Manny Pacquiao and 50 Cent to Join Forces in Promoting Boxing

TMT Promotions is dead. But 50 Cent is apparently not out of boxing just yet.

50 Cent and Manny Pacquiao are reportedly teaming up on a boxing promotional venture, according to Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz, which I swear to God, I'm not making up.

"50 Cent and I have been talking now for maybe the last two months. They approached us with the idea to form a promotional company. Initially it was going to be 50 Cent, Manny and Floyd. But right now I don't think Floyd is going to be a part of it. I explained the idea to Manny. ... I think with 50 Cent, with his entertainment connections and his popularity there, combining that with Manny's popularity and expertise in boxing - we can bring a new flavor to boxing - we can excite some young boxers and I think we can sign some top quality boxers. I spoke to 50 Cent tonight and confirmed that we're going to go forward. Manny is coming here this weekend for other business, but we're all excited about it."

Buhhhhhhhh. Uhhhhhhh. Well then.

This is quite the 180, I would say. Obviously something happened between 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather, whether it was business, personal, or both, to kill the TMT idea and have 50 Cent go this direction instead. And with Pacquiao?

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I honestly don't really know what to say about this right now. It's not so much a bombshell bit of news in that I think it's immediately important, because we've already seen how fast this nearly exact same idea can go belly-up, but it's big in that it's totally out of left field. Nobody saw this coming.

Actually, I do have something to say about part of it, so here goes. It's not positive, either, so if you want that the rest of the way, stop reading now.

Koncz makes mention of a different "spin" on the idea of promoting boxing, such as having two fights on a pay-per-view with a "mini-concert" between them.

Let me try and make this perfectly clear. If that's the direction that the Pacquiao side is being pushed toward, then my gut feeling is they're getting somewhat played by a guy who's trying to stay relevant. 50 Cent's music career ain't what it used to be, and his "film career" is a bunch of direct to video stuff that nobody really cares about. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy his role in the De Niro/Pacino cop turd Righteous Kill, because I liked that turd despite it being a clear turd, but I mean, 50 Cent is not the pop culture superstar in 2012 that he was in 2003-05. I'm not saying he's some nobody you wouldn't recognize if you saw him on the street or whatever, I'm just saying that what once was megastar 50 Cent is now celebrity 50 Cent.

Likewise, if Pacquiao and Koncz are so gullible as to believe that 50 Cent mini-concerts combined with fights are going to be some huge PPV attraction, well, I don't think they know they're quite as hip to the boxing fan base as they might believe themselves to be. Even if someone likes both, that's certainly no indication that they want to combine for $60 or more like $70. In other words, boxing fans order pay-per-views to see fights, not stupid concerts they may or may not care about.

But apart from that, this is weird, wild stuff, and we'll have to see (1) if it goes anywhere at all, which it quite possibly will not, and (2) where that anywhere might be.