Reports claimed Pacquiao had agreed to deal…
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Mayweather camp suggests Pacquiao deal close: Sam Watson says broadcasters are involved.
Showtime and HBO to discuss Mayweather-Pacquiao: Joint broadcast expected to be agreed.
Pacquiao agrees terms on Mayweather fight: Pac-Man agrees to purse split.
Manny Pacquiao’s publicist has quelled rumours that he has agreed to terms on a fight against Floyd Mayweather for later this year.
Reports on Wednesday suggested that the Filipino had agreed on a 60-40 purse split in favour of Mayweather, along with the date, venue and drug-testing plan.
Mayweather’s camp finally broke their silence on negotiations with Sam Watson, a long-time confidant of Al Haymon, revealing that an announcement could be imminent as the broadcasters begin discussions.
Watson is the first to break anonymity to discuss negotiations publicly, as he responded to questions during the announcement of NBC pairing up with Haymon Boxing to create “Premier Boxing Champions”, a series putting the sport back on prime-time network television.
However, as expected, there has been a degree of exaggeration in reports that the deal is getting close to being completed, with Fred Sternburg adding some realism to the situation.
“There is still a long way to go,” he told BBC Sport.
“However, at least the movement has been in a positive direction.”
The pair have discussed the possibility of meeting in the ring since 2009, but various disagreements over drug-testing and the financial aspects of the fight has ensured that fans have been left disappointed for years.
While the general consensus this time round is that the fight is likely to happen, there is undoubtedly various terms that still need to be agreed upon before a contract is signed and an official announcement is made.
Showtime and HBO also still have to come to an agreement on a joint broadcast, similar to how they aired Mike Tyson’s heavyweight world title clash with Lennox Lewis back in 2002. However, they will likely have issues agreeing on production controls and promotional shows which makes the process even more complicated.
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