They agreed on weight (147) and the glove size (8 oz), but could not come together on the money. Oscar offered a 70-30 split, while Pacquiao wouldn’t take less than 40%.
The fact of the matter is, people pay to see De La Hoya. In his match-up with Mayweather, the combined purse was just over $75 million, with Mayweather receiving approximately 1/3rd of the total amount.
De La Hoya’s draw is in my opinion, finally beginning to wain, but this will likely be his final bout. And although Pacquiao’s popularity is apparent in the western and southwestern areas of the United States, the pay-per-view amount would likely not reach the 2.4 million buys that De La Hoya and Mayweather did. Still, it was probably a safe bet that it would challenge 1.5 million buys, which would still net Pacquiao well over $15 million at 30% of the share.
At that kind of money, what’s 10%? Realistically, Pacquiao could not earn anywhere close to that fighting someone else (excluding Hatton in England). My bet, is that Pacquiao and his team were overly concerned with the height and reach advantages held by De La Hoya.