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A Big Hole in Team Mayweather's "No Negotiations" Claim
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By Rick Reeno
Regardless of who you believe, there will be no fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao on November 13. For the last few weeks, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum and Team Pacquiao, told the entire boxing world they were negotiating a deal to fight Mayweather on November 13. A few weeks back, Arum told media members that an agreement was reached in principle, and the fight proposal was sent to Mayweather for his approval.
Mayweather was given a deadline of July 16 to accept, or reject, the proposal. The deadline passed last Friday without an answer from Mayweather or any member of his team. Once the deadline had passed, Arum scheduled a late night conference call with the press.
During the conference call, Arum disclosed that HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg was personally handling the negotiations between Top Rank and Mayweather's manager Al Haymon. Arum personally had never spoken to Haymon or any member of Team Mayweather.
This past weekend, Mayweather took part in a charity basketball event hosted in Miami by Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning. When Mayweather was approached with questions pertaining to the Pacquiao negotiations, he issued a brief statement to the Associated Press. At no point did Mayweather deny the existence of the negotiations.
"I'm not interested in rushing to do anything," Mayweather said. "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."
On Monday, Leonard Ellerbe, who is Mayweather's adviser, issued a statement to BoxingScene.com denying the existence of the Pacquiao negotiations. According to Ellerbe, there were never any negotiations taking place between Top Rank and Haymon, and there was never an agreement reached in principle for a November fight.
"Here are the facts. 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," Ellerbe said.
I'm not saying Ellerbe is lying or Arum is lying, I'm just presenting the facts as I see them. Based on Ellerbe's statement, there are several questions that need to be answered and immediately come to mind.
1. While Arum and Team Pacquiao were actively discussing the existence of the Mayweather negotiations with the media, on a near daily basis, for the last few weeks - why did it take Team Mayweather several weeks to deny the existence of the negotiations?
During the entire "Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations," Ellerbe and every other member of Mayweather's Team refused to answer any questions related to Pacquiao or the status of the "ongoing" negotiations.
2. Schaefer, the CEO for Golden Boy Promotions, told our very own Lem Satterfield on June 17, that he "really cannot comment" on the status of the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations because of a gag order agreement by both sides.
"As you can see, you don't see any quotes from me," said Schaefer. "There's absolutely no comment from my side."
3. On June 6, Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya made a televised appearance on Univision's Republica Deportiva. De La Hoya's statements on the program were translated by Ricardo Lois of The Boxing Truth, and later verfied by several third parties.
During the televised segment, De La Hoya said a "deal was very close" between both sides to make a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. If what Ellerbe says is true, then what in the world was De La Hoya talking about?
"Obviously it has been a difficult negotiation, for many reasons. But now, we are very, very close in finalizing these contracts. Its been complicated but both fighters realize that this fight needs to be made. It has to be made because the fans want this fight and it is the biggest fight in the world, for the boxing world. Its going to be a super big fight. I think we are really, really close in finalizing those contracts. I obviously cannot talk about the negotiations, but we are very close," De La Hoya said.
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