How much more can Manny Pacquiao take from Floyd Mayweather's head games as it continues to be one drama after another? Will the Pac Man be focused and angry enough to defeat the Money Monger Mayweather? MAYWEATHER's HEAD GAMES with MANNY PACQUIAO

Could Floyd Mayweather's head game actions be a sign of immaturity? - DEWALT POWER TOOLS FIGHT NIGHT CLUB 2010 photo

SPORTS NOTES EXTRA - MORE MAYWEATHER HEAD GAMES… TICKETS

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

The game of boxing doesn't need a head game champion like Mayweather it needs a boxing champion like Pacquiao who, when it comes to boxing, is all business and lets his fighting in the ring do the talking - Could Mayweather's actions be a sign of immaturity?

Saturday, April 18, 2015

NOW THE TICKET DRAMA…. Ohhhh PLEASE

You would think that a true boxing champion would do his talking in the ring. For Floyd Mayweather its one head game drama after another. First it's the blood games in which five years ago he refused to fight Manny Pacquiao unless the Pac Man took a blood test. This time Pacquiao requested both take blood tests and whomever failed would pay out $5 million. Mayweather refused to agree to those terms.

Now the latest drama is Mayweather is believed to be responsible for holding up ticket sales for the fight that is scheduled to take place at the MGM hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada May 2nd, basically two weeks away. Normally tickets are available for sale 10 weeks before the fight. MGM officials aren't being transparent about when the tickets will be available. The hotel issued a statement Friday saying there would be a "limited number of tickets available for sale" and that it is working with promoters to finalize a date for their release.

The problem here is one of the promoters is Mayweather. Prices of $1,500 to $7,500 in the 16,500-seat Grand Garden arena were initially set but since that time the price is escalating. How many tickets will be available to the public and other sources is another issue to be worked out.

The estimated gate is a record $72 million with an average $8,000 price tag per ticket. In addition there will be an enormous amount of revenue from the televised pay per view profits. Figures as high as a $200 million gross have been speculated for what is believed to be one of the biggest fights of all time.

The other issue is in most cases the hotel plays a part in being granted a certain amount of tickets. In many cases the tickets are a bargaining chip which is made available to the hotels big spenders, betters and best customers.

Pacquiao's manager, Michael Koncz, blamed the Mayweather camp for holding up the ticket sales, saying they have refused to sign a term sheet negotiated months earlier that specified the allotments.

"It's a real mess right now," Koncz said. "I can only surmise the motivation is greed and an attempt to manipulate the tickets, otherwise why the holdup? I'm more than a little upset they're not for sale to the public."

Again more head games from Mayweather. The point is this…. Why can't he simply get in the ring and fight Pacquiao without creating all of these distractions? His conduct is a sign of insecurity which raises the question why. His head game tactic is working since he's concerned about his entourage and supporters will be able to obtain tickets. The word is out that there will be NO FREE TICKETS which will put a damper on the celebrity crowd that want to be a must see at these type of big fight events but this time it will cost them.

Mayweather is undefeated with a 47-0 record including 26 KO's. At 38 he's two years older than Pacquiao, 36 but the Filipino has had more fights during his career. Pacquiao's record is 57-5-2 with 38 KO's. The problem is he hasn't had a clear cut KO since he defeated Ricky Hatton in 2009.

He followed that up with a TKO of Miguel Cotto also in 2009. Since that time Pacquiao has lost twice including being KO'd by Juan Manuel Márquez in 2012. Prior to that, he lost his WBO Welterweight title to Timothy Bradley, also in 2012. Other than his loss to Marquez he's gone the 12 round distance in eight of his last nine fights.

The result is Pacquiao has been battered and beaten over the past seven years and he's not the fighter he once was when he had the eye and heart of a Tiger. Another point is Mayweather has a five inch reach. This all boils down to why does Mayweather find it necessary to play all of these head games?

The question is does Pacquiao have enough gas left in his tank to defeat Mayweather? The game of boxing doesn't need a head game champion like Mayweather it needs a champion like Pacquiao who, when it comes to boxing, is all business and lets his fighting in the ring do the talking. The bottom line is ENOUGH ALREADY with Mayweather's head games, let's get back to boxing and exclude the distractions. AGREE OR NOT?

NATIONAL RADIO PUBLISHED IN 5 LANGUAGES

National Radio text is published in five languages, Thai, French, Russian, Khmer (Cambodian language) and English, Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns is legally available ONLY on our National Radio site. Our sports, entertainment and feature programming has been broadcast on over 1000 radio stations