The Mayweather-Mosley fight is sucking the air out of Pacquiao-Clottey
March 2nd, 2010
By Esteban Garduno: After only one press conference, the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley news has pretty much taken all the air out of the upcoming March 13th fight between World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey. You can make an argument that both Mosley and Mayweather are better speakers, better at the promotional side of things, but whatever the case, the Mayweather-Mosley fight appears to be shoving news about the Clottey vs. Pacquiao fight off the front page.
Clottey lost that fight. He got tired around the 10th and basically gave the fight away. He’s a good fighter, but I don’t see him as a top number #1 contender no matter what the WBO thinks. The Mayweather-Mosley fight appears to be just all around much better fight. That’s not Pacquiao’s fault. He just fights the guys that his promoter puts in front of him.
I suppose Pacquiao could have stood up and asked for someone different like Andre Berto, Shane Mosley, but Clottey is what we he’s stuck with. However, it’s sad to see the Mayweather vs. Mosley fight getting talked about more than the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, because the Mayweather fight isn’t taking place until May 1st, while the Clottey vs. Pacquiao fight is happening in less than two weeks. That’s not a good sign at all. I think they may have misjudged the interest in this fight.
What I don’t see happening for this fight is the promotion of it. Where’s the advertising? I don’t see any advertisements on HBO, nothing in the newspapers, no commercials, nothing. It’s like the fight isn’t even happening. When I ask casual fans about the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, none of them have even heard about it. That tells me that Top Rank, who is promoting both Pacquiao and Clottey, isn’t putting money into this fight for some reason.
Why are they holding back on the advertising? Is it that they’re seeing this as a pure profit fight because of the diehard Pacquiao fans who will purchase this fight on pay per view regardless of whether Pacquiao fights someone good or not? The fight supposedly is close to selling out the Dallas Cowboy stadium, with nearly 45, 000 tickets purchased.
You would think with that money, they could turn around and put it into advertising to make this fight a bigger success. Of course, I don’t know that any amount of advertising will be able to make Clottey a gem of an opponent. He’s perhaps too flawed to paint him as a knockout artist or as some kind of unbeatable fighter. He’s been beaten already three times and is coming off a loss in his last fight. You’d have to gloss over those little nasty facts to try and build him up as a good opponent for Pacquiao. So maybe it’s best that money isn’t poured into advertising the Clottey vs. Pacquiao fight.
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Alot of Pacquiao fans’s look at Mayweather as the enemy because of the comments he’s made about Pacquiao, but take a good look at Bob Arum, just for a quick second. Try to understand why Mayweather jr, and Dela Hoya both left. Now look at the 25% of Pacquiao’s purse that he’s taking and you have found your answer. Bob Arum is the real person we should hear Pacquiao fan’s complaining about not some guy name Mayweather who either way can’t take Manny’s money no matter what he says.
Colin,
It’s 2010, they could have used holograms ala Star Wars for all I care. Based on the dialogue, it was a he said she said. Manny would be told one thing, probably from Arum, and it resulted in a particular outcome. At the end of the day it’s the fighter that fights. If Pacquiao was there, in person, hearing both sides of the argument face to face it’s a lot different. Just like business done over the phone vs. in person, or arguing w/you guys through blogging, or saying it to your face.
People have grapes behind the curtain, but in person would have made all the difference. Just my opinion, but I hold it true.
Wowzabean,
Pacquiao didn’t have to be in the States/in the room. He could have been connected to the arbitration via sat hook-up, Skype video/tele, you name it. It’s 2010, video conference has been around awhile!! Unfortunately he works for Arum. It should be the other way around.
LuvBoxing,
Bravo! You nailed it, the problem is Arum. Pacquiao is the #1 P4P and has no control over who, where or when he fights. Arum is a pimp–get’s 25% of the purse, and Pac is his #1. Pac tried to get away and signed with GBP, Arum threatened to sue. Now Pac pays Arum and GBP when he fights.
Pac is at height of his popularity and earning power but he has no control. Wake up Pinoys, your natl hero works for an American Pimp.
luvboxing,
I don’t disagree. Arum seems to have a gassed head working in the business for so long w/some of the greats. I’m not taking any credit away from the guy, he’s done a lot for the sport, and has obviously made a lot of money in doing so. A lot of what he does is tactical from a business stand point. When you’ve handled business deals before, it’s obvious what he’s doing. You have to be willing to lose a deal to make a deal.
At the end of the day Arum didn’t take the fans into consideration. It was a wrestling match between Floyd and Bob and it ended up in a clash of egos as opposed to getting it signed. Although I do put more blame on Floyd himself mainly due to the testing (my opinion guys), Arum definitely didn’t try to rectify the issues.
