By James Slater: Right now, if you asked a number of boxing experts/guys who hold top positions in the sport, who is it who is stopping a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super-fight from happening, they would tell you: Bob Arum. This is certainly the opinion of writer Dan Rafael and rival promoter Oscar De La Hoya.
Pacquiao, these Arum critics (rightly) argue, is being made to look bad by Arum; what with the “there is not enough time for Manny’s cuts to heal for him to fight on May 5th,” and “We need a bigger venue than The MGM Grand” excuses being put forth by the Top Rank boss.
Well, it seems Pacquiao has had enough and wants Mayweather next whatever.
In speaking with Eddie Alinea of Philboxing, Pac-Man said the following:
“I’ve said this over and over before and I’m saying this again, I want Floyd Mayweather Junior to be my next opponent and I haven‘t changed my choice despite recent developments,” Pacquiao said today. “I am meeting with my promoter Bob Arum on Tuesday and I will insist that the fight with Mayweather be given preference than the four others on the list I will fight next.
“It’s not really fair for some quarters to blame me if, in the long run, the fight wouldn’t push through. As I have also been saying many times, I fight for the fans. I want the fans to be happy always.”
Fair play to Pac-Man! Is it a case of being overly optimistic, or is the fight the whole world wants to see (and has wanted to see for so long now) closer than it’s ever been to being made? We have a venue (MGM Grand), we have a date (May 5th) and we have Pacquiao wanting the fight as well as Mayweather. Also, Pac-Man told Alinea that he will “abide by his [Floyd’s] demand for drug testing” and “I am even agreeable to get a lesser purse just so the fight would push through.”
Everything’s fine and dandy, right? Not so fast. Arum must be won over by Pacquiao for the fight to happen. Will Arum keep his demands for a bigger arena for the fight? (Arum has spoken of a custom-built arena for the fight, one that would not be ready until late May at the earliest – yet Mayweather, who must begin his postponed prison term on June 1st, must fight in May and no later) And will Arum refuse to allow his fighter to fight as early as May, which may not, he says, give Pacquiao’s cuts time to heal?
It seems Arum’s approval is all that we now need for the fight to finally – finally! – get signed. Who will get their way: Arum or the superstar he promotes?