Leigh K. Seto: Rivalries have always been the glue for sports to be successful. Whether its Manning vs. Brady or Bird vs. Magic. Boxing has its own version of this with Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.
Manny and Floyd’s conversation (just in jest!) below:
Manny- I have called you out publically and made it known that I’d like the fight to take place.
Mayweather- I tried to make the fight twice!!! How many times have you reached out to me besides in the media? I’ve sat down with you, but you didn’t like needles. Then, I called you on the phone and you turned down 40 million.
Manny- Yes, but now I am okay with needles and let’s be honest 40 million is a low ball figure for such a big fight. You make excuses because you are a coward.
Mayweather- Low ball?? You said you’d fight me for free? Was that just another lie in the media. Coward? I fight Middleweights while you pick on Lightweights.
Manny- Well, if I agree to 40 million are you going to make more excuses?
Mayweather- Yes, now that you mention I will not fight you while you are with Bob Arum.
Manny- Oh here we go again. I’m signed to Top Rank. So just another excuse.
Mayweather- No, because I told you before you re-signed with him to fight me. You signed with him after I gave you the offer. You are the one that signed with him knowing I did not want to work him!
Manny- I’m done with all your excuses. Talk to my promoter.
Mayweather- You know you can’t beat me. I beat your rival Marquez very easy.
Manny- Well I beat Oscar and Cotto better than you did.
Mayweather- At catch weights!
Manny- Like you never fought at a catch weight
Mayweather- But I fight Middleweights. You’ve spent the last 3 years fighting lightweights!
Manny- You fight flat-footed fighters. Only slow fighters that come forward. My last 2 fights were against undefeated fighters!
Mayweather- Yes undefeated fighters with no power. Jr Welterweights that you made come up in weight.
Manny- Undefeated fighters that earned a shot. Undefeated fighters with no power. Hmm sounds like you!
Mayweather- So are you going to fight me under my terms?
Manny- You have to talk to my promoter.
(Manny puts Bob Arum on the phone)
Bob Arum- This fight can take place on HBO
Mayweather- Im signed to Showtime
Bob Arum- Well we can make it work out like Lewis vs Tyson. Lewis was with HBO, Mike with Showtime
Mayweather- Here’s 10 million Bob. Step aside so I can promote it.
Bob Arum- No thank you.
Mayweather- I fight in Vegas. All my fights are in Vegas.
Bob Arum- I was thinking Dallas Stadium.
Mayweather- No my home is Vegas. By the way, I thought you were building a stadium for the fight? Remember you said that the fight couldn’t happen in 2012 because you wanted to build a stadium.
Bob Arum- Its ok. Jerry Jones has offered a large enough facility.
Mayweather- It will be Vegas or no where.
Bob Arum- Ok we can talk about the location another time. We will co-promote this. With HBO primarily responsible with the coverage. Like Lewis and Mike.
Mayweather- No. Lewis was the champion back then. He was on HBO. I understand why that fight was primarily covered by Hbo. But this case is different. I’m the PPV king. My numbers are bigger than Mannys and Showtime will be primarily in charge of the coverage.
Arum- Jim Lampley and Max will do the coverage.
Mayweather- No Way! Those 2 are the biggest Hbo homers and too biased towards Manny to do the coverage. It’s like giving him home field advantage.
Arum- So we cant agree on the Location, The network or the Coverage???
Mayweather- I guess not. Because I will only fight in Vegas, on a Primarily Showtime telecast with minor Hbo representation, with Showtime broadcasters.
Arum- I guess we are not going to agree. Because I want the fight in Dallas Stadium, HBO should have majority control of the coverage and Jim lampley and Max should cover the fight.
Mayweather- That’s why I didn’t want to deal with you. Manny would fight me anywhere, but you always mess things up.
Arum- I`m done talking to you. I need to call the media. But first let me call Manny.
Manny on the phone- Hey Bob. So when do I finally get to fight Mayweather?
Arum- He’s scared of you. He’s making more excuses.
This conversation was just in jest, but to show people that there are two sides of the coin. Each side would have to make major compromises for this to happen. I doubt this fight will take place. Typically in a match you have one fighter that is hungry and has nothing to lose in the fight. So that fighter is willing to take less money, is willing to give the champion whatever he wants. But in this case, both fighters are at the top. This fight is not about fear. Both of these fighters have proven themselves in the toughest sport in the world. These two Gladiators wont fight because either will budge on negotiations. Mayweather will have lots of demands, but so will Arum. Both of these men are stubborn to the bone. The only way this fight would’ve happened is if Manny didn’t sign with Bob Arum. I’m sure without Bob there, Manny would have accepted all of Mayweathers terms just to have a shot at him.
This fight isn’t any closer. We’ll see how loud Bob is now that the Algieri fight is over with. Arum usually gets real quiet after the fight is over. He only gets loud when he needs to promote something. My guess it will be announced soon that Manny is fighting at 140 against Mikey Garcia or Danny Garcia. Just a hunch. I will hope is Mayweather, but too much red tape to happen.
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