If readers, especially from the Philippines, think that Manny Pacquiao is earning tons of money from his Las Vegas bouts, they better think again. Yes, he has not only become the "cash cow" for Las Vegas but also a "milking cow" for vested interests both in the Philippines and in the United States.

The announced purse of Mr. Pacquiao and his share of the pay-per-view (PPV) revenues is not his take-home pay. His promoter, Top Rank, Inc. of Bob Arum, gets an unprecedented thirty-percent (30%) share from the gross revenues. Then Uncle Sam takes a bite of roughly another thirty-percent. You can read about the U. S. taxes that Mr. Pacquiao pays in the Filipino-American CPA Angel Dayan’s column,
Manny Pacquiao and Taxes

Then Mr. Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, gets his professional fee of at-least one-million dollars per fight, plus expenses for using Mr. Roach’s gym, travel expenses, etc.

Promoter Bob Arum says there's no rematch clause for the Pacquiao-Cotto bout but both fighters have extended their promotional contracts with his Top Rank, Inc.: Cotto until the end of 2011 and Pacquiao, up to November 2012. Mr. Arum, then, is one of the few promoters who permit boxers under their wing to fight each other – all for the sake of the Almighty Dollar.

Editor’s Note: To view the latest article about Bob Arum, please click on this Nov. 9, 2010, article written by Lance Pugmire in the Los Angeles Times, Bob Arum gets another big promotion

T hen there are the expenses of Mr. Pacquiao’s Filipino entourage. As Joseph Lariosa writes in his article,

Pacquiao Lives Up to His Name and Appears in Jimmy Kimmel Show, “When he (Manny Pacquiao) travels, sometimes, he has 30 buddies, doing different duties for him. He said one of them prepares his coffee, another washes his clothes while another cleans his room.”

Then Mr. Pacquiao has to pay his Filipino manager and more kibitzers. And finally, the Filipino boxer has to entertain, wine and dine, and even give casino chips and chicks (?) to, the numerous Filipino congressmen and other top officials who visit Las Vegas, NV, every time he has a bout there. In other words, Mr. Pacquiao has become the “role model” for a Filipino milking cow, if not the equivalent of a rice granary (palabigasan).

Then when Mr. Pacquiao goes home to the Philippines, thousands more of Filipinos and the nation’s politicians take advantage of his generosity. Then there are expenses that he shoulders for fiestas, all-night parties of “wine, women and song” and what not, to use a cliché.

H ere some more data taken from J. Michael Falgoust’s sports column in the USA Today.

“Although Mayweather was part of the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) show in history when his defeat of De La Hoya in 2007 drew 2.4-million buys, this is the first time he's had to be the headliner. Before facing De La Hoya, the biggest draw in PPV history, Mayweather hasn't surpassed 400,000 buys in three previous appearances.

“On the De La Hoya-Pacquiao card, the main-event fighters raked in $26.6-million, with $20-million going to De La Hoya.

MabuhayRadio Editor’s Notes: This meant simply that Manny Pacquiao actually got $6.6-million. And Mr. Pacquiao had to pay Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, which actually promoted the fight. This was aside from the 30% share of his real promoter, Bob Arum, the owner of the Top Rank, Inc.

Here are more excerpts from Mr. Falgoust’s column:

Pacquiao won't sleep through title fight - USATODAY.com

By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY

QUOTE.

No one will ever confuse Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Bob Arum as friends.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/2009-10-20-mayweather-pacquiao-cotto_N.htm?obref=obinsite

The ex-welterweight champion's former promoter, however, will give him this much: Mayweather's successful comeback from an almost two-year layoff last month has boosted Manny Pacquiao's Nov. 14 bout with Miguel Cotto.

"Mayweather's return has gotten people, particularly the people who follow Mayweather, energized. Those people are going to watch this fight because the winner is a potential (opponent) for Mayweather," says Arum, whose Top Rank, Inc. promotes Pacquiao and Cotto.

A month before the year's most anticipated fight, Las Vegas is almost sold out for Pacquiao-Cotto. Only about 90 high-end seats remain at the 16,500-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena ($9-million gate) and the 1,000 tickets for local closed circuit are gone.

Pacquiao is guaranteed $10-million while Cotto's take is $6.5-million. If the bout reaches 1-million pay-per-view buys, Pacquiao's take would increase to about $20-million while Cotto would draw $12-million.

Pacquiao's two-round destruction of Ricky Hatton for the junior welterweight championship in May sold just less than 900,000. Mayweather scored a unanimous decision vs. Juan Manuel Marquez, surpassing that total to reach 1-million buys to become 2009's No. 1 PPV show.

MabuhayRadio Editor’s Note: From published reports, the bout between Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao did not sell even half of the pay-per-view (PPV) 2.4-million buys for 2007 Mayweather-De La Hoya fight.

Arum says there's no rematch clause for Pacquiao-Cotto but both fighters have extended their promotional deals; Cotto until the end of 2011 and Pacquiao, whose current deal ends in November 2010, through 2012. — J. Michael Falgoust

UNQUOTE.

Y es, while Oscar de la Hoya was called the Golden Boy of the business of American boxing, Manny Pacquiao is perhaps Mr. Arum’s proverbial goose that has been laying golden eggs for him. # # #