McGirt: Stage set for Macklin at MSG Theater

Former world champion turned trainer Buddy McGirt is predicting his fighter, Matthew Macklin, will upset Sergio Martinez when the two meet for the linear middleweight championship next Saturday night at the Garden Theater.

“Matthew’s just going to go in there and let his fists do the talking,” McGirt said. “I must say, though, that I am very confident that he is going to shock an awful lot of people in this fight.”

An autograph session Tuesday starts a weeklong list of events leading up to the fight. The two boxers will be at Legends Bar on 33rd St. from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. An open workout featuring both fighters is set for noon at Modell’s Sporting Goods in Times Square on Wednesday. The weigh-in is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday at the Theater. The St. Patrick’s Day fight is to be televised on HBO. Tickets remain on sale.

Newark-based heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek has been added to the March 24 boxing card that will be televised by the NBC Sports Network from the Aviator Sports and Events Center in Brooklyn. It will be Adamek’s first bout since losing to WBC heavyweight title holder Vitali Klitschko in September in Poland. Adamek (44-2, 28 KOs) will face Dominican native Nagy Aguilera (17-6, 12 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder.

“I’m 35 years old, but I’m still a hungry fighter,” Adamek said. “I want to come back and show everyone that I can win this fight and couple next fights and get future title fights again.”

The main event features Brooklyn’s Zab Judah against Vernon Paris. Also scheduled is heavyweight Sergei Liakovich vs. Bryant Jennings.

The inaugural New York State Boxing Hall of Fame induction dinner will be held April 1 at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach. Sugar Ray Robinson heads a list of 12 boxers and eight non-participants to be inducted. Joining Robinson in the inaugural class are Mike Tyson, Jake LaMotta, Carmen Basilio, Riddick Bowe, Carlos Ortiz, Vito Antuofermo, Emile Griffith, Mike McCallum, Gene Tunney, Benny Leonard and Tony Canzoneri.

The non-participant inductees are judge/HBO analyst Harold Lederman, coach Steve Acunto, trainer/cutman Jimmy Glenn, trainers Gil Clancy and Ray Arcel, Ring magazine founder Nat Fleischer, reporter Bill Gallo and referee Arthur Mercante Sr.

Juan Manuel Lopez (31-1, 28 KOs) looks to regain the featherweight title on Showtime tonight when he takes on Orlando Salido Lopez in much-anticipated rematch in Puerto Rico. Less than a year ago, Orlando Salido Lopez (37-11-2, 25 KOs) took the title with an eighth-round TKO over the previously unbeaten Lopez.

Would you ignore someone who is trying to give you $45 million of legitimate money? The New York assembly has made a habit of it in recent years by failing to sanction mixed-martial arts in the state.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is continuing what is now a four-year campaign to get a bill passed in Albany that would allow it to host as many as four events per year and generate more than $45 million of economic revenue. The bill has died in the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee the last two years.

New York is just one of three states that have regulatory commissions that do not sanction MMA, though it is OK to compete in each of the martial arts individually. A Muay Thai card, for instance, is scheduled for the Garden Theater on Friday.

Frankie Edgar gets a chance to regain the UFC lightweight title he lost to Ben Henderson last month. Edgar (14-2-1) of Toms River, N.J., lost a close decision to Henderson (16-2) at UFC 144 in Tokyo. A date and site for the rematch will be determined later.

Hopefully, it will be Madison Square Garden.

george.willis@nypost.com

Tomasz Adamek, Buddy McGirt, Matthew Macklin, Orlando Salido Lopez, Sergio Martinez, Modell’s Sporting Goods, KOs, Mike Tyson, Carmen Basilio, Sugar Ray Robinson, Vitali Klitschko, Brooklyn, Mike McCallum, HBO, Riddick Bowe, Jake LaMotta

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Verizon cuts

Verizon Wireless, the largest US mobile-phone carrier, said it is closing three US call centers and relocating employees to cut costs, affecting 3,175 employees. Verizon Wireless is trimming costs after capital spending rose 6.3 percent in 2011.
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Sweet & sour charity

Charity is in short supply as a thrift-store battle brews.

