After visiting arum's suite, investor says "watch the news" and "do the math"

AFTER VISITING ARUM'S SUITE, INVESTOR SAYS "WATCH THE NEWS" AND "DO THE MATH", BUT SIMPLY GETTING FOOLED TOO By Ben Thompson | December 02, 2011 Yesterday evening, I received an interesting text message from Carl Harris, Owner and CEO of Big InterSports Group, an investment group based in California who approached me earlier this year expressing their interest in the mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. "Dude you ****ed up by dissing me. Watch the news. Just to let you know I am in new york in bob arums suite. You do the math," the text message read. Now, keep in mind, I was minding my own business, paying absolutely no attention to the latest rumors about the alleged negotiations going on between Pacquiao and Mayweather. Despite the fact that Pacquiao recently stated that "negotiations are almost done", and one of his close confidants, Rex "Wakee" Salud, revealed that the fight is "80% from happening" and purses are "already $75 million", I've stood firm in my belief that everyone is being fooled and that Arum, with the help of Michael Koncz, has hatched an elaborate scheme to trick Pacquiao into thinking that he's working on the fight that he wants (Mayweather), when in reality, he's really finalizing details for a fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. To some, the idea may sound far-fetched, but given some of the recent tidbits of information released to the media from Arum and those closest to Pacquiao, as well as the text message that I received from Harris, I'm even more convinced, if that was even possible, that there's no way that the biggest fight in boxing history is "almost done" roughly one week after Koncz paid Mayweather a visit at his gym. I'm sure a lot of you are scratching your heads, wondering, "Who the heck is Carl Harris, what is he doing in Bob Arum's suite, and why is he texting FightHype?" By all means, allow me to connect the dots and explain. On May 20, 2011, I was contacted via email by a gentleman named Levi Gutierrez, who said he had a proposal for the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout. According to the email, prior to contacting me, Gutierrez had already been in contact with Michael Koncz, who told him that he had reached out to Team Mayweather, but he had yet to hear anything back from them. Gutierrez then explained in the email that Koncz was aware of his investment group's plans to "buyout the fight for $150 million", offering a $25 million down payment to each fighter in the form of a cashier's check as soon as they signed the contracts. The email then stated that his partner, a gentleman by the name of Carl Harris, would be in contact with me later. Sure enough, later that day, I received a similar email from Mr. Harris, explaining that he had "put together a group of investors wanting to promote a bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather" and he was "ready to move forward, once I have contact with Floyd Mayweather's camp, to present the offer, with a large deposit to make this happen." Mind you, that wasn't the first time that I had been contacted by someone looking to get a hold of Floyd Mayweather with some sort of money-making scheme, so I really didn't put too much stock into it. Over the next several days, however, I received a number of emails, at least 20, from Gutierrez, asking if there was any way he and his partners, Harris and a Brad Dizon, could visit Floyd Mayweather at the Big Boy Mansion. Naturally, curiosity got the best of me, so I finally decided to do a little research before I responded. Through the use of Google and YouTube, I quickly learned that Levi Gutierrez was a former employee of Manny Pacquiao, working at one point as his personal videographer until a run-in with Michael Koncz got him relieved of his duties. He also worked with a Valerie Gonzales for a company called Pacman Productions, which at one point was responsible for booking Pacquiao's after-fight parties. Gutierrez would later confirm all of that information to me. Over the course of several emails and phone conversations, both Gutierrez and Harris explained to me that, having already spoken directly to Manny Pacquiao himself, they were looking for a way to get in contact with Mayweather. According to Harris, he was able to meet and speak with Pacquiao directly through his partner, Gutierrez, but he had yet to have any conversations with his promoter, Bob Arum, or representatives of Mayweather. According to Harris, Bob Arum was looking for a total buy-out of the fight, meaning no additional revenue other than the guarantee would be promised to the fighters, and he was confident that $150 million would be enough to satisfy all parties involved. As Gutierrez pointed out via email, previous discussions with Koncz led them to believe that the amount was "good enough to work it out", but after sending an official Letter of Intent to the offices of Top Rank in April, they had yet to hear back from anyone, so they were reaching out to individuals who they felt could put them in contact with the right people. In fact, prior to contacting me, they also had conversations with Examiner.com boxing scribe Michael Marley, who informed them that his legal fee to act as an adviser and set up a meeting with the decision makers for both fighters was $25,000, of which he would need $15,000 up front. I'm sure if anyone asks Mr. Marley, he'll be more than happy to confirm that information.