Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather make headlines every time one of them tries to get the other in the ring. The fight could have been boxing’s biggest draw at any time over the last three years at least. When Mayweather said he planned to host a big fight May 5th, people expected him to finally fight Pacquiao.
Now it looks like that fight will not be happening, again. Mayweather was supposed to be in jail prior to the fight on a domestic violence charge. His jail time would have significantly reduced his ability to train and be ready for the fight. Recently a judge agreed to postpone his sentence until June, making the fight an option again.
With that hurdle out of the way Pacquiao’s camp is saying that participating in the fight makes no economic sense. A 45,000 seat boxing arena under construction in Las Vegas in not scheduled for completion until the end of May and according to Pacquiao’s financial adviser Michael Koncz, hosting the fight in a smaller venue is “foolish from an economic standpoint.”
The MGM Grand seats roughly 17,000 people and could bring in around $20 million in ticket sales, but waiting for a larger arena could move that number p to $30 million. Koncz says, “Why would I tell Manny to fight on the 5th and throw away a percentage of 30 million? That’s crazy.”
If the date can be moved so that the outdoor arena will be ready, there is a chance that the fight could happen. “The purse is not the issue right now, the date is,” said Koncz. “But we don’t have a problem splitting [the purse] 50-50.”
By Pete Iodice
