Oscar De La Hoya on Boxing Records expected to fall with Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr By Johnny Benz (Dec 21, 2009) Doghouse Boxing
Oscar De La Hoya has made it pretty clear that although a contract for a venue to hold the proposed Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. has not been finalized, it does appear that the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, will indeed host the mega event. De La Hoya's promotional company "Golden Boy Promotions" represents Floyd Mayweather Jr's side of the negotiations.
Although its pretty much now a given that the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, has lost out to the MGM
Grand, De La Hoya still appreciates the efforts put forth by NFL's Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jones had offered a whopping $25 million to host the fight at his 1.2 billion dollar state of the art facility.
On Monday, De La Hoya speaking to ESPN in regards to the efforts put forth from Jones, stated: "We really appreciate Jones' interest in such a mega fight."
De La Hoya added that he strongly believes this fight has a good chance to break all previous records, including his own Pay-Per-View blockbuster fight with Mayweather Jr (that holds the record as of now). De La Hoya stated to the media publication: "It looks very bright for Mayweather-Pacquiao to possibly be able to break the records that I hold with Mayweather. If we do it right, Golden Boy and Top Rank, we can really shatter the existing record by hundreds or thousands of pay-per-views. It's really exciting." (Top Rank, Bob Arum's promotional outfit represents Pacquiao's side of the negotiations.)
De La Hoya vs. Mayweather took place on May 5, 2007, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time, the mega event was the most lucrative boxing match ever, with over $120 million in generated revenue. Mayweather Jr. would win thefight by split decision over 12 rounds, capturing the World Boxing Council (WBC) light middleweight title. On Saturday, January 27, 2007 when the Tickets for De La Hoya vs Mayweather Jr. went on sale to the general public, it sold out in three hours The sellout ensured the bout generated over $19 million in live gate, beating the previous record of $16,860,300 set by the November 13, 1999, heavyweight championship rematch between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The De La Hoya-Mayweather fight also set the record for most Pay-Per-View buys for a boxing match with an outstanding number of 2.4 million households purchasing the event on TV. The 2.4 million Pay-Per-View buys outpaced the previous record of 1.99 million for Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson II. The De La Hoya vs. Mayweather match reportedly generated around $120 million in Pay-Per-View revenue. It was also reported that Oscar De La Hoya ended up earning $52 million for the fight, the highest purse ever for a fighter. Mayweather earned $25 million for the fight. The previous record holders were Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield who both received $35 million.
