Manny Pacquiao really wants to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he’s willing to make some sacrifices in order to facilitate the much desired superfight.
“Win or lose, I’ll take 45 percent,” Pacquiao told his publicist Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Floyd can have top billing, he can be introduced in the ring first or last.
“He can wear my trunks. I don’t care. I just want to get him in the ring and make the fight.”
Pacquiao’s advisor, Michael Koncz, reportedly tried to clarify the statement regarding the purse, saying that Pacquiao was willing to accept a deal in which the winner would receive 55 percent while the loser receives 45 percent. However, Pacquiao reportedly told publicist Fred Sternburg on Friday that he would take the flat 45 percent purse regardless of the outcome.
Pacquiao’s next fight is already scheduled, as he’ll take on Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Dec. 8, but boxing fans have long clamored for a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout. There has, of course, been a lot of history between the two fighters, with Mayweather even having to pay nearly $114,000 to Pacquiao’s attorneys for avoiding questioning from the fighter’s lawyers in a defamation case.
Mayweather has in the past suggested that Pacquiao uses performance-enhancing substances, which Pacquiao denies. Pacquiao, appearing on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday, said again that he’s willing to be blood tested the day of the fight.
So what does all this mean? Probably nothing. We’ve seen these two fighters go back and forth time and time again, yet we’re still sitting here waiting for the superfight.
Pacquiao is probably better off focusing on Marquez — who pushed him to the brink in their last fight — before further pursuing the Mayweather bout. After all, a Marquez victory could lessen the hype of a Pacquiao-Mayweather brawl.
Check out Pacquiao and Marquez on ESPN’s First Take in the video below.
