MANILA – It’s now the turn of Filipino boxing idol Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao to dictate the terms of his bout with the British hitman, Ricky Hatton, scheduled in Las Vegas, Nevada in May.
The camp of Pacquiao, known more popularly as the “People’s Champ,” said he is willing to fight Hatton on a 65-35 or 60-40 sharing when they are to meet in Las Vegas on May 2.
Either that or nothing, the Pacquiao camp insisted.
And the reason is no longer surprising. Pacquiao is demanding a larger share since his sensational and masterful demolition of Mexican boxing idol Oscar dela Hoya in a bout where he was the decided underdog.
At the same time, the Filipino champion is being given, this early, by Las Vegas oddsmakers a 2-1 edge in his fight with Hatton.
With his demand, there are warnings that the forthcoming bout between two popular boxing champions is in jeopardy.
“There’s no way, he (Pacquiao) is getting the 60-40,” Pacquiao’s boxing promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank told the “Los Angeles Times.”
Arum said Pacquiao has made a turnaround, saying that earlier there was an understanding or a verbal agreement between Arum and the Hatton camp, including the promoters from Dela Hoya’s Golden Boy of a 50-50 split.
Pacquiao is demanding a 60-40 share of everything despite Arum’s admission that Hatton could bring to the table more than anyone else Pacquiao could face at the moment.
Hatton’s camp agreed with Arum and threatened to sue Pacquiao if the Filipino ring idol backtracks on a verbal agreement for a 50-50 split from the revenues of their proposed duel in Las Vegas.
“We had all this before Christmas when they were talking about different figures and we agreed a 50-50 split with them,” said Gareth Williams, Hatton’s lawyer as quoted by Internet reports.
Williams argued that Pacquiao could not back out as he maintained that they considered the agreement a binding contract.
Williams acknowledged that Pacquiao is a great fighter, a great draw and is recognized as the pound-for-pound number one in the world.
However, he also described Hatton as a unique fighter who will bring UK (United Kingdom) TV money, an army of British fans and so in terms of where the money will come from, Hatton is bringing the lion’s share during the Pacquiao-Hatton fight.
According to Williams, although Pacquiao is “massive in the Philippines, thousands of Filipinos aren’t going to travel to Las Vegas or pay to watch it on pay-per-view.”
See related story: Check out the Pacquiao vs Hatton Fight Predictions and participate in the poll.
Pacquiao vs Hatton: Who Will Win?
- Pacquiao by TKO (78%, 354 Votes)
- Hatton by TKO (13%, 57 Votes)
- Pacquiao by Decision (6%, 27 Votes)
- Hatton by Decision (3%, 13 Votes)
- Draw (0%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 454
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[...] But on Thursday night, Pacquiao said in Filipino: “I won’t agree to a 50-50. That can’t be.” [...]
it will be an interesting fight.. A big money!