By Michael Marley, courtesy of The Examiner

If and when Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. taps Don King to promote his boxing career, historic arch-rival Bob Arum has zero doubt the two “old codgers” will be able to make the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao blockbuster bout a reality.

Maybe they could bill it as “The Sunshine Boys Present” or “Grumpy Old Men, Part 4.”

I wonder if the Top Rank titan had been bemused or at least amused by my exclusive Friday report in which King confirmed that Mayweather has been his social guest in South Florida.

The first report of their flirtation was trumpeted by Mayweather himself on his Twitter page which included photos of he and DK and one which showed a 20 pound lobster they were considering as an entree at a Boca Raton restaurant.

Arum, who will be 79 in December, spoke to me from his Las Vegas office and said he shared a lighthearted conversation recently with King.

Though they've been bitter enemies for decades, despite two or three successful joint venture promotions, Arum said all is forgiven on both sides.

“We had some good laughs. All that old stuff, that old history, is gone now. We're both old codgers now. If Mayweather chose Don as his promoter, I have no doubt what would happen.

“Don and I would go into a locked room. Then we'd roll around on the floor for a while. When we came out of the room, we'd have a deal and Manny and Floyd would be fighting each other next,” Arum said.

Arum said their “reunion” would just add extra fire to what is already envisioned as a bout in which each fighter might earn $50 million. The King-Arum or Arum-King roadshow would provide an extra spark to the buildup, Arum thinks.

“I mean, can you imagine?” Arum asked.

“I fondly remember how we co-promoted Oscar (de la Hoya) and Don's guy, Felix Trinidad. We did over 1.4 million homes on pay per view TV and we only had 18 to 19 million homes to work with. Now the market is so much bigger.”

Arum stressed that he did not press King as to whether the controversial pair would begin working together.

“No, I didn't ask Don that but it was clear to me that he was having fun with Floyd and Floyd was having some fun with him,” Arum said, “But I don't know what Mayweather is going to do and I don't think Don does, either.”

In speaking to the New York Daily News, King made some noise about how Mayweather is the A side against anybody, including Pacquiao.

Pinocchio with his pesky and pesty friend, Jiminy Cricket. When Pinocchio lied, his wooden nose grew. Don King and Bob Arum are lucky this does not happen to boxing promoters

King also mentioned that L'il Floyd would be the draw if he fought either Pinocchio or Betty Boop.

Neither is ranked at welterweight as far as I can see.