There?s still a chance that Manny Pacquiao could return to Cowboys Stadium in November but once again it won?t be the Super Fight that boxing fans crave.
In a midnight press conference that only boxing could stage, Pacquiao?s promoter Bob Arum said that a Paquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. SuperFight is no longer in the exclusive negotiations phase.
Arum said he?d been negotiating exclusively with Mayweather?s representatives through HBO Sports.
However, Arum had given Mayweather?s people a midnight deadline on Friday night/Saturday morning.
?People have asked me as well as others at Top Rank, does that mean the Mayweather fight is dead? Even thought Mayweather has not responded by the deadline, the deal is dead when we reach a deal with an opponent for Manny?s fight in November,? Arum said. ?Then we are contractually bound to do that fight and we would look hopefully to do a fight with Floyd next year.?
At midnight Friday night/Saturday morning Arum held a conference call to announce Top Rank would open negotiations for Pacquiao to fight a rematch against Miguel Cotto at Cowboys Stadium or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao successfully defended his welterweight title at Cowboys Stadium against Joshua Clottey on March 13 in front of 50,994 fans.
Another possible opponent for Pacquiao is Antonio Margarito in Mexico or Las Vegas if Margarito can get licensed in the United States.
Arum left the door open for the Mayweather camp to reach a negotiation but speculated that battery charges against Mayweather?s uncle/trainer might be influencing Mayweather?s reluctance.
?Now I am speculating that one of the reasons could be the uncertainty regarding Roger Mayweather and for people that don?t know, Roger Mayweather is scheduled for court in Nevada regarding criminal charges,? Arum said. ?Now I know how Manny would feel if he had to go into a fight like this without the services of Freddie Roach and presumably Floyd would feel the same way going into a fight like this without the services of his uncle Roger who has been training him for a number of years.?
