Arum scoffs at Floyd's 60/40 offer

MANILA, Philippines - Floyd Mayweather Jr. must be hallucinating when he said he wants the bigger purse and wouldn’t agree to a 50/50 split with Manny Pacquiao if ever they get to meet.

Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, made this observation after Mayweather said “it will be a cold day in hell” before he agrees to a 50/50 split with the Filipino.

“You can tell Floyd Mayweather that Bob Arum said he’s delusional,” the legendary promoter, who once had Mayweather under his fold, told The STAR yesterday morning.

“Floyd is not the attraction. Manny is the attraction. Floyd’s got no idea what he’s talking about,” added Arum, stressing that it’s Pacquiao who should get more.

And the Harvard lawyer means “more.”

Arum said a while back that whoever faces Pacquiao next should be happy with 30, 32 or 35 percent of the purse, and that may include Mayweather who hasn’t fought in 17 months.

“Even a 50/50 split with Floyd Mayweather is nonsense,” he said.

Pacquiao, coming off big wins over Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton, is scheduled to return to the ring on Dec. 17.

Arum said the Mayweather fight isn’t going to happen this year, and so they’re looking at welterweights Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley, and the smaller guy, Edwin Valero.

Trainer Freddie Roach said Pacquiao will fight Cotto or Mosley at 142 lb, and so far only Mosley, the WBA champion at 147 lb, is biting the bullet, saying he wants to face Pacquiao “now.”

“But I’m not gonna come up with a name until after June 13,” Arum added on the phone, saying Pacquiao will be in New York on that day to watch Cotto against Josh Clottey.

“Then he’ll be back in Los Angeles and I will meet him and Freddie (Roach) there. We will discuss all the options, and get everybody’s input. There’s no rush,” Arum said.

“There’s Cotto, Mosley and Valero. We’re not including Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. because of the weight (he wants to fight Pacquiao at 150 lb) and he’s fighting soon.”

Mayweather, the undefeated ex-pound-for-pound king, is on a comeback, and previous reports said he stands to get $15 million against Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18.

Mayweather is favored to win the fight and stretch his record to 40-0. But this early, people are already talking about Mayweather vs Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound king.

The American champion, as outspoken as his father, trainer Floyd Sr., said he wants a bigger share if he fights Pacquiao. He wants 60/40, and won’t fight at 50/50.

Don’t tell that to Arum. – Abac Cordero

Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=473384&publicationSubCategoryId=69