Floyd Mayweather Jr. Predicted Bob Arum 'Fight Fix' Before Pacquiao vs. Bradley Event?
Floyd Mayweather Jr., undefeated five-division world champion, may have been serving a three-month prison sentence when Manny Pacquiao suffered a controversial split-decision defeat against Timothy Bradley on Saturday night, but boxing fans seem to think he may predicted that the Filipino fighter's promoter would go to unethical lengths to make money for his organization.
An interview conducted years ago featuring Mayweather has resurfaced after Pacquiao's loss and features the incarcerated fighter speaking about the alleged corruption of renowned boxing promoter Bob Arum. In the interview, Mayweather claimed that Arum was making money a priority over his fighters.
"Bob Arum is trying to keep all the money in house basically," Mayweather said in the interview that resurfaced on websites like WorldStar Hip-Hop and Vlad TV.
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In a rare clip of Mayweather giving credit to Pacquiao's boxing skills, he also spoke out about Arum's business methods.
"I think Pacquiao is a good fighter. He's going out there and doing what he has to do," Mayweather admitted in the interview. "But I think business-wise he needs a better business team. I'm talking about on Bob Arum's end, not his management team."
Although Mayweather was not able to speak about the most recent controversial fight in which Pacquiao lost to Bradley despite landing more punches than the younger fighter, his friend Curtis "50 cent" Jackson spoke out about an alleged conspiracy taking place within the Top Rank organization.
"Boxing is a mess right now. Do not watch the rematch, it's fixed," Jackson tweeted after the fight. "Both fighters are with the same promoters, they're just trying to get paid twice."
Jackson's accusations against Arum are nothing new to the promoter who has been in the business for over 50 years. In 2000, the famed boxing promoter admitted that he laundered money through Europe and bribed former IBF president Bob Lee to allow specific fighters to face one another in the ring.
Boxing fans took to Twitter Monday to question if Arum was involved in any foul play concerning the bout between his two fighters.
"Bob Arum been foul," one person wrote on Twitter. "Saturday proved it even more."
Another person suggested that Arum should give back to boxing fans who paid to watch the questionable bout between two of his fighters.
"Bob Arum should pay us," the boxing fan tweeted.
However, Arum has expressed his own outrage concerning the fight that he claims Pacquiao should have won. He blamed the questionable loss between his two fighters on the old age of the judges, saying that he didn't believe any foul play was involved.
"The one thing I refuse to believe is that anything funny was going on. I think the real problem is, look at the three judges," Arum said after the fight. "They had a woman who never judged a title fight, an inexperienced woman. You had two experienced judges who were as old as me. You have to have younger people."
However, Mayweather has claimed that Arum used certain tactics to get rid of some of his fighters who he believes are on the verge of leaving the Top Rank promotions company. Mayweather used former Top Rank fighter Miguel Cotto as an example of Arum purposely making his fighter lose.
Before Cotto's contractual obligations with Top Rank promotions expired in 2011, Mayweather alleged that he was setting the fighter up for a loss.
"Cotto's contract is almost up, he's thinking about going leaving on his own. So of course Bob Arum doesn't want that to happen," Mayweather said in the former interview that recently resurfaced. "So he's like if you leave me, you're going to be beat before you leave me."
After Pacquiao's decision to devote his life to Christianity and the teachings of the Holy Bible, many said he was considering retiring after his fight with Bradley. Mayweather's former interview that has been making rounds on the Internet caused some to question if something less than ethical was going on in the world of boxing.
For rapper 50 Cent, the loss was nothing more than a way for Arum to avoid a Mayweather and Pacquiao bout in November, since many are already speaking about a rematch with Bradley and the Filipino congressman.
"At least you know Floyd fights to win. Pacquiao won, they just gave the win to their other fighter to make the rematch," the rapper tweeted. "They don't want the Floyd fight to happen so they're pulling this on us."
