To This Day I Still Can't Believe What Floyd Mayweather Accomplished

[Beercules]

I won't lie, and I'm a *******.

But Floyd is clearly the best of this era.


It's funny, saw him and Canelo in NYC for their presser. He's so small.

[GhostofDempsey]

Great post. Floyd is the Justin Bieber (ironically his former BFF) of boxing. Sold a ton of fights, was hugely successful, but a product of casual fans. Just as the Biebers, Swifts, and Drakes of the music world aren't the best singers ever, Floyd managed to dupe the casual fan-base into believing he was greater than he really was, which translated into lucrative PPVs and making him the wealthiest athlete in the world. He is no more "TBE" than Marciano, Chavez Sr., or any other popular fighter who had long winning streaks. Yet, with the power and influence of television networks, social media and slick marketing, he convinced a lot of casuals he was indeed the best ever.

Floyd took a page from PT Barnum and found all the suckers he needed to purchase his fleet of Bentleys and Learjets. Used the smoke and mirrors of a strong PR team to hustle unsuspecting fans into believing the likes of Ortiz, Guerrero, Maidana, Berto were actually A-level opposition worthy of a PPV purchase.

[EnglishOxide]

It probably coincides with Twitter, Social Media and YouTube. Everybody has access to them, and everything can be marketed through it. That's why things go 'viral' nowadays.

Everybody tunes in to hope this ******* gets kicked in. But at the same time tune in because they know he is supremely skilled. Fighters with that skill don't come around often.

Same with most sportsmen like Federer and Woods. People tune in because it's 'them' and they are head and shoulders the best of their generation.

With boxing it's amplified because they compete so infrequently so you only get once or twice a year to witness the fighter which means the interest is easier to build.

[IronDanHamza]

I think all the stars just aligned at the perfect time.

By 2007 he was established to hardcores and the P4P #1 but unknown to casuals.

Oscar fight came at the perfect time, perfect combination for a super fight, beloved fan favourite vs the undefeated, brash, ****y P4P #1. Him winning shot him to stardom because people wanted to see him lose even more.

But on the other hand he was slowly building a core fanbase.

Then came Hatton which was a big fight, same kind of combination as the Oscar fight (lesser scale)

The next stage was the Pacquaio rivlary, that helped both build their star power.

By 2011/12, Floyd's now a household name, with a core fanbase and ALOT of people who are dying to see him lose. As long has he stayed undefeated and had his "unbeatable" charactef and playing the character of a prick he was going to sell PPV's.

It's a total one off. Can't see someone with the fighting style and charisma of Floyd doing this again.

[bballchump11]

He made his name off of the 24/7's back in the day (Oscar, Hatton, Mosely). He worked that sh.t beatifully and truly made himself a polarizing athlete. You either loved him and watched his fights to cheer for him, or you hated his guts and bought the fights to see him get his ass kicked.

True which why I disagree with him not having the personality. He got a little boring after the domestic violence thing. His 24/7's and **** talk were good Mosley and before.

Even his interviews were great.

[QuickKO]

he accomplished a lot in terms of success, but he also ducked the prime fighters who stood a chance of beating him, like Cotto and Pacquiao

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

True. All true.

But name one other fighter in history with that kind of style (non-puncher, technical, not a heavyweight) who sold that much?

Exactly how you described his style is why I find it so surprising that people kept buying the PPVs.

Ronda Rousey is an example of someone who doesn’t have an incredibly interesting personality, who’s fights were all very one sided and similiar yet she still sold incredibly well

[LacedUp]

Floyd is a an exciting personality, I can’t stand the guy but he clearly has natural showmanship and charisma. He’s fantastic at selling a fight and that’s largely down to his personality...

The reason he became a major PPV star is because of ODLH, that fight established Floyd as the biggest star in the sport. That fight took Floyd from a 300-400k buys PPV fighter to a 1m+ buys PPV fighter. ODLH done the exact same for Pacquiao as well.

I'm genuinely interested in hearing about why people think he has an exciting personality. Why is it exciting to you personally? Or appealing rather?

I'm fully on board with the passing of the torch etc, but even when he fought Oscar he wasn't exciting in that fight either!

Usually a 'passing of the torch' comes by KO or a beat down like Pacquiao vs dela hoya, not by split decision in a close no-knockdown fight. You know what I mean?

[LacedUp]

Ronda Rousey is an example of someone who doesn’t have an incredibly interesting personality, who’s fights were all very one sided and similiar yet she still sold incredibly well

Well, she's a very bad example imo. She finished people in seconds! and was vicious in the cage, destroying chicks like no ones business.

I can fully understand why a pretty blonde girl who mauls chicks in the cage like an animal became a star.

[LacedUp]

True which why I disagree with him not having the personality. He got a little boring after the domestic violence thing. His 24/7's and **** talk were good Mosley and before.

Even his interviews were great.

Yes! I like this stuff - But this was when he wasn't even a star star. Or at least it was in the 00s decade or thereabouts. When he was still talking mad trash and at least KOd guys like Ricky Hatton.

But strangely (to me) he became less interesting outside of the ring, and his in-ring performances also became less exciting.

But... his numbers grew!! I still don't understand how he did it.