Again, the fight didn’t come to fruition, not because one fighter is afraid of the other, not because one fighter is taking PEDs, but quite frankly because of egos during signing. I’ve stated it time and time again, had Pacquiao been here in the States, the fight would have been signed.
I don’t think the article is bias at all…I went on the site last night and the 1st five articles were about Mayweather and the one about Pac still pertained to Mayweather lol. I’m watching both and i’m excited about both but it’s true that Mayweather is dominating the topics on damn near every fight site!
I don’t care about how much a guy makes or PPV numbers unless its going to get fights done easier and faster in the future.
wowza,
I really respect your opinion on this board a lot but I disagree about Arum. Arum IS THE reason that Pac Man will never fight Mayweather. Arum hates Mayweather and cannot take the chance of pac Man getting beat by him. Arum is pretty much everything that is wrong in boxing right now, honestly. He doesn’t do ANYTHING for the sport.
The testing language was in the contract FROM THE BEGINNING and even Roach was quoted as saying it would not be a problem as long as it was cut off a few days before the fight. Well, Arum steps in and says that Roach doesn’t speak for Manny. So Top Rank throws out the $10 million per pound thing to try and get Floyd to flinch, when he accepts immediately they have to back pedal on the testing again.
Floyd relented to 14 days before the fight which is MORE THAN REASONABLE. The fact that Arum would not accept that is just stupid. Arum did not want the fight to happen and now he is just trying to bash Mayweather to build his fight, one, in which, they will make a fraction of the payday.
Floyd is not losing much honestly. He is still going to make $30 million+ on the Mosley fight, so he is riding high while Pac Man is going to have to settle for about $8 mil because of his representation.
I love Pac Man as a fighter and I know he is not scared of Floyd and probably wants to fight him, but Arum making him come out with the whole blood test weakens me card was sad. Then Arum starts the whole Mayweather cannot dictate terms to us and makes it look worse.
As soon as everyone realizes who the REAL problem is (ARUM) then we can wuit all these pointless debates and honor both Pac Man & Mayweather as the great fighters that they are.
Mayweather vs Mosley has been a long anticipated fight thats crossd over to mainstream where Manny vs Clottey fight is the most popular fighter and p4p king vs a fighter that is mostly only known to boxing fans,not the mainstream. The thing is it has still already sold,(Pac vs CL) 45 000 tickets so its already a financial success. Get ready for a much better fight than many will imagine!
Theres too much emphasis on these 2 fights running in comptetition with each other.
I think by the time it happens you will find that both fight turn out to be big financial successes, in the case of fighters like Mayweather, Pacman and Mosley alot of people will find the money to pay for both.
Eh…Pac and Clottey are having a fight….??? ha
@dayammm
After the mediations with judge Weinstein, everybody was ready to sign: Manny, Top Rank, and Golden Boy Promotions, and even Mayweather Promotions. The only one who decided, after the two days of heavy mediation, NOT to sign and fight was PBF.
If you think he was simply standing on his convictions and principles as the figurehead for boxing, that is your right. But when both promoters have agreed, and one of the fighters is ready with his pen, don’t spin it that Manny was the one who walked away. We don’t know the details of the final, negotiated terms besides the cut off so the rest is just hearsay and posturing on both sides.
And regarding having a back up in place, you act like that was some insider secret. Arum was VERY vocal about the fact that if Floyd didn’t want to play nice he could line another fight with on of his own guys together in 10 minutes flat.
My takeaway was that Top Rank didn’t much want to deal with Floyd, and wasn’t going to jump through hoops to accommodate him. I also think Arum was making it exceedingly hard for Floyd to have any control, and definitely overplayed his hand thinking Floyd would bend for Manny the same way he bent for Oscar.
Floyd was smart enough to know that Oscar was the draw in their fight, but also the passageway to ensuring his own future as a seven figure fighter. He also probably compared his numbers with Oscar to Mannys numbers and saw, rightfully, that he and manny are equal at best if not Floyd having the slight edge.
At the end of the day, nobody came out of negotiations without egg on their face and this summer they better grow up and get their act together if they want to earn the biggest pay days of their careers.
Final note…. If Floyd and Manny both win this Spring, the buzz will grow and their stock will only go up. And to be honest, the fall and winter is must see tv in the USA and a better time for a Superfight IMO.
…ryan
mosley is danger to floyed
You might be right that the Mayweather-Mosley fight is sucking the air out of Pacquiao-Clottey encounter. But I might be wrong to say that the Mayweather-Mosley fight has a big possibility to be cancelled!!!
