Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have finally met — in person.
Now talks might get serious about them meeting in the ring.
Both Pacquiao and Mayweather were at courtside when the Miami Heat hosted the Milwaukee Bucks at the American Airlines Arena.
“He gave his number to me and said we will communicate with each other,” said Pacquiao, adding that he had never before met Mayweather in person.
Asked to clarify if the exchange meant the two would negotiate directly about meeting in the ring, Pacquiao said that was the case.
Mayweather did not respond to a question asked by an AP reporter. “Not now,” one of his security guards said, as Mayweather fiddled with his phone.
The Filipino boxer also said that he was informed only a minute before halftime that Mayweather would be approaching him.
Mayweather, for his part, said that he wanted to talk to Pacquiao about “all the lies” that have been hampering the discussions between their camps.
Pacquiao, 36, had already been in Miami as a judge for the Miss Universe competition and was expected to leave earlier but had his flight canceled due to the winter storm that affected travel throughout the eastern United States. Mayweather is a frequent attendee of Heat games.
So Pacquiao decided to come to the Heat-Milwaukee Bucks game. He’s a noted basketball fan and has a good relationship with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who is of Filipino descent.
Mayweather has been a regular courtside attendee at Heat games for several years.
And it just so happened they picked the same game. Pacquiao said he didn’t expect to see Mayweather — who had a seat just a few feet from Spoelstra’s spot on the side of the court where the Heat have their bench.
Even the Heat weighed in on the buzz surrounding the potential fight. They put photos of both fighters on their video screens during a first-half stoppage in play, with the caption “Coming in 2015?”
For now there is no specific yet.
