In true schoolyard
fashion starting last week (January 9th) Floyd Mayweather did
the equivalent of telling WBO Welterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao to
"meet me after school." Amazingly, the internet as well as mainstream
sports talking heads like Steven A. Smith felt the "call out" was
relevant enough to argue about. As in life, nobody wants to argue the
root cause of an issue but the reactionary residue of said "damned"
issue. Floyd Mayweather told many of us he NEVER does the calling out;
once he hit the big time he considered it beneath him. Remember? And yet
in some Las Vegas courthouse Mayweather Attorney Karen Winckler winked
at the judge and informed him that Vegas would be getting a "windfall"
on May 5th which prompted the judge to push back Mayweather's
"bit" until June. I get it, we're in hard times and money men believe an
economic stimulus via a ton of rappers, thugs and African-American
glitterati will make the "books" look good for 2012… and for that the
cause of domestic abuse can wait. I for one didn't hyperventilate over
the tweet because this PR Battle has gone on so long that BOTH
men can't reasonably be expected to fulfill the Dream Fight expectations
we've created.
Name one fight
prolonged this long between two rich fighters in their mid-30's that ever
lived up to billing. Remember, when Manny looked like an animal several
years ago Floyd tossed out the $100 Million figure; that's like a
macho way of saying no thanks. The allegations of steroid use bought him
even more time and for what? you may ask. For Manny to look like he's
looked did in the last two fights. Manny Pacquiao is not the same guy,
and that is the only reason he's being referred to as a "punk" on
Twitter. Remember, an easy $50 million is better than a hard $70 million,
and Floyd's refrain from day one has always been "easy money." Twitter is
our newspaper and will one day make many fights in the future, but not
this one -especially since the Bobfather is still handling the reigns in
Boxing. He wouldn't hand over his cash cow to Floyd when he had Floyd in
his stable, so how on earth can we honestly expect him to do it now?
Arum-Mayweather
rift is too Political ($) for this fight to happen
This is the United
States of Domination, we are an imperialist empire with war being our
industry, I mean "instrument" of choice. The second instrument of choice
in a powerful man's toolbox is economic sanctions and restriction of
trade. Floyd Mayweather was one of the finest fighters I ever laid eyes
on as far back as 2001 but something told him under Arum he would
"subjectively" starve. His ambition was only bested by his talent and
conditioning but he was with a promoter who blatantly pandered to a
Mexican fan base and wouldn't let him anywhere near Oscar De La Hoya,
his personal ATM machine. When Oscar "peeped game" and started his own
outfit it provided a slim opening for someone like Floyd to enter the
upper penthouse of Boxing. Enter Floyd Mayweather... "villain." How else
would a cerebral defensive master make the big bucks? By making you hate
him, of course. Arum wasn't banking on Floyd becoming a star but Arum
was clueless about the appeal of Hip Hop and the young, black anti-hero.
Neither man WANTS the other to make a dime from a possible Pacquiao vs.
Mayweather clash, both men want to screw the other economically and
impose sanctions over a BEEF that goes back to 2002.
"He has a boss;
I'm my own boss so in order to make it happen he gotta go through his
boss." - Floyd Mayweather
And wouldn't that
be sweet? You know Manny as "Boss," for the African-American fighter
once ignored as a marketing product to influence Manny Pacquiao's
ousting of Arum. Or wouldn't it be poetic for Arum to make the fight in
November after securing options on Mayweather once he drubs Pacquiao.
Just like the rights Golden Boy secured to play a part in Mayweather's
career after he beat De La Hoya. It's funny when you realize just how
little power consumers have without a league or federal supervision, funny
how numbed we are to total anarchy.
Arum would have
loved to cash in on Floyd getting too old, but Manny slipped first so
now Mayweather wants to profit from his slide. Arum really does want a
45,000 seat stadium… to cover the cost it will take for him to bite the
bullet and allow his #1 asset to get dressed down. I also never heard of
a "Super Fight" that lowered itself to a 16,800 seat capacity without
opening up biddings and listening to offers. But then again Floyd didn't
get arrested in Dallas or Dubai, he got his ass arrested in Vegas- and
it's Vegas he owes. That outlook is as positive as it gets, but Richard
Schaefer knows that all of it, the guarantees, stadiums, time to promote
is a "crock of shit" -and who better to know? Leonard Ellerbe astutely
pointed out the little discussed reality that "in house" fights kept
Manny from seeing how Top Rank "cooks books"- that a Mayweather bout
would provide Top Ranks top draw with disclosure that may piss him off.
Only fellow trainer/ media "personality" Teddy Atlas (along with yours
truly) had the guts to call it a mismatch and question why anything
should change. Only Steve Kim of Maxboxing academically illustrated the
unrealistic feasibility of the clash, and it fell on deaf ears, because
the urge (for fans) to go on Twitter and demand either fighter "stop
running like a bitch" is too strong.
Bob Arum is about
profit margins short and long term, Floyd Mayweather may have christened
himself "Money" but to Arum he's bad for business. And you know what?
More power to him, in a strange way his protection of his asset
is doing YOU a favor you otherwise can't do for yourself.
What we can
change as fans is our Attitude and Perspective
First of all
divest yourself from "wanting" this fight because you most certainly
don't "need" it. Admit that we have Super Bowl envy; admit that we were
panting over De La Hoya vs. Mayweather as the "fight to save boxing" in
the same way. Admit with all of the blogs, Twitter accounts and
websites many of us, especially those who in Arum's words "prostitute
themselves for access" see this fight as our shot at the big time. Not
only is it surface, misguided gratification it isn't something that you
will end up remembering for the right reasons. What you will remember if
this fight comes off is... "This was the PPV that broke the seal on the
100$ charge and they used YOU to bring it about." You'll remember
that unlikable talking heads from ESPN -who don't know anything past
Mike Tyson- used Boxing to expand on their personal brands but never once
discussed the paltry Friday Night Fights budget on "1st and
10." Don't get me wrong, it's a big fight (lower case "b") but Boxing's
well being isn't married to it coming off, especially this far past
Pacquiao's "sell by date."
When you hear
these men tossing around figures like $125 million understand that for that
for kind of coin you could force a lot of fights that we really do
"need." Because so many fighters are caught up in the TV money model
many of them aren't fighting until they get overpaid for their chance to
shine. For a fraction of that you could make Andre Ward go to Montreal
and Lucian Bute will be paid well to greet him. Hell, for that kind of
money you could make Vitali Klitschko call Vladimir -an overrated punk
with no heart- a mama's boy he's carried for years. You could even pay
Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones and Holyfield to go away. All I'm asking for
is a little levity and sanity, a little "home training." Do you really
need an ipad when you know you don't have an ipad life or job? Most
Boxing fans are working class; the athletes and ESPN celebs are foaming
at the mouth because it's just another "Vegas" weekend for them. Steven
A. Smith wouldn't know Brandon Rios if he cut his hair and the same goes
for Skip Bayless; do you really think they'll be there when the party is
over? What on earth do you think they'll say about your Boxing after the
predictable outcome? that's right "Boxing is Dead." Think About it.
