Tweet
I thought he is the draw. The money maker. The big baller. The shot caller . What ever you want to call it. Why does he need King in his career? Does he not have the leverage he thought he had?
-
-
read this i don't agree with all of it but does raise some good points
Anthony B. (Atlanta, GA): It seems that the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight is once again a possibility with Don King involved. Could you explain what benefit would Floyd get from working with King, and how would they be able to get Margarito to step aside after being promised a shot?
Vivek W. (ESB): I think Mayweather has quite a bit of upside to working with King, contrary to what most believe. Arum and Oscar are amazing at what they do and what they've done for Floyd, but there's a totally different element to this potential King/Mayweather tandem that few talk about because it treads sensitive territory (for whatever reason). When it comes to Latin fighters tapping into the Latin market, it's an open subject. When it comes to Filipino or European fighters tapping into their respective markets, it's an open subject. For whatever reason, when it comes to African American fighters, (or even Caucasian-American fighters), and their ability to tap into their respective demographics, the tablets in the media rooms close, the laptops are powered down, and the invisible mute button gets stuck-on-hold, as NO ONE dares to even go there. (Or at least until I came along - Evil Smile)!
There have been multiple "Latin-Fury" PPV's tapping into the Mexican and Spanish base. There have been multiple "Pinoy Power" PPV's catering to the Filipino base. If Floyd feels it's time to be presented by someone who "speaks his language", as long as it doesn't change the end-product that we see in the ring, as a fan first, media personality second, I could care less. The good thing about King is that he has the ability and clout to tap into ALL of these markets, except maybe the Asian sector. Few took note of the fact that both Kotelnik and Alexander were fighting under his banner last Saturday night. With that one event, he took a young American fighter, exposed him to Germany; and took a German fighter and exposed him to America. That's a textbook promotion, but his preceding reputation prevents many from seeing this. His influence around Mayweather's talent could tap into promotional endorsement opportunities that other promoters potentially leave on the table. Which means more 'bling' for the 'blingers'!
The reality here is that Oscar and Arum did wonderful jobs promoting Floyd when they worked with him, but neither EVER got Floyd a promotional cover story in the Black owned Jet or Ebony Magazines, or any where in the Afro-centric circuit? Why? Because they marketed him globally more than they attempted to tap into his personal demographic. On a grand scale, it was a smart business strategy, and I'm sure it paid major dividends, but the reality is that there's only one promoter today that has been able to truly tap into the core African American demographic, and that's the one Floyd has been courting lately. Some may scratch their heads, but the reality is that the 3 largest grossing African-American fighters in the history of the sport (Ali, Tyson, Holyfield) all did their biggest business under one tent. That tent owner gave boxing a few of its highest grossing fights, as well as the music world's unprecedented Jackson 5 "Victory" Tour. For Mayweather, it all makes sense, (and tons of Dollars)!
Now, how will they get Margarito to step aside? EASY WORK! For a small fee, along with a shot at the winner, (once rematch clauses have been exhausted), Margarito would step aside quicker than Barry Sanders with two defenders in his face! Truth is, he doesn't deserve the shot anyhow. He can't get licensed, and if you consider his last two fights, he got smashed against by a man (Mosley) who lost to the person Pacquiao would be facing (Mayweather); and his most recent fight netted a pathetic 15,000 PPV buys, despite being staged in his own backyard. The only reason Margarito was even a remote possibility is because Arum keeps the goods 'in-house', and there was no one left on the roster after both Clottey and Cotto bit the dust! Once Margarito proves himself a draw, and a worthy opponent by defeating a few solid contenders in this post-plaster era of his career, he should get a shot at these guys. Not a moment before.
Charles O. (Chicago, IL): I wasn't too impressed with Alexander's performance against Kotelnik. I know you have touted him hard, but do you really think he's still the best of the 140lb crowd?
Vivek W. (ESB): I have two separate perspectives on Alexander's performance, and like always, they tread all angles rather closely. For starters, we can't take one fight and apply it to an entire body of work. Few in the U.S. know much about Kotelnik, but he's far from a cupcake. The kid has a lot of heart, and if he were a bit faster, you'd see a very credible skillset, as well. I don't think it's totally fair to be completely critical of any fighter who was barely standing, yet escaped with an uncontested victory. In my book that means he gave it his all! The flipside to this is that Alexander proved to be closer to the center of the pack, (140lb division), rather than the head of it. For a fighter with his youth and athleticism, it was very troubling to see a much slower fighter continuously hit him with shots.
What was even more troubling is that like Timothy Bradley last month against the also slower Abregu, Alexander failed to make in-fight adjustments to take that shot away. Cunningham is a quality chemistry guy for Alexander, but their next fight will tell me exactly how good of a tactical guy he is for Alexander. There needs to be more emphasis on defense, particularly as it relates to avoiding so many face shots. A quicker fighter with great reach like Khan would have landed the jab like a Boeing 747 on an international runway......all day long. Oddly enough, though, despite being 3 inches smaller, he has Khan's identical reach, so the southpaw stance could make it interesting. Alexander has never been dropped in nearly 310 amateur fights, and 21 professional fights. Flaws and all, whoever he faces will be in for a long night. I look forward to seeing the 140lb group hash this all out! -
Don King has the most game of any promoter. The guy is so smart it isn't even funny, but in an evi way.Comment
-
Now that Floyd has turned on Golden Boy, let's see if the truth comes out about how Floyd ducked Pac.Comment
-
king might be a evil mofo but the bro got some major bread? didn't he throw a mill at the judge to stop mayorga fighting in a mma bout?Comment
-
why does manny need arum??Comment
-
so Mayweather needs someone from the ****** since he himself is from the ******?
how sweet.Comment
-
why does any fighter need a promoter????Comment
-
There is 100 million reasons why Floyd need Don KingComment
Comment