By Ronnie Nathanielsz

THE mega-buck showdown between Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao and Britain?s Ricky Hatton is getting close to being done after a period of back-and-forth negotiations on the revenue split appeared to move forward.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum had initially made a verbal commitment with the handlers of Hatton on a 50-50 split, but Pacquiao?s lawyer Franklin ?Jeng? Gacal, upon his return with the Filipino champ from the US last Jan. 12, said his client wanted a 60-40 split or the fight was off.

That brought about a period of intense negotiations with both sides standing firm on the original 50-50 split.

But Arum, in an overseas telephone conversation with www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports last Friday, sensed a possible breakthrough. ?We will find a solution. That is my promise to you.?

Stating that in this type of negotiations it was more ego than money, Arum added: ?It takes time to massage everybody and get it done.?

Arum was confident he could have a deal in place by Monday (Las Vegas time).

The British newspaper The Sun reported on Sunday that the fight appears to have been saved by Arum.

?This thing is going to happen. Earlier in the week it was in disarray. Now it?s back in order,? said Arum.

In a long-distance conversation from Cebu, Pacquiao told Standard Today that the Hatton camp had changed the 50-50 to 48-52 or 45-55, and that he would discuss the details with his lawyer before making a decision.

Made aware that Hatton?s fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007 shattered the pay-per-view record of the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight in 2002 of 750,000 buys, with over a million buys and revenues of $41 million, Pacquiao indicated he knew that which is why the British PPV revenues were included in the pot.

Pacquiao said he plans to return to Los Angeles on Jan. 23 and is expected to accompany his wife Jinkee and their newborn baby girl, Queen Elizabeth, back home later this month.

It seemed to be a different story early Sunday morning when Ray Hatton recalled that at the beginning of the negotiations for the fight, the Briton?s camp said: ?You keep the Philippine money, we?ll keep the English money and we?ll split on the American money but that was not acceptable.?