(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Robert Elmore: I will make no bones about it. I’m a Floyd Mayweather fan. He’s one of the most talented boxers in boxing history. He’s a great business man and knows how to sell a fight. Even when he is not fighting, one word from his mouth or a speculation of something, the sports blogs light up. I have glanced over several videos on fighthype.com and read other blogs about how one fighter is carrying the bout and about how Floyd Mayweather Jr. needed Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and vice versa.
Floyd stands to make 40 million up front and Canelo like 10 million. Truth is they needed each other. At this point, right now, there is no bigger fight out there in terms of money and pay per view buys.
Mayweather has his genuine supporters, but he has more people that hate him. There are those who want to see him lose because of life outside of boxing. The way he flaunts his money and walks around like he owns everything, and talks about his opponents (which is nothing new in boxing, but Floyd has toned down). Then you have those who hate to see him on top. Certain boxing fans only tolerate a person dominating for so long before they begin to scream for someone else to take over. It’s done in every sport.
One blogger said it best; Why not act the way you want while you’re in the game because when you lose or retire, the media and fans will move on to someone else. Then you have Saul Alvarez; the quiet humble kid from Mexico with a huge fan base that continues to grow with every fight. Some people love this kind of fighter.
Not only is he humble, he can fight. He’s a knockout machine. He’s the kind of guy you would let your daughter go out to lunch with even if the girl couldn’t speak a lick of Spanish. But there are those who don’t like Canelo either. But their beef isn’t Canelo’s attitude or life outside the ring; it’s the opponents he has faced.
Most of his fights have taken place in Mexico against opponents no one has heard of. When he did fight in the United States, they were against fringe contenders. But boxing tends to be more forgiving in this area to guys like Canelo. After he beat, former WBA champ Austin Trout, it was all that was talked about.
The likes of Matthew Hatton, Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez and others are being put on the back burner because of Canelo’s fight with Floyd.
Some believe Canelo’s inexperience will show against a high caliper fighter like Floyd while others believe his youth will come to the fore and usher a new pound for pound king. But let’s be real, who in the 154 pound weight class, outside of Miguel Cotto, could give Alvarez the type of pay per view buys and pay he craves? Could Alvarez face Vanes Martirosyan, Cornelius Brundage, Erislandy Lara, or Ishe Smith, and do big numbers? These fights, while they may be attractive, would be on regular Showtime at best. Golden Boy wouldn’t even entertain the thought of putting these fights on pay per view. Would Amir Khan, Devon Alexander, Andre Berto, or Marcos Maidana rake it in? Absolutely not. So where do both fighters go pending the outcome of this fight?
For Floyd if he wins, the sky won’t be the limit. His loyal fans will continue to support, but his haters and the media will go on the hunt to build up another fighter to dethrone him. And at this point, won’t matter who it is. They will suggest everyone in higher weight classes, who might not have any value to them financially, but can fight. His name can be Joe Washing Machine. The welterweight might get a glance or two, but even some analysts believe no one in his division can beat him. The close he gets to tying Rocky Marciano’s unbeaten record, the more pay per views will grow. That alone will sell his fights.
The next fighter they will probably suggest is no other than WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. If he loses, the haters and media will do there earnest to tear him down. Not will they only will they attack what happened in the ring, they will attack his personal life. They will be happy that this loud talking, money throwing, brag about his lifestyle man, will be defeated. They want Floyd humbled. Period.
If Canelo wins, this means he might to move up to get a good quality pay per view fighter. As I stated above, he won’t find anybody in his division with the drawing power he’s looking for. Unless he does a couple fights on regular Showtime to further expand his market and then jump into another pay per view bout. He’s only 22 years of age. He will have many options.
If he loses, then he will be exposed as a fraud. His loyal followers will stay behind them (I give that to Mexican fans. Win lose or draw, they stay with their fighter). But to those who don’t like him will trash saying that when he finally fought someone with skill he lost. Or they might ride out on him because he lost to someone smaller than him. Who knows. Or he might not even take a hit. It might be; he lost to Mayweather. There’s no shame in that. And he’s young, he made some money. We’ll have to see how it plays out after the fight.
Comments are closed.