All of the social media campaigning for a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. might be paying off for Manny Pacquiao, as there are reports the mega-bout could be made within the next seven to 10 days.
Longtime boxing writer Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reported Friday that the two fighters camps have reached an agreement on fight site and drug testing, one of the issues that halted the fight when it was originally negotiated back in 2010, and that the rest of the fight terms could be hammered out in less than two weeks time.
The bout’s site that has been reportedly agreed upon is Mayweather’s (47-0, 26 KOs) home-away-from-home, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, a site that Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) is no stranger to either.
Mayweather has fought his last 10 fights at the MGM, dating back to his 2007 win over Oscar De La Hoya, while Pacquiao has fought at the Las Vegas hotel in eight of his last 12 fights, with the latest being his bout with Timothy Bradley last April.
Pugmire quoted what he called a “boxing authority” involved in the talks saying, “We’re making progress” and that “the calender is a factor” which is why the seven to 10 days number was given as the estimated time frame the dream fight could be signed.
Despite this encouraging news, everyone in the boxing community knows not to get too excited about the fight finally taking place, especially with one of the hang ups being the purse split, until both Mayweather and Pacquiao have both signed their names to a contract.
Mayweather fought twice in 2014, both against Marcos Maidana, to which he won both, the first in May by majority decision and the second bout in September via unanimous decision.
Pacquiao also had a pair of fights last year, the first he got revenge on Bradley in their rematch, easily defeating him en route to a unanimous decision. Pacman’s other bout took place in November, where he outclassed Chris Algieri, knocking him down six times in the fight on way to a unanimous decision win, creating new buzz about a possible Mayweather showdown after his dominating performance.
