Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez have fought each other four times. Apparently, they’re not getting tired of beating the hell out of each other because negotiations between the two camps appear to head towards a fifth fight being held on September 14, albeit in a different continent.
Though nothing has been formalized yet, it’s looking more and more likely that if Pacquiao-Marquez V does come to fruition, it won’t be held in glitzy Las Vegas anymore.
The proposed venue of the of the fight? Macau.
A few weeks ago, Yahoo! Sports reported that Manny Pacquiao is steering clear from doing his next fight in Las Vegas in large part because of the enormous tax share Uncle Sam stands to gain from the money he’s going to earn from a fifth fight with the man who knocked him out for a loop in their last fight. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told Yahoo! Sports of Pacquiao’s preference to stage the fight somewhere else, saying that “Manny can go back to Las Vegas and make $25 million, but how much of it will he end up with – $15 million?”
“If he goes to Macau, perhaps his purse will only be $20 million, but he will get to keep it all, so he will be better off,” the 81-year old promoter added.
The momentum of Macau possibly staging Pacquiao-Marquez V grew even more recently when Arum, this time talking to the Manila Bulletin, indicated that Marquez is warming up to the idea of fighting his arch-nemesis halfway around the world. The promoter even got the Mexican fighter to agree to come to the Chinese gambling destination next month to watch a Top Rank show at the Venetian Hotel with the hopes of getting all the details ironed out for the proposed September re-re-re-re-match.
“I am going to invite Manny as well so we can put the fight together while we’re there if possible,” Arum told the Manila Bulletin.
Financially speaking, bringing the fight to Macau would benefit all parties concerned, in large part because they won’t have to pay any taxes, as opposed to the almost 40 percent Uncle Sam stands to gain if the fight was again held in Sin City.
But as boxing fans, and especially the way the fourth fight ended, nobody really cares where the fight is held, so as long as you have a ring, a referee, some (fair) judges, and Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez staring at each other from opposite corners of the ring.
