Bob Arum: Pacquiao vs. Mayweather not possible this season – Boxing News
Top Rank’s Bob Arum is of the view that a possible bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather is not possible this season. Arum, who will be flying over to the Philippines to meet Manny Pacquiao next week, claims he was unaware of Mayweather’s early jail release.
“I have had no signal from anybody on his side that he would be back so quick for a fight on November 10,” said Arum in an interview to ESPN.com
Arum is currently hoping Pacquiao to accept a fight against either Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto or Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. Nevertheless, the Filipino proud is more inclined towards having a showdown against either American unbeaten fighter Floyd Mayweather or a rematch against the now WBO welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley.
In their last meeting, Pacquiao asked Arum if a fight against Mayweather is possible but the Hall of Famer promoter rejected the notion, saying Mayweather will release by the end of August and so he will not have enough time to prepare for the encounter.
Unfortunately, once again Arum is left with a ‘poker face’, as Mayweather was released last Friday from a Las Vegas jail. The unbeaten American WBC champion was sentence to 90 days in jail but his good behaviour got him 30 days off. Mayweather was released after the fighter served around two months in jail.
As of now, there is no news of Mayweather’s fighting soon. Some sources report that he might retire temporarily to get back in shape, while some sources believe he is finding his next opponent.
Mayweather’s last bout was against Miguel Cotto. Although Mayweather won the show, most analysts believed that the American showed signs of aging throughout the fight.
Similarly, Pacquiao’s last showdown was against Timothy Bradley. The Filipino pound-for-pound king lost his WBO title to the unbeaten American via controversial split decision victory.
Both the fighters are at the verge of retirement, a factor which is pushing Arum hard to put them in the ring as soon as possible before they lose their stint. If not this season then the next one might be fortunate enough for fans to see the two fighters finally taking on each other.
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