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Manny Pacquiao: Floyd Mayweather Jr. can have the money he wants

Fighters Network
16
Dec

Manny Pacquiao flex 4 Algieri chris farina toprank

 

Responding to Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s assertion that he “would love to fight Manny Pacquiao” on May 2, the Filipino superstar said “Mayweather can get the amount he wants,” adding, “Money is not the issue in our fight” if it means their mega-bout finally gets made.

Calling it “Cinco de Mayweather,” THE RING’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter announced during a Friday interview on Showtime that he “wanted that fight a long time ago,” adding, “I’m just waiting on them.”



 

Click here for Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s full video interview with Steve Farhood

Pacquiao has responded to Mayweather, according to a report by the Agence France-Presse.

“He has reached a dead end. He has nowhere to run but to fight me. I will try my best to make this a thrilling and entertaining fight. But I doubt if he’s gonna engage me in a slugfest. You all know his fighting style. Most of his previous fights, if not all, induced us to sleep. I know what I have to do. I will chase him wherever he goes just in case he decides to run around the ring,” said Pacquiao.

“We will devise a good fight plan against him. Mayweather can get the amount he wants. As early as January this year, I challenged him to a charity fight. Until now, he has not agreed to it. So money is not the issue in our fight. This fight is about legacy; this is about making the fans happy and, above all, this is for the good of boxing.”

THE RING’s 147- and 154-pound champion, Mayweather is currently aligned with Showtime, having fought four of six bouts stipulated by a multimillion-dollar agreement he signed with the network and its parent company, CBS Corporation.

Officials from Showtime and HBO, the latter of which has televised most of Pacquiao’s fights, have reportedly discussed a joint venture between the networks similar to that which facilitated the fight between undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson in June 2002.

Lewis scored an eighth-round stoppage victory over Tyson in the bout. Lewis and Tyson were affiliated with HBO and Showtime, respectively, at the time.

Key aides are reportedly working for Mayweather and Pacquiao, with CBS Corporation Chief Executive Leslie Moonves bringing the two sides together.

Mayweather’s comments followed a Dec. 9 announcement by Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya that RING No. 1-rated junior middleweight Canelo Alvarez has agreed to his side of the terms to fight RING middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on HBO Pay-Per-View on May 2. However, Mayweather has made it clear that he doesn’t plan to give up that Mexican holiday weekend, on which he has fought five times since 2007 – including each of the past three years.

Another potential conflict is the fact that Pacquiao and Cotto are trained by Freddie Roach.

Alvarez, who lost a majority decision to Mayweather in September 2013, stated this past September that he would seek to take back the Mexican holidays of Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day (in September) from Mayweather.

“Everybody knows that Oscar is getting me May 2 and September,” said Alvarez. “Those are the Mexican holidays and they belong to the Mexican fighters. Everybody knows those are the Mexican holidays and the traditional dates for the Mexican fighters.”

 

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