Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather could be gauging the extent of public interest on the planned “Fight of the Century” remake following his trending “draw” verdict on the just-concluded Pacquiao-Bradley trilogy fight.
Aside from boxing’s biggest draw before retiring last year, Mayweather is a brilliant marketing man, who was credited for generating a record-breaking pay-per-view (PPV) buys in boxing history. With Mayweather’s marketing expertise, the “Fight of the Century” generated 4,400,000 buys valued at over $500 million including gate sales and other advertising revenues. These PPV figures remain unmatched in the industry. Mayweather’s comment on his post-fight conversation with Timothy Bradley Saturday night has triggered widespread talks about the planned Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch. A private conversation quoted on ESPN right after the Pacquiao-Bradley fight claims Mayweather spoke to Bradley, telling him that he had the fight a draw in his own scorecard. “Go home and watch the replay with the sound off,” Mayweather is said to have told Bradley, indicating he believed the raucously pro-Pacquiao crowd had influenced the judges. Mayweather knows before his reported conversation with Bradley that Pacquiao scored two knockdowns, one in the seventh and the other in the ninth round and he also know that the judges already ruled a unanimous decision win in favor of Pacquiao. All three judges had an identical score of 116-110. Read more: It is now a common knowledge that Mayweather’s unsolicited statement was made not to dispute the judges verdict because he is the only one who saw the fight a draw. Even Bradley himself and trainer Teddy Atlas acknowledged Pacquiao’s victory. Mayweather’s statement was designed to create a buzz on the planned rematch. He wants to wants to know the extent of public interest on the proposed rematch and to find out also if it is big enough to warrant a coordinated effort to hype the fight. Timing is one of Mayweather’s expertise. This was evident when he made a snap decision to engage Pacquaio in a face-to-face meeting on prime time NBA event in Florida. Mayweather is expected to use the social media like Twitter or Instagram in his effort to gauge the magnitude of the planned rematch. It is possible that Mayweather will be aiming for a bigger revenue target for the rematch to dwarf the 4.4 million PPV buys of the first fight.
Floyd Mayweather chatting with Manny Pacquiao Grant Smith / Twitter While it is difficult to break his own PPV record, it may be possible to surpass it because there are great story lines in the rematch that can be used in promoting the fight. One of the best arguments that could create public interest on the planned rematch is Pacquiao’s state of health. It may be recalled that one of the reasons why Pacquiao lost in their first encounter was due to his shoulder injury. The Bradley fight showed Pacquiao has fully recovered from his surgery which happened right after the Mayweather fight last year. Pacquaio’s trainer Freddie Roach has already confirmed that that the surgery has held and he now has two good hands when he decides to face Mayweather for the second time. The other credible story line is the last opportunity for millions of boxing fans around the world to witness what could be Mayweather’s and Pacquiao’s swan song. It cannot be denied that these two great boxers and future hall of fame pillars would go down in history as two of the greatest boxers of all time. There are other good story lines that media can explore in the buildup to the proposed rematch but for now, Mayweather needs to let his marketing expertise shine in what could be the riches fight in boxing history.
