Boxing News 2014: CBS Brokering Deal For $1B Pacquiao-Mayweather Bout In 2015
The media frenzy over the Nov 22 bout between Manny Pacquiao and Chris Algieri in Macau appears to be matched with the on and off news about the dream match between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. The latest news from Top Rank Promotions boss Bob Arum is that the fight is again being negotiated.
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Arum, who was named by a boxing Web site as having received an offer of $40 million guaranteed purse for Pacquiao but allegedly turned it down, said that CBS Corporation President and CEO Leslie Moonves is brokering the dream match.
CBS is the parent company of Showtime, where Mayweather has still two more fights in his 6-bout contract. His last two fights are slated in 2015, although the names of his opponents are yet to be finalised.
Pacquiao is signed up with competitor HBO, but Arum had in the past collaborated with Showtime such as promoting the 2011 bout of the Filipino champ against Shane Mosley.
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"The networks are now already talking ... I am now more optimistic that the fight is going to happen than I was three or four years ago. I am talking to responsible people who are in touch with the Mayweather guys. All of these people have the ability to move it ahead and make it happen," GMA quotes Arum.
Based on Arum's statement, it appears another group pushing for the dream match, Middle Eastern royalties, are out of the picture since the likely venue for the Pacquiao-Mayweather match is the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, and not in Dubai as proposed by the royals.
Pacquiao last week said that he has no definite timetable for his retirement, but on his bucket list is a fight against Mayweather.
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Quoting the Daily Mail, Badlefthook said the fight could be worth $1 billion based on an estimated $5 million worth of pay-per-view (PPV) buys in China, $95 million in the US, site fees either from the US or Macau, global TV rights and other sources such as closed circuit, merchandising and gate.
It said the potential purses for Mayweather would be a whopping $150 million and $100 million for Pacquiao.
However, the Web site itself doubts the $1 billion estimate. While it concedes the dream match is a big one, it is a figure too good to be true "for the fight we'll never see."