Freddie Roach, arguably the best boxing trainer in this era, revealed that he will be receiving by far the highest paycheck of his career for training Manny Pacquiao in his upcoming showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Roach, who has served as Pacquiao's head trainer and father figure ever since the Filipino fighter set foot at the Wildcard Gym more than a decade ago, told Yahoo Sports that he agreed to a pay 'he had never seen in his life.'
"We were in the locker room and the subject [of my pay for the fight] came up," Roach said via Yahoo Sports. "He wanted to know what I wanted. I said, 'What do you want to give me?' He just kept saying, 'Tell me what you want.' So I told him to go work it out with [his agent]. And Manny said, 'No. No. I want to do it with you. And so we spent 20 seconds in the locker room and he said, 'What if I pay you this much?' And I shook his hand and said, 'Deal. Thank you.' It's more money than I've ever seen in my life and it was very, very fair. Way more than fair, honestly.
While Mayweather will receive the lion's share (60-40 split) of the fight purse, Pacquiao is expected to receive also the largest guaranteed money in his career, which is estimated to be in excess of $100 million - not including pay-per-view and merchandize sales.
The much awaited battle between Pacquiao and Mayweather is predicted to break all kinds of records (gate attendance and PPV), generating a whopping $400 million in revenue for the fight that will determine the kingpin of the welterweight division along with the recognition as the best boxer of this generation.