WE ALL KNOW about the face-to-face exchange between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather at Tuesday’s Miami Heat game, but what happened hours after is where real progress was made.
The two boxing superstars met in Pacquiao’s hotel suite after the game for over an hour, according to ESPN.com, to discuss the terms of their proposed 2 May fight.
“It was very pleasant and very encouraging, and we give Floyd credit for coming over,” Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told ESPN.com. “That’s the first time they ever sat eye-to-eye. I’ve met Floyd many times, but he and Manny had never had a chance to meet. They talked at half-time, but this was a longer, more serious meeting. You could tell by their body language that this was very positive. It was for a good hour or more.
“It was a business meeting, but it wasn’t a tense business meeting. I think that’s because they both have mutual respect for each other. We’ll determine what will happen over the next couple of days.”
Mayweather reportedly brought up two broadcasting issues for the fight, stemming from his contract with Time Warner/HBO and Pacquiao’s contract with CBS/Showtime.
“I told Floyd I would call [Pacquiao promoter] Bob [Arum of Top Rank] in the morning, and I did that and discussed them with Bob, and he assured us they have been worked out. I took care of it,” Koncz said, refusing to go into detail about the specific issues. “I said to Floyd, and Manny agreed, that if those are the only two broadcasting issues, we would take care of them.”
Koncz also said if the fight were to be finalised, a worldwide tour to promote the bout would be frivolous.
“I don’t want to go on a worldwide tour. We don’t think it’s necessary,” he added. “Look, we could have stopped in seven cities and not gotten the kind of publicity we got from Manny and Floyd talking at half-time of the basketball game.
“I think we could do one city, perhaps two, New York and Los Angeles, and this thing will go viral. It will sell itself. We don’t need to go spending money on private jets to go to a lot of cities. Those tours are expensive. The money could go to the fighters instead. People want this fight and have wanted it for so long. I would have liked to see it happen three or four or five years ago, but hopefully we can get it done now. It will be the biggest fight in history.”
The meeting was mere coincidence, with Mayweather a regular at Heat games and Pacquiao in town as a judge at the Miss Universe pageant. However, this chance encounter could be the key to the fight’s finalisation.
“I think people are just tired of all of this,” Koncz said. “Me and Manny, and maybe Floyd, we’re tired of the fans and everybody, everywhere we go continually asking us when the fight will happen. Boxing needs this fight to happen, and it needs to happen in May.”
