While hoping for a Super Bowl that doesn’t turn into the stupor left by Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander in a fight preceded by the same advertising adjective, some headlines and counters:
News item: An estimated 16,000 tickets are sold within about three hours for the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight on May 7 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.
Reaction: Promoters Gary Shaw and Don King couldn’t give away that many tickets in 16 days or 16 months for Bradley’s technical decision over Alexander at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., where the estimates were like the empty seats. They were all over the place. There are no reports on the number of paying customers. Let’s just say that the Silverdome’s box office has collected more dollars for its drive-in movie business last spring and summer.
News item: Bradley is expected to sign with Bob Arum or Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions after his deal with Shaw expires, reportedly in May.
Reaction: If it’s Arum, don’t expect Bradley to fight for 140-pound supremacy with Golden Boy-promoted Amir Khan. If it’s Golden Boy, don’t expect a Bradley fight against the Arum-promoted Pacquiao.
News item: Bradley says he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Reaction: Get in line. Las Vegas and Nevada’s Clark County already have a couple of mandatories against Mayweather, including a trial on misdemeanor battery, rescheduled for April 25, and a hearing on March 10 for felony domestic abuse.
News item: Bradley says he wants to fight Pacquiao.
Reaction: Break the head-butt habit. It’s a pattern that continued with Alexander badly cut over his right eye, first from a Bradley head-butt in the third and again in the end, the 10th Pacquiao hasn’t lost since 2005 when a fifth-round clash of heads with Erik Morales left him badly cut, also above his right eye. Pacquiao was clearly bothered by blood streaming from the wound for the rest of the 12-round bout, which Morales won with a unanimous decision. Pacquiao might think twice about the threat of a bloody encore if he thinks Bradley can’t break the habit.
News item: HBO will honor its $1.25 million guarantee to Alexander with a possible fight against Marcos Maidana.
Reaction: Save the money, Devon, because it figures to be your last big payday. If the powerful Maidana is in shape, he will win by a crushing knockout, which narrowly eluded him in a scorecard loss to Khan.
News item: Khan fires conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who says he has yet to be paid for his work before a Fight of the Year victory over Maidana in December.
Reaction: Maidana trainer Miguel Diaz, who called Ariza “a fraud,’’ is laughing.
News item: Evander Holyfield’s fight with Brian Nielsen is postponed from March 5 to May 7 because of a Holyfield cut suffered on Jan. 22 in a bout with Sherman Williams.
Reaction: Huh? Holyfield fought Williams? He is scheduled to fight Nielsen, who hasn’t fought in nearly a decade? Holyfield-Nielsen has been re-scheduled for May 7? Won’t everybody be watching Pacquiao against Mosley then? Holyfield-Nielsen in Copenhagen? Not the Silverdome? Must be a night for drive-in movies.
News item: Pacquiao is already 2-0 at Cowboys Stadium, which means he has competed there two more times than the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers.
Reaction: Pacquiao will get some company in that unbeaten column. Steelers, 27-24.
