Contenders Are Circling, Even Before Fight Is Set

The calls started two days after Manny Pacquiao bloodied and battered Miguel Cotto to capture his record seventh title in seven weight divisions. They came from representatives of sites across the country, from stadiums in Los Angeles, Texas, Louisiana and New York.

All were inquiring about hosting the match the boxing world most wants to watch, with the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. in one corner and Pacquiao in the other.

Since Pacquiao finished Cotto with a technical knockout in the 12th round on Nov. 14, Pacquiao’s promoters at Top Rank Boxing have heard from officials of the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants and the Jets, along with representatives for Cowboys Stadium in Texas, the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the Superdome in New Orleans.

James Carville, once an adviser to President Bill Clinton, called on behalf of Louisiana. And a group of businessmen in Las Vegas, eager to retain top fights, has proposed building a temporary arena on the Strip that would hold 30,000 fans.

Such is the interest for a fight that remains far from guaranteed. Top Rank cannot negotiate with sites until it has completed a deal between the fighters. But that has not stopped the stadiums from lining up.

“This fight is as much sought after as any fight probably since the first between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,” said Thomas Hauser, an author and the lead boxing writer for secondsout.com. “Lewis-Tyson, which was the last fight of this magnitude on the Richter scale, was a hot potato, but nobody wanted to deal with Tyson. This is different.

“If it happens, it will be one of those events that transcends boxing.”

Representatives for Pacquiao and Mayweather met Monday in Las Vegas, and by the time they had finished lunch, they had decided to not discuss negotiations publicly.

Originally, Top Rank had hoped to stage the fight on March 13. But Freddie Roach, the trainer for Pacquiao, wanted to hold a longer training camp, for 10 weeks instead of eight weeks. Now, the target date is May 1.

For Pacquiao, Top Rank is only working on a fight with Mayweather, no others.

“Nobody would tolerate anything other than this fight,” Bob Arum, the chairman of Top Rank, said over breakfast last week in New York. “Any other fight would do a terrible disservice to boxing. Everybody is talking about boxing right now. And everybody is talking about this fight.”

Nobody knows exactly how long negotiations between the fighters will last. But because of bad blood between Mayweather and Arum and because of the amount of money involved, the negotiations could stretch for two months, as those between Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya did.

Once they make the fight, promoters will work on selecting the site.

Hauser cited three reasons that worked heavily against Yankee Stadium — a 14 percent loss of the purse in taxes, the possibility of rain and the lack of a local fan base for the fighters.

Last week, Arum seemed most intrigued by Cowboys Stadium (seating for 111,000, no state income tax), the Superdome (he spoke highly of Carville) and the temporary arena in Las Vegas, where he lives. Arum said the potential site for that arena, where the Frontier Casino was once situated, was already properly wired for a fight.

“Business is business, but Vegas would have to have the leg up with us, because we’re Vegas people,” Arum said. “On the other hand, it’s our job to grow the revenue with these fighters. And we will do that.”

Arum could accomplish that by hosting the fight outside of Las Vegas or in a larger stadium to help increase boxing’s audience. He could boost revenue by charging $2,000 for ring-side seats, a price last levied for Mayweather-De La Hoya.

Arum also wants to add new sponsors. He has said a major soft drink company and a major fast-food chain sent representatives to Pacquiao’s fight against Cotto.

That fight produced at least 1.25 million pay-per-view buys, a number that is rising as more results come back, according to Top Rank. Mayweather’s fight against De La Hoya registered 2.4 million buys, the most of any nonheavyweight fight.

Pacquiao and Mayweather could top that number and split more than $100 million. First, though, they need to agree on how to divide the money.

The promoters declined to comment Tuesday, but last week, Arum said Top Rank favored a 60-40 split in favor of Pacquiao. Mayweather has previously said he wanted the divide in his favor, at 65-35.

The sides are likely to meet somewhere close to 50-50, setting up the fight almost everyone wants: Mayweather, with the reach and the counterpunches and the ability to fight while moving backward, against Pacquiao, who keeps moving up in weight and knocking out the toughest fighters around.

“Everyone wants to get this done,” Arum said last week.

Source: nytimes.com