Manny Pacquiao waves to fans during his official weigh-in at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on November 4, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao will challenge WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas for his title on November 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
LAS VEGAS–It’s easy to understand why Manny Pacquiao keeps on fighting.
He’s generous to a fault.
For this fight against Jessie Vargas alone, Pacquiao has spent $1 million (roughly P48 million) for 2,000 tickets given away to friends, relatives and fellow politicians.
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That’s a huge amount, considering that he’ll not be receiving the guaranteed $20 million for his third fight against Timothy Bradley in April.
According to sources, Pacquiao will be receiving an undisclosed flat rate plus a percentage of the revenues from The Legend vs The Champ fight card promoted by Top Rank Inc.
Vargas, on the other hand, will get $2.8M outright.
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With the lower prices, tickets to the 19,522-seater Thomas & Mack Center, are selling briskly, according to Top Rank honcho Bob Arum.
Despite the absence of HBO, which passed off this time, pay per view sales are expected to rise, hours before the card starts at the home of the UNLV Running Rebels, the 1990 US NCAA Division I champions.
In a mini press conference Thursday, Pacquiao disclosed that nearly 50 percent of whatever he earns from boxing is channeled back to the poor through free housing, hospitalization and other general services programs.
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It’s a good thing, sponsors continue to trust Pacquiao’s global marketing appeal. Just this week, Anta, China’s giant sportswear firm, formally announced that it has made Pacquiao a chief endorser.