Almost since Manny Pacquiao demolished Oscar De La Hoya last month, it was understood that his next fight would be against Ricky Hatton. For weeks now, it’s been assumed that this fight was a sure thing, with a date (May 2nd) and a location (Las Vegas) already agreed upon by the two fight camps.
Of course, there is the small matter of the check, and more so, who gets the bigger one. The news is out today that Pacquiao and his team have refused a 50-50 split with Hatton for the fight and will absolutely insist on a 60-40 division of wealth. If they don’t get it, it’s “NO SOUP FOR YOU, RICKY HATTON!” In other words, they’ll find someone else to tangle with in the spring, maybe a certain Lil’ Money May.
From a third-party point of view, the negotiating terms in this struggle are difficult to assess. On one hand, you have Pacquiao taking over De La Hoya’s throne as the sport’s number one star and expecting all of the spoils of that stature. Hell, Oscar hasn’t seen a 50-50 split since who knows when, maybe since he fought Tito Trinidad. With Pac Man riding high after his massive upset of the sport’s Golden Boy, you can certainly understand why he and his people think they’ve got all the muscle at the negotiating table on this one and feel confident in taking a “F*** you, pay me” approach to the proceedings.
On the other hand, Hatton offers something very unique to Pacquiao at this propitious moment in his career. First of all, he’s a huge draw as a fighter and his bout with Pac will unquestionably be a mega-event that will make ridiculous money and up the already high profile of both men.
But more important than that is the fact that he’s not very good. I know that many boxing acolytes think that Hatton is a dangerous opponent for Manny at 140 pounds, but consider me most vociferously NOT one of said acolytes, and I sincerely doubt Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, is shaking in his boots about Hatton either. My take is that while Hatton would likely fare a little better against Pacquiao than De La Hoya did, he would take a similar beating in the end while doing very little damage to the mighty Filipino. He simply isn’t in Pac Man’s class, just as he wasn’t in Floyd Mayweather’s. In fact, Manny would simply be following in Floyd’s shrewd footsteps by taking on Hatton after a big win over Oscar, earning himself a gigantic payday and taking very little risk in the process.
Now, I’m not sure if this is exactly the kind of negotiating muscle that Hatton wants to rest his case on -- “look, I’m a huge star, and I SUCK! What more do you want?” --bt them’s the facts. If I were on Hatton’s team, I might advise him to hold fast to the 50/50 terms, because while, win or lose, Ricky can fill Wembley Stadium on a Wednesday night anytime he pleases, anywhere else that Pacquiao wants to turn for a comparably big fight right now is an infinitely more dangerous proposition for him. Marquez? Margarito? Those are both bouts that Manny could easily lose (and, in the case of Margarito, get severely hurt in the process) and a loss right now would suck all the momentum away from his superstar status following the Oscar win, not to mention that neither Marquez nor Margarito would be nearly as big an event money-wise as a Hatton fight.
In fact, there’s only one fight out there that would do as well or better at the box office as a Pacquiao/Hatton fight, and that’s Pacquiao/Mayweather. And though I know Freddie Roach is supremely confident in his charge right now, I doubt he’s that confident.
Source: sportingnews.com
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