As a long time Floyd Mayweahter fan and supporter I like the rest of the boxing public am on the edge of my seat awaiting the announcement that the fight is on! As of yesterday I’m concerned that this fight may once again not be made.
It’s true that Mayweather’s (the Canelo fight excluded) numbers have dropped off, and Pacquiao has verbally acquiesced to Mayweather’s drug testing terms. What is also a fact is, Mayweather’s out of court settlement of Pacquiao’s defamation suit a few years back. Both fighters in my humble opinion have seen better days in the ring especially Pacquiao who’s KO loss to 4-time opponent Juan Manuel Marquez has an exclamation point on it.
What is also true is despite a drop off in PPV numbers by Mayweather, Pacquiao has suffered a much steeper drop off of his own PPV numbers. Excluding Pacquiao’s loss to Timothy Bradley in their first meeting, subsequent bouts (excluding the Marquez bout) against Brandon Rios, the Bradley rematch and the recent Algieri bout have uncharacteristically low PPV buys below 500K Buys. Mayweather’s lowest PPV performance is reported to have been in the 875K to 900K range.
The difference between these two pugilists numbers can only be explained by the fact that many more fight fans will pay to see Mayweather lose rather than pay to see Pacquiao win. That is, if the chance that Mayweather will lose is greater than him winning in a PPV buyers mind, they’ll part with their money in large numbers. So a Mayweather/Pacquiao bout stands to be a financial blockbuster.
It’s been rumoured that Pacquiao’s promoter was offered $10M to step aside, and in the past couple of days fighthype.com is reporting that a long time member or members of Team Pacquiao have requested an audience with Money Mayweather to try and make the fight happen-sceptical of the ongoing negotiations.
Other leaks are reporting that Mayweather is demanding an 80/20 split of an estimated $200M pie with Pacquiao only guaranteed $40M. And this is where my article begins. I can see Mayweather’s point his numbers have doubled and almost tripled Pacquiao’s numbers, therefore his demands as the A-side cannot be minimized. Mayweather is also commanding $30M+ guarantees irregardless who he fights, while Pacquiao was guaranteed only $20M for his 4th bout against Juan Manuel Marquez. If you listen to Bob Arum he’s saying that Showtime is losing money with Mayweather, then where does that put Manny Pacquiao who’s numbers are significantly lower?
What I see as the logical and successful conclusion to these ongoing negotiations is a 67/33 split in Mayweather’s favor, with Pacquiao sharing in a percentage of the PPV upside. Because after all without Pacquaio, there wouldn’t even be a $200M pie. Negotiating hard and the business of boxing is where Money Mayweather excels making him the highest paid boxer in the history of the Sweet Science, so giving $66M to Pacquiao only to take home $137M isn’t to bad for an hours work! 70/30 wouldn’t be bad either?