Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather

'Pacman' says fight 'announcement within this month'

UAE group pulls out of $120 million offer to Floyd Mayweather

Published Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The mega fight between Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao and unbeaten pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr is increasingly closer to becoming a reality.

"I do feel that (it's closer than ever) ... everything sounds good out there," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach told BoxingScene.com.

Earlier, an optimistic Pacquiao told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard/Viva Sports that he expects an announcement "within this month".

"We will make an announcement before the end of this month," said the eight division world champion adding "I think it (the fight) will happen."

Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times reported that both sides have already agreed on the venue of the fight, MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and the drug-testing condition for both fighters.

However, "there is no final agreement on the purse split although Mayweather is demanding at least 60 per cent of the money," the report added.

Mayweather is targeting a May 2, 2105 date for the fight.

UAE group

A UAE investment group which guaranteed Floyd Mayweather Jr a record-setting purse of $120 million to fight Manny Pacquiao in Abu Dhabi says the offer is off the table.

M Akbar Muhammad, president and chief operating officer of Akbar Productions LLC, New Jersey, says the deadline to accept the offer has passed.

"We want to deal with serious individuals, individuals who have the ability to make a decision," Muhammad was quoted as tellingBoxingscene.com.

A long-time boxing in the US, Muhammad who worked with Don King, said he had put on notice that the offer made late November would be rescinded in the first week of January.

"The Abu Dhabi group is serious, and i will not allow them to dangle an inordinate amount of time. Now that time has come and the offer is gone," said Muhammad slamming Mayweather's 'The Money Team' for not disregarding their offer.

However, he promised boxing fans in the Middle East that he would be going ahead with plans to have "a world championship card in Abu Dhabi during the spring of 2015" even if there is "No Mayweather".

Meanwhile, in another development, Team Pacquiao has given Mayweather until end of this month to sign the agreement for the proposed May 2 fight.

Michael Konz, adviser to Filipino ring icon Pacquiao, says discussions are ongoing on how to share the revenue of what is potentially the richest fight in boxing history.

"We're waiting for word from Floyd," Koncz said to the Manila Bulletin. "We're giving this until the end of month."

Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is in talks with CBS CEO Les Moonves, who is representing Mayweather.

Campaign

Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquaio has stepped up his campaign to make the long-awaited mega fight with unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr happen this year.


Mayweather has literally gone into hiding ever since publicly declaring his intention of fighting Pacquiao during an interview on Showtime last year.

He even pencilled in a May 2 date for what would undoubtedly be the richest boxing fight in history.

It triggered a frenzy of excitement across the boxing world with promoters going into overdrive to make it a reality.

A UAE investment group recently upped the stakes in its bid to lure Mayweather into the same ring with Pacquiao in Abu Dhabi by raising the American's already record-setting purse to an unprecedented $120 million.

President and chief operating officer of Akbar Productions, LLC of New Jersey, Muhammad has made a formal offer to Mayweather Promotions.

"Mr. Mayweather has said he'll fight Pacquiao in the spring, so the only matter that needs to be resolved is the money," said Muhammad, who has previously worked with Don King.

However, Mayweather's 'The Money Team', appears to be still engaged in hard negotiations to secure the bulk of the revenue for their fighter.

Pacquiao launched a fresh challenge to Mayweather after demolishing another previously undefeated American, Chris Algieri, last November.

"I will try my best to (make) this a thrilling and entertaining fight," said the Filipino, winner of an unprecedented eight world titles in different weight classes, after accepting the gauntlet thrown by Mayweather.

Pacquiao tweeted soon after his 36th birthday: "@FloydMayweather, don't be a boxing humbug. Let's give the fans the fight they want. They have waited long enough."

The Filipino boxing legend has been consistent in his willingness to take on Mayweather urging his rival to make boxing history.

"The ball will drop at midnight to usher in 2015. @FloydMayweather let's not drop the ball on fighting each other next year! #LetsMakeFistory" he tweeted on eve of 2015.

Now the WBO welterweight champion has posted a photo of his own, showing Mayweather he is waiting for him to sign the agreement for the fight.

"Floyd brags about his lifestyle and everything! I don't care! I'm just waiting here for him to sign the contract! #fightpacquiao," Pacquiao wrote, according to Boxingscene.com.

Mayweather is under increasing to live up to his promise of fighting Pacquiao with another top welterweight contender Amir Khan also taunting him.

British boxer Khan has been chasing a Mayweather since 2013 and proved his pedigree by winning unanimous decisions over former champions Luiz Collazo and Devon Alexander.

On Sunday, Khan posted a photo on his social network accounts, letting everyone know what is biggest goal for 2015 - Mayweather.

"He (Mayweather) has reached a dead end. He has nowhere to run but to fight me," Pacquiao told hours after the Mayweather issued the May 2 challenge on US television.

In 2012 there was speculation that a fight between the two could lead to the first $200 million purse in boxing history with much of that money coming from pay-per-view sales.

At one point Pacquiao says Mayweather offered him a $40 million purse on the condition Mayweather would keep the pay-per-view money, which would have amounted to more than double what Pacquiao received.

Previous talks were also scuttled because Mayweather says Pacquiao refused to submit to random blood testing.

Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis has also said that a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown was "still on top of my list" of the fights he wanted to see in 2015.