It is sucking the air out of manny/clottey fight, it,s the bigger fight and BOB knows that the timing for HIS PROMOTION couldnt be worse . Bottom linbe is that BOB’S SHT BACKFIRED on him and HE KNOWS IT.
just because you are not a big ppv fighter does not mean floyed can beat you floyed already ducked his way threw the wealter weight division .fm is not a great ww as he said in the interview .
Pacquiao nor his promoter could not be faulted for choosing Clottey instead of Mosley or Berto since at the time the decision was made, Mosley and Berto were still scheduled to fight. Besides, Clottey is ranked as the No.1 challenger to the WBO crown.
@Dayyuuum
You are one of the few people on here that has common sense.
dayyammmm,
BTW, good job w/your hand me downs from your family, I had to earn everything I have, I didn’t grow up w/a silver spoon up my @ss.
dayyammmm,
Wow small world both coming from similar backgrounds…….right. I’m not addressing the point of Arum looking elsewhere. I’m noting the fact that you said he had no intentions of the fight pushing through. You’re an astute business man, money now is better than money later. The sum of money Top Rank would have received from a Pacquiao/Mayweather fight is incomparable to Pacquiao/Clottey. Pacquiao wasn’t there during negotiations, Arum and Roach decided to run their mouth too fast about blood testing, testing which Pacquiao agreed to btw.
Arum never mentioned filling 100k seats btw, this isn’t an NBA all star game or the Super Bowl. A fight is won from a mental advantage before the gloves are on, Mayweather tried to get that, and failed. He lucked out w/Mosley, a fight which he was pressured into. Only Mosley could overlook a fight w/Clottey.
The fight was suppose to push through. Hell even Haymon and Ellerbe, the real brains behind the brawn, wanted Floyd to just sign the damn paperwork after mediations. Clottey wasn’t decided on. There were talks of a 3rd fight w/Marquez, which wouldn’t work because he wanted the same stringent testing and a 50/50 split. Even Malignaggi was brought into light, which was quickly dismissed.
Back up or not, the intention was to get the thing signed. They couldn’t do a May fight, and Floyd assumed Manny wouldn’t go for March. Arum and Floyd kept spouting off so much BS, that’s why it fell through. Your implications of the fight not wanting to go through just doesn’t have any backing. Your looking at 5x+ more earnings.
@ Ryan
I honestley have no idea what to think on Pac Man. I like Pac too so I will b buying it but I seriously doubt it comes close to the Cotto fight. Probably do around a million buys. Which is very good.
As far as Mayweather v Mosley, I think it is a 2 million but fight easily. I trust GBP after the JMM call so maybe it can break the DLH record, but that is a really big number and I am not sure that is possible.
I also agree that DLH is who made Mayweather and Pac Man as far as their stars are concerned. DLH is and always will be the man when it comes to PPV buys, however it is foolish to through not consider what Mayweather has done since then with the Hatton and JMM fights. Almost 2 million buys betweeen them. That is IMPRESSIVE.
The proof is in the pudding when it comes to numbers and they do not lie since HBO reports real numbers and Floyd delivers.
I guarantee you that a Mayweather v Mosley fight would out sell a Pac Man v Mosley fight and a Mayweather v Clottey fight would outsell a Pac Man v Clottey fight. He is a bigger draw, simple as that.
And again, you’re ignoring the fact that Pac’s camp stated publicly, FROM THE VERY START, that they had ZERO problems with strict drug testing.
But look at how they backtracked on that statement as negotiations proceeded, and Mayweather acquiesced to every single demand from Pac’s camp. 8oz gloves, 50/50 split, $10 million penalty, etc. He gave them everything they asked for.
But all of a sudden Pac couldn’t take the fight on the very issue they stated publicly from the very beginning they had no problems with?
Nonsense. Arum wanted a big mega fight in a big mega stadium. And he got it. Didn’t matter who the opponent was, Arum was banking on Pac’s name and Cowboy stadium as the selling points.
The one thing he was counting on was Mayweather not having an opponent to trump his ‘event.’ Which Floyd didn’t, until Haiti got rocked and Berto withdrew.
GBP pounced on that opportunity and *splat*, there goes Arum’s momentum.
that right,and floyd only getting 10million for this fight with mosley,I like mosley but mosley dont have a huge fan base he sort of the forgot ww.and floyd fans of 3 +years ago are long gone,remember his last fight they couldn’t fill that 17,000 stadium,and had to hurt a rib to buy time,and this time he have no mexican support that really brought his 15 dollar theater ppv. floyd has his hands full this time as he also has a mega fight and hbo,he suppose to beat pac by 50% pac might beat him out right.
