Top Rank’s duBoef stays patient

Leave it to the erudite Todd duBoef to put the ongoing debate over whether a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will take place in its proper perspective.

DuBoef, who is Top Rank's president and has a good relationship with both fighters, said he remains hopeful the fight will eventually happen. But he said it will have to be done delicately and patiently, two things that seem to have been in short supply in the three-plus years of failed attempts to get Pacquiao and Mayweather together in the ring.

"It has to be grown organically," duBoef said Thursday. "It has to be nurtured. It has to allow nature to take its course. When you're forced to make a fight, it usually doesn't turn out well. I think there's an evolution to a big fight taking place. The question is, does the evolution come too late? Or does it come when the customers think it should?

"We've been trying for three years to make it happen, and it has been a frustrating, hard road. So far, it hasn't happened. But we owe it to Manny to stay the course and make sure that it is done properly, not just for the two fighters but for the fans and for the sport of boxing itself."

DuBoef said Mayweather's willingness to settle the slander lawsuit brought against him by Pacquiao in 2009 doesn't mean a major obstacle has been cleared. Nor does Pacquiao's insistence that he will submit to prefight Olympic-style drug testing, including on the night of the fight.

And it's unlikely Mayweather will accept Pacquiao's offer of a higher percentage (55 to 45 percent) of the purse. He has offered Pacquiao a flat $40 million with no cut of the pay per view, which some estimate would be more than $100 million.

Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's friend and co-manager, said last week that Mayweather, not Pacquiao, will dictate the terms and conditions for a fight between the two. DuBoef wasn't about to get into a public war of words with Team Mayweather.

"For us, it has always been moving targets, and that was one of them," duBoef said of the lawsuit. "I would say it ultimately has no bearing on whether or not Manny and Floyd meet."

DuBoef said he remains optimistic Pacquiao and Mayweather can fight in the spring. Mayweather reportedly plans to fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend in 2013. And if that is indeed the case, it's not too late to strike a deal to face Pacquiao.

Of course, for that to have any chance of happening, Pacquiao needs a convincing victory over Juan Manuel Marquez when they meet for the fourth time Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand Garden. Mayweather dominated Marquez in 2009; Pacquiao's fights with Marquez resulted in a draw, a majority decision and a split decision.

"They both have their own clocks," duBoef said. "Let's hope they strike midnight together."

■ SILVER NUGGET AMATEURS - Center Ring Boxing will stage an amateur card at 6 p.m. Friday at the Silver Nugget in North Las Vegas. Twenty bouts are scheduled in eight weight divisions.

■ MANCINI BOOK SIGNING - Mark Kriegel, who authored a biography of Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, will sign copies of "The Good Son" at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Kriegel also has written books on Joe Namath and Pete Maravich.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.