The Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight this Saturday, May 2, in Las Vegas is being billed as the fight of the century.
It’s already set all kinds of records and it hasn’t even happened yet. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao will earn the largest payout in the history of sports. Mayweather was originally estimated to be making $120 million and Pacquiao $80 million, but those numbers have been revised upward to $180 million and $100 million.
To earn this kind of money, ticket prices were at a record high – seats started at $1,500 before prices were raised and the match sold out. Closed circuit TV sessions were priced at a record high of $150 a seat and also quickly sold out. Pay-per-view at home is also at a record high – $99.99, breaking the previous record of $74.99.
Well, get ready to laugh at our neighbors to the North for the insane amounts of money they’ll be spending. Jajaja! No $100 pay-per-view for us! In Argentina, we get to watch the boxing match absolutely free on Public TV (Canal 7) or on the Golden channel on DirecTV. (No word on what was actually paid for rights to the fight in Argentina, but it should help the Kirchneristas boost their appeal ahead of the elections.)
It’s not clear if the fight will air on the TV Pública website like the World Cup did, but if so, I hope they’re blocking access for anyone outside of Argentina. If not, that site is definitely going down. This might be the first time that people actually want a VPN to make it look like they’re inside the country.
So, thanks, Cristina… ¡Boxeo para todos!
Oh yeah… If you’re trying to figure out what to do with the $100 you just saved, you might want to consider donating to a domestic abuse shelter. Seems Mayweather is not a very nice guy with a long history of domestic abuse problems and very little repentance. Seems a shame that he’s making that much money.