GENERAL SANTOS CITY ? The arrest of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. over the weekend further put a cloud of doubt on making a highly-anticipated fight with Manny Pacquiao possible.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said unless the 32-year-old Mayweather, who was jailed and released Friday in Las Vegas for a misdemeanor battery warrant, will be able to put his act together, the fight the world wants to see is not going to happen at all.
?As far as the fight is concerned, not one pip, not one pip,? said Arum when asked about the Mayweather arrest while the veteran promoter was attending the birthday celebration of Pacquiao the other night at the KCC Mall here.
?He can?t say, `hey, wait a second. I?ll try to see it first if I can become available and fight.?
Mayweather, the undefeated former pound-for-pound fighter in the world, was arrested stemming from an allegation that he poked a security guard in the face outside his home last November.
The arrest was the latest in a series of misbehavior for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bronze medalist. He also faces misdemeanor battery and assault conviction in Las Vegas and in his hometown of Grand Rapids Michigan and is facing a felony coercion, grand larceny and robbery case stemming from a September dispute with his children and their mother at her home as reported by AP.
In the same AP report, Mayweather was mentioned arrested at the posh Bellagio resort on the Las Vegas Strip and booked early Friday into the Clark County jail without bail. Police initially said the boxer might remain in jail pending a Monday court date, but defense attorney Karen Winckler intervened, and Mayweather was freed less than 12 hours after his arrest.
?It?s crazy. It gets crazy and crazy,? admitted Arum, who?s set to return to Las Vegas with wife Lovee on Sunday.
?They?re out to nail him and I hope he?s taking it seriously because if he?s not taking it seriously, he can go way for a long, long stretch.?
Reached for comment, Pacquiao just wished the cocky boxer who had accused him of taking illegal substance the best in his career.
?Ang dami niyang hinaharap na problema nga-yon. Sana ma-solve na niya ito at ng saganon ay makabalik na siya uli sa pagbo-boksing,? said Pacquiao who just turned 32.
Twice, the mouth-watering duel between Pacquiao and Mayweather had been aborted in the past owing to differences by both camps on the issue surrounding drug testing.
And in the light of the court charges Mayweather is facing, Arum has narrowed down his choices for Pacquiao?s next opponent in Sugar Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao raffled off a P1 million cash prize and one brand new Toyota Vios during his birthday party Friday night.
Elmer Alaiden from Alabel town in Sarangani was the lucky winner of the 10 bundles of P1,000 bills, each amounting to P100,000, while Carolin Namoc was handed the key of the red Toyota Vios car worth P600,000.
Arum was the one who picked the winning stub for the night?s grand prize.
Initially, the stubs bearing the names of Pacquiao?s brother Bobby, and the mother of his wife Jinkee, were the ones picked by Arum, respectively, as supposed winner of the P1 million prize. But in his effort to be fair to everybody, Pacquiao disqualified both entries.
Two brand new motorcycles, P50,000 cash, a plasma TV and 15 bagful of groceries were also given away during the P3 million worth party attended by more than 2,000 people, including Arum, trainer Freddie Roach, World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez and former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson.
