Referee For Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao Megabout Will Make $25,000

All three men in the ring for the main event on May 2 at the MGM Grand will be making a record amount of money.

That includes, of course, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, who are expected to generate more than $400 million in total revenue.

It also includes Kenny Bayless, who is considered one of the top referees in the sport and will officiate the upcoming fight. While Bayless, 64, won't make anywhere near as much as Mayweather or Pacquiao, relatively speaking his pay is quite generous.

Reports indicate that Bayless will make $25,000 for the fight. For perspective, Bayless was paid $10,000 for Mayweather's 2013 showdown with Canelo Alvarez. Not a bad rate for a few hours of work.

Bayless has officiated several bouts for both Mayweather and Pacquiao. He was in the ring for Mayweather's fights with Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez and Pacquiao's bouts against Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez.

NCAA tournament referees, on the other hand, are lucky to crack $2,000 if they make it to the Final Four weekend.

It seems only fitting that Bayless will get a pretty penny for refereeing the most profitable fight of all time, but is it too much? ESPN's Darren Rovell thinks so:

Rovell appears to be arguing that with the stakes of the fight so high, it is foolish to pay an official this much money. The last thing fans would want is to see a referee exert too much influence on a fight.

If the fight goes the distance, it will feature 36 minutes of boxing action. That means Bayless would earn nearly $700 per minute.