Pacquiao-Marquez worth wait

By waiting three-plus years, both fighters are going to be a lot richer when they finally meet in their trilogy fight at the MGM Grand Garden on Saturday night. Pacquiao is guaranteed $22 million and could earn as much as $30 million, while Marquez will make a minimum of $5 million. That’s considerably more than what they earned on March 15, 2008, at Mandalay Bay, when Pacquiao made $3 million and Marquez $1 million.

"I understand why Bob did what he did," Pacquiao said Tuesday after arriving at the MGM Grand. "You’re a promoter; your job is to make money for your fighter. Had we fought again right away, I don’t think the fans would have bought it, and the money wouldn’t have been there."

Their 2008 rematch ended with Marquez losing his WBC super featherweight title to Pacquiao via a 12-round split decision. Marquez was livid and immediately wanted a third crack at Pacquiao. So did Marquez’s trainer, Nacho Beristain, and his promoter at the time, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions. They campaigned at the postfight news conference like politicians running for office.

And as the contentious verbal assault continued, Arum kept shaking his head no. The Top Rank chairman knew some things no one else knew about Pacquiao’s future, and among those was the plan to have Pacquiao leave the 130-pound division and win bigger fights in the higher weight classes. By doing that, Pacquiao would cement himself as one of boxing’s biggest stars and command some of the sport’s biggest paydays. Ultimately, Marquez would benefit from Pacquiao’s success as well.

"I knew I had something special," Arum said of Pacquiao, who has won titles at 135, 140, 147 and 154 pounds since beating Marquez. "The key was getting the general public to notice him, and the only way that was going to happen was if he fought at higher weights."

Arum told Marquez to be patient and, at some point, he’d get another shot. Marquez had no choice but to wait.

His patience will pay off Saturday. Marquez will earn five times what he made in 2008 and 10 times the $500,000 he received in the first meeting with Pacquiao in 2004, which ended in a draw.

Pacquiao was guaranteed $3 million in 2008 and was paid $650,000 when he faced Marquez the first time.

"I figured it was the right move," Arum said of waiting to bring Pacquiao and Marquez together a third time, at a contracted catch weight of 144 pounds and with Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title at stake. "This fight is so much bigger because we waited."

Arum said he believes Saturday’s fight will do in the neighborhood of 1.4 million to 1.5 million buys on HBO Pay Per View. The 2008 rematch at Mandalay Bay did just 400,000 buys, and their first fight at the MGM wasn’t even on pay per view.

"We have so many more platforms to promote the fight this time," Arum said. "With this fight, we have HBO, CNN, Turner, TNT. We didn’t do any of that in 2008 because the people running HBO at the time wanted to insulate themselves and not go beyond HBO.

"I never understood that. But with the people they now have running HBO, they understand that by using everything available, they can reach more people and make more money."

Pacquiao said he trusted Arum all along.

"I don’t question Bob," Pacquiao said. "He knew what he was doing. Now, everyone makes more money, and the fans will get a great fight."

■ NOTES — Arum said former world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier will be honored with a 10-count and a video tribute before Saturday’s main event. Frazier, 67, died Monday from liver cancer. … Pacquiao will be hawking bottles of his cologne at the MGM Grand on Friday, with a portion of the proceeds from each $50 bottle purchased going to the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. … Pacquiao remains a minus-950 favorite at the MGM’s sports books, with Marquez at plus-650.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.