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Recently the megafight Pacquiao-Mayweather started last year. The negotiation was disputed because of a controversial drug-testing protocol insisted by Maywether's camp which Pacquiao is not willing to take blood tests less that 14 days before the fight.
Bob Arum recently told Yahoo! Sports that the talks to get the megafight done are now making progress, and that if there are any issues remaining to be fixed on Maywether's Part.
“I think the only question is whether Mayweather is prepared to fight now,” Arum said. “He may say he’s had his fight for the year and that’s it and that we’ll address it again next year. He might say that. I don’t know. I don’t know. But that’s what I’m hypothesizing,” he told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole.
But recently, the Filipino southpaw, now congressman of Sarangani province after taking his oath of office last Monday, said he is now willing to subject himself to blood tests up to 14 days before fight time.
Even Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said his ward is now willing to give in to Mayweather’s demands.
“At this point I feel that Manny is going to agree to everything,” Roach told Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star in its June 28 issue.
“That’s our bluff. We’re going to call his bluff. We’ll see…I can’t speak for Manny, I can’t speak for Arum but I feel the fight will happen because Manny is going to call his bluff and say “’let’s do it,'” the multi-awarded trainer added.
Arum, for his part, echoed Roach’s statements.
“That’s all been resolved,” Arum said, referring to the issue of blood testing. “It may be that Floyd wants to fight in May, in which case (Pacquiao will) fight (another opponent) in November and fight him in May. I am not going to talk about the specifics of the negotiations. You have my statement that there are no real issues that I can see, except whether he wants to fight now or later or not at all,” Arum told Iole.
With this, Arum stated that the ball is now in Mayweather’s court to reach a deal finalizing the fight, which expected to be the richest in boxing history.
“The question is whether Mayweather is willing to go into the ring this year. It’s up to him. His people would love him to do it. He may not want to do it. If Mayweather wants to fight in November, I believe the fight will be made. To me it seems — it seems, and say that, because I’m not Mayweather — that the only issue is whether he wants to fight in November,” he said.
In the event everything still fails, Arum said Pacquiao could end up facing Mexican Antonio Margarito or even take a rematch with Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, who recently won the WBO junior middleweight title over Yuri Foreman last month.
But for Arum, the fight to be made is still Pacquiao-Mayweather.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have two guys (Margarito and Cotto) in the wings who could make attractive fights for Manny, though they are certainly not as attractive as a Mayweather fight,” he said.
While Arum has been very vocal of the ongoing negotiations, his counterpart, Golden Boy Promotions chief Richard Schaefer, remains mum on the issue.
“My reaction is no comment,” Schaefer, who represents Mayweather, said when reached by Iole for comment.
“I really can’t say anything. I won’t comment in any way, shape or form. You know this and anybody who has called me knows this: The only two words I’m going to say when I’m asked about this are ‘No comment.’ That’s my comment. No comment,” he added.
source: yahoo news
