"Be your own boss Floyd and fight at the end of May, for the economic reason of earning the extra income from the bigger stadium...the earliest this can be constructed is the end of May," stated Manny Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, in a text message sent to Dyan Castillejo of ABS-CBN News in the Philippines. According to Castillejo, the text message was endorsed by Pacquiao, who later confirmed via his own text message that he indeed preferred to face Mayweather at the end of May. The fact that Pacquiao is telling Mayweather to be his own boss seems a bit ironic considering that it was Koncz, not Pacquiao, who sent the text message to begin with. Nevertheless, it appears that Pacquiao's desire to fatten his own pockets are keeping him from agreeing to face Mayweather on Cinco de Mayo.
Evidently, in an effort to maximize his profits, Pacquiao prefers the later date in order to allow time for the construction of a temporary 45,000-seat outdoor stadium. According to his promoter, the "bigger stadium" could potentially bring in an additional $20 million for each fighter. "The [temporary stadium] wouldn't be ready with any degree of certainty in the beginning of May. It would be available at the end of May," Arum explained. "If we do it on May 5, we would be limited pretty much to the MGM Grand, and we would probably do a gate of $20 million, a record gate. If we did it in this new temporary arena for 45,000 people, we would do a gate of around $60 million."
Given that Floyd Mayweather's surrender date was postponed to June 1 because he was already committed to fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 5, it's highly unlikely that he'd entertain the notion of fighting on a different date. Both Bob Arum and Michael Koncz are fully aware of that, and this latest statement, no doubt a response to Mayweather calling out Pacquiao yesterday, appears to be little more than a prepared script. That's their story and they're sticking to it.
It's evident that Pacquiao has no intention of fighting on May 5. Despite the fact that he recently said he'll fight "whoever the fans want", it appears that money is an extremely important factor to consider before pleasing his fans. With a date and venue already in place, as well as the drug testing terms seemingly agreed to, it looks like Pacquiao's own desire for more money is preventing him from stepping into the ring on May 5. It's ironic that "Money" Mayweather has absolutely no problems fighting in a smaller venue that will supposedly generate less revenue. Go figure!
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