Mayweather vs Pacquiao: Bob Arum Doing Whatever it Takes to Put Off Fight

Bob Arum really doesn't want Manny Pacquiao to have to fight Floyd Mayweather.

At least, to an objective observer, that's what it seems. You know what they say about anyone who doth protest too much.

For too long, the reasons this super-fight has failed to materialize have been unclear. It seemed like Mayweather's fault, then Pacquiao's and then Mayweather's again. Both of them have propagated plenty of excuses. They've both insisted that they're not scared. They've both said they're eager to exercise their own dominance.

In the end, though, if this fight happened, only one of them would come out on the other side with the distinguished title of the world's best boxer. And by all indications, it seems like Arum is worried his client would be on the losing end.

Pacquiao's promoter might have taken it a step too far on Wednesday, however, when he compared Mayweather to a Nazi propagandist in an ESPN Radio interview.

According to USA Today's Reid Cherner, Arum—who used to promote Mayweather—said: 

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For two years, Pacquiao has said that he will take any drug test, whoever administers it, so why is that still being talked about by Mayweather? You see, Mayweather is from the school of propaganda that Joseph Goebbels, who was [Adolf] Hitler's publicist, adopted. The more you say things over and over again, the more people believe them. 

"

Arum seems to be well aware that the more he talks—and the more outlandish the things he says—the more heated Mayweather becomes. Mayweather, who won a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto on May 5, has said he won't fight Pacquiao because Arum won't allow it.

According to USA Today, Mayweather has said that the fight won't happen because Arum won't agree with him on the financial split. By all indications, the relationship between the two is so strained that any negotiations between them seem unlikely, whether fans are clamoring for one of the best fights in boxing history or not.

If either boxer really, truly wanted this fight to happen, they'd agree on the figures. They'd find a way to get it done. Obviously, they're both stalling—but Arum is enabling it.

Arum is a smart man, and he seems to know that as long as he keeps his relationship with Mayweather strained, he keeps Pacquiao safe from defeat.

If he keeps his client's top competition at a distance, he nearly ensures his client will never have to face that competition. It's an interesting tactic to keep Pacquiao on top of the world.