Special Weekend Edition Part I, Hollywood, California, March 21, 2010 – Through the two great warriors and the immortality of boxing at the sundown of each Saturday, their controversy will bring people under impressions. While one lays the foundation of aggression, the other creates a bond of a prey or of nearly the same fearless might. Together we ask: Who is indispensable for one’s glory and who is the No. 1 boxer of this era?
This question can be puzzling at length, especially when a boxing fan believes himself as persuasive, given all the logic and expletives he has at his own disposal.
But, there is a jurisprudential reason for lack of persuasiveness. One is likely to begin that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fights better than Manny Pacquiao, whether that understanding is applied fairly, and whether it deters further argument, depends upon who takes that proposition seriously.
In a lighter vein, the perspective of a layman in the understanding of boxers’ rising popularity must be examined. A case in point is all about Pacquiao’s imminence to become a household name in the U.S. and his explosive, even rising popularity over Floyd Mayweather, Jr.’s prominence in penetrating the American market. And this, as the author hopes, should suffice one’s appetite for learning, much more in the debates of the sweet science of boxing as to whether Floyd Mayweather, Jr. really still reigns as the Pound-for-Pound king of boxing.
Let us start with the statistical breakdown of my premise from recent survey, which is done every five years by the United States Bureau of Census. The U.S. population’s distribution by race and ethnicity in 2006 was as follows:
Total population: nearly 299 million
Disparity of Entries in Weight Classes versus Market Penetration and Segmentation:
Where was Manny Pacquiao during the high tide of Mayweather’s popularity in the U.S.?
For one thing, Mayweather launched his first professional fight at 130 pounds in 1996 a few months before he turned 20 while Pacquiao fought his first professional debut in the Philippines at 107 pounds just when he was about to turn 17 in 1995. And while Floyd Mayweather, Jr. won his first championship belt (WBC Super Featherweight), from Gerraro Hernandez in 1998 after the latter’s fifth title defense at 130 pounds in the U.S., Manny Pacquiao also won in the same year his first world title, WBC Flyweight belt, of which he slugged it out from Chatchai Sasakul via TKO in round 8 at 112 pounds in Thailand. Then, after losing the same title in 1999 to Medgoen Singsurat by TKO in round 3, Pacquiao went on to fight for the WBC International Super Bantamweight title against Reynante Jamili and won TKO in round 2. So, one would see during which time Mayweather was already soaking the American market even before he won the National Golden Gloves Light Flyweight Champion in 1993 on his way to winning the Featherweight Bronze Medal for the U.S. at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 while, indeed, Pacquiao was just soaking the Asian market outside of the U.S. and literally has not touched the American market not until in 2001.
And so Pacquiao fought thereafter five defenses before he launched his first U.S. debut against Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in 2001 and won the IBF Super Bantamweight title at 122 pounds via brutal knockout in the sixth, during which time Mayweather had just snatched the WBC Super Featherweight Championship belt from Diego Corrales at 130 pounds by TKO in round 10.
Now, let us think about the demographics of the U.S. from 2006, at least roughly with minimal margin of errors as to the historical percentages by ethnicity . Other than Caucasians and Latinos, African-American remains the dominant race in the sports arenas through which Mayweather’s name has attained an almost perfect “name-recall” in every family of African descent, free-riding over the infamous black boxers such as Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazer, George Forman, Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Tyson, notwithstanding retired British boxer and undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis who eventually migrated to the United States.
Banking on those 2006 statistical data, matching Mayweather with any of the famous Mexican boxers such as Manuel Marquez or Julio Ceasar Chavez, Jr. would bring a deeper awakening penetration at a greater percentage of the Latino’s 44.3 million population in the United States.
Yes, despite Mayweather’s flawless professional record of forty fights, he is by far seen as the reigning “controversial boxing” hero in the African-American community, which has an explosive population of 40. 9 million in the U.S., according to the United States Bureau of Census’ statistical survey in 2006.