"Stop the madness and make it happen. If we could make Lewis-Tyson happen with HBO and Showtime, they can get it together for Mayweather-Pacquiao and make history again," Boxingscene.com reported Lewis as saying.

The ball is now in Mayweather's court to create 'Fistory'.
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These two file photos show boxing champions Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines (L) before the successful defence of his WBO welterweight title in Dallas on March 12, 2010; and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (R) before his super welterweight title fight in Las Vegas on May 4, 2007. Unbeaten fighter Floyd Mayweather said February 15, 2015 that neither he nor Manny Pacquiao have signed a deal for a May mega-fight, but he still hopes to get into the ring with the Filipino icon. (AFP)


Unbeaten fighter Floyd Mayweather said Sunday that neither he nor Manny Pacquiao have signed a deal for a May mega-fight, but he still hopes to get into the ring with the Filipino icon.

Mayweather, attending the NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden, said in a brief television interview during the contest that global reports about a virtually done deal for the long anticipated bout were premature.

The Sunday Telegraph in London, citing a source in the Pacquiao camp, reported "Pac-man" had signed a deal for a fight expected to be worth $250 million.

"That's not true," Mayweather said. "I haven't signed yet and he hasn't signed yet.

"It's just been speculations and rumors," Mayweather said. "But I'm hopeful we can make the fight happen."

Buzz about a potential Pacquiao-Mayweather fight on May 2 in Las Vegas has been growing all month after the Asian star's promoter Bob Arum said a deal could be looming.

Filipino southpaw Pacquiao is 57-5 with two drawn and 38 knockouts while Mayweather is 47-0 with 26 knockouts.

The two were long-time rivals as the "best pound-for-pound" boxers of their generation, but the dream fight has never materialized to the disappointment of the boxing world.

Various issues have scuttled previous attempts to make the fight, including a falling-out between Mayweather and Arum.

Drug testing protocol issues contributed to the breakdown of talks five years ago, but after the fighters met at an NBA game in Miami in late January talks seemed to be progressing.

One issue that must be resolved is the fighters' contracts with rival telecasters.

Mayweather has a contract with Showtime while Pacquiao has a deal with HBO, so the rival telecasters must also decide how to divvy up the spoils.

The last time Showtime and HBO made such a deal was for a Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis matchup in 2002.
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Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says 'we've agreed to everything'





Filipino ring icon Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao has agreed to terms for a May 2 fight with unbeaten pound for pound king Floyd 'Money' Mayweather Jr, according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.

However, Mayweather has yet to give his seal of approval despite all conditions being met by Team Pacquiao.

Carl Moretti, vice-president of Pacquiao promoters Top Rank, told ESPN.com that it remains to be seen if Mayweather would agree terms for a May 2 bout in Las Vegas.

"Top Rank and Manny have agreed to the terms on our side. I don't know about the other side," Moretti told the sports website.

Moretti told ESPN that Pacquiao has agreed to be tested by the US Anti-Doping Agency, a sign of his eagerness to make the fight.

The eyes of the boxing world have long been on a showdown between the unbeaten American Mayweather (47-0, 26 knockouts) and eight-division world champion Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 knockouts) two of the greatest boxers of their generation.

Talk of the super-fight gained steam in December, when Mayweather proposed the May 2 date and Pacquiao vowed to chase him into submission.

"This fight is about legacy, this is about making the fans happy and, above all, this is for the good of boxing," Pacquiao said last month.

Arum refused Tuesday to speak about details, but said Pacquiao was on board with all terms.

"I want to get some movement here, with bringing Mayweather to the table so we can go out and get everything signed and get the networks together and get the thing finished," Arum told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports on Tuesday.

It was the clearest indication that the "progress" was being made on what is billed as the richest boxing fight in history, as reported by Los Angeles Times on Sunday.

Mayweather, who had worked with Arum before an acrimonious split in 2006, had accused the promoter as being the stumbling block for the long-awaited fight to happen since 2009.

"I'm not trying to force anybody's hand, I'm just saying, 'Hey, we've agreed to everything, period,' " Arum told Yahoo Sports. "The people we have talked to on Mayweather's side have agreed to everything. Now we need Mayweather to step up and say, 'Yeah, I'm on board. I agree.'

"I'm not going to put a deadline on there. I'm just going to hope that everybody does the right thing and we get this concluded. It would be really sad if we went through this stuff again like we did before."

The report made it clear that nobody from Mayweather's camp was able to verify the current standing of the negotiations.

It has been reported that several terms have been agreed, including a 60-40 revenue split in favour of Mayweather and Las Vegas as the venue.

Both networks, HBO (who had Pacquiao) and Showtime (who have Mayweather), are reportedly going to be involved.

Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) confirmed in an interview withBoxingScene/Manila Standard on Sunday, that there could be an official announcement made before the end of this month.

The Filipino boxing star is flying to the US on Wednesday and has meetings with Arum and then is doing publicity for a movie, Yahoo Sports added.

Meanwhile, an MGM spokesman told Yahoo Sports that there was no deal for the fight to be held at the Grand Garden as far as he is aware.

This rekindles hopes that this bout could be staged outside Las Vegas although a UAE investment group withdrew a $120 million offer to Mayweather to fight Pacquiao in Abu Dhabi.