A few leftovers while wondering whether 34-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s birthday wish Thursday included a bout with Manny Pacquiao sometime before he turns 35:
· Nonito Donaire’s second-round stoppage of Fernando Montiel Saturday provided a badly needed shot of drama in a sport desperate for some. It also has Donaire rapidly climbing the pound-for-pound ladder, although this corner still has fellow Filipino Manny Pacquiao at No. 1 and Mayweather at No. 2. At No. 3, it’s either Donaire or Sergio Martinez. I’d still like to see Donaire in another 12-round bout full of adversity and adjustments.
· Donaire’s relationship with Victor Conte resulted in questions as tiresome as they were predictable. Conte’s well-documented role with Balco, Barry Bonds, performance enhancers and his 2005 prison sentence are impossible to ignore. Donaire began to get exasperated with the repeated questions. Yet, nobody asked Donaire to undergo random testing, the Mayweather demand that derailed talks for a fight with Pacquiao, who has no relationship with Conte..
· Ricardo Mayorga might test Miguel Cotto for a couple of rounds, but the real significance of the fight on March 12 is Top Rank promoter Bob Arum’s move away from HBO and to Showtime/ CBS. The March 12 bout is a test run for the Showtime telecast of Pacquiao-Shane Mosley on May 7. Before the Donaire stunner over Montiel, Arum repeated his hope that the Showtime/ CBS deal will re-introduce boxing to a larger audience, instead of one that sees it only on premium TV. But he has no illusions. He has to convince CBS executives that sponsors will buy boxing. It doesn’t matter whether they like boxing, he said. “It’s all about the Benjamins,’’ said Arum, who is betting he can deliver a lot of the $100s between now and May 7.
· Delivering the sales pitch: In a bid to deliver sponsors to CBS, Top Rank has hired Lucia McKelvey, IMG’s former vice president for Golf Development & Sales. IMG represents Tiger Woods.
· Antonio Margarito was in Las Vegas for Donaire-Montiel. If Cotto – as expected – prevails against Mayorga, there’s been talk of a summer rematch of Margarito’s 2008 upset of Cotto. But one look at Margarito says that might be too soon. His face bears the marks of the brutal beating he took from Pacquiao in November. A fracture to his right orbital bone still appears to be healing. If there is a rematch, it looks as if Margarito would be wise to wait until at least the end of the year.
· HBO showed a terrific premiere of Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV a week ago, the Friday night before Donaire-Montiel. UNLV basketball in the 1980s and early 1990s was as big an attraction in Vegas under former coach Jerry Tarkanian as any major fight. In some ways, UNLV took a page out of the boxing book. The Rebels played the bad guys in a good-versus-evil drama that is missing in today’s edition of college basketball.
· It’s hard to believe that the first black heavyweight champ, Jack Johnson, still hasn’t been granted a posthumous pardon. More than a century ago, Johnson did time for a violation of the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for so-called immoral purposes. After all, how hard is it for Barack Obama or any other president to put pen to paper? Arizona Senator John McCain and New York Representative Peter King have renewed a legislative attempt that has been in the works longer than talk about Pacquiao-Mayweather.
