalMart in this country. every fighter in boxing will take the drug test to get a chance to knock that kid's head off except Manny wierd. I love your stuff, some of the best stuff around but I think you are being stubborn on this matter. How would floyd know asking for a drug test would stop the fight? You can't answer that question, Oh he's in Manny's head. Right! Not buying, like I said Manny's doesn't have to give in to Floyd demand he could prove he's clean with another fighter. Rules change when big fights happen all the time take the test Manny, like the demands that Floyd gave in to Manny with(10M per) who in they right mind would come up with some crazy shit like 10M per? I just think you go real soft on pac with this. If I own a company and ask someone to take a blood test and he freaks out he won't get the job and yes I would believe he on drugs so, I understand why floyd won't move off this demand.

Seems like Manny or Manny's people is avoiding Floyd and not Floyd avoidind him, it's nothing to take the test, Mayweather will take the take the test too, how is Floyd in any form wrong? If you always hiding from the police it's obvious you are a crook Right?

H from the CHI
Bread’s Response: Ok H, you asked for this bro. My record as far as defending the “TRUTH” is like 65-0 with 58 kos. I wasn’t going to post your comment because frankly I’m tired of the Manny/Floyd bs. But I feel challenged on this fine Saturday morning, so you are going to get what you asked for.


First off your analogy is flawed. I’m in agreement that I wouldn’t quit my job making 10 mill a year, if the new boss implemented blood test instead of urine test. But if the new boss went around telling people I’m on drugs because I perform my work better and faster than everybody else, therefore I’m a cheat. And if I had other job options to make 10 mill, I would tell him to go screw himself.


You see I am going to break every comment you made down to the Tee. Next you claim every fighter in the world would take the test to knock this kid’s head off. Manny is the only active fighter that can generate the money Floyd can. He is the only other PPV star that is guaranteed to do over 1 million PPV buys everytime he fights. He is the only other fighter that is considered a worldwide icon. He is the only one that is equal to Floyd in star power. Do you notice that Floyd takes about 80% of the guaranteed pot, against his opponents? Against Manny they would pretty much split everything. I won’t argue over a % point here or there. Do you really think Oscar De La Hoya would submit to these test? Manny has leverage that no one else currently has. What other fighter can make 25 million not fighting Floyd? So that kills that statement. Manny is not everybody else.


Here is where I’m going to shake you up. I was a Mayweather fan before I knew who Manny PAcquiao was. I wish Floyd was more in the right, but he’s not. You asked how would Floyd know Manny would refuse blood test? You are just ignorant to the all of the details. I don’t mean that as an insult, but you clearly don’t know or failed to mention pertinent events that occurred.
First off about 7 years ago Shelly Finkel went to the NSAC and tried to get an eye exam waived when he was managing Manny. Manny found the exam too intrusive, allegedly they really wanted to go into his eye and he didn’t feel comfortable getting it done. This happened way before anybody accused him of being a drug user. Floyd Mayweather also bet BIG money on Manny PAcquiao to beat Erik Morales in their 2nd fight. Now we can both agree Floyd is a student of the game. Why would Floyd bet on a guy who just loss to the fighter he was rematching. Well Manny had 2 excuses. One was he wore WINNING gloves and they felt like pillows. Look at the 1st fight and you will see this. Two he had to give blood before the fight and it weakened him. He didn’t fail anything and it was a test he didn’t know was coming, it just weakened him. So he goes out the next fight and destroys Morales and Floyd is seen in the audience jumping up and down. Fact. So just maybe he knew. Food for thought or am I still being stubborn.


Next you bring up all of these things Floyd agreed to. Let’s break that down. Floyd agreed to 10mill/lb penalty. That’s true, but you guys fail to bring up two major things that brought that on. First off Floyd had just duped Juan Manuel Marquez. That gets so overlooked by all of these ass kissing writers and blindly loyal fans. He signed a contract to come in at 144lbs. He came in at 146. Guys like Jose Luis Castillo and Joan Guzman get called unprofessional for that. Two pounds is way too much to come over for a fight. I was at this weigh in. Floyd didn’t even attempt to sweat the pounds off. He owns a gym in Vegas for goodness sake. He just laughed it off and paid Marquez 300k/lb.


What was Marquez to do, not fight? I don’t think so. Floyd knew that and that’s why he did what he did. This just gets dismissed as Floyd would have beaten Marquez anyway. So what! That’s not the point. Contracts are contracts. Also you failed to mention that Floyd wanted his fight against PAcquiao to be at 154lbs. Yes junior middleweight. Team Mayweather outsmarted Team Pacquiao. They gave the impression they were struggling to make 147 which was not true. So therefore Team Pacquiao did not want to risk Floyd coming into the fight “heavy”. They had good cause to believe that considering what he did to Marquez and what the negotiations were. So they asked for 10 mill/Lb penalty. Let me ask you considering Floyd paid Marquez 300k/lb what amount is reasonable. In my opinion it has to be something that Floyd won’t laugh at and just pay.


For the record Manny agreed to the drug testing. Just not up until the day of the fight. Funny thing is USADA stops taking blood over two weeks out before the May/Mosley fight and we don’t have any details of the May/Ortiz fight. My fighter gave blood for commission testing then he sparred and looked like complete shit. Maybe it was a coincidence but I won’t let him do it again. A week cut off and a test right after the fight to insure no one was on anything in the ring is a fair compromise. By the way Floyd was flipping out at the negotiations over a 14 day cut off. Manny ups it 7 days in later negotiations and that’s still not good enough.


Two unbias independent parties have taken Manny’s side in this situation. Keith Kizer the head of the NSAC and Ross Greenburg the ex honcho at HBO. Greenburg was quoted saying, he doesn’t understand why Mayweather didn’t make the fight during the denied negotiations. This is coming from a man who headed HBO, let’s remember Arum took some big fights to Showtime. Keith Kizer has been quoted saying he is not going to change the rules to single out and target ONE fighter. He also said that Mayweather has not petitioned the commission for blood testing.


Now Arum has said openly that if the commission implements blood testing then they will abide. Floyd could conceivably box Manny in with that statement. He would have a great case. Mayweather has privy to the most powerful lawyers in sports. Why wouldn’t he petition the commission? I say because he was not ready to fight that little animal from the Phillipines.


Floyd was very kind to Oscar De La Hoya before their fight was signed. He said all of the right things because he really wanted the fight. So we know, he knows how to act to get a fight. Now with Manny he makes Asian jokes, he pretty much tells everybody that Manny is a cheater, he goes on internet rants, he takes off for years at a time and he denies negotiations. This to me tells me that this man does not want to fight.

Here is an analogy. Boxing is in large part mental. If Floyd is not comfortable fighting a PED freak why should Manny help him relieve his trepidations? It would be smart to let Floyd keep believing that. Maybe Floyd will start slower because he’s afraid of this so called incredible stamina. Maybe he won’t engage because of this so called incredible power. Whatever the case maybe if I were Manny I wouldn’t help him be more comfortable fighting me. Only an idiot or fighter with no leverage would do that.


Andre Ward and Carl Froch both want blood testing. That doesn’t seem to be something that will happen for their fight. But the fight is still getting made. I think Manny agreeing to a 7 day cut off and blood testing immediately after the fight is more than enough. I hope you let all of your friends read my response. Don’t twist my words, just research everything I said and come to a fair conclusion. My conclusion is Floyd Mayweather is not comfortable fighting Manny Pacquiao and this blood testing is just an excuse to buy time and that’s exactly what he did, bought 3 years

[Maxy]

Roy didn't avoid them per se, but he was just as unwilling to fight them in the UK as they were to fight him in the US when they were all competing together. However, Roy would've beaten all those guys and they were all a bit past it so he wouldn't have gotten his props. One thing I'll say about Roy's derided competition is that he fought in a time where nobody was really around to challenge him, much like Sergio Martinez or Yuriorkis Gamboa when he moves up to 130.

Hopkins did the right thing by staying down at 160, I don't think he would have beaten the younger versions of Toney or Jones back in the day. He waited at 160 because Bs rother Naz told Hopkins that De La Hoya and Trinidad would eventually have to make their way up to him with how much weight they were cutting down to make 147, and that's exactly what happened. Hopkins fights Jones in 2001 when they were exploring that, Jones would've handled him in a boring fight. Now that I think of it, maybe I should do a "What If" post and give my creative writing skills some exercise. Thanks for the idea.

Thanks for the questions! Keep them coming guys.

Sorry but Nigel Benn wanted Roy Jones, would NEVER turn down a Jones fight. I was a huge Jones fan but he lacked the balls to travel abroad, using the Olympics as his pathetic excuse.

[gravytrain]

Sorry but Nigel Benn wanted Roy Jones, would NEVER turn down a Jones fight. I was a huge Jones fan but he lacked the balls to travel abroad, using the Olympics as his pathetic excuse.

i could see why he would want Jones in the UK, the ref saved his ass against MCclellan.

[Maxy]

i could see why he would want Jones in the UK, the ref saved his ass against MCclellan.

Well that's the way it was. Benn ended up winning one of the most brutal fights in modern boxing history.

Regarding Jones, Benn was always respectful about him as a fighter and he genuinely knew Jones would be the toughest fight he could ever have. Don King fucked up the chances of that fight ever happening. I missed out as a fan. As did you. And everybody else.

Don King is also responsible for the plight of Gerald McClellan today.

Jones is quite happy to travel the world these days ain't he? Shame he never wanted to do it back then cos I will tell you this much, a Benn-Jones fight anywhere in England would've been bigger than it ever could have been in the US. Benn was also happy to travel....but then, as Brits it ain't something we're afraid of.

[Spyder]

Well that's the way it was. Benn ended up winning one of the most brutal fights in modern boxing history.

Regarding Jones, Benn was always respectful about him as a fighter and he genuinely knew Jones would be the toughest fight he could ever have. Don King fucked up the chances of that fight ever happening. I missed out as a fan. As did you. And everybody else.

Don King is also responsible for the plight of Gerald McClellan today.

Jones is quite happy to travel the world these days ain't he? Shame he never wanted to do it back then cos I will tell you this much, a Benn-Jones fight anywhere in England would've been bigger than it ever could have been in the US. Benn was also happy to travel....but then, as Brits it ain't something we're afraid of.

You Euro boys like to keep travel limited to within the Union. I can't say I blame you guys. It's a lot safer over there.

(IMG:http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jul2011/7/3/image-1-for-ricky-hatton-a-career-in-pictures-gallery-890535472.jpg)

(IMG:http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/deadspin/2009/05/pacquiao_says_goodnight.jpg)

[Maxy]

I think you take truths as if I'm dishing out insults, Spyder.

[Spyder]

I think you take truths as if I'm dishing out insults, Spyder.

Same here, Maxy.

[johnnyblaze]

Hey Danny,

When are you guys going to re-name the site FloydHype?

Thanks!