MANILA, Philippines – Bob Arum would rather deal with Don King than with anyone else in trying to make the superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. happen.
The two heavyweight promoters have done it before, for the blockbuster ?Thrilla in Manila? in 1975, and doing another fight of that magnitude shouldn?t be a problem.
But first, the 78-year-old King, just a few days older than Arum, should land a contract with Mayweather. Reports said the two have agreed to or are close to it.
And Arum, in an interview with www.insidesports.ph, is excited.
?It looks like King may have captured Mayweather and if Don ends up with Mayweather then with King there?s no nonsense,? Arum was quoted as saying yesterday.
King had told the press that Pacquiao versus Mayweather could gross as much as $200 million.
?We will go away for a weekend, we?ll fight the s-t out of each other, we?ll yell and scream and put a deal together,? added the Top Rank chief, who can?t seem to get the fight done with Mayweather?s present team.
While it?s Leonard Ellerbe and Al Haymon who are calling the shots for the undefeated American, he has also relied on the representation of Golden Boy Promotions in his last few fights.
But there seemed to be so much said and done, not to mention the bad blood, between Arum and some people in the Mayweather camp, and so far all they?ve achieved is to agree to disagree.
That?s why Arum is now saying he?d rather see Mayweather work with King, so they could make the fight ?next spring.? For the meantime, Pacquiao will go on and face Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13.
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, called Arum and King ?dinosaurs,? and according to Lem Satterfield, has referred to the two legendary promoters as ?B-Rex? and ?D-Rex.?
?It doesn?t matter if he?s jealous. You could say, ?They?re not good promoters and so forth. But it is totally uncalled for and obscene for him to ? in order to attacking King and myself ? to keep referring to our age like it means anything. That?s really offensive. I mean, that?s really offensive,? Arum told boxingscene.com.
The Filipino pound-for-pound champion said he can wait a couple more weeks for Mayweather to decide to fight him in November. Otherwise, he will have to put his signature on the contract and fight Margarito.
?I?m very optimistic that we can do the fight next spring,? Arum told www.insidesports.ph. of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.
Pacquiao?s adviser, Mike Koncz, is back from Abu Dhabi where he stayed for a week trying to get the deal to bring Pacquiao?s next fight there, but has nothing concrete to show as of yet.
If it?s not Abu Dhabi, Arum is looking at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, the site of Pacquiao?s 12-round battle with Joshua Clottey last March, or the city of Monterrey in Mexico.
