“I don’t need him, he needs me,” Pacquiao said of Mayweather. “Compare my achievements in boxing to his achievements.”

NEW YORK – Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach said Wednesday they agreed to every demand put forward by Floyd Mayweather Jr. for what could have been the richest fight in boxing history.

Roach also insisted that negotiations did take place for the fight, contradicting recent statements made by Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe.

Mayweather has said that he has no plans to fight this year, so Pacquiao will face former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium near Dallas.

“We agree with, you know, his demands,” Pacquiao said, referring specifically to the blood testing. “I wanted to know if that’s his real reason (for not fighting).”

The entire negotiation process came to resemble an unsavory soap opera, with HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg publicly stating that he had worked tirelessly as an intermediary between the two sides. Pacquiao’s promoter Top Rank has a poor relationship with Mayweather, who rose to become a world champion under its banner, so it’s not unreasonable to assume there was an intermediary.

Shortly after a deadline imposed by Top Rank for Mayweather to accept the fight had passed, his adviser Ellerbe issued a bizarre statement in which he said no negotiations ever took place – contradicting Greenburg and the folks at Top Rank.

Roach said that Top Rank had been calling him for advice on what gloves to wear, what ring size to use, what weight to fight at – standard details during a negotiation process.

“When people are calling me and asking me, ‘Is this OK? Is this OK? Is this OK?’ There’s something going on,” Roach said. “I know there must have been negotiations going on.

Source By AP (The Philippine Star)