Manny Pacquiao continues to pressure Floyd Mayweather to fight him in 2015.
In a report by CBS Sports, Pacquiao tweeted on December 31, 2014, "The ball will drop at midnight to usher in 2015. @FloydMayweather let's not drop the ball on fighting each other next year! #LetsMakeFistory".
Earlier in December, Pacquiao tweeted at Floyd, "Don't be a boxing humbug. Let's give the fans the fight they want. They have waited long enough."
ESPN reported that Pacquiao turned 36 years old on December 17 and has been more aggressive in expressing his desire to fight the undefeated Mayweather, who will be 38 years old in February 2015. The bout is expected to be the biggest in boxing history, to rake in about $200 million. Although both fighters are already a few years past their primes, fans are still clamoring for a super-fight to happen.
After defeating Chris Algieri on November 22, Pacquiao was quick to challenge Mayweather to face him next in the ring. Since 2009, a mega-bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather has been in talks but negotiations keep falling apart after Mayweather continued to impose a lot of conditions on the eight-division champion.
For the grand fight to happen, CBS/Showtime and Time Warner/HBO have to come to terms on a joint pay-per-view broadcast, the same arrangement previously made to come up with a super-bout between heavyweights Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. The same arrangement also featured two champions who were at the twilight of their careers and resulted to the highest-grossing match in boxing history at the time.
In the same report by ESPN, Bob Arum of Top Rank and Les Moonves of CBS are currently discussing matters, with Pacquiao's camp already agreeing to accept less than 50 percent of the fight purse.
Mayweather previously responded to Pacquiao's invitation. According to ESPN, he said, "We are ready. Let's make it happen May 2. Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao. Let's do it."
The new conditions Mayweather asked for in a potential fight include a re-match clause, getting two-thirds of the fight purse and that the fight be under Showtime pay-per-view.
Arum also had doubts about the May 2, 2015 date set by Mayweather, saying that it was offensive to Mexicans because it fell in the same Mayo de Cinco holiday weekend. Pacquiao, however, fought other opponents on the same date before.
Fans can now only hope that the two camps can put their differences and unreasonable conditions aside to make the mega-bout happen, albeit a bit late.
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