MAYWEATHER MAIL: KONCZ GOT THE GOODS AND WILL USE THEM IF NECESSARY
By Ben Thompson | July 30, 2011
Wassup Ben, I just want to say that you have done a great job with the Mayweather vs Pacquiao debacle and have brought fans like me with insight of both camps postions on a megafight between arguably the best fighters pound for pound in the world. I just find it odd that other writers like Dan Rafael of ESPN, Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, and the cronnies from the bleacher report all fail to provide the recent developments you have reported. I find their reporting more opinionated and just flat out false most of the time. I could be wrong in stating this but it is as if since fighters such as Mayweather refuse to grant them interviews, they almost purposely write articles to demean and just outright assassinate his character like the incident where he burns a dollar is just an example of how they focus on and write about things not important to fans. Thanks Ben. - Brian
BT: Thanks Brian. As far as Dan Rafael is concerned, he definitely doesn't appreciate the fact that no one from the Mayweather camp returns his phone calls, and because of that, he holds a grudge that, at times, you can see coming out in his writing. But regardless of that, Dan Rafael is a guy who likes to get his information from promoters and managers, unlike a "lowly website guy" like myself who prefers to get "closer to the streets" so to speak to talk to the people who are closer to the information. Some of the people that I speak to wouldn't even give Rafael the time of day, mainly because, at times, he has a certain arrogance that makes him come off as though he's better than you. That's not to knock him though (well, maybe a little...lol) as he clearly has a passion for the sport. The point is, we just move in different circles and in the many years that I've been involved with this sport, I've found that you can get the truth faster from the people that I speak to - fighters, trainers, and folks hanging around the gyms - than trying to get it from a promoter or manager, who's usually trying to spin a story in their favor.
Speaking of spinning stories, I'll give you a perfect example of what I'm talking about. During the recent drama surrounding Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz, one particular writer at Examiner.com wrote a series of scathing articles about Timothy Sladeck, the gentleman who operates MP8.ph (formerly MPBoxing.com), the official website of Manny Pacquiao. According to the writer, all of the stories about Koncz were started by Sladeck in an attempt to get the adviser out of the picture in order to further his own career and relationship with Pacquiao. He then proceeded to paint a picture that it was Sladeck who was actually trying to secure endorsement deals without Pacquiao's knowledge in hopes of "feathering his own nest" by putting money into his own pocket. In order to paint that picture, the writer quoted an email that was sent by Sladeck to prove that he had some "inside dirt" on him. Well, despite what that writer tried to insinuate, I can confirm 100% that the information he was putting out there was misleading and inaccurate. On top of that, I can also confirm 100% that he was given that information by Michael Koncz and, more than likely, was told to run with the story hoping to deflect the attention and the spotlight that was on him when the rumors about his "demotion" first surfaced. How do I know and why am I 100% confident? Because I'm the one that gave Michael Koncz some of the information that they tried to use. I was the only one who knew about some of the details that the writer discussed, and despite the fact that Koncz guaranteed me that he would not discuss the information with anyone other than Tim Sladeck and Manny Pacquiao, he clearly went straight to another writer the minute he became concerned that his position within Team Pacquiao was in jeopardy. If you clicked on the link that I provided, you can see that the article has since been removed for one reason or another. While I'm sure the writer will probably spin it like he simply removed it because he wanted to "take the high road" (even though it was up for nearly 2 days and had already been posted on numerous forums), I'm pretty sure it was probably Koncz who instructed him to take it down, especially since I told Tim Sladeck the same information and it became clear that Koncz was going out of his way to discredit the same person responsible for running Manny's official website. That's not something that Pacquiao would be happy about, and considering that Koncz was already walking on thin ice, he probably thought it would be best to make the article go away. I say all of that simply to illustrate that, yes, in boxing, there actually are writers out there who are being fed misleading information and working on behalf of advisers, managers, and even promoters. That's one of the main reasons why I choose to get my information from sources other than those looking to promote their own agenda. To put it bluntly, they can't be trusted (case in point, Koncz telling me one thing and then doing another), so I'll just let guys like Dan Rafael deal with those individuals. I'm sure once Bob Arum has something meaningful to say regarding this whole mess, you'll see Dan Rafael pen one of his "masterpieces".
Regarding Kevin Iole, he's what I like to call a part-time boxing journalist. Given that he spends more time penning puff pieces for the UFC, he only writes about boxing when something "big" happens. This type of petty bickering going on inside of Pacquiao's team is probably beneath him at this point. That being said, if something comes of it, like Pacquiao discovering that Bob Arum has been keeping money from him, then best believe you'll see a masterpiece from Iole on Yahoo! Sports as well. As for the folks at Bleacher Report, I can honestly say that I've never visited that site for any boxing "news", but I'm sure they have a decent group of writers who are good at giving their opinion on what's going on in the sport. After all, everyone has them (opinions) and that's all Bleacher Report was ever supposed to be, a portal for fans to express their opinion. As far as I know, not too many of those guys are pounding the pavement and speaking to folks in the industry on a day-to-day basis like we here at FightHype, as well as some of the folks at other noted boxing websites, are doing.
Also gets props from writers, e.g. East Side Boxing:
Hey Ben, I just wanted to drop a line and say great work on the Floyd-Manny time line as well as the "Mayweather Mail" piece posted of July 9th. A lot of great information presented in a clear and concise manner. Nice work. Best Regards, P.H. Burbridge – ******** Boxing
BT: Thanks my man. I apologize for the late reply, but your kudos are definitely appreciated.
