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When word of Floyd Mayweather Jr's meeting with Don King broke, two things happened- first, I had to laugh at anyone ****** enough to claim Floyd was 'just having dinner with Don'. He could 'just have dinner' with anyone- his mother, cousins, next door neighbor- but one of the most recognizable boxers in the world meeting with one of the most (in)famous promoters isn't 'just' anything. Secondly, I asked myself if GBP has been Floyd's de facto promoter (and they helped turn the 'pretty boy' into 'money'), then why is Floyd eating lobster courtesy of Mr. 'Only in America' himself?
After reviewing the tumultuous, car wreck-like negotiations (or 'non negotiations' for the gullible), it dawned on me that moving away from Oscar's outfit and riding ******* with King makes some sense. Floyd's partnership with Golden Boy has produced very lucrative results- a handful of high profile, big money fights, and Floyd transforming into a mainstream figure. Recently, however, Floyd's public image has been shot to pieces by the fans and media. The Floyd Mayweather brand may even be on par with Lebron James at this moment.
And what was the cause of this? Golden Boy and their key figures CEO Richard Schaefer and owner Oscar De La Hoya got in the promotional ring for a heavyweight matchup against veteran Top Rank owner Bob Arum, former promoter of both De La Hoya and Mayweather. After engaging in a test of wills and wile in a bitter, sometimes public war over the biggest pie in boxing history, Mayweather and GBP were given a standing 8 count before the media blitz force the ref to call the match in Top Rank and their prized possession Manny Pacquiao's favor.
During the final stages of negotiations, GBP and Team Mayweather kept tripping over themselves, telling different stories of the same event like Ros****n. They continuously contradicted one another and even themselves (see Oscar De La Hoya telemundo interview and his later retractions). Arum put the pressure on the other side by making a public countdown, challenging Mayweather to sign on the dotted line and GBP to deliver on their end. Neither answered the challenge and offered no reasons beyond 'no negotiations happened' and Mayweather claiming to 'not be thinkin about boxing' and being 'on vacation'. To make matters worse, Ross Greenburg, president of HBO sports, put the kibosh on the notion that no negotiations occurred.
In the end, instead of Mayweather making upwards of $50-$60 million dollars on one night's work and GBP making a killing themselves, they are left with no superfight, a $5 million defamation suit against them from Pacquiao, a possibly strained relationship with HBO, and they may have just lost their cash cow. Floyd has a lot of work to do to repair his public image and he may feel that Don King is the only promoter crafty and experienced enough to make that happen. Schaefer and De La Hoya tried to match wits with a man in Arum who has been around the block a few times, who has promoted the likes of Ali, Leonard, Hagler, Pacquiao, and both Oscar and Floyd... and they were taken to the cleaners. Maybe Floyd listened carefully when Arum himself said that had Don King been Mayweather's promoter during the first round of failed negotiations, the fight would've been made with no issues.
If the fans are still hungry for the 'fight of the century', maybe we should listen too.
After reviewing the tumultuous, car wreck-like negotiations (or 'non negotiations' for the gullible), it dawned on me that moving away from Oscar's outfit and riding ******* with King makes some sense. Floyd's partnership with Golden Boy has produced very lucrative results- a handful of high profile, big money fights, and Floyd transforming into a mainstream figure. Recently, however, Floyd's public image has been shot to pieces by the fans and media. The Floyd Mayweather brand may even be on par with Lebron James at this moment.
And what was the cause of this? Golden Boy and their key figures CEO Richard Schaefer and owner Oscar De La Hoya got in the promotional ring for a heavyweight matchup against veteran Top Rank owner Bob Arum, former promoter of both De La Hoya and Mayweather. After engaging in a test of wills and wile in a bitter, sometimes public war over the biggest pie in boxing history, Mayweather and GBP were given a standing 8 count before the media blitz force the ref to call the match in Top Rank and their prized possession Manny Pacquiao's favor.
During the final stages of negotiations, GBP and Team Mayweather kept tripping over themselves, telling different stories of the same event like Ros****n. They continuously contradicted one another and even themselves (see Oscar De La Hoya telemundo interview and his later retractions). Arum put the pressure on the other side by making a public countdown, challenging Mayweather to sign on the dotted line and GBP to deliver on their end. Neither answered the challenge and offered no reasons beyond 'no negotiations happened' and Mayweather claiming to 'not be thinkin about boxing' and being 'on vacation'. To make matters worse, Ross Greenburg, president of HBO sports, put the kibosh on the notion that no negotiations occurred.
In the end, instead of Mayweather making upwards of $50-$60 million dollars on one night's work and GBP making a killing themselves, they are left with no superfight, a $5 million defamation suit against them from Pacquiao, a possibly strained relationship with HBO, and they may have just lost their cash cow. Floyd has a lot of work to do to repair his public image and he may feel that Don King is the only promoter crafty and experienced enough to make that happen. Schaefer and De La Hoya tried to match wits with a man in Arum who has been around the block a few times, who has promoted the likes of Ali, Leonard, Hagler, Pacquiao, and both Oscar and Floyd... and they were taken to the cleaners. Maybe Floyd listened carefully when Arum himself said that had Don King been Mayweather's promoter during the first round of failed negotiations, the fight would've been made with no issues.
If the fans are still hungry for the 'fight of the century', maybe we should listen too.
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