While attending a CBS/Showtime sponsored boxing event in San Antonio, Texas, unbeaten boxing champion Floyd Mayweather announced his acceptance of Manny Pacquiao’s challenge to face him in the ring, potentially ending five years of failed negotiations.
The weekend boxing event that his own Mayweather Promotions outfit held at the Illusion Theater of the Alamodome, features WBA Super Welterweight Champion Erislandy ?The American Dream? Lara (19-2-2, 12 KOs) and former IBF Junior Middleweight World Champion Ishe ?Sugar Shay? Smith (26-6, 12 KOs) and a couple of matches in the undercard. In an interview by veteran broadcaster and Showtime boxing analyst Steve Farhood, Mayweather said in part: “We are ready. Let’s make it happen. May 2. Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao. Let’s do it,” he said. In his televised statement, Mayweather did no say exactly when is he signing on the dotted line of the fight contract and what would be the terms and fight purse or where is the fight going to be held. The apparent lack of details in his statements led fight fans to doubt his sincerity in calling out Pacquiao and Bob Arum to make the fight happen. In some portions of his statement he blamed Arum for getting in the way of what appears to be the biggest and richest fight in boxing history. “I just got to a point where I’m just tired of the fans being misled and lied to…Like I said before, we have been trying to make the fight happen for a long time behind the scenes. Before, all I asked for was random blood and urine testing, but Bob Arum and Pacquiao’s camp had a problem with that. That’s why the fight didn’t happen before…Bob Arum is in the way of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight…They have been lying to the critics, all the websites, the blogs, social media and everyone for years,” Mayweather told FyteHype. But fans are aware that the issue of the random blood and urine testing has been resolved as far back as 2012 when Pacquiao said on ESPN’s First Take that he has agreed in full to what Mayweather wanted which is to have the blood and urine testing all the way up to the day of the fight. In a televised interview, Pacquiao reiterated his agreement to Mayweather’s demand for full blood and urine testing. “No problem,” Pacquiao said. “Whatever he wants to do.” In his ESPN blog, Dan Rafael said, “Even when Pacquiao previously had softened his stance on random testing, there was still an issue about doing a blood test on the day of the fight. But Pacquiao said Thursday he now would be OK with that, too.” “No problem,” he said. “Even the night of the fight. No problem.”
