Pacquiao indicates Mayweather negotiations are already taking place

Could this be the major surprise that Floyd was promising the fans in the Spring? Pacquiao, amongst other things, has been mentioning Mayweather quite a bit in the media lately. And while some believe that its just a ploy to generate some interest in his upcoming PPV fight - one that hasn't been received with any great glee from boxing fans - others hold out hope there is some genuine chance that the biggest fight in boxing will actually come to fruition. Over this past weekend Pacquiao has intimated that discussions for the bout are already in the works.

"There are serious negotiations with the Mayweather camp and my promoter," Mirror quoted the Filipino champ who was promoting his match on Nov 23 versus Chris Algieri.

Pacquiao also reportedly stated that a Middle Eastern royal is attempting to broker the match in Dubai, and that with oil tycoon-type money behind the deal, the pot for both fighters is in the area of $227 Million. My lord, that's a lot of payola!

Though Mayweather has mentioned in the past that he would not accept a fight with Pac-Man without Manny signing to Mayweather Promotions (tantamount to saying it will never happen), one must believe that there are more than enough digits in that figure to most assuredly secure Mayweather's steadfast attention. That's guaranteed lottery money for both men.

Bob Arum drops in a few thoughts of his own.

"Both [TV] networks want this to happen. All signs seem to point to a first fight early next year." He added, "A second fight in the autumn would provide a different cash split because the winner of the first would claim the higher percentage. As each of them believes he would win, that provides an extra incentive."

And now we continue to wait...