Arum says no to Pacquiao vs. Sergio Martinez at a catch weight

By Boxing News - 11/23/2010 - Comments

By Chris Williams: As I expected, Bob Arum isn’t interested in matching Manny Pacquiao against boxing’s new star WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Arum doesn’t even want to match Pacquiao against Martinez if there’s a strength draining catch weight involved, according to news from Michael Marley at examiner.com.

Arum now prefers to have Pacquiao fight no higher than 147 pounds, this after winning the WBC junior middleweight paper title against one of his pumped up struggling fighters Antonio Margarito.

Pacquiao won the fight against Margarito recently, but then again Margarito is as slow as molasses and has no business fighting at junior middleweight. Margarito served the purpose as a junior middleweight for the fight against Pacquiao. It would have been a whole different matter if Pacquiao had fought a fighter that normally competes at junior middleweight, like James Kirkland.

Arum thinks that Pacquiao can beat Sergio Martinez, yet he doesn’t want to match him up against him. I don’t understand that way of thinking. If you believe he’s better, then why not put Pacquiao in with him? I think I know the reason. Martinez isn’t a slow plodder, and he doesn’t just stand there and cover up. This guy has great boxing skills and excellent power. I think that’s reason enough for him to get the fight with Pacquiao.

If Pacquiao is only going to fight at welterweight, he may find himself with few options if Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t take him on. I can totally understand why Mayweather wouldn’t. The man has a lot of legal headaches on his plate right now, and he’s obviously distracted from all of it.

Without Mayweather, the pickings at welterweight are mighty slim. There’s 39-year-old Shane Mosley, who many feel is totally shot. I guess he’ll wind up as Pacquiao’s next opponent. I won’t be the least surprised when he gets selected. Other than Mosley, there really isn’t a lot to choose from.

Saul Alvarez has no following in the United States, and he doesn’t fight for Top Rank, so that’s not going to happen. Mike Jones looked horrible in his recent fight, so he’s a big maybe for Pacquiao. He has no fan base, but he looked horrible in his recent fight. Andre Berto has no fan base and doesn’t fight for Top Rank. He won’t get picked.



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