Pacquiao wants $40M to fight Crawford; why not Teofimo instead?

By Boxing News - 02/15/2021 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao asks promoter Bob Arum for $40 million smackers to fight Terence Crawford at a 75-25 split. Arum has been pushing for the boxing legend Pacquiao (62-7-2 39 KOs) lately, but he’s going to have to dig deep to meet his asking price.

Pacquiao wants $40 million, and he’s willing to let Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) get $10 million of the take. That might seem like a bad deal at first glance, but it’s actually quite useful if you’re Crawford.

Where can Arum find $50 million?

Firstly, Arum will need to find a country willing to pay a huge site fee that will help him meet the $50 million that he’ll need to pay for the purses for Manny and Crawford. One of the Middle Eastern countries that Arum is always talking about might be the answer.

Would Saudi Arabia be willing to shell out $50 million to bring the Pacquiao vs. Crawford fight to their country? That’s the big question.

Image: Pacquiao wants $40M to fight Crawford; why not Teofimo instead?

It would be the 33-year-old Crawford’s biggest career payday, and it would help increase his money-earning potential for a fight against Errol Spence Jr down the road.

Also, if Crawford beats the 42-year-old Pacquiao, he’ll likely want a rematch right away. So the $10 million that Crawford gets for the first fight could leap to 15 to 20 million depending on the interest from the boxing public.

 

Is Pacquiao pricing himself out?

Some boxing fans believe that Pacquiao asking for $40 million is his way of pricing himself out of the Crawford fight, but Chris Williams disagrees. Pacquiao is serious. He’s said to have made $100 million to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2015.

If Pacquiao got that kind of money to face Mayweather, $40 million is relatively cheap in comparison. With the pay-per-view buys that Pacquiao will help bring in for a fight against Crawford, it might be worth it for Arum to meet his asking price.

Pacquiao’s initial request of $40 million has to be viewed as the negotiations’ opening stage. You always want to start high when negotiating and then work downwards to a point where a price can be agreed on.

 

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If Arum can deal Pacquiao down to $25 million, he might have a good deal, but it’ll also depend on Crawford.

If he starts talking about wanting parity with Pacquiao or this 60-40 nonsense that we’ve heard about him enjoying the more significant share for a fight against Errol Spence, the fight won’t happen.

Pacquiao should target Teofimo Lopez as plan-B option

If Arum isn’t willing to agree to his $40 million requests, Pacquiao should talk to him about fighting his young star Teofimo Lopez next. That’s a fight that Pacquiao and Arum seem to be overlooking.

Image: Pacquiao wants $40M to fight Crawford; why not Teofimo instead?

There’s a lot more potential for the dough to be made from a fight involving Pacquiao and Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) than with Crawford, the latter being a reserved and retiring type of personality.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said last Saturday that he could come down to 140 quickly, considering that he walks around at 138 lbs. If Pacquiao is willing to face Teofimo, it’s a much better fight on paper than Manny and Crawford’s battle.

Arum needs Teofimo to fight Pacquiao because it would be the torch’s passing, and it would turn the New Yorker into a superstar. With Crawford, it’s not likely to do the same.

I mean, if Crawford beats Pacquiao, he still won’t be a huge star because he lacks the personality and the fighting style to leap to the next level. Crawford won’t be able to promote a fight against Pacquiao the way Teofimo would, and that hurt the buy rate.