The fan base factor and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

By Boxing News - 01/11/2014 - Comments

floyd7644By Gerardo Granados: Once a prizefighter acquires a big fan base he will get the leverage he needs to negotiate a good purse but if the rival name is Floyd Mayweather Jr. then is it not that simple; with four fights left on his contract he is forced to bring in big numbers on the pay per view, so not any opponent will cope with it. The main goal in prize fighting is to earn as much money as possible and fight fans will pay to see two fighters risk their health doing so.

It should be easier to decide who will be next for Floyd Mayweather Jr. but when big interest get involved then things might get a little hard. British welter Amir Khan has a big fan base but in his last outings hasn’t looked good, he could bring the numbers in because of his support of British fight fans but the American fight fans might not support Floyd because Khan might not be considered as a big threat to the undefeated pound for pound best.

If Marcos Maidana was Mexican instead of Argentinean I´m certain he would be next for Mayweather Jr., because the Mexican fan base is huge and supportive for most of Mexican fighters. At light middle there is not a big name left to bring in the numbers with the exception of Miguel Cotto who will fight against Sergio Martinez for the middleweight belt. Maybe the young lion Danny Garcia could bring in one million buys.

Where is pro boxing heading to? Why it is the name of young new comers can’t be considered? Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman and Kell Brook are solid welters but his fan base isn’t as solid, does that means that they can’t land a shot at Floyd until they guarantee to bring in the numbers? The fights should be arranged not only on a big fan base but on the rankings too, it is true pro boxing is a business but how will a young lion reach stardom if while been high ranked he can’t get a shot at a big name because he hasn’t build a big fan base yet, is he supposed to built it fighting unknown fighters?

Does this could lead to fighters to build their boxing careers on their own countries? Erislandy Lara and Guillermo Rigondeaux are great boxers but both lack an attractive personality to support his boxing skills, if you ask a casual boxing fan about them you might find that their name aren’t easily recognizable.

Can we measure a fighter fan base based on their country support? I believe we can but pro boxing can’t depend on it solely because it could lead to not to realize great fights. Strictly speaking about numbers to achieve on the pay per view the Cuban fan base isn’t as big as the Mexican fan base, why? How many Cuban or Mexican fight fans are there? From what I´ve read pro boxing in Spain isn’t supported as it is in the United Kingdom. I consider that the Puerto Rican, British and Argentinean fight fans to be among the elite for their support but are they as big in number as American fight fans?

I am certain that if a fighter gets the chance to prove his worth, then fight fans around the world will follow him regardless of his nationality. I will only mention three names for the reader to consider: Manny Pacquiao, Roberto Duran and Azumah Nelson. Does the reader believe that the fan base factor is affecting Floyd Mayweather Jr. decision on his next opponent?



Comments are closed.