Mayweather-Marquez: Potential new date, lots of talk
by SC on Jun 15, 2009 9:31 AM EDT
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While Juan Manuel Marquez has come out and said that his postponed July 18 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be moved to September 19, the biggest stuff going on is the doubt being bandied about by boxing fans and writers.
While Mayweather's rib injury appears 100% legit, FightHype's Ben Thompson says that poor ticket sales may be just as much if not more to blame for the postponement of the bout. The 11 weeks of promotional time was pretty short, but it seems doable for a Mayweather return. They went on an immediate press blitz, but an anonymous source said bluntly, "Ticket sales suck."
I'm no conspiracy theorist, and I'm no Floyd basher, and I'm a huge Marquez fan, and I was looking forward to the fight even though I had reservations about how competitive it would be, and since I think it will still wind up happening, I maintain those reservations.
But ticket sales were bad and this fight was not measuring up to the level of anticipation I think Golden Boy and Mayweather expected. Part of this may even be blamed on "Mayweather Promotions," which was the lead promoter for this fight, not Golden Boy, but that is pure speculation on my part, and only relevant, I feel, because Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe are not experienced at leading promotion for a card of this magnitude.
I have defended Floyd as a big star, and I still think he's a big star. But I'm ready to accept that he lost a lot of his post-Oscar, post-Hatton buzz with a series of blunders:
- Dancing With the Stars: Yes, it's a popular show, and yes, it gave him some crossover appeal, but housewives and teen girls aren't about to follow his boxing career just because he has a winning smile. This is the least of the three, since I don't think it mattered much either way.
- WrestleMania: I've said before I grew up a huge pro wrestling fan, still enjoy the older stuff I've always loved, and that I have no real beef with pro wrestling. But pro wrestling -- while hugely popular in fad periods -- is just not all that popular right now and I don't think it did him any favors. He went from talking about fighting in the UFC to pretend fighting The Big Show, you know? He could have been continuing his successful boxing career as the big dog, but instead he went to Monday Night Raw to cut rotten promos.
- Retirement: No one bought it, it wasn't real, and all it did was cool his jets. I don't believe for one second he intended to never fight again.
Mayweather had fans, and still has them, but do I think he's really any bigger of a gate draw than Pacquiao right now? No, I don't. Probably less of one, in fact. I don't even think Mayweather could sell a Madison Square Garden fight the way Miguel Cotto can.
He's not the star he thinks he is. And I've said this before, but I think the biggest reason he "retired' was a not-even-lukewarm response from fans and press about his rematch with Oscar de la Hoya. Never forget that that fight was a go -- they had the press tour lined up. Suddenly, Mayweather retired. Why? What changed?
No one wanted that fight. And I don't think there's a whole lot of interest past Mexican fans when it comes to Mayweather-Marquez. It definitely isn't the huge fight HBO and Mayweather and Golden Boy thought it was going to be. You can talk about the economy, and it has a part in this, but people came out for Pacquiao-Hatton and bought the fight in big numbers.
Was an "ehhh" response from those in and around boxing partly to blame for Mayweather-Marquez getting pushed back? I'm not one to be sure about these things, but I think there could be something to it. If Mayweather-Pacquiao is to eventually happen, Mayweather will go out of his way to leverage the lion's share of the split. A poor financial showing with Marquez would've really hurt his position, no matter if or how he won the fight.
It's food for thought, at the very least.
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Boxing and Pro Wrestling have a long, rich crossover history, dating back at least to Dempsey. It’s a strange relationship – acrobatic fake-fighting and real bloodsport – but it also makes a strange kind of sense in entertainment terms. At the top level, both are about personalities and athleticism, they both generate sales from fan loyalty, they take place in the same venues, etc. I haven’t really watched wrestling since the days of Nicolai Volfkoff and the Iron Sheik, but I do recall that at the height of his fame Tyson did some wrestling shows, which probably had as much to do with his obsession with Dempsey as it did anything else.
I have heard that Wrestling trended towards an older audience in the 90’s and the 00’s, and what little I caught didn’t make much sense to me (Calling each other “bitches”, Canadian dudes who use their real names? WTF?) but I can’t imagine that adults who are really hardcore into wrestling would ever have much interest in boxing, and particularly not in Floyd’s style of boxing. It doesn’t seem strange that he would cash a check messing around on a wrestling show, but it does seem strange that they would ask him…. Jeez if there were ever a perfect job for Nicky Valuev, that would be it.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
by jrok on Jun 15, 2009 10:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I concur
Just wanna say… well done on this post, well articulated, rational, and didactic.
