• Welterweight

Mayweather to Pacquiao: ditch Arum and fight is on

ESPN staff
May 6, 2012

New WBA light-middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jnr insists a fight with Manny Pacquiao will "absolutely" happen if the Filipino breaks his ties with promoter Bob Arum.

Arum and Mayweather used to work together, but since their split relations have soured and neither man has been shy to take a swipe at the other.

Many have accused Mayweather's financial demands of providing the biggest obstacle to his battle with Pacquiao - yet the unbeaten American is adamant that Arum is the most significant roadblock.

"The truth is, Bob Arum is not going to let the fight happen," Mayweather, who beat Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas on Saturday, stated. "It's not on me. I went to Pacquiao and I offered him $40 million. I called him direct and I offered him $40m.

"He turned me down. He basically said 50/50. How can you ask for 50/50 when he's not doing the same numbers that I'm doing? If you go back and read the article, he said he would do it for less. It's just been a problem trying to make this fight.

"Once he's free from Bob Arum, will the fight happen? Absolutely. But as of right now, it's not going to happen. Bob Arum is worried about making money. He's not worried too much about the fight."

Mayweather has revealed that he sealed a unanimous points win over Cotto despite suffering with an injured hand. "Training camp was tremendous, I was just mad that I couldn't box the last week because I was kind of sick and my hand was hurting," he told boxingscene.com.

"The last week my hand was hurting bad. I was letting my hand heal, I was icing my hand for the last week every day. Things happen like that in the sport. I sucked it up and went out there and did what I had to do."

However, he did reserve some special praise for Cotto. "You're a hell of a champion," he said. "You're the toughest guy I ever fought."

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