Pacquiao expected to earn $10M from PPV

HOLLYWOOD – Manny Pacquiao, the world's top pound-for-pound fighter, is turning out to be the biggest draw as well in pay-per-view these days. Indications are that Saturday's (Sunday in Manila) super-welterweight title fight between Pacquiao and Mexican Antonio Margarito generated as many as 1.4 to 1.5 million pay-per-view hits, easily making it the most lucrative bout involving the Filipino boxing star. Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's close adviser, acknowledged that those figures appeared quite possible to reach, based on the early tracking HBO had been doing for the November 13 title bout that drew a crowd of 41,734 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. "The numbers were projected to hit 1.4 million, and from all indications and early tracking, we can even get 1.5 million," said Konz. The pay-per-view sold for $54.95 each and could likely earn an astounding $82 million if it reaches 1.5 million buys. "That could mean another $10 million for Manny," said Koncz, aside of course from the $15 million guaranteed purse the now eight-time world division champion received for the bout. Pacquiao brutalized the 5-foot-11 Margarito – his biggest opponent in his 15-year pro career – for 12 full rounds on the way to scoring a lopsided unanimous decision and win an unprecedented eighth world title in eight different weight classes. If indeed the fight spawns such astronomical figures, it would be the biggest pay-per-view match for Pacquiao, surpassing his record of 1.25 million against Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 and 1.2 million against Miguel Cotto a year ago. It also ended up equaling the buys set off by the non-title fight between Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May, making the two bouts the most watched on pay-per-view this year. During the post-fight conference, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said that based on initial reports, the bout could be the "greatest Pacquiao fight ever" as far as pay-per-view sales are concerned. For his part, HBO sports senior vice president Mark Taffet said that the 31-year-old ring icon had attracted an average of 1 million pay-per-view buys in his last four fights against De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Cotto and Joshua Clottey. Koncz said there were a lot of factors to be considered for the success of the title bout. "One, people wanted to see how Manny was gonna handle boxing and being a Congressman at the same time. Two, we trained in the Philippines and that raised a lot of suspicion on how he was really training for the fight. Three, the size discrepancy, and four, the style of both fighters, so that everybody knew Margarito would come at him," said Koncz. Pacquiao's Canadian adviser also believes economics has something to do with it, with the U.S still in recession. "Instead of going to the venue, people decided to just stay at home, and watched the fight while having party on the side," said Konz. "The least source of revenue was the live attendance; the pay-per-view was still the biggest source of income." Margarito, who had surgery at the Dallas Methodist Hospital in Texas to repair a fractured right eye socket, earned $3 million – his biggest paycheck yet – and could likely get $2 million more out of the pay-per-view sales. On why the Margarito bout would likely surpass Pacquiao's similar battering of De La Hoya two years ago in pay-per-view sales, Koncz had an easy reason for that. "Everybody thought he was gonna kill Manny," he said, which of course turned out to the contrary. De La Hoya, the undisputed pay-per-view king, still holds the top gross earner of all time, with his intriguing fight with Mayweather Jr. in 2007 posting a record 2.4 million pay-per-view hits. – JVP/KY, GMANews.TV