By Jim Dower: Cable powerhouses HBO and Showtime are still trying to work out a deal for the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. many Pacquiao out fight to where both networks will televise the fight simultaneously, according to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times. Once the two networks agree to televise the fight, Mayweather will look into it.
Whether the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight takes place could come down to whether the two networks can iron out the deal, because if they fail to agree to the fight then they’ll likely block if from taking place.
Pacquiao is under contact with HBO, whereas Mayweather is under the last two fights of his contract with Showtime. Boxing fans obviously don’t care about any of this as long as they get to see the fight. However, they’ll care very much if the two cable giants fail to work out and agreement and then the fans can’t see the fight.
“Want to be clear that SHO sports and HBO boxing are still sorting out how they’d produce, promote a Floyd Mayweather Manny Pacquiao fight,” Pugmire said on his twitter. “Once they do, then Floyd Mayweather, who’s more involved in such details than Manny Pacquiao, will weigh in. As the “A” side fighter, he has that right, as much as everybody wants the deal done yesterday. No secret that Floyd Mayweather left HBO boxing with some hard feelings over Larry Merchant interview and other things.”
Pacquiao’s side has agreed to the contract details for the Mayweather fight, but they’re still waiting on Mayweather to sign the contract. He’s likely to put his signature on the contract after HBO and Showtime work out details of televising the fight.
Since the purse split has reportedly been agreed to, it comes down to smaller details. There reportedly will be a rematch clause in the contract so that the loser will get a second shot if they want the fight. It would be a real tragedy if the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight wound up not taking place not because of the two fighters not being able to negotiate the fight, but because of HBO and Showtime not being able to work out a deal for them both to televise the fight.
If HBO and Showtime fail to agree to televise the fight then the earliest boxing fans will get a chance to see a mega-fight between the two superstars is after Mayweather completes his last two remaining fights on his Showwtime contract in 2015. They can fight each other in 2016 once Mayweather becomes a free agent if he doesn’t re-up with Showtime.
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