Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. Fight Pays $300 Million If Ever
Without Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather even discussing their plans for the rumored fight next year, boxing analysts are estimating that the much-awaited match-up could pay about $300 million.
Fans have waited for years to finally see the undefeated American fighter and the Filipino champ go head to head on the ring and next year could just be the chance that everybody is waiting for.
The International Business Times notes that the match could be "the biggest in history" with an estimated $300 million at stake. The report notes that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has given Mayweather and Pacquiao two choices for the fight to happen.
"There are two ways to go here. One is to do a Mayweather fight with both HBO and Showtime involved, as they did with Lewis-Tyson, as I understand Mayweather is under contract to Showtime through 2015. The companies could come together and put on the show. Or, the other alternative is, if Floyd wanted to fight Manny in 2016, he could return to HBO and we could do it there," Arum was quoted by Daily Mail as saying.
Inside Fights note that Arum has expressed willingness to fight Mayweather and said that Pacquiao's camp is ready to take and discuss the plan at any point.
"On our side the answer is yes [the fight can be made in 2014], we're very open to it. There are ways it can get done, they have to dumb down the rhetoric, we are prepared to dumb down the rhetoric and get it done," Arum added.
The Top Rank CEO said there is no impediment to the fight as it will depend on Mayweather's camp noting that it always "takes two to tango."
According to the International Business Times, Mayweather has evaded fighting Pacquiao since 2010 because of financial concerns and blood testing procedures.
But the report adds that the big money offering could be too much for Mayweather to ignore. During the announcement of his fight against Marcos Maidana in September, Mayweather hinted that he has a big surprise for his fans on 2015. Fans from all over the world could not stop but think that this "surprise" is the alleged fight with Pacquiao.
In a report by Inside Fights, it was noted that another concern for the fight is the network which will air the fight. Top Rank fighters appear on HBO while Mayweather is appearing exclusively on Showtime, the report adds.
But Arum said that this will not really be a big issue "You've got to go back in history when Lennox Lewis, who fought for HBO, fought against Mike Tyson who was a Showtime fighter. Both networks participated in the promotion so that's a road map of how we get this thing done."