Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Manny Pacquiao Fight Deal Report Is A ‘Lie,’ Boxer ‘Relaxing’ In Jamaica
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. responded Saturday to an online published report saying that his fight against Manny Pacquiao was now a done deal, and that the world’s top two pound-for-pound boxers “finally came to an agreement moments ago.” That report, said Mayweather, is nothing but a “lie.”
In fact, contrary to the report by TMZ Sports, Mayweather is not only nowhere near signing on the dotted line to finally face Pacquiao on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he is kicking back on a tropical vacation, relaxing in Jamaica before jet-setting off to his next exotic destination — according to Mayweather himself.
Mayweather on Saturday morning posted this picture of himself on his Instagram account.
The picture was accompanied by the telling hashtag #FightNotMadeYet, as well as the hashtag #Jamaica, and the following caption.
“Laying back, relaxing, enjoying good weather, palm trees and piña coladas. While they continue to lie about making the fight… I’m just going to continue to travel and explore the world on my private jet.”
A recent insider tell-all book about Mayweather, however, claimed that the undefeated fighter never consumes alcohol, so the reference to “piña coladas” would appear to indicate that the Instagram post was not made by Mayweather himself, or possibly not even with Mayweather’s knowledge.
Either that, or Mayweather has taken up drinking piña coladas.
On Friday, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum — who Mayweather has called an obstacle to finalizing the fight contract — announced that the final contract would be complete “in the next couple days.”
Mayweather and Arum had a falling out in 2006 that still remains far from repaired, but they agreed on one thing Saturday — the TMZ report claiming the Pacquiao fight was finalized jumped the gun.
“I’m aware of the report, but there are still some contractual issues to work out,” Arum told The New York Daily News. “It’s close but not done yet.”
Showtime, the premium cable network that holds Mayweather under contract for two more fights, also denied the TMZ report.
“Floyd Mayweather has agreed to the fight, but there are deal points still to work out but progress is being made,” Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio told the Daily News.
Some of those deal points involve the agreement between Showtime and its rival high-end cable outlet, HBO, which just happens to have Manny Pacquiao under a contract of its own.
One of the key points, according to a Yahoo! Sports report, is which of the two networks would have the right to air a replay broadcast of the pay-per-view fight. Such replays usually air one week after the actual fight and unlike the live pay-per-view broadcast, may be viewed by subscribers for no additional cost.
According to the Yahoo! report, talks for the hoped-for Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight are expected to continue at least until the end of the first week in February, and could even extend into the week after that.
