Manny Pacquiao Camp Open to Floyd Mayweather Jr Fight
Manny Pacquiao's camp maintain an offer to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr remains on the table after the Filipino defeated Timothy Bradley via a unanimous points decision to win the WBO welterweight title in Las Vegas.
The re-match following Bradley's controversial win in 2012 saw Pacquiao prevail and it took no-time for attention to turn to a possible meeting with Mayweather.
The unbeaten-American has continually ducked a duel with Pacquiao and faces Marcos Maidana on 3 May having shunned an offer to meet Britain's Amir Khan.
Pacquiao, who initially had rejected Mayweather's demand to undergo an Olympic-style drug-testing programme in the weeks leading up to a potential fight, is now open to meeting the 37-year-old's demands but his decreasing stock has reduced the gravitas with the bout.
But Arum said: "The only people that can make Floyd Mayweather fight Manny is the public, if they boycott the nonsense on May 3.
"That's what the public should do. (If the media doesn't) want that fight, tell the public not to buy the Pay-Per-View and not to buy the tickets. There is no other (strategy). We are prepared tomorrow to sit down at the table with his people... to work out the conditions for the fight."
In Pacquiao's post-fight press conference after he beat Bradley he was forced to field several questions regarding Mayweather, who still has three fights remaining on his Showtime television deal.
"Look, we've been over this before a million times," Arum said. "The lines are open. If he wants a fight, sit down like a normal human being at a conference table and negotiate a friggin deal."
Mayweather believes Pacquiao's desire to make the fight happen is linked to the tax evasion case which currently sees his assets being frozen in his Phillippines homeland while the current WBC welterweight champion is also refusing to deal with former promoter Arum.
Trainer Freddy Roach added: "It looked close two years ago but I don't think Floyd will take the chance [to fight Pacquiao] now.
"Floyd's main concern has become keeping that 0 [for zero losses] on his record. I don't see him taking any real risk of losing that before the end of next year, when he says he's retiring.
"It's not that he's afraid of Manny. No fighters are scared of anybody in the world. It's just that he believes if he goes out undefeated he will be seen as better than greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, who had losses on their records.
"Manny and Floyd should have happened a couple of years ago when both were in their prime. Mayweather wanted the fight then. Later when we put them on the phone together Floyd said he wanted blood testing and 60% of the money.
"Manny said yes to both but then we never heard back from Floyd again."
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