As if we didn?t learn our lesson from the last 3 years, pound for pound kings Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather find themselves circling each other around the negotiating table once again. While it appears that maybe this time the two are closer than ever to striking a deal for boxing?s biggest fight, we must take things into perspective and realize that until contracts are signed and dates are set, they are as far apart as they ever were.
Given the magnitude of the fight it was only natural that the problems in the negotiations were going to spill to the public. The first round of negotiations fell through given the drug testing protocol in which Mayweather insisted be used for the fight. For the second round a second Mayweather retirement and a lack of interest from Top Rank head Bob Arum played into another failed attempt.
Now we are in the middle of a 3rd attempt to make boxing?s most lucrative fight possible. While there?s been plenty of ?he said? around twitter from all parties, I figured it would be easier to cut through all of that and get into each side?s bottom line:
What the Mayweather Camp wants:
Mayweather has been extremely vocal about wanting this fight through twitter. He?s publicly called out Pacquiao stating ?Step up, punk?, he?s called out Arum telling him to contact golden boy promotions to get the fight done and stated that ?May 5th is Pacquiao ass whooping day?.
Most of the past issues have been resolved. Drug testing is no longer a problem as Pacquiao has agreed to it. The revenue split of 50-50 has also been agreed upon and each fighter would be getting their guarantees via their respective promoters. The only real issue standing in the way would be the date and location.
Bottom line:
– Fight to be on May 5th
– Venue to be MGM Grand, Las Vegas
What the Pacquiao Camp wants:
Freddie Roach claimed that they?ve been chasing Pacquiao for 2 years. Well I guess the hunter has become the hunted, given Mayweather?s aggressive pursuit of the fight its really seemed like the ones holding it up has been Pacquiao?s side.
When it was assumed Mayweather would be reporting to jail on January, Arum stated that Pacquiao?s next fight would be in May. After Mayweather?s sentence was moved to June, Arum claimed Pacquiao couldn?t fight in May because of a cut suffered in the Marquez fight. Eventually Pacquiao shot down the cut theory and Arum said that May 5th would be too early given the outside temporary stadium they plan to build outside of the MGM Grand for the fight. The earliest it could be was late May.
According to Arum, it wouldn?t make sense to hold the fight in the very limited MGM Grand because it only sits 18,000. His plan is to build a temporary outside stadium that sits 40,000 in order to increase revenue. Only the earliest that could be built is for late May. Arum also states that he hasn?t talked to anyone that?s representing Mayweather for this fight, even though Mayweather already stated that he would once again have Golden Boy in his corner.
Bottom Line:
– Fight be on May 24th
– Venue to be outside of the MGM Grand in a temporary outside stadium
The fact that the date and venue are the only things in the way of the super fight is both good and bad. The good is because unlike the drug-testing debacle, this has a better shot of getting resolved. The drug testing issue seemed more like a personal attack on Pacquiao, thus working around that to make a business deal was more challenging.
The bad, because this issue is so trivial it shows that maybe they are just grasping at straws and looking for anything to get in the way of the fight. The reality is, maybe Arum just doesn?t want do the fight now and its possible that when he does want to make the fight Mayweather won?t want it. Of course that?s just speculation and it is my hope that it stays as such, because boxing needs this fight, the fans dream over this fight and the fighters want to fight, so come on guys lets make it happen.