More on Pacquaio, Konz, Visionquest, Mayweather, Ellerbe, Random Drug Testing etc here -
By Ben Thompson | July 30, 2011
Wassup Ben, I just want to say that you have done a great job with the Mayweather vs Pacquiao debacle and have brought fans like me with insight of both camps postions on a megafight between arguably the best fighters pound for pound in the world. I just find it odd that other writers like Dan Rafael of ESPN, Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, and the cronnies from the bleacher report all fail to provide the recent developments you have reported. I find their reporting more opinionated and just flat out false most of the time. I could be wrong in stating this but it is as if since fighters such as Mayweather refuse to grant them interviews, they almost purposely write articles to demean and just outright assassinate his character like the incident where he burns a dollar is just an example of how they focus on and write about things not important to fans. Thanks Ben. - Brian
BT: Thanks Brian. As far as Dan Rafael is concerned, he definitely doesn't appreciate the fact that no one from the Mayweather camp returns his phone calls, and because of that, he holds a grudge that, at times, you can see coming out in his writing. But regardless of that, Dan Rafael is a guy who likes to get his information from promoters and managers, unlike a "lowly website guy" like myself who prefers to get "closer to the streets" so to speak to talk to the people who are closer to the information. Some of the people that I speak to wouldn't even give Rafael the time of day, mainly because, at times, he has a certain arrogance that makes him come off as though he's better than you. That's not to knock him though (well, maybe a little...lol) as he clearly has a passion for the sport. The point is, we just move in different circles and in the many years that I've been involved with this sport, I've found that you can get the truth faster from the people that I speak to - fighters, trainers, and folks hanging around the gyms - than trying to get it from a promoter or manager, who's usually trying to spin a story in their favor.
Speaking of spinning stories, I'll give you a perfect example of what I'm talking about. During the recent drama surrounding Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz, one particular writer at Examiner.com wrote a series of scathing articles about Timothy Sladeck, the gentleman who operates MP8.ph (formerly MPBoxing.com), the official website of Manny Pacquiao. According to the writer, all of the stories about Koncz were started by Sladeck in an attempt to get the adviser out of the picture in order to further his own career and relationship with Pacquiao. He then proceeded to paint a picture that it was Sladeck who was actually trying to secure endorsement deals without Pacquiao's knowledge in hopes of "feathering his own nest" by putting money into his own pocket. In order to paint that picture, the writer quoted an email that was sent by Sladeck to prove that he had some "inside dirt" on him. Well, despite what that writer tried to insinuate, I can confirm 100% that the information he was putting out there was misleading and inaccurate. On top of that, I can also confirm 100% that he was given that information by Michael Koncz and, more than likely, was told to run with the story hoping to deflect the attention and the spotlight that was on him when the rumors about his "demotion" first surfaced. How do I know and why am I 100% confident? Because I'm the one that gave Michael Koncz some of the information that they tried to use. I was the only one who knew about some of the details that the writer discussed, and despite the fact that Koncz guaranteed me that he would not discuss the information with anyone other than Tim Sladeck and Manny Pacquiao, he clearly went straight to another writer the minute he became concerned that his position within Team Pacquiao was in jeopardy. If you clicked on the link that I provided, you can see that the article has since been removed for one reason or another. While I'm sure the writer will probably spin it like he simply removed it because he wanted to "take the high road" (even though it was up for nearly 2 days and had already been posted on numerous forums), I'm pretty sure it was probably Koncz who instructed him to take it down, especially since I told Tim Sladeck the same information and it became clear that Koncz was going out of his way to discredit the same person responsible for running Manny's official website. That's not something that Pacquiao would be happy about, and considering that Koncz was already walking on thin ice, he probably thought it would be best to make the article go away. I say all of that simply to illustrate that, yes, in boxing, there actually are writers out there who are being fed misleading information and working on behalf of advisers, managers, and even promoters. That's one of the main reasons why I choose to get my information from sources other than those looking to promote their own agenda. To put it bluntly, they can't be trusted (case in point, Koncz telling me one thing and then doing another), so I'll just let guys like Dan Rafael deal with those individuals. I'm sure once Bob Arum has something meaningful to say regarding this whole mess, you'll see Dan Rafael pen one of his "masterpieces".
Regarding Kevin Iole, he's what I like to call a part-time boxing journalist. Given that he spends more time penning puff pieces for the UFC, he only writes about boxing when something "big" happens. This type of petty bickering going on inside of Pacquiao's team is probably beneath him at this point. That being said, if something comes of it, like Pacquiao discovering that Bob Arum has been keeping money from him, then best believe you'll see a masterpiece from Iole on Yahoo! Sports as well. As for the folks at Bleacher Report, I can honestly say that I've never visited that site for any boxing "news", but I'm sure they have a decent group of writers who are good at giving their opinion on what's going on in the sport. After all, everyone has them (opinions) and that's all Bleacher Report was ever supposed to be, a portal for fans to express their opinion. As far as I know, not too many of those guys are pounding the pavement and speaking to folks in the industry on a day-to-day basis like we here at FightHype, as well as some of the folks at other noted boxing websites, are doing.
Also gets props from writers, e.g. East Side Boxing:
Hey Ben, I just wanted to drop a line and say great work on the Floyd-Manny time line as well as the "Mayweather Mail" piece posted of July 9th. A lot of great information presented in a clear and concise manner. Nice work. Best Regards, P.H. Burbridge – ******** Boxing
BT: Thanks my man. I apologize for the late reply, but your kudos are definitely appreciated.
More on Pacquaio, Konz, Visionquest, Mayweather, Ellerbe, Random Drug Testing etc here -
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