Boxing promoter and Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum is convinced that the failed bout between local boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. could still push through in the coming days.
In a recent TV interview, Arum confirmed that he is planning to talk to Pacquiao about the possibility of resuming negotiations with Mayweather?s camp.
?After the [national] elections, I?ll talk to Manny, see where he?s at, and then we?ll proceed [with the negotiations],? he said.
Arum planed in Thursday and went directly to General Santos City through a connecting flight.
The 78-year-old, Harvard-schooled mogul is staying in the country until Tuesday. He explained that he is fulfilling a promise to support Pacquiao?s congressional bid.
A proposed bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather in March of this year failed to materialize after the latter insisted on an Olympic-style drug testing system?a request Pacquiao refused, alleging that the process, which will require blood samples to be taken randomly, including on the day of the fight itself, is detrimental to his health.
Pacquiao went on to fight and win over Ghanaian Joshua Clottey. Mayweather, meanwhile, decided to face Shane Mosley, eking a similar win over the weekend.
Arum is confident that Pacquiao could carve a win against the formidable Mayweather.
?If Mayweather fights the way he did against Mosley, Manny will not only win, but he will [also] knock him out,? he insisted.
Pacquiao shared a similar sentiment in past interviews with visiting foreign sports correspondents.
?If I can hit Mayweather like that, I will finish him off,” said he. ?I would continue the attack in a way that Mosley did not. I will attack until Mayweather is gone.”
Boxing analysts continue to believe the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight will be the biggest in boxing history, considering that the two are among today?s hottest icons of the gory sport, commanding millions in ticket sales, excluding earnings from the pay per view market.
Meanwhile, in related Pacman news, four barangay officials confirmed that businessman Roy Chiongbian, Pacquiao’s political rival, tried to buy them off for P100,000 each, convincing them to withdraw support for the boxer turned actor-endorser and philanthropist-politician.
Pacquiao expressed dismay over the news saying in Filipino, “Let’s just leave the people to decide… Whoever candidate they want to support, let them be. Let us not resort to vote buying.”
Chiongbian denied the accusations, saying, “We don’t buy votes.”
