Dan Rafael of ESPN reports that Miguel Cotto will make a career-best $8 million purse on Saturday night against Floyd Mayweather Jr, plus upside money from the HBO pay-per-view sales.

Mayweather's purse total will be handed in on Thursday, but keep in mind that Mayweather makes far more than just his purse, as he gets a big cut of PPV money, plus as he's said before, basically a cut of everything sold during the event, from hot dogs and beer to t-shirts and hats. It's the Bruce Springsteen deal.

Manny Pacquiao absolutely makes more than his Nevada pay sheets read, as he's been guaranteed $20 million-plus for his recent fights, but it's a goofy piece of side note trivia that as far as I recall, Cotto's $8 million purse is actually higher than the Nevada commission purse figure Pacquiao has made in any fight to date.

Pacquiao had a $6 million purse against Mosley, and the same figure when he faced Juan Manuel Marquez. His guarantees for those fights were $20 and $22 million. Both Marquez and Mosley were paid $5 million for their fights with Manny, and Mosley was paid $7 million for his fight with Mayweather in 2010.

So this makes Cotto, not even counting the PPV upside, the highest-paid opponent for either fighter, besides Oscar De La Hoya, who was the A-side in his fights with Floyd and Manny.

Cotto made a $4 million purse when he fought Pacquiao in November 2009, and had a 35% share of the PPV pot.

More Mayweather-Cotto Coverage From SBN
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