Pacquiao-Mayweather fight announcement could be days away says Bob Arum

After a chance meeting at the NBA game between the Heat and Bucks in Miami, it seems that the teams of WBO champion Manny Pacquiao and WBC champion Floyd Mayweather have buckled down to business. As a result, the announcement of the mega-fight could be days away says Top Rank’s Bob Arum.

“Everybody is doing the right thing,” Arum told George Willis of the New York Post. “We’re looking to complete the paperwork. Everything is moving in the right direction. Hopefully, the next couple of days it will get done.”

“The issues are being narrowed down to extraordinarily small points,” Arum said. “I’m optimistic it will all be put together in the next couple of days.”

Arum said that the meeting indeed helped speed up the process as the two fighters talk for an hour inside Pacquiao’s hotel.

“I think it helped a lot because we were all putting papers together, and there was still a question as to whether Floyd really wanted to do the fight or not,” Arum said. “Based on the meeting with Pacquiao in the hotel suite, Manny and [Pacquiao adviser] Michael Koncz were convinced Floyd absolutely wants to do the fight.”

TMZ Sports sent out a report that the mega-fight has already been signed. However, Arum said this is not the case in an interview with the New York Daily News.

“No, I’m aware of the report, but there are still some contractual issues to work out,” Arum said in a brief phone interview. “It’s close but not done yet.”

“Floyd Mayweather has agreed to the fight, but there are deal points still to work out but progress is being made,” added Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio.

There’s a popular opinion that the fight would be announced during the day of the Super Bowl but Arum was non-committal.

“We have two days, it could happen (Sunday),” Arum said. “That would be incredible, wouldn’t it?”