Pacquiao-Rios Asia’s richest title fight

The Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios matchup at Venetian Cotai Arena on Nov. 24 in Macau will be Asia’s largest purse for a boxing event that would surpass the Mike Tyson- James “Buster Douglas heavyweight 1990 title fight in Tokyo, Japan, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Wednesday.

The broadsheet newspaper quoted Bob Arum, chief executive officer(CEO) and founder of promoters Top Rank as saying the Pacquiao-Rios bout for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title would surpass those numbers from 1990 in terms of purse, TV viewership and interest. “It will be by far the biggest purse in Asia,” Arum said.”I expect Manny to make approximately $20 million and Rios $4 million. There’s no question it will be the biggest boxing fight in Asia ever,” Arum saaid.