By Chris Williams Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. reportedly had a telephone conversation earlier today with Floyd calling up and speaking to both Michael Koncz and Pacquiao about a May 5th fight, according to RingTv.
In the opposite of what Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum has been saying about Pacquiao not being able to fight Mayweather on May 5th, Pacquiao says he’s willing to fight Mayweather anytime as long as he get an even share of the revenue.
In an article at abs-cbnnews.com, Pacquiao said “I said just give me a 50-50 split in the revenue and there would be no problem, anytime. It’s up to you. We’ll wait for your answer. “
Arum told Sports Illustrated on Wednesday that Pacquiao can’t fight Mayweather on May 5th, because the outdoor 38,000 seat arena that Arum is having constructed on the Las Vegas strip won’t be ready until the last week of May. Unfortunately, Mayweather is reportedly legally bound to the May 5th date to fight, as that’s the date that he got an agreement from Las Vegas judge Melissa Saragosa for his next fight.
Saragosa gave Mayweather a delay in his 90-day jail term from January 6th to June 1st, but the delay was given under the condition that Mayweather fight on May 5th. He can’t budge from that date. Arum doesn’t understand why Mayweather can’t simply fight several weeks later in the month.
Arum is isn’t eager to let Pacquiao fight Mayweather on May 5th because of the money that will be lost in fighting Mayweather at the much smaller 16,800 seat MGM Grand arena. Arum would rather wait until the end of the month or wait until November for the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in order to squeeze every last dime out of the deal.
It makes a lot of sense, but given how difficult it’s been in the past to get Mayweather and Pacquiao to agree on anything, it might be better off for Arum to take the fight now and be satisfied with whatever money the two fighters bring in. They’re already both so incredibly rich that the extra $10 to $15 million that both fighters make by fighting in the outdoor arena that Arum wants won’t mean a whole lot. Again, if these were two guys that could easily put a fight together, then Arum would be right in having the fight take place in November, but there are too many things that can wrong next time or in between now and November.
Pacquiao was supposedly on board with Arum for not fighting on May 5th, but Mayweather may have convinced Pacquiao to change his mind about that. Arum could turn around and talk Pacquiao out of fighting on May 5th once again, which is what I see happening.
Comments are closed.