A consortium of investors have reportedly offered boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather $110 million to box Manny Pacquiao, with the UAE named as the favoured location for the fight.
Filipino icon Pacquiao called out Mayweather after defeating Chris Algieri last month, and a UAE investment group is keen to set up the fight, Dubai daily 7Days reported, citing boxingscene.com.
It quoted M Akbar Muhammad as saying on behalf of the consortium: “The funding is in place, and because of this and the group’s unique and distinctive make-up and backgrounds, it has emerged as the leading and most serious group striving to secure the bout.”
Fronted by Muhammad, the UAE investors plan to work directly with Mayweather Promotions in order to finally deliver the blockbuster clash, the paper said.
“I’ve been instructed by the group to do whatever it takes to bring this long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated fight to fruition,” he said.
Muhammad, a former vice president of TopRank Promotions, which manages Pacquiao, hopes the fight could be held in the UAE, but said the investment group is open to the bout taking place elsewhere.
It’s not the first time that the UAE has been rumoured to host a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
In 2012, Dubai was said to be in the frame to host boxing’s mega showdown, according to the Filipino’s trainer at the time.
Freddie Roach said he believed Dubai was the best option for the fight “moneywise”. He claimed that a group from Dubai was willing to pay huge sums so that the title fight can be staged in the UAE.
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