Talks on for boxing's biggest fight

MANILA, Philippines - Negotiations are on for a Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. megafight.

However, Bob Arum of Top Rank, who calls the shots for Pacquiao, and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, stepping in for Mayweather, have agreed that whatever comes up on the negotiating table is not for everyone to see.

“We’re not gonna negotiate in the newspapers,” said Arum, who had agreed with Schaefer to keep the details regarding the negotiations to themselves unlike before when the media just gets hold of everything.

“I can confirm I am meeting with Richard, but I’m not going to talk about the specifics. It’s a meeting where we will try to make the fight. Whether it can be made or not in this meeting, I don’t know,” Arum told ESPN.com.

“We’ll see what we will see,” said the Top Rank chief, who will put everything behind, including his rift with Mayweather, whom he used to promote until they bitterly parted ways years ago, in his dealings with Schaefer.

Mayweather has no ties with Golden Boy Promotions of which Schaefer is CEO, but the former banker who helped make Oscar dela Hoya boxing’s golden boy has had a hand in helping Mayweather seal his last three fights.

Arum and Schaefer are looking at a fight that could break all existing records in boxing. If and when it takes place, the pay-per-view record of 2.15 million buys for the Mayweather-Dela Hoya fight in 2007 could be surpassed.

And that could mean more than a hundred million dollars in PPV sales, and earnings of at least $30 million for each fighter. By keeping the media out of the negotiating room, Arum and Schaefer will make sure everything goes smoothly.

“As part of the negotiations both Bob and I had to agree to keep all discussions confidential. No further comments will be made until such time that we either have a deal or the negotiations fall apart,” Schaefer told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.

The Golden Boy honcho said everybody wants the fight, and that includes the undefeated Mayweather who came out of retirement to beat Juan Manuel Marquez last September and set the stage for the dream match with Pacquiao.

“Floyd and me want to see if we can get the fight done,” he said.