By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is seemingly frustrated at the progress in the Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather Jr negotiations, which he sees as going through a chaotic period right now. Arum doesn’t appear to be taking sides when he says that the communication is breaking down among the two negotiating teams.
Arum isn’t willing to say what the outstanding sticking points are in the negotiations unfortunately, so boxing fans are forced to speculate about the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations being stuck on the television replay rights that HBO and Showtime have been negotiating over, as well as the two network’s documentaries 24/7 and All Access.
“Nobody’s listening to anybody. I have no idea what’s going to happen,” said Arum via RingTV.com. “I’ve never been through a situation as crazy as this. I’m tired of it. I’ve negotiated for 50 years and I’ve never been through some [expletive] like this. It is craziness. It is just crazy.”
I don’t know, but maybe Arum should step aside and let some of the cooler heads take over the negotiations so that this fight can get done. If Arum is getting himself worked up over the give and take of normal negotiations, then I think Arum should let Top Rank president Todd Duboef take over the point man for Top Rank so that the fight can get made.
If Arum is frustrated with the negotiations then I think it’s time that he taps out and lets Duboef get in the ring to go a few rounds in the negotiations. As long as Duboef is given the freedom to make changes in the deal memo that is being passed around between the two teams, then I can see this as a positive. Mayweather reportedly likes Duboef, so that should make things easier.
“If you knew what was going on, you would know how bizarre it is. But maybe you go through this bizarre-ness before you cross the goal line. I have nothing else to say except that it’s not over until it’s over,” Arum said.
As long as Pacquiao and Arum don’t walk out of the negotiations anytime soon, we could see the fight get made. But Arum and Pacquiao are going to need to remain flexible to give in potentially to some things that Mayweather and his adviser Al Haymon might ask of them. They’re the A-side in the negotiations, so it makes sense that they’re looking to get a few things their way. Mayweather is giving Pacquiao a fair split of the loot with a 60-40 purse split, and that tells you they’re not trying to shaft the Filipino fighter.
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