Pacquiao - Mayweather: 'It Will Happen' Says Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer

Though Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer ruled out that a megabout between WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in 2012, there is hope that a fight between the two superstar boxers will eventually take place.

It will happen but not his year, said Shaefer to the Telegraph. Probably when Pacquiao is ready to retire and has run out of other options.

Mayweather's uncle, Roger, said in 2011 that he expected the fight to take place in 2013, so there are at least are encouring signs that the two famed pound-for-pound boxers will eventually meet in the ring.

It is the fight that everyone wants to see, but because of a hold up due to drug testing, and then a dispute over the purse, Mayweather chose to fight Miguel Cotto on May 5 instead, before he goes on a three-month hiatus due to a plea bargain in Las Vegas.

The 34-year-old defensive specialist begins his 90-day prison sentence on June 1, after pleading guilty to a reduced domestic violence charge and no contest to two harassment charges against his former girlfriend, who he has two children with.

Pacquiao has also been in the headlines for the wrong reasons. The 33-year-old Filipino icon has failed to cooperate with the Philippines's inland revenue authorities investigation into his tax affairs.

On June 9, Pacquiao will fight Timothy Bradley, one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. It will be an important test for Pacquiao considering the very tight bout he had with Juan Manuel Marquez. Trainer Freddie Roach believes Pacquiao was distracted before that fight.

I think Manny got caught up with a lot of distractions and I think those distractions hurt his training a little bit and it finally caught up with him, said Roach in an interview with BoxingScene.com. The last fight, you've got to give Marquez credit, because he knows how to fight Manny. He's fought him three times and I think every time they fight, it's going to be a close fight. I think Manny's going to win by a little bit each time.

It's possible that with Pacquiao and Mayweather fighting other opponents a better showing for both fighters might make the eventual megabout more enticing. Though Mayweather has not lost in his career, he had a significant gap in fights from last win over Victor Ortiz, which ended in controversial fashion.

Should both Mayweather and Pacquiao easily defeat their upcoming opponents, it may erase their unconvincing efforts in their previous fights.

However, there is so much ugliness that has surrounded the relationship between both camps that some boxing fans might feel disillusioned by the time the fight actually takes place.