Joshua Clottey trainer Lenny "The Locksmith" DeJesus does not buy the notion that Floyd Mayweather put the kibosh on fighting Manny Pacquiao because of a disagreement over random blood testing.
DeJesus, 64, a veteran of 75 world championship bouts dating back to the 15 rounds or less era, told me Wednesday he is convinced Mayweather dodged fighting Pacman out of simple fear.
"It's two things with Mayweather," DeJesus said from the Clottey training camp in Fort Lauderdale. "One thing is his precious undefeated record. Floyd doesn't want to lose that. Let me be blunt, I think he rejected a Manny fight because he wants to make sure he stays undefeated and because he's worried that he could get knocked out. If not for those worries then, why wouldn't Floyd take the fight and, whatever happens in the fight, he goes to the bank laughing with $40 million?"
DeJesus thinks Mayweather should not worry so much about protecting his unbeaten status.
"Fans don't care about all that. Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Wilfredo Gomez, who I worked with, they all lost but they came back to win. I just think Mayweather had an eerie feeling that Manny Pacquiao could take him out. Like Joe Louis said, you can run but you can't hide and he could run against Manny all night. Floyd could be jumping around like a jackal but somewhere in the fight he would feel Manny's power and that's what boxing is all about, hurting power. That's the game of boxing."
DeJesus injected a little humor into the situation.
"I thank three people for Joshua getting this March 13 bout against Manny", DeJesus said.
"First, I thank Freddie Roach for taking the fight. Second, I thank Manny for taking the fight. Third, I've got to thank Mayweather for not taking the fight."
Manny Pacquiao has been named 2009 fighter of the year by The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). The Filipino boxing sensation joins an exclusive club of five men who have been awarded the trophy.
Other three time winners are Muhammad Ali (1965, 1974 and 1975), Joe Frazier (1969, 1971 and 1975), Sugar Ray Leonard (1976, 1979 and 1981), Evander Holyfield (1990, 1996 and 1997).
Pacquiao wrapped up the previous year of 2008 with a win over Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on December. In May of 2009, Pacquiao squared off against Ricky Hatton in a fight many believed would be a possible fight of the year candidate. This was Pacquiao’s first fight in the Light Welterweight division. Hatton was undefeated as a light welterweight, and his only loss came in 2007 when he stepped up to the welterweight division to challenge Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Pacquiao needed only two rounds to dethrone the Englishman, Hatton lay motionless on the canvas for several minutes after the devastating knockout. Some critics were still not convinced Pacquiao could hold his own with a true welterweight. When he announced his November date with Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, the boxing world was split as to who they thought would win. Cotto looked in tremendous shape, and many thought the Filipino had bitten off a little too much this time. The Puerto Rican was in his prime and had been competing in the welterweight division for several years.
Pacquiao dominated the fight, dropping Cotto in the third and fourth round. During the fight, Pacquiao silenced and critics by almost deliberately taking Cotto’s shots to prove a point. There is no doubt Cotto was in shape for this fight as the first two rounds where competitive and the Puerto Rican looked in the zone and completely ready for the fight.
Pacquiao was also voted fighter of the decade, beating challenges from Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, Joe Calzaghe, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera.
The Filipino has won six of his record seven world titles over the past decade while compiling a record of 24-1-2. He is regarded as the greatest Filipino boxer of all time, and arguably the best southpaw to ever grace a ring.
Trainer, strategist and confidante Freddie Roach won the trainer of the year for a record fourth time. Roach has picked up the award in 2003, 2006 and 2008. Both trainer and fighter may just be the most successful duo the sport has ever seen.
Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, who stormed to a pair of decisive knockout victories to win world titles in a record-tying sixth weight class and a record-breaking seventh one, has been named the 2009 fighter of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Pacquiao, who will be presented with his third Sugar Ray Robinson trophy in the past four years, heads the list of honorees who will be invited to receive their awards on June 11 in New York at the BWAA's 85th annual banquet.
Pacquiao, who was also named 2009 fighter of the year by ESPN.com and Ring magazine, won the award in balloting by the organization's membership over nominees Vitali Klitschko, Andre Ward, Paul Williams and Arthur Abraham.
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), whose first world title came at flyweight, scored a second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton on May 2 to win the world junior welterweight championship and stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round on Nov. 14 to win a welterweight world title.
In addition, Pacquiao was also voted fighter of the decade (2000-09), beating out a star-studded group of nominees that also included Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera.
Pacquiao, of the Philippines, went 24-1-2 during the decade and won six of his seven world titles while emerging as the pound-for-pound king and a box office sensation.
Freddie Roach, who has trained Pacquiao since 2001 and been an integral part of his success, will receive the Futch award for trainer of the year for the fourth time. He also won it in 2003, 2006 and 2008.
"Manny and I are a great team and to win this award you need a great fighter," Roach told ESPN.com Sunday. "Hopefully, Amir Khan will be my next guy. It's my favorite award because its named after my trainer [the late Eddie Futch]."
Futch trained Roach during his fighting career before taking him under his wing as an assistant trainer.
"I give Eddie all the credit for where I am today," Roach said. "He gave me great guidance during my apprenticeship with him."
Filipino GM Wesley So scored a crucial win with the black pieces against GM Tomi Nybäck of Finland in the tenth round of the Corus B tournament in Holland last Wednesday. Nyback opened with d4 and So responded with his favorite Slav defense.
Nybäck went all out in his attack as he sacrificed a piece in his 33rd move. But So calmly defended and the Finnish grandmaster capitulated after 46 moves. The game ended with So having material advantage with a bishop, two rooks a queen and four pawns against Nyback’s two rooks, queen and six pawns.
The players will have a day off Thursday.
Going into the eleventh round of the tournament, So had 6 ½ points and shared second place together with Ni Hua of China and Erwin L'Ami of Holland. They trailed leader Anish Giri of Holland by a half a point.
Giri drew his tenth round game against Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany.
Filipino chess enthusiasts will be on the edge of their seats this Friday night (Manila Time) as So will play Giri using the white pieces.
Gm So’s other remaining games are against David Howell on Saturday and his final game this Sunday will be against female GM Anna Muzychuk, who dealt Giri his only loss so far last Tuesday.
Write comment (0 Comments)