Gamer
07-12-2010, 07:57 PM
c/p By Lem Satterfield
The days are counting down. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has until the end of the week to accept a proposal to fight WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on November 13 in Las Vegas. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, and Team Pacquiao, gave Mayweather until mid-July to accept a forwarded proposal for a November super-fight.
If Mayweather fails to respond or rejects the deal, Pacquiao's next fight could take place overseas. Arum currently has two solid offers on the table from Monterrey, Mexico and an unidentified country in the Middle East.
"I don't want to start naming the country until we're further along. But it's a Middle Eastern country, and it's not going to be in Dubai. We have a real, live offer from [the country] for them to take a fight with Pacquiao," Arum said "It's fair to say that the other place is Monterrey. That is other live offer on the table."
While Arum would not disclose the country, he told BoxingScene.com back in June that he received very big offers from Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Arum said the offer from Qatar was "way bigger" than the $25 million dollar guarantee that was offered earlier this year by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to stage Pacquiao-Mayweather in Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
"There's a tremendous appeal for Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East. All of his fights are shown throughout the Middle East. And there's large numbers of Filipinos who work in the Middle East," said Arum. "All of his fights are shown all over in those countries. Manny's very, very popular and famous over there."
Arum didn't rule out the possibility of trying to come back to Las Vegas with a Pacquiao-Margarito fight in hand. Margarito, unable to fight in the United States applied for license in the state of Nevada. Last Friday the Nevada State Athletic Commission turned down his application and directed him to re-apply for a license in the state of California, where Margarito originally lost his license last February.
"We expect that, once the fight was definite with Pacquiao and Margarito -- if that's what we're going to do -- is we would go back to the Nevada to see if he can get a license," said Arum, "because all that they did was to table their decision."
The days are counting down. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has until the end of the week to accept a proposal to fight WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on November 13 in Las Vegas. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, and Team Pacquiao, gave Mayweather until mid-July to accept a forwarded proposal for a November super-fight.
If Mayweather fails to respond or rejects the deal, Pacquiao's next fight could take place overseas. Arum currently has two solid offers on the table from Monterrey, Mexico and an unidentified country in the Middle East.
"I don't want to start naming the country until we're further along. But it's a Middle Eastern country, and it's not going to be in Dubai. We have a real, live offer from [the country] for them to take a fight with Pacquiao," Arum said "It's fair to say that the other place is Monterrey. That is other live offer on the table."
While Arum would not disclose the country, he told BoxingScene.com back in June that he received very big offers from Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Arum said the offer from Qatar was "way bigger" than the $25 million dollar guarantee that was offered earlier this year by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to stage Pacquiao-Mayweather in Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
"There's a tremendous appeal for Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East. All of his fights are shown throughout the Middle East. And there's large numbers of Filipinos who work in the Middle East," said Arum. "All of his fights are shown all over in those countries. Manny's very, very popular and famous over there."
Arum didn't rule out the possibility of trying to come back to Las Vegas with a Pacquiao-Margarito fight in hand. Margarito, unable to fight in the United States applied for license in the state of Nevada. Last Friday the Nevada State Athletic Commission turned down his application and directed him to re-apply for a license in the state of California, where Margarito originally lost his license last February.
"We expect that, once the fight was definite with Pacquiao and Margarito -- if that's what we're going to do -- is we would go back to the Nevada to see if he can get a license," said Arum, "because all that they did was to table their decision."