• Floyd Mayweather Jnr v Manny Pacquiao

May 5, let's get it signed - Mayweather tells Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather is ready to fight again © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Pacquiao promoter insists he wants Floyd fight
  
• News: Pacquiao-Mayweather talks plunged into doubt
  
• News: Pacquiao says Floyd deal 'almost done'
  
• News: Penn backs Pacquiao to mess up Mayweather
  
• News: Alvarez calls out Floyd after crushing Cintron
  
• News: Floyd will KO Manny - De La Hoya
  
• News: Pacquiao promoter's 'hatred' threatens Floyd fight
  
• Profile: Floyd Mayweather Jr | Manny Pacquiao

WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jnr has told Manny Pacquiao that a May 5 showdown can be arranged just as soon as the Filipino agrees to drug testing procedures.

The American has identified the late spring date as the perfect time for his next bout, with high-profile boxers including Amir Khan and Saul Alvarez already making their case to be the boxer in the other corner for a fight that is likely to take place in Las Vegas.

But Pacquiao - who has long been regarded as the 34-year-old's strongest pound-for-pound rival - remains the preferred opponent for Mayweather, despite an underwhelming recent showing against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Mayweather claims he is ready to reach an agreement on a fight the minute Pacquiao submits to the random drug testing rules that have caused plenty of consternation between the two fighters over the past few years.

"I told him [Pacquiao] May 5 is open. Now you know me, to all the fans - May 5 is the date. Sign the contract!" Mayweather told FightHype.com. "I'm waiting. Now I can't be sitting waiting all day, now. You want a fight, let's make it happen.

"I'm here. I'm waiting. What's going on? You said you a clean athlete and you said you would take the tests and all that. Well let's do it."

If Pacquiao does not agree to the various stipulations, then it appears an unlikely name could be asked to fill the gap. Trainer Roger Mayweather reckons Marcos Maidana, who pushed Amir Khan all the way at the end of 2010, could be an interesting match-up - rather than the Bolton fighter, Alvarez or another Mexican, Erik Morales.

"I think he [Floyd] could probably fight ... it would be a Maidana. The one who beat [Victor] Ortiz," Mayweather said. "I think that would be a better match than fighting a Morales. He's an aggressive type of fighter and he has a win over a major fighter."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.