Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is Off!!

Los Angeles, CA- After almost two days of mediation, headed by retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, the fight was officially called off. According to reports, Pacquiao already agreed to blood tests 24 days before the fight and immediately after the fight. However, Floyd Mayweather’s camp still refuse to accept the compromise agreement. “The fight’s off, Mayweather never wanted it. Manny wanted the fight. He was agreeable to terms,” Arum told LATimes.com. It was reported a few weeks ago that Team Mayweather wanted to implement an Olympic Style Blood Testing for Pacquiao, which will require him to submit to blood test at any time or any given hour before the fight. Though Team Pacquiao agreed to unlimited urine test and blood test 30 days prior to the fight and after the fight, Team Mayweather is still unsatisfied with the agreement, hence resulted to the matter be brought for mediation in the hands of retired judge Daniel Weinstein. Dubbed as the biggest fight in boxing history, it was estimated that each fighter will receive at least 30 million dollars if the match push thru.

“When the fight was offered, Manny accepted it with no hesitation,” Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz told ESPN.com. “We’re not surprised. We saw this coming once they started this drug bull—-. It was a way for them to get out of the fight. I don’t think Mayweather expected Manny to accept the challenge so quickly.”

According to Top Rank’s Bob Arum, they will consider to arrange Pacquiao vs Yuri Foreman also of Top Rank on March 13 or March 20. This will be another record setting for Pacquiao for his 8th world title.

Manny Pacquiao agrees to fight Floyd Mayweather on March 13, 2010.

Manila, Philippines- It is on!!, the mega fight of the century is almost a done deal. Days after Top Rank promoter flown to the Philippines to discuss the details of the fight to Pacquiao, the Boxing Champ has finally agreed to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. this coming March, 2010. It was reported before that Pacquiao was hesitant to agree on the said date since he is busy preparing for the upcoming election in the Philippines where he is running for a seat in Congress, and considering that he just beat Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto via TKO almost a month ago. According to reports, Bob Arum is leaving for Las Vegas this Sunday to bring the good news and finally iron out the details with Richard Schaefer and the rest of Floyd Mayweather’s camp.

The venue of this epic fight has yet to be finalized. Aside from the MGM Grand Arena, Dallas, New Orleans and New York are among the big cities vying to host this huge event.

For the record, Manny Pacquiao answers back!!

For the past few days, after seven time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao beat Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was very vocal about calling out the Pacman. Mayweather claims that Pacquiao has never mentioned directly that he wants to face Floyd.

“Manny Pacquiao is the fighter and every time someone asks him if he wants to fight me, he says it is up to his promoter, he’s going to take a vacation, whatever the answer is,” Mayweather said. “I have yet to hear him actually say, ‘yes I want to fight Mayweather. But last night, Manny Pacquiao finally broke his silence. During an interview by Cher Calvin of KTLA, he was asked if he wants to fight Floyd? and Manny response, “for the record, yeah”. Now the reigning pound 4 pound king has officially announced that he is willing to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. From this moment on, all things will rely on their promoters to come up and start their negotiations. Manny Pacquiao will head back to the Philippines on Wednesday night to celebrate his victory in his homeland and also to spend the holidays with his family.

Manny Pacquaio makes boxing history!!

Las Vegas, NV - It was a busy weekend in Las Vegas, thousands of people flocked to the MGM Grand Arena to watch the much awaited fight between Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto. Stars from the hollywood and Sport Industry also took time to watch the epic fight between this two warriors. Among them were Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Jeremy Piven, Mark Wahlberg to name a few.

Dubbed as firepower, Manny Pacquiao achieved greatness when he beat Miguel Cotto in Round 12 via TKO and winning his 7th title in 7 different weight classes. Now the whole world awaits for the biggest fight of the century between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Athletes and stars show their support for Manny Pacquiao

For his upcoming fight this weekend against Miguel Cotto, athletes and stars took time out to give a shout out to the People’s champ. (not in order of appearance) ,Boxer Angulo, ESPN sport Analyst Stuart Scott, NBA Stars David West, Tyson Chandler. Evander Holyfield, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin, UFC fighter Chuck Lidell, Clipper girls, .The main event will be held at the MGM Grand on November 14, 2009 and will be available on HBO pay per view. This event is brought to you by Top Rank promotions.

Manny Pacquiao on the cover of TIME Magazine.

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao graces this month edition of Time Magazine Asia.  He now joins the elite group of Muhammad Ali,  Joe Frazier,  Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson and Max Schmeling among the great boxers who were featured on the cover of this prestigious magazine. He is also the second Filipino to grace Time Magazine’s cover, the late President Corazon Aquino was the first.

Manny Pacquiao will face Miguel Cotto on November 14, 2009 at the MGM Grand Arena. If he wins, he will become the first boxer to win seven titles in different weight classes.

Pacquiao’s Media day goes Hollywood!!

