BY JUN MEDINA SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Manny Pacquiao will gross $22 million, the biggest paycheck of his boxing career, for his demolition of Miguel Cotto on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to win the World Boxing Organization welterweight title. Much of that huge income will come from Pacquiao’s share of the 1.25 million buys worth $70 million in domestic pay-per-view (PPV) revenue announced Friday (Saturday in Manila) by HBO. If historical trends hold, the numbers could increase when all the buys are officially audited.

Pacquiao, who arrived in Manila to a hero’s welcome Friday morning there, earned roughly $647,000 per minute, based on the 34 minutes he spent in the ring to subdue Cotto to win a record seventh world title in as many weight classes.

Pacquiao dominated the title fight beginning in the second round until it was stopped by referee Kenny Bayless 55 minutes into the 12th round of the lopsided contest.

Cotto stands to make $12 million, also his highest paycheck ever, thanks to a formula that gave him and Pacquiao a guaranteed purse plus a share of PPV and other revenues, said Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions.

Arum said the 1.25 million was the most for a boxing PPV this year and came from 650,000 from cable homes and 600,000 from satellite services.

Higher than Floyd bout

It exceeded the 1.05 million buys generated by Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s dominant decision victory over Pacquiao arch-rival Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19.

Cotto, a native of Puerto Rico, helped drive the super fight to an all-time record for buys on the island with 110,000 units sold.

It was the third consecutive blockbuster pay-per-view fight for Pacquiao in less than two years, reflecting the Filipino icon’s cross over appeal and growing popularity.

The 30-year-old Pacquiao also drew 1.25 million buys for his eighth-round destruction of De La Hoya on
December 7, 2008 and about 830,000 buys for his second-round demolition of Ricky Hatton to win the junior welterweight championship on May 2.

According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Pacquiao-Cotto also generated a live gate of $8.847 millioh from a sell-out attendance of 15,930 at MGM Grand Arena, making it the 14th biggest gate in Nevada history.

The back-to-back million PPV records set by the Pacquiao and Mayweather fights further heightened the clamor for what could be the biggest fight in boxing between the two top boxers in the world today.

Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, was expected to begin negotiations on the fight with Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mayweather, as early as next week.

The potential of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is so big, Arum said, that casino magnate Steve Wynn had told him about his plan of constructing a 30,000-seat outdoor arena on a vacant lot between his two resorts to host the bout, with other casinos joining in as partners.

Outdoor arenas were a staple of the big fights in Las Vegas in the 1980s, including the Muhammad Ali-Larry Holmes fight at Caesars Palace.

“A lot of people are interested,” Arum told ESPN, noting that at least two huge possible venues—the New York Yankees ballpark and the Dallas Cowboys stadium—have offered to host Pacquiao-Mayweather.

“The problem with having it in the East, though, is that the taxes are so big that the fighters would have to give up millions in extra taxes.”