Dude, I’m a UC grad myself, so your little degree doesn’t impress me. I went back east for post-grad studies at this little school in Boston starting with the letter H, so again, your little degree doesn’t impress me. I handle my family’s property/real estate in Bel-Air and Huntington Beach, so don’t even try to talk to me about shallow waters.
Whatever with all that – the point remains, if you think Arum didn’t have backup plans in case negotiations failed with Mayweather, than you’re the butt of the joke. He even stated at the very start that he knew negotiations would be difficult, and even turned negotiating duties over to Top Rank’s president (and his son-in-law) Todd duBoef.
And you still think Arum and Bruce Trampler didn’t have names already picked out as backups?
Please.
Mayweather/Mosely won’t do near the numbers being tossed around.Wait and see.
also there’s nothing ‘laughable’ about a hugely successful promotional company having backup names in place for their superstar fighter.
What is laughable is you thinking that they didn’t.
You obviously have no experience in running a business.
there’s no conspiracy, they simply didn’t want to fight either mosley or mayweather. yeah, they went into negotiatons to save face, thinking mayweather would balk at their multiple demands, and even said from the start that they would have no objections with mayweather’s single request for drug testing. Then as mayweather Jr. agreed to every single demand, they started backtracking…they needed a 5 day window, then a 30 day window, then a 24 day window, then they just abruptly broke off negotations. Even when Mayweather countered with a 14 day window (who the hell needs 2 weeks to recover from a little blood draw?), they wouldn’t talk to him.
Don’t act like a successful company like Top Rank didn’t have a backup name in place already. yeah, they tried to spin it like they had to scramble for a last minute replacement, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Arum was betting that Pac could fight anybody and it’d be a smashing success because of the location.
And he most likely would have been right, except the unthinkable happened – Mosley got a shot at Mayweather.
It’s like playing blackjack, you have two face cards, dealer has 16. Arum thinks I’ve got this in the bag, and then the dealer pulls a 5. That’s how gutted he probably felt when Mosley-Mayweather came together. Hell, he even admitted that it was an intriguing fight.
He played his cards pretty well, but sometimes the house just kicks you in the nuts. That’s basically what happened, Mayweather-Mosley kicked Arum in the nuts. Nothing you can do about that, just roll with the punches and move on.
dayyammmm,
My guess is you’re really into the Da Vinci Code. That’s one hell of a conspiracy, borderline laughable. Oh, and that borderline is very very permeable.
wow, you guys really believe Arum and his matchmakers didn’t have Clottey’s name already picked out? Don’t act like they had to scramble for an opponent after they ducked the Mayweather fight – the intention to fight him was never there. After Mayweather called all of Arum’s bluffs, they shut everything down with some bullsh.t about ‘fear of needles’ etc. then they immediately announce Clottey as an opponent. C’mon now son, that was planned out from day one. Arum just needed a live body to stage a big fight in Cowboy stadium. Everything went according to plan except….
an earthquake rocked Haiti.
Then berto withdrew, and Arum’s worst nightmare came true – Mosley signed with Mayweather. All of a sudden a huge mega fight came out of nowhere to trump his silly ‘event.’
You don’t think it’s a coincidence that before Mosley-Mayweather got signed, Arum was boasting about possibly filling 100,000 seats? It’s what, 11 days left, and he’s trying to save face by saying they nearly ‘sold out’ at 45,000? What happened to 100,000? And Jones bought like $30,000 worth of tickets? The PPV numbers are gonna suck for Pac-Clottey.
if you are truly a boxing fan, u will watch both of the bouts.
i watch every divisions including non title matchs, coz i love it.
I dont know about Esteban, but he is just a biased critic who dont know the meaning of boxing.
JUST FIGHT!!!!
Ryan,
Right again on point number 2. I’ve said it time and time again, ODLH made Floyd’s claim as “Money Mayweather.” At the same time I say the same for Pacquiao. ODLH, no doubt purposely as he his the best businessman in boxing, did this on purpose. He made PBF a household name. That being said any predictions for PPV is a hard call. 3 million homes, in this climate? No way. Only Pacquiao/Mayweather could pull that off.
hold up lets talk the truth about cash cow! i just wana say since the mosley fight has two people known very well to the public eye we can split the ppv at 50/50! but since manny is fighting a no name that means mosley fight will have to double the pacman fight just for one of them to be even with what manny earns in ppv numbers…. and if they dont ….. then the cash cow is manny!
