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The rumor going around right now is that Floyd Mayweather Jr has been guaranteed $40 million for his September 17 fight with Victor Ortiz, which is an incredibly large figure, and twice what Manny Pacquiao was guaranteed in May against Shane Mosley.
Mayweather (41-0, 25 KO) will have been out of the ring for 16½ months by the time he fights Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO). The 24-year-old Mexican-American has never headlined a fight of this magnitude, but Mayweather has, and if this rumor is even close to accurate, they're obviously counting on Floyd's return to the ring being a major event that sells a lot of pay-per-views.
How much can this fight really sell, though? Now we're just talking about a rumor here, but let's say it's $40 mil for Floyd. Is Ortiz taking a relatively low payday? Do they think this can sell more than the standard major PPV, that is to say somewhere between one and 1.5 million?
No matter what there's no way Floyd isn't going to pull in some serious bank here, at least a $20 million guarantee. But $40 is wild.