I am convinced that there’s a certain formula to becoming a legitimate draw within boxing. Being that this profession is an internationally practiced form of combat, it is pertinent to understand that it tends to be viewed as strictly a niche sport within America. For the most part, major metropolitan newspapers don’t carry a boxing section giving the public an update as to the last time Manny Pacquiao stumbled home after a binge drinking session with Erik Morales.
Looking at my local newspaper, it seems as though high school sports has taken preference over the sweet science and it’s just accepted by the boxing community that it’s just the way things go.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has reached the level of super stardom that I never would have imagined he’d be able to achieve. In following his career for the past eight or so years, it has always been quite clear that he was a special fighter based on his ring prowess and abilities. I’d always likened him to a physical specimen on-par with a prime Roy Jones Jr. while possessing the pure fighting ability of a prime James Toney. In essence he was the total package strictly based on in-ring execution.
Over the years it’s been apparent that in order to make a little bit of money in addition to gaining some world-wide recognition, winning just wasn’t enough. Up until very recently, another amazing tactician and technician in Juan Manuel Marquez had yet to receive the respect of his peers and the boxing fans as a whole based on his in-ring ability.
Both Marquez and Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao needed a B-side player in order for the world to take note of their amazing talents.
For Marquez it’s obviously been Manny Pacquiao and to a lesser extent Marco Antonio Barrera. For Pacquiao it?s been Morales, Barrera, and Marquez.
For Mayweather, it wasn’t Diego “Chico” Corrales (rip) but more so Arturo “Thunder” Gatti.
I know many people will tend to disagree stating that the way in which “Money” disposed of Corrales truly opened the boxing world’s eyes as to the potential of this product from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I understand that argument, but it is of my opinion that this was more of a hardcore fight fans fight rather than the casual viewer that might tend to recognize your name.
While the name “Mayweather” is synonymous with the word “boxing”, it still took years for people to recognize Floyd Jr., outside of strictly boxing circles.
I recall being in Las Vegas for the Bernard Hopkins-Oscar De la Hoya bout in which Mayweather was seen walking around the casino relatively unbothered at the time. I had a friend who had informed that he’d seen the “Pretty Boy” casually strolling around the Mandalay Bay and I immediately asked, “Where?”
Being that my friend was considered a very casual boxing fan himself, he didn’t understand the fuss about the short, black guy with a “frozen” wrist.
At the time, the fuss for me was about meeting and greeting one of the best boxers I’d ever witnessed in my life to date. Being a huge Bernard Hopkins fan at the time, there was something about Floyd that I felt should give him the slightest of edges in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Outside of the junkies and avid followers of the sport, Mayweather couldn’t truly be considered a superstar at the time.
Following his bout with Corrales, Floyd fought a slew of top champions and contenders in their absolute primes including Carlos Hernandez, Jesus Chavez, Jose Luis Castillo (twice), and Demarcus Corley. It still wasn’t enough to put him over the top as a legitimate draw within boxing and up until that point, Floyd had yet to make his pay-per-view presence known within the sport.
June 6, 2005 was the day the entire world took note of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
It couldn’t have been a more perfect scenario for the future pound-for-pound superstar.
He would be facing off against a man who’d been involved in four bouts awarded as “Fight of the Year” by Ring Magazine. He’d be facing off against a man who’d been involved in one of the most memorable trilogies of recent times with Mickey Ward. He’d be facing a limited but exciting fighter who’d been coming off a five fight winning streak deeming him as “credible” in the eyes of the general public. Just as important as anything, he’d be facing off against a man who’d fought Oscar De la Hoya on regular HBO back in March of 2001.
All of these factors played a huge role in the popularity of a man named Arturo “Thunder” Gatti.
This doesn’t even mention the fact that instead of attempting to hop around from Las Vegas to other gambling venues, Gatti had become somewhat of a hometown hero in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
It couldn’t have been a more fitting springboard to propel the career of Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. It’s exactly what he needed at the time being that he had yet to face a man who was considered popular outside of boxing? very popular at the time.
HBO produced the widely enjoyed 30-minute countdown to the Mayweather-Gatti Pay-Per-View bout which ended up drawing over 365,000 purchases which was considered extremely successful at the time.
