Last month, FightHype's exclusive Mayweather After Dark series sparked a ton of reaction, both good and bad, from fans and media alike. From diehard fans who were eager to hear more from the undefeated pound-for-pound champion to members of the media who had their own series of questions, the email has not stopped pouring in since the first video went up. Although we don't have all the answers, we do have some and I certainly don't mind sharing my opinion, so check out what I had to say to inquiring minds who want to know all about Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and much more.
I've been enjoying the great footage on Money as well as the interaction with you & the fans. I saw in one that Phil had a question why Mayweather wants testing all the way until the fight. That's easy. If you've read anything about PED's it's pretty easy to understand. Certain PED's can be urinated out of your system within hours or a couple of days of taking it. A 14 day cut-off period would still allow the user to benefit from taking PED's or blood doping (EPO). As a neutral party in this, all I can see why Mayweather wants an even playing field to make sure he's clean. I can't blame him for that since he's the one taking punches to his dome-piece. There would be no excuse for losing from either fighter. - Sean
BT: You hit the nail on the head, Sean. I think a lot of people just automatically think "steroids" when the subject of performance-enhancing drugs are brought up, but in this day and age, there are so many different forms of PEDs, as well as different methods of implementation. The stereotypical image of a guy sticking a needle in his butt is obsolete. In fact, most people have such little knowledge of the subject that they can't even form an educated opinion on it. Stimulants, steroids, narcotics, peptide hormones, Beta2 agonists, and diuretics are all different categories of PEDs, and each category has different types, all of which have totally different half lifes and detection times, from months to weeks to days to hours. Before people are quick to state that a 14-day or 7-day cut-off should be sufficient, they really need to do some serious resarch about performance-enhancing drugs before they come to that conclusion, especially when we're talking about a sport where the main goal is to inflict physical damage to the opponent.
Hey Ben, first off i would just like to say i am a huge fan of the site. I appreciate all the exclusive footage and coverage, especially since Mayweather has big gaps between fights where hes MIA! I am 16 years old , and i've been a fan of Mayweather since elementary school. I would like to know would Mayweather fight Andre Berto if he wouldve won in his bout against Victor Ortiz? I also would like to get more details on his press tour. Is his press tour at the Hudson Theater in NYC free? Also, being that Mayweather is getting older, its only logical that he retires soon. As he said before "Imma retire form the sport of boxing, i won't let the sport of boxing retire me", "Self preservation" .. etc. So if he retires what knew movements will Mayweather promotions make as far as their fighters are concerned? Thanks in advance. - Marc
BT: Marc, if Berto would have come out victorious against Ortiz, more than likely, we probably would be seeing a battle of undefeateds on September 17. I find it hard to believe that it was just a coincidence that Floyd was in attendance for that particular fight. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but regardless, it seems pretty clear to me that Floyd's plan was to eventually get back into the ring against someone some time later this year. While many people think Floyd selected Ortiz because he's a southpaw and would be a good tune-up for Pacquiao, I think the plan was simply to fight a young, hungry, up-and-coming star, and both Ortiz and Berto fit that description. It's just that Ortiz was the one who happened to win, therefore, he was the lucky one to get the assignment. The press conference at the HUdson Theater on Tuesday is free and open to the public. So is the one at L.A. Live on Wednesday. Fans are definitely encouraged to come out. It's hard to say how things will turn out with Mayweather Promotions once Floyd retires, but the fact that they're taking things slow instead of rushing out and trying to sign a bunch of fighters, like a lot of other upstart promotional companies, is a good thing.
Hello Mr.Thompson, I love your articles on Fighthype! This is a question for the next Mayweather mail or if possible a question for one of the Mayweathers if any of the journalists on your site get a chance to ask this. When it comes to other fighters that are trained by Floyd Sr., Roger, and Jeff Mayweather. Is there a particular gym or way an up and coming boxer can get a chance to work with them (other than word of mouth or personal connections)? I'm aware of the Mayweather gym in Las Vegas but wanted to know information on how to contact with the Mayweather trainers for fighters interested in training with them or some kind of boxing education (training, seminars, etc.). So far I have not found any way to do this online or by phone. I would greatly appreciate this if it can be answered as soon as the chance is given or if you may already have some answers for these questions. Thanks so much for reading my inquiry, keep up the great work on Fighthype! Regards, Sam
BT: sam, the easiest way to get a hold of Roger is to catch him at Mayweather Boxing Club, and Big Floyd has been working with some fighters over at Johnny Tocco's Boxing Gym. Jeff might be the easiest one of them all to get a hold of though since he's actually got a Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/jeff.mayweather, and is pretty good at responding to questions. I'm sure any one of them can you point you in the right direction to the other.
hi ben , i respect what you doing , i am a fan in the united kingdom , i would like to ask you is floyd mayweather jr going to come to the uk for a vist or something because he did say that he loves the Uk fans the most. Also who do you think is the best pound 4 pound , i know who i think Mayweather jr. Thanks you Hasan Javed
BT: Hasan, I'm not sure when, but Floyd has told me a couple of times that he plans on visiting the UK. He definitely appreciates the fact that fans in the UK enjoy his technical skills, so don't be surprised if he eventually pays a visit for an open workout, or maybe even a fight, some time in the future. Who do I think is the best pound-for-pound fighter? Well, let's just say that if they actually fight, I think Floyd would win a decision over Manny.
