The Notorious v Money

[David]

17 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I was thinking about it this morning, throwing this fight wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Floyd. It'll taint his legacy, sure, but it'd also ensure there's a rematch and another huge payday. The buy rate would be even bigger, the audience would be even more invested and he'd double if not triple the megabucks he's going to make this time. 

Have you been sniffing glue? Seriously?

[d-d-d-dAz]

Supes is right.

The biggest obstacle to this fight is convincing people it's a proper sporting contest.

Therell still be a significant group who won't buy because they see it as a joke. If Conor starches him, that obstacle goes away.

Floyd can be all 'I didn't take him seriously, lightning wont strike twice' etc 

I still don't think he should, or even would, throw it. But Mayweather chasing a victorious Conor is as big, if not bigger.

[David]

In this day & age there's a very good chance of any boxer at at a high level being found out, and if he was? His reputation in tatters, his licence as a promoter in doubt, his career as a fighter disgraced?

Not a fucking chance.

[Keith Houchen]

Fucking hell, him losing is one thing but to throw it? Maybe McGregor threw the first Diaz fight for the same reason.

[Supremo]

I'm not saying he would do it. I'm not saying it wouldn't harm his legacy. I'm talking strictly business. If Floyd decided he didn't give a fuck about anything other than making as much money as possible then losing to Conor would be the best thing for him. There's no one else he can make this money with and the buy rates he did following the boring victory over Pacquiao show you exactly what a boring decision over Conor would achieve. 

But a rematch against this mad bastard who got lucky ? With another tour of Conor milking the win and Floyd promising revenge? It's pure box office.

EDIT. Maybe throw it is the wrong choice of words. I didn't mean it in such a sense. More that a loss against Conor would arguably be the best thing for Mayweather's bank account. 

[David]

1 minute ago, Supremo said:

I'm not saying he would do it. I'm not saying it wouldn't harm his legacy. I'm talking strictly business. If Floyd decided he didn't give a fuck about anything other than making as much money as possible then losing to Conor would be the best thing for him. There's no one else he can make this money with and the buy rates he did following the boring victory over Pacquiao show you exactly what a boring decision over Conor would achieve. 

But a rematch against this mad bastard who got lucky ? With another tour of Conor milking the win and Floyd promising revenge? It's pure box office.

What makes more sense is for him to handily win this fight, then immediately live up to his word and challenge McGregor in the cage. There's a better chance of something of a "gentleman's agreement" that Conor doesn't go too crazy on him in a UFC bout than there is Floyd throwing a boxing match.

Two fights, both guys will likely win on their own turf, and both guys make a shitload of dough.

[Keith Houchen]

The reason the Berto fight didn't do the same numbers is because people hadn't been discussing for years if Berto or Mayweather was the pound for pound best in the world.  And there hadn't been talk of him dodging Berto for years.

[Supremo]

Just now, Keith Houchen said:

The reason the Berto fight didn't do the same numbers is because people hadn't been discussing for years if Berto or Mayweather was the pound for pound best in the world.  And there hadn't been talk of him dodging Berto for years.

You don't think the quality of the fight, and the reaction of the people who bought the fight, played any part? I remember it being almost universally hated at the time, cries for refunds, a million memes of Floyd being a, "chicken," who ran online. That fight definitely left a sour taste in people's mouths, regardless of whether it was their own fault for expecting something different, and without a someone as big a star as Conor I don't think Floyd would've done over a million buys again.

I just imagine Floyd not taking it seriously, maybe clowning like Anderson Silva against Weidman, then Conor clips him. It'd be the biggest story ever and the rematch would easily beat the first. Six or seven million buys wouldn't seem impossible. 

[Keith Houchen]

13 minutes ago, Supremo said:

You don't think the quality of the fight, and the reaction of the people who bought the fight, played any part?

No.  To put the Pacman fight in wrestling terms, it was like Hogan and Piper, people bought it to see Maypiper get his arse finally kicked.  A lot of these people didn't know much about boxing and weren't keen when the mouthy bloke did what he did best and fought defensively.  It was far from universally hated.  Casual boxing fans (as in the ones who bought their first PPV since Lewis retired) may have disliked it, but universally hated? No chance.  This did the numbers because it was the biggest fight in decades, anything that followed wouldn't have had the years of build and anticipation. 

 

Floyd has said he would only come out of retirement for McGregor in the past.  Yeah if McGregor somehow won the rematch would do massive business but the idea that the fight could be thrown is daft.

[David]

5 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

The reason the Berto fight didn't do the same numbers is because people hadn't been discussing for years if Berto or Mayweather was the pound for pound best in the world.  And there hadn't been talk of him dodging Berto for years.

The Berto fight did shit because Floyd had talked up his "last fight" for a while, then he went and chose a chump who's glory years ended five years previously. Berto was 3-3 coming into the Mayweather fight, and was a supremely lacklustre choice for an opponent.

If Mayweather had chosen Amir Khan, as most people assumed he would, and the fight had taken place in London it would have been fucking huge. Over a million buys no problem. The question had been asked about Khan's speed and his punching power troubling Mayweather.

Even if he came back today and decided to face Keith Thurman, Errol Spence, Shawn Porter, or Kell Brook he'd do very well at the box office, because all of those are considered competitive fights.

I'm fairly sure that the weight could be negotiated for fights against the likes of Gennady Golovkin, or a rematch with a more mature, experienced Canelo Alvarez. