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Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Bob Arum Up to Usual Tricks with Latest Fight Terms
January 12, 2012
When it comes to the oft-dreamed-of superfight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the shaky consensus among fight fans is that Mayweather is afraid of Pac-Man. He's pretty good at talking the talk, but he's ducking Pac-Man.
Relative to the 'Mayweather is a scaredy cat' theory, the notion that Bob Arum is ducking Mayweather doesn't get that much press.
Arum, of course, represents Pac-Man and sets up all his fights. To put it lightly, he's always been on the fence about a potential duel between his biggest star and Mayweather, the biggest loose cannon boxing has to offer.
But on Wednesday night, a day after Mayweather called out Pacquiao on Twitter to fight on May 5, Arum laid his terms on the table.
The terms got to us via Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated:
A 50-50 split? That's reasonable.
Somebody guaranteeing Mayweather's half? That's reasonable.
A late May fight date?
That's not so reasonable.
Late May would work just fine for Pac-Man, as he last fought in mid-November against Juan Manuel Marquez. However, it wouldn't work so well for Mayweather. He wants to fight on May 5 for a reason.
Last week, Mayweather had his 90-day prison sentence delayed until June 1. His reps moved for a delay because Mayweather had a contractual obligation to fight in Las Vegas on May 5, an event that would give the city a considerable economic boost.
Mayweather was lucky to get that delay. I'm no legal expert, but I'm going to assume that a late May fight date would necessitate another delay. Another delay is probably not in the cards for Mayweather.
So basically, Arum has offered Mayweather a fight date that simply doesn't work. His terms therefore represent nothing but a big tease.
This is par for the course when it comes to Arum's role in the on-again-off-again negotiations between Pac-Man's camp and Mayweather's camp. He has always taken a standoffish approach to the idea of setting up a fight with Mayweather, and in fact is totally indifferent most of the time.
For example, a Mayweather aide told ESPN.com back in November that Arum wasn't even interested in talking turkey about a potential superfight.
When Mayweather's prison sentence was delayed, Arum told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael over the phone that Pac-Man was going to fight in June, and that was that.
So why did Arum stop in his tracks, turn around, and offer terms?
Because Pac-Man told him to. He said in an interview with PhilBoxing.com that he was going to "insist" to Arum that he make it happen.
Instead of making it happen, Arum has presented Mayweather with a set of unreasonable terms and has put the pressure on him to make it happen.
If he doesn't, hey, Arum tried.
Once Mayweather rejects these terms (and he will), he and Pac-Man will go their separate ways, and then Mayweather will go to prison in June.
When he gets out, the process will start all over again. Barring a change of heart, Arum will continue to stand in this fight's way.
It's what he does best.
