• Boxing

Mayweather and Pacquiao could fight for $300 million, claims promoter

Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao could finally clash in the ring, according to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum.

The fight is being proposed as the richest in boxing history, with a reported figure of $300 million the number which could get two of the biggest names in the sport into the ring.

Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, has revealed the bout is one that he wants to make happen. There have been several breakdowns in negotiations over the past few years between the two camps, but Arum says the fight could be on provided they come to an agreement with Mayweather Jr's team.

"On our side the answer is yes [the fight can be made in 2014], we're very open to it," Arum said.

"There are ways it can get done, they have to dumb down the rhetoric, we are prepared to dumb down the rhetoric and get it done.

"There is no real impediment to having that fight happen whether it will or not depends completely on the Mayweather side. I can see it happening but I can't predict that it will happen because it takes two to tango."

A potential problem could come with television rights, with Top Rank boxers appearing on US station HBO and Mayweather Jr on Showtime. However, Arum believes this is something that can be overcome.

"You've got to go back in history when Lennox Lewis, who fought for HBO, fought against Mike Tyson who was a Showtime fighter. Both networks participated in the promotion so that's a road map of how we get this thing done," he said.

Pacquiao makes his return to the ring for almost a year when he takes on Brandon Rios in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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