Mayweather Camp Denies Pacquiao Negotiations

Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:00

Top Rank Boxing’s Bob Arum made a big deal about a ‘deadline’ for signing a megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. He even went as far as to hold a press conference to announce that no deal had been reached after a ‘countdown’ on the promotion’s website. On Monday, the plot thickened as Leonard Ellerbe, one of Mayweather’s closest advisors, denied that negotiations for the fight had ever taken place. Not surprisingly, Arum strongly disputes the veracity of Ellerbe’s statement.

Arum suggested that the negotiations were done and that Pacquiao’s side had presented Team Mayweather with a contract. He set a deadline of 3 AM Eastern Time last Saturday for them to seal the deal. This ‘deadline’ was widely promoted in the media and with the ‘countdown’ timer on the Top Rank website that culminated in the late night conference call for media. According to Arum, the deal was brokered with Mayweather advisor Al Haymon using HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg as an intermediary.

Ellerbe, however, suggests that there were never any negotiations with the Mayweather side either directly or through Greenburg and took a swipe at Arum in the process:

"Here are the facts. Al Haymon, [Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis, and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place, nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying."

HBO’s Greenburg wisely gave a ‘no comment’ to the statement, no doubt to keep himself out of the crossfire. Arum, on the other hand, had his own version of events:

"This is like absurd unreality. I'm not going to be party to this [expletive]. When I heard about [the statement] I thought it was a joke. Ross said he was talking to Haymon. He certainly wasn't making it up. And Haymon was relaying conversations to Ross allegedly that Floyd had with him. At least that is what Ross says."

"What they said was absurd, but why did they say this? They could say a lot of other things. My feeling is that this is rapidly becoming one of the most bizarre things ever."

As far as Mayweather is concerned, his position is that he’s not looking to rush into his next fight:

"I'm not interested in rushing to do anything. I'm not really thinking about boxing right now. I'm just relaxing. I fought about 60 days ago, so I'm just enjoying myself, enjoying life, enjoying my family and enjoying my vacation."

In boxing, these things can turn on a dime but at the moment the working plan is to put together a fight for Pacquiao against Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto while Mayweather sits on the sidelines. And despite the rancor between the two sides, don’t be surprised to see a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight signed for early 2011.

Next >

Mayweather Camp Denies Pacquiao Negotiations

Mayweather Camp Denies Pacquiao Negotiations

Whats Hot Now