By Yan D: First of all this is my first ever article on this site so I’d like to start by thanking BN24 for letting us share our views about the most beautiful sport on the planet and thank you to every bloggers, without our difference in opinions we wouldn’t have debate. Second, English is actually my second language so please forgive me for every mistakes I could have made writing this text.
Okay, enough gibberish, let’s get back to our topic. Every thing has been said about a potential showdown between the P4P king Floyd Mayweather Jr and former P4P #1 Manny Pacquiao. Accusations have been made by both sides regarding who is to blame for the fight not happening starting with Floyd’s public accusation of Manny taking PEDs (which is view by a sign of fear by Pacman fans), Manny refusing blood test (which looked really fishy for Money’s fan and most of the boxing community), the mediation over the cut-off date, the constant contradictions from both camps and I could go on for a few pages, there is enough drama to make a sitcom that would last longer then Dallas. The last being Manny asking Floyd to fight for Charity and to call him 24/7 which prompted me to study the 40 million dollar offer Floyd gave Manny when he called him personally to make the fight.
The main argument of Floyd’s fan about this offer is Manny never seen that kind of money before and probably never will without Floyd. On the other end Manny’s fan claim that 40 million out of a 300 million dollar fight is a rip off and that offer was simply a smokescreen. Ok both arguments make sense but are they realistic???? Ask yourself this : Can Manny make 40 million without Floyd?? The answer is easy, it is NO!! Facts are there to prove it. The most Manny ever made for a fight was roughly 30 millions in his fights against Mosley and Marquez 3 ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/11/23/manny-pacquiao-career-earnings-will-reach-300-million-with-rios-fight/ ) now out of those 30 million Pacquiao has to pay a cut to his promoter Bob Arum, trainer Freddie Roach and Counselor Michael Konz. Nobody knows for sure what the “cut” is, but most rumors say that Arum takes around 25-30% and Roach takes around 10%, but this is speculation what is certain is Pacman NEVER gets the full share of his guaranteed purse or the PPVs money except in his own country ( refer to the forbe’s article). Bottom line $40 million for a single fight is BY FAR the biggest payday Manny Pacquiao would have receive in his career considering he would not have to give a cut to Arum since Mayweather was taking Top Rank out of the equation.
Next let’s ask ourselves something else, was 40 million such a bad split for Pacquiao? Most if not all Manny’s fan would respond yes in a heart beat, but when you take your time to look at it I’m not so sure about it. I have been reading blogs and what always comes back in every debate is how much money a fight between Floyd and Manny would generate. The consensus is normally around 250-300 million which in not far-fetch considering the highest grossing fight in history happened last September and generated around 150 million in PPV and a bit over 200 million in total revenue ( http://m.espn.go.com/extra/boxing/story?storyId=9694996&src=desktop ) and that a May-Pac showdown would definitely break this mark. Manny fans are quick to point out that a 250-40 million split is unfair and it sure is but this is not how it works. In the Canelo fight, Money racked in around 80-85 million, Saul going home with around 20-25. So out of the 200 million half went to the final fight the split being 4 to 1 for Floyd or 80-20 for those who like percentage. Now for Pacquiao a 80-20 is out of the question and I agree with him it is not a fair deal but was 40 million really a 80-20 deal??
Let’s take into consideration that half the revenue of the fight just like the Canelo fights goes into the column “expenses” which cover everything from renting the MGM, publicity, the promotion, paying the undercard fighters, setting up the event, Showtime or/and HBO cut, GBP cut ( I am leaving put Top Rank because that is what the 40 million offer was all about), the advisers cut (Al Haymon and Michael Koncz, yes they get a cut) etc, etc. ( most of that money has to come upfront and comes out of MP and GPB pockets), what is finally left for both fighters is more likely to be 125-150 million for both fighters. So now with Floyd and GPB assuming the risks of putting the money upfront financing the event ( Yes there is always a risk ) it is normal that Floyd is getting the lion share. So bottom line we really more talking about a 70-30 split which I’ll admit myself doesn’t seem really fair but considering Floyd was looking for a 60-40 it was a good negotiation start with Manny having the possibility to ask for 50 million and demanding the PPVs in his home country as oppose to no PPVs at all but we all know what happened next. He declined the offer and ask again for 50/50 when he was in no position to ask for that alone unless he wanted to involve TR and even then with Top Rank taking a piece of the revenue along with GBP the 125-150 million window would probably be reduce 110-130 with Manny having to give 25-30% of his purse to Bob. So even with the 50/50 deal even if he would have racked in more money ( 60-65 million) when you take away Bob’s cut you truly are in the range of 40-50 million, so I don’t think the offer was that bogus considering he would probably make has much money with a 50/50 deal with Bob which leads me to believe who the real block is for the fight.
To finish I would like to make it clear that in no way do I think a professional boxer is afraid to fight another anybody who says this is not a true fan of boxing otherwise just come out and say SRL was afraid of Pryor. Boxing is and always has been a business and it is even more true today with the multiple belts and TV networks. I would be the first to buy the Pac-May fight but as of now from a business point of view no deal has been made so let’s not get the ego of a few men get in the way of this amazing sports, so many fighters deserve our attention and the spotlight so until they actually fight let us enjoy the sport we all love.
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