Mayweather Still Plan A? --
 

MANILA, Philippines -- Top Rank chief executive officer Bob Arum insisted that unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still the "Plan A" for his top fighter, Filipino boxing icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao.
Arum said in a Boxing Scene interview that "Plan A is Mayweather," and that Team Pacquiao is ready to negotiate with Mayweather's authorized representative, whoever he may be.


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Manny Pacquiao (left) during his third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. Photo by Reuters


The Top Rank boss recently visited Pacquiao in the Philippines to present him with a shortlist of four potential opponents, but the Filipino boxer said his priority is a fight against Mayweather.
Mayweather upped the ante when he fired off a series of tweets last week, challenging Pacquiao to a May 5 fight. Pacquiao and his team said they would prefer to fight at the end of May for "economic reasons."
Arum also said Team Pacquiao is "all set" in terms of negotiations with Team Mayweather.
"My job, in representing the 50% in the fight, is to guarantee Manny Pacquiao and to work out a deal on the percentage that belongs to Pacquiao and that belongs to me, for the risk I'm taking, the promotional rights and so forth," Arum said.
"We're all set. Pacquiao and Top Rank are all set. I went to the Philippines and made sure of that," he added.
"We are locked and ready to go. I can't say the same for the other side (Team Mayweather), because I don't know what arrangements have been made because I'm not privy to that."

Golden Boy not involved?

Arum said he is unsure if his Golden Boy counterpart, Richard Schaefer, has been authorized by Mayweather to represent him in the negotiations.
"I don't even know if Schaefer is involved... Schaefer has done some promotions for Mayweather for a fee, but that doesn't mean he's representing him on this type of situation," he said.


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Top Rank's Bob Arum Although Mayweather's last fight was promoted by Golden Boy, he has no contract with the company, as he hires them on a fight-by-fight basis.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, has a contract with Top Rank.
"Unlike Top Rank, that has a contract with Manny, we are involved. I don't know if Schaefer is involved," Arum said.

Authorized representative

Given the situation, Arum said they are only acting like "business people" by waiting for an authorized representative from the Mayweather camp.
"Floyd has to say it. We know for a fact there is no contract with anybody... We are acting reasonably. We are acting like business people," Arum said.
"To say we don't want the fight is ludicrous. We don't want to sit down with somebody who may not be authorized, or use our sitting down with him as a way to slither his way into the promotion," he added.
"I'm not playing games with them. I'm not going to sit down with anybody unless that person is authorized."
Arum added that Mayweather only needs to text or call Top Rank president Todd duBoef to get the ball rolling. "He and Todd exchange texts from time to time," he said.

Issues for mega-fight

If and when negotiations for a Pacquiao-Mayweather mega-fight begin, one of the top issues will be the fight date. Mayweather has blocked May 5 as his return to the ring, but Team Pacquiao prefers to fight at the end of May.


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Floyd Mayweather Jr. Arum believes that a fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather -- the two top pound-for-pound fighters in the world -- should be held in a bigger venue than the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which seats around 16,500 people.
In an interview with ABS-CBN's Dyan Castillejo, Arum revealed that a temporary indoor stadium that seats around 45,000 people is in the works, but it will not be finished until the end of May.
"The idea of not exploring the outdoor stadium is ridiculous, especially when it brings in another $30 million to $40 million in the pot," Arum told Boxing Scene.
"Nobody who is responsible would thumb their nose at 3$30 million to $40 million. I don't care how freaking rich they are," he added.
Pacquiao has already agreed to Mayweathers' long-standing demands of random drug and urine testing, but he also insisted that the undefeated American accept a 50-50 purse split.