Every time I say it, I feel like I should knock on wood, but this fight is a go for March 13. Make no mistake about it, this is going to happen in just a few months. Dan Rafael says that the two sides agreed to a 50-50 split, among other things. Here's the rundown:
The camps agreed to a 50-50 split of the money, which could be gargantuan. Many experts expect the fight to eclipse the all-time pay-per-view record for sales, which is the 2.44 million buys generated by Mayweather's 2007 victory against Oscar De La Hoya.
Both fighters will wear 8-ounce gloves but each fighter will be allowed to select the brand of gloves he will wear for the fight.
For promotional purposes, the bout will be referred to as Mayweather-Pacquiao, but Top Rank will receive first billing over Golden Boy throughout the promotion.
However, instead of a full-scale media tour, there will only be a single press conference in New York during the second week of January. With the schedule compressed because of the March 13 date for the fight, rather than May 1, which the promoters and HBO PPV preferred, it didn't leave time for a lengthy media tour.
The fight is going to take place March 13 because Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in the Philippines and the elections are in May, which would have been a conflict between his training and the campaign.
Well that was simple, wasn't it?
There's really nothing I can say that hasn't been said already. This is as big as it gets. This is as important as it gets. This is a fight people will talk about in 50 years. This is one for the time capsule.
Photo Credit: Floyd Mayweather Jr. by Ethan Miller / Getty Images ... Manny Pacquiao by Al Bello / Getty Images