Arum Grasping at Straws with $100 Million Mayweather Tale

by Paul Magno

It seems that every time Top Rank boss man, Bob Arum needs to justify his opponent selection for Manny Pacquiao, he drags up the vilified image of former client, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The Las Vegas resident who was once the apple of Arum’s eye has been a major part of every Manny Pacquiao promotion since Pacquiao crushed Ricky Hatton back in 2009.

The pattern is simple: Blame Mayweather for Pacquiao-Mayweather not happening, blame him for the damaged opponent that Manny is “forced” to settle on, and then use Mayweather as a measuring stick by which Pacquiao’s performance can be judged.

Manny fought Hatton because “Mayweather was hiding in retirement.”

Manny fought Miguel Cotto because Mayweather had busied himself with lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez.

Manny fought Joshua Clottey because Mayweather’s insistence on random blood testing killed the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations.

Manny fought Antonio Margarito because Mayweather never came to terms during Arum’s “super secret” negotiations with, well, nobody…

The routine should be well-known by now, but give the 80-year old Nosferatu promoter, Arum, credit. Like any good fiction writer, he can repeat the same themes and plots over and over again and make each variation completely believable.

The latest tale being told involves Mayweather, $100 million, and the reason Manny Pacquiao is set to fight a couple of guys pushing 40 in his next two bouts.

According to Arum– and it’s important to note that Arum is the ONLY source for this info– He was in “secret” negotiations with Mayweather for a bout, but that the evil “Money” demanded a $100 million dollar payday for himself, alone.

“We went through a negotiation that nobody really knew about with Mayweather,” Arum told mpboxing.com, Manny Pacquiao’s official website.

“And Mayweather asked for a number that was so high that he indicated he didn’t want the fight. Take a guess at the number he asked?” After the reporter guessed 100 million, Arum nodded in agreement. “A hundred million…just for himself.”

Examiner.com, which has spent more time inside Arum’s backside than the promoter’s personal proctologist, jumped on this piece of video and, within hours, was filthy with about a dozen variations of the “Mayweather Demands $100 Million, Prices Himself Out of Pacquiao Fight” story.

Next came boxing simpleton, Elie Seckbach, who pieced together a heavily-edited interview with Roger Mayweather, conducted well before the Arum statement, to support the $100 million story.

Not far behind, and within hours of the rest, Boxingscene jumped on the bandwagon by grabbing a confused Floyd Mayweather Sr. to find out what he thinks of his son’s “demand.”

Poor Lem Satterfield of the now-defunct AOL Boxing Fanhouse…He must be pacing the floor in front of his computer, itching to post his own version of the story.

Now, mind you, once again that the ONLY source for this story is Bob Arum, himself and a brief blurb in the news by Jeff Mayweather about three weeks ago, mentioning that a South African financier was trying to put together the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout (a story which Arum laughingly called BS and a “fantasy” at the time it was brought to his attention).

It’s no secret that many are just not taking Shane Mosley seriously as an opponent for Pacquiao and that, with CBS involved in the deal, Arum is under extra pressure to sell the upcoming PPV.

What better way to kick off the promotion for Pacquiao-Mosley than by gently nudging fans to “remember” why Pacquiao is not fighting a younger, stronger opponent.

And what better way to absolve Saint Manny, the patron Saint of roadkill mismatches, than by blaming the hated “Money” Mayweather? It has worked before, why not do it again?