Maybe, just once, someone will call me "sir" without adding, "you're making a scene.
by HireMattMillen on Jun 15, 2009 10:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It doesn’t help that the reason PBF wanted to fight Marquez was that Floyd wanted to take on a “small guy” in a low risk fight. People aren’t dumb…they’re not going to sink money into buying tickets to that fight.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 15, 2009 10:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
yeah
I never got why Floyd was so bold going, “This guy’s too small for me. This fight will be crap.” Who was he selling to?
by SC on Jun 15, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
the bad guy
I think he’s very interested in playing the bad guy role with everyone now. You can heel on your opponent, but you can’t piss on what you’re selling. You need to build up Marquez and the fight, while at the same time playing the bad guy. I didn’t understand that one either.
by roheblius on Jun 15, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yep..
“he’s a tough guy and one of the best in the world. But I’m THE best in the world and I’m going to smash him” is a lot better than “He’s too little…this is going to suck. Please pay to watch it!”
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 15, 2009 8:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Great post.
Totally agree about the “retirement” and I don’t think there is any doubt that Manny P passed him as a draw, for casual and hardcore fans alike.
If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.
by Warden11 on Jun 15, 2009 10:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Hopefully …
…all of this will lead him to the realization that he needs to man up and fight Pac if he really wants to get paid.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Jun 15, 2009 1:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Seconded....
Boxing is the beginning of all sports. I'm willing to bet that the first sport was a man against another man in a fight. (Omar Epps)
by Chaos100 on Jun 15, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You forgot The Iron Ring, Scott.
"Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment."
-Lao Tzu
by RoyalB on Jun 15, 2009 4:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It's All Outta Love My Friend. Love And Getting Facts Right
"Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment."
-Lao Tzu
by RoyalB on Jun 15, 2009 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Mayweather-marquez-try to sell differently than now
Mayweather should have a new approach to sell this fight even to the degree Of Pacquiao-Hatton fight.He would lose it all if he continously do his I’m the cash cow stuff.Reason for this is that he is not then and he is not now.He better follow De La hoya way of thinking when it comes to business matter and be not deafened by his own hype.
ODLH is a cash cow then and take the maximum possible earnings then retire for good and now a new life as a promoter.But this is another turf i think the Don is named Bob father.To say easy ,Floyd fight Pacquiao and get the maximum possible purse for you and move on..
by isidro on Jun 15, 2009 10:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
good post. it just proves what Mayweather won’t admit…the image he crafted post-Olympic times for the past years….doesn’t draw in fans. his image and he persona are just a drop in the bucket of so many other boxers….he has never been and never will be a big pull without someone else to pull in viewers….period. he was fighting in half-full arenas for all but the end of his career when he fought a few huge names……that had their own following.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Jun 16, 2009 12:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think this fight is better moved back MMA is going to have some major fights this summer. His fight would have gone up against the Brock Lesnar Frank Mir UFC 100 PPV, which is expected to be the biggest in company history. I think he can still draw a huge buyrate, but probably not in the summer that will be dominated by 3 HUGE MMA fights. Theres no way this fight was going to come close to any of those UFC PPV buyrates, move it to after the summer and watch the ticketsales and PPV buyrates sky rocket.
by collegetuner on Jun 16, 2009 3:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
While I agree that Mayweather-Marquez had no chance of topping UFC 100 the week before, I don’t really think it matters much. They’re not competing with UFC and I don’t think the audiences cross over all that much. Obviously a lot of us like both.
by SC on Jun 16, 2009 6:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fourth Reason
How about his disastrous interview with Brian Kenny on ESPN. Kenny beats him down worse than dude did to Hatton.
You mention that money may isn’t the best promoter. This video certainly proves that.
by JeterDrinksWineCoolers on Jun 16, 2009 2:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Disastrous
is one way to put it. Try also: cataclysmic, catastrophic, destructive, dreadful, fatal, fateful, hapless, harmful, ruinous, terrible, tragic, unfortunate.
May has the IQ of a squirrel.
Maybe, just once, someone will call me "sir" without adding, "you're making a scene.
by HireMattMillen on Jun 16, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
While Mayweather came off horribly (IMO, anyway), that was about the only time people were talking about this fight past people who would always talk about it (boxing fans).
by SC on Jun 16, 2009 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It also the week of “Grito de Dolores” aka Mexican Independence day.
Well it sucks but I want to still see 24/7…
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
by Zocalo on Jun 16, 2009 11:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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