Ronnie Nathanielsz reports that Bob Arum is hearing May 1 as the date everyone wants to target for a potential super fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao was originally tentatively scheduled for a March 13 return. Had Pacquiao-Cotto been a great, hotly-contested fight, I'd almost guarantee we'd be seeing a rematch on that date. Arum had talked about doing just that as a next step. But since Pacquiao clearly won, the only fight to be made now is Pacquiao against Mayweather.
Richard Schaefer recently disclosed that should both Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. win on December 2, those two living legends will meet in a rematch 17 years in the making on March 13, on HBO pay-per-view.
The first weekend of May is a traditional superfight weekend, with Cinco de Mayo playing some part in that. In 2007, Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. broke all the records with their fight, and this year Pacquiao met Ricky Hatton on that same weekend. May 1 is just logical. It gives them time for a massive promotional effort and plenty of time for what surely will be some drawn-out negotiations, too.