Mayweather Gets $100M for Pac or ?Easy Work? Golovkin
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 01 Jun 2016
A consumer goes to the best car dealer in his or her town to buy a top of the line SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle). He or she knows what color they want the vehicle to be, what features they want added, whether they will invest in a hybrid or not, what size tires, stereo system, security system, etc. The car dealer informs the customer that they will not sell the vehicle even though the consumer has the cash to pay in full. When the customer inquiries as to why the sale cannot be facilitated, the car Dealer offers no valid reason, but a laundry list why he can?t sell. Instead he offers to sell a two door hatchback with basic features to the potential customer. Needless to say, no sale was made that day.
I use this analogy because one can compare it to times when the best fights in boxing are not being made for Pay Per View (PPV). Fight fans would prefer to see their favorite fighters fight each other, but instead they get the fights they really don?t want. We have recent examples of Pacquiao-Bradley III, Mayweather-Berto, and Khan-Canelo. Pacquiao clearly beat Bradley in the first fight, but did not get the official decision victory. Their second fight was a continuation of the first. The second time the judges got it right. What was the point of a Pacquiao-Bradley rubber match (third fight)? Fight fans are begging for Mayweather to fight against someone who can push him to the limit or defeat him. Mayweather chose Andre Berto. Kahn-Canelo was supposed to be a superfight. Take Canelo?s Latino support base, coupled with Khan?s support in the UK should?ve equaled a superfight, right? Fans weren?t excited about that fight because they knew it was a mismatch from the beginning. The fight fans disinterest was reflected in all three events final PPV sales.
For almost 8 months, Floyd Mayweather Jr (49-0, 26KOs) has stated he was retired and had no plans of returning to fight. He recently announced for the right price he would return and there has been speculation on who he would fight. Whether fight fans believe it or not, there are reported negotiations with MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter, Connor McGregor (22-3, 17 KOs) for a fight in September 2016. Is this a superfight? Where is the market for Mayweather-McGregor? For the amount of money Mayweather will require to return for 36 min of work (12 rounds or less), is there a public interest in this fight? Is there that so called ?buzz in the air? about Mayweather-McGregor?
Maybe if it were a 12 round fight with some or all MMA rules, that might arouse public interests. Imagine Mayweather being put in a choke hold and he submitted to McGregor the way former great James Toney submitted to MMA fighter Randy Couture. Would it be considered an MMA fight or a boxing match? If it were MMA rules, Floyd would still remain undefeated at 49-0 in that case. Bottom line is all this speculation is silly! There are two fighters that hardcore boxing fans and mainstream occasional fight fans want to see Mayweather take. Those two fights are either a rematch with Manny Pacquiao or Gennady ?Easy Work? Golovkin.
It took five years to make Mayweather-Pacquiao. When it was made, the fight broke all PPV records. Some people in the fighter camps are now taking credit for its success citing that it was good business not to make the fight five years prior to when it happened because it would not have been such a financial success. That?s bogus simply because the true reason the fight wasn?t made was because both fight camps could not agree primarily on promotion and financial terms. It just so happened that five years later, fight fans and the mainstream occasional fight fans were even more interested. Not surprisingly, the public is interested in a rematch. Pacquiao stated he fought Mayweather with an injured shoulder. This has started a class action lawsuit by fans and individual lawsuits against Top Rank, the Network, and Pacquiao due to the astronomical fees fans paid for a fight they thought they were going to see and associated cost such as hotel, airfare, etc. Fans can?t help but wonder if Pacquiao were 100% could he have defeated Mayweather? In spite of the outcome of the first fight, the public interest is still there to do the same numbers or better in a rematch.
Gennady ?Easy Work? Golovkin is the ?new kid on the block? in terms of recognition. He is the unified middleweight champion (160lbs) of the world. His record stands at 35-0, 32KOs. He has smashed through the competition. He has stated he will fight anyone between 154lbs and 168lb. When Mayweather fought and defeated Oscar De La Hoya it was at the 154lb weight division. Mayweather was quoted as referring to Golovkin as ?Easy Work? if they ever fought. With the exception of Andre Ward, who recently moved up to the light heavyweight (175lbs) division from Supermiddleweight (168lbs), no one has been lining up to fight Golovkin. This is the other fighter, Golovkin, the public wants Mayweather to fight and will pay ?through the nose? to watch.
So like the analogy of the car salesman refusing to sell the customer the SUV truck they so coveted, but instead trying to sell the customer (what they didn?t want) a little two door hatchback is the same case here. I ask the symbolic question to PPV customers:
By a show of hands,
Who wants to see Mayweather-McGregor?
Who wants to see Mayweather-Pacquiao II?
Who wants to Mayweather-Golovkin?
We can only imagine the show of hands for the latter two fights. This is my point exactly. If the powers that be don?t want to continue losing PPV customers the way they have been losing in the past, you have to give the customers what they want or don?t take the fight to PPV. Put the fight on free television or on a cable network. So if Mayweather wants 100 million to return to boxing let it be against Pacquiao or Golovkin because that is where the money is.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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