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[D-MARV]

By Mark Vester

Leonard Ellerbe, advisor to Floyd Mayweather Jr., told the Los Angeles Times that Shane Mosley would be their prime target if negotiations to make a fight with Manny Pacquiao fall apart. Mayweather is looking for the biggest financial opportunities out there, and the two biggest are Pacquiao and Mosley. Bob Arum of Top Rank and Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions [acting on behalf of Mayweather] are going to do their best to make a deal for a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout. Mosley has to win his January 30 welterweight unification with Andre Berto to keep the Mayweather possibility alive.

"If the fight can't be made [with Pacquiao], we'll fight Shane Mosley if he can get past Berto," Ellerbe said.

Negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao will be tough. Mayweather wants the bulk of the money, and so does Pacquiao. Ellerbe doesn't seem to care if Pacquiao's pay-per-view with Miguel Cotto lands a higher buyrate than Mayweather's bout with Juan Manuel Marquez. He stands with Mayweather's position of Marquez bringing very little to the table in terms of pay-per-view buys.

"It's no secret the camps don't see eye to eye, but this is bigger than boxing," Ellerbe said. "We understand the magnitude of this."

"The numbers don't lie, people do," Ellerbe said. "[Pacquiao] had good numbers, God bless him, but he had a dance partner [Cotto] this time."

[King Eugene]

People please realize that Floyd said it was either Shane or Pac next. He's not calling Shane out now that he has a fight. He said after his fight that he was going to wait til after the Cotto-Pac fight before he made a decision on what he was going to do next. Goodness gracious you dudes get carried away sometimes. He's not calling him out to fight in Jan., he just said its either Shane or Manny next.

[thehype]

People please realize that Floyd said it was either Shane or Pac next. He's not calling Shane out now that he has a fight. He said after his fight that he was going to wait til after the Cotto-Pac fight before he made a decision on what he was going to do next. Goodness gracious you dudes get carried away sometimes. He's not calling him out to fight in Jan., he just said its either Shane or Manny next.

Did he say it's either Shane or Manny next though? Did he really say that? Did Floyd actually come out and say, "My next fight is either going to be Shane Mosley or Manny Pacquiao!"

Incidentally, I saw the following from David Mayo in his recent article:

There also has been unsubstantiated talk about Mayweather taking an interim fight in January, possibly in England against Matthew Hatton, Ricky Hatton’s brother.

“I've heard a lot of rumors and I don't pay a lot of attention,” Ellerbe said. “We're the ones making our decisions and Floyd has made it perfectly clear to us that he wants to make the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.”

HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said after the Pacquiao-Cotto fight that the thought of either Mayweather or Pacquiao taking an interim fight before facing each other “makes me ill.”

“My response is that our focus is on trying to get a deal done,” Ellerbe said. “If we can't get a deal done, my responsibility is what's in the best interests of Floyd Mayweather. Ross Greenburg's responsibility is the best interests of HBO."

Now, if you notice, he never said it wasn't true. If it wasn't true, then Ellerbe should say, "Look here man, Floyd's next fight isn't going to be in the UK. Floyd's next fight is going to be Manny or Shane."

But he didn't say that. Instead, he said that Floyd wants to make the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight....but he never said when. And then, he said if a deal couldn't get done, they're going to be do what's in the best interests of Floyd Mayweather. Ross Greenburg's responsibility is the best interest of HBO."

That's Leonard Ellerbe double talk right there...."Oh yeah, Floyd wants to fight Pacquiao, but on his terms and his terms only. And if a deal can't get done, then yeah, we'll entertain the possibility of fighting Mosley, but we're going to do whatever is in the best interest of Floyd."

Well, WTF? Wouldn't the best interest for Floyd be a fight with Manny or Shane? What exactly does that mean Ellerbe? What's up with the shot at Greenburg? Why even mention Greenburg?

I'm telling you, if you TRULY think there's not something else going on behind the scenes, well, then you might be just as shocked as a lot of Boricuas were last Saturday if Floyd's next fight is NOT Pacquiao or Mosley.

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Keep in mind that Leonard Ellerbe is the same guy that said Floyd Mayweather didn't have any problems with the IRS...and yet, just prior to his fight with Marquez, Floyd ended up settling like a $5-$6 million debt to the IRS.

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