Boxing’s richest-ever fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. could happen next year, according to Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.
Arum, who promotes Pacquiao told Britain’s BoxNation network, that he is determined to make the fight happen and is prepared to sit down with Team Mayweather to put together the biggest prize-fight sport fans are clamoring for.
The Top Rank chief executive, who has promoted some of the biggest fights in boxing, admitted to BoxNation that there is genuine will on his part to make the fight happen should Pacquiao overcome Mexican-American brawler Brandon Rios in Macau, China, this Sunday.
Pacquiao has indicated to Arum his desire to do at least two fights next year, and eight-division world champion has repeatedly called out Mayweather to fight him “anytime, anyplace.”
“On our side the answer is yes [the fight can be made in 2014], we’re very open to it,” said Arum. “There are ways it can get done, they have to dumb down the rhetoric, we are prepared to dumb down the rhetoric and get it done.
Arum said there’s “no real impediment” to having that fight happen and insisted getting it done “depends completely on the Mayweather side.”
“I can see it happening but I can’t predict that it will happen because it takes two to tango.” he stressed.
The matchup between boxing’s two superstar names has long been mooted, ever since both men became household pay-per-view draws.
However, failure on the part of both camps to get round the negotiating table, following back-and-forth mudslinging, has led to a standoff which has prevented boxing’s premier matchup from being made.
But Arum has now revealed that it is a fight he is determined to make happen and is prepared to sit down with Mayweather’s team to put together what will be the biggest prize-fight in history.
One potential stumbling block to the bout being made is the US TV issue, with Top Rank fighters appearing on HBO and Mayweather, who signed a $300-million six-fight deal last year, fighting on Showtime.
But Arum believes the blueprint on how to overcome the issue has been laid out from previous super fights.
“You’ve got to go back in history when Lennox Lewis, who fought for HBO, fought against Mike Tyson who was a Showtime fighter. Both networks participated in the promotion so that’s a road map of how we get this thing done,” said Arum, who used to promote Mayweather.