By Chester Rivers” When Top Rank and Bob Arum agreed to re-sign Miguel Cotto last summer few saw the signing as a strategic business move. The re-signing is now shaping up to be a major factor in the immediate future of Floyd Mayweather Jr, Golden Boy Productions and Showtime Boxing.
Two factors that determine a successful investor are 1) being able to foresee the future 2) investing small with the possibility of a huge return. These two factors now seem to be the two major factors in the Cotto re-signing. While some of you are trying to decipher what you have just read let me explain it in simpler terms.
Rewind to last summer around the same time of the re-signing. A major move was going on in the Mayweather camp. It was rumored that Showtime was unhappy with the numbers generated by Mayweather vs. Guerrero and demanded he [Mayweather] fight a popular fighter regardless of the risk. Mayweather, Golden Boy and Showtime all agreed on rising Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Around the same time of that announcement Top Rank announced the re-signing of Miguel Cotto. Cotto is the man credited with giving Mayweather one of his most competitive fights in recent memory in which he [Cotto] bloodied the nose of the pound for pound king. Many dismiss the signing as a favor to an aging fighter to land one last payday. Was Arum positioning his company for a major fight with Mayweather based on the rumor Showtime was forcing Mayweather to only fight the big names in the Division? Adding Cotto would give Top Rank a monopoly of all the big names in the welterweight division. Many fans would prefer to see Mayweather fight Manny Pacquiao, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez or Miguel Cotto over any fighter left in the Golden Boy stable.
The Mayweather team is now faced with a lose/lose situation. Mayweather is now relegated to have his next opponent, Amir Khan or Marcos Maidana, chosen by a public poll in order to see which fighter will be the more financially rewarding. The problem is no one thinks either fighter is deserving of this fight. In their head to head meeting, Maidana loss to Khan and was terribly out boxed by Devon Alexander. Amir Khan has been knocked out cold by Danny Garcia and Bredis Prescott. Khan was hurt badly by Julio Diaz in his last fight and loss a twelve division to Lamont Peterson.
Mayweather may be forced to repeal his stance that he would never put another dollar in the pocket of Bob Arum and admit that Arum and Top Rank are simply too smart.
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