While Bob Arum is in the Philippines, attempting to persuade Manny Pacquiao to sign for a 2 May fight against Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas, Hatton's manager and father, Ray, has said his team are ready to scrap the contest if agreement is not reached early next week.
Arum, 77, had agreed a 50–50 split on purse revenue for the contest with Hatton's promoter, Golden Boy, but the deal has been thrown into doubt by Pacquiao changing his demand to 60%.
"We have the offer of another massive fight in the summer, in the British Isles, which would bring a crowd of 80,000 or more," said Ray Hatton. "We are extremely serious in our threat that we will pull the plug on Pacquiao and go for that alternative if that contract is not signed. We will not be messed around."
Hatton's words have been emphasised by Arum, who said: "We've all agreed to it, but now people are whispering in Pacquiao's ear. There's no way he's getting 60–40. Unless he comes to his senses and people start acting intelligently ... we'll see if we can keep this together, but the split is supposed to be 50–50."
Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, who will be reunited with Amir Khan tomorrow as the Briton prepares for his 14 March contest with Marco Antonio Barrera, is also trying to persuade the Filipino to accept the terms. "I hope the fight happens, and I think 50–50 is a good deal," he said. "I agree with it because Hatton brings a lot of people from the UK, so I hope I can get Manny on board."
It is estimated both men could earn US$10-20 million from the fight, but a significant proportion of the revenue generated would be by UK pay-per-view television. Shrewdly, Arum has demanded that sum is put into the overall total, perhaps calculating US sales will not match the 1.25m who paid for Pacquiao's 6 December fight against Oscar De La Hoya.
Source: guardian.co.uk
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