Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao: The Billion Dollar Fight Moves a Step Closer... So Will They Finally Get in a Ring Together and Make the Richest Event in Sporting History?
- Manny Pacquiao fights Chris Algieri in Macau on Saturday
- If Pacquiao fought Floyd Mayweather it could be worth $1billion
- If the mega fight happens it could be held in China or Las Vegas
Daily Mail UK, 18 November 2014
The Billion Dollar Fight – no, not a movie, the actual promotion – will come closer to reality if Manny Pacquiao wins in Macau on Saturday night.
Say it slowly: One. Billion. Dollars.
That is the mind-blowing value now being placed upon the boxing match the world has long been desperate to see.
Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather can become the single richest event in sporting history and the enormity of the prize will surely be enough to break down the barriers which have prevented it from taking place thus far.
Manny Pacquiao fights American Chris Algieri in Macau on Saturday night
This bonanza is being made possible by the prospect of the first pay-per-view fight broadcast in China.
Promoter Bob Arum is predicting a subscription television audience in the People’s Republic in excess of 100 million. That would generate double the $300million which is being projected as the US pay-TV value of the Fight of the Century.
Yet the key to unlocking this treasure chest is not in the hands of the PacMan or the man who calls himself Money.
Arum is priming this enormous market by taking Pacquiao to Macau – the Portuguese version of Hong Kong - to headline promotions which also showcase Chinese boxing hero Zou Shiming.
Pacquiao could be set for a mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather if he comes through the fight with Algieri
Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum also promotes Chinese star Zou Shiming (left)
This 33-year-old has acquired iconic celebrity status in China by winning Olympic gold at home in Beijing in 2008 and retaining his title at London 2012.
After starting his professional career with five straight wins Shiming is closing in on a challenge for the world flyweight title, for which his Saturday bout at the Cotai Arena is being billed as a final eliminator.
Arum says:
‘Shiming is the driving force for taking pay-per-view into China. They idolise him and hundreds of millions have been watching him on regular television. Combine his appeal with Pacquiao-Mayweather and we are looking at numbers undreamed of before.’
Arum knows he will have to modify pay-per-view charges for the Chinese mainland.
‘We’re looking at $5 a buy,’ he says.
Mayweather poses with bundles of cash (top) - but could be set to earn even more if he fights Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather flaunts his money on instagram
Cheap, compared with the near $100 which will be the price in America. But multiply five dollars by one-tenth of the Chinese population of 1.36 billion and the figures amount to a phenomenal $650m.
A one per cent figure is the rule of thumb for the US (population 319 million) on Showtime or HBO – or both sharing as they did for Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis.
At $95 a buy - and a pay-TV record there in excess of three million viewers – and you exceed the $300m target.
Then comes the site fee from the host arena.
Macau is now the Las Vegas of the East, with all the major casinos on the Strip now operating and the high rollers from China helping push revenue above Nevada levels.
The Venetian Macao is hosting its second PacMan fight so expect a bidding war between the two giant gaming destinations, with the MGM Grand Garden – Mayweather’s preferred home-town venue - pitching for Vegas.
The Venetian Macao in China is hosting Pacquiao's fight with Algieri and would be keen on the Mayweather fight as well - should it ever materialise
Mayweather likes fighting at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and they could also bid for the mega-fight
TV rights for the rest of the world – including subscription sales in Britain – plus closed circuit cinema, the live gate and sponsorship, advertising and merchandising make up the rest of the billion dollar spectacular.
Arum has been building this project since being approached to promote in Macau. He says: ‘The massive enthusiasm for Shiming played into our long-term plan for boxing in mainland China.’
Broadcasts of a weekly boxing magazine show on Chinese TV and first promotions in Shanghai have helped pave the way.
Support for boxing there – where once it was banned – is reported to be forthcoming from the man now considered by many to be the most powerful Chinese leader since Chairman Mao, president Xi Jinping.
A fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao would be one of the most anticipated in boxing history
Not that it is essential for the record-breaking event to take place out here.
Pacquiao will enter the ring for his world title defence against New York’s Chris Algieri at midday on Sunday, Macau time,
That will be 11pm Saturday night in New York, 8pm in Los Angeles.
‘That would be the same time if took place in Vegas,’ says Arum. ‘So it works perfectly wherever it happens. In China they like getting up on the morning and switching on as they are having breakfast.’
Pacquiao is happy either way. The Philippines congressman says:
‘I love fighting in Vegas but when I box in Macau it feels like a home game. This is only a 90-minute flight from Manila and we’re expecting at least 5,000 of my fans who can’t always afford the cost of travelling all the way to America.
'And the love of boxing among hundreds of millions of Chinese is exciting for the sport. Boxing owes a great debt to Shiming for opening up his homeland.’
Pacquiao beat Timothy Bradley on points in his last fight, which was held in Las Vegas
Mayweather beat Marcos Maidana in their re-match in Las Vegas earlier this year
The PacMan has also boxed twice in front of 50,000-plus crowds in the high-tech Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas, which is like to be another bidder for the Mayweather fight.
Both men are expected to be in action twice next year, in May and September.
This weekend Pacquiao finds himself fighting for a billion more reasons than his WBO welterweight title.
His purse here is believed to be a minimum of $25m.
He and Mayweather would be looking to split at least $250m from The Billion Dollar Fight.
Since he has already acceded to Mayweather’s several demands – including a 60 per cent majority of their earnings – he would thus bank not less than $100m, with Floyd Jnr getting a minimum $150m.
The PacMan is a heavy favourite to beat Algieri.
Assuming he does, the reluctant Mayweather can expect to receive an offer which no man who goes by the name Money can conceivably refuse.
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