MikeLigalig.com

WORLD pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao is guaranteed to receive at least US$12 million in challenging Puerto Rican Miguel Angel Cotto for the latter’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown on November 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pacquiao stands to earn more in the upside of the pay per view proceeds, making him this year’s highest grossing boxer in total purse alone.

The Filipino ring sensation earlier earned at least $15 million in gross revenues in demolishing British champion Ricky Hatton inside two rounds.

Over the last two years, Manny has been cashing in on his lofty rankings which landed him in the top 10 of highest paid athletes in the world in the Forbes list.

According to www.forbes.com, between June 2008 and June 2009 Pacquiao earned $40 million, earning him a tie for the sixth spot in its list of highest paid athletes.

He was listed tied with NBA superstar Lebron James and golf’s Phil Mickelson. Tiger Woods remains the top paid athlete (US$100M) in the world followed by Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Kimi Raikkonen (who each earned US$45 million) and David Beckham (US$42 million).

Pacquiao’s income during the period presumably represents his purses alone for the three fights he figured in during the same span of time.

The fights include his KO win against David Diaz to capture the WBC lightweight crown in June 2008, his sensational 8th round TKO win over boxing’s golden boy Oscar de la Hoya and his Hatton demolition.

As the exact figures of his actual purse share are hard to come by, we can assume www.forbes.com got their figure from the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) which is keeping tab on fight contracts and PPV buys in the US.

Manny also did several commercials, including one for Nike where he co-starred with Kobe Bryant.  He did a local movie, hosted a television show and endorsed several local products here and put up his own line of sports apparel.

Translated into Philippine currency, his gross income from June 2008 to June 2009 has made Pacquiao the first billionaire athlete in the Philippines and, without question, Asia’s all time highest paid boxer.

For a man who had to sell bread and popsicles when he was a kid, quit school and stowed away at a tender age of 16 to become a professional fighter, Manny has come a long way.

He can afford to turn his back on the sports that made him today’s most recognizable boxer and a cross over superstar athlete and still live comfortably for the rest of his life.

But Manny has still some tasks ahead and millions more to collect.

A megabuck fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year could fatten Manny’s bank account by at least US$20 million, more or a deal with Shane Mosley will guarantee him US$15. 

Manny also has to reinforce his war chests.  He is running again for a seat in the House of Representatives where, in 2007, he lost miserably and almost drove him dirt poor.
Manny was said to have spent over P130 million (almost US$3 million, some of them in cash advances) in his losing bid.

Now, with more candidates in his line-up to feed and bankroll, Manny needs all the dollars he could get to fulfill his ambition of being called Congressman one day, even if it means calling Top Rank’s Bob Arum for more cash advances.


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