Mayweather-Pacquiao: Core Negotiating Is Done, Hurdles Remain

Some great stuff today from David Mayo of the Grand Rapid Press (Mayweather’s hometown paper, FYI), who reports on the fight. Specifically, what’s done, and what’s left to do:

It isn’t a done deal but it’s close. March 13 — a mere 100 days from Thursday — it seems likely that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally will stand across from each other in a boxing ring, meet in the middle, and begin 12 rounds of action to determine pound-for-pound supremacy in the biggest fight since Sugar Ray Leonard upset Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1988

He lists five issues left to be resolved before the fight’s officially resolved, but among the five, this is definitely my favorite:
Mayo

4. Pacquiao’s politics — The fight shifted to March 13 for one principal reason. Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in The Philippines. The election is scheduled for May 10. Unless he stand unopposed, he was reluctant to schedule a fight nine days before the election, and ruin any campaign plans.

Pacquiao has fought through so many distractions that something as minor as major national office in his native country might seem inconsequential. Before his victory last month over Miguel Cotto, his camp was beset by infighting and back-biting, and the typhoon which crashed through the Philippines forced him to relocate his camp right in the middle of peak training.

Still, the election has to take up some of his time, and will be a focus of much of the pre-fight publicity.

For the other four stumbling blocks and more thoughts on the mega-fight to end all mega-fights, here’s the full article.