CALIFORNIA, United States—World pound-for-pound champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao stands to earn as much as $25 million from his November 13 fight against Mexican American Antonio "Tijuana Tornado" Margarito, according to his promoter Bob Arum.
"Manny is guaranteed $15 million for the fight, and including his share from the pay-per-view upside, he could make as much as $22 million to $25 million," Arum said in a phone interview from Manila.
Arum, chief executive of Top Rank Promotions, predicts that Pacquiao vs Margarito will exceed the almost 1.2 million PPV sales generated by Pacquiao's fight with Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto last November 14.
The top boxing impresario also said Margarito, who is guaranteed $3 million for his biggest pay check, could earn as much as $7 million to $8 million if the PPV sales hit 1.3 million or more, as expected.
Pacquiao's distractions
Arum said he was glad that Pacquiao, who has had a hard time keeping his training schedule, is finally focusing on his preparations for his stab at a record-extending eighth world title in as many weight classes.
He stressed that Pacquiao has to be at his best to beat the bigger and stronger Margarito.
"I know that Margarito is training extra hard for this fight. I know that for a fact because I get updates from my fighters' camps," Arum said. "Manny is everyone's favorite, but if he comes less that 100 percent for the fight he could lose."
The Hall of Fame promoter branded as "crazy" the widening odds which showed Pacquiao now a 6-1 favorite in some online betting outlets to steamroll Margarito.
"Six-to-one odd is just crazy. To me the odds should be something like 2-1 or thereabouts," he explained.
Sell-out arena
Arum said tickets sales for the fight at the state-of-the-art Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas are selling briskly, adding that he expects the live gate to hit 60,000 to 70,000.
Arum said he is flying out of Manila Thursday afternoon and expects to get to Las Vegas almost the same time due to the 15-hour time difference.
He said that Pacquiao is scheduled to leave for Los Angeles Saturday night to resume his training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood owned by his trainer Freddie Roach.
Arum said Pacquiao will hold a media day on Wednesday at the Wild Card Gym to be followed the following day by Margarito's turn to show off his wares to the press.
Robert Garcia, Margarito's trainer, confirmed that Margarito will hold his media day past noon at the Fortune Gym, a 1950s-style gym on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood. The gym is owned by former heavyweight contender Justin Fortune of Australia.
Garcia said Margarito sparred eight rounds Wednesday afternoon and will spar 10 rounds on Friday.
Margarito 'very sharp'
"Tony (Margarito's nickname) is very sharp. You should see for yourself," he enthused by phone. "We're having an excellent training camp, and we're right at the stage [of preparations] that we want to be."
He said his prized Mexican American fighter will spar 12 rounds for the last time on Monday and then gradually taper down.
In Baguio City, meanwhile, Roach told the Manila media that they have two more weeks of rigorous training, even as he assured that Pacquiao would be in tip-top shape on the night of the fight.
The heavy training, Roach added, would include more sparring with tougher spar mates, including undefeated junior middleweight contender Vanes Matirosyan (28-0, 17 by knockouts) of Glendale, California.
The six-foot Matirosyan, who fights with the ferocity of Margarito, is expected to give Pacquiao the kind of workout that would prime the Filipino icon for his tough battle with the hard-punching Tijuana Tornado.
Source: sports.inquirer.net
