Pacquiao, who has won 15 fights in a row over the past seven years, has told Filipino media that he wants the opportunity to fight Mayweather to be a top priority.
Mayweather, who squandered a chance to make a fight with Pacquiao earlier by seeking extraordinary blood testing measures, hopes to add pressure upon Arum and Pacquiao with his Twitter challenge.
But Arum has ripped Mayweather's May 5 plan, saying he could secure $20 million more with the construction of a temporary venue in Las Vegas to stage such a long-awaited fight before more than twice as many spectators.
Critics see that and other moves as Arum wanting to avoid pitching Pacquiao, 54-3 with two drawn and 38 knockouts, against Mayweather, 42-0 with 26 knockouts.
Past near-deals for Mayweather-Pacquiao have fallen apart for years, sending Pacquiao and Mayweather against different rivals with similar results.
But this time, both fighters are coming off controversial victories.
Pacquiao, a 33-year-old southpaw, won a majority decision over Marquez last November, giving him two wins and a draw over the Mexican but none of them by such a margin that Marquez's claims he was wronged could be dismissed.
Mayweather, who turns 35 next month, won the World Boxing Council welterweight title with a fourth-round knockout of compatriot Victor Ortiz, but he landed the decisive blow while Ortiz was distracted after the referee had separated the fighters then said they could resume.
Should Pacquiao not be next on Mayweather's hit list, "Pretty Boy Floyd" has been mentioned as filling the May 5 date with either US southpaw Robert Guerrero, 29-1-1 with 18 knockouts, or Mexico's Saul "Cinnamon" Alvarez, the WBC light-middleweight champion who is 39-0 with one drawn and 29 knockouts. --
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