Uh oh ....
With 10 more days until the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao mega-bout on May 2, a new report claims that the fight contract hasn't even been signed yet.
Apparently, Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, says the contract he received a draft of on April 15 was not what parties agreed on in the original terms back in February.
"We agreed that we would all be signatories on the final contract and then they sent us a draft of the agreement and it excluded us," Arum told ESPN.
Signing the contract would ensure that Top Rank wouldn't have any clout when it comes to making decisions about the fight night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas such as video content, music and in-arena production.
"They don't want us to have any say," Arum continued. "So whether they came up with the deal between Mayweather and MGM before or after our agreement, they've committed fraud either way. That's what we're enmeshed in. It's one of the things I was most concerned about."
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, thinks Top Rank is just bitter because it's not getting its way.
"The bottom line is that Bob isn't willing to live with the agreement signed a couple months ago, which doesn't allow him to be in control," Ellerbe responded to ESPN. "The only conspiracy, in my opinion, exists with him trying to conspire with his lawyers to change the terms of the agreement. I assure you that nothing underhanded is going on and the reference to this back alley stuff is ridiculous."
All being said, Arum remains hopeful that the contract will be signed soon. As long as nothing gets in the way of the world getting the fight we want to see. No pressure ... we only waited five-plus years to see it.
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