Forget about Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

By KenWoods123 - 02/10/2014 - Comments

pac101010By Ken Woods: Various fans and boxing pundits alike are clamoring for a mega fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Everyone, followers and media members alike, should forget about the fight because it’s not going to happen.

The fan reaction on every article has been flooded with endless debates about who is at fault for the fight not happening, and it’s all useless conjecture.

How are people convinced that Mayweather is solely responsible for the fight not getting made? There are numerous parties involved on both sides that have to agree to fight. For instance, Bob Arum, Michael Koncz, Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe, and Richard Schaefer, in addition to Pacquiao and Mayweather, play a part in getting the fight done, so the notion that Mayweather alone needs to make it happen is a disservice to the negotiation process.

Both camps have demanded unprecedented things, such as Arum’s insistence on a new outdoor stadium, Mayweather’s mandate that Pacquiao leave his promoter, Pacquiao’s claim that he’s scared of needles when he has tattoos, Mayweather’s purse split demands, or Pacquiao’s demand that Mayweather pay $10 million for every pound he weighs over the 147-pound welterweight limit.

Furthermore, people seem to take these guys’ words at face value. Here’s a newsflash to the unenlightened; both of them are full of it. There are no public negotiations in boxing. Every time one of these guys makes an “offer” it is complete and utter B.S., especially through the media.

Mayweather’s offer of Pacquiao leaving Arum was bogus and so was Pacquiao’s offer to fight for charity. (Come on man, this is prizefighting, who does he think he’s fooling?) Does anyone notice that any time these guys have a fight coming up they start to challenge each other? Fans open your eyes, you are being deceived. They have absolutely no intention of fighting each other.

The boxing public thinks that this would be Mayweather and Pacquiao’s highest earning fight. Once again the boxing public is misled. Mayweather’s business structure is unlike any other fighter’s right now. Mayweather pays the other fighter’s purse out of his own pocket. He pays Golden Boy a flat promotional fee. He receives a guarantee from Showtime/CBS. After that he rakes in a high percentage of the profits from the MGM Grand, the sponsors and advertisers, the live gate and tickets sales, merchandising, and pay-per-view sales.  If he was to negotiate with Pacquiao, he would have to split all those streams of revenue with not only Pacquiao but also Bob Arum. This means even if the fight did generate close to $200 million, he would still receive less than what he earned for the Saul Alvarez fight.

Pacquiao’s business structure is not set up the same way. Pacquiao and Tim Bradley will be paid a purse by Top Rank promotions. Top Rank will also get a percentage of all the aforementioned revenue streams in addition to a percentage of the initial purse. Those two colliding business structures make for serious complications at the negotiating table.

Fans please stop bickering about this fight. Just support boxing or don’t order their fights; it’s really that simple. Save your breath, and if you save your money on fights you don’t like, you just may save boxing. If it does ever happen, then consider it a delightful bombshell.



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