Manny Pacquiao’s misunderstanding of his own value and simple math may cost him a whole lot of money.

Just as he did during negotiations for the Oscar De La Hoya fight, Pacquiao and his team are hung up on percentages, rather than pure numbers. Pacquiao’s team is now insisting on getting at least a 60-40 cut against Ricky Hatton, rather than the 50-50 split that was agreed upon prior to the formal negotiations.

What Pacquiao fails to realize is that just like his last fight, 50 percent against Ricky Hatton is likely twice as much as even 70 percent against anyone else.

If nothing else is true in boxing, this much I know: Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton are the two biggest draws in boxing financially. Prior to his fight with De La Hoya, the highest pay-per-view number Pacquiao pulled was about 400,000. Hatton’s fight with Floyd Mayweather drew just 850,000 buys in the United States, but sold over a million in the UK. Those are numbers that Pacquiao’s team must respect.

This isn’t about percentages. When you are talking about guys like Hatton and Oscar, you throw percentages out because they are the draw. Like it or not, people buy their fights more than others. Pacquiao’s fight with Juan Manuel Marquez was about the biggest fight he could land other than with Oscar or Ricky, and it drew 400,000. Outside of a fight with Mayweather, this is the biggest fight Pacquiao could get.

If Pacquiao passes on Hatton over percentages, like he has indicated he will, he will have to find a new opponent. At 140 or 147, his options are quite thin. Even at 135, everyone is pretty busy. Unless he fights Marquez again, I don’t see a single fight that would top 400,000 pay-per-view buys. Meanwhile, Pacquiao vs. Hatton would likely do about 1.5 million buys.

Maybe I’m wrong, but 50 percent of 1.5 million is a little bigger than 65 percent of 400,000. If you don’t believe me, use a calculator.

The fact is that Pacquiao can claim to be the pound-for-pound champion, but he’s a big underdog to Hatton when it comes to filling seats and selling PPVs. For that reason, he should take the 50-50 cut or he will seriously regret it financially.

If this were Timothy Bradley or Nate Campbell, I’d understand. But it’s Ricky Hatton. The guy is no slouch and deserves his 50 percent as much as Pacquiao does.

Hell, there’s only one Ricky Hatton, and I’ve heard no song that claims the same thing for Manny Pacquiao. In fact, if you look at the pay-per-view numbers, Manny Pacquiaos are a dime a dozen.

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