Bob Arum Taunts Floyd Mayweather Jr Over Manny Pacquiao Reluctance

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has played down talk of clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao in 2015, claiming the American's reluctance to sit down and discuss a deal means a fight is unlikely to ever happen.

Pacquiao is set to defend his WBO title against Chris Algieri in Macau on 22 November but speculation over a long awaited showdown with the welterweight king Mayweather has continued to dominate the agenda.

Arum, the Filipino's promoter, has spoken optimistically of a deal being finally being agreed in recent months. While reports of serious negotiations have often been chalked up to conjecture, Arum claimed in September that another stumbling block had been cleared, suggesting the fighters' rival television networks – HBO (Pacquiao) and Showtime (Mayweather) - were now keen to sign a contract.

But Mayweather's refusal to acknowledge such developments has undermined Arum's claims, leaving the Top Rank CEO at a loss to explain what the next step is.

"How can I talk for Mayweather? I mean, as far as the Pacquiao fight is concerned with Mayweather, as much as a lot of people surrounding that would want it to happen, myself included, Manny included, Floyd Mayweather is reluctant to fight Manny Pacquiao," Arum told Fight Hype.

"If people don't see that by now, they are never going to see."

With Mayweather considering retirement next September after the final two fights of his contract, Arum and Pacquiao are working towards a deadline. That could be further complicated should Algieri cause an upset and defeat Pacquiao later this month, with a rematch clause written into the fight's contract.

"As far as if Chris Algieri wins the fight for Manny Pacquiao, then there is a provision in the contract for a rematch," Arum continued. "And if he then beats Pacquiao and beats Manny in a rematch and Floyd wants to fight him, that's not my business. That's up to Joe DeGuardia (Algieri's promoter) and it is up to the Mayweather camp."