Pacquiao vs Mayweather Fight 2015 is Bob Arum's Wish
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum wishes that Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight next year. This is after he expressed hope that the public and some private companies will pressure Mayweather to accept Pacquiao's challenge to fight inside the ring.
"Let's hope there's always people putting pressure on Mayweather to sign that contract next year," Arum told local Filipino TV channel ABS-CBN.
The promoter also said that Mayweather has a lot of reservations in fighting Pacquiao because of his fear that it may be the end of his undefeated career.
"That takes an attorney general and superman to get somebody like Mayweather on the ring where he has no intention of fighting Pacquiao because he knows that's the end of his undefeated record," said Arum, who claimed that Pacquiao will definitely beat the American boxer once they face inside the ring.
"I promoted the guy for ten years and I know how difficult it was to get him in the ring with any southpaw. When you talk about a southpaw who can move like Manny, that's not the kind of opponent that Mayweather feels he would do well against. That's the problem. If Manny agreed to fight right-handed, the fight would be agreed in five minutes," said Arum in an article by the International Business Times.
The two fighter have been rumored to fight for years now but the match has never pushed through because of lack of coordination and understanding from both camps. Mayweather's father and trainer, Floyd Sr., earlier said that the matchup between the two will definitely happen next year, an announcement which made everyone excited.
This good news was, however, immediately denied by Mayweather who claimed that he might kick his father out from his team for speaking without coordinating with him. He also hinted that he might fight with other fighters like Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan instead of facing Pacquiao.
The International Business Times noted that the "pressure" being discussed by Arum is also being placed on CBS/Showtime since it is the network handling the fights of Mayweather.
But this fight may only be possible if Pacquiao will outclass Chris Algieri in their upcoming fight this month in Macau. A separate International Business Times report discussed that Pacquiao may have a "hard time" fighting Algieri.
Boxing referee Joe Cortez said that Algieri's height and his boxing skills will help him beat the Filipino boxer. With this expected loss, Cortez said that a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight will never be possible.
But just in case the match turns into the favor of Pacquiao, it will be highly possible that Mayweather may be forced to sign a deal with him and make the fight happen next year.
In an interview with ESPN, retired American boxer Sugar Ray Leonard adviced Mayweather to fight Pacquiao "not for the money but for the legacy."