With the recent Abner Mares-Nonito Donaire fiasco now behind us, all that’s been proven is that Top Rank and Golden Boy still cannot work together. This begs the question, why should fighters still sign for them when they know there is a chance that the biggest fights, and biggest paydays, may not be available to them because of the cold war between the two promotional firms.
Let’s rewind to the night of November 14th 2009. Manny Pacquiao has just knocked out Miguel Cotto in the 12th round, winning nearly all the other rounds in the process. One of the first questions Pacquiao is asked by Larry Merchant, HBO’S legendary post fight interview man, is “Would you like to fight Floyd Mayweather JR”. Pacquiao lets it sit for a few seconds, before replying, “it’s my job to fight, I will leave it to my promoter Bob Arum, but yes, Let’s get it on”. Mayweather had just returned from an 18-month long retirement by dominating Pacquiao’s foe, Juan Manuel Marquez, for twelve rounds. It’s the fight everyone wants to see, and it would be the richest fight in the history of the sport. Both fighters would earn around the $30 million mark, maybe even a lot more, so it’s surely a no brainer. Give me the pen and let me sign that deal as soon as possible stuff, surely.
Wrong.
The fact that Pacquiao is with Bob Arum’s Top Rank, whilst Mayweather is affiliated with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy promotions is, among many others, a big problem. The two companies do not do business. De La Hoya and Bob Arum, who promoted De La Hoya in some of his biggest fights during his heyday, just do not get along. Nobody really knows why. Yes, in his autobiography De La Hoya had some unsavory remarks to say about Bob Arum, but surely, when you can pocket millions and your credibility is pretty much on the line, you can put things like that to one side. Sticks and stones anyone? Not in this case. For the next few years, pretty much until Pacquiao was knocked out cold by Juan Manuel Marquez in late 2012, the fight was anticipated like none other. But the two companies decided to bicker and then blame one another for the fight not taking place. Eventually, people moved on. If the fight was made right now, it would be nowhere near as lucrative as it could have been in early 2010, and Mayweather would win.
Now, in 2013 however, The situation has arisen again, only it is not Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather who are involved this time, but Abner Mares and Nonito Donaire, the two kings of the 122 pound division. When fans realised that a fight between the two would probably be very entertaining, we got excited. When we realised that it would decided who is the undisputed king of the 122 pound division, we got a little bit more excited. When we saw both fighters say they wanted to make the fight, our excitement hit a peak.
But then we realized that Abner Mares was with Golden Boy, whilst Nonito Donaire was with, you guessed it, Top Rank.
We then got a lot less excited.
Despite the fight being a high profile, unification bout, and probably the most anticipated fight out there at the moment, the two companies have not been able to work together. This is despite the fact that both fighters have said on numerous occasions that they want the fight to be made, and the fans calling for it to be made. Ok. It may not be as high profile as Mayweather-Pacquiao, nor is it as lucrative financially, but it’s the biggest fight that can be made right now. But, like before, both companies have pointed fingers at each other, blaming each other for the fight not being made.
With the fight looking unlikely to happen this side of 2013, and possibly never happening, just why would fighters sign for either company when they could join up with Gary Shaw or Lou Dibella and not have to worry about any of this?
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