Pacquiao calls Mayweather’s bluff: Floyd won’t agree to his own terms

By Jab121481 - 01/25/2015 - Comments

floyd688By J Bless: Today, FightHype posted an interview with Showtime Sports Executive Stephen Espinoza that supposedly sets the record straight regarding Bob Arum’s alleged lies concerning a Pacquiao–Mayweather agreement.

However, rather than set the record straight, it seems that Espinoza exposed that Mayweather will not agree to his own terms.

In the interview, Espinoza specifically says that “terms have been negotiated,” but that “neither CBS or Showtime or Mayweather, [adviser Al] Haymon or even HBO for that matter, have agreed.”

http://www.fighthype.com/news/article19160.html

What does this tells us? It shows that the reports in the media are right, that Bob Arum is right. Manny Pacquiao has agreed to the “substantive” terms of the deal, those terms that include just the fighter’s themselves but not the networks (i.e. the purse (which has been consistently reported as a 60-40 split), the date, the fight venue, etc). The substantive terms have been negotiated. All that is left is for the networks to agree. These facts have been widely reported throughout the media for the last few days.

Mayweather has said he is the A-side throughout the entire negotiations and that he calls the shots. Yet, even though Pacquaio has agreed to all of Mayweather’s terms, which are undoubtedly unfavorable to Pacquiao, Mayweather still refuses to make the fight happen. Pacquaio has called Mayweather’s bluff by agreeing to everything and now Mayweather will not agree to his own terms.

Given that Mayweather is and has been considered the most powerful figure in boxing for the last few years, it appears that he is the one who is stopping this fight from happening as many have contended, most notably, Arum. If Mayweather truly wanted the fight to happen as he claims and as Espinoza claims in his interview, he would make the call. Yet, even though Pacquaio has agreed to all of Mayweather’s demands, Mayweather refuses to step up to the plate and do what is necessary to push the fight through.

There probably are some big obstacles that HBO and Showtime have to overcome, but if Mayweather is the businessman that says he is and really wants the fight as he claims, he would step in and make those obstacles disappear. According to Mayweather, he himself is a boss and Pacquiao is just a pawn. Well, bosses make boss moves. And, right now, Mayweather is not acting like boss, but rather someone who does not want to fight Pacquaio, the fighter of the decade for the 2000s and an 8-division world champion.

Before reading the Espinoza interview, being a big Mayweather fan (I’m a fan of both fighters), I was pretty much convinced that Arum was the culprit, especially after watching Alex Ariza recently bash Arum at the Pacquiao movie premier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=711ykDHctW8. Ariza sounded very convincing especially given Arum’s foolery in the past. However, with this new interview from Espinoza, I am now entirely convinced that Mayweather’s side is holding up the deal and that Arum is not at fault here. If Mayweather is the boss he claims to be, he needs to step up and push the fight through and stop blaming Arum for his inadequacy, and that is, his fear of Pacquiao, which many boxing pundits, including Mayweather’s biggest supporters, believe exists.

If this fight does not happen it is Mayeather’s and/or Haymon’s fault, not Arum’s or Pacquiao’s.



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