Arum said Filipino Pacquiao, who won the WBO welterweight title last Saturday for his seventh world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class, told a radio interviewer this week he wanted to fight Mayweather in what would be a showdown between the world’s two best pound-for-pound boxers.

“But you have to understand Mayweather’s psyche,” Arum told reporters at a lunch saluting Yuri Foreman, who became the first Israeli to win a world title when he claimed the WBA super welterweight crown on the Pacquiao undercard.

“Psychologically he may not be prepared to do this fight.

“Now this is me being an amateur psychologist, but Mayweather is so tied up with the fact that nobody has beaten him, that he has a zero on his record, that I don’t know if he would be willing to go into the ring with anybody that could jeopardize that zero,” added Arum, who is Pacquiao’s promoter.

The 32-year-old Mayweather, who has won titles in five different weight classes, has a 40-0 career record while Pacquiao, 30, improved to 50-3-2 when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in Las Vegas.

“He (Mayweather) is afraid, terrified of losing that zero,” said Arum, possibly in an effort to goad Mayweather into making the match.

“That’s why he’s ducked (Shane) Mosely, (Antonio) Margarito and Cotto, and the question is will he duck Manny Pacquiao because he’s so afraid of losing that zero.”

Representatives of HBO Boxing expressed confidence that a Pacquiao and Mayweather would fight as welterweights in May, and Arum said he would try his best to arrange it.

They might as well, because the town’s Police Department has made providing this information one of its lowest priorities. It seems the police, under Mayor Silverio Vega, have their own rules for disseminating information.

Police Director Oscar Fernandez wants reporters assigned to cover their community to somehow divine, possibly from an insider source, a resident or a crystal ball, any police activity. Only then should they come to him for a report or a comment.

When asked about the difficulty of obtaining local police information, Mr. Fernandez said a new reporter on the West New York beat changed things by asking to see the “blotter.” He allowed the beat reporter to do so.

From the printout, which passes for a blotter in the computer age, a news reporter obtains document numbers and then requests the information from the police report room.

Some report room employees in Hudson County municipalities are helpful, and then there are hacks who have made themselves more important than they are. In West New York, when faced with looking up 15 police reports, an employee questioned the identification of a reporter, although the average citizen has the right to make the same request. It was a frivolous request?

The report room employee informed the reporter that documents can be withheld for seven days. This is untrue. Police Departments are required to say whether an arrest was made, provide a name or gender and age, and furnish the charges. These basic facts must be reported in 24 hours.

One way around all this is to claim that every action or arrest by police “is under investigation,” a favorite phrase used often by some departments. While this may be the case, there is a suspicion that some departments use it too often because some employees do not want to take the time “just” to accommodate a newspaper or other media outlet.

The idea is to serve the public. West New York residents have a right to know what is happening in their community.

The eight-week long tournament ended last week. The N.J. Diamond Gloves is the oldest Tournament in the State, dating back to 1933. Union City beat out powerhouse clubs from Paterson and Newark to snag top honors.

Union City had six champion crowned. The champions were: Deandre Guzman, 60 lbs., 9-years-old; John Bauza, 75 lbs., 11; Herkin DelaRosa, 125 lbs.; Carlos Lopez, 138 lbs., 15; Ariel Rodriguez, 141 lbs.; and Peralta Adonis, 125 lbs.

Two other boxers Felix Tejada, 132 lbs, and William Arevalo, 141 lbs., were finalists.
The first place State team trophy is the fifth in the clubs 20-year history. Juan Rodriguez, who is ranked No. 8 in the United States will be the first boxer of the group to turn professional. He will have his pro debut on Dec. 4 at Essex County Community College in Newark.

Standing left to right in the photo above are:: John Settembrino, Ivette Rosado, Joe Botti, Juan Rodriguez Jr., William Arevalo, Juan Bauza, Herkin DeLaRosa, Ike Anyanwu, Carlos Osorio and Hugh Hulguin. Kneeling Left To Right: Carlos Lopez, Ariel Rodriguez, John Bauza, 1st Place Team Trophy, Deandre Guzman, Peralta Adonis, and Felix Tejada.

“Si no se construye una coalición multilateral dirigida a ejercer presión específica, muy concreta, hacia el gobierno de Raúl Castro, no va a haber progresos en derechos humanos en Cuba”, advirtió Vivanco.

El informe titulado Un nuevo Castro, la misma Cuba documenta más de 40 casos de personas detenidas bajo una disposición de “peligrosidad” y concluye que, bajo el mandato de Raúl Castro, han empeorado “las tácticas represivas” contra críticos del Gobierno.

El análisis se apoya en más de 60 entrevistas realizadas entre junio y julio pasado con diversos actores de la sociedad civil en siete de las 14 provincias de la isla, y no tuvo la venia del Gobierno de La Habana.

