TeamPilipinas.info: No financial road blocks to Pacquiao-Mayweather

No financial road blocks to Pacquiao-Mayweather

source: Greg Logan | newsday.com

Word is that the first meeting last week between Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum and Floyd Mayweather representative Richard Schaefer was so good that "it was almost shocking," one anonymous boxing business source said.

Top Rank's Arum and Schaefer, who is CEO of Golden Boy Productions, have a strong relationship, and it was just the two of them who sat down for a face-to-face lunch with no attorneys present to hash out the numbers and take them back to the fighters. There's a gag order in effect until the negotiating process reaches its conclusion, but there were no major hangups regarding money for a fight Arum previously said could generate $80 million in revenue. The best indications are that a deal is very close with only some relatively small details remaining to be worked out.

The target date for the fight looks like May 1, but there's no indication yet of the site. Las Vegas casino owners have offered to construct a temporary stadium on the Strip, and Arum also has an offer from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to hold the welterweight title bout in the Cowboys' new stadium.

It should be noted this is just the beginning of a process. Mayweather has been known to make difficult demands in the past, and Pacquiao is back in the Philippines, where he works through his attorneys. No contracts have been drawn up yet and Arum and Schaefer are likely to meet again soon. But the simple fact that no major financial roadblocks came up in the first meeting is the best indication that the fight the public wants to see will get done. And soon.

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