By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach says that his fighter Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) is willing to do anything he has to in order to get the mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) in 2014, despite Pacquiao saying recently that he has no plans on leaving his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank in order to follow Mayweather’s instructions for him to get the fight.
Roach says that Pacquiao has offered to take the blood testing to check for performance enhancing blood, and he’s already agreed to let Mayweather take the bigger purse split. None of this has worked in getting Mayweather to agree to fight the Filipino star, who has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights. Pacquiao did win his last fight against one of Arum’s Top Rank stable fighters Brandon Rios, but this wasn’t against a quality welterweight opponent. Rios was dragged up from the lightweight division and he’d been badly schooled by another one of Arum’s stable fighters Mike Alvarado in his previous fight before that.
“Of course he [Pacquiao] does,” Roach said to Sky Sports when asked if Pacquiao still wants to fight Mayweather. “It’s the biggest fight in the world for him. We all want that fight and Manny especially. Manny’s offered him a 60-40 split, a blood test, no problems; whatever Mayweather wants. We’ve agreed to anything and he just keeps ignoring us.”
Roach isn’t exactly being upfront when he says that Mayweather “keeps ignoring us,” because he’s come out recently and given Pacquiao clear instructions that he should follow if he ever wants a fight with him by saying that he needs to leave Arum in order to get the fight. I don’t know how Mayweather can get any clearer than that? If Roach is forgetting what Mayweather said then he needs to write it down on his refrigerator so that he can read it again and again each time he goes to eat something. Mayweather has laid out the plan for Pacquiao and Roach to follow if they want the mega fight. If they don’t wish to follow the plan then they need to keep quiet and continue fighting Tim Bradley over and over again, as well as Arum’s other fighters in his Top Rank stable. Pacquiao still hasn’t fought Mike Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov yet, so I expect they’ll get a shot against him in either September or early 2015. Then Bradley can get another fight with Pacquiao, if he doesn’t fight him for a third time in September of this year.
Mayweather says he offered Pacquiao $40 million to fight him in 2012. I think that’s a fair amount and would likely work out to the 60-40 that Roach was talking about Pacquiao being willing to accept. Why Pacquiao didn’t say yes to the $40 million offer from Mayweather is anyone’s guess, but he definitely should have taken that money. Pacquiao has made nothing close to the $40 million in his two fights since the offer made to him. Just think if Pacquiao had beaten Mayweather. There would have likely been a rematch by now, and Pacquiao’s purse for the rematch would have been huge.
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