La organización defensora de los derechos humanos recomendó que EE.UU. cambie su política exterior hacia Cuba, de manera que se haga énfasis en mejoras a los derechos humanos y desista de un cambio de régimen.

Si el Gobierno de La Habana no libera a los presos políticos -calculados en unos 200-, entonces la “coalición multilateral” debe imponer sanciones específicas contra los líderes cubanos y suspender nuevas inversiones extranjeras en la isla, señaló.

Pese a la represión “sistemática”, la disidencia puede canalizar sus ideas a través de blogs independientes, canciones de protesta y, más recientemente, foros públicos que el mismo Gobierno ha organizado para “reflexionar sobre el socialismo cubano”, aunque todo eso tiene sus limitaciones, dijo el análisis.

Cuba ha registrado logros “significativos” en asuntos como la educación y la salud, pero “la cruda realidad es que estos avances no han ido de la mano del respeto de los derechos civiles y políticos”, lamentó HRW.

Vivanco reiteró que el embargo de EE.UU. solo ha aislado a Washington y el Gobierno de Castro lo utiliza como excusa, a la vez que apoyó una iniciativa para levantar las restricciones de viaje a Cuba para todos los estadounidenses, no sólo para los cubano americanos, como lo hizo el presidente Barack Obama en abril pasado.

Mañana el Comité de Asuntos Exteriores de la Cámara de Representantes analizará en una audiencia las restricciones de viaje a la isla, que han sido criticadas por diversas instituciones y líderes académicos en Estados Unidos.

After Manny Pacquiao’s impressive KO victory of IBO light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton on May 2, 2009, Floyd Mayweather Sr. had accused Manny Pacquiao of taking steroids or enhancement drugs(Mayweather accuses Pacman of steroids).

Days Prior to Pacquiao’s fight with WBO welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto on Saturday Nov. 14, boxer Kermit Cintron also believed that the Pacman was on something(Cintron believes Pacman is on something).
After Manny Pacquiao’s dominating win over Miguel Cotto, a fight in which Pacquiao took all of Cotto’s best punches and shook them off even dropping Cotto twice in the fight, the rumors that the fighter could be taking steroids or performance enhancing drugs were in the air again, this time by former Cotto foe, Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi.

In an interview with BoxingScene, Paulie Malignaggi was discussing his upcoming HBO rematch on December 12th, with Juan Diaz, when the topic changed to the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight, Malignaggi had this to say:

What did you think of Pacquiao’s win over Cotto?

Johnston joins the ranks of Kevin Federline, Michael Lohan, and new buddy Jon Gosselin as an embattled parent milking the success of his sperm for all it’s worth. The major difference between Johnston and his colleagues is that, unlike the others, Johnston did not set out to make himself famous, actually wants to spend time with his son and, as a result, comes off as a likable oaf who through no fault of his own has stumbled upon the limelight. He is also younger, better looking, and a much more powerful political force than any of the others, if only by virtue of whom he chose to impregnate. Whether Johnston recognizes the impact he is having on the conservative movement is still a matter of debate, but his tabloid appeal has dragged the image of Sarah Palin, already on the ground, through some deep mud in an unprecedented way.

Juanita Castro, la hermana de Raúl y Fidel Castro, dijo hoy que no se arrepiente de haber colaborado con los servicios de inteligencia norteamericanos desde 1961, mientras todavía estaba en La Habana, y afirmó que el revolucionario Ernesto “Che” Guevara fue “lo peor que pudo haberle pasado” a su país de origen.

Cuando los líderes de la revolución de 1959 se inclinaron hacia el comunismo, “tenía solamente dos caminos en la vida: Cuba, mi patria, o mis hermanos”, dijo Juanita durante una charla en la Feria del Libro de Miami. Los hermanos Castro “habían declarado la guerra a los demócratas” que habían apoyado la revolución.

La mujer, de 76 años, justificó su acercamiento con la CIA asegurando que utilizó los recursos facilitados por ese servicio de espionaje para “acciones humanitarias”, en particular, ayudar a personas que querían dejar el país o eran perseguidas por el nuevo gobierno. “No teníamos en el mundo a quién pedir ayuda”, dijo Castro, quien centró en esa relación temprana con la CIA la publicidad para su libro Fidel y Raúl, mis hermanos – La historia secreta.

En cuanto a Guevara, Juanita aseguró que el revolucionario fue “lo peor que pudo pasar”. “Nos hizo mucho daño -añadió-, estaba muy lejos de preocuparse realmente de Cuba”. Las ideas de Guevara, insistió, “estaba muy lejos de lo que se pensaba”.

Según Juanita Castro, apenas desembarcados en Cuba y en el camino a la revolución, Guevara “se dedicó enseguida a hacer contactos” con países del bloque comunista. “No le importaban los juicios o las acusaciones -continuó-, empezó a fusilar sin conciencia” porque “era un hombre sin corazón”.