Manny Pacquiao is expected to pocket at least $20 million for his demolition of Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. That figure could reach $25 million when final results are tabulated.
The numbers are based on pay-per-view sales released this past week by HBO Sports of 1.15 million buys and $64 million in domestic revenue. Both totals are expected to rise in the coming weeks once all receipts are received.
Locally, the fight did extremely well with 14,474 PPV buys, according to Time Warner Cable. By comparison, Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 resulted in 13,341 buys locally. De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007 recorded 22,301 buys.
Announced attendance for Pacquiao-Margarito was 41,734, although a report provided to the Express-News by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under an open records request showed official attendance was 40,154.
But that figure included 9,717 comps, putting paid attendance at 30,437. The live gate was $5,404,760.
Promoters had predicted a crowd of 50,000-plus and even talked of breaking the indoor record of 63,315 for Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks at the Superdome in New Orleans in 1978.
Attendance for Pacquiao-Margarito also fell short of Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in March. Attendance then was announced at 50,994, although records put the official figure at 41,843 ? 36,371 paid.
The live gate for Pacquiao-Clottey was $6,359,985.
