Pacquiao, Mayweather agree on fight venue

The camps of WBC champion Floyd Mayweather (47-0-0) and WBO champion Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2) got through one hurdle for the highly-anticipated mega-fight as they both agreed that it would be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas.

“We’re making progress,” a boxing authority involved in the talks told the Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire on Friday.

In Pacquiao’s last fight at the MGM, Top Rank Promotions boss Bob Arum lashed out at the venue for their lack of support. Arum blasted the arena’s management as they had promotional materials for the fight between Mayweather and Carlos Maidana even though it was already the weekend of the rematch between Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley.

However, this is apparently water under the bridge now as the two camps moved on to other parts of the fight contract.

A highly contested issue is the purse and Pugmire’s source added that Mayweather wants a 60-40 split in his favor and that Pacquiao’s side has expressed willingness to be the B-side.

The drug testing, fight date, and the deal between Showtime and HBO also need to be addressed before the fight could be finally signed but the source added that this could be done in the next seven to ten days.