The fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been building up for about six years now, but there is speculation that the fight will never happen. Currently, both representatives of Pacquiao and Mayweather are discussing issues concerning the fight between both welterweight champions. However, negotiations are not going well threatening the existence of the fight all together.
Amir Khan, former light welterweight world champion and a name being tossed as possible opponent for both Pacquiao and Mayweather, believes the mega fight will never happen. In an interview with BT Sport, as transcribed by Daily Mail, the boxer says that while he does wnat to see both fighters in one ring, he believes circumstances will not allow it.
"Honestly that fight will never happen, in my opinion," Khan told the UK Sports portal. "'I can't really see that fight from happening, there is too much politics with that fight. There's different promotions teams and different management teams - I don't think they will let that fight happen."
According to Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, the main problem is that Mayweather and his representatives are being difficult. Negotiations for the fight have been confusing Arum and the rest of Pacquio's team.
"If they're sincere about trying to make the fight it shouldn't be an issue, or are they playing a game? I don't know. I go back and forth. I thought they were always playing a game, that Floyd didn't want the fight," Arum told ESPN.
Although, recently, the two camps seemed to have taken two steps forward in the negotiations after Pacquiao and Mayweather personally talked to each other. The two welterweight champions coincidentally met during the half-time show of the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks' game. After the game, both fighters sat down and talked presumably about the upcoming fight between them in Pacquiao's hotel suite in Miami. People have assumed that after the talk, both parties have agreed that there will be a fight this year.
Later, however, negotiations took a step backwards and issues started to come up again. It is speculated that part of the reason the fight is so difficult to orchestrate is because the two fighters have deals with two different networks. Pacquiao has a deal with TimeWarner/HBO, while Mayweather has a deal with CBS/Showtime. Although according to Si.com, HBO could simply resign Mayweather into the network, since his contract with CBS will expire at the end of the year.
Despite the network differences, Arum says their camp has been conceding on a lot of issues in order for the fight to happen. According to ESPN, Pacquiao agreed on Mayweather's terms concerning the date of the fight, the site, the order of introductions, the ring walks, and the name of the fight which will be "Mayweather-Pacquiao". In addition to these agreements, Pacquiao has also agreed to take Mayweather's preferred drug test, which incidentally is the issue that killed negotiations in late 2009. On top of everything, Pacquiao has also agreed to the financial split of 60-40, in Mayweather's favor.
As of now, there are talks that Pacquiao and Mayweather will meet each other in the ring in May, but it is tentative. Mayweather has been rumored to fight Miguel Cotto if plans for a fight with Pacquiao fall through. Meanwhile, Pacquiao is set to fight Khan in May as a fallback.
