Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. Once again, promoter Bob Arum, with the help of select members of the media, wants you to believe that negotiations for the biggest and most lucrative fight in boxing history are taking place without the key representatives from either camp, namely himself and Mayweather adviser Al Haymon, actually having just one face-to-face meeting. Last time, it was Ross Greenburg who supposedly acted as conduit, as Arum claimed he was able to negotiate a deal when the former HBO Sports president relayed conversations that he had with Al Haymon back to him.
“We have never talked to anybody on the Mayweather side and all coversations on our part were through Ross Greenburg and he reported on all conversations on the Mayweather side from Al Haymon,” explained the Hall of Fame promoter in July of 2010. “I never talked to anybody on the Mayweather side. I never talked to Mayweather. I only talked to Ross Greenburg, who represented to me certain things that he had discussed with Al Haymon on behalf of Mayweather.” This time around, however, Arum claims that the only person he’ll be negotiating with is Floyd Mayweather because “Floyd has no manager and no promoter, at least in terms of being under contract” and “if someone is coming along and waving a lot money, and says to Floyd, ‘We don’t want Haymon and we don’t want Golden Boy involved,’ then Floyd would decide that.”
