Recently I spoke with Floyd Mayweather Sr about the negotiations for the mega fight between his son, and Manny Pacquiao. When he told me that as far as he knows, “There are no negotiations going on right now” I at first didn’t pay much attention to it. I figured that was just Big Floyd’s way of doing what he was told, and that is to not answer any negotiations questions from boxing websites.
Today, I read Ronnie Nathanielsz’ article http://philboxing.com/news/story-40523.html where he reports that there are some serious negotiation snags that are taking place. Reports are that Floyd Mayweather Jr is demanding a 60/40 percentage of the purse money. Pacquiao has been quoted as saying, “I will never accept anything less than 50/50 for this fight.” This is one clear snag that the negotiators are trying to get past.
There have been a few boxing websites that have been juicing up headlines using unnamed (more than likely phantom sources) saying that the fight is a done deal, and all that needs to take place is for the fighter’s to sign the contracts. Really? OK, so if that were true why haven’t the contracts been signed as of yet? There is a really simple answer to that question, and it’s because the fight is not a done deal, and no finalized contracts have been drawn up. When Arum makes the announcement one way or the other, then we will all know.
Mayweather wants 60/40 and Pacquiao is OK with 50/50. Pacquiao already has been quoted as saying that he will not accept anything less than 50/50, and I can’t say that I much blame him. Pacquiao in this writers opinion deserves at the very minimum a 50/50 split.
In my interview with Floyd Mayweather Sr, he went on and on about steroids. Big Floyd is absolutely convinced that Manny is using steroids. He slams Freddie Roach, and he stands firm on his belief that Manny is using PED’s. Listen to what Big Floyd had to say uncut, unedited here – http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/2656/2010-06-22.html
I spoke with Stan Nichols, Chief of Officials for the state of Mississippi, and the President of USA Boxing’s Southern Association. Nichols is disgusted with the entire negotiations process, “Just fight” he said, “Both guys stand to make 40 million dollars, then perhaps another 40 million in a rematch. It’s ridiculous that this fight has not been made yet.”
Some of the fans in the Jackson, MS area also spoke up. Jason Fender of Jackson, MS told this writer, “If Mayweather ever wants full respect from the boxing world he must fight Manny. There is no other way.”
Nobody knows for sure where the negotiations are at. There are many people making speculations, and guesses, but only Arum and a selected few others know exactly what’s going on. All we can do as fans of the sport, and fans of both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr, is to wait and see what happens.
