Boxing Gossip
World Watch – #MayweatherPacquiao
On Thursday afternoon, Floyd Mayweather announced through his “Shots” App–and later on his Instagram Page–that he had arranged a sit down with Manny Pacquiao.
The caption in the picture of Pacquiao and Mayweather sitting in a hotel room basically points the finger at the other side, or “they, for holding up the fight. So who are “they?”
Perhaps “they” being the promoters?
Anyway, Mayweather insists that Pacquiao and himself are in negotiations for the mega matchup to finally take place. No information was mentioned about how far along they are with the fight contracts or any other news, however, Mayweather insists fight fans should download his app, or follow Fight Hype for the latest information.
While most are getting tired of following the rumors–and let’s admit that we’re all watching like a crazy ex-lover–what keeps fight fans intrigued is the effort Mayweather is making.
We’ve never seen this much info leaked before, and hopefully it’s all true.
Now excuse me while I go download this Shots App.
Leo Santa Cruz a Free Agent
Per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Al Haymon has completely taken over the reins of Leo Santa Cruz. The junior featherweight was under contract with Golden Boy Promotions through 2016, but it was announced on Thursday that Al Haymon bought out the rest of that contract from Oscar De La Hoya for an undisclosed amount.
It’s been known that De La Hoya had been diligently trying to match up Santa Cruz with Guillermo Rigondeaux for months now, but that obviously wasn’t of interest for Santa Cruz.
Talks are that Haymon has plans to match up Santa Cruz with the winner of Jhonny Gonzalez versus Gary Russel Jr. and possibly Abner Mares in the summer. You can definitely expect to see Santa Cruz on Haymon’s new NBC series, Premier Boxing Champions.
That Was Quick
The business deal between Gary Shaw and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports lasted about as long as a Kardashian marriage.
At the beginning of this week, news broke (via ESPN.com) that Gary Shaw split ways with the Roc Nation Sports and that all business deals were terminated. As if the partnership never existed, Shaw will keep his company and his fighters including Bryant Jennings who faces Wladimir Klitschko on April 25.
Roc Nation Sports will keep Andre Ward, and their newest fighter Miguel “Zurdo” Sanchez.
A lot of work is to be done for the new Roc Nation Sports outfit as they have a three-fight deal with Fox Sports 1 to uphold. Their next show is to be expected in March.
Bloodbath Anyone?
Photo edit by John Garita/RBRBoxing
We’re nearing the end of the week where some confirmation was to be made for Ruslan Provodnikov to face Lucas Matthysse in March. Talks have been going around for the past couple weeks and fight fans are thrilled for this matchup.
As we all found out when Provodnikov faced New York’s Chris Algieri, he needs more of a stationary opponent. Algieri boxed circles around Provodnikov, with one eye! After the fight, Provodnikov admitted that Algieri’s style is not his favorite to face.
Facing Matthysse is an absolute guarantee for fireworks and a blood bath. Matthysse doesn’t run from anybody and has bad intentions behind every punch he throws. Reports (via Boxing Scene) are that the fight will be scheduled to take place on March 28, and the network–HBO or Showtime–who pays out the most money will broadcast.
Simple enough!
The StubHub Center is at the top of the list for venues, but Arizona and Las Vegas are being taken into consideration as well. StubHub would be best as it is been known to be a top notch boxing venue on the West Coast.
Header photo via @FloydMayweather on Instagram
