Although many will argue that the highly anticipated match-up between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is five years too late, projected numbers for this historic endeavor suggests otherwise.
Both fighters are expected to make a career high payday on May 2nd, with projected earnings exceeding $200 million for the two combatants.
Hall of Fame promoter, Bob Arum, insists that ticket demand has always been a solid indication on the health of a prospective match-up. The 83 year old fight promoter claims that he?s never seen this kind of demand throughout his long and storied tenure in the sport for any prizefight.
?The ticket demand for this fight is the greatest by far I?ve ever seen,? states the 83 year old CEO of Top Rank, Inc. ?I?ve never seen anything like it.”
“Maybe it?s because the 1% has so much money that money really doesn?t mean anything.?
?I?ve been offered for top ringside seats $100,000 per seat. That seems crazy to me. I said raise it to $200K, and you could have my seat.?
While the Mayweather/Pacquiao projected $40 million plus live gate is expected to shatter the existing record of Mayweather/Canelo receiving a record high $20 million in 2013, the PPV numbers could prove to be even more astounding in just two short months.
?I think Mayweather/Pacquiao does over 4 million PPV buys, it might be closer to 5 million. I mean, the interest in this fight is unbelievable. People who usually don?t follow sports, and certainly don?t follow boxing, are caught up in this event. Everywhere I go, people are talking about it.?
?You have to do the math?let?s assume after everything, I believe there will be $300 million in the pot. 60% of that is $180 million, and 40% of that total is $120 million.?
Although Arum is happy to be a business partner in this historic undertaking, the Bobinator is primarily relieved that the clamored match-up finally materialized.
?Thank God I can go into a restaurant now and I don?t have to hear people ask me when Mayweather is going to fight Pacquiao, or will the fight actually happen,? stated Bob Arum to ESPN. ?I can actually talk about the fight happening and people are genuinely happy to discuss this now.?
Despite expecting to produce unprecedented numbers on May 2nd, the question still remains whether or not Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will live up to the expected hype. Let?s hope that both competing fighters decide to leave everything in the ring two months from now.
