By Chris Williams: Floyd Mayweather Jr, the A-side in the negotiations, got pretty much everything he wanted in the negotiations with Manny Pacquiao. One point of contention was the venue for the fight. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum wanted to stage the fight at the huge-sized Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The stadium seats 90,000 fans and Arum figured that it would be the ideal spot to maximize the gate for the fight. However, Mayweather preferred that the fight take place in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand. Since Mayweather was the A-side in the negotiations, he got his way.
Mayweather also got his way with the purse split with him getting 60 percent of the booty, and Pacquiao 40 percent. Mayweather will walk into the ring second and be introduced second. Further, Mayweather Promotions will be the lead promoter for the card. This will enable Mayweather to be in charge of a number of items in putting the event together.
Having the fight in Las Vegas will bring a lot of money to the city in terms of the huge surge of visitors that will be pouring into the city for the fight. It’ll be a huge positive for the hotel and gambling industry, not to mention for both fighters.
Initially, it was thought that the fight would bring in $250 million, but now they’re talking about it potentially bringing in $400 million. If the fight brings in that kind of money, then Mayweather could make over $200 million from this fight alone. Pacquiao would bring in over $100 million. With that kind of money to be made, it would be in their best interest to fight each other three times.
“It’s going to a great fight,” Arum said via Sports Illustrated. “We are confident our fighter, Manny Pacquiao, will emerge victorious.”
Arum needs Pacquiao to win this fight, because a loss for him could lead to a big drop off in pay-per-view numbers. Pacquiao’s pay-per-view numbers haven’t bounced back since his 6th round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez three years ago in 2012.
While some boxing fans think that Pacquiao’s numbers are down due to the combination of dull opponents, retread opponents and fighting in Macau, China, it’s hard to ignore theory that many people no longer see Pacquiao as being invincible.
What compounds the problem for Pacquiao is that he not only lost to Marquez, he also was beaten by Tim Bradley. Those back to back defeats in 2012 really did a number on Pacquiao’s popularity. That’s why it’s important that Pacquiao win this fight on May 2nd against Mayweather, because another loss would be disastrous for the Filipino fighter.
“We’re thrilled to be a part of what we expect to be a record-breaking event,” Showtime vice president of Sports Stephen Espinoza said. “This deal is a product of a lot of hard work with some blood, sweat and tears along the way. We believed this day would come, we worked hard to make it happen and we’re thrilled that it is here.”
Showtime and HBO are expecting huge numbers for this fight in terms of PPV numbers, and it should be a huge event if they market it correctly. HBO and Showtime don’t plan on having their usual 24/7 and All Access episodes. Instead, they plan on having just one episode to publicize the fight.
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