Playa Hater is live in Las Vegas for the Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on Saturday night at the MGM Grand.
Check back all day on Saturday for updates from Vegas including a surprise announcement from Oscar De La Hoya.
Can we say comeback?
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10:55AM PST - The buzz before the Oscar De La Hoya press conference is the $600,000 Floyd Mayweather will have to cough up after hitting the scales at 146 pounds on Friday.
The contract weight was 144 pounds – - Marquez weighed in at 142 pounds.
It shouldn’t be a big surprise that Mayweather had a problem making weight considering his 21-month layoff from the ring.
11:17AM PST - So much for that Oscar comeback. De La Hoya announced this morning that his promotion company, Golden Boy, has signed Jorge “El Nino de Oro” Linares. “El Nino de Oro” is “Golden Boy” in Spanish. Linares is 27-0 and is the WBA Super Featherweight Champion.
De La Hoya threw in at the end of the presser that he’s never fighting against except for a rematch with Shaquille O’Neal.
Anti-climatic to say the least.
11:57AM PST – Bernard Hopkins, who I have interviewed on multiple occasions for Playa Hater, is literally going to church in the press room with a group of reporters.
Hopkins had some words of advice for Floyd Mayweather and his act on HBO’s 24/7.
In the third episode, as a response to Juan Manuel Marquez drinking his own urine, Mayweather comes out of the bathroom with a bottle of liquid and says “This is that silverback gorilla piss.”
That led to this response by Hopkins:
“I’m no silverback gorilla. I don’t play with words. To some, they look at it as good TV. My mom always said ‘Bernard, there are people that laugh with you and there are people that laugh at you.’ My opinion is they’re laughing at you, dawg. That’s not good TV. I would never call myself a silverback gorilla. I know what white people use that for. A silverback gorilla is a powerful gorilla. You’re a ni**a with money and you’re crazy. A silverback gorilla is a ruler. He’s dominant. When you say this is silverback gorilla piss, dawg, you think that’s culture? It’s not. But the mentality … I’m not beating him up … I’m just saying is to him, he just don’t know. He’s blinded by the luxuries of what makes you a man. Dawg, what I have earned in my career, I have earned hard. But my 17,600 square acres house in Delaware doesn’t make me. That’s not my God. I’m glad to have it, yes. I don’t worship it. I don’t worship my car, my watch, and these clothes. When you get caught up in that type of mentality, it’s very hard to reprogram that back.”
Preach!
1:41PM PST – Triple H from the WWE will lead Floyd Mayweather down to the ring tonight. Mayweather has a great relationship with the WWE and Triple H was the man responsible for training the boxer when he stepped into the ring at Wrestlemania 24 against The Big Show. He shares his thoughts on Mayweather and gives his prediction for the fight tonight:
On how he got involved with Saturday’s fight:
Floyd has been a big supporter of the WWE. He has wrestled events for us at Wrestlemania, he’s hosted the show and I helped train Floyd when he wrestled for us and we became friends. He asked me to come here and walk him to the ring and come to the weigh-in and support him. I’m a big fan of his and I look forward to seeing the best pound-for-pound fighter back on top.
On how Mayweather did as a WWE wrestler:
Floyd was unbelievable. I walked into it having never met Floyd and not knowing him. He was wrestling The Big Show, who is 7-feet, 500 pounds. That’s a daunting task and looking aside from what we do, a 500-pound guy can just lean on you the wrong way and hurt you. Floyd was game for everything and the one thing you can’t question is his dedication and his determination to do something. No matter what I showed him, he was hell bent on learning how to do it right. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed working with him.
On if he thinks Mayweather would wrestle full-time after retiring from boxing:
I don’t know about full-time. Floyd is used to getting paid $20 million for one fight. He would be hard pressed to go on the road for 200 days a year. I think Floyd would love to be a part of what we do in some way. Floyd’s an entertainer. You can say he’s an athlete and he’s a sports guy all you want, but at the end of the day, sports is entertainment. People pay money to be entertained by a game or a sporting event. Floyd knows how to entertain them. That’s why all these people pay money to see his fights.
On his prediction for the fight:
I think Floyd is going to take it. It will be a very good fight and Marquez will press him but at the end of the night, Floyd will come out victorious. I believe TKO.
6:10PM PST - The first PPV fight of the contest is underway between Orlando Cruz and Cornelius Lock for the vacant NABO Featherweight Title. The scene outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena is crazy – - thanks in part to a pool party hosted by Diddy at Wet Republic that was letting out.
6:27PM PST – Cornelius Lock delivered a nasty right uppercut and knocked out Orlando Cruz at 2:08 in the 5th round to win the NABO Featherweight Title.
“It was a good shot from Cornelius and I congratulate him,” said the battered Cruz. “But all it was is a good shot.”
Lock, who improved to 19-5-1, said “I felt good but I felt tight. I felt like he wasn’t on my level. I was catching him with the left and I was thinking I was throwing the hook wrong so I shorten it up a bit. i caught him and I ended it.”
6:32PM PST - Floyd Mayweather’s arrival to the MGM Grand Garden Arena was show on the monitors inside the arena, sparking a mixed reaction with the late arriving crowd. Juan Manuel Marquez’s arrival generated a much louder response.
