Pacquiao-Mayweather Match Delayed? Bob Arum Refuses to Sign Contract

With just a few days left before the megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas, Top Rank CEO and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum said he has not signed the contract for the much-awaited match.

ESPN said Arum has not affixed his signature to the contract which he received last April 15 since it was not what he agreed to during his initial signing of a term sheet with MGM and Mayweather Promotions a few months back.

"We agreed that we would all be signatories on the final contract and then they sent us a draft of the agreement and it excluded us," Arum told ESPN.

With Top Rank not being one of the signatories in the contract, it cannot have control on the decisions during the fight which includes in-arena production, video content and music, ESPN explained.

"They don't want us to have any say. So whether they came up with the deal between Mayweather and MGM before or after our agreement, they've committed fraud either way. That's what we're enmeshed in," added Arum.

Boxing News noted that it is still unclear what will happen if the contract for the fight will not be signed by Arum.

On the other hand, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe did not agree with how Arum described their deal, ESPN added.

"The bottom line is that Bob isn't willing to live with the agreement signed a couple months ago, which doesn't allow him to be in control. The only conspiracy, in my opinion, exists with him trying to conspire with his lawyers to change the terms of the agreement. I assure you that nothing underhanded is going on and the reference to this back alley stuff is ridiculous," Ellerbe was quoted as saying.

The term sheet reportedly stated that Mayweather and Top Rank will "jointly own and promote the event" but it named Mayweather as the lead promoter and sole negotiator with MGM.

Because there is still no deal reached by both camps and tickets have not been released for sale to anybody.

But in a report, Yahoo Sports said Top Rank president Todd DuBoef already confirmed that he received a ticket manifestation on Tuesday afternoon which he claimed is a "significant progress" in the issue of the contract and ticket sales.

"This is very positive news," DuBoef told Yahoo Sports. Though there were still a few issues in the manifest, he seemed to be pleased with it.

Earlier, Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz said a "lawsuit is inevitable" after tickets for the fight remained on hold. Arum maintained that he will not sign the deal until Top Rank becomes signatory on the agreement.

"They can't act like our original agreement doesn't exist," Arum said via ESPN, but noted that he still believes the fight will happen.

"MGM is licensed by the gaming commission. They can't do this type of subterfuge and keep their license. If they don't do anything, the governor will step in and make this fight happen," Arum explained.