By Edward Chaykovsky
Golden Boy Promotions' CEO, Richard Schaefer, says Bob Arum, head of promotional rival Top Rank, like created further friction by asking the public to boycott Floyd Mayweather's pay-per-views until the pound-for-pound king agrees to face Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather returns on May 3rd against Marcos Maidana. Both sides have been unable to reach an agreement for the last four years.
During Saturday's post-fight press conference to Pacquiao's rematch win over Timothy Bradley, Arum said the following:
“The only people that can make Floyd Mayweather fight Manny is the public if they boycott the nonsense on May 3rd. That’s when the fight will happen. Without any pre conditions on any side. That’s what the public should do. You want that fight? Tell your readers not to buy it on pay per view and not to buy tickets for it,” Arum stated.
In several recent interviews, Mayweather has stated that he doesn't want to face Pacquiao until his promotional contract with Arum expires at the end of the year. Schaefer says the recent statements by Arum have now made it more difficult to bring the two sides together to negotiate a potential super-fight.
“He sure knows how to get something done: by telling people to boycott Floyd’s fight, calling it a terrible matchup,” Schaefer said to The Los Angeles Times. “Is that how you negotiate or create goodwill? It doesn’t make me want to say things that would leave hope for that fight, because I don’t believe he wants the fight. This is how you do things when you don’t want to get things done."
