By Scott Gilfoid: Well, it looks as if Manny Pacquiao is still set on wanting to get the 60-40 purse split, despite media reports saying that he was agreeable to a 50-50 split with Ricky Hatton for their May 2nd fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to ABA-CBN News, Pacquiao, 30, hasn’t budged from his wanting to get the 60-40 percentage and has apparently given Hatton’s management team until February to accept the deal. If Hatton doesn’t take the deal by then, Pacquiao will be seeking out another opponent for his fight.
This has got to hurt Hatton, who had hopes of getting the 50-50 purse split with Pacquiao. The two fighters had originally made a verbal agreement on the 50-50 purse split but Pacquiao suddenly had a change of opinion and asked for the bigger share.
It’s hard to blame Pacquiao for wanting to get the bigger purse split, because he was forced to take the smaller cut in his last fight with Oscar De La Hoya in December, even though Pacquiao came into the fight as the more relevant fighter given that he’s still on the top of the sport and De La Hoya clearly is not.
In the case of a fight with Hatton, Pacquiao is arguably fighting better than the English fighter at this point, beating great fighters like Erik Morales (twice), Marco Antonio Barrera, De La Hoya, David Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez all in the past three years.
In contrast, Hatton has lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr., struggled to beat Luis Collazo, defeated a faded Jose Luis Castillo, struggled to beat Juan Lazcano, defeated Colombian Juan Urango and then most recently defeated Paulie Malignaggi.
In looking at the competition and seeing how both fighters have fought in the past three years, it’s easy to see why Pacquiao should get the bigger purse split. He makes a good argument for himself on his record alone. Manny is also considered by many fans to be the best fighter in all of boxing, and that counts for something as well, I suppose. Hatton has done well for himself in the past three years, but has been beaten and struggled in two of his fights, and isn’t usually mentioned by boxing fans as the best pound for pound fighter in the sport.
It looks as if Pacquiao isn’t going to budge from his want of the bigger cut of the pie, so hopefully Hatton comes to his senses and agrees to take the 40% cut. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal, because after all, if he’s a better fighter than Pacquiao, he should be able to beat him.
A win over Pacquiao will put Hatton in the driver’s seat for future bouts with other big stars in the sport like Mayweather or De La Hoya, if he so chooses to fight them. But right now, I can see where Pacquiao makes a good case that he should be paid more for the fight than Hatton. I hope Hatton doesn’t let his ego get in the way of giving in. Sometimes you got to give in so that you can get ahead in the sport, don’t you think?
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