Promoter Bob Arum said in a recent interview that Floyd Mayweather Jr. turned down a $65 million offer to fight Manny Pacquiao. Keep in mind that Arum is Pacquiao’s promoter, that he has a personal issue with Mayweather, and that his job is to pump up his client while generating as much money as possible. In other words, we’re not talking about an objective third-party here (is there even such a thing?), but someone who’s extremely biased.
First off, until we actually see the money produced, it’s hard to know if the supposed offer from a Singapore group is even true or legitimate. Would they really be able to produce the money or were they tossing figures around to get peoples’ attention? That’s hard to know.
Secondly, Arum has been following a simple pattern with Pacquiao recently, pitting him against fellow Top Rank fighters who pose little risk (Clottey, Marquez, Mosley). Arum does this because it protects his prized possession while allowing him to clean up on both sides of the revenue gate (think of a real estate agent who represents both the buyer and the seller). By calling out Floyd Mayweather Jr., Arum spins the situation and makes Floyd look like the bad guy, giving him an excuse to continue booking low-risk high-monetary reward fights for Manny.
Lastly, and most importantly, Arum consistently omits any mention of whether Manny Pacquiao is willing to submit to Olympics-style drug testing. While they say Pacquiao will submit to pre-fight testing, they don’t want testing several weeks prior to the fight, and they want to know when the tests will be. Does that sound like transparency to you? I’ll repeat what I’ve said many times before, if Manny Pacquiao has nothing to hide, then submitting to these tests should not be a problem.
If Bob Arum is so devoted to making sure this fight happens, he’ll convince his top client to submit to Olympics-style drug testing. Until that point, anything he says regarding the fight is pure public relations spin intended to make his side look good and the other side look bad. Please don’t forget that.
For all past LBS coverage of the dream Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight, go here.
