By Robert Morales
source presstelegram.com
A lot happened during the first failed negotiations for a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. From insults to insinuations to accusations, these were not peace talks.
Pacquiao filed a defamation suit against Mayweather, his uncle and trainer, Roger; his father, Floyd Sr.; and Golden Boy executives Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer for comments about Pacquiao's possible use of performance-enhancing drugs.
(We accent the word "possible" because Pacquiao never tested positive for PEDs).
The contentious nature of the first round of discussions makes one wonder if a second round will bear fruit. Also, how bad would it be for boxing if it can't get the top two pound-for-pound fighters to square off in what would be one of the most anticipated fights in history and would break all monetary and pay-per-view records?
Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, scoffed when asked about that.
"I don't want to dwell on the negative and I don't want to really answer that question that way," Arum said. "I would say it would be absolutely great for the sport for the fight to happen and it would focus the entire world's attention on the sport of boxing.
"That is the way I would look at that situation rather than look at how bad it would be if it didn't happen."
Schaefer likely will handle Mayweather's side - Golden Boy helps Mayweather promote his fights - and played his own game of dodge ball when the subject was broached.
"I would love to see it," Schaefer said. "But you don't always see Kobe and LeBron in the NBA Finals. You don't always see Brazil and Italy in the World Cup finals. We haven't seen the two best MMA pound-for-pound fighters against each other. And the list goes on and on.
"Would I love to see it? Absolutely."
Read more here...
P.S.
Join me at PEOPLESTRING.COM
No comments:
Post a Comment