Earlier tonight on Showtime, WBA/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr said he’d be interested in facing Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd if the fight can be made. Mayweather invited talks with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank to work on putting the fight together. However, Mayweather pointed out that he feels that the 36-year-old Pacquiao is begging for a fight with him by the way he’s been looking to fight him recently.
Mayweather said that the negotiation point won’t be the same as it was in the past when he attempted to fight Pacquiao in 2010 and was willing to give him a 50-50 deal. Mayweather says Pacquiao has twice lost since that fight. Just what kind of purse split Mayweather would be looking to get is anyone’s guess. It’s not likely that he’ll agree to anything in the neighborhood of 55-45. I’d be surprised if Mayweather even agrees to a 60-40 split given the way Pacquiao’s pay-per-view numbers have been reportedly tanking.
“I’d love to fight Manny Pacquiao,” Mayweather said. “We tried to make the fight happen years ago. We had problems with random blood and urine testing. Like I said, I just want to be on an even playing field. Now he’s in a very, very tight situation, he’s lost to Marquez, he’s lost to Bradley, pay-per-view numbers are down extremely low, so he’s desperate. I’ve been wanting that fight a long time ago and I’m just waiting on them. Of course, we have to make the fight on Showtime Pay-Per-View because Showtime Championship Boxing is number one and will remain number one and I’m here to stay.”
The drug testing likely won’t be a problem for Pacquiao now because he’s supposedly on board with the random drug testing at this point in his career. However, there’s no denying that Pacquiao lost to Juan Manuel Marquez and Pacquiao in 2012. Pacquiao avenged one of those defeats in beating Bradley, but he still has unfinished business with Marquez.
“Floyd Mayweather is not ducking or dodging any opponent. Bob Arum is stopping the fight. We have been trying to make this fight happen behind the scenes for years now, but the fans and the people have been fooled because they have been listening to people on just one side,” Mayweather said. “Now it’s time for us to talk. We want to fight. We’re ready. Let’s make it happen May 2nd, Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. Let’s do it!”
The fight can be made if they can come up with a purse split that both will agree to. I’m not sure that it would be a good thing for Pacquiao’s team to get stubborn and ask for too much money, because things are different now. Mayweather is clearly the A-side in this negotiations, and if Pacquiao and Arum ask for too much money, you can bet Mayweather will be gone in a second and will find guys that he can fight where he gets the lion’s share of the loot.
“I know that he’s not on my level,” Mayweather said. “The fans would love to see the fight and, of course, I want to go out with a bang, so let’s make this fight happen. Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum, you guys have been ducking us for years. We caught you guys fooling the public, fooling the critics. Before we tried to make the fight happen, you guys didn’t want to take random blood and urine testing so that’s why the fight didn’t happen. I offered you $40 million, then you didn’t want to make the fight happen. You lost twice, now you’re coming back begging for the same money. That’s not going to happen. Let’s make this fight happen for the people and for the fans, Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao, May 2nd, ‘Cinco de Mayweather!’”
