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The next two days will be crucial in the efforts to save the planned March 13 super fight between pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and former No.1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum had told us before taking a weeklong vacation in Mexico that he wanted retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein of the Judicial Arbitration and Media Services to step in and resolve Golden Boy Promotions involvement in efforts to discredit Pacquiao while at the same time benefiting financially from his fights as promotional partner.

These efforts have apparently been taken one step further as Lem Satterfield of FanHouse Boxing reports that representatives of both fighters will meet on Tuesday in retired federal judge Weinstein’s Santa Monica office in an attempt to revive talks on the WBO welterweight totle fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Satterfield said that Arum has told him he together with his stepson, Top Rank president Todd duBoef would represent Pacquiao along with a representative of crack lawyer Daniel Petrocelli who last week filed a lawsuit against Golden Boy Promotions executives Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer and Floyd Mayweather Jr, his father Floyd Sr and uncle Roger Mayweather among others.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character. Contacted through his administrative assistant, Schaefer, via e-mail, declined to comment.

A key adviser of Mayweather and CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, recently indicated they were “ still trying to make a deal. We feel that this is the biggest fight in the history of boxing. We want to give this fight to the fans.”

The negotiations were virtually wrecked when the Mayweather camp demanded that Pacquiao undergo Olympic-style, random blood tests to be conducted by the US Anti Doping Agency which Pacquiao countered by agreeing to a blood test one day before the kickoff press conference, 30 days before the fight and immediately after the fight in his dressing room pointing out that if he was on performance enhancing drugs as claimed, it would certainly be discovered in the post-fight blood and urine tests. The Mayweather camp, according to Satterfield, has since backed off of that stance.

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director said that both Pacquiao and Mayweather have fought several times in Las Vegas and both fighters have never tested positive for any banned substances.

Respected journalist David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press who is well known to Ellerbe told us “ I suspect if something meaningful happens, it will be Monday, maybe even Tuesday.”

Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz told us over the weekend that for the fight to take place those who had maligned Pacquiao and questioned his achievements would have to issue a public apology and agree to undergo whatever tests are mandated by the Nevada State Athleric Commission. Arum picked it up telling Satterfield “What they have to do — and what I know the option is going to be — is that they have to apologize. All of them. They have to make a meaningful apology. If they want random blood-testing, they would have to go before the Nevada Commission and petition the commission for that. They have to agree that the Nevada Commission is regulating this fight — period. No outside agency, no nothing. The have to go with the Nevada Commission — period.”

Arum has branded the questions about Pacquiao “preposterous and unfair” pointing out that “Shane Mosley was an admitted drug-user. And I’ve had Shane Mosley fight two of the guys that I’ve promoted in the last few years — one of them was Miguel Cotto and the other was Antonio Margarito. Did I ever, ever, ever even indicate in any way that Shane Mosley should be subject to special testing? Ever? No,” said Arum.

Arum was quoted as saying “The feeling in the Philippines, really, is that Manny’s an Asian guy and this is really xenophobic. And because of his great success, this is what they’re focusing on. So this is absolutely preposterous and hopefully the mediator will convince them of that.”

If the Mayweather-Pacquiao falls apart Arum is considering a fight between Pacquiao and newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) tentatively set for March 20 at The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

In fact Pacquiao on Sunday (Manila Time) watched a tape of a Foreman fight but made no immediate comment.

Source: First Last  | InsideSports.ph