Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. : Bob Arum Urges Fans to Boycott Marcos Maidana Fight to Make 2014 Battle Happen
Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum believes that the potential record-breaking showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will happen.
Arum said on Saturday night that fight fans should send a message to Mayweather saying they are tired of his way of picking opponents and insisting that the former pound-for-pound king's upcoming showdown with Marcos Maidana will not be a competitive match.
"Boxing survives anything and everything. The Mayweather fight I don't think is bad for boxing. It's bad for the public who is going to be talked into spending more money to see nonsense," Arum said.
Arum then said that boxing fans should boycott the upcoming Mayweather-Maidana showdown. By doing so, he is confident that Mayweather will eventually decide to face the best possible opponent in his next fight: Pacquiao.
"The only people that can make Floyd Mayweather fight Manny is the public if they boycott the nonsense on May 3rd," Arum said via BoxingScene. "That's when the fight will happen. Without any pre-conditions on any side. That's what the public should do. You want that fight? Tell your readers not to buy it on pay per view and not to buy tickets for it."
Arum insisted that Pacquiao and his representatives are ready to sit down with Mayweather's camp any time after his showdown with Maidana on May 3 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"We are prepared tomorrow. Well, [Mayweather] has a fight, a so called fight. We are prepared to sit down at a table with his people any time to work out the conditions to the fight," Arum said.
Mayweather has previously insisted, however, that he will not fight Pacquiao as long as the Filipino boxing icon is still under Arum's Top Rank Promotions. The reigning pound-for-pound king reiterated that he is not interested in doing business with Arum again. Pacquiao will in fact be a free agent by the end of the year, creating speculations that the Pacquiao-Mayweather super fight will finally happen in 2015.