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13 October 2024

Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather: Filipino icon 'Pacman' agrees terms for May 2 fight

Published
By Allaam Ousman

Filipino ring icon Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao has agreed to terms for a May 2 fight with unbeaten pound for pound king Floyd 'Money' Mayweather Jr, according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.

However, Mayweather has yet to give his seal of approval despite all conditions being met by Team Pacquiao.

Carl Moretti, vice-president of Pacquiao promoters Top Rank, told ESPN.com that it remains to be seen if Mayweather would agree terms for a May 2 bout in Las Vegas.

"Top Rank and Manny have agreed to the terms on our side. I don't know about the other side," Moretti told the sports website.

Moretti told ESPN that Pacquiao has agreed to be tested by the US Anti-Doping Agency, a sign of his eagerness to make the fight.

The eyes of the boxing world have long been on a showdown between the unbeaten American Mayweather (47-0, 26 knockouts) and eight-division world champion Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 knockouts) two of the greatest boxers of their generation.

Talk of the super-fight gained steam in December, when Mayweather proposed the May 2 date and Pacquiao vowed to chase him into submission.

"This fight is about legacy, this is about making the fans happy and, above all, this is for the good of boxing," Pacquiao said last month.

Arum refused Tuesday to speak about details, but said Pacquiao was on board with all terms.

"I want to get some movement here, with bringing Mayweather to the table so we can go out and get everything signed and get the networks together and get the thing finished," Arum told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports on Tuesday.

It was the clearest indication that the "progress" was being made on what is billed as the richest boxing fight in history, as reported by Los Angeles Times on Sunday.

Mayweather, who had worked with Arum before an acrimonious split in 2006, had accused the promoter as being the stumbling block for the long-awaited fight to happen since 2009.

"I'm not trying to force anybody's hand, I'm just saying, 'Hey, we've agreed to everything, period,' " Arum told Yahoo Sports. "The people we have talked to on Mayweather's side have agreed to everything. Now we need Mayweather to step up and say, 'Yeah, I'm on board. I agree.'

"I'm not going to put a deadline on there. I'm just going to hope that everybody does the right thing and we get this concluded. It would be really sad if we went through this stuff again like we did before."

The report made it clear that nobody from Mayweather's camp was able to verify the current standing of the negotiations.

It has been reported that several terms have been agreed, including a 60-40 revenue split in favour of Mayweather and Las Vegas as the venue.

Both networks, HBO (who had Pacquiao) and Showtime (who have Mayweather), are reportedly going to be involved.

Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) confirmed in an interview with BoxingScene/Manila Standard on Sunday, that there could be an official announcement made before the end of this month.

The Filipino boxing star is flying to the US on Wednesday and has meetings with Arum and then is doing publicity for a movie, Yahoo Sports added.

Meanwhile, an MGM spokesman told Yahoo Sports that there was no deal for the fight to be held at the Grand Garden as far as he is aware.

This rekindles hopes that this bout could be staged outside Las Vegas although a UAE investment group withdrew a $120 million offer to Mayweather to fight Pacquiao in Abu Dhabi.