Manny Pacquiao Reportedly Tells Bob Arum to Book Fight with Floyd Mayweather

Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has reportedly told his promoter, Bob Arum, to schedule a fight with the incarcerated Floyd Mayweather, according to ESPN UK.

Mayweather is currently serving an 87-day jail sentence, so he won't be ready to fight in November, when Pacquiao is supposed to step into the ring for the 61st time as a professional. After his upcoming bout against either Juan Manuel Marquez or Timothy Bradley, though, the Filipino phenom has his sights set on Mayweather, according to the report:

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But Arum has raised the possibility of two meetings between Pacquiao and Mayweather during 2013 after his charge told him to make the bout(s) happen.

"Obviously, the one fight that [Pacquiao] wants is [Floyd] Mayweather. That's the guy he wants to fight," Arum told the Manila Standard, having spoken to Pacquiao about his future plans.

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This is an interesting development, as many in the boxing world assumed the potential superfight would never occur.

The road to making this fight happen has been filled with speed bumps, from Mayweather's insistence on blood testing (h/t Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times) to Pacquiao's demand of a 50-50 money split (h/t ESPN.com) to Mayweather's recent incarceration. Add in Pacquiao's controversial loss to Bradley earlier this month, and it looked as though boxing fans would never get the fight they craved.

Luckily, Pacquiao and Arum have tossed a lifeline to fight fans all over the world. This deal is still far from complete, but it looks as though the dream fight may finally become a reality.