It may be symptomatic of boxing's many ills that the Biggest Fight That Can Be Made remains in limbo.
Nothing is happening, there is no move for a third round of Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super bout negotiations.
In the runup to Pacman's Nov. 13 Cowboy Stadium bout against Antonio Margarito and the troubled Mayweather's Las Vegas criminal court arraigment on felony and lower level charges related to the Baby Mama Drama, the sounds you hear are the sounds of silence.
It may be the one and only subject that Robert Arum and Richard Schaefer can agree on as their respective companies keep conducting nuclear blasts at each other in the fight for promotional supremacy in the cuththroat world of pro boxing.Richie Rich told me on Tuesday at Gleason's Gym that "now is not the time to talk about Floyd Mayweather Jr."
Arum was quick to agree to that on Wedneday.
"There's nothing, nada, zippo," Arum said. "What can there be to discuss? Let Mayweather clean up his own house so to speak. Manny's got his hands full with Margarito and Floyd has his whole legal situation.
"It's Mayweather who is sitting in limbo. Mayweather's first prioritry has to be clean up his legal situation and, unless and until he does that, Mayweather does not exist."
Arum became the third person to confirm to me that the random drug testing issue was overcome during the most recent talks although the Top Rank chief says Schaefer's knowledge could be characterized as hearsay.
Both Pacquiao and Schaefer have told me to my face that the drug testing hurdle was removed when the Pinoy Idol agreed to fully random testing procedures and dropped his 14 day cutoff stipulation.
"That's true, the issue has been solved but you've got to understand that, on their side, only Haymon knows that directly because they kept Schaefer out of it.
"But, past the drug testing, the issue was if Floyd would fight again this year, that was the biggest issue. Now we know he won't do that."
Sounds to me like Round Three won't commence until January but I'm only an impartial observer.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
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