Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has given Floyd Mayweather until 11:59 PM on Friday to accept terms for a potential November 13 showdown with Manny Pacquiao. Whether he's referring to Easten Standard Time or Pacific Standard Time remains to be seen, but it won't be too much longer before we find out if Pacquiao will indeed be squaring off against Mayweather or if he will instead move forward with plans to face either Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito. This isn't the first time that such a deadline was set by Arum. In fact, earlier this year, Arum was firm on his position that Monday, January 4, was the final deadline when both sides attempted to negotiate the highly-anticipated megafight the first time around. As we now already know, that deadline came and went, along with a brief period of mediation soon after, before Arum officially declared on January 7 that the fight was off and that Pacquiao would move forward to face Joshua Clottey on March 13.
So here we go again!
It's roughly 6 months later, and not much has changed as far as negotiations are concerned, other than the fact that Pacquiao has agreed to do random blood and urine testing up until 14 days prior to the fight. The 14-day cutoff is a significant concession made by Pacquiao considering that, 6 months ago, it was originally suggested by Team Mayweather before the fight was called off. "Before the mediation, my team proposed a 14-day, no blood testing window leading up to the fight. But it was rejected," Mayweather would explain in a press release at the time. "I am still proposing the 14-day window, but he is still unwilling to agree to it, even though this is obviously a fair compromise on my part as I wanted the testing to be up until the fight and he wanted a 30-day cutoff."
Of course, that was then and this is now!
Despite Pacquiao's willingness to now accept the original terms of a 14-day cutoff, Mayweather made it clear in February that the offer was no longer on the table. "I gave him a chance, up to 14 days out, but my new terms are all the way up to the fight. They can come get us whenever, all the way up to the fight, random drug test. That's what it is," Mayweather would tell David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press shortly after negotiations imploded the first time around. It's unclear as to why Mayweather would change his mind about an offer that he and his team orginally proposed, but change his mind he did, and now, we're all left waiting with bated breath for Floyd's decision before the Friday deadline, a deadline which Team Pacquiao insists must be met in order to "properly promote" a bout which is tentatively scheduled 4 months from now and practically needs no promotion to begin with.
So will he or won't he?
That's what everyone wants to know. Well, I'm here to tell you, I already know the answer - at least I'm pretty sure I know the answer - so let me spare you the stress and anxiety of waiting around to find out. Although Friday may be Arum's deadline, I wouldn't hold my breath for an answer from Mayweather. I've read all the reports, spoken to all of my sources, and from what I can gather, expect Friday's deadline to come and go as quietly as the Y2K Bug. If there's one thing that I've learned during my years covering this sport, it's that when a lawsuit is involved, it's very rare for both parties to still do business together. Forget about the money! Forget about the random blood testing! This fight, whether it happens or not, hinges on the status of Manny Pacquiao's lawsuit against Floyd Mayweather, Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya.
As long as Golden Boy Promotions still gets a percentage of the promotional rights to Manny Pacquiao, which they currently do according to the settlement they reached with Top Rank back in 2007, rest assured that Bob Arum will continue to persuade Pacquiao to press forward with his lawsuit, hoping to add more ammunition for his own arbitration with Golden Boy to get them to forfeit their interest in Pacquiao's contract. And as long as that lawsuit still exists, rest assured that there won't be any major announcement on Friday from Mayweather, who sources say isn't too eager to do business with someone who's suing him.
So come Saturday morning, when the deadline has come and gone and you're wondering whether or not the biggest fight in boxing has been signed, sealed and delivered, expect Arum to reach out to some of his favorite writers, like Dan Rafael, Lem Satterfield and Kevin Iole, to tell them the exact same thing that he said over six months ago, "Manny accepted what was on the table and Mayweather rejected it. Haymon and Schaefer tried to convince Floyd 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." Just try not to act too suprised when you hear him say it and please, by all means, remember where you heard it first!
And hey, if I'm wrong, that's a good thing, so believe me when I say that I'll be the first to celebrate just how wrong I was.
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