When Freddie Roach said his No.1 fighter Manny Pacquiao deserves the lion’s share of the money against Miguel Cotto, the distinguished trainer wasn’t talking about a mere 60-40 split in favor of the Filipino pound for pound king.
Roach wants much more than that.
“70-30,” Roach told the Bulletin over the phone from the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.
Roach noted that outside Puerto Rico, Cotto doesn’t have the same magnetism as some of the other fighters Pacquiao has fought and shamed on top of the ring the last few years.
Besides, Cotto, according to Roach, is not as big pay-per-view attraction as Floyd Mayweather.
Cotto posted 450,000 buys when he faced Antonio Margarito of Mexico in July last year, while Pacquiao has generated record-breaking numbers in his last two outings – 1.25 million buys against Oscar De La Hoya and close to a million versus Ricky Hatton.
Roach likewise pointed out that Pacquiao deserves a bigger guarantee against Cotto compared with the $12 million-plus Pacquiao got from the Hatton bout because “we’re not supposed to be going backwards.”
Roach said he is now amenable to a catch weight of 144-145 lbs for the Pacquiao-Cotto slugfest, confident that even at a higher weight, his ward would still prove superior.
“One pound wouldn’t make any difference.”
Top Rank chief Bob Arum is in the process of finalizing the details of the proposed Pacquiao-Cotto brawl at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Nov. 14, a date which is likely etched in stone.
“We’ve told Manny about fighting on that date, and not on Oct. 17, because of the World Series,” Arum said when contacted by this paper after the conversation with Roach.
“You can’t compete with free TV and baseball is big among Puerto Ricans,” stressed Arum, adding that to maximize the pay-per-view sales, the fight ought to be held in November.
“We’ll be charging $50 for them to watch us and we can’t compete with free television.”
In an interview with Pacquiao late Monday night in a downtown hotel in Manila, the 30-year-old southpaw told a handful of scribes that he intends to return to the ring in October and he plans to report for duty at the Wild Card in mid-August.
Pacquiao said he has yet to see the proposal of Arum since his Canadian adviser, Mike Koncz, has yet to return to Manila after meeting with the Hall of Fame promoter over the weekend in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal said they’ll not accept the fight if it is not 65-35 in their favor.
Source: mb.com.ph
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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