"I'm just saying that I would think that a lot of the problem is Roger's status. I don't know for sure, and nobody's told me this, but I would believe that he's concerned about Roger's availability and what Roger's status would be," remarked promoter Bob Arum as he commented on the current status of negotiations between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. After claiming that Pacquiao had agreed to all terms for a November showdown, Arum revealed that they're waiting for Mayweather to decide whether or not he wants to fight this year and that decision may rest on the availability of his uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather.
Roger Mayweather is set to go to trial on August 2 for allegedly assaulting female boxer Melissa St. Vil at an apartment he owns last August. If convicted, he faces a minimum of a few months in prison and would undoubtedly be unavailable for the biggest fight of Floyd's career. "I know that Manny would have a problem fighting if Freddie Roach were not available, so we're just waiting to see," Arum would explain to Lem Satterfield of AOL FanHouse. "That would be up to Floyd whether he wants to do the fight this year or next year." It is for that reason that Arum believes Mayweather has yet to make a decision as to whether or not he plans on agreeing to the latest terms that Pacquiao has already agreed to.
It's unclear as to why this revelation is coming from Bob Arum, particularly since there's supposed to be a gag order in place preventing both sides from discussing negotiations, however, according to a source close to the Mayweather camp, the potential absence of Roger Mayweather from Floyd's corner has absolutely no bearing on whether or not the latest terms from Pacquiao's camp are agreed to. "Floyd don't need Roger in his corner. Floyd's his own trainer. He's already been taught everything he needs to know, so that's got nothing to do with it. Besides, even without Roger, he's still got his daddy," the source remarked when informed of Arum's recent comments.
Indeed, ever since Floyd's reconciliation with his father, Roger Mayweather's training responsibilities have appeared to diminish somewhat. Although he still serves as head trainer by name, it's become evident that Floyd Maywather Sr. has taken a much larger role in fight preparations. Never was that more clear than in his last bout, as it was Floyd Mayweather Sr. who studied hours of tapes and came up with the gameplan against Shane Mosley. Furthermore, in the days leading up to the highly-anticipated matchup, Roger could be seen spending more time roaming the hallways of the MGM Grand as opposed to spending time with his fighter. Not to mention, during the bout, when Floyd returned to his corner after being severely rocked by Shane Mosley in the second round, it was his father, not Roger, that Floyd turned to for advice. It's a fact that was brought up on several occassions by both father and son during the post-fight press conference, leaving many wondering if perhaps Roger was already being pushed to the side.
So let me be the first to say that, rest assured, Roger Mayweather has absolutely nothing to do with Floyd's decision. More than likely, it has more to do with the fact that not much has changed regarding the concessions that Manny Pacquiao has agreed to. Despite the fact that Arum has said that Pacquiao is "all in" and has "agreed to what they're demanding," the truth of the matter is that he's standing firm on the 14-day cutoff for random blood testing. Mayweather, however, has made it clear that he wants Pacquiao to agree to the same type of USADA testing that Shane Mosley agreed to, which means that both fighters could be subjected to random blood tests up until the actual day of the fight.
"They stopped taking blood 18 days before [Mayweather-Mosley], so that shows they can do it and be fine," Arum would tell Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, explaining why he believes the 14-day cutoff should be sufficient to satisfy Mayweather's demands. "We're saying the same thing, that if there's information that emerges in the final 14 days, we can go to the [state boxing] commission and ask for more tests. We can work it out. No one's looking to pull any fast ones."
Of course, as Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe has said time and time again, "random is random," and without the possibility of a random test as a deterrent in the final weeks leading up to the bout, I'm just not sure if Team Mayweather is satisfied that all of their demands have been met. The fact that very little has changed in the past month regarding terms of the negotiation, not to mention the "small" issue of the defamation lawsuit, leads me to believe that, by next weekend, this fight will once again be declared dead in the water and Manny Pacquiao will likely move forward with plans to face either Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto in November.
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