Offers are flooding in, but who will win the bidding war to host Pacquiao vs. Mayweather?

The fight has yet to be finalized or announced yet the offers are already pouring in to stage the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao showdown.

Top Rank head honcho and Pacman promoter Bob Arum has revealed to BoxingScene that offers from both Qatar and Abu Dhabi have been put on the table, and that they are bigger than the $25 million laid down by Jerry Jones.

Oddly enough though, the Qatar offer isn't trying to take the fight out of the United States and into the middle east.

Arum didn't reveal exactly how big the Qatar offer was, although he did say:

"I have no idea. I said 'look, what are you interested in?' Sponsorships? [They said] no. Pay-Per-View? [They said] no. They are interested in the gate. The thing is with Mayweather and Pacquiao, is that Pacquiao is gold for the casinos because virtually every Asian gambler, high roller, wants to be at a Pacquiao fight and wants to come to Las Vegas - and that then translates into multi-million dollars. More than the pay-per-view [revenue]. Whoever gets those good seats, gets players who play $250,000 a hand and you got those sons of bitches all weekend,"

If the Qatar bidder is looking for big time gamblers and a high gate receipt rather than the pay per view or sponsorship money, then presumably they are connected to one of the big Vegas Casinos. Meaning that the two sides could accept the offer and still fight in Las Vegas, which would surely be agreeable to all parties.

Pacquiao certainly isn't adverse to taking his show on the road, for the simple reason that there is more money to be made fighting in the United States than there is in his native Philippines. Moving his training camp and entourage around is second nature for the fighting congressman, so there doesn't seem to be any reason why he would be adverse to any big money offer.

Generally speaking, Floyd Mayweather prefers to keep his fights in his adopted home town of Las Vegas. No shifting his training camp or having to stay away from home in the lead up to the fight, not to mention moving a huge entourage around doesn't come cheap, especially with his sizeable security team.

It's easy to see why Floyd would want to keep the fight close to home, and he isn't the only fighter who doesn't like to travel if he doesn't have to. Even big money offers from the likes of Dallas billionaire and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones couldn't sway his opinion before, although he did travel for his fights earlier in his career without any problems.

The winning bid then will almost certainly be a group who wants to hold the fight in the United States, and probably within Nevada as well. This essentially takes the U.A.E and Jerry Jones offers off the table unless they come back with something astronomical. The Qatar group though might just have the right balance of big money and convenience to land the fight right under the noses of the MGM grand group and other Las Vegas players who might bid after the fight is confirmed. The fact that bids are already flooding in though is further indication that the fight is close to being made.

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Jared Franks, Pittsburgh: "Las Vegas will probably be the winner, either the MGM grand people or another one of the casino groups"

Umboto George, Philly: "So long as he doesn't have to travel, I don't think Mayweather has any preference really. The Qatar group will win it"