Floyd Mayweather Jr. (left) and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. AP FILE PHOTOS
Talk of the dream bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. began seriously in May 2009, shortly after Mayweather decided to come out of retirement for a third time.
Days after Pacquiao defeated Miguel Cotto in November that year, negotiations for the blockbuster fight started. It was reported that Mayweather initially wanted a 65-35 split, but Team Pacquiao said it would not agree to the sharing.
In December 2009, Top Rank chief Bob Arum said the fight might take place on March 13, 2010. But the bout was immediately jeopardized by Mayweather’s demand that Pacquiao take an Olympic-style blood testing, which involved random blood and urine sampling.
Although Pacquiao agreed to have blood taken for testing before the initial media conference and after the fight, the Filipino would not agree to have blood drawn within 30 days of the bout.
The bout was immediately scuttled.
In May 2010, Arum proposed a Nov. 13 bout in Las Vegas or Texas. But the July 2010 deadline expired with no word from Mayweather.
In November 2011, talk of the Pacquiao versus Mayweather fight began again. Pacquiao himself said his camp was negotiating with Mayweather on the possibility of a match the following year. But in December 2011, Mayweather pleaded guilty to one count of battery domestic violence and two harassment charges filed by his ex-girlfriend. He was allowed by the court to serve his prison sentence after he had fulfilled his obligations to a May 5 fight date his camp had signed in Las Vegas.
But the third round of negotiations for the megafight still did not push through, this time because of a disagreement over the sharing of the pay-per-view revenue. Mayweather said he would give Pacquiao a $40-million lump sum if Pacquiao agreed to let Mayweather keep the pay-per-view earnings for himself. “He was trying to take advantage of me. It is clear he didn’t want to fight,” Pacquiao said.
In September 2012, Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said negotiations for the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather had started anew.
But in December 2012, Pacquiao was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth fight and, again, the chances of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight dimmed.
In December 2013, Mayweather posted a collage of photos that took a swipe at Pacquiao. Prior to this, he was reported to have said that Pacquiao was just not on the same level as he was. In January, saying he did not want to disappoint boxing fans around the world, Pacquiao challenged the undefeated American fighter to face him in the ring and donate all the proceeds of the fight to charity.
Last month, after Pacquiao defeated Chris Algieri, the Filipino boxing champ said, “It’s time to make that fight happen.” Inquirer Research
RELATED STORIES
Mayweather says he’s not ‘ducking anyone,’ calls Pacquiao ‘desperate’
Mayweather warns Pacquiao might ‘bite the dust’
Pacquiao responds to Mayweather’s taunt: Fight me