Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather's much anticipated welterweight bout edges closer

The long-awaited and much anticipated welterweight bout between unbeaten US boxing champion Floyd Mayweather and Filipino boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao appears to have edged closer.

Pacquiao's agent Fred Sternburg denied reports that the Filipino had agreed terms on a 2nd May meeting in Las Vegas, but revealed that there is still a long way to go, adding that at least the movement has been in a positive direction.

Eight-division world champion Pacquiao and unbeaten American Mayweather are considered the best fighters of their generation but have never fought, the BBC reported.

Pacquiao is the holder of the WBO belt, while Mayweather is the WBC and WBA champion, but the two have never been able to agree a deal over a bout, with one stumbling block being Mayweather's insistence on a strict blood-testing programme during training.

Pacquiao has said those demands cast him in a bad light as a suspected cheat, the report added.