“Damn I wish this happened five years ago,” White told ESPN’s Todd Grisham. “I wanted to see the fight five years ago, but that being said I just made the call today to try to get a bunch of tickets to go to that fight. It’s the fight to go to, it’s the fight everybody’s been waiting for. I just wish we could have saw those two fight in their prime.”
When Grisham noted the odds are favoring Mayweather, 2-1 over Pacquiao, White said he felt that was about right. “Listen, I’m a huge Manny Pacquiao fan,” he said. “I still wear Pacquiao shoes to the gym when I work out in the morning. But Floyd Mayweather has consistently stayed in great shape, taken good care of himself and I just think Floyd is definitely the favorite in this fight.”
Calling himself a “huge boxing fan,” White said he’s hoping the amount of pay-per-view buys for the May 2 fight in Las Vegas hit the stratosphere. That will help him and the UFC to know just how high they can aim as they move forward.
“It affects us in that I hope they do seven million buys that night,” he said. “I always like to see what the ceiling is and I’m excited for that fight. I want to see it, and I hope it crushes it.”
White hasn’t let being a fan of boxing stop him from criticizing how some of those involved in the sport go about their business. He maintains that with mixed martial arts, the UFC has put money into making certain the sport grows and he’s criticized some in boxing for not doing the same for their sport.
He has been especially critical of Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who once managed Floyd Mayweather and now manages Manny Pacquiao, for doing a poor job of promoting fights and the sport. He once said that Arum was the “dumbest promoter in the history of the world” and a “moron.”
White said that despite being five years later than it should have been, the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight is a great bout for the future of boxing.
