Shortly after a dominant win over Chris Algieri where he scored six knockdowns and handed the American the first loss of his career, Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum were once again fielded with the usual questions.
“Is Mayweather next? What will it take for that bout to happen?”
Despite being long overdue, the mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still drawing interest, and the Pacquiao camp seem to be more vocal about wanting the bout to happen. Instead of the usual ‘we’ll see how it goes’ answers, both Arum and Manny were more adamant about having the match push through this time.
“Just answer the telephone. It’s as simple as that. I think that fight should happen. For boxing to be considered as a major sport, the fight has to happen. All the nonsense has to cease, and everybody should be working together to make that fight happen,” Arum said Sunday afternoon in Macau. “There’s no excuses anymore. None!”
“I’ll be at the phone. Manny will be at his phone. We’re ready,”
“Frankly, we’re tired. I say, enough is enough, let’s just make the fight happen.” Arum exclaims, “Let’s get it done as the next fight for each fighter some time in the first six months of next year. That’s our position, and we are going to try to make it happen.”
Arum also couldn’t resist at throwing a jab at Mayweather once Pacquiao was asked about finishing fights.
“If you talk about knockouts, Manny had 6 knockdowns tonight,” Arum interjected. “That’s twice the number of knockdowns that Floyd Mayweather has had in the past 12 years!”
Freddie Roach has earlier stated that he’s more optimistic about the super-fight pushing through now as compared to recent years, and his prized pupil in Pacquiao also demanded for the bout to happen sooner rather than later.
“The fans really deserve this fight. It’s time to step up and say yes,” Pacquiao states, “I want that fight early next year.”
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