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As the boxing world awaits Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s verdict on an astronomically lucrative fight against Manny Pacquiao, UFC president Dana White claims there is no need to wait until the clock strikes midnight to see Money’s version of “The Decision.” It ain’t happening.
“Everybody knows that I’m a fan of both. I came from boxing and if it wasn’t for boxing I wouldn’t be here with you right now, but the reason I am here with you right now is because over 10 years ago I saw a lot of problems with the sport,” White told The Scott Van Pelt Show on Friday.
“At the time I was looking to get into boxing. We were going to become boxing promoters, but I saw this opportunity with the UFC. When I was introduced to this sport, I was blown away by it. Now, we’ve been able to do what we thought we could do with this thing and my honest opinion of boxing, is that boxing will go away. It will eventually go away.”
Although White’s been busy minding his own Kool-Aid to fix boxing’s multitude of issues, he did offer up some suggestions as to why MMA has been staring at their combat counterparts in the rear-view mirror for the past several years.
“Once everything went to a pay model, boxing stopped giving you good fights for free. As soon as that ended, your market starts to shrink when you’re only on pay-per-view,” White said. “Before this Mayweather/Pacquiao fight happens, let’s say a miracle happens and they get this thing done [tonight], the fight will probably be done sometime in November, right?
“I’ll have done 10 fights. I’ll have done 10 fights and maybe out of the 10 fights, four of them will be on free TV by the time that fight happens. That’s the difference.”
White claims there is far too much red tape involved in arranging a blockbuster PPV match-up in boxing. Although the financial numbers being thrown at the sport’s elite are utterly ridiculous, for one reason or another, the scraps never seem to come to fruition.
“The best example is, ‘How long have fight fans wanted to see Mayweather versus Pacquiao?’” White rhetorically asked. “Forever. That’s the fight everyone wants to see. That’s the fight I want to see and it’s just not happening. These guys are being offered crazy amounts of money and the fight just can’t be made.
“There’s no doubt about it. Our sport is more appealing to younger viewers.”
“Everybody knows that I’m a fan of both. I came from boxing and if it wasn’t for boxing I wouldn’t be here with you right now, but the reason I am here with you right now is because over 10 years ago I saw a lot of problems with the sport,” White told The Scott Van Pelt Show on Friday.
“At the time I was looking to get into boxing. We were going to become boxing promoters, but I saw this opportunity with the UFC. When I was introduced to this sport, I was blown away by it. Now, we’ve been able to do what we thought we could do with this thing and my honest opinion of boxing, is that boxing will go away. It will eventually go away.”
Although White’s been busy minding his own Kool-Aid to fix boxing’s multitude of issues, he did offer up some suggestions as to why MMA has been staring at their combat counterparts in the rear-view mirror for the past several years.
“Once everything went to a pay model, boxing stopped giving you good fights for free. As soon as that ended, your market starts to shrink when you’re only on pay-per-view,” White said. “Before this Mayweather/Pacquiao fight happens, let’s say a miracle happens and they get this thing done [tonight], the fight will probably be done sometime in November, right?
“I’ll have done 10 fights. I’ll have done 10 fights and maybe out of the 10 fights, four of them will be on free TV by the time that fight happens. That’s the difference.”
White claims there is far too much red tape involved in arranging a blockbuster PPV match-up in boxing. Although the financial numbers being thrown at the sport’s elite are utterly ridiculous, for one reason or another, the scraps never seem to come to fruition.
“The best example is, ‘How long have fight fans wanted to see Mayweather versus Pacquiao?’” White rhetorically asked. “Forever. That’s the fight everyone wants to see. That’s the fight I want to see and it’s just not happening. These guys are being offered crazy amounts of money and the fight just can’t be made.
“There’s no doubt about it. Our sport is more appealing to younger viewers.”
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