Consider this: Matching a superstar fighter from one of the top ethnic group with another would only need to sway 3% of their respective ethnic population to make the fight a blockbuster. You see, Mayweather would only need to “soak the beans” over a few nights to get his own turf’s attention despite his behavioral issues. In fact, he only needs to verbalize a few nasty words to get under the skin of the Latinos, to stimulate tremendous market demand from such segment. And all the Latino fans can hopelessly hope for is to see Mayweather getting knock out by a Latino boxer, as in the case of Mayweather vs. Marquez. The prospect of jubilance is what they yearn for, all because of that magnifying power of “La Raza”… that sense of pride, that state of deprivation in uplifting the ego of the psyche of a “Me-xi-ca-no”.
And Mayweather does not need to know the psychology of this game. In fact, that is deeply embedded in his own fiber.
But, as for Pacquiao, it is the rare force of nature in him that really spells out the difference. His God-given ability to capture the hearts of the boxing fans called “charisma” and his willful, unrelenting drive to fight to the end inclusive of his increasing knockout power…all make a compelling, total package of an inspirational fighter, notwithstanding his simple, humble words he speaks status-post each of his fight.
On one hand, targeting a specific range of marketing niche is not an easy game for many local fighters, too. And how much more for a foreign fighter whose last name was unknown to the general boxing public in 2001, which may somehow qualify for insertion as a text in the tongue twister of “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…” by Mother Goose, that which some Americans even mispronounce it, “Pac-U”, or at least such last name, “Pacquiao”, cannot easily sink down in the “molecules” of the American brains?
Never forget: Pacquiao is reaching his target market in a seemingly wider range, even at grander scale, as manifested on the front cover of Time Magazine and his appearances in hot TV shows in the U.S., breaking the walls of cultural and racial indifference. And it’s true, Pacquiao has his genuine fans in every ethnic group, symbolic of a phenomenal metamorphosis of his international appeal to this racially divided land of milk and honey.
But, as for Mayweather to determine whether he still captures the hearts of his African-American community and even the quasi ones, one really does not need legal jargons to win arguments over the said issue at hand. He is still well-loved as Pretty Boy, even to the point spoiling his conduct of unbecoming a respectable man in the public eye.
Meanwhile, the fact that Pacquiao has penetrated the American market even unto the halls of Hollywood celebrities makes him phenomenal than Mayweather’s egotistical, much less paradoxical, mythical command that he claims.
After all, it only needs the layman’s view to distinguish these two fighters, whether one is for pay-per-view sales or for the interest of the boxing fans. Last November 14, Pacquiao versus Cotto did not just get at least one million PPV sales. Such day was void of any national day for both countries: Puerto Rico and Philippines. And there was commonality here between these two roots: Puerto Ricans and Filipinos were likely to watch “Fire Power” in a party of at least seven in a family, plus friends. Cotto versus Pacquiao would be in no way at par to pull out better, if such fight depended only from these two ethnic groups.
Nevertheless, Pacquiao has gone deeper penetrating the mainstream America regardless of ethnic backgrounds. As retired U.S. lawyer William Jasper said, “Manny Pacquiao has got what it takes to recapture the American hearts into sweet science of boxing.”
Unlike Mayweather’s magnitism, Pacquiao’s phenomenal appeal in view of market segmentation should not be studied in the pre-text of the U.S. demographics but in the context of international scene simply because he is a foreign fighter with increasingly broader base of American and trans-racial fans than what Mayweather has, so to speak.
But, take a look at the figures Pacquiao versus Clottey had spawned at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Over 51,000 attendees made it despite Clottey’s less convincing appeal to the American market since his impressive win against Jeffrey Hill, whom he knocked him out in round 6 at the Crown Plaza in New York in 2003, and onward. The demographics in Arlington, Texas simply represent the maintream America: less of minorities nad mostly Caucasians. Nonetheless, Pacquiao had the commanding appeal of “The Event”.