6:39PM PST - In what could be the most excited fight of the night, Michael Katsidis is taking on Vicente Escobedo for the vacant WBO Interim Lightweight Title. If you haven’t seen the Australian Katsidis fight before, you’re in for a treat.
6:51PM PST – Before Round 4 of the Katsidis-Escobedo fight, Triple H along with wife Stephnaie McMahon came out from the back to take in the action before he leads Mayweather to the ring later this evening. Triple H tried to hit the fans at the weigh-in on Friday with the “Are You Ready” routine and the boxing fans didn’t get it. I almost felt bad for him – he felt so out of place.
7:00PM PST - Katsidis is making me looking bad after I said this fight would have fireworks. Feel free to shout out “You lie” if you wish.
7:14PM PST – Katsidis is rolling along in this fight with Escobedo as we enter the 10th round. Not many people were expecting this to go to the distance – - I don’t know what Howard Lederman’s unofficial scorecard is but my guess is it’s lopsided in Katsidis favor.
7:29PM PST – Katsidis wins by split decision and is the new WBO Interim Lightweight champion. The judges ringside had it the following: 116-112, Escobedo (Clearly, he’s blind), 115-113 Katsidis, 118-110 Katsidis.
“I’m ecstatic, said Katsidis, who improved to 26-2. “I’m back. It’s an amazing thing for a fighter to get off the ground and win a title again. I’m a fighter that gives it his all and I needed to give it my all to win. If I can get off the ground and win a title, anyone can.”
7:34PM PST – The second most popular fighter on the evening, Rocky Juarez, is making his way to the ring. The first match between Juarez and Chris John was a classic. John enters the match an undefeated 42-0. Sidenote, I got the evil eye from security about taking photos from press row – - so much for that.
7:53PM PST – John is having little trouble with Juarez so far through four rounds. He’s 42-0 for a reason and he’s showing why.
8:08PM PST – Diddy just arrived to take his seat ringside. This guy … I bet if you were to ask him a boxing question, he wouldn’t know the first thing about the sport. Mayweather brings out the stars, that’s for sure.
8:24PM PST – We are in the 12th and final round of John-Juarez, which means Mayweather-Marquez is right around the corner. Juarez ended the fight with a great final minute – - was it enough to win him the fight?
8:28PM PST – The chorus of boos should tell you that Juarez lost the fight, 114-113, 119-109, 117-111. John remains undefeated at 43-0 and retains his WBA Featherweight Title. “It was a very tough fight and in the last round I was hurt,” said John. “I kept on fighting for my idol Arturo Gatti and that’s what kept me going.”
8:38PM PST - Tyrese sang the National Anthem. ‘Nuff said.
8:41PM PST – Marquez is making his way to the ring behind a huge response from the crowd. This is your class match between a face and a heel. Take a guess on who the heel is.
8:46PM PST – Mayweather came to the ring with no music. No flare. No drama. Just a 6-foot-5, 250 pound wrestler behind him.
8:51PM PST – Outside of a flurry of punches by Marquez, a slow start to Round 1. Both fighters were playing it timid the first two minutes of the round but Marquez had enough to win the round.
8:56PM PST – Mayweather delivered a nasty left hook to Marquez, knocking him down to the mat. He managed to escape Round 2 but I’m not sure how much longer this fight will go if he’s walking into punches like that.
9:00PM PST – Solid round for both fighters but Mayweather landed enough punches to win the round. Marquez appears to finally be waking up and countering with Floyd.
9:04PM PST - Mayweather got hit with Marquez’s best punch of the night and just smiled. That might sum up the direction of this fight so far. On to Round 5.
9:09PM PST – Good Round 5. Both fighters landed some decent shots and Marquez has some blood coming from his nose. I give the round to Mayweather – barely.
9:12PM PST - I take back my prediction about this fight going the distance. Mayweather is out for blood.
9:17PM PST - Marquez showed signs of life when he had Mayweather on the ropes but Floyd is just too quick for the Mexican fighter. For every Marquez punch, Floyd has two to counter.
9:21PM PST - Mayweather finished the rounds on the ropes again, giving Marquez the momentum to close out Round 8. This might be his strategy but if he’s not careful, he might find himself in a hole he can’t get out of .
9:25PM PST - Mayweather had a nasty combination to close out Round 9. Marquez has heart, that’s for sure. he’s going to need a KO to have any chance of winning at this point.
9:29PM PST – Floyd turned into “Money,” his cocky alter ego at the end of Round 10 with a little showboating after the bell. The two fighters got tangled up as the bell rang. Nothing dirty – just boxing.
9:36PM PST – The fight went the distance. Marquez has heart but there’s no way he wins this fight.
9:38PM PST – He’s baaaaaack. 118-109, 120-107, 119-108. Mayweather wins easily.
9:49PM PST – The post-fight antics between Mayweather and Shane Mosley were better than the fight. Only problem is the folks on press row really couldn’t hear what was being said in the ring. Seems like HBO is trying to generate some hype for a future PPV.
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“They talk about Kelly Pavlik, a white fighter, like he’s the second coming. Or they go crazy over Manny Pacquiao. But I’m a black fighter. Is it racial? Absolutely. They praise white fighters, they praise Hispanic fighters, whatever. But black fighters, they never praise.”
Floyd Mayweather’s nickname is “Money” for a reason.