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By Lem Satterfield
Floyd Mayweather will earn a guaranteed $22.5 million purse for Saturday night's clash with Shane Mosley, whose guaranteed $7 million will be more than three times less than Mayweather's.
The amount of the purse for Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts), confirmed by Nevada State Athletic Commission director Keith Kizer, is believed to be ranked No. 1, all time, for a non-heavyweight, with Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and, James Buster Douglass, all having had guarantees that surpassed Mayweather's.
Mayweather is expected to reap close to $40 million after all of the HBO pay-per-view numbers are totaled, which would fall short of Oscar De La Hoya's $54 million earned after his May 2007 loss to Mayweather.
"Love him or hate him, the guy is a superstar. He did double the pay-per-view numbers that de la Hoya did [in his loss] to Pacquiao. That's a fact," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
Schaefer didn't recall what De La Hoya's highest purse was but said that he was sure that it wasn't as high as Mayweather's guarantee.
"We're seeing numbers for this fight with Mosley that I've never seen, by the way. The guy's average for pay-per-view home buys is a million and a half," said Schaefer. "Love him or hate him -- and there are a lot of people in either one of those camps -- he's the reason that you hear me making these bold predictions."
Schaefer has said that he believes Mayweather-Mosley could surpass the record of 2.4 million buys, believing that their matchup could do "four million buys."
"Numbers don't lie," said Schaefer. "So far, I've been right."
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