By Dominic Sauboorah: It is without question that Floyd “Money” Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers to have ever graced the sport. His defensive style is considered to be the greatest of all time which many would find hard to disagree with, considering the fact that he’s still undefeated after 43 fights and has never been knocked down in his career.
Obviously boxers want to make a lot of money in the sport; however Mayweather seems to make it his priority. A perfect example that backs this up could be his inability to make a financial agreement with pound for pound champion Manny Pacquiao, who was willing to do a 50/50 split with Mayweather. Sounds fair considering that to the majority of the public it’s considered a pick ‘em fight. The money man however wants to do a 60/40 split with Pacquiao, thereby giving him more of the revenue from the fight. Floyd has blamed Bob Arum many times about this fight not taking place but with all due respect if he really wanted the fight to happen then money shouldn’t the big issue involved. Obviously he wants to earn a fair amount of money from the fight but it shouldn’t determine if the fight takes place or not. Floyd Mayweather was even ironically quoted as saying “lets give the fans what they want which is Mayeather Pacquiao.” Well if Pacquiao is agreeing to the blood testing and the fight still isn’t taking place then clearly Mayweather’s only concern is money, which of course is a necessary aspect but isn’t a majorly important one. Also Larry Merchant asked Mayweather after his victory over Miguel Cotto whether or not his financial predicament with Manny Pacquiao was the reason for the fight not happening and instead of answering the question he replied by mentioning the blood and urine test situation which, like I said before, has apparently already been resolved. This then suggests that Mayweather dodged Larry Merchant’s question to do with money, due to the fact that he doesn’t want the public to see him as the reason for the fight not taking place.
I have a lot of respect for Floyd Mayweather, as a fighter and as a person, but at the end of the day it seems as if money is the only thing stopping this fight from happening. To say that Mayweather is being selfish is an understatement in my view. He said he wants to give the fans what they want. Well, it seems like he doesn’t. One of the greatest boxers of our era and of all time may be recognized to many in the future as a fraud if this proposed fight with Manny Pacquiao doesn’t take place due to his obsession over money.
Finance minister to meet with IMF reps - Jamaica Observer
MINISTER of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips says he will soon be meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives to discuss the timelines for the next phase of negotiations.
"With respect to the negotiations with the IMF, I expect, in the next few weeks, to visit Washington to determine with the Fund the timelines for the next phase of our negotiations in the light of this (2012/13) Budget (including the revenue package) and the other outstanding issues," he said.
Closing the 2012/13 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, the finance minister said every effort was being being made to conclude the negotiations post-haste.
"While one cannot predict with certainty the exact timing of the conclusion of the negotiations, I am working to bring them to a conclusion later this year," Dr Phillips said.
He noted that the IMF board met on May 30 to review Jamaica's 2011 Article IV consultation, which, among other things, provides an insight into the issues that will be of concern to the IMF's Board when it is asked to consider approving a successor programme to the aborted Stand-By Arrangement.
The minister pointed out that the report on the Article IV consultation will be published both by the Fund and the his ministry as soon as it is cleared for release.
"The draft report we have seen contains no surprises to anyone who followed my analysis of our current situation. The Board discussion and conclusions focused on some of the very areas which we have emphasised, that is, the need to: boost growth and competitiveness; and enhance fiscal sustainability," the minister said.
Dr Phillips said the IMF board broadly agreed with the assessment that a strong upfront fiscal adjustment is necessary to place the public debt on a clear downward path and to create buffers to protect against further negative shocks.
"In this regard, the IMF board stressed the importance of tax reform, containing public wages and employment, improving public financial management, and strengthening tax administration as necessary underpinnings of the fiscal consolidation efforts," he said.
In the meantime, he said the Government will be making "unprece-dented efforts to correct the slippages of the past year and is moving steadfastly to put in place a tax policy that aims at equity.
"We also intend to implement a system for parliamentary review that allows all of the people's representatives to participate to a greater degree in monitoring the programme. Hopefully, this will enhance and entrench the objectives of the fiscal responsibility framework. A broad range of issues and details are involved in coming to an agreement with the IMF," he said.
The finance minister said some of the areas of key importance are: wage restraint; pension reform; tax reform, including incentives and waivers reform and improvement in tax administration; and competitiveness reform, reducing impediments to doing business and reducing significantly the cost of energy.
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