Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has made a new counter-offer to Manny Pacquiao, as behind-the-scenes negotiations continue for their megafight that could happen sometime next year, according to a report Friday by the Philippines ABS-CBN News.
The New Year's Eve offer that may bring the long-sought-after fight one step closer to reality came the same day Pacquiao issued a new challenge to Mayweather via the Filipino icon's own Twitter feed.
In the latest challenge, the 36-year-old Pacquiao called on his 27-year-old rival to help him "make fistory," by agreeing to the fight.
By most accounts, a fight between competing junior middleweight kings Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, who are also ranked the number one and number three pound-for-pound fighters in the world by The Ring Magazine, would be the richest fight in boxing history.
While Mayweather, as most boxing fans believe, has long avoided fighting Pacquiao due to the Filipino champion's devastating combination of hand speed and punching power, it was Mayweather himself who ignited the latest surge of optimism that the fight may happen, when in an interview in December, he called for the fight to take place in 2015.
"We are ready. Let's make it happen. May 2. Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. Let's do it," the Las Vegas-based, and unbeaten champion said in the interview.
But Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, quickly threw cold water on the May 2 date, saying that because of the date's proximity to the Mexican-American Cinco de Mayo holiday, any major fight on that date must include a Mexican fighter.
According to the ABS-CBN report, however, Mayweather - who himself was promoted by Arum for the first 10 years of his career before an acrimonious split - remains undeterred.
