Op-Ed: Five reasons why the Pacquaio-Mayweather tiff must happen

His seventh crown neatly secured, the next thing in WBO welterweight champion Manny ‘The Destroyer’ Pacquaio’s sight is to meet in the future the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, known by his monickers as the ‘Fraud’ and the ‘Money.’

The event, if signed sealed, and delivered, will set the stage in what experts call as be the richest, biggest, and the most anticipated boxing match of the millennium. For Pacquaio, the third Filipino to win a welterweight crown, a win over Mayweather will make him as the man to demolish the Motormouth who totes an impeccable record of 40 wins without a loss or draw, next only to the late heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano who had a record 49-0-o win-loss-draw record. For the records, though, there are five (5) titillating subjects that should be established if the match-up will prosper. These are: Biggest purse. The all-time biggest purse in boxing history was paid to Oscar dela Hoya, who received a total of $52 million in his 2007 welterweight fight against then pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather. This broke the record $30 million Mike Tyson got in his heavyweight fight against Evander Holyfield. A Pacquaio-Mayweather is expected to earn Pacquaio (if the division of purse favors him) around $60 million in total pay, the highest ever across all divisions. Best p4p in the world. To put to rest as to who is the world’s pound-for-pound king, the Pacquaio-Mayweather bout should resolve that. Mayweather was king of the turf before he temporarily retired in 2007, while Pacquaio took over the throne and made an impressive account as the world’s finest boxer of this era. Today, even before the contract is signed, the betting has already been in Pacquaio’s favor. Most expensive ring ticket. The most expensive ring tickets sold thus far were those in Tyson’s bout against Lennox Lewis in 2002. Ringside tickets then cost $2,400 each, and the fight generated $103 million in pay per view (PPV) revenues. Analysts believe that a $2,500 and above ring ticket price is reasonable given the historical significance of the Pacquaio-Mayweather encounter. Anyway, promoters can always think of outrageous tags to boost revenues. Greatest live gate revenue. So far, the Dela Hoya-Mayweather clash holds the record for the biggest earning in attendance in a boxing match, earning $18,419,220, according to HBO top honcho Ross Greenburg. The match-up collectively grossed $165 million from PPV and live gate revenues. Attendance, though, is dependent on the size of venue. In the recent Pacquaio-Cotto tussle, the MGM Grand could only accommodate 18,000 persons. Largest PPV buys. The Dela Hoya-Mayweather encounter remains the highest PPV record with 2.24 buys, the equivalent of $137 million in income. The realization of the Pacquaio-Mayweather tiff, which can dubbed as the fight between the ‘bad’ and the ‘good’ guys, is expected to break the $150-million barrier. Underneath these reasons, though, are two equally significant subjects that should draw more fans and funds to the much-anticipated Pacquaio-Mayweather clash: (1) that of earning the recognition as the first, and probably the only, man to beat Pacquiao as seven-division champion, and (2) for Pacquaio to become the first and only man to blemish Mayweather’s clean slate. Although the boxing icons are considered future Hall of Fame inductees, the biggest question remains whether, with all the anticipation, hype, and drama that so far introduced to make the dream bout come true, the projected match-up is anywhere close to being realized. Among the hurdles that must be resolved include purse, weight, and PPV shares.