Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has a different take on the upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr versus Manny Pacquiao fight.
Unlike other Hollywood and sports celebrities who have made their respective picks as to who between the two welterweight greats would come out victorious in their scheduled mega-fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Hulkster believes that the fight would end in a draw.
However, Hulk Hogan’s justification has nothing to do with the superb boxing skills of both Mayweather and Pacquiao.
The wrestling superstar is actually making his prediction based on a business standpoint. He believes that the mega-bout would end in a draw so that a rematch would be in the offing eventually and that the promoters and the two boxers would make more money.
Boxing is past that stage
The hulkster’s reasoning appears to have been taken off the page of Don King’s memoirs as the boxing world’s major promoter.
While there may be some kind of logic to Hogan’s justification and seems to have patterned the upcoming mega-fight with what they have been doing at the WWE sports entertainment, boxing is already way past that stage where promoters and boxers talk of money instead of prestige.
And besides, with a projected $400 million take on the mega-fight, which is the world’s richest boxing bout ever, it is very unlikely that Mayweather or Pacquiao’s camp would even entertain the suggestion or notion that they fight it out to a draw and come up with a second match that would bring in even bigger money for both of them.
The money involved in the fight is too much already that each boxer can happily and contently retire from the sports after their match regardless of whoever wins.
More than the multi-million paychecks for each boxer, it is actually prestige that is at stake for both boxers. For Mayweather, it’s to keep his unblemished professional boxing record all the way until he retires for a perfect boxing career. For Pacquiao, it’s to put an end on who is really the best pound-for-pound boxer between the two of them.
Hulkster at ESPN
Hulk Hogan actually made his prediction when he guested on ESPN Sports Nation on March 23 to promote WWE’s “WrestleMania 31” scheduled on March 31 at the Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California.
Given the Hulkster’s penchant for the dramatics which he perfected in the WWE, the 61-year-old Hulk Hogan made his prediction when he first tore off his shirt to reveal the face of Mayweather as the likely winner. But then, he ripped off his shirt again to reveal Pacquiao’s face as the winner this time.
He then tore another shirt to show Mayweather’s face yet again before finally saying that the match would actually end in a draw.