By Chris LaBate
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Manny Pacquiao, is not paying any attention to any of the recent press clippings which indicate Floyd Mayweather's desire to face Arum's prize boxer. Mayweather's adviser, Leonard Ellebe, has been making the rounds in the media, calling for a May showdown with Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Arum advised the Las Vegas Review Journal that nobody has contacted his office to negotiate any of the details and the recent announcement is nothing more than the usual attention-grabber that Mayweather pulls during every Pacquiao fight week.
Venues all over the world will bid the highest dollar possible to reserve a a date for a Mayweather-Pacquiao super-fight, so Arum finds it very odd that Mayweather's team would announce how they already placed the MGM Grand on hold for May 5th, a date which may also bring a possible scheduling conflict for Pacquiao.
"He does it all the time," Arum said. "It drives him crazy when Pacquiao fights and gets all the attention, so he does crazy things. But we're used to that. This is nonsense. You don't negotiate a deal that way. All this signifies to me is that they're not serious. When they decide to get serious, the smart people will sit down in a room together and work out all the details.
"Who's to say Floyd will be able to fight May 5? He still has legal issues he's dealing with. And Manny may not be available May 5 because he may have obligations in Congress in the Philippines. Plus, there are going to be other people interested in doing this fight, not just the MGM. So for anyone to think that this is going to get done right away doesn't know what they're talking about."