Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum revealed that Manny Pacquiao has agreed to terms for a showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 in Las Vegas, but that does not mean the long-proposed super fight is set in stone.
Arum told Yahoo Sports that Pacquiao has already accepted all the proposed terms for the fight, including the venue of the bout, which will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao has also agreed to a 60-40 share on fight purse and the Filipino boxing icon also gave a go signal to a random drug testing, which were the main reasons why previous attempts to arrange the bout between the best boxers of their generation did not come to fruition.
Arum said that Pacquiao has done everything possible to make the fight happen, but he conceded that is still up to Mayweather to decide whether or not the proposed showdown will happen in May.
"I think it will be a terrific event. That's what I want, and I've done everything in my power to make that happen," Arum said. "I think Manny has been very reasonable and demonstrated that he wants the fight to happen. Now, we're waiting on Floyd."
However, Arum told Philippine newspaper Tempo that they will likely "move on" if Mayweather continues to remain silent about the fight. The famed promoter said that if the talks for the super fight go down, Pacquiao will likely consider options for his fight that could be scheduled either in late-April or after Mayweather's fight in May.
Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinosa, whose company has an exclusive deal with Mayweather, also confirmed that the negotiations are making progress, but he insisted that the fight is from being finalized.
Espinosa gave a guarantee, though, that they will do their best to make the fight happen even if Pacquiao is under contract with rival network HBO Sports.
"What I can say is that we are in discussions, and we are making progress," Espinosa told RingTV. "We've got a long way to go, and significant open issues to overcome. But we're making meaningful progress, and we'll continue to work at it."
Showtime and HBO have been battling it out over the past several years, but recent reports revealed that the two giant networks are willing to work together similar to what they did during the heavyweight title fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson in June 2002.
