MANNY PACQUIAO’S PROMOTER, Bob Arum, has cried ‘enough is enough’ and ended the speculation that his fighter will step in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jnr on 5 May.
Mayweather infamously named a date for the long-soughtafter bout on Twitter, but Arum has consistently said that the money issues associated with the American are unacceptable.
“Floyd is out of the picture for May. He put himself out of the picture for May. Enough is enough,” Arum told ringtv.com. “Any discussion with Floyd was over when he said that he would’t go for the 50-50 split. As far as we’re concerned, that’s it. It’s over.”
Arum’s efforts to tempt Miguel Cotto under the 147 lb mark appear to have fallen short. So now the WBO light-welterweight champion, Timothy Bradley, looks the most likely candidate to get the next shot at the champ in a bout on 9 June.
But Arum was making no secret of the fact he would prefer a bigger name for the contest:
“It looks closer to being Bradley, obviously, by the process of elimination, Pacquiao’s opponent will be decided late this week. We’ve got plenty of time.”
“What happens if Miguel Cotto comes back and says, ‘Okay, I’ll make the weight?’ That opens up another possibility. But right now, he’s saying that he wouldn’t.”
Arum, the CEO of Top Rank promotions, also looks set to organise Lamont Peterson’s path away from the Amir Khan controversy. The WBA ruled that Peterson should immediately offer Khan a rematch, but that ruling is not binding and he can feasibly go on fighting for titles under other governing bodies.
Arum has offered Peterson a lucrative pay day at Cowboy stadium against Juan Manuel Marquez, a fight that could happen as early as April.
