MANILA, Philippines – New World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao earned a guaranteed $15 million (around P645 million) fight purse plus around $5 million in pay-per-view (PPV) share from his resounding victory over Mexican Antonio Margarito .
Pacquiao earned a total of roughly $20 million or P860 million from his thrashing of Margarito on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), according to ESPN sports analyst Dan Rafael.
As a result, Pacquiao will surely go up in Forbes magazine?s ranking of richest athletes.
In July, Pacquiao was the 8th richest on Forbes? list, behind Miami Heat superstar LeBron James.
Pacquiao?s victory has elicited calls for a mega-fight against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr.
His coach, Freddie Roach, threw down the gauntlet to Mayweather, saying the American boxer needs to stop talking about beating Pacquiao and prove it in the ring.
?Mayweather has to put up or shut up now or move out of the country,? Roach said. ?Let?s face it. Manny is way above him at this point.
?Because I remember when he was ducking (Antonio) Margarito and he wouldn?t fight him either,? he added. ?If he doesn?t fight Manny now (Mayweather) should retire.?
Roach said Pacquiao stuck to the game plan Saturday at Cowboys Stadium and it paid off in one of the most impressive victories of the Filipino fighter?s career, as Pacquiao pounded out a 12-round unanimous decision over Margarito.
Pacquiao, who has won 13 consecutive fights since losing to Erik Morales in March 2005, was planning to face unbeaten Mayweather earlier this year before negotiations broke down over a drug-testing dispute.
Heading into Saturday?s fight, some had speculated this might be the Filipino?s last fight but Pacquiao said two days ago that he wants to have three more fights.
And after the way he bloodied, bruised and disfigured Margarito?s face it looks like the sport?s pound-for-pound champion is still at the top of his game.
Roach made good on his promise to personally go into Margarito?s dressing room before the fight to watch the taping of his hands. Margarito is coming off a one-year ban from the sport after getting caught using illegal wraps in a fight against Shane Mosley.
? New drug controversy
Now a new controversy has erupted from the dressing rooms as Roach on Sunday said Margarito attempted to take the drug ephedrine before the world title fight.
Roach said they asked that Margarito undergo a drug test immediately.
?He (Margarito) pulled a bottle of ephedrine out of his bag,? Roach said.
?My guy called him on it and he put the pill down and didn?t take it. Ephedrine is illegal. I said I want a drug test right now. He did have it in his bag and he did attempt to take it.?
Athletes sometimes use ephedrine because it increased energy and alertness.
?It is like three cups of coffee. It is like speed. It picks you up,? Roach said.
Ephedrine is banned by the International Olympic Committee and major sports the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association.
? Not a bit surprised
Roach said Saturday?s fight went pretty much the way he expected with the bigger and stronger Margarito not presenting many surprises for them other than the fact he came into the fight with a 17-pound weight advantage.
All three judges scored the fight in Pacquiao?s favor, with one judge ? Jurgen Langos ? having Pacquiao winning all 12 rounds.
Roach thought Margarito, who landed some solid blows in the sixth and eighth round, won just one round.
But the Mexican paid the price as he suffered a nasty gash under his right eye and failed to show for the post fight news conference because he had to go to the hospital for treatment.
Roach didn?t say whether Margarito underwent a drug test after the fight.
?Manny only lost one round and did what he was supposed to do,? Roach said. ?We worked on going to the ropes and sometimes he stayed there a little too long.
?I told him to box him, beat him down the middle all night long. The jab worked perfectly, the straight left hand landed well, too. If he had stayed on the body he would have stopped him. Body shots were taking its toll.?
? AFP wants Pacman to promote peace
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is cool to the proposal of the Army to include Pacquiao in the peace panels that will negotiate with Moro secessionists and communist rebels.
AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said Pacquiao is already preoccupied with a lot of activities as a lawmaker and a boxer.
?The idea is great but he may be doing too much,? Mabanta told reporters via phone patch.
?If he is a member of Congress, adding another task would be tedious (for him),? he added.
Mabanta said Pacquiao does not need to sit in the negotiating panels to support the government?s peace efforts.
?When Pacquiao was fighting, there was no exchange of fire. Probably it would also be nice if this can be duplicated?but probably in his capacity as peace advocate, not as a peace panel member,? he said, adding his charisma can be used in other ways such as advertisements or programs designed to reach out to rebel groups.
?He (Pacquiao) can speak via ads or through advocacies, not necessarily as a member (of the peace panels). It takes so much of his time,? the AFP spokesman said.
On Sunday, the Army said it will recommend Pacquiao to be part of the peace panels that will talk to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The Army statement was issued after Pacquiao won his fight against Margarito in Dallas. The victory enabled Pacquiao to bag his eighth world championship title.
Army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade Jr. said Pacquiao can unite the country and can help the government in its efforts to achieve lasting peace.
?Don?t you notice there is no fighting anywhere whenever Manny fights? Maybe lasting peace will be easier to achieve with the stature of people like Manny at the helm,? Parlade said in an earlier interview.
Pacquiao is an Army reservist with a rank of senior master sergeant. He belongs to the 15th Ready Reserve Division.
Yes for Peace is also considering Pacquiao as an endorser, a source from the civil society group said.
