Arum banks on Hatton-Pacquiao fight being 'richest of all time'

Promoter says economic crisis has boosted pay-per-view, Briton looks as sharp as ever for world title fight in Las Vegas.

Bob Arum, who has never knowingly undersold a fight, responded with ­predictable enthusiasm to the suggestion that Ricky Hatton's world title fight with Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on 2 May might be "the richest of all time". If so, each fighter can expect to earn between £15m and £20m, although such estimates depend hugely on pay-per-view take-up.

On the London leg of a quick promotional tour of the UK for what is potentially the fight of the year, Arum, who has been promoting in the big time since the mid-sixties, suggested the main reason the fight could generate higher than expected revenue is the effect the recession is having on families in the United States.

Hatton and Pacquiao meet at the MGM Grand, the scene of triumph and disappointment for both of them in the past, competing for Hatton's IBO light-welterweight belt and, more importantly, Pacquiao's standing as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

"It could be the richest fight of all time, you never know," Arum said, sitting alongside Pacquiao at the Imperial War Museum in London yesterday.

"For me to say [that], how would I know now how many people are going to actually buy it? Well, the funny thing that we have found in the United States – and I think you'll find it in England – is that these bad economic times have enhanced pay-per-view."And the reason is that people don't have a lot of [disposable] money.
So they buy the pay-per-view, which is expensive, but they buy it in conjunction with friends and family. It's cheaper for them than to go out to a cinema and watch a movie. Read full story on this site..

author: Kevin Mitchell
Guardian.co.uk