Manny Pacquiao was briefed yesterday by Top Rank boss Bob Arum about the Floyd Mayweather situation as well as their fall back position in case negotiations for the $200 million fight goes down the drain.
Arum spent an hour with Pacquiao in Los Angeles discussing the delicate situation they’re in as efforts to make a May 2 fight with Mayweather continue to prove elusive.
Pacquiao has readily agreed to just about everything Mayweather demanded and Arum is beginning to sound exasperated with Mayweather’s reluctance to sign his name above the dotted line.
“Mayweather is running like a thief,” Arum said when contacted yesterday afternoon (Thursday night in the US).
Now that the pressure is on for Mayweather to sign, the 83-year-old Arum said the undefeated US fighter is starting to show his true colors. “When push comes to shove, he (Mayweather) backs down,” said Arum.
Arum said that should Mayweather decides to pick somebody else, he will have no choice but to move on and work on Pacquiao’s Plan B.
Reports from the US say that rival networks HBO and Showtime have commenced talks about making the fight that will be staged at the 16,800-capacity MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Getting the two major groups together to work out a deal will be diffi cult but they have a solid track record as they had joined hands in June 2002 during the Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson match was held at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis.
Lewis was with HBO and Tyson with Showtime and the fight featured two ring announcers: Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon.