Mayweather talks about Pacquiao’s low PPV numbers

By Boxing News - 01/26/2015 - Comments

floyd666By Jaime Ortega: Floyd Mayweather Jr said on Super Star News TV, “If I am going to work for free I might not give you one hundred percent, but if I get paid, and I get hundreds of millions of dollars I am going master my craft.”

Then the radio host referring to the Pacquiao fight asked, “speaking about the complicated deal, it looks like is going to take week or months to make considering its the fight the world wants to see. Is it going to be a 300 million deal?” Floyd answers, “Once again we have to look at his pay-per-view numbers, his last fight verily sold 300.000 homes, so it has to make sense,” adding,“ he got knocked out not long ago, and Floyd Mayweather is still winning.”

After listening to Floyd mentioning pay-per-view numbers as a reasonable justification to avoid the fight with 2nd biggest pay-per-view star Manny Pacquiao, it makes me utterly disappointed.

The radio hosts rebuttal to Floyd’s answer should had been ‘has Marcos Maidana, or any other fighter that Floyd fought in the past had bigger PPV numbers than Manny Pacquiao? The answer simply put is absolutely no. Other than Floyd, no fighter as of today has close the PPV numbers Pacquiao has shown.

Its seems that if PPV’s are the main concern why Floyd wont step in the ring with Pacquiao, then Floyd must consider his international status. Floyd has a an international fan base and Showtime has other deals with other networks worldwide. So what about worldwide? Does Floyd match up with Pacquiao in terms of popularity and fame?

The interesting part about his latest excuse, is that yes, Pacquiao has less PPV numbers in the U.S compared to Floyd, but worldwide the Pilipino is another monster. Pacquiao is not only a bigger icon than Floyd worldwide, but people watch his fights whenever HBO tunes in. In China alone over 48 million people tuned to see Algeri versus Pacquiao. Arum callec it great success. Has Floyd ever reached 48 million views yet?

In most western European countries like UK, Spain, France, Germany{..} Manny Pacquiao over time has become more popular than Mayweather because of his progression as a fighter, and people know him and like to watch his fights for he brings excitement to boxing. In Mexico alone, Pacquiao is regarded higher than Floyd by many boxing analyst. I am not including the Philippines, and other Asian countries that also admire Pacquiao. Pacquiao’s international reputation as a political representative for the Philippines has help contribute to strengthen his popularity globally.

So yes, in the US Mayweather is the king of PPV numbers, but worldwide Pacquiao is indisputably the most popular boxer. So in the end, if TMT is serious about the PPV numbers and there is no fight, its nothing but an excuse for Floyd to not fight Pacquiao.

But lets consider all the previous excuses Floyd selected over the years. Something never before seen in boxing.

1. Manny Pacquiao alleged used of Performance Enhancement Drugs. This ended up in a lawsuit. His sparring partners, many of them that also train in Mayweather’s boxing club have said in multiple occasions that Pacquiao is naturally gifted, including Shawn Porter. He can’t possibly take PED’s every time he spars, the man would have a heart attack.

2. Bob Arum. Promoter issues? Well Arum helped with Joe Frazier versus Ali, Marvin Hagler versus Roberto Duran, Hagler versus Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard versus Thomas Hearns, George Foreman versus Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson versus Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya versus Floyd Mayweather, Erik Morales versus Manny Pacquiao and many other great fights. The question is what fight has Floyd given his fans that rivals any of Arums past super-fights? That’s where I have an issue with Floyds credibility. Arum has proven to deliver super fights, Floyd has not.

3. Pacquiao got knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez. Going by the same logic, Floyd would have never taken on Ali after losing to Joe Frazier, or Willie Pep after losing to Tommy Collins, or Sugar Ray Robinson after losing to Jake La Motta!

Floyd proposes that he would have never taken on any of the legends because they, alike Manny, also lost and a lot more than Pacquiao. Do you imagine how the state of boxing would of developed according to Floyd’s agenda? No thank you.

4. PPV numbers. Diego Corrales, Marcos Maidana, Robert Guerrero, Miguel Cotto, Carlos Baldomir, Emanuel Augustus{…} Have they ever nearly had the PPV numbers Pacquiao has shown nationally or internationally? Not even close.

5. Day of the fight. Floyd wanted 5 de Mayo, and even though it was hard for Arum to concede to his request, Arum gave 5 de Mayo to fight against Pacquiao because Oscar De La Hoya wanted to prove a valid point. The point is that Floyd wont fight Pacquiao even if he is given the date he demanded. That ended that excuse.

6. Not enough money. But Floyd calls himself Mr. Money man! Fighting Pacquiao, would give May weather a guaranteed one hundred twenty million $USD even if he lost the fight. Undoubtedly the biggest fight in boxing history. UAE team from Abu Dhabi already pulled out from making a deal, in their view, “Floyd is not serious with fighting Pacquiao.” Also star rapper and boxing promoter 50 Cent, had to pull out from a hundred million dollar Pacquiao deal blaming it on Floyd. Money is not the issue here.

Finally, as I written before Floyd ducked Paul Williams, Erik Morales, Sergio Martinez, Antonio Barrera, Winky Wright and Manny Pacquiao. The excuses plus the ducking have gone too far to be permissive by boxing loyalist.

We expect Floyd to sign the contract soon because the whole world has grown sick and tired of waiting on him to pay with gratitude the millions of dollars fans have invested on PPV buys making him the rich man he is today. Time to pay back the fans, ‘if’ he cares about them or his legacy.



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