It may just be the superfight that never was. Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (42-0, 26 KOs) seem nowhere close to coming to terms on a deal to face each other in a ring next year. This time, though, the fighters aren’t the ones being blamed for holding up negotiations. Pacquiao’s sub-par outing against Juan Manuel Marquez (53-6-1, 39 KOs) on November 12th seems to have his promoter Bob Arum concerned enough to call for yet another fight between the two arch-rivals.
Mayweather’s already penciled in an appearance of his own for May 5th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which is his way of leaving the window open for Pacquiao to climb in. He’s obviously ready and waiting to make a deal. During pre-fight talk show appearances before the Marquez fight, Pacquiao stated multiple times that he’s ready for Floyd. Apparently, his handlers think so too. Arum is the one allegedly putting the fight in jeopardy at this point.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Alex Ariza are reportedly at odds with Arum over whether Pacquiao should fight Mayweather next. Roach and Ariza are convinced their fighter is ready to give Mayweather his first loss while Arum seems more content to keep building the hype with another tilt against Marquez. Oscar De La Hoya is a former opponent of both Pacquiao and Mayweather. He now operates Golden Boy Promotions, and he blames Arum for the log jam in negotiations in a recent ESPN interview.
“There’s no doubt in my mind Manny Pacquiao wants the fight and Floyd Mayweather wants the fight,” said De La Hoya to ESPN. “I guess we all know now who doesn’t want the fight. I just ask for the sake of boxing, let’s make this fight happen.” The “who” he refers to is Bob Arum. The promoter’s motive for refusing to ink the fight is clear; he wants to squeeze another big fight in before Mayweather, just in case Pacquiao loses or decides to retire after the fight if he beats Mayweather.
