Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/376810
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2014 49 Sport BOXING BOXING WEIGHTLIFTING Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in negotiations for £180m fight in 2015 Manny Pacquiao says he is in talks with Floyd Mayweather for a £180 million match-up, set to take place in 2015 PACQUIAO and Mayweather came close to agreeing a bout in 2010, but it fell through due to Mayweather's demands for Pac- quiao to submit to "Olympic-style" blood testing in training. At the start of the year, Pacquiao urged Mayweather to agree to a fight for the sake of boxing fans, saying: "Floyd, if you're a real man, fight me. Let's do it for the love of boxing and for the fans. Let's do it not for the sake of money. Let's make the boxing fans happy." Now as he promotes his fight with Chris Algieri, scheduled for No- vember, Pacquiao has announced that the Mayweather bout may be back on. "There are serious negotiations with the Mayweather camp and my promoter," he said, adding that it would be "probably for next year." Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum had earlier expressed his hope that there could be two Pacquiao-May- weather fights in 2015, televised across two US TV networks, HBO and Showtime, who have three fights left on their six-fight deal with Mayweather. "Both [TV] networks want this to happen," Arum said. "All signs seem to point to a first fight early next year. "A second fight in the autumn would provide a different cash split because the winner of the first would claim the higher percentage. As each of them believes he would win, that provides an extra incen- tive." Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather THE Malta Weightlifting Associa- tion is holding a three-week train- ing camp from 5th to 26th Sep- tember at the Cottonera Sports Complex, orchestrated by IWF approved coach Sevdalin Marinov, former Olympic and three-time world champion. He will aid in the preparation of local athletes and coaches. Jesmond Caruana MWA president will run a Seminar about coaching and about the regula- tions in the sport of weightlifting. As part of the preparation a com- petition is to be organized on 21st September at the Cottonera sport Complex. This training camp is funded by the International Weightlifting Federation and has the help of KMS, the Malta Sport Council. All athletes interested in the sport of weightlifting are welcome. More information can be found on www. maltaweightlifting.com or on face- book page Malta Weightlifting As- sociation. Malta Weightlifting Association organise three-week Training Camp New sponsor for Mario 'il-Gross' Borg SPORT In Malta announced that it has entered into long term sponsor- ship agreements with local boxing fighter from Mosta, Mario 'il-Gross' Borg. Borg's record stands at 1 win 1 loss 1 draw and is ranked third in the Semi Pro National Rankings. He is trained by World Boxing Champion Super Steve Martin and promoted by Demis Tonna. Boxing is the fastest growing sport in Malta, with world class organiza- tions like the Prize Boxing Promo- tions, Vaughan Boxing & EBF Malta putting on sold out events around the island. We feel this is a great field to be involved in. To a fan, it's just logos. It's back- ground scenery, hardly worth notic- ing. It's a shirt some fighter wears to the ringside and then struggles to pull back on to his sweaty body in time for the announcement. To us it's a sign of encouragement and belief in an Indi- vidual's ability to succeed and support his/her mission in the respective sport. For many fighters, sponsor money means everything. It's the difference between prospering or just getting by! "Mario is one of the hardest working young men I have ever seen. He is the first one in the gym in the morning and the last one to leave. He has be- come a role model for the youngsters" stated Marc James of Sport In Malta. In his statement, Borg described the closeness of the organization's values with his own as a factor in their part- nership, mentioning that he plans to use this new opportunity to strength- en "Team Gross". For further information visit "Mario Gross Borg" on Facebook Pages. Mario 'il-Gross' Borg PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHARLO MICALLEF