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Report: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao Fight Talk Heats Up

Boxing promoter Bob Arum says HBO and Showtime are negotiating anticipated bout.

Are we any closer to seeing the highly anticipated fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao finally happen? According to one report, quite possibly, yes.

Longtime Top Rank CEO Bob Arum revealed to the Philippines newspaper, GMA News, that CBS Corporation President/CEO Leslie Moonves is brokering a deal — possibly between HBO and Showtime — which would make the mega-bout a reality for next year.

"The networks are now already talking," Arum told the publication before his boxer, Pacquiao, fights Chris Algieri on Saturday night in Macau. "I am now more optimistic that the fight is going to happen than I was three or four years ago. I am talking to responsible people who are in touch with the Mayweather guys. All of these people have the ability to move it ahead and make it happen."

If the negotiations pan out, Arum even has a venue in mind.

"If it happens, we're considering the Cowboys Stadium," he said. "It is the only venue which has the capacity to host a big show such as the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight."

The Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Field holds a capacity crowd of well over 100,000 fans.

But of course making it happen is the first step — something which both sides have failed to do for a number of years, regardless of which camp is more to blame.

That and a potential spoiler of the bout could be the unexpected event that Algieri scores a win over Pacman on Saturday night.

Pacquiao remains optimistic that not only he will defeat Algieri, but get the match he has been coveting, especially as of late.

"Anything could happen," Pacquiao said. "For as long as I am still in boxing, and he is still here, there's always a chance that we could fight together."

The world is waiting to see it. 

Watch Kevin Hart in a new episode of Real Husbands of Hollywood every Tuesday, 10P/9C. 

BET Sports News - Get the latest news and information about African-Americans in sports including weekly recaps, celebrity news and photos of your favorite Black athletes. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. 

(Photo: Jeff Bottari/Getty Images, AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, John Locher)

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