Following the Gatti bout, Mayweather wisely jumped back to fighting on regular HBO against veteran southpaw Sharmba Mitchell at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. While many detractors will state that it was a wasted fight showing Floyd’s inability to fill a stadium, I digress stating that he exposed himself to yet another major metropolitan area that hadn’t seen high level boxing in quite a while. They now recognized the name “Mayweather” in Portland just like San Franciscans did from his bout with Jesus Chavez in 2001.
It was at this time that a hiccup occurred in Floyd’s career based on another man’s doing or better yet? undoing.
The stage was set for a huge “hip-hop” showdown with Brooklyn bad boy, Zab “Super” Judah.
“Super” had originally looked spectacular in his 9th round stoppage over Cory Spinks in the St. Louis-born fighter’s hometown. That night it seemed as though the world had witnessed the full potential of a man always viewed as possibly even faster than Floyd himself. Judah proceeded to grace the ring merely three months later icing rugged journeyman Cosme Rivera in just three hellacious rounds.
It’s at this point were the build-up to Judah-Mayweather loses a bit of steam being that an unfocused Judah dropped a decision loss to over-achiever Carlos “Tata” Baldomir in January of 2006.
I truly believe that had “Super” prevailed in his bout with the Argentian, the super fight between the two speedsters would have truly been considered a super fight.
Nevertheless, 350,000 pay-per-view purchases reiterated the fact that the combination of Mayweather with another well known figure in boxing had the potential to draw very solid figures in comparison to his peers.
“Money’s” next bout took place in November of 2006 against the man who had originally derailed the full-blown Judah express earlier in the year and subsequently defeated the man who had played a pivotal role in catapulting Floyd’s career into super stardom in Gatti. Being that Carlos Baldomir was not considered a legitimate star in any way, shape, or form, it was billed as the true test as to whether Mayweather could hold his own as a true pay-per-view star.
Having turned downed a career high payday of 8 million shekels to square off against Antonio Margarito in the same time frame, boxing fans couldn’t fathom how the young prodigy would pull off the numbers to reckon doing so against an unknown contender. Mayweather once again proved his ability to draw on his own being that 325,000 households opted to purchase the one-sided clinic by the technically superior slickster. (Floyd was guaranteed an 8 million dollar purse prior to the bout taking place leading many to believe the promoter fronting the money would experience a significant loss on the bout itself.)
Looking at his career pre-De la Hoya, Mayweather had showcased his abilities in various major cities throughout the United States including Portland, Atlantic City, San Francisco, Miami, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Antonio. His promoter at the time, Bob Arum of Top Rank Incorporated, did an excellent job of spreading around the young man’s fan base in places not solely relegated to casino’s aiding in his overall name recognition and popularity over the course of his earlier career. For each of his three Pay-Per-View bouts, HBO countdown shows had been utilized the prior in order assist in the build-up of those fights.
It was a solid marketing plan built in for a man that was considered virtually unbeatable at the time. While Floyd lacked the out-of-ring personality of the flashy “Prince” Naseem Hamed as well as the in-ring flamboyance of a Jorge “Maro Mero” Paez, he had somehow launched his career into the top of the boxing pile based on pure skill. It was a rarity to see as virtually all of the other fighters considered legitimate draws within boxing had utilized either a good dose of verbal eloquence, amusing ring antics, participated within the heavyweight division, or had catapulted their own careers via Oscar De la Hoya or Felix “Tito” Trinidad.
Up until this point, Floyd had utilized none of the above and had finally made it. A draw on par with the “Golden Boy” himself he most definitely wasn’t but he’d created something he could definitely be proud of.
May 5, 2007… “The World Awaits” took place.
It was a production that had to be one of the most heavily marketed if not the most heavily marketed boxing matches of all-time.
A press tour selling the fight with various catchy phrases and amusing antics took place in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and finally the “City of Angels”, Los Angeles. The general public ate it up being that hundreds of spectators flocked to each press conference wanting to engage in what was billed as the most anticipated fight of all-time. (Whether it was the truth or not was irrelevant as the consumer can be told what they should desire.)
