“I said, `Why? It’s not my fault. He (Mayweather) does not want to fight.’ And now, it finally happened. They really want to watch to fight,” Pacquiao said, adding his children will have a “front row” view of the mega fight that is expected to go down as the richest in boxing history.
Based on the 60-40 split of the purse in favor of Mayweather, Pacquiao stands to get $ 80 million (roughly over P3 billion) in his bid to settle once and for all who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“I feel blessed and I owe a lot to the fans. First to God but also to the fans because of their support,” he said.
Pacquiao also stands to earn a windfall from the pay-per-view proceeds of the bout, according to boxer-turned-promoter Oscar de la Hoya.
“It is the fight of the industry, which will generate about 3 million buys on pay-per-view,” De La Hoya told ESPN’s Spanish website Desportes, which was translated to English by Miguel Rivera and posted on boxingscene.com yesterday.
“The box-office receipts will be the largest in the history of boxing.”
De La Hoya expressed confidence the ring spectacle would surpass the previous best of 2.4 million buys when he fought Mayweather in 2007 and the $150 million gross of the match between the undefeated American and Saul Canelo in 2013 that generated 2 million buys.
Boxing pundits speculated the payper-view broadcast of the fight would go as high as $99, compared to the usual $20 to $30 price for lesser fights.
De la Hoya said he and fight fans want the protagonists to put on a good show and get their money’s worth.
“Like most fans, I want to see a good fight: action, not something boring and I wish both fighters give us that kind of fight,” he said.
“If Mayweather gets on his bike, if he starts boxing at the distance, throwing a jab here, another there, doing just enough to win rounds – it can turn into a boring fight,” De La Hoya said. “I think this fight is in the hands of Pacquiao, and for this (to happen), he should apply the pressure every second of every round.”
Las Vegas bookmakers, meanwhile, are already seeing a lot betting action with barely two months to go before the ring blockbuster, news reports said.
South Point Hotel bookmaker Jimmy Vaccaro, who claims to have booked every major fight in Las Vegas for the last 40 years, was quoted as saying that wagering could reach as high as $50 million on fight day. Vaccaro said Mayweather is currently a minus-300 to win while Pacquiao is a plus-250 underdog, meaning a $300 bet on the former would net $100 while a bet of $100 on the latter would gain $250. “It’s a one-way attack on Pacquiao,” Vaccaro said.
“It’s a one-way attack on Pacqioa,” Vaccaro said. “We’re well into a six-figure loss right now if Pacquaio wins.” – B. Pedralvez, Malaya
