And just like that, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is free to fight on May 5, as originally scheduled.
Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) was scheduled to go to court today to begin his 90-day sentence in jail, following a guilty plea for a domestic violence case involving his ex-girlfriend, but instead, found himself going home after a Las Vegas County judge Melissa Saragosa allowed his incarceration to be postponed until June 1.
Richard Wright, Mayweather’s attorney, convinced the judge after arguing that he had signed contracts and agreements with the MGM Grand and PPV outlets that needed to be fulfilled for May 5.
“We are pleased that the judge granted postponement of Floyd’s surrender date so that he can fulfill his commitment to Las Vegas to deliver his promised mega-fight and the economic benefits it provides to the community,”
said Mayweather’s advisor Leonard Ellerbe in a statement.
Of course all talks will now focus on a potential mega bout between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
[RELATED: Pacquiao: "Negotiations are ongoing for Mayweather fight"]
Whether that fight happens on May 5 is anyone’s guess but as of now, that appears to not be the case.
Promoter Bob Arum told the Los Angeles Times that May 5 doesn’t work for them.
“May 5 is out for us, it can’t happen, because we want to explore the idea of getting a [temporary] stadium/arena up on the streets of Las Vegas that can seat 40,000,” Arum said. “The end of May is a possibility.”
Arum also said that he is still scheduled to meet with Pacquiao next week to discuss Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Lamont Peterson and Miguel Cotto as potential opponents for his next fight, but did admit that if Pacquiao says he’s ready to go for early May, then they could discuss Mayweather.
[RELATED: Manny Pacquiao's first opponent for 2012: Cotto, Marquez, Bradley or Peterson?]
Meanwhile a cut that Pacquiao sustained in the Marquez fight is also an apparent issue with Arum who doesn’t think he’d be ready to fight by May 5.
“I don’t know that he’s on schedule to start sparring until the beginning of April,” Arum said. “That’s one of the things we’ll discuss. If it is early April, we’ll have to have the fight in late May.”
Golden Boy Promotions’ Richard Schaefer, who has promoted Mayweather’s last few fights, isn’t confident that a Pacquiao fight will be made for May.
“First, Manny wasn’t available in May, and he was going to fight in June. Then when it was apparent that Mayweather was not going to fight in May, suddenly, Pacquiao’s going to fight in May. And now, he knows that Mayweather’s going to fight in May, and, suddenly, Pacquiao is not available in May. It’s so clear that we they don’t want the fight that we’ll move on,” Schaefer told RingTV.com.
Schaefer went on to say that unless something drastic happens, they will look at a possible matchup between Floyd and either Saul Alvarez or Robert Guerrero.
And so while Mayweather is now temporarily free to pursue his May 5 fight, the fight everyone wants to see, a showdown with Pacquiao, seems just as far apart as it was a week ago.
SOURCE: 3 More Rounds (Mayweather’s Sentencing Delayed; OK to Fight in May by Ramon Aranda)
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