Floyd Mayweather Jr. has yet to sign his end of the contract to fight WBA welterweight champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley, and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer is outwardly frustrated. Schaefer told boxingscene.com that he would like to have both men participate in some sort of promotional events at this Sunday’s Superbowl, but the promotion can’t move forward without Mayweather’s signature.
So what is the holdup? What is keeping Mayweather from stealing back boxing’s spotlight? Some say fear. Others say ego, as he enjoys playing the heel and keeping himself on the bad side of the fans. Some might think that Floyd is pondering the possibility of returning the favor to Mosley and taking a vacation while Manny Pacquiao fights Joshua Clottey and runs for a congressional seat in his home nation.
Simply stated, passing on a proposed mega-fight with Mosley would surely mean career suicide for the talented one.
Why, whatever do you mean? I’m glad you asked.
Would a pay-per-view fight between Mayweather and the likes of Kermit Cintron, Nate Campbell, Paulie Malignaggi, Matthew Hatton, or (yikes) Saul Alvarez even log a considerable number of buys? Mayweather may rake in a couple million to hold him over until Manny and Arum come calling, but a pay-per-view bust would surely kill his claim to holding any drawing power, and thus decrease his purse split.
If Mayweather passes on Mosley and foregoes a “stay busy” fight and chooses to wait for Pacquiao, it is very possible that Arum puts disgraced boxer Antonio Margarito in the ring with Pacquiao. Arum ran Margarito’s name up the proverbial flagpole and it came back down with a slight favorable edge. While some (including yours truly) feel that Margarito shouldn’t be given the opportunity to share the ring (and a cut of the PPV revenue) with Pacquiao, Margarito’s large fan base trumps the opposed.
However, the presence of Margarito may only be used to get Mayweather to drop his demand for random Olympic-style drug testing. Even worse, he may be used to get Mayweather to agree to a smaller revenue split. Margarito may only be a tool of leverage against Mayweather, but when push comes to shove Arum will flip Mayweather the bird and pit his fighters against one another yet again.
Furthermore, passing on Mosley might surely mean the burning of the bridge between Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions. Can you imagine Richard Schaefer and Oscar de la Hoya wanting to do more business with the man that had a hand in killing two of the biggest cash-grabbing opportunities of the new decade?
So what options are left for Mayweather? Will he “nut up or shut up”, and sign on the dotted line? Or will he take a meaningless “stay busy” fight until Pacquiao’s schedule opens up? Will he gradually fade away from the conscious thought of the hardcore boxing fans, only occasionally popping up to do an interview on a Sirius satellite radio program? Only time will tell.
Source: boxing.fighthype.com
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