By: William Holmes
The following is the Boxing Insider special edition notebook for the upcoming Mayweather vs. Pacquiao super bout, set for May 2nd in Las Vegas, Nevada. This notebook covers most of the news and notes that have been emerging from their respective camps for the week of March 24th to March 31st.
98 Million Filipinos to Receive Pacquiao vs. Mayweather on Free-TV
One of Manny Pacquiao’s biggest concerns on making the “super fight” was to be able to have the full support of over 98 million Filipinos when he takes on Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2nd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
SolarSports, which bought the broadcasting rights of the fight for $10 million, had been in partnership with GMA7 when it comes to broadcasting the fight, but had decided to hook up with other networks, ABS-CBN and TV5, for the nationwide broadcast of the fight that will determine the best fighter of this era.
SolarSports president and CEO Wilson Tieng stated, “Manny played an important part to put this thing together. Solar Sports can only take part of the credit. It’s still congressman Manny who made this possible.”
More information can be found here.
HBO Sports Presents Mayweather/Pacquiao:At Last on April 18th
HBO Sports has begun production on the one-hour special Mayweather:Pacquiao: At Last, detailing the nearly six-year journey to the most anticipated fight of the modern era, the May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao blockbuster welterweight unification title bout.
It will debut on Saturday, April 18th (11:45 p.m.-12:45 a.m. ET/PT), immediately following HBO Boxing After Dark. The film will be narrated by Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) and chronicles the biggest challenge of Manny Pacquiao’s pro career.
A special prime time replay will air on Thursday, April 23rd at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
“This is the mega-fight fans have been anticipating for many years, and we are thrilled to chronicle Manny Pacquiao’s path to this defining moment in his career,” says Rick Bernstein, executive producer of HBO Sports.
“This special will provide viewers with a narrative of how this fight came to be and spotlight Team Pacquiao’s preparations heading into the biggest challenge Manny has confronted in the ring. It will be a terrific primer for any viewer eager to go behind the scenes in the lead-up to May 2.”
Showtime Sports to Broadcast Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao
Showtime Sports will offer viewers exclusive access to Floyd “Money” Mayweather and the most anticipated event of the year with Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, an intimate four-part documentary series chronicling the life of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. as he navigates his collision course with Manny Pacquiao.
The documentary will premiere on Saturday, April 18th, following the live Showtime Championship Boxing doubleheader featuring Mexican Superstar Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will deliver a unique perspective on Mayweather in the weeks leading up to the biggest prizefight of this generation. The fourth installment will focus on the unpredictable drama of fight week, take viewers inside the ropes on fight night, and into the mind of the fighter in the aftermath of the bout.
Episode 1 premieres Saturday, April 18 on SHOWTIME, immediately following SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Chavez vs. Fonfara (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).
Episode 2 premieres Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME
Episode 3 premieres Wednesday, April 29 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.
Epilogue premieres Saturday, May 9 on SHOWTIME
Sky Sports Box Office Will Exclusively Show Live Coverage of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao
Sky Sports Box Office has been awarded exclusive live rights to “the fight of the century”, the welterweight world championship unification clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Sky Sports’ viewers will be able to follow the build-up to Mayweather v Pacquiao across its channels and digital media outlets, including access to both boxers’ training camps, press conferences and public appearances.
Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: “This fight has everything and is set to be one of the biggest sports events of the year. As the home of boxing in the UK and Republic of Ireland, we’re thrilled to be awarded the rights.
“We’ll provide Sky Sports viewers with the best possible build-up across our channels and outlets and the best coverage of the fight itself from our team in Las Vegas.”
Analysis of the fight will be provided by Adam Smith, former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson and former world lightweight champion Jim Watt, as well as a range of boxing experts. Sky Sports viewers can also enjoy an extensive schedule of support programming providing the best possible analysis of the fight, including the weekly magazine program Ringside, the Ringside Toe 2 Toe podcast series and feature length interviews.
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Could Bring $400 Million to Las Vegas
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is already shaping up to be the biggest fight in Las Vegas since Mike Tyson fought Evander Holyfield II.
The purse is set to be in the neighborhood of $300 million with a the split set at a 60/40 in favor of Mayweather.
The rooms at the MGM Grand have already gone from a rate of $198 a night to $1,601 for a standard king room during fight weekend. Neighboring hotels have also seen similar rate increases. The face value of tickets for this bout have already been set at an astronomical price of $7,500.
More information on the economic impact of this bout can be found here.
Manny Pacquiao Hounded over Tax Affairs Ahead of Clash with Mayweather
The Telegraph is reporting that Manny Pacquiao is being hounded by the Philippines tax department over payments stretching back seven years, in spite of being the highest tax payer in the Philippines government.
Pacquiao earned $41.8 million in 2014, which made him the number one taxpayer in the Philippines. It put him about 64 percent higher than the next taxpayer. The Philippine government alleges that Pacquiao owed up to 2.2 billion pesos in unpaid taxes for 2008 and 2009.
Read more here.
Broker Selling Ringside Seats for $87,000 Each
TMZ Sports is reporting that a high-end NY based hospitality service says it has the very first authentic ringside seats to the Mayweather vs. pacquiao fight. . .and that they are going for $87,500 a piece.
Oren Schneider, the head of Precision Concierge New York (PCNY), told TMZ sports he has 39 tickets to the fight ranging from upper level to ringside seats.
More information can be found here.
