Over the past week, there's been a lot of confusion and speculation about who's really telling the truth regarding alleged negotiations for a November 13 clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. According to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, there were never any negotiations to begin with. If promoter Bob Arum is to be believed, however, there were indeed conversations about the potential fight held between himself, Mayweather's manager Al Haymon, and HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg, who supposedly acted as a mediator for both sides. What exactly may have been said during those conversations and whether or not they constitute real negotiations will likely remain a mystery, but one thing is clear: whether or not you believed him, Floyd Mayweather already revealed his plans for the remainder of 2010 long before any deadline was set by Bob Arum.
In a recent interview, Bob Arum stated, "The thing that's silly about this is all Floyd had to say from the get-go was, 'Hey, I'm not interested in fighting this year.'" Well, let me be the first to remind Arum that he did say that! On June 2nd, Mayweather was spending time with Armando Carral, an 18-year-old with Hodgkin's Disease whose wish to meet the undefeated fighter was granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. While conducting a video interview during the event, Mayweather nonchalantly broke the news that he was taking the rest of the year off. "At this particular time, Floyd Mayweather is taking probably a year off, a couple of years off, from the sport of boxing. I don't really know what the future holds for Floyd Mayweather at this particular time, but, you know, I can probably take a couple of years off," he would explain to the reporter, who was pressing Mayweather to answer questions about his boxing career despite the fact that he was in attendance at a charity event.
Mayweather's revelation seemed odd at the time, considering that there were reports coming from Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum hinting that both sides were secretly working towards a mega-fight to take place later this year. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, however, and looking back, it appears that there was much more to Mayweather's simple statement than what was first believed. Although it's understandable that many fans are irate about being led to believe that the highly-anticipate clash was close to becoming a reality, in my opinion, that anger should be directed at the person who was giving you that information as opposed to the person who was saying just the opposite.
Contrary to popular belief, the official statement released by Mayweather Promotions a week ago wasn't the first time that Team Mayweather has denied any negotiations ever taking place. The first time was back in May, just days after Mayweather's lopsided unanimous decision victory over Shane Mosley. "Ain't nobody thinking about Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum or Freddie Roach. Floyd isn't thinking about none of them, and there ain't no negotiations starting, period. Floyd is just coming off a great win. He's not thinking about any of them," Leonard Ellerbe stated, disputing comments made by Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, who hinted that negotiations for the bout would soon resume.
Despite the denial, however, members of Team Pacquiao continued to suggest that negotiations were indeed taking place. Once again, nearly a month after the first time, Leonard Ellerbe would deny that notion. "Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's adviser, denied Friday any talks betweenthe two sides have taken place, and said Mayweather has no interest indiscussing boxing, just five weeks after whipping Mosley," reported David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press in early June. Other members of the Mayweather family, including Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Jeff Mayweather, would also state that they had no knowledge of any negotiations ever taking place.
In fact, just about every month, Team Mayweather has denied reports of negotiations. On top of that, Floyd Mayweather himself has consistently said that he's not thinking about boxing or returning to the ring any time soon. However, for some reason, namely Bob Arum, fans seem to think just the opposite. Apparently, when it comes to perceptions in boxing, flooding the media with false and/or decieving information works a lot better than making an occassional statement telling the truth. Go figure!
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]