Fans worldwide have been begging for a mega fight between the top two Pound-for-pound boxers - Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Floyd “Money” Mayweather, for a while now; and a person with knowledge of the discussions has said that in the end, there was enough up-front money for both camps to agree to an equal split of the purse.
Pacman & Money will get $25 million each from the initial $50 million pot that has been pooled together to get both fighters to agree to what has been billed as potentially the richest fight in boxing history.
This is going to be an exciting fight,” Pacquiao said on Philippine national TV Friday, December 4th. “I want to fight Floyd Mayweather very badly. It’s the fight that everyone wants to see.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum flies back to the US today (Saturday, Dec. 5th) after his meeting with Pacquiao in the Philippines, in order to meet with the Mayweather camp to discuss a few minor details before finalizing the fight contract.
Asked earlier if a contract had been signed, Arum cryptically replied: “You see a smile on my face. I’m not disappointed.” Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz likewise did not give any concrete details in an interview, but said that all that’s left is a little “fine tuning.”
“Manny has some additional requirements, which Arum didn’t think was a problem,” Koncz said. “The requests of Manny were so realistic that Arum doesn’t feel it’s a problem and it’s pretty much a done deal.”
Mayweather had previously agreed to terms with Golden Boy Promotions, his promoter for the HBO Pay-per-view fight, but it was unclear if he had signed a contract.
Details of the Fight
The source also disclosed other aspects of the fight, which will take place at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds for Pacquiao's WBO World Welterweight Championship belt and match the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Mayweather had initially asked for a Junior Middleweight limit of 154 lb.
The camps agreed to a 50-50 split of the money, which could be gargantuan.
Both fighters will wear 8-ounce gloves but each fighter will be allowed to select the brand of gloves he will wear for the fight.
For promotional purposes, the bout will be referred to as Mayweather-Pacquiao, but Top Rank will receive first billing over Golden Boy throughout the promotion.
There will only be a single press conference in New York on January 11th instead of a full-scale media tour. The schedule is compressed due to the fight being set on March 13th, instead of May 1st, which the promoters and HBO PPV had preferred.
The fight is going to take place March 13, 2010 because Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in the Philippines and the elections are in May, which would have conflicted between his training and the campaign.
Pacquiao will once again spend the first half of his training camp in Baguio in the Philippines, for tax considerations. Only for the final few weeks of his training will Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach relocate to Roach's Wild Card gym in Hollywood, California.
Probable Venues
Arum has said the probable venues have been narrowed to four locations; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has expressed interest in bringing the fight to his new Cowboys Stadium, as have representatives from the Superdome in New Orleans. Also in the mix is the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which has hosted several Pacquiao and Mayweather bouts. Furthermore, Arum has also received a proposal for a 30,000-seat temporary stadium on the Las Vegas Strip across from the Wynn resort.
Lucrative Fight
The super bout is expected to shatter several existing box office and revenue records, with the $50 million pot setting the bout in the right direction.
The richest fight ever was the Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya bout, which earned $120 million in pay-per-view sales and $19 million in gate receipts.
“Mayweather-Pacquiao will be the biggest fight of all time, financially,” Arum confidently said Friday.
Both Pacquiao and Mayweather will get enormous shares of the pay-per-view pie, which experts said could break the $150-million mark.
Pacquiao’s fight against Cotto sold 1.25 million pay-per-views, while Mayweather’s comeback victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in September attracted 1.05 million buys.
Although the Mayweather-Marquez match sold for only $49.95 each on PPV, Pacquiao-Cotto fetched $54.95 per PPV sale.
HBO PPV for the much-anticipated Pacquiao-Mayweather bout could go as high as $60.
The formal announcement of the fight could be made coinciding with Arum’s 78th birthday on Tuesday.
Comments
I can't WAIT for this. This goes beyong Pinoy pride, haha. This will be an amazing fight.