So the hoopla continues and now Bob Arum says that the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is going to happen next year or at least he’s 70% certain it will happen next year he told The Uk Telegraph, that there is a “70/30 chance of it happening in 2015,” and “we are closer to the fight happening than at any time in the last four years.”
Normally I wouldn’t buy into the hoopla and hype but now there are confirmations from the other side that they are indeed ongoing negotiations, that other side being CBS/Showtime. Arum has had conversations with Les Moonves of CBS and in an email from Showtime to the La Times, there was confirmation that Mayweather indeed wants the fight.
Should we believe them?
I think now more than ever that there is a glimor of hope for a bout that is still the biggest fight in boxing, even if its expiration date was 3 to 4 years ago.
The factors, both guys are getting older and not looking like they were at their best. As the horizon closes, a loss to either guy won’t damage their future, although it would be more damaging for Mayweather then Pacquiao.
There’s just too much money for either guy to leave on the table as they head towards their retirement also. You have to think that there are at most 2 years left for both fighters to compete at the elite level. Even as they decline, Mayweather and Pacquiao are still two of the five fighters in boxing and the fight still has meaning.
While most of the major media outlets will write about Mayweather-Pacquiao, some will tell you not to believe it. True, we’ve been fooled plenty of times.
Another factor that could play into this is the likely bout between Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez. A bout like that could force Mayweather to not fight on his Cinco De Mayo date because frankly there is no other opponent but Pacquiao that could compete with a Cotto-Canelo bout. Would Mayweather take the sideline and not fight until September? Canelo also wants that date as well.
Arum says Moonves involvement is key, and the reason he believes it will happen.
“The only way it could happen is to be dealt with on Mayweather’s side by the highest possible person – someone he has great respect for, who I also happen to have known for years. He’s someone who is not going to lie to me and will deal with me honorably, that’s Les Moonves.”
So maybe just maybe, it happens but we won’t find that out unless Pacquiao beats Algieri Saturday but odds makers say he will.
