Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants the ?biggest fight possible? next year, alluding to a match against Manny Pacquiao but Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum won?t believe it until he?s sees it.
Mayweather?s advisor told ESPN earlier this week, that Mayweather Jr. is planning a May 5 bout and has already reserved the MGM Grand for the fight to take place against an opponent to be determined.
?We?re looking to make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella,? Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe said to ESPN.com. Ellerbe?s ?little fella? remark refers to Pacquiao.
Arum, however, called Mayweather?s plan a publicity stunt and believes this is ?Floyd?s way of trying to grab a little bit of the spotlight away from Manny.?
Pacquiao is defending his welterweight belt against Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12 in Las Vegas.
?Listen, we?re not going to consider anything until after the Marquez fight,? Arum told the Mason and Ireland show on ESPN radio. ?The way they are going about it seems like a bizarre way to go about it. If you want to put it together, you meet, you talk. You don?t just come out and say, ?The fight is May 5 at the MGM.? What kind of negotiation is that? So I don?t take what they said seriously.?
This is Arum?s latest tirade against Mayweather Jr., his former fighter. The two have had a contentious relationship, since Mayweather left Top Rank several years ago.
During Pacquiao?s media day workout, Arum told several members of the media that Mayweather would never fight Pacquiao.
?Mayweather is a student of the game,? said Arum. ?He knows Manny will knock him out.?
