This past Tuesday, during a brief encounter at the Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks NBA game, undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather confronted both 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and his adviser, Michael Koncz, about several lies that their team had been telling the media regarding negotiations for the long-awaited mega-fight between both fighters. For weeks, promoter Bob Arum, Koncz, and Pacquiao have insisted that all terms had been agreed to and they were simply waiting for Mayweather to "sign the contract". Mayweather, however, took it upon himself to set the record straight, telling both Pacquiao and Koncz to "stop lying" about the non-existent contract, stating, "if you're not going to tell the truth, it's best to stay silent." Later that night, the three men got together a second time for a private meeting to discuss open issues that still needed to be resolved in their negotiations.
During the days that followed, Koncz did somewhat of a media tour, conducting multiple interviews about the meeting that he and Pacquiao had with Mayweather. He made it clear that there were still some issues that the networks, Showtime and HBO, had to resolve before negotiations could be finalized. He also admitted that, contrary to the mantra that their team had been spreading for weeks, no contract had ever been prepared for the proposed May 2 showdown. The last time Koncz was seen officially speaking on the record about the fight was in a video interview posted by video correspondent Elie Seckbach on Saturday. In it, Koncz disputed a report by TMZ suggesting that the fight was a done deal and explained, "We're getting close and I really believe it's going to happen. Floyd had a couple of concerns about the network and I already resolved those. I informed Floyd of those, so networks aren't the issue anymore. We're going to have to wait a little longer. There's a couple of issues that need to be worked out, but as I said, after meeting Floyd and Manny eye-to-eye and us talking for an hour or so, I think we can get it done."
It should be noted that contrary to Koncz's claim that the networks are no longer an issue, on Saturday, Showtime Sports Executive Vice President and General Manager Stephen Espinoza clarified that there were still significant issues that had to be worked out. "These series of reports that the fight is done is completely baffling to us. Rick, this deal is not close to being done - and everyone involved knows that. Top Rank's lawyers have said that there are significant open issues, so I don't understand how Bob can conceivably be saying the fight is imminent and will be closed within the next couple of days," Espinoza explained in an interview with Rick Reeno of Boxingscene.com. "I want to make it clear that it's not going to be this weekend and it's not going to be in the next couple of days."
Not long after that interview with Espinoza was published, Koncz sent the following text message to several members of the media:
"I have been getting numerous calls from reporters over the last couple of days asking what are the latest developments in the Manny and Floyd saga and my official reply is no comment as it is my contention that we (all people privy to the negotiations) should spend less time giving information and stories in the media (whether factual or fictional) and devote our time, energies and efforts in coming to an amenable resolution of the outstanding issues if possible. Thereafter, there will be ample information and time for the media. Thanks Mike"
It's interesting to note that Koncz categorized the stories being given to the media as "factual or fictional", especially considering that for the past 5 weeks, virtually all of the stories and information provided to the media have come from Koncz, Bob Arum, and Freddie Roach. Regardless, the good news is that, hopefully, all parties involved are much more serious about coming to an agreement and finalizing the fight that we've all been waiting for.
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