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Thursday, 23 February 2012

Pacquiao Reveals Floyd Reason


Manny Pacquiao has revealed he turned down a £25.5million offer to fight Floyd Mayweather Jnr as he would have been denied any of the pay-per–view cash.

The PacMan declined the mammoth purse but the hugely anticipated fight between the world's No 1 and No 2 pound-for-pound ranked boxers would net £95.5m from the PPV rights alone.

The Filipino congressman cannot agree to terms that will see his opponent take such a huge chunk from the richest fight in history and wants all money to be split down the middle.

Pacquiao said: 'I was in the Philippines, and I told him, "We need to make this fight happen".

'I said I would agree to a 50-50 (split), and he said, "Oh, I'll give you a £25.5m guarantee, and no pay-per-view. I'll take all the pay-per-view.

'I don't accept that offer. It's kind of embarrassing to me. It's trying to take advantage of me. He doesn't want to fight.'

Pacquiao is preparing for his welterweight bout with Timothy Bradley Jr on June 6 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, but talk of the Mayweather clash is never far from boxing fan's minds.

But the defending champ says he is happy to confront Bradley who faces losing his unbeaten record (28-0, 12 KOs) later this summer.

'I'm willing to fight Mayweather,' Pacquiao said. 'But I have to fight the guys who are hungry to fight me. Timothy Bradley is strong, and he can punch. He's a good boxer, so it's a challenge to fight a guy like that.'

Bradley and Pacquiao exchanged jokes during the press conference in Beverley Hills but the challenger is hoping to cause a major upset and end the champion's reign at the top of the sport.

Bardley said: 'Pacquiao is probably the best fighter in the history of boxing.

'He's a great role model, a great guy, but Manny Pacquiao has reigned for a long time, and I really feel like I'm the new face of boxing.'

Pacquiao's longtime trainer Freddie Roach added: 'It's nice to be fighting a fighter who is undefeated and not worried about losing that zero on his record.'