BOXINGTALK'S MID-WEEK MAILBAG
By G. Leon

Greg, Great performance by the Pacman this past weekend. With that said I don't think Cotto did a good job using his size advantage. There where at least two times when Cotto had Manny up against the ropes and he teed off on him only to let him get away. Cotto needed to use his jab more and it seemed like he got away from it after a while. I also didn't see that much body work from Cotto. Why do you think he has gone away from his signature body work? Also if Cotto does indeed continue to fight like he says he will he needs to hire a more accomplished trainer. His corner did not do a very good job against Manny. Instead of telling him what he needed to do, it seemed like they were motivational speakers. I don't think you can take anything away from Cotto though. He hung in there with an absolute FREAK! There is no shame in losing to Manny. Even though Manny put on a great performance I still see alot of mistakes that Mayweather would expose. Manny's balance seemed much much better, but he still leaves himself wide open after punching. I though Cotto would do a better job of whacking him after he left himself open. Floyd would definately see this. I think Manny's people have purposely kept him away from slick, fast black fighters. Floyd has the medicine for the Pacman. So do you think the fight is the most likely fight to happen next? What if Floyd shocks the boxing world and elects to fight Mosley first? What type of message do you think Floyd would be trying to send? I imagine the negotiations are going to be pretty tough-Chris from Chicago

Leon's Response: Cotto seemed very sharp early on, but Pacquiao is a different kind of animal and when he dropped him in the fourth, the fight was over. Cotto landed some solid shots to Pac's body, only to have Pacquiao do what he does, shrug it off and come back with twice as many punches. Mayweather certainly isn't going to be as eager to exchange as Cotto, Hatton, Oscar and the rest of the Mexicouldn'ts. Floyd fighting anybody else but Pacquiao next is ridiculous, there's going to be too much money involved for the fight not to happen.

I’m a huge Floyd Mayweather fan, I’m not a Pacquaio hater, he is a great fighter as well, but im jus a Floyd guy. Having said that; in the past I have defended Floyd in his entire career, as far as his performances and selection of opponents, I am well aware this is a business and you’re risking your life so you may as well get paid as best you can each time out…so I’m like everyone else that says this fight has to happen, 50/50 purse and with Mayweather Promotions/ Top Rank Boxing Promoting the event, Floyd could pull in $40 mil easy on this fight, so money shouldn’t be the issue. If Floyd fights anyone other than Pacman next, there’s no defending his view. This fight is a MUST SEE, this will be the biggest fight in most current boxing fans generation. Both sides need to do anything possible the make this happen, Bob Arum and Top Rank, Freddie Roach and his outrageous weight loss demands, all powers that be, MUST do the right thing for the sport and the people that actually keep this sport alive…the fans. Frank, Waldorf, Md.

Leon's Response: It will never happen with a 50-50 split. I expect Mayweather to make the lion's share, but also expect the fight to happen.  Pacquiao makes more taking a lesser percentage to fight Mayweather than he does to fight anybody else taking most of the money. You said it best, the fight is a must.

G, You make a good point about how Mayweather deserves the lion's share due to the fact that he enabled Pacquiao to reach this level, but another thing to consider about the PPV buys Pacquiao vs Cotto probably did is this.. Cotto is a much bigger PPV draw than Marquez.. It takes two, you know what I mean? So you've gotta look at the fact that Mayweather vs Marquez did much more buys than Pacquiao vs Marquez, and think about how many buys Mayweather vs Cotto would have done, probably more than Pacquiao vs Cotto. Anyway, I think Pacquiao put on a great performance on Saturday night. I wasn't sold on his wins over De La Hoya or Hatton, but I don't think the weight was an issue for Cotto in this fight. He looked great the first third of the fight, he had a great jab and was snapping Manny's head back, and I thought Cotto was winning both of the rounds he was dropped in until he was dropped. Regardless of how good he looked against Cotto, I still do not believe it's enough to beat Mayweather though.. Floyd has a better chin than Cotto, he has a longer reach, much faster hands, better defense, far superior boxing and counterpunching skills, and would have dominated Cotto as well.  Mayweather vs Pacquiao is a must, can't wait! B from NY

Leon's Response: I understand your point, but there's only a handful of guys Floyd can fight on PPV and do a big number with. Marquez WAS one of them, the others are Pacquiao, Mosley and Cotto.

Yo G, I'm not gonna talk about the Pac/Cotto fight cuz honestly, I'm still in shock.  It still doesn't make sense to me how that whole fight unfolded but clearly the fight went South for MC after getting dropped at the end of the 4th.  That knockdown took his heart and his will. Anyways, I'd like to get your opinion on the business side of boxing.  Obviously, the only fight to make now is Mayweather/Pacquiao, yet I'm hearing rumblings about Mayweather pricing himself outta that one like he's apparently done so in the past.  Why can't they come up with a simple solution that will eliminate that excuse once and for all by evoking a rule that would pay the WINNER the lions share of the money?  It makes perfect sense to me as the deserved winner gets more money, meanwhile adding an element to the fight that could produce much more exciting results as both fighters would have that extra motivation to go for the win rather than just showing up and fighting to survive.  It's sort of like how the super 6 has that extra incentive added (extra point for the K.O.) which has paid dividends already.  Boxing needs to evolve and find ways around petty excuses that fighters give to get out of making fights.  Eventually when the right fights don't get made, the fans lose interest and they are the ones paying these rediculous purses to the top guys in the first place. I know the PBF/MP fight is not that simple as far as putting it together when you consider the Arum element, but don't you think the idea of settling on a base amount of $$ for each fighter with a bonus type structure for the win/K.O. would be good for boxing in general?  Thanks G,
Dave in Vancouver, BC.

Leon's Response: Pacquiao is a beast. Mayweather can't price himself out of the fight. Both sides are smart enough, so I expect an immediate rematch to be part of the negotiations from Team's Pacquiao and Mayweather. There aren't going to be or there certainly shouldn't be  any special incentives for Pacquiao-Mayweather. It's the biggest fight in boxing, by far. Period. There's nothing else to do but come to a mutual understanding to make it happen.

How come people keep saying Manny Pacquiao is on steroids? I know he worked with a guy named Trevor Graham who was linked to the Marion Jones steroid case. But that's not enough for me. Just because he turned pro at 106 pounds does men he's on steroids. He was 16 years old and he's from a third world country. I bet big Floyd [Mayweather, Sr.] won't tell people his son was also a flyweight at 16 the only difference is he was a amatuer. Its natural for a man to put on 3 to 4 pounds of mass a year. So what's the deal? Can you shed light on any of these steroid rumors.

Leon's Response: My first response would be because people fear what they don't understand. Secondly, nobody has ever seen anything like this, so there's going to be speculation and borderline hate. Pacquaio walked Cotto down and destroyed him, two fights after giving Oscar the beating of his life and one fight after concussing Ricky Hatton in four minutes. Many people thought he was going to lose each of those three fights and each time he's looked more and more dominant. A victory over Mayweather, would make Manny Pacquiao the greatest fighter I've EVER seen. Mayweather certainly has more to lose by fighting Pacquiao than Pacquiao does fighting Mayweather.

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