Hey man, great READ!! I'd hate to be you because you'll be getting some serious 'hate mail', all because of the truth that you wrote. When you lay things out like this, Pacquiao looks very suspect. Will you be commenting on the infamous email sent from Team Pacquiao to Team Mayweather?? - Robert
BT: I've definitely recieved some fun and intereseting hate mail, Robert. What may comes as a surprise to the "haters" though is the fact that I've received much more positive mail than negative. But even if they hate, I know that they read it, so that always puts a smile on my face. LOL. Now, on to the infamous emails that were allegedly sent from Team Pacquiao to Team Mayweather. That's an interesting topic that seems to get lost in all of the hoopla of the defamation lawsuit that Pacquiao filed against Oscar De La Hoya, Richard Schaefer and the Mayweathers. One would think that the mysterious emails would play a big role in the storyline, especially since Teddy Atlas talked about them during an episode of Friday Night Fights. For those that don't know, both Teddy Atlas and NY Daily News writer Tim Smith revealed that sources told them that members of Team Pacquiao sent emails asking what penalties Pacquiao would face if he did test positive and if the results of a positive test could be kept a secret. Say what? That's a pretty serious accusation worth repeating so people can fully understand it. Again, both Teddy Atlas and Tim Smith are on record with the following statements:
- "According to a source familiar with the talks, Pacquiao's representatives asked what penalties Pacquiao would face if he tested dirty and also if a dirty test result could be kept secret so that the integrity of the fight wouldn't be ruined in the public eye." - Tim Smith, 12/25/09
- "From sources that told me, they said that people in the Pacquiao camp sent a couple of emails to the Mayweather camp a few weeks ago, about 2-3 weeks ago, and the first email was 'What would the penalty be if our guy tested positive?' and the second e-mail was 'If he did test positive, could we keep this a secret for the benefit of boxing?'" - Teddy Atlas, 1/08/10
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I highly doubt Tim Smith would have written the story unless he was given the information by someone like Al Haymon or Floyd Mayweather himself. That being said, do I believe that it's possible a representative of Team Pacquiao actually sent some emails asking those questions? Absolutely, but I base my opinion on my own interactions with other representatives of Team Pacquiao. The thing about Manny Pacquiao is that he has a lot of people around him that represent him in one way, shape or form. Whether it's members of his boxing team or lawyers and businessmen who represent him in the Philippines, all of those individuals interact with him in some way and a lot of them overstep their bounds in different aspects of his life, as evidenced by Bob Arum publicly scolding Pacquiao's lawyer Jeng Gacal and his business partner Eric Pineda for making comments regarding negotiations with Mayweather. Take Timothy James [Sladeck] for example, who runs Pacquiao's official website, mp8.ph (formerly mpboxing.com). He's actually written a couple of articles for us here at FightHype.com that give some interesting insight into how many different individuals are involved in making decisions for Pacquiao and how some members of the team don't always agree with other members. Now, is Timothy James someone that most fans are aware of when it comes to Team Pacquiao? Probably not since, when it comes to Pacquiao and boxing, most people are only familiar with the names Bob Arum, Freddie Roach, Mike Koncz, or even Buboy Fernandez. However, I know who Timothy James is and I know his relationship with Manny Pacquiao. Knowing that he runs Pacquiao's website and knowing that he has exclusive contact with him, including being allowed to travel to the Philippines with him to get more video footage for the website, I think it's safe to say that Timothy James is just as much a member of Team Pacquiao as Mike Koncz.
So with all that being said, if someone like a Timothy James, who I know is affiliated to Pacquiao, sent me an email asking those type of questions, then I'd probably be a little concerned too and it would definitely raise my suspicions as to why he won't take the tests. So yes, I can definitely see a scenario where some representative of Team Pacquiao, perhaps someone that most fans have no knowledge of and someone outside of the inner boxing circle, maybe sent out a couple of emails to ask some questions for clarification. In fact, ever since we put up the Mayweather After Dark series of videos, I've personally been contacted by multiple representatives of Team Pacquiao. Obviously I won't mention any names, but I have a number of emails from different people who I know for a fact are affiliated with Manny Pacquiao. Are any of them calling the shots when it comes to his boxing career? No, but the fact that I know who they are and they reached out to me to discuss the possibility of somehow working behind Bob Arum's back to put this fight together...well...that alone tells me that everyone isn't exactly on the same page when it comes to Team Pacquiao. Seriously, some of the e-mails that I've gotten are pretty surprising. From someone trying to set up a private sit-down between Floyd and Manny to someone trying to sell me evidence of Pacquiao's use of Shabu, methamphetamines, some of the emails that I've received have been pretty crazy . I was even forwarded an e-mail from a well-known jounalist who demanded an upfront payment of $15,000 in order to pass on a proposal for the fight to Top Rank Promotions (yeah, you know who you are and you're probably surprised to know that I know about that).
Needless to say, I've seen some pretty amazing requests pass through my own Inbox, so again, I can definitely see those questions being asked by some representative of Team Pacquiao. Now, that's not to say that it's some kind of indictment of Manny Pacquiao. After all, a lot of this stuff goes on behind Paquiao's back, so he has absolutely no knowledge of it, but still, if I'm on the other team, it's enough to make me have my own questions and my own doubts as to exactly what's going on.
[WRITER'S NOTE: That's it for today. I know I only got a couple of emails answered, but I had a lot to get out regarding that last one. I still have a lot more email to get through and I'm definitely going to try to get to everyone, so if you don't see a response from me now, be sure to check back later in a future mailbag. If you do have any other questions or comments, feel free to shoot me an email at bthompson@fighthype.com and I'll be sure to get back with you in one way, shape or form.]
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