By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is optimistic that a mega-fight between WBA/WBC 147lb champ Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) and WBO champ Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) will take place in 2015 at some point.
Arum wants the fight to take place at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Arum previously staged two of Pacquiao’s fights in that venue when he faced Joshua Clottey in an ill-advised fight in 2010, and then later that year a fight against Antonio Margarito in their catch-weight fight for the vacant WBC 154 pound title.
“The networks are now already talking,” Arum said via gmanetwork.com “I am talking to responsible people who are in touch with the Mayweather guys. All of these people have the ability to move it ahead and make it happen.”
Just because Arum is talking about the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight taking place doesn’t necessarily mean that the fight will take place. There are some boxing fans who feel that Arum is only mentioning Mayweather right now in order to attract interest in Pacquiao’s next fight against the unbeaten Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) this Saturday, November 22nd at the Cotai Arena in Macau, China.
The interest in that fight has been lukewarm from fans. The casual fans have no clue who Algieri is, and that obviously isn’t going to help. But with Arum mentioning the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight as a possibility for 2015, then it’s quite possible that fans will purchase the Pacquiao-Algieri fight in large numbers. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but there’s always a possibility that a late surge of buys will take place if Arum can keep mentioning the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
“If it happens, we’re considering the Cowboys Stadium,” Arum said. “It is the only venue which has the capacity to host a big show such as the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.”
I’m not so sure that Mayweather will agree to fight Pacquiao in Texas. Arum might end up ruining the chances of the fight taking place if he pushes hard for Texas. If Mayweather does agree to fight Pacquiao, then they’re going to need to agree to whatever venue Mayweather wants to fight in.
If that’s the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, then Pacquiao and Arum will likely need to agree to that venue if they want the Mayweather fight. If Arum gets stubborn and starts pushing hard for the Cowboys Stadium then I can see Mayweather going in the opposite direction and facing someone else.
Comments are closed.