Let us check the statistics of other boxing events below as provided by the Nevada Athletic Commission:
NEVADA’S LARGEST GROSSING GATES
The top 36 categorized by main event, venue, promoter, date of the event, paid attendance and gross sales:
1. FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR vs. OSCAR DE LA HOYA MGM, Golden Boy, Don Chargin,PPV 05/05/07 – 17,078 – $ 18,419,200.00
2. LENNOX LEWIS vs. EVANDER HOLYFIELD II Thomas and Mack, Don King, PPV 11/13/99 – 17,078 – $ 16,860,300.00
3. EMMANUEL PACQUIAO vs. OSCAR DE LA HOYA MGM, Golden Boy, Top Rank, PPV 12/06/08 – 14,468 – $ 14,380,300.00
4. EVANDER HOLYFIELD vs. MIKE TYSON II MGM, Don King, PPV 06/28/97 – 16,279 – $ 14,277,200.00
5. EVANDER HOLYFIELD vs. MIKE TYSON I MGM, Don King, PPV 11/09/96 – 16,103 – $ 14,150,700.00
6. MIKE TYSON vs. PETER MC NEELEY MGM, Don King, PPV 08/19/95 – 16,113 – $ 13,965,600.00
7. FELIX TRINIDAD vs. OSCAR DE LA HOYA Mandalay Bay, Top Rank, Don King, PPV 09/18/99 – 11,184 – $ 12,949,500.00
8. BERNARD HOPKINS vs. OSCAR DE LA HOYA MGM, Top Rank, Golden Boy, PPV 09/18/04 – 15,672- $12,782,650.00
9. JOE CALZAGHE vs. BERNARD HOPKINS Thomas & Mack, Golden Boy, Don Chargin, HBO 04/19/08 14,345 – $ 11,636,400.00
10. FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR vs. SHANE MOSLEY MGM, Golden Boy, Don Chargin, PPV 05/01/10 – 14,038 – $ 11,032,100.00
11. MIKE TYSON vs. FRANK BRUNO II MGM, Don King, PPV 03/16/96 – 16,143 – $ 10,673,700.00
12. FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR vs. RICKY HATTON MGM, Golden Boy, PPV – 12/08/07 – 15,488 – $ 10,393,950.00
13. SHANE MOSLEY vs. OSCAR DE LA HOYA MGM, Top Rank, PPV 09/13/03 – 16,074 – $ 9,840,000.00
14. OSCAR DE LA HOYA vs. FERNANDO VARGAS Mandalay Bay, Top Rank, Main Events, PPV 09/14/02 – 10,984 – $ 8,871,300.00
15. EMMANUEL PACQUIAO vs. MIGUEL ANGEL COTTO MGM, Golden Boy, Top Rank, PPV 11/14/09 15,470 – $ 8,847,550.00
16. EMMANUEL PACQUIAO vs. RICHARD HATTON MGM, Golden Boy, Top Rank, PPV 05/02/09 -15,368 – $ 8,832,950.00
17. OSCAR DE LA HOYA vs. RICARDO MAYORGA MGM, Golden Boy, Don King, Don Chargin, PPV 05/06/06 – 12,276 – $ 7,636,000.00
18. OSCAR DE LA HOYA vs. JULIO C. CHAVEZ I Caesars Palace, Top Rank, Don King, Close Circuit 06/07/96 – 14,738 – $ 7,579,100.00
19. LENNOX LEWIS vs. HASIM RAHMAN Mandalay Bay, Don King, Main Events, Lion, PPV 11/17/01 -9,830 – $ 7,537,400.00
20. FELIX TRINIDAD vs. FERNANDO VARGAS Mandalay Bay, Don King, Main Events, PPV 12/02/00 -9,309 – $ 7,486,400.00
21. FELIX TRINIDAD vs. DAVID REID Caesars Palace, Don King, America Presents, PPV 03/03/00 -9,584 – $ 7,329,500.00
22. MIKE TYSON vs. FRANCOIS BOTHA MGM, America Presents, PPV 01/16/99 – 10,221 – $ 7,055,800.00
23. EVANDER HOLYFIELD vs. JAMES DOUGLAS Mirage, Mirage, PPV 10/25/90 – 10,117 – $ 6,546,441.00
24. ROY JONES JR vs. JOHN RUIZ Mirage, Mirage, PPV 03/01/03 – 11,490 – $ 6,526,350.00
25. LENNOX LEWIS vs. DAVID TUA Mandalay Bay, Main Events, America Presents, Panix, PPV 11/11/00 –10,809 –$ 6,508,500.00
26. RAY LEONARD vs. THOMAS HEARNS II Caesars Palace, Top Rank, PPV 06/12/89 –12,064 – $ 6,468,600.00
27. RAY LEONARD vs. ROBERTO DURAN Mirage, Top Rank, Victory Promotions, PPV 12/07/89 – 11,904 – $ 6,448,700.00
28. RONALD “WINKY” WRIGHT vs. FELIX TRINIDAD MGM, Don King, Gary Shaw, Guilty, PPV 05/14/05 – 13,590 – $ 6,433,500.00
