SOURCE: Josh Slagter | The Grand Rapids Press
Boxing fans hoping for a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao megafight in early 2011 will have to wait.
While Mayweather's battles continue to be in the court room, Pacquiao has come to terms with his next opponent, 39-year-old Shane Mosley, whose last two fights are a loss to Mayweather last May and a draw against Sergio Mora in September.
Mosley announced on Twitter than he and Top Rank's Bob Arum had hammered all of the details out and the only thing left was to sign the papers for the May 7 bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Arum told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix that he would've waited for Mayweather if the Grand Rapids native had given him any indication he was looking to fight.
"We put it off as long as we could," Arum said. "He has been totally incommunicado. All he had to do was pick up a phone and say, 'Hey Bob, wait a week, two weeks' and we would have waited. He could have given us a signal. No one knows how to get a hold of him. The only ones who know how to get a hold of him are the police."
Mayweather is due in court next month to face eight charges -- including four felonies -- from a domestic incident in September involving Josie Harris, the mother of three of Mayweather's children.
He also was arrested last week on a misdemeanor warrant alleging he poked a security guard in the face outside his home.
Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) landing the Pacquiao fight wasn't unexpected. If not for a bout with Mayweather, many boxing fans asked for a third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. Welterweight titlist Andre Berto also was considered.
For Arum, who presented the three options to Pacquiao during a recent visit to the Philippines, the decision was simple.
"People don't know Marquez, and even fewer know Berto. Their Q rating doesn't resonate," Arum told SI.com's Mannix. "To everyone I talk to around the world, it's always Mosley."
Mosley, along with adviser Jay Prince, represented himself in the negotiations with Arum and Top Rank. Golden Boy Promotions, a company in which Mosley was a partner, had been pushing for a Marquez fight.
"Good luck. He’s obviously no longer part of Golden Boy. That’s all I’m going to say. I wish him luck," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions.
Arum said the fight will be at 147 pounds for Pacquiao's WBO belt.
Mosley announced on Twitter than he and Top Rank's Bob Arum had hammered all of the details out and the only thing left was to sign the papers for the May 7 bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Arum told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix that he would've waited for Mayweather if the Grand Rapids native had given him any indication he was looking to fight.
"We put it off as long as we could," Arum said. "He has been totally incommunicado. All he had to do was pick up a phone and say, 'Hey Bob, wait a week, two weeks' and we would have waited. He could have given us a signal. No one knows how to get a hold of him. The only ones who know how to get a hold of him are the police."
Mayweather is due in court next month to face eight charges -- including four felonies -- from a domestic incident in September involving Josie Harris, the mother of three of Mayweather's children.
He also was arrested last week on a misdemeanor warrant alleging he poked a security guard in the face outside his home.
Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) landing the Pacquiao fight wasn't unexpected. If not for a bout with Mayweather, many boxing fans asked for a third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. Welterweight titlist Andre Berto also was considered.
For Arum, who presented the three options to Pacquiao during a recent visit to the Philippines, the decision was simple.
"People don't know Marquez, and even fewer know Berto. Their Q rating doesn't resonate," Arum told SI.com's Mannix. "To everyone I talk to around the world, it's always Mosley."
Mosley, along with adviser Jay Prince, represented himself in the negotiations with Arum and Top Rank. Golden Boy Promotions, a company in which Mosley was a partner, had been pushing for a Marquez fight.
"Good luck. He’s obviously no longer part of Golden Boy. That’s all I’m going to say. I wish him luck," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions.
Arum said the fight will be at 147 pounds for Pacquiao's WBO belt.
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