By Lem Satterfield
If a mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is going to happen on November 13, a deal between both sides will have to be reached sooner than later. Top Tank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, said the negotiations are getting close to the deadline of when a deal would have to be reached.
Arum did not disclose any specifics as far as the amount of time remaining, but based on his tone - time is starting to run out. He reserved both the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Cowboys Stadium in Texas for the tentative November date.
"I can tell you that I don't think that this is going to be strung out for too much longer. I think that this is going to be resolved in the near term," said Arum. "I can't say whether it's going to be a week or two weeks, but it will be resolved one way or the other."
The reality is written on the wall. To properly promote - "the biggest fight in the history of boxing" as both Arum and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schafer have called it, they would need to reach a deal very soon. The month of July is already upon us. Mayweather's May 1 meeting with Mosley reached a agreement several months in advance of their date and the pay-per-view hype began as early as February.
If a Mayweather-Pacquiao deal fall through, former three-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito has been pegged as the frontrunner to fight Pacquiao on the November date.
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.
