Manny Pacquiao celebrates his win against Adrien Broner in the WBA welterweight title boxing match Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The pay-per-view numbers are in and after initial reports that the buys would be weak owing to the steep price, it looks like there will be enough for a huge bonus for Sen. Manny Pacquiao.
The eight-division champion, guaranteed $10 million for his title defense against American Adrien Broner, will get a huge cut of the PPV earnings, which reached 400,000 buys, reports said.
Priced at $75, the PPV gross has been pegged at $30 million.
The buys for Pacquiao’s lopsided victory over Broner surpassed the 300,000 buys generated by the Filipino ring icon in his last US bout, against Jessie Vargas, in 2016.
It’s still a far cry from the buys generated by his 2015 match against undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr., but it proves Pacquiao still has drawing power even at 40 years old.
That should be financially handy should Pacquiao earn a rematch with Mayweather. Their showdown, the richest fight in boxing history, generated 4.6 million PPV buys.
But while Pacquiao was vocal about wanting to do another fight, Mayweather, who is turning 42 next month, has been noncommittal after an initial declaration last year that he was willing to come out of retirement to face the Filipino anew.
“I will ask my promoters who’s next and we will announce that in proper time,” promised Pacquiao, who said his sights are fixed on Mayweather.
“Tell him to come back to the ring and we will fight,” Pacquiao said.
The two boxing superstars have run into each other four times already, causing a substantial buzz about an impending rematch.