Manny Pacquiao’s options for well-paying fights like the one he had last Saturday against Mario Barios are severely limited. The 46-year-old former multi-division world champion Pacquiao’s unearned title challenge against WBC welterweight champion Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) wasn’t thrilling to watch. The buzz from fans was entirely missing for this fight.
Barrios Rematch Questions
Pacquiao received a huge purse rumored to be $12.6 million for the fight. The price of the PPV, $79.99, likely resulted in very few buys last Saturday. The question is, which promoter would be willing to finance the Barrios’ rematch for the Filipino star? They can’t be excited about wanting to pay for Pacquiao’s huge purse again if the PPV buys and gate money don’t cover the purses paid out.
Manny’s Declining PPV Draw
The reality is that Pacquiao is no longer a big enough PPV draw to bring in the massive buys he did in the past. Here are some of Manny’s biggest PPV buys during his peak years from 2008 to 2015:
- Oscar De La Hoya – December 2008: 1.25 million PPV buys
- Ricky Hatton – May 2009: 1.75 million
- Miguel Cotto – November 2009: 1.25 million
- Antonio Margarito – November 2010: 1.15 million
- Shane Mosley – May 2011: 1.34 million
- Juan Manuel Marquez III – November 2011: 1.4 million
- Juan Manuel Marquez IV – December 2012: 1.15 million
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. – May 2015: 4.6 million
It would be fortunate if Saturday’s Pacquiao vs. Barrios event generates even 100,000 PPV buys, given the limited interest in this fight and the undercard that accompanied it.
Financial Reality for Pacquiao
Manny’s adviser, Sean Gibbons, mentioned wanting Gervonta Davis or WBA welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero as next opponents. There’s zero chance of Tank Davis fighting Pacquiao. That’s not happening. He’s not that desperate.
Fighting Rolly Romero would be no different than facing Barrios again. Rolly isn’t a PPV attraction, and a fight against him would create little interest from fans. An event between Pacquiao and Romero would likely hemorrhage money for the promoter that put it on.
“The only other alternative is to do it again. I don’t know who is paying for it, though. I don’t know what the PPV buys were. I can’t imagine they were that high, and you didn’t walk away from that fight thinking, ‘I got to see it again.’ That wasn’t the kind of thriller that made you want to see Pacquiao and Barrios run it back,” said Chris Mannix on his channel about the options for Manny Pacquiao’s next fight if he chooses to face Mario Barrios in a rematch.
It would be risky for a promoter to stage a second fight between Pacquiao and Barrios unless Manny were willing to agree to a smaller purse. There’s not enough interest from fans in seeing them do it again. Barrios looked inept, and Pacquiao looked very old.
“I hope he does other things. I don’t want to see him in the ring long enough to see somebody obliterate him, and that’s coming at some point. If he fights the wrong guy, that’s going to come for Manny Pacquiao,” said Mannix.
Last Updated on 07/22/2025
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