By Lem Satterfield
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is standing his ground. The back and forth accusations continue with respect to the negotiations connected to the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao mega-fight. Bob Arum, CEO for Top Rank, advised media members on July 16 that his company had been negotiating for several weeks with Mayweather's manager, Al Haymon, to stage a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on November 13.
Arum made it clear to the press that he had never been in direct contact with any member of Mayweather's team. Arum was negotiating through Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO, who played the role of an intermediary. On July 19, Mayweather's adviser Leonard Ellerbe issued a statement denying the existence of the negotiations.
"Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying."
A few days later, both Schaefer and Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, backed Ellerbe's statement during conversations with BoxingScene.com.
However, Greenburg issued a statement on Monday acknowledging the existence of the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations, and his role as the intermediary between both parties.
Schaefer has no idea why Greenburg took that position, because the Golden CEO is standing behind his previous statement - that at no time, during the last few months, were there any negotiations for a November fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. According to Schaefer, Haymon was not aware of any ongoing negotiations involving Mayweather. Schaefer wants to know who Greenburg was negotiating with on Mayweather's side.
"It must have been quite a negotiation for Bob Arum to issue a statement that the fight was done, and that the members of Team Mayweather, whomever Ross was supposed to be negotiating with, were okay with the terms on the table, and that the deal was simply awaiting Floyd Mayweather's signature," said Schaefer. "That must have been something that he had heard from Ross. So I would be anxious to know who Ross was negotiating those terms with and who gave Ross the indication that any potential terms on the table were acceptable to Mayweather, because I'm sure that Bob wouldn't say those things unless he was told them by Ross."
"Leonard and Al Haymon have never represented to me that they were in negotiations for the fight. Based on what they have told me, they are not aware of any negotiations that took place."
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.
