Pacquiao fight awating Mayweather agreement

Charlie Naismith 11:29 15/01/2015
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  • It's all left to you: The fight will happen once Floyd Mayweather gives it the go ahead.

    Manny Pacquiao’s promoters claim the Filipino boxing legend has agreed terms to face long-standing rival Floyd Mayweather and all that remains is for the American to give the fight the go ahead.

    – A look back at the best boxing moments of 2014 

    Negotiations between the two camps have been going on for some time, with a potential bout pencilled in for May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

    Previous attempts to make what would be the richest fight in history have collapsed because of disputes over how the revenue would be split, television coverage and also drug testing protocol.

    But Carl Moretti, vice president of Pacquiao’s promoters Top Rank, told ESPN that the 36-year-old had agreed to all of the demands placed upon him.

    Moretti said: “Top Rank and Manny have agreed to the terms on our side. I don’t know about the other side.”

    Top Rank chairman Bob Arum also told Yahoo Sports that the ball was now in firmly Mayweather’s court.

    “I’m not trying to force anybody’s hand, I’m just saying, ‘Hey, we’ve agreed to everything, period’,” said Arum. “The people we have talked to on Mayweather’s side have agreed to everything. Now we need Mayweather to step up and say, ‘Yeah, I’m on board. I agree’.”

    Reports suggest that Pacquiao has agreed to take a 40 percent cut of the revenue, with Mayweather receiving the remaining 60 percent of a fight widely expected to shatter all box-office and television revenue records.

    According to ESPN, Pacquiao has agreed not only to a purse split but also for the gloves to be used and to a drug testing protocol.

    Drug testing was one of the issues that caused a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown to fall through when it was being negotiated in 2009 and early 2010.

    Moretti revealed that Pacquiao has agreed to be tested by the US Anti-Doping Agency, a sign of his eagerness to make the fight.

    The eyes of the boxing world have long been on a showdown between the unbeaten American Mayweat-her (47-0, 26 knockouts) and eight-division world champion Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 knockouts) two of the greatest boxers of their generation.

    Talk of the super-fight gained steam in December, when Mayweather proposed the May 2 date and Pacquiao vowed to chase him into submission.

    Meanwhile, Mayweather’s advisor Al Haymon yesterday announced the first major cards of a new series he is behind which will air for free on NBC Sports in the US.

    An exciting first card is slated for March 7 and will be headlined by welterweight contender Keith Thurman up against Robert Guerrero and Adrien Broner versus John Molina in the light welterweight division. A second card scheduled for April 11 will see WBA and WBC 140 pounds champion Danny Garcia take on IBF champ Lamont Peterson.

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