Pacquiao-Mayweather bout doable, says Arum

Bob Arum, the Top Rank big boss who has promoted several of boxing’s marquee names in the past, expressed optimism the mega-rich fight pitting Manny Pacquiao against Floyd Mayweather Jr. can be made before the year is over. The 78-year old boxing promoter made the assurance upon arrival in the country Thursday morning to oversee the congressional bid of Pacquiao in the province of Sarangani. “This is the biggest fight of all-time. Mayweather against Pacquiao. And it has to happen. Now, the fight is doable," said Arum from General Santos City, where he will spent the rest of his stay here. He said the fight the world has been waiting for appears ripe for the picking right now, especially with the way the two fighters disposed their respective opponents in their last outing.
The 31-year old Pacquiao proved too classy against an outmatched Joshua Clottey during their March 13 World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title bout at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, which the Filipino southpaw won by a unanimous decision. Mayweather also pulled off a similar dominating performance against Sugar Shane Mosley last May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, in a welterweight bout 'Pretty Boy’ began to dominate after nearly getting knocked down in the second round. “Those two bouts were not competitive because both guys are so good," said Arum. “No question now that 99.5 percent of the public wants to see Manny Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather next." “I mean, out of 100 people, over 99.5 percent want this fight next. The other .5 percent, they don't care and they don't really give a spit. With any big fight, there is a right time to make the fight." Mega bout eyed in November Arum wants the fight to happen late this year, sometime in November. “A good time for that fight would be November. That would be a perfect time," Arum said. Misunderstanding regarding drug testing protocol led to the collapse of the initial negotiations for a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout originally penciled last March 13. If ever the two parties come to the table again and start negotiating, Arum hopes it would be a private matter. “Right now, I will not talk about negotiations and I won’t go into negotiations showing my cards. These issues have to be talked about in private, not in public, and that was the mistake by Mayweather’s people last time we tried to make it," Arum said. Arriving past 10 a.m. Thursday, Arum immediately took a connecting flight from Manila to General Santos following a 13-hour flight from Las Vegas, where he currently resides. He arrived in Sarangani just in time to catch an afternoon political rally by Pacquiao, who will be contesting the congressional seat of the province against billionaire Roy Chongbian, a member of the powerful political clan in the area. Arum said it is not his right to openly campaign and endorse Pacquiao, but he came over to support the candidacy of the biggest boxing figure belonging from his Top Rank stable right now. “My role here is to be supportive. I am not here to talk about (Floyd) Mayweather or any other fights. I did not come here with any fight offers, for Mayweather or anyone else. I don’t want to distract Manny from the election campaign. “When I get back to the States after the elections here, I will go to work on the Mayweather fight. As a foreigner here, I am restricted and rightly so, from political participation. I am just here in support of Manny’s ambition which is to help his own people," added the former promoter of Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather, among others. But to all boxing fans, Arum vows to get the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight done. “The public demand reminds me when Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier the first time in 1971, so you have to do everything you can (as a promoter) to support that, to make it happen," he added. - RCJ, GMANews.TV