SPORTS 217: MANNY PACQUIAO AND FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. STILL HAVE MORE SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS THAN YOUNGER BOXERS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 14 Sep 2021
Tracy David, Chief Marketing Officer for social analytics platform ListenFirst revealed that at this point of their respective careers, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. still have a great following in social media.
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David said, “During the last five years, the social media data around Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. paints a clear picture. There’s less of a real-time conversation around both fighters and they are generating fewer new followers on platforms like Twitter and Instagram."
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The social media expert compared the two legends to the younger boxing superstars. "However, that Mayweather and Pacquiao both have more of a social media following than younger stars like Canelo Álvarez and Gennady Golovkin, speaks to why there’s still so much anticipation around a potential rematch."
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Although their marketability has now dipped a bit, Pacquiao and Mayweather still maintain the hordes of fans which could be translated to higher pay-per-view sales and full-packed arena if both fighters decide to face again.
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"Even at a diminished popularity level, Manny and Floyd remain the biggest names in boxing, and a sequel to their 2015 fight would likely be a PPV draw, despite questions about how much each fighter has left in the tank," Davis clarified.
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Pacquiao has 18.2 million followers on Facebook while Mayweather has 15.7 million. On Instagram, Floyd has more than 27.2 million while Manny has 6.7 million followers. On Twitter Mayweather has 7.8 million while Pacquiao has 2.6 million followers.
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Canelo Alvarez has 1.8 million followers on Twitter, 10.3 million on Instagram and 5.9 million on Facebook. Gennady Golovkin has 1.3 million followers on Facebook, 621k on Twitter and 4.1 million on Instagram.
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After his exhibition fight with Logan Paul which lasted the full eight rounds, Mayweather, announced that he would never fight as a professional again, and would decline another exhibition match. "As far as me coming back to the sport of boxing, absolutely not. As far as me doing an exhibition again, probably not,” he said.
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Mayweather believed that Manny Pacquiao was the best boxer he ever faced in his 50 undefeated fights since 1996. He said Pacquiao had stood out from the rest of his opponents when they fought on May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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“The best fighter I’ve ever fought probably was Manny Pacquiao. It’s because of his movement. He’s a hell of a fighter,” said Mayweather when interviewed at The Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast.
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“And I can see why he won so many fights, and I can see why he’s going down as a Hall of Famer. It’s just certain moves he makes.”
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The last time Mayweather knocked out an opponent which is a real boxer was in September 17, 2011 against Victor Ortiz. Mayweather shot a left hook which shook Ortiz when he was hugging the undefeated champion. Ortiz looked at the referee, and Mayweather landed a quick right hand on Ortiz's face and fell to the canvas.
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Ortiz was unable to beat the count and the crowd of 14,687 shouted of their disapproval at Mayweather. After the fight Ortiz asserted that he was just obeying the referee's instructions when he was covered by Mayweather, who responded that "In the ring, you have to protect yourself at all times".
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Since then, seven following matches ended up in either majority or unanimous decisions until he fought MMA star Conor McGregor and stopped him by 10th round TKO on August 26, 2017.
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Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets for the fight went on sale on April 23, 2015 for the 16,800 capacity MGM Grand and were sold out in just a minute.
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Unlike previous Pacquiao fights, whose free-to-air rights were exclusively held by GMA Network, a "slightly-delayed" telecast of the fight was simulcast by rival networks Solar Sports, GMA, ABS-CBN, and TV5.
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Solar Sports President Wilson Tieng said that Pacquiao requested the joint broadcast of all networks because of the historic nature of the fight, and "everybody agreed to set aside all their differences to make sure that this will become the biggest event ever in Philippine television history."
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Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Major world titles
WBC super featherweight champion
WBC lightweight champion
WBC super lightweight champion
IBF welterweight champion
WBC welterweight champion (twice)
WBA (Super) welterweight champion
WBO welterweight champion
WBC light middleweight champion (twice)
WBA (Super) light middleweight champion
Minor world titles
IBO welterweight champion
IBA welterweight champion
The Ring magazine titles
The Ring lightweight champion
The Ring welterweight champion (twice)
The Ring light middleweight champion
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DeAndre Jordan told reporters when he was asked why he left the Brooklyn Nets:
“I think it was just both parties wanting to figure out something that was best for both of us. And I feel like they gave me that respect as a veteran player to be able to understand and know that I want to compete. I’m a competitor, man.
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"We all are in this league and we want to be able to be out there and competing, but also it just worked better for both of us. I’m excited to be a part of this Lakers franchise and this organization with this group of guys, and I’m focused on here,” as quoted by SBNation.
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The tallest NBA player at 7-foot-7, Manute Bol played with Muggsy Bogues, at 5-foot-3 the shortest player in NBA history, for the Washington Bullets during the 1987-88 season. The height difference between the two is 28 inches, the biggest among two teammates ever.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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