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Bob Arum reveals new talks to make Pacquiao-Mayweather fight happen


MACAU — Finally, there's a ray of sunshine on a possible fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
 
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum on Tuesday revealed that some personalities are now discussing a possible collaboration that will put the two champions in the same ring next year.
 
He refused to give further details but bared that CBS Corporation president and CEO Leslie Moonves is brokering the deal, working doubly hard to turn the blockbuster showdown into a reality.
 
CBS is the parent company of Showtime, which has a six-fight deal with Mayweather. 
 
Pacquiao, on the other hand, is signed under HBO, raising speculations that the two television giants will collaborate on the broadcast, which last happened in 2002 when they beamed the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight.
 
Arum had also worked with Showtime in the past, partnering in promoting Pacquiao's fight against Shane Mosley in 2011.
 
"The networks are now already talking," said Arum less than a week before Pacquiao climbs the ring against the up-and-coming Chris Algieri at Cotai Arena inside the sprawling The Venetian Macau here.
 
"I am now more optimistic that the fight is going to happen than I was three or four years ago. I am talking to responsible people who are in touch with the Mayweather guys. All of these people have the ability to move it ahead and make it happen."
 
Arum added that if the fight pushes through, they are looking at the possibility of staging it at the cavernous Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas — the site of Pacquiao's successful welterweight title defense victory over Joshua Clottey.
 
"If it happens, we're considering the Cowboys Stadium," he said. "It is the only venue which has the capacity to host a big show such as the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight."
 
Pacquiao admitted that there's a handsome chance for the fight to happen.
 
"Anything could happen," he said. "For as long as I am still in boxing, and he is still here, there's always a chance that we could fight together."
 
Icy relationship
 
The icy relationship between the Pacquiao and Mayweather camps has been the major stumbling block for the fight.
 
From money to drug testing to personal grudges and bitterness, the top two boxers of the decade couldn't get themselves on the same page despite several attempts from various personalities to strike a deal that would give them the richest payday of both their careers.
 
But shortly after Mayweather won over Marcos Maidana last September, the flame of excitement escalated into a full-blown inferno when the unbeaten American fighter verbally announced his interest in fighting Pacquiao.
 
"If the Pacquiao fight materializes, let's make it happen," he said.
 
Even Mayweather's father, Floyd Sr., bared that there's a pressing need for the fight to erupt.
 
"I'm pretty sure he's gonna get Pacquiao. ... and it needs to happen. Just like (Muhammad) Ali and Joe Frazier, or Ali and George Foreman, something like that. It's one of those fights that the world wants to see it."
 
Arum, however, said before Pacquiao sets his sight on Mayweather, he still has to take care of the task at hand — beat Algieri.
 
"Still, it depends if Manny wins the fight," Arum said.
 
"All I can say is that now, there's a ray of sunshine that it would be possible." — STR/JST, GMA News
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