By Mark Vester
The negotiations for Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. are underway. Top Rank's Bob Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer [acting for Mayweather] are not providing any details until the deal is done. Arum did reveal to the Las Vegas Review Journal that his Monday meeting with Schaefer went well and they plan to negotiate further during the week. Arum is confident the deal with get done for the tentative date of May 1.
"There's really not much I can say," Arum said. "We had one meeting, it was a good meeting, and we'll talk again over the next few days."
The fight has several venue offers on the table. Dallas and New Orleans are pushing to host in the fight in their large stadiums. Arum told the paper that he prefers to have the fight in Las Vegas but Dallas is a serious option and New Orleans, if they can waive the tax involved, could become another. Vegas' MGM Grand is too small, but Arum says the Thomas and Mack Center, seating over 20,000, is just right. There are still ongoing talks in Las Vegas to build a temporary 30,000 seat outdoor venue.
"A lot of places want to host," Arum said. "But for tax purposes, you have to have it in either Nevada or Texas, where there is no state income tax. That's why we probably couldn't have it in New York or New Jersey. There's talk the governor (Bobby Jindal) might waive the tax for this fight if it went to New Orleans. But he'd have to do that for it to have any chance of happening there."
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