P1.3 billion payday looms for Manny Pacquiao

MAN OF STEEL. Manny Pacquiao. Photo by Francis T.J. Ochoa

LAS VEGAS—Bob Arum has been tracking numbers ever since the third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was announced.

With two days left before the fight, he likes what he’s seeing.

And Pacquiao should like it even more.

The pay-per-view (PPV) buys are streaming in as hoped for, and that could mean Pacquiao earning a whopping P1.3 billion for his third fight against his Mexican archrival on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the MGM Grand here.

The weigh-in for the fight is scheduled Friday .

“The results are coming in so great that this is clearly, and by a wide margin, the biggest fight that Manny has ever been in,” said the veteran promoter and Top Rank chief.

Arum has also handled Pacquiao fights against the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley, where the Sarangani representative also raked in huge earnings.

For starters, Arum confirmed that Pacquiao’s guaranteed take for the fight is $22 million (P946 million), an improvement on the $20 million he was guaranteed for fighting Shane Mosley.

And then there is Pacquiao’s slice of the PPV and gate-income pie.

“If the results continue the way they look, Manny should make $30 million (about P1.3 billion) for the fight,” Arum said.

Pacquiao has been nonchalant through it all, telling a gathering of international journalists that he is not one to fight for the money but for the goal of giving “pleasure and excitement to fight fans.”

And he isn’t computing his earnings just yet, opting to channel every shred of his energy into this third fight against Marquez, who he feels disrespected him with his constant harping about having won their two previous bouts.

Pacquiao and Marquez fought to a controversial draw in their first meeting in 2004 before the reigning pound-for-pound king eked out a split decision in 2008. Both fighters have said they are no longer the same boxers they were in their previous match.

Financially, that is true. Pacquiao was paid $3 million for that bout while Marquez received a guaranteed paycheck of $1 million. This time, the Mexican counterpuncher will get $5 million, apart from his share of the PPV and gate receipts.

Being in the biggest fight of his career is half the reason Marquez makes a dangerous foe for Pacquiao and why he will give it his all.

“It’s going to be a tough, tough fight,” Arum said. “There’s no quit in [Marquez] and he’s not going to pocket in like [Joshua] Clottey or Mosley. He’s going to fight like Miguel Cotto and [Antonio] Margarito did.”

The other half of the reason?

A victory by Marquez will set him up for his biggest payday.

A clause in the fight contract calls for a rematch in the event Pacquiao loses— sort of a safety net that will allow the Filipino ring icon a chance to get back into the groove of things. But that safety net, while an assurance for Pacquiao, will be expensive for Top Rank.

Marquez will be compelled to get into a rematch but will be guaranteed $10 million if that happens.

“If Marquez wins, I will ask Manny if he wants a rematch,” said Arum. “If he says yes, we will exercise the option.

“We have Marquez guaranteed at $10 million,” he added. “Manny will get what he negotiates for.”

A Pacquiao defeat will have even more serious repercussions in Pacquiao’s future.

A bout against undefeated superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr., already doubtful as it is, will further be plunged into oblivion.