It's official! After days of mediation, the highly-anticipated clash between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is dead. "The fight's off," Bob Arum quickly revealed to a number of media outlets. Both fighters will still fight in March, but to the dismay of boxing fans around the world, they will each face different and less appealing opponents.
It's rumored that Mayweather will likely move forward with a fight against former jr. welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi, who's got to be feeling like he hit the lottery right now. Pacquiao, on the other hand, will move up in weight and challenge WBA jr. middleweight champion Yuri Foreman in an attempt to capture a world title in a record eigth world class.
At this point, it's unclear as to who will get the March 13th date, but Arum has previously said Pacquiao can also fight the following weekend on March 20th. Arum also hinted at the possibility of having Pacquiao fight at Cowboys Stadium, should MGM Grand decide to keep the Mayweather bout.
According to reports, some time during the course of mediation, which included 9 hours yesterday, Pacquiao agreed to take a blood test 24 days prior to the bout and another immediately after the fight. It seems like it took a long time to come up with that idea, but regardless, the offer was taken to Mayweather and it was immediately rejected.
Check out comments from members of Team Pacquiao, including Bob Arum and Michael Koncz, to the following media outlets...
Los Angeles Times, Lance Pugmire:
"The mediator called me [before 8 p.m.] and told me the fight was off." - Bob Arum
"The fight's off, Mayweather never wanted it. Manny wanted the fight. He was agreeable to terms." - Bob Arum
"I am disappointed in the sense this fight will not happen." - Bob Arum
"I'm not surprised. I always knew Mayweather would kill it because he didn't want it. He didn't want to lose." - Bob Arum
Boxing Fanhouse, Lem Satterfield:
"The proposal was very simple: They would be allowed to do testing within up to 24 days of the fight, and the tests would be supervised, pursuant and under the Nevada State Athletic Commission's jurisdiction, and that they [Mayweather's camp] would give a full apology in regard to comments made about Manny and their false allegations that he had been taking performance enhancing drugs." - Michael Koncz
"I was informed by Arum about 30 minutes ago that that was flatly refused by the Mayweather people, and that's a rejection of the reccommendation of the arbitrator, so we're not going to stay around and wait, because we have nothing to negotiatiate." - Michael Koncz
"It's not all about money to Manny. No. 1, they have made some statements that are very detrimental and that have harmed Manny. Even with a full retraction, I don't think that the damage can be resolved." - Michael Koncz
ESPN, Dan Rafael:
"Manny accepted what was on the table and Mayweather rejected it." - Bob Arum
"Haymon and Schaefer tired to convince Floyd all [Tuesday night] and [Wednesday] and he wouldn't agree to it. He didn't want the fight. He never wanted the fight. I always knew the fight wouldn't happen." - Bob Arum
"The guys who should be most disappointed in the fight being off are Schaefer and De La Hoya because they went along with this guy [Mayweather] and ended up with gatz and a big lawsuit." - Bob Arum
"There's an arbitration which calls for them to lose any percentage of Manny's promotional contract, something we asked for and had postponed, but now it will go forward." - Bob Arum
"We did that two weeks ago before Manny filed his lawsuit. It's binding arbitration. Our request was for Golden Boy to forfeit its interest in Pacquiao's contract based on the fact that they had demeaned Pacquiao with their remarks [alleging he used PEDs] and that it violated the [2007] agreement between Pacquiao, Top Rank and Golden Boy." - Bob Arum
"We're going to talk to the MGM because they're out of a fight." - Bob Arum
Not much is being said from members of Team Mayweather, however Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer did offer the following...
Las Vegas Review-Journal, Steve Carp:
"I'm not going to confirm or deny anything. At this point, we have no comment." - Richard Schaefer