Manny Pacquiao has officially signed on to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in what could be the biggest and richest fight in boxing history, the Filipino ring icon’s trainer said today.
Speaking to 8CountNews, Freddie Roach confirmed that his ward has indeed placed his signature on the fight contract, adding that the bout will be held on March 13.
“March 13th is the date, that’s not going to change,” he told 8CountNews.
The multi-awarded trainer said that with Pacquiao inking the deal, it is now up to Mayweather to complete his end of the deal.
“Well anything is possible with Floyd Mayweather involved, but we signed our contract and that’s all I care about. There is nothing that I can do about the other guy. I don’t know if they officially signed, but we have,” Roach said.
The bespectacled trainer added that among the things that the Pacquiao camp has agreed on were the glove size to be used and the weight class. He, however, did not provide further details.
“Everything looks good. We have agreed on the glove size, and the weight. I talked to (Pacquiao’s promoter Bob) Arum, Dallas wants the fight, MGM wants the fight, Yankee Stadium wants the fight, so it’s just trying to find out where the venue is. The fight looks good,” Roach said.
And with the fight now closer to being finalized, how does Roach see Pacquiao matching up against Mayweather?
“It’s a difficult fight, it’s the most difficult style for us to go against because he is a runner and a counter puncher. We will go to camp and we will make some changes, we will set traps for this guy. This is completely opposite of the (Miguel) Cotto fight, opposite of the (Ricky) Hatton fight, and opposite from the (Oscar) De La Hoya fight. We will come up with a new game plan, a 10-week camp, and some changes. We will work on setting traps and taking Floyd’s speed away from him,” he explained.
A Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would pit two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in their primes. It is expected to shatter existing pay-per-view records, with both fighters having proven themselves to be mammoth box-office draws.
Meanwhile, promoters of the fight abruptly canceled a trip to Dallas on Wednesday, dealing a possibly fatal blow to the chances of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones landing the bout for his stadium.
The trip was canceled at the last minute because Mayweather’s promoter apparently decided he didn’t want the fight at the new stadium. The move leaves the MGM Grand hotel arena in Las Vegas as the heavy favorite to host the March 13 fight.
Arum – who got the news at his 78th birthday party on Tuesday – was upset by the trip being canceled because Jones had rearranged his schedule so he could give the promoters a tour of the $1.2 billion stadium and present a proposal to host the bout.
“I’m just embarrassed, really embarrassed,” Arum told The Associated Press. “The man (Jones) changed his whole schedule for this and you certainly want to listen to the man.”
Arum said he was blindsided by Mayweather’s promoter, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who was to join him in Dallas along with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. He said Schaefer called him and told him he wasn’t going to go to Dallas because he didn’t want the fight there.
“There was no point in me going then,” Arum said. “My guy can’t go into the ring and just take bows. He needs an opponent.” – Dino Maragay contributor, with AP report
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