Dubai: The much-hyped, much-anticipated mega-fight between pound-for-pound kings Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao final looks to becoming a reality with celebrity website TMZ reporting that the two fighters have agreed to a fight.
The celebrity website reported that a source involved in the negotiations revealed that a date [May 2] and location [MGM Grand, Las Vegas] have already been set.
The source says the formal agreement has not been signed but that everyone expects the signatures will happen ‘soon.’
Negotiators are putting ‘finishing touches’ to the deal, TMZ says.
Pacquiao had agreed to his contract weeks ago and was waiting for Mayweather to follow suit.
It appears that the chance meeting between the two boxing greats at a Miami Heat NBA game earlier this week helped convince Mayweather to put his unbeaten record on the line with a $200m (Dh831m) fight on the cards.
The two fighters also met privately for more than an hour on Tuesday in Miami.
Earlier Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told the New York Post that the speculation would finally come to an end and that the fight the boxing world has been waiting for will be finalised in ‘the next couple of days.’
“Everybody is doing the right thing,” Arum told the Post on Friday. “We’re looking to complete the paperwork. Everything is moving in the right direction. Hopefully, the next couple of days it will get done.
“Based on the meeting with Pacquiao in the hotel suite, Manny and Michael Koncz [Pacquiao adviser] were convinced Floyd absolutely wants to do the fight.”
Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) and Arum have stressed that they have agreed to all of the terms presented by Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) during talks with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, who has acted as the go-between the two camps on behalf of the American boxer and his adviser, Al Haymon.
