Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn't dead according to Top Rank boss Bob Arum--fans will just have to wait until both are well past their primes to see it. Arum claims that a fight with Pacquiao is not only possible, but that he expects it to happen in 2016.
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Arum said that Mayweather's refusal to face Pacquiao because of his relationship with Top Rank is just the newest reason Floyd invented to avoid the fight.
"The idea that Mayweather says, 'Well, I'm not going to fight Pacquiao because Bob Arum is involved,' is the latest is in a whole line of excuses.
"If you look at it from Mayweather's standpoint, he has this unbelievable deal with Showtime (satellite television network), paying him all this money ... so he would probably figure, 'I have three more fights under the Showtime contract'."
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Arum believes Mayweather will continue cashing in on Showtime, run his record to 49-0 which is the same record as the legendary Rocky Marciano, and then try to go out by topping that record with a win over Pacquiao in 2016.
"He (Mayweather) would figure, 'Why don't I do those (three) fights for the easy money and then in 2016, with my 50th fight, I could beat the (49-0) record of (Rocky) Marciano by fighting Pacquiao'," Arum said. "That would be a huge fight and I believe it will happen."
The big leap of faith Arum is taking is that fans will still be interested in that fight two years from now. Mayweather is nearing his 40th birthday, and Pacquiao's gates and pay-per-view numbers are declining, as Mayweather's often pointed out with glee.
Manny hasn't scored a knockout win since 2009, and Mayweather is unlikely to continue fighting past the end of his Showtime deal. With new stars such as Canelo Alvarez, Adonis Stevenson and Gennady Golovkin rising up the ranks, fans may turn their attention away from the old Pacman-Mayweather guard, and forget their unfinished rivalry altogether.
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