HE OUGHT to be called ?Money? Pacquiao. From his ring earnings in America alone, Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has pocketed $1.530 million (about R85 million) in prize money and the figure is expected to hit record levels when he brawls with Mexican superstar Erik Morales on March 19 in Las Vegas.
The figure excludes the R16.8 million, R8 million and R1 million paychecks he took in December 2004, October 2002 and March 2003, respectively, and payments for commercial endorsements, movies and TV tapings.
In winning the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-bantamweight title from Lehlo Ledwaba in June 2001 in Las Vegas, Pacquiao was paid a measly $40,000 being a last-minute substitute.
Five months later in San Francisco, Pacquiao drew with World Boxing Organization 122-lb kingpin Agapito Sanchez of the Dominican Republic and was rewarded $120,000.
Against Colombian Jorge Eliecer Julio in June 2002 in Memphis, Tennessee, Pacquiao received $70,000 only since the lion?s share of the budget for the boxers? purse went to heavyweights Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson.
A little over a year later in Los Angeles, Pacquiao needed three rounds to dispose of Mexican Emmanuel Lucero and run away with $250,000.
Then came the breakthrough bout in San Antonio, Texas, in November 2003 with the Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera, who opened the doors for Pacquiao to bargain for higher purses against Juan Manuel Marquez and Morales.
The Marquez bout that ended on a12-round split draw in May 2004 in Las Vegas was worth $700,000 for Pacquiao.
Last Dec. 11 at The Fort in Taguig, all it took for Pacquiao to call it a night and drool over R16.8 million was four rounds against Fahsan 3K Battery of Thailand.
Pacquiao was paid R8 million in his sweat-free defense of the IBF superbantam crown in Davao and got R1 million when he stopped Kazakh Serikzhan Yeshmangbetov in a non-title fight in Manila.
In his much-awaited HBO pay-per-view duel with Morales at the 15,000-seat MGM Grand, Pacquiao will collect $1.75 million.
Of course, only 50 percent will go to Pacquiao since the other half will have to be shared by his business manager Rod Nazario and cornermen made up of American strategist Freddie Roach, Australian conditioning coach Justin Fortune, Filipino training assistants Buboy Fernandez and Lito Mondejar and New York-based Puerto Rican cutman Lenny de Jesus.
During his earlier days as flyweight champion of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and WBC International super-bantam titlist, all Pacquiao got was “peanuts” compared with what he?s been getting as of late.
No other Filipino boxer has earned so much.
During the heyday of featherweight Luisito Espinosa in the 1990s, his biggest paychecks ranged from $120,000 to $160,000.
