By Daven: Promoter Bob Arum is currently working on ensuring the proposed mega bout between Mannny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr airs on subscription television in China.
China has a population of over 1 billion people and it’s a place where boxing is really becoming popular, this should not be snuffed at. Reports suggest $5 of each buy will go Arum, meaning Floyd particularly will be receiving interest for finally accepting the fight we all want to see.
Having staged numerous shows in Macau, Arum’s forged vital contacts with Chinese boxing juggernauts there, coupled with ones in the mainland. Thus Bob feels confident that the Chinese President will agree to air the fight on subscription television as he too is a massive boxing fan according to reporters.
2008 was massive year for boxing in China. With new national heroes borne out of the successful Beijing Olympics, an entirely new market was made available for boxing promoters to explore. Zou Shiming for example is a monumental superstar in his homeland, following his exploits in 2008 games. Accordingly Arum was wise to sign him because he is on the brink of achieving something spectacular now. Any Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard will feature Shiming to further entice the Chinese audience to purchase the event. That said, why should Mayweather turn down the opportunity of making history? With China on side, a extra $250-400M is on the table.
We all know, Mayweather tends to prefer fighting flat-footed, come forward fighters. Ricky Hatton, Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz, Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Marcos Maidana all testify to this. Well prior to these bouts, Arturo Gatti, Emmanuel Augustus and Lovemore N’dou also support my point. One is not discrediting these opponents at all, I’m just indicating that all of them lack ring intelligence and good movement. Some say, Pacquiao is all wrong for Floyd because he has an abundance of speed and is a southpaw. While I am treading on old ground here, it’s important to note how obsessed Floyd is with being undefeated. So much so that one wonders whether he cares more about being undefeated than possibly making £300,000,000 for one fight. Note, it could be even more than the number given, when taking into account all the PPV buys worldwide.
Floyd knows the fight would’ve been richer back in 2010 or 2011, however he wasn’t interested whatsoever. His ludicrous demands attest to that. So what’s changed, why is he now so eager to fight? He’s been backed into a corner because Oscar has shed Richard Schaefer and has reached out to Bob Arum meaning no obvious obstacles are in the way of making the fight. Additionally Oscar De La Hoya has allowed Canelo to sign a three fight deal with HBO implying the politics in boxing is no longer prevalent.
It’s this writer’s view that Mayweather is aware of the growing animosity directed towards him by the fans for not making the fight; hence why he’s been actually referring to Pacquiao by name, which is a rarity to say the least. No realistic options exists for Floyd now, Khan will generate 700-800,000 buys and we all know how Mayweather-Cotto/Canelo goes. Floyd is in a corner now and he’s realising that Pacquiao is worth more than $40,000,000; without Pacquiao, Floyd does not acquire generations of financial security for his descendants.
No obvious road-blocks exist now. Arum is far from being a road-block, if anything he’s helped Mayweather by staging bouts in Macau because he now has the connections to make the bout PPV in China which has never been done before. There is no other fight where Floyd will be on PPV in China; for a man obsessed with earning and spending crazy money it makes no sense to turn down this fight. Manny is easier to hit now than ever and he’s slowed down somewhat. The lack of bonified knock-out power is also telling and it’s worth noting the fight will occur at 147 lbs not 143 or 144 lb as Pacquiao has become accustomed too. All in all, the fight has to happen, as long it’s the next fight for both men, there should be no problem. Whether it’s on May 2 is irrelevant to me because it’ll generate heaps of cash either way.
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