Savers, a fast-growing thrift chain owned by buyout firm Freeman Spogli, has been bad-mouthing nonprofit giant Goodwill as it mounts a sales pitch to prospective acquirers, sources told The Post.

The 225-store retailer hopes to fetch more than $1 billion as it touts annual revenue north of $900 million that last year generated $130 million in Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Those fat profits are coming despite the fact that privately owned Savers’ business model relies on deep ties with charitable organizations.

If that jarring juxtaposition makes some investors squeamish, sources said Savers has sought to soothe their worries by characterizing Goodwill — the 800-pound gorilla in a retail niche that’s dominated by mom-and-pops — as an inefficient bureaucracy staffed by overpaid execs.

Upping the ante, bankers for Savers have likewise characterized their client as a better community citizen.

“They claim they are more philanthropically oriented (than Goodwill),” according to one potential suitor who has heard the sales pitch for Savers.

Representatives for Barclays Capital and Moelis & Co., the banks hired to manage the sale, declined to comment.

Savers spokeswoman Sara Gaugl said the thrift chain “is focused on its own business and does not comment on the operations of other companies.”

Goodwill spokeswoman Lauren Lawson responded in an e-mail that “84 percent of the collective revenue of the sale of donated goods is funneled right back into community programs.”

Meanwhile, Savers has told investors that as much as half of donations to Goodwill end up in landfills, versus just 10 percent at Savers, which shunts much of its unsold clothing to Third World outlets.

“Goodwill diverts more than 2 billion pounds of goods from landfills each year,” Lawson countered in an e-mailed response.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Savers — which aims to double in size over the next five years — is working to convince investors that thrift stores are becoming more mainstream as shoppers become more wallet-conscious.

“The pitch is that consumers are now accustomed to bargains . . . like those they find on eBay,” according to a source.

For its part, some charities say Savers has played a crucial — if somewhat quiet — role as a supporter, paying by the pound for donated clothes, toys, electronics and housewares.

At Big Brothers & Big Sisters in southwestern Connecticut, payments for donated goods by local Savers stores have been “significant enough for us to maintain more case managers,” says Vincent Rodriguez, an operations supervisor at the mentoring program.

While the charity doesn’t actively alert donors that their goods are going to a for-profit retailer, those who ask generally are “happy that funds are being created,” Rodriguez says. “A lot of folks understand that grants are hard to come by these days.”

He adds that all donors get a receipt that comes with a coupon for “$3 off at Savers.”

jkosman@nypost.com

thrift stores, Barclays Capital and Moelis online, Savers, Freeman Spogli, Lauren Lawson, sales pitch, Savers.Representatives

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BP awards former CEO Hayward $1.1 million bonus

LONDON -- Former BP chief executive Tony Hayward received a bonus from the UK oil major last month worth about £720,000 ($1.1 million) in shares, despite his July 2010 resignation following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The scandal-hit former boss picked up the award as part of a three-year incentive plan scheduled to vest on Feb. 15, 2012, according to a BP annual report with the US SECurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released Tuesday.

Hayward received 144,422 ordinary shares at a market price of £4.98 each. Another former director, Andy Inglis, who also left the company after the worst offshore spill in US history, was awarded 99,506 shares.

The SEC filing also revealed that Hayward's successor and current CEO, Bob Dudley, received a $6.8 million pay package in cash and shares for 2011, a near tripling of his compensation in the prior year when BP did not pay a performance bonus.

The annual report was released less than a week after BP said it reached an out of court settlement worth about $7.8 billion with thousands of individuals and businesses affected by the Gulf disaster.

BP has recorded a $37.2 billion charge for what the British company estimates will be its maximum spill-related costs. It said the settlement Friday does not change the figure.

The settlement must still be approved by US District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans.

