Manny Pacquiao Under Contract For Two More Fights in 2015, Mayweather Super Fight Talks Still Ongoing
Mike Koncz, chief adviser to eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, affirms that his ward is slated to appear in two more bouts for the year 2015. The arrangement is part of his deal with Top Rank promotions and could pave the way for Pacman to vanquish two more opponents in April and November.
Everything still hinges on whatever outcome comes from the ongoing negotiations with current pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his camp. Pacquiao has been vocal about wanting to respond to the clamour of the public and has been put on record of his willingness to take a lowered fight purse and agree to several other conditions from the American boxer.
"Manny said the fans deserve the Mayweather fight and we're doing everything that we can possibly do other than say that we can fight for free to make it happen," Koncz revealed to the Philippine Star. "Of course we'll make substantial money but that's not the driving force behind the reason Manny wants the fight. He's an entertainer. He likes to entertain the fans."
Given the history of Mayweather's camp, Bob Arum and Koncz are not discounting the possibility of the fight never seeing the light of day. This is why the 36-year-old Filipino boxer is preparing for other contingencies. There is a multitude of options for Pacquiao, given how he has recovered his brand with impressive wins over Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri but Koncz would not likely to name any names since this will only give the other side an opportunity to drive up their asking prices.
The boxing community has ponied up some other notable boxers such as Amir Khan, Vargas or Mike Alvarado as alternatives in the event that talks die down again. Boxing experts are saying that Mayweather might demand a 70-30 to 65-35 purse split, which may be amenable to the 36-year-old Pacquiao, but the main tipping point might be the insistence of the American boxer to exclusively grant the rights to Showtime and ease out Bob Arum and Top Rank from gaining anything from the mega-bout.
If everything goes as planned, Koncz added that his ward is eyeing his first fight in 2015 to happen in the United States and the second at Macau, China. Pacman has had positive experiences the two times he held his bouts in China and his camp wants to make it an annual event until his contract runs out in 2016.