Leonard Ellerbe: The Ringmaster

[Kobe Bryant]

Behind every great fighter there is a greater team. While Floyd Mayweather, Jr. dances with the stars, hams it up for the camera on HBO 24/7 and prepares for his December 8th battle with Ricky Hatton, Leonard Ellerbe sits calmly in the background making decisions that will secure Mayweather’s finances for generations.

Team Mayweather is a well oiled machine that is changing the way boxing is marketed to the casual fans as well as the die-hard ring addicts. While possessing the best pound for pound fighter in the world has its perks, constant innovation will sustain Mayweather long after he retires from the ring.

Ellerbe is the man with the master plan and opens up to HipHopDX in this exclusive interview about Mayweather vs. Hatton, the fans, Floyd as the perennial bad guy, working in the community and breaking away from Don King and Bob Arum to revive the sport.

HipHopDX: When you look at this fight. Do you see Mayweather having any problems with Hatton whatsoever?
Leonard Ellerbe: No, not at all. Floyd is at the top of his game and Ricky Hatton is a young, undefeated fighter who is at the top of his game, but there are different levels of where the fighters are at in their careers. Floyd is the best fighter in all of boxing, and come December 8th, Ricky Hatton will get to see that first hand and understand that. Hatton’s a very good fighter, but Floyd is simply the best.

DX: A lot of people are saying that Hatton is Mayweather’s toughest challenge to date. Do you think that is true or do you think Hatton is tailor-made for someone like Mayweather?

LE: Well…as far as being Floyd’s toughest test, I guess come that night, we can answer that question. One thing I know is that Floyd is hands down, the best fighter in the world and has been that way for years. Hatton knows what Floyd is bringing to the table, which is why he challenged Floyd. Everyone wants to fight the best and be part of something special.

DX: After the casual boxing fan was upset about the De La Hoya fight for what they deem as “lack of action” it was actually another day in the park for Floyd. Do you think that Floyd’s slick boxing style will ever be appreciated by the casual fan?

LE: I wouldn’t say that the casual fan was disappointed with Floyd’s performance. What you have is this game that we call boxing. Not sit there and beat each other’s brains out. Boxing is an art. Floyd is the best to do it. What Floyd brings to the table is this – he’s blessed with an incredible God-given talent and he also has an unbelievable work ethic. So with those two combined, how can you lose? All this and continuing to have faith in the man upstairs as well? How can you really go wrong?

DX: Ricky Hatton has a movement overseas behind him while Mayweather has a sort of love/hate relationship with boxing fans in the states. Any idea why?

LE: I wouldn’t say that fans hate Floyd. A lot of times there is a misconception out there as people tend to take one’s self-confidence for ****iness. What a lot of casual fans must understand is that in boxing if you don’t believe in yourself, who’s gonna believe in you?

DX: Absolutely…

LE: Everything Floyd has talked, he’s went out and backed it up. Because he’s the only elite - I repeat - elite, undefeated fighter in the world. He’s been that way for over a decade. What he’s been able to do as a man who comes from 130 pounds [is amazing]. That’s something I want to touch on. In the Oscar De La Hoya fight, Floyd came into the fight on fight night weighing 148 pounds. Oscar De La Hoya came into the ring that night weighing 168 pounds! What you have is a welterweight basically fighting a super middleweight. Those are the little intangibles that I don’t think the fans really understand. When they say, “Oh he didn’t knock this guy out,” [the truth is] he’s winning the fight, dominating the fight and making the fight easy. It’s a little harder to knock guys out who weigh 20 to 25 pounds more than you do on any given night.

DX: What does Floyd usually walk around at when he’s not training. (Editor's Note: The fight weight limit is 147lbs)

LE: As of today, at 4am, he weighed 148 pounds, and normally, Hatton walks around at 175 pounds.

DX: So Hatton could gain weight the day of the fight right and be significantly heavier than Maywether correct?
LE: I’m just saying that weight doesn’t win fights. Floyd has proven that over and over again. All these guys are really much bigger than Floyd, but Floyd’s able to dominate his opposition under any circumstances. And that’s what really sets him apart from any other fighter really in the history of the sport. What he’s been able to do, no one has ever done in the history of the sport. To move up five weight classes and win six world titles in under nine years while remaining undefeated? That’s never been heard of. Guys have moved that many times but have lost along the way.

DX: We’re getting to a stage in Floyd’s career where if he wins he’s supposed to win and if he loses its monumental… does this affect your boxer in any way?