Los Angeles, CA - It was a warm mid day afternoon in Hollywood, traffic and parking spots were all congested in a small alley located near Santa Monica and Vine St. All roads lead to the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, CA. It is that time of year again where all the media storm the famous gym and watch the Filipino Boxing Icon, Manny Pacquiao, do his warm up routine and answer interview questions. Aside from the foreign and local sports network, hollywood’s EXTRA TV crew, led by TV Star and boxing fanatic Mario Lopez, also showed up to join the media frenzy. The HBO crew is also present filming for their award winning show, 24/7. Manny Pacquiao, fresh from his successful guest appearance at the Jimmy Kimmel Live show the night before, showed up in a relax and cheerful mood. He gladly entertained every questions from the media and even exchange laughs with them. He began his routine with warm up jog and stretches with one of his trainer, Alex Ariza, followed by mitts session with the legendary trainer, Freddie Roach. Manny appeared ripped and looks so strong combined this with his excellent and lightning fast footworks and jabs. No doubt that he is all set and ready to face Miguel Cotto. Top Rank’s boxing promoter, Mr. Bob Arum was also present and entertained questions from the press. The fight, dubbed as “firepower”, is promoted by Top Rank and will be held at the MGM Grand Arena on November 14, 2009. It will also be available LIVE on HBO’s pay per view.

All photos were taken by: Ping Nepo and are exclusive property of Beseeninhollywood.com

Actor Jeremy Piven stopped by to watch Manny Pacquiao in Los Angeles.

The star of HBO’s Entourage, Jeremy Piven, took time out last Friday to watch Manny Pacquiao’s training at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. A big boxing fan, Mr. Jeremy Piven also met with Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach. Pacquiao will face Miguel Cotto on November 14, 2009 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas Nevada. It will be live on HBO Pay per view. In addition, catch the award winning series, 24/7 Pacquiao vs Cotto also on HBO, Saturday, 9:00PM ET/ 6:00PM PT.

Don’t miss 24/7 Overtime, immediately following the FINAL 24/7, Friday November 13th — A special webcast features Jim Lampley, Freddie Roach and Phil Landman

Laker Ron Artest visited Manny Pacquiao in Los Angeles.

NBA Player Ron Artest stopped by at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, Thursday afternoon to visit the champ Manny Pacquiao in training. A big boxing fan, Ron Artest, who was also present during the press conference held at the Beverly Hills hotel a few months ago, eagerly watches the pound for pound king in action. The Pacquiao and Cotto fight promoted by Top Rank entitled “firepower” will take place at the MGM Grand Arena on Nov. 14, 2009. It will also be available on HBO pay per view.

ESPN’s The Magazine: The Body Issue is out this Friday!!

ESPN’s The Magazine will be releasing its “BODY ISSUE” for this year on Friday, October 09, 2009. It will feature four covers inluding Serena Williams, Dwight Howard, MMA’s Gina Carano and NFL’s Adrian Peterson. This is ESPN’s version of Sports Illustrated, swimsuit edition. Other athletes baring their skin are Boxing Champion Manny Pacquiao, Tennis Star James Blake, Nascar’s Carl Edwards, PRo surfer Claire Bevilacqua and many more.

Please visit ESPN: THE MAGAZINE’s site for more details. All photos are courtesy of ESPN.com

UPDATE:PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK - (Business Wire) ESPN The Magazine’s inaugural “Body Issue,” featuring nearly 80 athletes from a variety of sports hits newsstands this Friday, Oct. 9, featuring Adrian Peterson, Dwight Howard, Carl Edwards, Gina Carano, Sarah Reinertsen and Serena Williams on six separate covers. The Mag’s “Body Issue” is a celebration and exploration of the athletic form. The issue honors athletes of diverse shapes, sizes, genders and races within the boundaries of taste, and frontiers of creativity upon which ESPN The Magazine and ESPN have built their reputations.

“We’ve always been committed to showing fans a different side of the sports and athletes they love,” said Gary Belsky, editor in chief, ESPN The Magazine. “This issue, from the amazing photos to the innovative journalism, is just our latest effort to do that. We’re very happy with the results.”

The “Body Issue” spotlights three major photo acts: “Bodies We Want”, a celebration of the best bodies in sports - athletes include baseball player Nelson Cruz, surfer Claire Bevilacqua, hockey player Zdeno Chara, and track and field star Lolo Jones; “Skin Games” - including softball gold medalist Jessica Medoza and fellow USA Softball teammates, players Chris Pontius, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, Jaime Morneo, Santino Quaranta and Ben Olsen from MLS’ D.C. United and bull rider Shane Proctor; and Torry Holt, Laird Hamilton and Cheryl Haworth are all spotlighted in “Body Parts” — a testament to the lengths to which star athletes to go perform – for themselves and for us.

Features in the “Body Issue” explore the athletic form, inside and out – literally, including: “Cheating is So 1999” by Shaun Assael - the largest genetic test of current and former athletes to examine their genetic mapping (ESPN’s Outside The Lines will have a companion report Oct. 18); “For Sale by Owner” by Alyssa Roenigk – female athletes’ use of sexuality to promote themselves; “Cutting it Close” by Alyssa Roenigk - a first-hand look at Blake “Bilko” Williams’ ACL surgery; “Underwriting with the Stars” by Peter Keating – insuring the athletic body; and “Form = Function” by Jon Robinson – a look at what video game companies know about the athletic body and the process they go through to create the video game representation of star athletes.

ESPN Insider on ESPN.com will host a photo gallery and will feature behind the scenes video from some of the more than 30 photo shoots produced for the issue.

“Body Issue” covers available via ESPNMediazone.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6069238&lang=en

ESPN
Crystal Howard, 917-805-7448
crystal.howard@espn.com
or
Ellie Seifert, 212-515-1108
ellie.seifert@espn.com

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