Hollywood, FL 7/21/2010 12:37:33 AM
Mayweather Pacquiao Fight Update
Contrasting Stories About Fight Negotiations
According to a man called Leonard Ellerbe, negotiations for a November 13th Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather fight never even took place. One of Mayweather's closest advisers, Ellerbe said in a statement on Monday, "Here are the facts... the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place, nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying." Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, of course, has been telling a different story for weeks now. According to him, both camps had already agreed on the terms of a November 13th fight and were waiting to hear for a final confirmation from Mayweather by a Saturday deadline. It was recently reported that Mayweather and his camp let that deadline pass without any word. Obviously, there are contradictory stories being told here. According to ESPN.com, Arum says that he had negotiated the terms of the fight with Al Haymon, Mayweather's top adviser, indirectly through HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. This story seems to be corroborated by the fact that Oscar De La Hoya, president of Pacquiao's and Mayweather's promotion company Golden Boy Promotions, said in a June interview that a deal was very close to being made. When reached for a comment by ESPN.com, Greenburg had no comment. What does Arum think about Ellerbe's recent statement? "Why they're doing this is absurd," Arum said. "What is motivating them to put something like this out? I'm not going to speculate, but what are they doing?... The kid [Mayweather] said he doesn't want to fight. OK, good. But this makes everybody look crazy."
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