The question came up during the Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley press conference earlier this week: Name the last time a non-heavyweight fight this big featured two African-Americans?
Toss out bouts involving Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and you probably have to go back to Sugar Ray Leonard’s epic bout against Marvin Hagler way back in 1987.
You could get into all kinds of socio-economic reasons for the 23-year drought, and there are some in the boxing industry who suggest bouts between black fighters don’t sell. But Mayweather-Mosley offers a chance to re-engage fans that need to root for their own, and promoters of the bout are poised to react.
“We’re going to focus most of our marketing on the urban markets,” said Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “The urban market, the African-American market and the Hispanic market, are two very important markets in boxing. Some of the greatest fighters come out of these markets. To deliver a fight of this magnitude between two of the best fighters, period, is great for the sport.”
Mayweather-Mosley is an easy sell. Both are multi-division champions who have appeared two dozen times each on HBO and are headed for boxing’s Hall of Fame when their careers are done.
But fighters such as Devon Alexander are battling for their piece of the spotlight. Alexander, the WBC super lightweight champion, challenges IBF junior welterweight champ Juan Urango of Colombia tonight on HBO from the Mohegan Sun. Alexander, an African-American, is unbeaten in 19 fights with
12 KOs, but largely is unknown despite his inspirational story.
He grew up in the rough streets of North St. Louis, but found boxing at age 7
and stayed in the gym, escaping the gangs and drugs that consumed other youths.
“I want to encourage and show young kids that they can do it, no matter what the situation,” Alexander said. “I definitely wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. If I can show them that they can do it, that’s what I want to do.”
Maybe the hype around Mayweather-Mosley will get people to look at fighters such as Alexander, who aren’t necessarily bangers, but epitomize the art of the Sweet Science. That’s Mayweather’s style.
“The reason why Hispanic
fighters have gotten the nod lately is they will sit there and punch and go toe-to-toe,” Mosley said. “That’s what a lot of people want to see: a blood bath. A lot of African-America fighters like to move around and box which is good. That’s what you’re supposed to do because the nature of the game is to hit and not get hit. But I’m not sure how well that sells tickets.”
Mayweather-Mosley figures to be a sellout at the MGM in Las Vegas, but to reach the goal of 3 million pay-per-view buys that Schaefer predicted, it will need a strong following from all nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, but particularly in the urban market.
“Over the last three years, the increase in interest measured by pay-per-view buys, measured by media activity, measured by hits on the internet, in the urban communities has been astronomical,” HBO PPV boss Mark Taffet said. “A lot of credit goes to Floyd Mayweather. His star has risen to meteoric heights, and the African-American community has come with him. It literally has added another leg to the stool as far as the boxing audience.”
george.willis@nypost.com
Source: nypost.com
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