LE: Floyd challenges himself. You have the great athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods who are leaps and bounds better than their peers so they have to challenge themselves. Floyd really competes with himself and he wants to put on an impressive show for the fans. We don’t worry about opponents.

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[Kobe Bryant]

DX: Some skeptics were critical of Floyd appearing on Dancing with the Stars. How did you feel about that?

LE: It wasn’t a problem at all. I want to clear that up also. In boxing, which is obviously a brutal sport, but people must remember that boxing is a business. Floyd is actually transcending the sport. Not only has he accomplished so much inside the ring, but as far as a businessman goes, crossing over into the mainstream world is what it’s really all about. Boxing isn’t really a mainstream sport so you have to be creative and do different things to put yourself in a better position when it comes to your post-boxing life. We have so much going on outside of the sport. Floyd is getting ready to be involved in movies, we have our Mayweather Promotional company, he’s promoting concerts such as Beyonce’s tour that she just came off of, our stimulation drink and reality shows. We are taking this Mayweather brand to another level and turning this company into Fortune 500 company. It’s unbelievable that a guy who comes from humble beginnings has been able to accomplish so much in an 11 year period. This guy comes from the ******, seven deep in a one bedroom. Now, at the end of this year, Floyd will be the second highest paid athlete in all of sports

DX: Wow…

LE: Now that’s a story! There’s only one guy in all of sports who would have earned more money than Floyd. And that person is Tiger Woods. That’s a remarkable feat within itself. He had the vision to surround himself with the best team. What he’s been able to do is empower other African Americans, like myself, and put them in situations to be successful. He gave me an opportunity and it changed my life. I’m able to go and provide for my family I never have to worry about working another day in my life. He empowered me to be creative and guide his career and then in turn I’m able to provide for other people. You see what I’m saying?

DX: Yeah, absolutely.

LE: That’s all he’s ever done. He’s done a lot for his community. These are
the things that people and the media never talk about. They never talk about his philanthropy. They never talk about his work with at risk kids in Las Vegas and Grand Rapids. They never talk about how he’s funded sports programs where he’s given kids the opportunity to participate in things that would take them off the streets. These are the kind of things they don’t talk about because the media sometimes wants to portray Floyd in a certain light like he’s this arrogant and ****y guy, but that’s just a character. That’s part of his job to do the things he needs to do to market himself.

DX: Touching on the business side of things, the whole Mayweather team has been magnificent in handling the promotion for this fight and the last. With your separation from Bob Arum and other boxers like Oscar and Bernard creating their own promotion company’s do you think that there will be a new day for boxing?

LE: Guys like Bob Arum and Don King have been excellent promoters for a number of years. But it’s time for a change. We believe that the fighters deserve the lion’s share of the money. And they, meaning Don and Bob, they have their concept of the way things go. They really feel in their hearts that they should making as much and more than the fighter…
DX: Which is ridiculous…

LE: Yeah, it is! The fighter is the one who puts his life on the line. He’s the one that one shot can end his career. We’ve taken the steps to form our own company. Floyd’s set the model himself. Him, Oscar and Bernard Hopkins are the only ones in boxing who understand the numbers. What they’ve been able to do is put themselves in situations where the fighter is controlling all the revenue. What usually happens is that the fighter goes into the situation and he has no idea the structures of deals, how the revenue flows, if you don’t understand these things as a fighter you’re not in control of that. How can you make an intelligent decision about your career? By us stepping away from our former situation, we’ve been able to control all of the revenue for his fights.

DX: It’s been rumored that Bob Arum said that Floyd’s skin color would hold him back behind Oscar De La Hoya in terms of popularity. Have you ever heard that?

LE: No, I don’t recall him saying that. One thing I can say is that Arum is a very bitter man and he’s bitter because he’s not part of what we’re doing. He’s not part of this unbelievable run that Floyd’s been on. He has nothing to do with Mayweather. You can go back three fights and hear some of his comments - and they are all well documented. “Oh, Mayweather’s the best thing in the last 30 years I’ve seen!” [and] “He’s the finest fighter I’ve ever seen, and I’ve promoted guys like Ali and Frazier,” blah blah blah. Now all of a sudden, Floyd can’t draw, and it’s all because he’s a bitter old man. If we were with his company? He’d be singing Floyd’s praises. I can only speak on the facts. The fact is, after this particular fight, the whole world will know that Floyd is the pay-per-view king.

DX: Do you plan to do the HBO 24/7 from here on out?

LE: Oh yeah. I’ll put it to you this way – have you seen 24/7 done with any other fighter?

DX: Nope.

LE: Guess who’s idea that was?

DX: Floyd’s?

LE: You got it!

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