Pay-per-view to boost Manny’s paycheck

From the looks of things, two-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao may earn more from his share in the pay-per-view buys of his March 19 fight against Erik Morales in Las Vegas than his purse of at least $1.75 Million.

Pacquiao’s share is still being renegotiated by new manager Shelly Finkel but it is expected to be about 30 percent of the gross take. Assuming 150,000 subscribers, the receipts add up to $6.7 Million and Pacquiao’s share would be $2 Million.

But promoter Bob Arum said he predicts the pay-per-view hits will exceed 325,000 which was the tally for Morales’ recent rubber match against Marco Antonio Barrera. If Pacquiao’s coming bout matches the Morales-Barrera receipts, his share will be $4.4 Million.

The Hispanic population is what Arum is banking on to generate the pay-per-view sales. The pay-per-view show will be available to 50 million homes linked to the Home Box Office (HBO) system.

Pacquiao is making his pay-per-view debut against Morales and because of his reputation as a Latino assassin, he’s bringing in the cash from the Hispanic fans itching for revenge. Pacquiao has never lost to a Hispanic. He has beaten Gabriel Mira, Emmanuel Lucero, Jorge Eliecer Julio and Barrera and drawn with Agapito Sanchez and Juan Manuel Marquez.

"The big fan base is Hispanic," said Arum. "Those people are passionate about the sport. The price doesn’t mean anything because the Hispanics have learned how to watch pay-per-view. It’s a party event. Everyone goes to one guy’s house and they each give five dollars and there are about 20 people there. Or they say you get it at your house this time and I’ll get it next time."

Writer William Dettloff said: "The economy of boxing has changed and if you were so inclined, you could argue that the changing began about 15 years ago when promoters figured out they could make a lot more money if they made people pay to watch the biggest fights even if they were watching on TV. And this wasn’t closed circuit where everyone had to file into the local armory or theater and share a big screen. They could watch right from their own living rooms. It’s made a fair number of fighters and a very few promoters wealthy or wealthier."

The first pay-per-view fight featured Evander Holyfield versus George Foreman in 1991 and it generated 1.4 million buys and $53 Million. The largest non-heavyweight fight on pay-per-view was the Tito Trinidad versus Oscar de la Hoya bout which had 1.4 million hits for a $70 Million gross.

The top 10 largest pay-per-view buys in history involved one of three fighters–Mike Tyson, Holyfield and de la Hoya, said Marc Lichtenfeld in Boxing Digest.

But there is a changing of the guard.

"Every time a big fighter has left, the doomsayers have said it’s over," noted Mark Taffet, head of HBO Pay-Per-View. "The next big star always comes along. I don’t know who the next megastar is but I do know he’s out there."

The megastar could be Pacquiao and his unveiling might just come at Morales’ expense.

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On our recent Cathay Pacific flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong returning home from the NBA All-Star Game, we were so exhausted that it wasn’t difficult to sleep. Solar vice president for operations Ralph Roy and Solar head of production Erick Tam even skipped their dinner and breakfast to snooze.

Then came the bad news. Just as we were about to land in Hong Kong after a 12-hour flight, our captain announced the runway was closed because of zero visibility. We were diverted to Taipei. We sat in the plane on the Taipei tarmac for over an hour before we were allowed to disembark. While in the plane, the crew handed out whatever food was left in stock–chocolate bars, pineapple cakes, banana loaves and cup noodles.

We sat in a coffee shop at the Taipei terminal to kill time. Solar chief operating officer Peter Chanliong treated us to snacks. In all, we were eight in the group-–Peter, Solar vice president for finance Ronald Tieng, Ralph, Solar Interactive president Mikey Garcia, Erick, Solar sports marketing director Rico Arce, Chino Trinidad and myself.

During the wait, Chino and I were interviewed by Mike Enriquez live on his radio program to check on how we were coping. It was really nobody’s fault. Thick fog enveloped the Hong Kong runway and our plane was prevented from landing. The delay was understandable and Cathay did its best to make the wait as pleasant as possible for passengers.

After a wait of 5 1/2 hours, we reboarded our plane. We landed in Hong Kong at about 2:15 p.m. We were told to hurry to Gate 31 to catch the 2:45 p.m. flight to Manila.

The backlog of departing and arriving planes caused a major traffic jam on the runway and we waited in line to take off for about 45 minutes.

We finally arrived in Manila at 6 p.m., eight hours late, last Feb. 25.

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It’ll be fireworks galore in promoter Gabriel (Bebot) Elorde’s fight card at the Mandaluyong Gym this Tuesday.

South Korean welterweight champion Baira Kim, who is of Mongolian descent, takes on Filipino knockout artist Rey Pelonia and Pan Asian Boxing Association lightflyweight titlist Yura Dima battles World Boxing Foundation International flyweight king Sukarno (Master Showman) Banjao in a pair of 10-round bouts to headline the card.

In the supporting matches, World Boxing Council No. 3 lightflyweight Juanito Rubillar takes on former Philippine champion Eugene Gonzales and former Philippine featherweight titleholder Baby Lorona, Jr. faces veteran Dondon Lapuz.

Admission is free for the big card promoted by Elorde in cooperation with Mayor Neptali (Boyet) Gonzales II and Jemah TV president Mark Roces.

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