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Pacquiao's lawyer asks Bob Arum to step aside for Mayweather fight

Manny Pacquiao still has no opponent for his upcoing April fight. Floyd Mayweather's name still top the wish list of boxing fans but the mega fight is far from fruition. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

The angling for a mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao has no end in sight. After the Filipino puncher defeated Brandon Rios and was named as the WBC’s mandatory challenger for the welterweight title, Mayweather-Pacquiao talks have remained in the headlines of all boxing conversations.

Franklin Gacal, Pacquiao’s long time lawyer, is the latest to chime in. In an interview with Edwin Espejo of Asian Correspondent, Gacal opined that Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum should step aside and allow Pacquiao to fight Mayweather.

This opinion stemmed from statements made by the undefeated American champion that he will not fight Pacquiao as long as he is under the Top Rank banner. Mayweather was also promoted by Arum early in his career but the two had a bitter falling out.

ALSO READ: Showtime exec tells Pacquiao to ditch Arum for Mayweather fight

If that is Floyd’s condition and if Manny agrees – and it looks like Manny will agree to fight Floyd - the only way is not to renew his contract with Bob Arum's Top Rank,” Gacal told Espejo. “Manny should be a freelancer for the fight to happen.”

The lawyer has been apart from Pacquiao in the past several months as he is currently recovering from a stroke suffered in November. Gacal however clarified that he doesn’t know when Pacquiao’s current contract with Top Rank will expire as the lawyer was not able to see it before it was signed.

Still, because of the magnitude of the fight, Gacal feels that Arum should simply step aside. “History is waiting and Bob should free Manny,” the lawyer said. “That would be Bob’s greatest contribution to boxing history.”

ALSO READ: Wait until 2015, Pacquiao tells Mayweather

Arum, however, claimed that an extension of the contract between Pacquiao and Top Rank Promotions could be on its way. "I have a contract with Manny,” Arum told Ring Magazine’s Lem Satterfield. “And he's saying that we may very well renew the contract past 2015," perhaps in reaction to Pacquiao's earlier statements about a possible 2015 fight against Mayweather.

In a recent interview, Pacquiao said that there's no chance he'll fight Mayweather this year if the American insists on doing the fight without Arum.

"Floyd has also been saying, he will only fight me if I separate from Top Rank and Bob Arum. That’s impossible because my contract is valid until the end of this year,” Pacquiao told PhilBoxing's Eddie Alinea. “If my contract is not renewed, we can only talk about a possible fight next year.”