By Lem Satterfield
Only 24-hours after the infamous deadline had passed, Floyd Mayweather Jr. briefly discussed the reasons behind his decision to pass on a November fight with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. For the last few weeks, Mayweather remained silent while the entire boxing community was anxious to see if he was going to sign a proposal to fight Pacquiao on November 13.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, gave Mayweather a deadline of July 16 to accept the fight proposal. The July deadline gave Mayweather's side exclusive negotiating rights for a Pacquiao fight. Once the deadline was allowed to pass, Pacquiao was given the ability to negotiate with other possible opponents.
Mayweather told the Associated Press - "I'm not interested in rushing to do anything. I'm not really thinking about boxing right now. I'm just relaxing. I fought about 60 days ago, so I'm just enjoying myself, enjoying life, enjoying my family and enjoying my vacation."
Pacquiao and his adviser, Michael Koncz, respect Mayweather's decision to spend time with his family. With Mayweather completely out of the picture for 2010, negotiations will move forward to make fight with either Margarito or Cotto.
"It's his prerogative. It's great that Floyd is spending time with his family. We encourage Manny to do that all of the time with his wife and kids, and if that's what Floyd chooses to do, that's his choice," said Michael Koncz. "If that's what he is doing right now with his time and with his career, that's fine with us. We'll move on."
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 .
