Mayweather Pacquiao Bout Closer; Showtime, HBO To Talk

The delicate negotiations and long wait for a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight will move Wednesday to discussions between premium cable giants Showtime and HBO, which are scheduled to sort out a joint broadcast of the super-fight.
Boxing officials with connections to both fighters told The Times on Tuesday that both boxers have expressed agreement over terms of the purse split.
The officials talked under the condition of anonymity because they were unauthorized to speak publicly about the sensitive talks, which have collapsed in previous attempts dating to 2010.
The television part of the deal is not necessarily a slam dunk. There’s a fierce rivalry there too, with production controls, promotional shows and budgets to sort out.
There was a dual HBO-Showtime broadcast in 2002 for heavyweights Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, but HBO’s Lewis was the favorite -- he won by knockout -- and HBO produced the broadcast.
This time, Showtime has Mayweather (47-0), who will probabl