Mayweather Jr. edges out Manny Pacquiao in PPV buys for Shane Mosley fight
June 6th, 2011 10:18 am ET
Rick Rockwell
Manny Pacquiao might be winning the battle with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in court of public opinion, unfortunately Manny has lost in the PPV battle against Floyd. On Monday, Fighthype.com has reported that the PPV buys for the May 7th fight of Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley drew 1.3 million PPV buys. Floyd Jr. and Mosley drew 1.4 million PPV buys in May 2010.
The difference might seem insignificant to some, however, if you have been following Boxing for the last 1 1/2 years, the feud between Floyd and Manny is so tense that Team Pacquiao wanted to defeat Floyd in the PPV buys and outcome of their fight with Mosley.
Will Pacquiao reject $65 million offer from Mexico like Floyd did to Singapore
Pacquiao was able to knockdown Mosley in their encounter unlike Floyd. Manny was never in trouble like Floyd was in round 2 of his fight with Shane. Additionally, Manny dominated the fight more than Floyd did. However, Floyd still won in the PPV arena which definitely irks members of Team Pacquiao.
Now, there could be various reasons why this Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight fell slightly short: it was on Showtime and not HBO, Mosley was already a tarnished fighter, and most of Boxing didn't give Mosley a chance against Pacquiao like they did for the Mayweather fight. Whatever the reason may be, Floyd still won in PPV buys, proving he still holds the title as Boxing's PPV king.
For Manny, 1.3 million PPV buys is the most for his illustrious career and it's a sign of his growing popularity especially in the United States. It will be interesting to see if Pacquiao vs. Marquez can outdraw the 2009 fight between Mayweather vs. Marquez in the PPV arena. Check out Fighthype.com's report on the Manny vs. Shane PPV buys.
Of course, all of this could be settled in the ring between Manny and Floyd. Unfortunatley, Floyd continues to reject offers.
On Friday, Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum revealed that Floyd Mayweather Jr. had rejected the latest offer for a fight against Manny Pacquiao. This is at least the 3rd time Floyd has been publicly accused of rejecting a contract offer in the last 1 1/2 years since negotiations for a mega fight began in late 2009. Floyd's continual rejections have prompted Bob Arum to declare that Floyd has suffered a loss on his undefeated in-rin record. According to a Friday report by ***************.com, Arum made the following comments:
"Anybody who really knows the situation says, 'Really, his record is 41-1 because he already lost to Pacquiao by ducking the way he has"
Many critics of Mayweather believe that he is absolutely "ducking" Pacquiao and the constant rejection of contract offers to fight Manny is proof of his fear. Arum's comments are a reflection of the majority of boxing fans who have become frustrated with Floyd's antics.
However, Floyd continues to deny rejection offers and 2 weeks ago declared that he had already signed a contract. He stated that Manny is the one who is really ducking. Floyd also stated in his video series on Fighthype.com, that he would provide a copy of the contract to the public. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened yet.
It's clear that this fight will never happen unless Floyd gets whatever he wants. But, it's unclear as to what exactly does Floyd want. The money is there, Arum and Pacquiao have recently stated that they don't have a problem with the drug testing demands, and the boxing universe wants the fight. It's ahrd to imagine what more Floyd wants.
All hope that anyone still had in a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr, has been completely wiped out after Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum revealed on Friday that Mayweather has rejected another offer to fight Manny. According to a Friday report by ESNewsreorting.com, Arum stated that Floyd rejected $65 million to fight Pacquiao. Additionally, Arum has given up hope for this fight to take place.
"I'm an optimist, and I always felt that they'd eventually fight. At this point, I really feel that they'd never fight. Recently, as recent as this week, legitimate people from Singapore offered Mayweather 65 million dollars to fight Manny Pacquiao and turned he it down. 65 million is obviously is a sum Manny Pacquiao would accept... Now what does that tell you?"
It appears that Bob Arum has thrown in the towel. I can't blame him. Floyd has now rejected to major offers to fight Pacquiao over the last few months. In late April, Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz told the media that Floyd rejected a $50 million offer to fight Manny presumably in Africa.
Yesterday, Arum revealed that Floyd and Manny could have roughly been paid $65 million each to fight in Singapore. The constant accusations that Floyd is rejecting large offers has become disheartening to the boxing fans who have still hoped for this fight to happen. It's also angered a lot of Mayweather critics.
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