The latest development in the neverending saga that is the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao negotiations — Pacquiao telling a Filipino media outlet on Monday that he wants Mayweather to be his next opponent and plans to advise his promoter Bob Arum accordingly — sparked another Internet debate about will this fight happen … and who is to blame this time if it doesn’t.
Let’s delve into some of those topics, shall we, in this all-Twitter, all Pacquiao-Mayweather mailbag:
If Manny stands up to his daddy Arum, there is still a chance! –@Tha_R
Talk is cheap, Chris. Is Manny willing to make Bob put the fight together? –@MisterRudolph
Pacquiao’s longstanding unwillingness to demand certain opponents rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Of course, Pacquiao has put his faith in Arum, who has matched him well over the years and made him a truckload of money along the way. But if Pacquiao is really serious about fighting Mayweather in May — something Arum has called impossible due to the slow-healing cut Pacquiao received during the Juan Manuel Marquez fight and financially irresponsible because a specially designed, 45,000-seat outdoor stadium in Las Vegas would not be ready in time — he needs to make that clear.
Marquez, Tim Bradley, Miguel Cotto or Lamont Peterson might make Pacquiao some money, but it won’t bring him a fraction of the attention a Mayweather fight would. Pacquiao has always said he is about giving the fans what they want. Now, he has a chance to prove it.
Arum is obviously afraid, he has come up with every excuse in the book not to make the fight –@AbsolutVodka99
You don’t know Bob Arum if you think he doesn’t cares about money. It’s ALL about money with Bob. –@Layzie_Guy
I’m with a lot of you on this: I don’t think Arum wants this fight. But it’s not because of money. Arum is 80, worth hundreds of millions and Top Rank is in great shape with a well-stocked roster and bright executives Todd DuBoef, Bruce Trampler, Carl Moretti, Brad Goodman and Brad Jacobs running the show behind the scenes. It’s not about not wanting to empower Mayweather anymore, either. Does it stick with Arum that Mayweather left him before signing on for his fight with Oscar De La Hoya? Yes. But Arum has promoted Ali. He has promoted Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and George Foreman. Fighters come and fighters go. He may not like Mayweather, but that would not stop him from making the fight.
