Mayweather: ‘We forced Pacquiao to fight’

MANILA, Philippines – The countdown is on to May 2. 

Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 knockouts) and Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) will meet at center ring at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to decide who is the best fighter of this generation. The negotiations were exhaustive, with talks stopping and starting over the past six years before a photo of a signed contract on his social media accounts put to suspense to rest. 

The soon-to-be 38-year-old Mayweather and the 36-year-old Pacquiao will soon engage in the sport’s most lucrative fight in history. And while Pacquiao constantly goaded Mayweather with dares of “sign the contract,” the American boxer claims he was the one who put Pacquiao’s back against the wall. 

“It was very, very difficult. We forced them to fight. We gave them no choice,” said Mayweather, who is rated the sport’s pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by THE RING magazine, tells FightHype. 

“[Mayweather’s adviser Al Haymon] and [Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum] and HBO and Showtime were going back and forth, trying to make the fight happen. It was a battle, but everybody is happy now and it’s time to give the people what they want to see. 

Mayweather is in agreement with Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz that their face-to-face meeting at a Miami Heat game in late January was the turning point in making the fight. Afterwards they met at Pacquiao’s hotel suite and discussed the fight for an hour. 

“Once we sat down one on one, it had an awful lot to do with Al Haymon. I stayed on top of Al day in and day out. Stephen Espinoza and Al and Leonard Ellerbe was communicating back and forth all day just trying to make the fight happen. It was extremely difficult, but like I said before, I’m truly blessed to be in a position to make nine figures in thirty-six minutes.  

“[Al Haymon] was at my house sitting down in Vegas. We had a meeting, just about business outside of boxing, but then we got to talking about boxing. I said, ‘What do you think about the Pacquiao fight?’ He said, “I really don’t know. Do you want the fight?” I said, ‘Absolutely!’ I said, ‘Can you make it happen?’ He said, “I can try my best.” And I said, “Well you told me we don’t ever try to do anything. We do it! So can you do it?’ He said, ‘I’ma do it!’ And that’s what we did.” 

(RELATED: Pacquiao, Mayweather finally give fans what they want)

Past negotiations broke down over disagreements involving purse splits, random drug testing and distrust between the two sides. Representative from both sides of negotiations credit the involvement of CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves, who mediated the deal, for bridging the gap between their parties.

“The persistence of Les Moonves got everyone talking rationally,” Arum told the Los Angeles Times. “Very savvy guy, people inherently trust him, and his presence allowed us to concentrate on core issues. People around this started acting like adults. Myself included.” 

Mayweather will reportedly receive 60% of the purse split while Pacquiao receives the other 40%. Both sides will undergo random pre-fight performance enhancing drugs testing under the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Pacquiao, a champion in a record 8 weight classes, has won three straight matches following back-to-back losses in 2012, while Mayweather has won championships in 5 divisions.

“I’ve fought for over 30 years. I’ve been a professional now 19 years, you know, and world champion 18 years, and I’m not scared of any fighter,” said Mayweather.

– Rappler.com