A re-look at Mayweather’s $40 million offer to Pacquiao in the face of his base pay with Bradley

By Babatis Banda: When Floyd Mayweather junior picked up the phone and personally and directly called Manny Pacquiao to arrange the possibility of putting up the much awaited fight, it was already doomed to fail as Bob Arum had already given an assortment of reasons why the fight could not take place on May 5. Floyd should have known that nothing was going to work outside of Bob Arum’s influence.

Manny Pacquiao turned down the offer of 40 million dollars, I believe, with the knowledge of what a fight of this magnitude would produce despite having publicly announced that he would take the smaller share of the purse.

Floyd Mayweather must have been naive to believe that Manny would be attracted to the 40 million dollars, but intelligent as he is, he surely had also done his homework on what Manny took home each time he fought and felt this was much more than he was worth. Certainly, Manny Pacquiao is worth more than the offer Floyd made to him, and in some ways, it is demeaning to Pacquiao considering his fan base and his influence.

Having said that, it is very difficult to question Floyd’s wisdom when Manny Pacquiao is clearly not making money on the same level with Floyd. It is disheartening to learn that Pacquiao is getting a guaranteed purse of less than 10 million dollars against Bradley. Even when you add the PPV income, clearly Manny Pacquiao is way behind what Floyd commands in terms of income. Manny Pacquiao needs to swallow some of his pride and fight Floyd even if the negotiated purse would be less than what Floyd gets. This is not a kind of betting game were you offer the winner more money, this is an unforgiving sport were a single punch can end the match and therefore, boxers get guaranteed amounts win or lose.

If it is true as reported, that Manny Pacquiao is getting a guaranteed 8 million dollars with Bradley, then it is a shame and he should have no problem accepting the offer from Floyd. I am sure this kind of purse to a fighter of his calibre is an even more insult than what Floyd offered. I have deliberately not mentioned what I think about Arum, but it is important that Manny opens his eyes and realize that his luck may run out anytime, and it could be on June 9.