Freddie Roach doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned in the negotiations for the probable Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao super fight in 2015. The popular and celebrated boxing trainer revealed in a recent interview that he suggested to both Bob Arum and Leslie Moonves to hire an outside negotiator like former United States president Bill Clinton who can help in making the much-anticipated bout finally become a reality.
“I said, ‘There’s too much [expletive] between you guys,’” Roach revealed to dailynews.com when asked by Arum why the negotiations can’t just stay within Pacquiao’s and Mayweather’s camps. “He [Bill Clinton] knows boxing, very bright guy. I think, maybe honest.”
The latter’s disdain for Arum, who is the Top Rank Promotions founder and president, has been well-documented in recent years with Mayweather even stating that he won’t negotiate any fight if it involves the 82-year-old boxing promoter. Al Haymon, Mayweather’s manager is also a known bitter rival of Arum and the influential boxing promoters do not have a cosy relationship even though they are in the same sport.
Despite what is and was a cracked relationship between the two rival camps, both Roach and Pacquiao have been egging Mayweather Jr. to take on the fight. Roach has stated that they will knock out Mayweather if and when they meet and Pacquiao has appealed to the undefeated American to make the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight happen “for the fans.”
Mayweather has yet to officially respond about the said super fight talks but has already posted the video of Juan Manuel Marquez’s killer KO of Pacquiao in 2012 in his social media accounts.
Clinton is known as a boxing fan with some fighters including former champion Timothy Bradley, who met the former president in an event in 2013, vouching for him being a “nice guy” and being a fan of the sport.
“He’s the coolest dude, you don’t even know how cool he is. It’s almost like I’ve known him my whole life. There’s just something about him.” Bradley said in a USA Today Sports article in 2013. “It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, he was there and there were all his secret servicemen. It was a surreal moment.”
Clinton, speaking as TV guest on “‘Jimmy Kimmel Live”, also had a few nice words for the fighting congressman from the Philippines when both were guests on the show in April 2014.
“You’re going to have Manny [Pacquiao] on here in a few minutes. He’s already in the Philippines parliament and I hope that he goes right on up the ladder,” Clinton said in his interview with the host Kimmel.
“I think that he’s a great guy and a great role model for the country and he’s very strong and honest. So he’s thinking about the rest of his life.”
Clinton, who served as the US president from 1993 to 2001, signed the Professional Boxing Safety Act to law in 1996. The legislation aims to improve the safety precautions of boxers in the United States.
Clinton was also the president when the federal law known as the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, an amended legislation of the 1996 law, was enacted in May 2000. Popularly known as the “Ali Act” it also aims to protect the boxers but more importantly from promoters and boxing associations who exploit the said professional boxers.
The Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight has been hotly discussed ever since Arum revealed that he’s in talks with Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer (CEO), CBS Corporation. Roach’s recent revelations confirm the said talks. Will Mayweather finally accept the fight especially if a former American president is on the negotiating table?
@AnthonyNlebem
AnthonyNlebem
