Boxing
More obstacles seen for prospect of future Pacquiao-Mayweather bout
Now it appears that it would be very difficult to stage a mouth-watering showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
It’s not because Mayweather has opted to face Miguel Cotto on May 5 and Pacquiao looks headed toward a June 9 clash with Timothy Bradley.
Owing to the marquee name of Mayweather’s foe, it is safe to say that his pay-per-view showing will be more impressive than the one that will be posted by Pacquiao versus Bradley.
A Team Pacquiao member admitted to InterAKTV that Mayweather-Cotto would do a lot better in pay-per-view and gate revenue than the Pacquiao headliner in June.
“Tatalunin tayo sa pay-per-view numbers ng Mayweather fight,” said the source. “Not only because Mayweather has a huge following of his own like Manny but it will be bigger because Cotto is also bringing in huge numbers.”
The same boxing insider said Cotto is a tested pay-per-view attraction. Cotto contributed heavily when he fought Pacquiao in 2009 and his most recent fight against Antonio Margarito was also a box-office knockout.
While Bradley is an alluring foe for Pacquiao, he doesn’t have the drawing power of Cotto.
And in the event Mayweather disposes of Cotto and Pacquiao brushes off Bradley, Mayweather would demand that he gets the lion’s share of the purse and revenue.
Negotiations to bring about Pacquiao-Mayweather bogged down last week owing to the revenue split with the Filipino insisting that they equally share the profits and Mayweather protesting to such an offer.
One more thing that would serve as a stumbling block would be the weight. Mayweather-Cotto will be staged at 154 lbs, a weight Pacquiao said he will never fight in because it is simply too big for him.
If Cotto wins versus Mayweather, it would be doubtful to see him go down to 147 lbs against Pacquiao.
