It seems obvious that Floyd Mayweather is making it difficult for a super fight with Manny Pacquiao to happen next year.
Mayweather said over the weekend that being the top draw, he has the right to run the show in the negotiations of what is expected to become the richest fight in the history of the sport.
“I’m the A-side, so if I’m the A-side, the A-side calls the shots,” Mayweather, the world’s richest athlete with an earning of $105 million for just two fights, told fighthype two days after coming out on Showtime network challenging Pacquiao to a showdown on May 2, 2015.
Being the alpha male, Mayweather also reiterated that his own promotional outfit, Mayweather Promotions, has the authority to take charge while his mother TV netrwork Showtime (CBS) doing the telecast on pay-per-view.
Pacquiao is aligned with HBO, which is Showtime’s chief rival, and is likewise promoted by Hall of Famer Bob Arum, who operates Top Rank.
Although bitter rivals, HBO and Showtime worked together in June 2002 when Lennox Lewis (HBO) faced Mike Tyson (Showtime) at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis.
But it appears that the undefeated Mayweather, 37, is not even amenable to HBO entering the picture.
Pacquiao, who turns 36 tomorrow, told Filipino scribes in his Forbes Park home over the weekend that the revenue sharing won’t affect the negotiations, a sign that he is dead-serious in making the fight a reality.
“I have no problem with that…I am not after material wealth,” said Pacquiao, fresh from a convincing 12-round decision over Chris Algieri in Macau.
Still, there is one big thing that has been cleared by Mayweather himself.
Mayweather said that there won’t be a catchweight for a Pacquiao fight, adding it will be fought at 147 lbs (welterweight) and it will be a unification match.
Mayweather is the reigning WBC and WBA titleholder, while Pacquiao is the WBO titlist.
Arum said that hasn’t given up on his bid to make the fight happen since he and CBS chgairman Les Moonves are “closely monitoring” the developments.
Mayweather has two more fights left in his lucrative six-fight contract with Showtime.
Meanwhile, the suspense is killing just about everyone, including non-boxing fans.