By Klaas Mabetlela: The figures of $80m guaranteed are being bandied around for the forthcoming megafight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. They will make even more when after the fight when all the revenues have been counted simply because the fight is going to generate record revenues. Why?

Half of the reason is based on the accomplishments of the two athletes, their abilities in the ring and their contrasting styles. But the main revenue generator is the brand Floyd Mayweather and brand Manny Pacquiao. They have such a contrasting mystic, darkness and verve that even the fans that always seen boxing as barbaric are prepared to fork out and watch this fight. Their personalities and intrigue just overwhelm us. That is the key reason they will laugh all the way to the bank.

Manny Pacquiao’s strong personality emanate from the way he carry out his business and the way he devastate his opposition division after division. He demolished his last 3 bigger opponents in such a way that we couldn’t imagine. To us he is too good to be true right in front of us and he does not need anything more to magnetize and awe us. That alone has created a strong brand and personality that brought new fans to the sport.

Mayweather is exactly the other side of the coin from Pacquiao. His boxing style divide the fans, others love it while some hate it. But it is his brash, innate belief in himself, the ability to back up his boast, the looks, and the swagger that attracts fans to him in a positive and negative way. In marketing, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Some fans just wants to see him knocked out because he talks too much and some just enjoy seeing him proving critics wrong fight after fight. The fans who hate him with passion will still pay the top dollar for his fights. That is the difference between the strong brand and the not so strong brand, the ability to get your enemies’ doll.

Floyd, Manny and their handlers have more business savvy and pizzazz than the general fans realize. Firstly, their forthcoming fight just did not come off now and all these’ now-on, now-off’ are just part and parcel of the business game. The fight has been in the card for some time now. That is why Manny jumped the weights as fast as he did and chose De La Hoya and Hatton as his opponent when he did. He did that to prove himself to the world whilst working towards the biggest purse of his career. Mayweather did not come out of retirement and faced Marquez just for the sake of conditioning and shedding ring rust. All these took place because the blueprint was already engraved and master planners were already hard at work.

Boxers like Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya and others had the impact they had because they created a persona that people bought over and above their abilities in the ring. There are relatively lesser boxers like Hector Camacho and Arturo Gatti whose personalities surpassed their abilities in the ring and they had more impact than their abilities would have allowed.

Boxers like Pernell Whitaker and Roy Jones are respected as all-time greats but would have had more impact if they were more robust on the branding and marketing side of the equation. Whitaker’s boxing style did not help to win more fans but his personality was even worse. It was just not there and he fought the best of his era without maximizing the dollar earned. Do not get me wrong, he is a rich man from the sport but I feel he would have made more from the same fights he fought. Roy tried to create a brand but I think he did not get it exactly right there.

Tiger Woods magnified the world with his golfing artistry but he made $100m plus a year because he is the biggest brand in all sports. He molded his image to that extend and his current escapades may look like they are going to damage it all. I think the current negativity will actually enhance his branding stature over time because in the world of business, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Business thrives on it.

As for Money and Manny- my hat off to you guys, you deserve each and every dollar coming your way.