4.4 million PPV buys (that's over $400 million)
Live gate was almost $72,200,000.
You need any further reasons why the fight had to happen right goddamned then...
Max Kellerman, in a related story, tried to debunk the "take the money and run" theory for Pacquiao regarding lying about his shoulder injury as follows:
"I think some people have the sense that Manny Pacquiao sold out for the money. And by fighting with a torn rotator cuff, not giving himself the best chance to win, he somehow perpetuated a fraud on the public. I strongly disagree with this. A dilemma is not a tough choice; a dilemma is a choice between two bad options. What was Manny Pacquiao supposed to do three weeks to go before the fight when he was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff that needed surgery? Was he supposed to postpone the fight? So 12 months off — he was already off for five months — he was supposed to come back after shoulder surgery and a 17-plus-month ring absence to fight and try to beat Floyd Mayweather? Does that give him his best chance to win?"Max, there were far more problems with the fight than that. The entire operation came off as a fly-by-night money grab for everyone involved, and I still truly believe that it wasn't a "take the money" situation, but a "run" situation: Had the fight been delayed a year, either something would've displaced the entire societal situation (not likely, but have to put it out there) or, more likely, Pacquiao can't set foot in the United States without being hauled off to the Federal prison system.
The IRS made this fight happen (and when it did), Max -- and it's handprints are all over this fight. Floyd wasn't even his standard braggadocio self, stated by people covering the pre-fight stuff. That's because Floyd, even naming all the relevant stipulations, never felt in control of the situation, and there's very few entities that can make him feel that way.
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