Little known fact even though Manny Pacquiao is a bigger international star and bigger gate attraction than Floyd Mayweather, Mayweather is a better Pay Per View draw.
A couple of reasons for that.
When Mayweather has fought lately which is few and far between he has fought better competition than Pacquiao. Secondly while people won’t purchase flights, hotels and tickets to see a fighter they despise, they will pay $50 to hope to see the villain lose.
Here is what Boxingscene.com had to say about why Floyd is getting paid for his fight with Ortiz.
Multiple sources are reporting that five division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. is going to receive a guarantee of $40 million dollars to face WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on September 17, likely at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It is boxing, so numbers can be fuzzy, but I did confirm through a source that the $40 million might not be fully guaranteed, but there is no way Mayweather will make less than that and if the PPV does well he could make a lot more.
The venom for Mayweather is strong, some of it is warranted, some of it is not. The reality though is when he is fighting it is a big event.
Mayweather is 34 years old, the question is when will his skills start to erode? Are the long layoffs beneficial or hurting him? These are the type of questions that will drive the promotion.
One final caveat, Ortiz is a young, strong, in his prime southpaw with power in both hands. He is a bootleg Manny Pacquiao, is it possible Floyd is taking this fight in preparation for Manny?
One can dream.