Floyd Mayweather is not nicknamed “Money” for nothing.
Amidst the loud buzz created by the renewed interest to make the Mayweather-Pacquiao mega bout, the reigning pound-for-pound boxing king and 2014’s highest paid athlete of the year laid out his new demands.
In a report by Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, a source close to the Mayweather camp has demanded that the undefeated boxer should be getting two-thirds of the revenue, should the fight push through.
Mayweather Jr. has been made infamous through the ludicrous demands he had previously made in relation to making the highly anticipated match-up. During the onset of the negotiations around three years ago, “Money May” initially sought for Pacquiao to take an Olympic style drug testing, amidst allegations of performance enhancing drug use thrown towards the Filipino boxing superstar.
Another stipulation thrown by “The Money Team” in 2012 was a 60/40 split demand, where Pacquiao gets the 40%. During that time, “Pacman, who was just coming off a controversial majority decision victory against Juan Manuel Marquez two months prior, wanted a 50-50 split instead.
Most recently, a still unnamed investment group from the United Arab Emirates was reported to be in negotiations with the Mayweather camp, and has guaranteed Floyd Jr. $110 million if he does accept to fight Pacquiao. But there was a catch to it, and that was for Mayweather Promotions to involve the said investment group in all of their future endeavors, particularly Mayweather’s campaign for a historical 50-0 record.
However, the report also adds that Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions disputed the said split, adding that he himself is already in negotiations with CBS CEO Les Moonves. CBS is the parent company of Showtime, who in turn, is currently on a six-fight deal with Mayweather.
For what it’s worth, Mayweather does hold a right to demand for a higher purse, as the zero on his loss column still holds for a great significance. Of course, given his current position in terms of the public’s satisfactory rating towards him, it will not be a surprise for fans around the world to brand this new demand as another form of “ducking.”
