Whether you are a big fan of Floyd Mayweather or someone who is dying to see him lose his undefeated record and get beat up in the ring, one thing about the American super star fighter is not a subject for a debate is his exquisite boxing skills. Many experts deservedly consider Floyd the best pound for pound fighter in the world today. A student of the game Floyd Mayweather fine tuned the credo of sweet science ? hit and don?t get hit- to an art form. But defensive skills do not usually translate into commercial success for a fighter. Fans crave violence and combat in the ring. They are not going to get that from Floyd Mayweather, who is a safety first fighter. So how did he become the highest paid boxer in the world? Wise matchmaking and tireless promoting have to be among the top reasons for Floyd?s success.
Don?t tell this to Floyd, he might get really distressed, but from my point of view a huge credit for Mayweather?s early success goes out to his promoter, Top Rank?s boss, Bob Arum.
Arum was the wheel that put Mayweather money making machine in motion; he put together Mayweather?s first title fight in 1998 against very popular champion from Southern California, Genaro Hernandez. And they never looked back since. But even savvy promoter like Bob Arum did not know what a royal jewel he had in his treasure chest until three years later when Floyd Mayweather faced undefeated Diego Corrales in the ring. They were both undefeated at the time and many believed that Floyd would not be able to handle the power of Corrales. What happened in the ring that night was magic; Floyd made Diego look like he did not belong in the same league with him and forced Corrales?s corner to throw in a white towel after fifth knock down.
“Better than Sugar Ray Leonard”, exclaimed Bob Arum after that fight:? And did you see him at those press conferences…?” Those press conferences were and still are fantastic. As a reporter I am dying to attend anything to do with Floyd Mayweather because I know I will get a lot of material to write about.Unfortunately, feelings between Bob Arum and Floyd Mayweather were not mutual. Floyd severed ties with Top Rank after his fight with Zab Judah in 2006 that featured a between camps brawl in the ring. On the very top of Floyd?s twitter page is a sign- in the check cashing business. Floyd decided that he wanted to cash one hundred percent of the revenues from his fights. Money Mayweather started his own promotional company, Mayweather Promotions and got down to business of cashing major checks. The very next year Floyd Mayweather was in the ring with Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya in a fight that broke all the records and still holds the record of the biggest sales in PPV in boxing history. Some would argue that credit for the commercial success of that event should only be given to immensely popular Oscar De La Hoya, but Floyd Money Mayweather proved that he is a star in his own right in subsequent fights with Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley.
Floyd always tells it like it is, at least the way he sees it. His brash mouth along with his boxing skills and HBO popular series 24/7 are responsible for the finished product, Floyd Money Mayweather that we see today. Today multi millionaire athlete/promoter, Floyd Mayweather is gearing up for another mega showdown with Puerto Rican star, Miguel Cotto on May 5th, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Event created a real buzz in the media and expected to do extremely well in sales.
?The main thing is being at my best,? said Mayweather during Los Angeles press conference to promote the fight:? Going out there and being very creative outside the ring, creative so that we can continue to do record breaking numbers. The fans have supported us for so many years. The fans have been supporting me for sixteen years, but boxing is here to stay. You got Mayweather Promotions, the past, the present and the future of sports and entertainment. May 5th I will be at my best.?
Miguel Cotto left Top Rank to secure a mega fight with Floyd Mayweather. Both Floyd and Miguel have their own promotional companies, Mayweather and Cotto Promotions. So the only question I have left is why they are using Golden Boy Promotions to promote May 5th event. But that is the question for another story.
