Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been touting his superiority over Manny Pacquiao for years by pointing to his flawless record-more recently, he's lapping him in terms of earnings as well. While Pacquiao's rebounded nicely from his two-fight slump with back-to-back wins, the star power may actually be fading.
Manny Pacquiao refusing to leave Bob Arum for Mayweather fight
According to reports, the live gate generated by Pacquiao's rematch with Timothy Bradley came in at $7,865,100, with a paid attendance of 14,099. Badlefthook.com notes that the attendance figure was greater than their first fight, but the gate was actually less because the tickets no longer cost as much. That could be a reflection of Mayweather's criticisms that Pacman isn't the draw he once was.
Before Saturday night's fight, Pacquiao's gates haven't been less than $8 million since 2008 when he became a superstar by upsetting Oscar De La Hoya in 2008. Meanwhile, Mayweather was just named the highest-paid athlete in the world for 2014 by ESPN, who have him earning about $73.5 million this year.
Pacquiao willing to fight Mayweather for free?
In 2013, when speaking with Forbes, Mayweather described the massive totals he rakes in each fight. "It's just more like to say, OK, I'm guaranteed over $30 something million. That's a guarantee, but we ain't talking about how much money I could potentially make. I could go out there and potentially make $60 million a night," Mayweather said.
Earlier this year he commented on Pacquiao's highly publicized tax woes while invoking his beef with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, Pacman's promoter.
"Pacquiao got pay-per-view number problems," Mayweather said. "Pacquiao's boss name is Rob Arum. Pacquiao owes $68 million in taxes. Pacquiao's got 5 losses. He still got Timothy Bradley problems and Marquez problems...So this guy's got all these problems and he wants Floyd Mayweather to solve them for him, huh? First he didn't need me; now he needs me."
While Pacquiao's gate on Saturday was a staggering number for any fighter not named Manny or Floyd, it's his lowest in years. If the PPV numbers aren't up to par, Floyd might just have a point.
If he does, there goes the dream fight.
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