Mayweather Wary of L.A.

Promoter Bob Arum, angry that he can’t get Floyd Mayweather Jr. to agree to a title rematch against Jose Luis Castillo at Staples Center, has made today the deadline for Mayweather to change his mind. Arum, who had planned on holding the fight Aug. 10 at Staples Center, insists that if Mayweather doesn’t budge, he will reschedule the match for the fall in Las Vegas.

According to Arum, Mayweather doesn’t want to fight in Los Angeles because he doesn’t trust the judges and doesn’t want to fight in front of a crowd that figures to be largely Latino, which would favor Castillo.

“I can’t make any sense of what he is thinking,” Arum said. “He doesn’t know what he is doing. He’s got morons around him that have convinced him that fighting in L.A. is like fighting in Mexico. I don’t know if he’ll change his mind. Nobody can figure him out.”

Arum didn’t name the “morons,” but specified that he wasn’t referring to James Prince, Mayweather’s manager, or Roger Mayweather, his uncle and trainer.

“I asked Floyd if he trusted the judges in L.A. and he said, ‘No,’” Arum said. “I asked him if he trusted the judges in San Francisco and he said, ‘Yeah.’ He doesn’t even know L.A. and San Francisco are in the same state.”

Mayweather was not available for comment, but Roger Mayweather confirmed the negotiations are deadlocked.

Mayweather won the World Boxing Council lightweight title from Castillo last month in Las Vegas in a unanimous decision that was scored far more one-sided than most ringside observers believed.

The match was to be on pay-per-view from Staples Center, but, Arum said, if it is switched to Las Vegas, it would be moved to the HBO network, meaning a smaller purse for Mayweather

Although he says he won’t try to change his nephew’s mind, Roger Mayweather could make a good argument for going ahead with a Staples Center bout based on his experience.

He made a successful career fighting Latino boxers, including Julio Cesar Chavez.

“It didn’t make any difference to me,” Roger said. “I ain’t never been scared to fight anywhere. I never ducked nobody nowhere. I was a fighter. But he probably feels like he can’t get a fair decision in L.A.”

Roger thinks Floyd shouldn’t be that concerned about the rematch.

“I don’t think it will be any harder than the first time,” Roger said. “Castillo did the best he can do and Floyd had an injured rotator cuff.”

So why wouldn’t Roger make that argument?

“It’s not my job tell Floyd where to fight,” Roger said. “I’m not in Floyd’s body. I can’t say what he thinks. I can’t tell him to fight in L.A.

“Me, it wouldn’t make any difference, but Floyd has to fight where he’s comfortable.”