Manny Pacquiao gets it. Ricky Hatton gets it too.

After negotiations appeared to be dead in the water due to Pacquiao’s reluctance to accept anything less than a 60/40 split of the revenue, Pacman’s May 2^nd megafight with junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton is back on.

Pacquiao agreed to a 52/48 split of the money, terms he previously scoffed at. He must see that the fight with Hatton makes the most sense for his career both from a financial and historical standpoint.

If Pacquiao, the worlds #1 pound-for-pound fighter, chose not to fight Hatton his options were fairly limited. Sure, the idea of a bout between Pacquiao and former pound-for-pound number 1 Floyd Mayweather (who only lost that status due to retirement, he’s still undefeated) is incredibly appealing, however it would be a little further on the road due to Mayweather’s “retirement” that he has yet to come out of. Not to mention the hassles that are sure to come in negotiations if talk of that bout ever gets serious.

Plan B for Pacquiao seemed to be interim junior lightweight titleholder Humerto Soto, a capable fighter, but not one who has headlined on boxing’s biggest stages or has accomplished as much as Hatton. Sure a third fight with rival Juan Manuel Marquez would be appealing to the public, but he’s busy defending the lightweight world championship in February against Juan Diaz.

Accepting the fight with Hatton allows him to make the biggest payday of his career, larger than even the Oscar De La Hoya fight, with a reported $12 million guarantee. It also gives him an opportunity to win a world title in his 7^th weight class, and universal recognition as the junior welterweight champion if he does win.

For Ricky Hatton, he gets a huge payday as well. Despite the fact that he could draw money fighting almost anyone in England (Remember, he drew a crowd of over 50,000 in Manchester to see him fight Juan Lazcano last year).

So he gave up a mere two percent to Pacquiao from the initial deal that was discussed the make the fight happen.  It’s surprising that he did, but the money will be plenty for both.

More importantly, Hatton gets a big name challenger to his junior welterweight crown that is in his prime, which would represent his biggest win if he comes out victorious. The criticism that his two biggest wins (Kosta Tszyu and Jose Luis Castillo) were against faded fighters and that he lost his biggest fight (Floyd Mayweather) would go out the window with a victory.

For the fans, we get a huge fight that is a pick em’ matchup. Pacquiao will probably be a slight favorite given his recent win over Oscar De La Hoya. However, Hatton certainly should not be counted out. He’s never lost as a junior welterweight and his boxing skill’s looked sharp in his most recent fight against Paulie Malignaggi. Training under Floyd Mayweather Sr. seems to have paid off.

So now, let’s stop talking about the contract and start talking about the fight.