This weekend, American legend Floyd Mayweather will fight Philippine great
Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It's a bout so big that everybody
is talking about it. In short, because Mayweather and Pacquiao are widely
recognised as the two best boxers in the world - and it is a rare thing to have
two all-time greats fighting in the same weight division at the same time.Mayweather, 38, is unbeaten in 47 professional fights stretching back to 1996 and has won world titles in five different weight classes.
Pacquiao, 36, is a six-weight world champion (some say eight, although that includes a couple of minor belts) but has been beaten five times in 64 fights since turning pro in 1995.
It is estimated that once the accountants have done their work, Mayweather will pocket about £90m ($140-$150m) and Pacquiao £60m ($90m-$100m). That the fight will generate so much money is largely down to the fact that American boxing fans will have to pay almost $100 (£65) to watch the action.
Key Facts About The Two Boxers
Mayweather's
annual earnings in 2014 topped all other leading sports stars, his primary residence is a 22,000 square-foot,
custom-built mansion in Las Vegas, although he also has a house in Miami. He
also owns two fleets of cars - a black fleet in Vegas, a white fleet in Miami -
and his collection includes a couple of Bugattis worth more than $1m each. He
is also the proud owner of a 14-passenger private jet. Oh, and he only wears
his trainers once. Mayweather revels in his nickname 'Money' - and is estimated
to be worth $295m (£192m)
Both men had troubled childhoods. Mayweather was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, into a family of boxers - father and trainer Floyd Sr was a welterweight contender and uncle Roger a world champion. But his mother was a drug addict, while Floyd Sr was once shot in the leg by a fellow drug dealer while holding his son in his arms.
Pacquiao's family of seven lived in a cardboard shack in the poverty-stricken province of Sarangani in the Philippines. He scrounged for food and on some days only drank water. He quit school at 10 and ran away at 15, after his father ate his dog. For a while, Pacquiao slept rough on the mean streets of Manila. But like many poor boys before and since, Pacquiao turned to boxing to feed his family, fighting for $2 a pop in the early days.
Mayweather is the first athlete besides Tiger Woods to earn $100 million in Forbes' annual tally of the highest-paid athletes. His September 2013 fight against Canelo Alvarez set records for highest PPV gross ($150 million), live gate ($20 million) and total revenue (roughly $200 million). The Canelo fight marked the second bout in the blockbuster 30-month, six-fight deal he signed with Showtime in 2013. Mayweather earned a guaranteed $32 million for his May fight with Marcos Maidana where the PPV buys are expected to finish between 900,000 and one million when they are all counted, compared to 2.2 million for Mayweather-Alvarez.
Pacquiao rebounded from a December 2012 loss with back-to-back impressive victories over Brandon Rios and Timothy Bradley. Both fights were disappointments for the PPV buys with the Rios fight in Macau generating 475,000 buys and the Bradley rematch netting less than 800,000. Pacquiao still pocketed $41 million, including Philippines TV money, from the two bouts. Pacquiao was an endorsement star, but the brutal knockout by Marquez and year-long break that followed put a significant dent in his out-of-the-ring earnings.
Both men had troubled childhoods. Mayweather was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, into a family of boxers - father and trainer Floyd Sr was a welterweight contender and uncle Roger a world champion. But his mother was a drug addict, while Floyd Sr was once shot in the leg by a fellow drug dealer while holding his son in his arms.
Pacquiao's family of seven lived in a cardboard shack in the poverty-stricken province of Sarangani in the Philippines. He scrounged for food and on some days only drank water. He quit school at 10 and ran away at 15, after his father ate his dog. For a while, Pacquiao slept rough on the mean streets of Manila. But like many poor boys before and since, Pacquiao turned to boxing to feed his family, fighting for $2 a pop in the early days.
Mayweather is the first athlete besides Tiger Woods to earn $100 million in Forbes' annual tally of the highest-paid athletes. His September 2013 fight against Canelo Alvarez set records for highest PPV gross ($150 million), live gate ($20 million) and total revenue (roughly $200 million). The Canelo fight marked the second bout in the blockbuster 30-month, six-fight deal he signed with Showtime in 2013. Mayweather earned a guaranteed $32 million for his May fight with Marcos Maidana where the PPV buys are expected to finish between 900,000 and one million when they are all counted, compared to 2.2 million for Mayweather-Alvarez.
Pacquiao rebounded from a December 2012 loss with back-to-back impressive victories over Brandon Rios and Timothy Bradley. Both fights were disappointments for the PPV buys with the Rios fight in Macau generating 475,000 buys and the Bradley rematch netting less than 800,000. Pacquiao still pocketed $41 million, including Philippines TV money, from the two bouts. Pacquiao was an endorsement star, but the brutal knockout by Marquez and year-long break that followed put a significant dent in his out-of-the-ring earnings.
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