How Much Money Will Pacquiao & Mayweather Earn?

If you thought athletes were overcompensated before, you haven't seen anything yet. On Saturday, welterweight champions Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will square off in a historic fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and it's already been called one of the most expensive matches in history. With a purse of $300 million at stake, that's no lie.

So how much exactly do both men stand to make this weekend? Officials have estimated ungodly amounts for both, with record setting minute-by-minute totals racking up like no other fight before.

"To put it lightly, it’s complete mayhem — the demand for tickets, hotel rooms, transportation and nightclub VIP tables," said one Las Vegas ticket-seller and nightlife expert of the already hectic weekend, in an interview with The Las Vegas Sun back in March.

He's not wrong: the cost of a single ticket online can range anywhere from $128,000 and up after some fans bought up the seats at face value and resold them through other platforms, explained The Independent. With such a cash-drenched weekend, it's no surprise that the two sole athletes in the midst of the chaos would be paid an exorbitant amount.

According to The Mirror's Pete Morton, if Saturday's fight lasts the expected 12 full rounds, Mayweather will be raking in nearly "$4,994,681 per minute of action", with Pacquiao making around $3,329,787 for the same. Totaled up, that's around $180 million and $120 million for each fighter respectively. Feel free to take a breather right about now.

So why is this so controversial (aside from the fact that the only person who should be making $5 million a minute is the doctor that cures cancer)? For one thing, it glorifies the talents of a man who has, in the past, had more than his fair share of questionable run-ins.

In 2010, Mayweather was filmed berating opponent Pacquiao in a now-notorious racist tirade, during which he referred to Pacquiao as a "little yellow chump" and ordered him to "make [him] a sushi roll and cook [him] some rice." Mayweather also claimed that he would "cook up" Pacquiao "with some cats and dogs." Mayweather laughed it off when press caught wind of the outburst, prompting his own manager of 12 years, Tasha Robinson-White, to question his antics.

"I had heard about it and when I actually saw it I was so shocked," said Robinson-White in a comment to The Mirror. "It was crazy what he said — I felt it was very derogatory and he shouldn’t have said it using the platform he has."

It's not the first time Mayweather's behavior has landed him in hot water: in 2001, the boxer was arrested for allegedly hitting the mother of one of his children in the face with a car door and then beating her. Under a plea agreement for which Mayweather plead guilty to one of the two counts of domestic battery, he received a six-month jail sentence, a $3,000 fine, and two days of house arrest, according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal, which was covering the case at the time.

Again, in 2003, Mayweather was found guilty of two counts of domestic battery after beating two women in a Las Vegas nightclub. He also received a suspended sentence and paid $1,000 in fines. And in 2010, Mayweather served a meager two months in jail for punching the mother of his two children.

On Sunday, Mayweather will be receiving millions for employing those same fists. Given the fact that many bar owners are being charged $4,000 to air the fight on Saturday and will be charged huge fines for finding ways around that fee, the least the public can do is be aware of the horrible hypocrisy.

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