After five years of trading verbal and contractual jabs – Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao – are already winners before even setting foot in the ring. The May 2nd match is expected to be boxing?s most lucrative fight to date with Mayweather pulling in a reported $120 million, Pacquiao about $80 million and potentially millions more in pay-per-view dollars going to Time Warner?s (TWX) HBO Sports, CBS (CBS) and its Showtime cable channel, who all share PPV rights to the fight. All in all it may generate $400 million, according to ESPN.
Beyond the fat purse, ESPN also reports the fight may be the biggest since the legendary 1971 showdown between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, which many believe is exactly what boxing needs. ?It?s going to put boxing back in the limelight,? said ringside boxing announcer Marc Lichtenfeld. ?I do think this will be something good for the sport.?
This week fans got their first taste of Mayweather-Pacquiao together as the two hyped their fight at a press conference in Los Angeles. It was hardly reminiscent of the Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed heated exchanges, as portrayed in the Oscar winning film ?Rocky?, but it is generating the much needed buzz for the sport. ?I would not be surprised if we will look back at 2015 as the year that boxing kind of turned the corner and went back to the upswing.?
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The fight itself will be the deciding factor. With both boxers in their mid-to-late thirties some critics are questioning whether the fight, by boxing standards, will be a match to remember in the ring. ?I think it will be a better fight than people think it will be,? predicts Lichtenfeld, who points to a key contractual stipulation. ?There is no rematch clause in the contract,? which simply means they?ve got one shot. ?With all the dollars they are going to do, if they want to do it again they have to put on a good fight to create demand.?
The May 2nd match will be broadcast from MGM Grand (MGM) in Las Vegas and will will air on HBO/Showtime PPV at 9pm ET.
Marc Lichtenfeld is also the author of ?Get Rich With Dividends?
