Bob Arum does not want to be part of Floyd Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao: "I do not have time for that"



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LAS VEGAS – After 17 years and millions of dollars of sales, it seems that the legendary promoter Bob Arum has left the company Manny Pacquiao.

Floyd Mayweather's attempt to break the Internet early Saturday by posting a video of himself Manny Pacquiao gathered at a music festival in Tokyo and teasing a possible revenge in December left many people wondering if the news were real.

A few hours later, the president of Top Rank revealed that the fight could very well be realized. That does not mean that the Hall of Famer, 86, wants to be part of it.

"Listen to me, I will not be involved in this fight, not at all," said Arum. "Let others do it, God love them, let them earn money, it's not for me, I want to dedicate my time and effort to guys who are at the top of their careers like [Vasiliy] Lomachenko, [Terence] Crawford, Jose Ramirez, Oscar Valdez; I do not have time for this shit. "

Pacquiao's promotional deal with Top Rank expired following his July 15 KO against Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia, although the information was never made public. Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KO), who will turn 40 in December, has recently traded with Top Rank, but an agreement has never been signed. During this period, Pacquiao issued a complaint about its longtime developer on Instagram, and then withdrew it, along with an apology.

"What happened, they told us that they were going to sign a [new] contract, "said Arum. We said, "Sign the contract and we will pay you." Then they did not even sign it for any reason and we had to solve it. In any case, it was really a misunderstanding. "

The timing of Mayweather's video should not be seen as a coincidence Whereas it was the morning of the biggest (and only major) PPV match between 2018 and Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin in a rematch of their bout for the middleweight title last September. Last year, Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) got the same result by coming out of retirement three weeks before Alvarez-Golovkin I to defeat UFC champion Conor McGregor in a successful PPV.

The Filipino icon and eight-division world champion, who recently launched his new brand of MP Promotions, is now entering the twilight of his professional career of 23 years without Top Rank for the first time since his victory against Agapito Sanchez in 2001 in San Francisco.

Top Rank's president, Todd duBoef, echoed his father-in-law Arum by rejecting a possible fight between Mayweather and Paquiao II and he went so far as to compare it to Robert DeNiro's 2013 film "Grudge Match" more than."

"I do not care, go ahead, I'm not going to run after that shit," duBoef told CBS Sports. "Who needs it? I've done this shit before. I abandoned that shit a long time ago."

After a build of more than five years, Mayweather beat Pacquiao by unanimous decision in a 2015 fight that set a new record for PPV purchases at an incredible 4.6 million. The fight has also been criticized by casual fans for a lack of action and entertainment after such a long build.

Arum said that he was aware that Pacquiao was in Tokyo and that he would see Mayweather but that he did not know that such a revelation would take place early Saturday.

"I knew they were thinking about it," Arum said. "With Manny, it's about money and the problem is that they have to find a good place outside of the US because otherwise it's a problem with the IRS." I have no idea [if it will happen]. I think that with Floyd, everything is a matter of money. I do not see them fighting this year; they will probably do so next year. "

Arum doubted Mayweather would be willing to play the VPP in December because of the University Football Championship and the December 8 UFC card. Although he acknowledged Pacquiao 's financial problems with the IRS, he downplayed the idea that Pacquiao was indebted to Top Rank, which could prevent him from going in. solo with MP Promotions.

"This is not true, it is not true," Arum said. "I do not care about myself, I'm good in my 80s. Even a guy who has been blessed with good health like me, how much longer do I have? I prefer to spend time with" Craw Crawford " and Lomachenko: guys like José Ramirez, where I will be more productive than the fighters I manage, who are really at the end of their career and who are just blaming them for a salary. "

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