Izzzz cuzzz! Mosley/Floyd n tha rest of tha golden boy.., needss a lot of efortttttttttt 2 promot tha fight,., n manny don’t need that cap.. Cuzz peoples gonna watch him fight anywayzzzz…n whoever who’s opponent is.. Still gonna b a showwwwwww..
The Pacman vs Clottey fight is attracting international audience
but what about the Floyd vs Mosley fight ?? I bet it can only
attract local fans….MGM can only accomodate 16,000 fans vs
Texas Mega Stadium with their GIANT HDTV State of the Art Stadium !! Who doesnt want to see that ?? Everybody loves to see that except maybe if dont like Pacman ?
whats funny is floyd fans believe that he is the cash cow in this fight! isnt he fighting someone known to the public eye? yes”… is manny? No! so you can brake the mosley fight as 50/50 and if their ppv dont double mannys then your cash cow is probably the prson who is fighting a no name! it is only common sense, but then again its not so comon
Floyd vs Mosley is a fixed fight….very fixed, staged
Im rooting for Mosley but Mosley needs the money so anything
goes…Floyd may win but can only win by decision…..barely
a decisions…hes good but not good enough against Mosley or
Pacman !lol !!
OBVIOUSLY THE TRUTH REALLY HURT…why post only PRO FLOYD MAYWEATHER and anything for Pacman GETS DELETED OR NOT POSTED AT ALL……this is NOT THE SOVIET UNION…this is AMERICA !
Why even write this OBVIOUSLY VERY BIASED ARTICLE…Just shows
you what real pist-off people in their positions !! lol!!
i didnt read this article but im putting a comment on it because i just want the writer to know that i skipped his article and went on to REAL ones next to this because i remember he is BIASED against Pacquiao even though he is always thrilled to see him fight each time!
@Luv
What do you predict the PPV buys will be for these two fights? I’m truly curious what your guesses might be. Do you think Manny will do better than he did against Cotto, or worse? Also, do you think Mayweather can outdo his numbers vs. ODLH?
I ask for two reasons…
1. I still think Manny’s star is on the rise.
2. I also think Mayweather has it backwards. It’s not that De La Hoya had his biggest PPV with Mayweather, it’s that Mayweather made three times MORE in that fight than he ever had in his career, basically. Same goes for Manny.
Okay, that’s all I got. Curious your thoughts thought. And man, aren’t you excited for BOTH of these fights coming up? The beauty of this sport is we don’t have to choose. Well, unless we’re on a budget in the PPV department I guess (like I SHOULD be, hahahah).
…ryan
Hilarious rat tat. Hilarious and ridiculous. Mayweather and Mosley is going to DESTROY Pac Man v Cottey in PPV and the gate is already mostly sold out and they are not selling them for $50.
Jerry Jones bought $30k worth tickets right up front so that 40,000 ticket sold number is a scam and this fight is not going to sell PPV’s.
GBP said that Mayweather v Mosley is going to get 3 million PPV buys, which is a crazy number but noone thought they would get 1 million in the JMM fight either.
If this fight gets 3 million PPV buys then that is the end of any debate to be had about the cash cow of boxing.
I give you another post 4,as no one has a interest in this article, burn your butt.
.
sound like floyd,treys to rewrite history,manny have close to a sold out 40,000.seats,its a better than expected already,its floyd and mosley with hbo that has to better than 50% or manny the better draw.
why dont you bet something on floyd,I love to see you eat grass.
Publicity stunt… People spect that allready… Floyd , Oscar dlhya,, they know how 2 promot a fight
It was an interesting conference (I wrote a piece on what I enjoyed, actually), but you can’t make this statement on press day, Esteban. Today is SUPPOSED to be focused on Mayweather/Mosley.
And at which point would you have expected Manny to put a fight together with Mosley or Berto? Manny had to put his replacement fight together almost immediately. His fight is March 13, and promoters require certain windows before the fight in order to properly promote it. They don’t and they can’t just change opponents because naysayers don’t like who you picked.
Wait to see what the climate is this weekend and see if it’s still the case, will ya?
…ryan
You are just the only one talking about it. He he he.The rest just don;t care anymore…Floyd is just one washed up fighter ..at 33 with brittle hands…..aw forget it..waste of time…
Arum is riding the Manny train until the wheels come off. I can’t believe he was even in the same area as Leonard Hagler Hearns and Duran. He has no respect for Cotto or Manny. What a joke. All the Manny fans giving Floyd a hard time when they need to watch what Arum has been doing. What a joke.