Pacquiao and Mayweather representatives still arguing over talks, who should we believe?

By Scott Heritage, Examiner.com, Tue, 27 Jul 2010

Although the fight talks are now long dead, for the time being at least, the controversy over what actually took place between the representatives of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather rages on.

As most fans will no doubt have read essentially one side says that the two were in negotiations to put together a fight, while the other insists nothing even remotely close to this ever took place.

Today though the final player in proceedings finally spoke up, hopefully ending speculation and settling the matter once and for all.

Fans on either side have been divided over which side should be believed, but today Ross Greenburg has given his side of things.

The one man in the middle of the two camps and who can probably be trusted more easily than anyone else is Greenburg, the president of HBO sports, and as such a neutral party. Unlike either side his interest in getting involved was purely that the fight would get made, and discrediting either side wouldn't have served him any purpose because he will still have to work with both in the future.

In a statement released today Greenburg said:

“Fights like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao are significant because of these fighters’ ability to connect with sports fans around the world. It’s unfortunate that it won’t happen in 2010. I had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2nd, carefully trying to put the fight together. Hopefully, someday this fight will happen. Sports fans deserve it.”

Greenburg's statement not only confirms that talks indeed were happening, but also clarifies what kind of negotiations were happening.

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