Michael Marley
NY Boxing Examiner
August 6, 2009
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Miguel Cotto must be clowning around.
If he’s not then he should immediately turn in his WBO welterweight title strap and go down to Burger King and get himself one of those paper crowns they give to the little kids.
Either Cotto is making a mockery out being a world champion or, in the alternative, he is cleverly beating Manny Pacquiao into dropping his camp's requirement that their Nov. 14 Las Vegas PPV bout be at a maximum of 145 pounds.
And Cotto and his legal adviser, WBC affiliated Gabriel Penagaricano, are using another Puerto Rican lawyer, WBO president “Paco” Valcarcel as their straw man on the issue.
For the first time I view the Cotto side as cagily weaseling on the 145 limit verbal agreement, not to cheat Pacman at his chance of making history by winning a world title belt in a record seventh weight class, but get back those precious two pounds.
If the bigger, presumably stronger Boricua Bomber can hit the scales on Friday at a full 147 pounds, think of what a huge monster he will be going into the ring 28 hours later (Saturday night around 9pm Vegas time).
All these remarks about Valcarcel and the $150,000 sanctioning fee for each boxer are just fan foolers, it’s the additional two pounds plus his post weight in weight gain that Cotto is looking to grab.
Over at Boxingscene, Mark Vester scribbled about the situation and referred to remarks those involved made in San Juan newspaper El Nuevo Dia.
Here’s what Vester wrote, in part:
"If the fight is at 147-pounds, that is the limit. If he weights more than that, then you are at junior middleweight. But with one or two pounds less, you are still inside the limit," Paco told El Nuevo Dia. "We (the WBO) have the responsibility... that if a fight is going to be inside the welterweight limit, then it has to be for the title."
The Cotto clan does agree with Paco’s position. They view Paco as a good businessman who is trying to grab a sanctioning fee of $150,000. Since Paco was not involved in the negotiations, Cotto says the WBO president should not involve himself in the dispute.
"If he requires me to, I will gladly give him a letter of resignation. I do not have any problems with that. But in the rough draft of the contracts, the fight was not for the title. That was what we agreed on,” said Cotto to El Nuevo Dia. "For my previous fight. I weighed 146 pounds, but the contract stipulated 147 pounds and the fight was for the WBO title. For this fight the [contract] said 145 pounds and the title was not on the line.”
Did Cotto and or Penagaricano ever really think they were going to get a huge guarantee of about $5 million, far more than Cotto has ever been paid, and not have to put the WBO trinket on the line?
That defies rational belief unless the Pacquiao interests dropped the ball completely on the issue.
Don’t forget, even though Pacman is his ultimate cash cow, Top Rank’s Bob Arum is in the middle here, repping both fighters under his promotional tent.
I come back to the same question, who is the boxing brain, the negotiator for Pacquiao?
I’m starting to think it’s an empty chair.
If Manny’s interests had been competently represented in this key matter, it wouldn’t be in the foggy condition it is right now.
As my old boss Howard Cosell used to bark, “Who goofed, I’ve got to know!”
NY Boxing Examiner
August 6, 2009
.jpg)
Miguel Cotto must be clowning around.
If he’s not then he should immediately turn in his WBO welterweight title strap and go down to Burger King and get himself one of those paper crowns they give to the little kids.
Either Cotto is making a mockery out being a world champion or, in the alternative, he is cleverly beating Manny Pacquiao into dropping his camp's requirement that their Nov. 14 Las Vegas PPV bout be at a maximum of 145 pounds.
And Cotto and his legal adviser, WBC affiliated Gabriel Penagaricano, are using another Puerto Rican lawyer, WBO president “Paco” Valcarcel as their straw man on the issue.
For the first time I view the Cotto side as cagily weaseling on the 145 limit verbal agreement, not to cheat Pacman at his chance of making history by winning a world title belt in a record seventh weight class, but get back those precious two pounds.
If the bigger, presumably stronger Boricua Bomber can hit the scales on Friday at a full 147 pounds, think of what a huge monster he will be going into the ring 28 hours later (Saturday night around 9pm Vegas time).
All these remarks about Valcarcel and the $150,000 sanctioning fee for each boxer are just fan foolers, it’s the additional two pounds plus his post weight in weight gain that Cotto is looking to grab.
Over at Boxingscene, Mark Vester scribbled about the situation and referred to remarks those involved made in San Juan newspaper El Nuevo Dia.
Here’s what Vester wrote, in part:
"If the fight is at 147-pounds, that is the limit. If he weights more than that, then you are at junior middleweight. But with one or two pounds less, you are still inside the limit," Paco told El Nuevo Dia. "We (the WBO) have the responsibility... that if a fight is going to be inside the welterweight limit, then it has to be for the title."
The Cotto clan does agree with Paco’s position. They view Paco as a good businessman who is trying to grab a sanctioning fee of $150,000. Since Paco was not involved in the negotiations, Cotto says the WBO president should not involve himself in the dispute.
"If he requires me to, I will gladly give him a letter of resignation. I do not have any problems with that. But in the rough draft of the contracts, the fight was not for the title. That was what we agreed on,” said Cotto to El Nuevo Dia. "For my previous fight. I weighed 146 pounds, but the contract stipulated 147 pounds and the fight was for the WBO title. For this fight the [contract] said 145 pounds and the title was not on the line.”
Did Cotto and or Penagaricano ever really think they were going to get a huge guarantee of about $5 million, far more than Cotto has ever been paid, and not have to put the WBO trinket on the line?
That defies rational belief unless the Pacquiao interests dropped the ball completely on the issue.
Don’t forget, even though Pacman is his ultimate cash cow, Top Rank’s Bob Arum is in the middle here, repping both fighters under his promotional tent.
I come back to the same question, who is the boxing brain, the negotiator for Pacquiao?
I’m starting to think it’s an empty chair.
If Manny’s interests had been competently represented in this key matter, it wouldn’t be in the foggy condition it is right now.
As my old boss Howard Cosell used to bark, “Who goofed, I’ve got to know!”
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