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Bob Arum: Mayweather ‘isn’t in the picture’ for Pacquiao in spring

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Boxing promoter Bob Arum Monday said Floyd Mayweather ‘isn’t in the picture’ to fight Arum’s boxer Manny Pacquiao in May.

‘They don’t want to fight in late May,’ Arum said of the Mayweather camp. ‘It’s dead for May, so we should sit down with everybody, let Mayweather fight someone else May 5 and we’ll fight someone else June 9, and then let’s get a signed contract for [Mayweather-Pacquiao] in November. That’s a win-win for everybody.’

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Arum additionally narrowed the pool of potential June 9 opponents for Pacquiao to world super-welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and World Boxing Council junior-welterweight champion Timothy Bradley of Cathedral City by announcing he’s finalizing another bout.

Arum says he has struck a preliminary deal to stage a junior-welterweight title fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and champion Lamont Peterson later this year at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas. The date will either be in May or July, Arum said.

‘I just got off the phone with [Peterson manager] Barry Hunter,’ Arum said, assuring that Peterson will not participate in a discussed May 19 rematch at Staples Center against England’s Amir Khan, whom Peterson defeated by a controversial decision in December.

‘So if you eliminate those two [potential Pacquiao opponents] and Mayweather isn’t in the picture, you can do that math,’ Arum said.

The promoter said he’d like to announce Pacquiao’s next opponent by Feb. 7 and have the fighters start a national publicity tour after Feb. 18.

Cotto, who defeated Antonio Margarito by technical knockout in December, might take himself out of the driver’s seat in the talks because he’s expressed reluctance to fight under 150 pounds, with Pacquiao not budging to fight above 147 pounds. Pacquiao defeated Cotto by 12th-round TKO in 2009.

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‘I’m not saying [Cotto’s] right or wrong,’ Arum said. ‘It’s his body. He has to make the determination. You have to respect a fighter who makes that decision. It’s a substantive decision, his own health.’

Bradley is unbeaten. He last year joined Arum’s Top Rank stable and defeated Joel Casamayor on the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez in Las Vegas.

Bradley’s name recognition is suspect, but Pacquiao’s participation ensures interest at the gate and on pay-per-view. In November, Pacquiao-Marquez drew more than 1.3 million pay-per-view buys, Arum said.

The high interest in Marquez, Arum said, encouraged him to stage the bout against Peterson in Texas. Arum said ‘based on the pricing,’ he believes Marquez-Peterson could draw 40,000 fans to Cowboys Stadium.

The promoter is dealing with a busy Monday, as he declined an invitation by New York Giants owner Steve Tisch to attend the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Sunday because he’s obligated to attend an HBO doubleheader in San Antonio featuring middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nonito Donaire.

Also, Arum said he’s finalizing an April 14 card at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas that will pit Oxnard’s Brandon Rios vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa in a 135-pound clash.

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-- Lance Pugmire

Left photo: Floyd Mayweather. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Right photo: Julie Jacobson / Associated Press

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