Tony Hayward, US Securities and Exchange Commission online, Andy Inglis, Gulf of Mexico oil, annual report, SEC, Bob Dudley

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Dingle too much inside as St. Ray's holds off scrappy All Hallows

Oliver Antigua was beside himself on the sidelines. All Hallows doesn’t have a player over 6-foot-3 and his St. Raymond team was hoisting up jump shot after jump shot, ignoring Division I-bound swingmen Daniel Dingle and Kerwin Okoro inside.

“Guys, what are we doing? We talked about this,” Antigua said he told his players. “At halftime, I said, ‘Dingle is on fire. Let’s keep feeding him the ball.’”

The Ravens started listening in the second quarter, where Dingle had 14 of his 27 points. St. Ray’s took the lead there and didn’t look back against All Hallows for a 70-54 victory in the CHSAA Class AA boys basketball intersectional quarterfinals Sunday night at Fordham University in The Bronx. St. Raymond gets a rematch with Cardinal Hayes in the semifinals 6 p.m. Wednesday at St. John’s University, where it has lost the last two seasons.

Denis Gostev

St. Raymond's Daniel Dingle had 14 of his 27 points in the second quarter and added eight rebounds in the Ravens' quarterfinal victory.

“I was just one-on-one down there by myself,” the 6-foot-7 Dingle said of his post positioning multiple times. “I think that’s a basket.”

All Hallows (10-15) hung around for a long time, though. The Gaels were within 43-39 with 3:27 left in the third quarter after a John Brens three-point play. With 2:40 left in the game, Brens had five straight points to get All Hallows as close as 62-54. St. Ray’s (19-9) was playing its Bronx rival for a fourth time this year and second time in the postseason after beating All Hallows in the Archdiocesan quarterfinals.

“They shot the ball well early,” Antigua said of the Gaels. “They put a lot of pressure on us. They fought until the end. They’re almost like a big man away from being a really dangerous team.”

Okoro had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Dingle added eight rebounds. Davon Robinson had 15 points, Raz Council had 14 points, Ethan Hamlet had 12 points and Brens added 11 for All Hallows, which upset Xaverian in the second round on Thursday.

“They came out with the first punch and we responded,” Dingle said.

Now St. Raymond gets Hayes once again after falling to the Cardinals twice during the regular season and beating them in the Archdiocesan semifinals. There is bad blood between the two programs. The Ravens didn’t like the way their rivals celebrated on their court after the first win and liked even less what Hayes coach Joe Lods said about them before the Archdiocesan game. Antigua even went as far as to thank Lods for motivating his team to victory with the “trash talk.”

Adding to the storyline is the fact that St. Ray’s has lost at St. John’s in disappointing fashion each of the last two seasons to Christ the King. CK is out of the playoffs now – Mount beat the two-time defending champs Sunday in the quarters – but the goal is still the same for the Ravens.

“This time I’m trying to leave with a win,” Dingle said. “My team, we’re amped and hungry.”

mraimondi@nypost.com

Daniel Dingle, All Hallows, The Ravens, The Ravens ebook download, St. Raymond, St. Raymond, Cardinal Hayes, Oliver Antigua, Raymond

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AIG sells Blackstone stake

American International Group, the insurer majority owned by the US government, sold a $500 million stake in Blackstone Group, according to a person familiar with the matter.

AIG exited the stake in a block trade before US markets opened, said the person, who declined to be identified because he isn’t permitted to speak about the transaction. AIG notified Blackstone in 2010 that it would convert 35.7 million Blackstone partnership units into common shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

AIG has sold non-US life insurers, a consumer lender, an asset manager and other businesses to help repay a 2008 government rescue that swelled to $182.3 billion.

Christine Anderson, a spokeswoman for Blackstone, declined to comment on the deal, as did an AIG spokesperson.

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Blackstone Group, Blackstone, American International Group, block trade

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Huey re-upping at Time

Keith J. Kelly

MEDIA INK

Time Inc. CEO Laura Lang has been on the job for three months now and it seems that one of her decisions — namely, who will run the editorial operations — will result in no major upheaval. Insiders say she is renewing the contract of John Huey.

