The planned tour of Dallas Cowboys Stadium by the promoters of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. was scrapped Wednesday.
Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer declined to comment about why he declined to make the trip to Texas, except to tell The Times, "I'm still in Los Angeles," working to finalize a deal that has been verbally authorized by both fighters.
Stadium owner Jerry Jones is now scheduled to make his pitch to stage the scheduled March 13 megafight by telephone and e-mail, said a source close to the negotiations who was not authorized to discuss the talks publicly.
HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, who was supposed to accompany Schaefer and Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum to Dalllas, declined to comment on the canceled visit. Reached Tuesday, a spokesman for the Cowboys said Jones didn't want to publicly discuss his offer.
It is unclear whether the Schaefer cancellation means Mayweather wants the fight to be in his hometown, Las Vegas, either at the MGM Grand or a possible outdoor venue constructed by hotel magnate Steve Wynn.
A source close to the site talks told The Times that Arum has been contacted by his company's former vice president, Akbar Muhammad, who reported he has a deal to stage the bout in the Congo. Arum is not very interested, the source said.
Representatives of Dubai have also expressed interest in bringing the fight to the economically troubled emirate.
--Lance Pugmire
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
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