By John F. McKenna (McJack): Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, the promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. fans love to hate has come up with what he feels is a viable compromise offer in yet another attempt to lure Mayweather into the ring for a fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Numerous efforts have been made to come up with an agreeable solution to the never ending saga of putting together a mega fight between World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) and new WBA light middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s).
Arum was quoted in Inquirer Sports saying the following:
“Manny has now taken the position which I endorse. If Floyd thinks he is the greatest fighter of all time, let’s do it 45% to Mayweather, 45% to Pacquiao and 10% to the winner.
“If Mayweather believes he can beat Pacquiao, which I don’t think he believes, he’ll pick up more than 50% that way. But it’s up to Floyd.”
Mayweather’s fight with former WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) on May 5 drew 1.5 million Pay Per View (PPV) buys, eclipsing the 1.41 million PPV buys that Pacquiao drew in his fight last November with WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s). It should be noted however that Mayweather’s fight with Cotto was part of a twin bill in which undefeated Mexican sensation WBC light middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) defeated former ring great Sugar Shane Mosley (46-8-1-1 NC, 39 KO’s). Cotto, Alvarez and Mosley all have huge fans bases in their own right, so it is not surprising that the Mayweather – Cotto fight performed well with its strong undercard on the Cinco De Mayo holiday.
Mayweather has long held the belief rightly or wrongly, that he is not only the greatest fighter of this era, but of any era. He also holds that because of his huge fan base and drawing power he should not be reduced to taking a mere 50% against any fighter, regardless of that fighter’s accomplishments in the ring.
When you read Manny’s stats, they jump off the page at you. He has been named “Fighter of the Year” three times by boxing writers, in addition to being tabbed “Fighter of the Decade”. Pacquiao is also the first fighter to move up through the weight classes to win world championships in eight different weight divisions. Manny has also been a perennial number one or two, top “Pound for Pound” fighter in the world for a number of years in succession.
So when someone says Pacquiao is not deserving of a 50/50 split in any fight, it begs one to wonder where they are coming from and what their motives are.
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