Huey, editor-in-chief since 2005, was one of the troika said to be instrumental in ending the reign of Lang’s predecessor, Jack Griffin, last February after less than six months on the job.

Lang, who came from the digital agency Digitas with no background in journalism, has been taking things very slowly.

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twitpic

FORCED MARCH: Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson glares as she runs the gauntlet of a newsroom protest that drew a crowd of staffers.

Sources say that approach is keeping in line with Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes’ mandate, since the quick changes orchestrated by Griffin in his first 100 days rankled insiders and eventually led to the Griffin ouster after a clash of styles.

The original scenario would have been for Huey to gracefully exit sometime after the 2012 election, clearing the way for a Lang-appointed successor to take the reins and eventually put in a new stable of editors at Time and other top weeklies.

Now, with Huey staying on board, insiders think Lang is in no great hurry to make edit changes, since most of the editors running the big weekly magazines such as People, Time and Sports Illustrated, as well as bi-weekly Fortune and monthly Money, are all Huey appointees.

Neither Huey nor Lang would comment.

Whitney’s wake

Whitney Houston is no Elvis—but she’s close.

The black-and-white bootleg photo of a dead Elvis Presley lying in his coffin on the cover of the National Enquirer in 1977 led to its best-selling issue of all time — with 7.7 million copies sold at 39 cents each.

The Enquirer said a similar unauthorized photo of Houston in her coffin on the cover of last week’s issue had estimated sales of 770,000 — about one-tenth of the Elvis sales total.

But today’s copies are going for $3.79 — nearly 10 times the price in ’77 — so it is nearly a wash as far as net revenue goes.

American Media CEO David Pecker said the Whitney cover issue — which sparked outrage by some fans — was “the best-selling issue in the past 18 months.”

Pecker also said that the previous week covering Whitney’s death sold about 625,000.

In the second half of 2011, the Enquirer was selling 472,731 copies a week on newsstands, which was an 11.4 percent drop. Its circulation, including subscriptions, was 618,770 in the second half.

The company saw a 17 percent drop in cash flow in its third quarter. It closes its fiscal year on March 31 and needs all the help it can get to satisfy investors.

Occupy NYT

The top trio of editors at the New York Times, including Executive Editor Jill Abramson, released a very sympathetic letter to rank-and-file newsroom employees yesterday following a silent protest inside the paper’s offices by union members on Wednesday.

Members of the Newspaper Guild, the largest union at the Times, representing reporters and photographers and some business-side people, had staged a silent protest by lining the hallway outside the page one meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

A photo of the silent protest (above) was tweeted yesterday.

The protest was not directed at Abramson or Managing Editors Dean Baquet or John Geddes. The aim was for the editors to relay to Chairman Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger, Jr. the newsroom anger at the stalled contract talks.

The Newspaper Guild has been without a contract since March 31, 2011. The Guild said that in talks the company has been pushing to freeze pension benefits.

Apparently, what stoked the newsroom anger was a report on Footnoted.org that crunched the numbers in the Times’ recently-filed 10-K revealing that ousted former President and CEO Janet Robinson will get, in addition to her severance and pension, an added $4.5 million for a gig that requires her to do no more than 15 hours of consulting per month. If she puts in all 15 hours, it works out to $375,000 a month or $25,000 per hour.

But the consulting gig is only part of her farewell package, estimated to be more than $21 million.

Bill O’Meara, president of the Newspaper Guild, said the protest was organized by the newsroom, not the Guild.

The editors appear sympathetic.

“Yesterday’s gathering by the page one room shortly before the 4 p.m. meeting was another reminder of how deeply unsettling this time has been,” said a memo released by Abramson, Baquet and Geddes to staffers yesterday. “We understand those concerns.”

kkelly@nypost.com

Jill Abramson, Jill Abramson, Laura Lang, Keith J. KellyMEDIA INKTime Inc., Jack Griffin, Elvis Presley, Newspaper Guild, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes’

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