Fight Of The Decade Between Floyd Mayweather Jr And Manny Pacquiao Almost Finalized

UK Mirror Reports

Floyd Mayweather Junior's superfight with Manny Pacquiao is close to being sealed.

A source close to the negotiations claims that world pound-for-pound king Mayweather is edging nearer to agreeing terms.

The date of March 13 has already been pencilled into the fight diary and the Las Vegas casinos, New Orleans and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are falling over themselves to stage the showdown which will be the richest fight in history.

Both sides have agreed to a gagging order to reduce the chance of the negotiations being derailed by mud-slinging and talks are said to be progressing well.

Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank set the ball rolling when he met Mayweather's promoter,Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, last week.

Arum says he is now flying to see Pacquiao in his Philippines homeland to discuss the terms of a possible deal.

Pacquiao is coming off his latest win over Miguel Cotto and his showdown with Mayweather is expected to be at welterweight again.

This will be an advantage for Mayweather, who has beaten Oscar De La Hoya at light-middleweight, and two fights ago, Pacquiao was campaigning at lightweight.

Pacquiao's camp are relaxed about the 147lbs-limit for the fight because the Filipino has looked comfortable as he has moved up through the divisions.

The fight to stage the contest is already raging and Jones wants to put it on at his new home for theCowboys in Arlington, Texas.

The Louisiana Superdome is a long shot and Arum would prefer to see the fight take place in Vegas, where he is based.

He is even looking into the possibility of staging the superfight in 30,000-seater temporary arena on The Strip.