By Chris Williams: Michael Koncz, the adviser for Manny Pacquiao, is saying that they’re willing to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. and they’ll agree to the blood tests for performance enhancing drugs as long as Mayweather agrees to the same testing.
Koncz told I Film London: “We’re open to that fight, we’ve always wanted that fight. Now it’s in Floyd’s court because Manny himself said on our last press tour when we fought [WBO welterweight champion Timothy] Bradley, that he’s willing to accept less. We’re willing to do the blood tests whenever and any kind of testing as long as Floyd does the same and we’re willing to give him 60% and we’ll take 40%.”
Wow, that sounds promising. Koncz is talking about Pacquiao taking the short money at 60-40. I never thought I’d see that. I wonder what Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum will say about that? I can’t see him agreeing to it, even though it would give Pacquiao the biggest payday of his career by far. How do you say no to Pacquiao getting much more money than he’ll ever get facing the likes of Tim Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Mike Alvardo and Brandon Rios. Pacquiao has already lost his last two fights, and I suspect his career will be finished in his next two fights if he agrees to fight Arum’s stable fighters Rios and Alvarado.
Unfortunately, a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao would have to be approved of by Arum, and I just don’t see him agreeing to make the fight happen between Pacquiao and Mayweather. Arum wants to put Pacquiao in with one of his Top Rank stable fighters Brandon Rios or Mike Alvarado in November in Macau, China, and those are in house fights for Arum.
He’s probably not going to go for the idea of matching Pacquiao against Mayweather and not be able to have the entire control over the promoting of the fight.
Additionally, Mayweather wouldn’t likely agree to fight in Macau, China, and if Arum has his heart set on staging it over there, it wouldn’t be doable. Mayweather won’t go for that. It would have to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and that would mean higher taxes coming out of Pacquiao’s take home pay.
It would still make much, much more money fighting Mayweather than he would in a fight with one of Arum’s Top Rank stable fighters even after taxes are taken out, but I still have doubts his promoter would let the fight happen.
Mayweather tried to fight Pacquiao on a couple of occasions starting in 2010, but the negotiations fell apart when Pacquiao and Mayweather couldn’t agree on the blood testing. Last year, there were attempts to make a fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather to take place before Mayweather started his jail term in Las Vegas, but the nothing came of it.
Pacquiao has lost his last two fights, and he’s clearly running out of time with his career. It would be wise for him to forget about fighting Rios or Alvarado and look to take on the top fighters at welterweight like Mayweather, even if he’s not one of Arum’s Top Rank stable fighters. If Pacquiao wants to maximize his revenue for the remainder of his career, he can’t be limited to facing Arum’s less than popular fighters.
He’s got to take the very best guys and if that means Mayweather, Amir Khan or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, then that’s what Pacquiao SHOULD be doing instead of faithfully fighting the guys in Arum’s stable. If I’m Koncz, I’m telling Arum that Pacquiao wants Mayweather, Khan or Canelo. Those are much bigger fights than matching Pacquiao against Rios or Alvarado.
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