In addition to the hectic traveling involved in order to hype the mega-bout, the ground-breaking four-part 24/7 series was created tracking the progression of each fighter’s training camp leading up to fight time. Over 25 million dollars were poured into the promotion making it a true world-class production. At this point, anything less than De la Hoya’s pay-per-view figures against Felix Trinidad would be considered a failure. Oscar and “Tito” held the record for the highest Pay-Per-View figures outside of a heavyweight bout at 1.4 million. Looking back it was amazing that they even generated those types of numbers without utilizing such a heavy marketing machine as the one used in recent times.
Mayweather-De la Hoya not only eclipsed the figures for the 1999 welterweight showdown but it absolutely surpassed all expectations with a final tally of 2.4 million purchases for “The World Awaits.” The live gate for the event generated 19 million dollars and sold out in a matter of two hours. It was a financial bonanza for both fighters as De la Hoya pocketed a cool $52 million with Mayweather earning a career high payday of $25 million.
The “Pretty Boy’s” boat had finally arrived and it was filled with super stardom, popularity, and buckets full of cash.
At this point you might be reading and thinking to yourself… who really gives two shits about how Floyd really made it?
I understand your sentiments but it’s of my opinion that it’s important to understand where a fighter’s stardom truly comes from. Did they create it themselves or did it actually derive from catapulting oneself from one person’s back to the next?
Looking back at the figures, it’s quite clear that there is Oscar De la Hoya and… there is everyone else.
It’s almost sad that the next closest thing to the media darling in Oscar might be a semi-retired Puerto Rican named Felix Trinidad being that the recent figures for Jones-Trinidad bout displayed the island’s beloved son drawing capabilities at 500,000 pay-per-view purchases.
I?m drifting away from the original topic at hand which just happened to be Floyd Mayweather Jr?s rise to stardom.
Following ?The World Awaits?, Mayweather would go on to announce his apparent retirement from the sport being that he felt as if there was nothing left to accomplish. It was one of the most short-lived decisions being that all it took was for a certain Manchester hooligan to call him out in order to reverse the original decision of hanging up the gloves.
Ricky ?The Hitman? Hatton was no bonafide superstar here in the United States at the time. In fact, there?s nothing that verifies whether Hatton is a legitimate draw in America today. While the Mayweather-Hatton bout of last year drew an estimated 850,000 Pay-Per-View purchases, it was a huge letdown in terms of estimated domestic revenue.
I distinctly recall that the projected figures for the December showdown labeled, ?Undefeated? were somewhere in the region of 1.5 million which basically left the bout close to 700,000 purchases short of what would be considered a blockbuster battle. Nevertheless, Hatton?s world-wide appeal and more specifically his appeal to many Brits and those with ties to the United Kingdom were undeniable. Mayweather-Hatton left Sin City in shambles as the Hatton contingent showed up somewhere in the region of 30,000 deep flexing their buying power in the process.
With Mayeather?s victory over ?The Hitman? in December of 2007, it basically left the controversial figure at the top of the boxing world. He?d been involved in two of the most successful Pay-Per-View matches of 2007 and had made enough money to last several lifetimes or? several lucrative trips to his favorite strip club.
In any case, Floyd Jr. would then go on to involve himself in a brief WWE stint which he claimed paid him well over $15 million which by all accounts is untrue. This was a move made by team Mayweather in order to increase his cross-over, main stream appeal. Being that Floyd announced his retirement from boxing several months back, it?s difficult to say exactly were he might stand in terms of popularity as of this very moment.
There have been plenty of rumors in recent times regarding the potential comeback of he ?Pretty Boy?.
Will he come back for a perceived lucrative fight with Oscar De la Hoya?
Is he merely staying in shape in order to avoid the always classic, retired boxer pumpkin head beer gut syndrome?
Has the clamor of the Antonio Margarito fans finally caught up to Floyd?s ego forcing him to finally take on his long-time rival?
Perhaps Mayweather knows that Manny Pacquiao is a ready and willing opponent that would provide easy work with an even easier payday?
Only time will tell as to the truth or validity of the Mayweather rumors. I?m crossing my fingers and hoping that Mayweather returns to boxing for one and only one man. His name is Antonio Margarito and a Pay-Per-View fight between the two figures could do huge business as it?s a fight that?s been over four years in the making.
We?ll see how it all ends up playing out?
