Manny Pacquiao's camp says there is no economic sense in setting up a bout with Floyd Mayweather on May 5 after the unbeaten American publicly challenged the Filipino champion via Twitter.
Pacquiao's financial adviser Michael Koncz told The Associated Press on Thursday that a 45,000-seat boxing arena being built in Las Vegas won't be finished before the end of May and staging the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in a much smaller venue is "foolish from an economic standpoint."
Mayweather challenged and taunted Pacquiao to a May 5 bout in a tweet on Tuesday. Mayweather had said: 'Manny Pacquiao I'm calling you out let's fight May 5th and give the world what they want to see.'
"I'll fight you but not on May 5", says Pacquiao as he responds to Mayweather challenge.
Regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Mayweather has the MGM Grand Garden booked for that date and must fight before June 1 after a judge agreed to postpone his jail sentence for domestic violence.
But while the MGM Grand seats 17,000, which could generate around $20 million in sales, the larger arena could raise an additional $30 million. And Pacquiao's financial adviser Michael Koncz said: 'Why would I tell Manny to fight on the 5th and throw away a percentage of 30 million? That's crazy.
'The purse is not the issue right now, the date is. But we don't have a problem splitting it 50-50.'
Mayweather continued his efforts to tempt the current WBO welterweight champion into the ring on Wednesday when he tweeted: 'I'm ready to put my belt up. What about you Manny Pacquiao? Let's make history.'
Meanwhile, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is confident the fight can still happen before Mayweather begins his stretch in prison.
He said the fight 'could happen very, very easily' at the end of May, enough time to build the outdoor arena 'the fight so badly needs'.
A decision could yet be reached this week as Arum and Pacquiao are meeting in the Philippines this week. Arum has suggested his fighter could meet Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Tim Bradley or Amir Khan's conqueror Lamont Peterson instead of Mayweather. The pair hope to reach an agreement before Arum returns to the United States on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment