Mayweather, with style points, has early lead on Pacquiao
LOS ANGELES — Bob Arum arrived in a Honda Civic, Freddie Roach fired back at his counterpart trainer and Manny Pacquiao wants to help Floyd Mayweather Jr. find God.
Oh, this is getting good.
We don’t know who will win the welterweight unification championship bout between Mayweather and Pacquiao on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden, but it’s fairly obvious which camp holds a better media day.
The Money Team by unanimous decision.
Doesn’t it always work out that way?
If the gathering at Mayweather’s gym Tuesday was expertly organized, and it was, the one that played out for Pacquiao on Wednesday was more controlled chaos.
Neither setting, of course, lacked for pointed jabs aimed at the other side.
There was no David Hasselhoff sighting at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., as the previous day at Mayweather’s house of training, and I’m fairly certain those in the Pacquiao camp weren’t bothered by the slight.
“We had (NBA Hall of Famer) Karl Malone in here the other day,” said Fred Sternburg, Pacquiao’s longtime publicist. “So screw them.”
Sternburg is out of his mind in the best of ways, a public relations pro who talks and at times writes in exclamation points.
I would expect any punctuation mark to indicate strong feelings or high volume comes in handy with a few of the characters for which he handles media obligations.
None is more entertaining than Arum, the Top Rank chairman whose choice of automobile wouldn’t make the cut outside Mayweather’s mansion.
Bob Arum in a Civic … The People’s Promoter.
His (least) favorite topic of conversation lately has focused mostly on tickets for the fight, on those the MGM Grand has yet to release to the public, on those he needs to fulfill his camp’s obligations, on those people he met once in his life are now seeking.
“Some guy sent me an email — can you believe this? — and said that two years ago he and I sat next to each other in first class on an airplane,” Arum said. “He wants me to sell him four tickets to the fight.
“Who the (bleep) is this guy! I meet a lot of people.”
It’s actually a person Arum knows but has shared little dialogue with who has his blood boiling most. Al Haymon, an adviser and friend to Mayweather, has been described in recent headlines as the sport’s “unknown czar.” He also doesn’t grant interviews, this the person most responsible for returning boxing to network TV through the Premier Boxing Champions series.
But in negotiating the fight and since the contract was signed, Arum says Haymon — and not Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe — has caused the most frustration when hiccups in the promotion have occurred.
“The man who doesn’t talk has been the toughest part of this,” Arum said. “He’s not a good guy. We call him the Wizard of Oz. The one time I talked (with Haymon) for two hours to get everything settled, everything in place, and then it still took three (bleeping) months to get the deal signed.
“(Ellerbe) is a first-class guy, a gentleman, a really nice guy. And if he were truly the boss and in complete control, all this would be a piece of cake. But the truth is, and he won’t admit it, is that he is hardly in complete charge. The guy who won’t give interviews is.
“Earthquakes happen. There are drone strikes. But the chances of this fight ever not happening because of a business dispute are nil. I love my guy’s chances. He’s more motivated than I have ever seen him. He looks great.”
He also, according to Roach, watched tape of an opponent for the first time since the two began working together 14 years ago.
Pacquiao, a southpaw, recently viewed Mayweather’s fight against southpaw Zab Judah in 2006, which the unbeaten champion, then known as Pretty Boy Floyd, won by unanimous decision.
But it is something other than fighting that Pacquiao hopes to share with his opponent after the action on May 2.
“I want to send him this message: Nothing personal. This is just business,” Pacquiao said. “I want to share the Gospel with him, about how we all need God in our lives.”
Does he believe Mayweather needs to be saved?
“I just want to share … he needs to be saved.”
From first, I suppose, Justin Bieber.
I wouldn’t count on any religious connections between Roach and Floyd Mayweather Sr., who trains his son and on Tuesday unleashed a humorous and critical attack on Pacquiao’s cornerman, at one point saying the Hall of Famer Roach instead belongs in the Hall of Shame.
“Did he speak English or need a translator?” Roach said. “You can’t even understand him. Give me a break. The guy is the worst cornerman I’ve seen in my life. He’s so jealous of me.
“It’s like the last time I faced him (with Pacquiao). We knocked his guy (Ricky Hatton in 2009) out, and he left his fighter in the ring laying there and went back to the dressing room alone. (Mayweather Sr.) is an ass. Me and the Mayweathers, we don’t get along. I like Floyd Jr. better than all of them. He says hello and is nice to me. But (Floyd Sr.) and his brother Roger, we hate each other.”
In the world of Fred Sternburg, exclamation point.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 100.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.
