Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao Reportedly Making Progress on Potential Fight

Even though there have been many teases in the past, it seems Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are as serious as they've ever been to make the boxing superfight happen.

According to Lance Pugmire of The Los Angeles Times, the two camps are at least moving forward in their negotiations:

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“We’re making progress," a boxing authority involved in the talks told the Los Angeles Times on Friday.

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While a final agreement has not been struck on the purse split, the official said the sides made noticeable progress on the subject in Thursday negotiations.

Mayweather sought a split at least 60-40 in his favor, and Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) expressed a willingness to meet that.

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No one should get their hopes up until a contract is signed, but at least Mayweather and Pacquiao have made it to the negotiating table. That figures are reportedly being exchanged shows there's some motivation to make a deal happen.

Recently, both fighters have said publicly that they want to make the match happen. Mayweather said it on television during an interview with Showtime, though he did in a typically Mayweather way, via Dan Rafael of ESPN.com:

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I would love to fight Manny Pacquiao. We tried to make the fight happen years ago; we had problems with random blood and urine testing. I just want to be on an even playing field. Now he's in a very, very tight situation. He's lost to [Juan Manuel] Marquez [in 2012], he's lost to [Timothy] Bradley [by controversial decision in 2012 but avenged it in April]. Pay-per-view numbers are extremely low. He's desperate. I wanted that fight a long time ago. I'm just waiting on them.

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Pacquiao has called out Mayweather multiple times, most notably with this tweet on New Year's Eve:

In the past, Mayweather and Pacquiao weren't even discussing the other or the possibility of a fight. Now, there seem to be reasons for optimism. It's still not final, so any hope should be limited until there is a final deal.

At least the two superstars have given boxing fans something to hope for. Another year of rematches or competition against inferior talent would have driven those pay-per-view numbers Mayweather mentioned down even more.

This whole thing could turn out to be nothing by the time contract specifics get talked about, but at least it feels like something for the first time in five years.