Manny Pacquiao is confident his long-awaited showdown with Floyd Mayweather is on the verge of being confirmed, according to

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The fight, potentially the most lucrative in boxing history, is expected to be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with a preferred
date of Saturday, May 2. 

Negotiations between the two parties and their rival TV networks have been going on behind the scenes ever since Pacquiao’s onesided victory over Chris Algieri in Macau last November.

Previous attempts to make the bout, going back to 2009, have collapsed over the split of purses, television coverage and how and when drug testing will be carried out in the build-up. However, according to a report in the Manila Standard, Pacquiao believes there has finally been a breakthrough.

The newspaper quoted the 36-year-old Filipino as saying: “We will make an announcement before the end of the month. I think it will happen.”

Mayweather, 37, has fought on the first Saturday in May for the past four years, always at the MGM Grand, near his Las Vegas home. Any agreement for the fight to take place must happen soon to allow sufficient time to promote it around the world.

Pay-per-view fights are always accompanied by media tours, intense multi-platform advertising and even reality television.

And with a Pacquiao/Mayweather showdown expected to break all records, nothing would be left to chance in maximising revenue.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Amir Khan had hoped he would be in line to fight the unbeaten American following his impressive demolition of Devon Alexander last month. And with speculation mounting that Mayweather is close to agreeing the Pacquiao fight, Khan has set him a deadline so that he can push ahead with his own plans to fight in May.

“It’s a waiting game, I’ve given his team five days. I need to know this week because I need to start training,” Khan told the Daily Mail.

“I’ve answered all the things Mayweather wanted me to do. He wanted me to fight at welterweight, I did that; he wanted to do a vote, I won the vote; he wanted me to beat a top guy in the division and I gave Devon Alexander a beating he’d never had before.

“There is a lot of money in a fight with me, not just in America, but he’s trying to avoid me. He’s avoiding two names in boxing, Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan.

“Mayweather wants to keep his ‘0’, he doesn’t want to take the big fights. He’s fighting guys who are over the hill or not at their peak.”