Floyd Mayweather Jr. has constantly blamed Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Manny Pacquiao, for the super fight of this generation failing to get made. Now, with optimism brimming as recently as last week, talks between the two boxing icons have stalled again.
Arum has spoken, and now he's going on the offensive and blaming Mayweather.
"There are issues that should be solved in 10 minutes, but it's a slow dance," Arum said. "We send one draft to their side and their lawyer sends back a draft with something else that's an issue. And there doesn't seem to be any urgency about it on their side. It's terrible."
When the two boxers came face-to-face at a Miami Heat game last week, then had a private meeting afterward, Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz characterized the meeting as positive with both men claiming they wanted to make the fight happen.
"Nobody can stop this. I can't stop it. Bob can't stop it. HBO can't stop it. Showtime can't. [Mayweather adviser] Al [Haymon] can't. The only ones who can stop it are Floyd and Manny, and right now, they're both saying they want the fight," Koncz said.
Arum also said that time is running out to complete the deal; he attributed that to Mayweather as well, because the May 2 date is more important to him than it is to Pacquiao.
"The thing that really concerns me is that we are running out of time for May 2. If you want to drag this out a little longer then move the fight to later in May -- May 30 is a good date -- or go in June. We agreed to go on May 2 because that is the date Mayweather is hung up on, but if we're going to go on May 2 we need to get this done," Arum said.
Mayweather's disdain for Arum is well noted, so CBS chief Les Moonves is acting as an intermediary to speed the process up.
"I've asked Les to expeditiously handle the points there are issues with," Arum said. "Moonves can handle it. The question is whether the Mayweather side will listen to him. If they're sincere about trying to make the fight it shouldn't be an issue, or are they playing a game? I don't know. I go back and forth. I thought they were always playing a game, that Floyd didn't want the fight."
[ESPN]
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