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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - When are 2 million pay-per-view buys and the largest-grossing fight in history a bad thing?
Well, OK, they’re never a bad thing.
But just because Showtime’s hottest boxing property took another step on Sept. 14 toward the ladder rungs occupied by names like Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran, doesn’t mean it’s a similarly slam-dunk windfall every time he appears from this day forward.
True, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is just two fights into the deal that’s in no small way responsible for a perception switch that’s moved the perpetual little brother to the head of the premium cable table more often occupied by its “Network of Champions” nemesis.
Nonetheless, the ease with which a 36-year-old “Money” dispatched Mexican heartthrob Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – who entered the ring 13 years younger, and 15 pounds heavier – may have done far more harm than good when it comes to marketing the Mayweather product.
If nothing else, the decisive win made the final four fights more of a task to sell to a progressively more jaded customer base – which necessitates the folks in the executive wing getting a little creative.
Whether the match with Mayweather came too soon on Alvarez’s career arc – or whether it would have mattered a year later – is up for debate. But what’s not in dispute is that the redhead was far and away the most lucrative of the practically possible opponents. [Click Here To Read More]
Well, OK, they’re never a bad thing.
But just because Showtime’s hottest boxing property took another step on Sept. 14 toward the ladder rungs occupied by names like Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran, doesn’t mean it’s a similarly slam-dunk windfall every time he appears from this day forward.
True, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is just two fights into the deal that’s in no small way responsible for a perception switch that’s moved the perpetual little brother to the head of the premium cable table more often occupied by its “Network of Champions” nemesis.
Nonetheless, the ease with which a 36-year-old “Money” dispatched Mexican heartthrob Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – who entered the ring 13 years younger, and 15 pounds heavier – may have done far more harm than good when it comes to marketing the Mayweather product.
If nothing else, the decisive win made the final four fights more of a task to sell to a progressively more jaded customer base – which necessitates the folks in the executive wing getting a little creative.
Whether the match with Mayweather came too soon on Alvarez’s career arc – or whether it would have mattered a year later – is up for debate. But what’s not in dispute is that the redhead was far and away the most lucrative of the practically possible opponents. [Click Here To Read More]
Jizz on my face
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