Pacquiao & Mayweather Nearing Agreement: Is March 13 the Date?

Negotiations for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight have moved forward significantly, much sooner than most in the public have expected. As reported by Dan Rafael of ESPN, Floyd Mayweather has agreed to the terms of the bout, and promoter Bob Arum is en route to the Phillipines to see if Manny Pacquiao and his team will agree to the fight as well.

The two are the biggest active names in the sport, and the fight would be a historic meeting between the sport's number 1 and 2 pound for pound fighters. Negotiations were expected to be difficult, however with the head of HBO Sports speaking publicly on the need to get the fight done, and both sides looking at a bottom line which will include in the range of $200 million, so far things have been moving smoothly. Talks could only begin in earnest after the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight, which was just November 14.

A potential date has not yet been verified, but a few possibilities have been thrown around. The promoters and the network were at first looking at a May showdown, however with Pacquiao once again running for a congressional seat in his native land and elections arising on May 10 of 2010, that doesn't look feasible.

The other rumored date has been March 13 of the upcoming year, and an obstacle towards finalizing that was coincidentally removed today when Roy Jones got knocked out in one round by Danny Green. If Jones had won as was expected and Bernard Hopkins won his next bout the two were slated to meet on HBO Pay Per View that night. With that fight demolished by a Danny Green straight right to Jones's temple, the date is back up for grabs and the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather showdown could fill its spot.

There are also three potential cities that are the frontrunners to be the host of the massive Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao showdown. Las Vegas is the obvious choice, as it has hosted the lion's share of the major boxing matches over the past few decades. However, Dallas and New Orleans are making bids as well, enticing promoters with the potential to seat tens of thousands more paying customers in the arena than would be possible at a Vegas site via the new Cowboys Stadium or the Superdome, respectively.

Arum is slated to return to the states next Monday, and the fight could be finalized at any point if Team Pacquiao is amiable to the terms that Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and Arum have hashed out thus far. It could be an early Christmas for boxing fans with the pending fight announcement.

Sources: Dan Rafael - ESPN