29. MIKE TYSON vs. BRUCE SELDON MGM, Don King, PPV 09/07/96 – 9,511 – $ 6,305,900.00
30. **LARRY HOLMES vs. GERRY COONEY Caesars Palace, Don King, Tiffany, Close Circuit 06/11/82 29,214 **Also highest attendance – $ 6,239,050.00
31. RAY LEONARD vs. MARVIN HAGLER Caesars Palace, Top Rank, Victory Promotions, Close Circuit 04/06/87 – 12,379 – $ 6,215,400.00
32. MIKE TYSON vs. DONOVAN RUDDOCK II Mirage, Don King, 3M Productions, PPV 06/28/91 – 13,047 – $ 6,200,276.50
33. EVANDER HOLYFIELD vs. RIDDICK BOWE II Caesars Palace, Spencer Promotions, Main Events, PPV 11/06/93 – 10,923 – $ 5,792,838.50
34. LARRY HOLMES vs. MUHAMMAD ALI Caesars Palace, Don King, NBC 10/02/80 24,570 – $5,766,125.00
35. EVANDER HOLYFIELD vs. MICHAEL MOORER Thomas & Mack, Mirage, Don King, Main Events, Fight Night, PPV 11/08/97 – 9,395 – $ 5,566,700.00
36. MIKE TYSON vs. DONOVAN RUDDOCK I Mirage,Don King, 3M Productions, PPV 03/18/91 – 12,563 – $ 5,454,918.50
Conversely, one of the reasons why both fights of Mayweather, Jr. against Marquez and Mosley did well in gross sales is because the strategic focus of their respective campaign was rather extrinsic in value: the frequently use of the name of Pacquiao in any interview or in every HBO’s episodes, to stimulate interests from the boxing public and to elicit its buying power even for an unmerited spending. What most of the boxing fans wanted to see would be a knockout loss of Mayweather, Jr. to either opponent. Mayweather and his villainess aura truly ignites the boxing public to watch him fight, win or loss.
As of this writing, the public eye in the world of boxing sees Pacquiao has that innate power and distinctive ability to defeat, if not knock out, Mayweather in the ring of violence.
But, does Pacquiao really need Mayweather at this stage of his career? In other words, is Mayweather still indispensable for Pacquiao’s glory, vice versa? Maybe not! Of course, at 31, Pacquiao must look forward to better health and healing than just hungering for more in the realm of ring violence.
Nonetheless, Pacquiao being a elected to the 15th Congress of the Philippines representing Sarangani, he might still be tempted to take a final shot against Juan Manuel Marquez in the full-welterweight limit, not catch-weight, if not against Mayweather. This can be a momentous appeal before the world stage of boxing to have a congressman-elect fighting again for the welfare of his own people, however dishonorable it may be. After all, the promises he has made to build a hospital and a university in Sarangani may not come to pass. Pork barell allocation for that said district may not be enough to finance. Making a come-back just before he makes it official to have his door closed for boxing may just be the only way to set his lips from being laden with promise and hope.
For the Land of Promise, Mindanao, Pacquiao may have to fulfill his lofty aims through his sweat of blood and higher scale of pain in the land of milk and honey. One farewell fight is not bad at all, at least for all his fans and for Sarangani.
Sure, he’ll be missed.
As for Mayweather, Jr. and in fairness to his drawing power, he is the true Pay-per-View King!
Note: You may send your comment(s) to [email protected].
