Mayweather says they ‘forced’ Pacquiao to sign contract

Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao posts this photo of the fight contract with Floyd Mayweather with the American boxer’s signature still missing. Pacquiao said he posted the picture to show that he signed the contract even before Mayweather and disprove Floyd’s claim that he had to be forced to sign the document. SOCIAL MEDIA SCREENGRAB

MANILA, Philippines — Top pound-for-pound fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. claimed his camp had to force Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao to sign the contract.

Mayweather, who announced on Saturday morning (Manila time) that the long-awaited showdown between him and Pacquiao was a go, said the process to finalize a deal and make his fight with Pacquiao happen was very hard.

“It was very, very difficult,” Mayweather told Ben Thompson of fighthype.com. “We forced them to fight. We gave them no choice.”

“Al and Bob and HBO and Showtime were going back-and-forth, trying to make the fight happen. It was a battle, but everybody is happy now and it’s time to give the people what they want to see,” Mayweather added, referring to his adviser Al Haymon and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.

Mayweather’s claims contradict Pacquiao’s reported statements made last month that it was in fact the Filipino’s camp that’s been waiting for the undefeated American to sign the contract.

Pacquiao also posted a photo on his Instagram account of what appeared to be the fight contract proving he was the first one to sign.

“Finally he signed the contract so the fight is on, this is what im talking about that I sign already before, im just explaining to the fans and to prove that im not lying, i have the fear of the Lord. So this is it! The fight is on fans you deserve it thank you. to God be all the Glory,” Pacquiao captioned.

Mayweather also said he had no problems with signing the moment the contract was brought to him after Arum and Pacquiao already had their signatures on it.

“Everyone was saying, “sign the contract! sign the contract! As soon as Arum signed, as soon as Manny signed, Al Haymon brought the contract right to me and I signed the contract with no problem at all,” said Mayweather, who will stake his unblemished record and two title belts on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Mayweather though, cleared that he had no intentions of badmouthing either Arum or Pacquiao.

“I’m not here to say anything negative about Bob or say anything negative about Manny,” he said. “That’s not my job to do. I’m a boxer/entertainer and my job is to go out there and entertain and be the best that I can be. I’m just happy that we were able to make the fight happen. I can’t wait.”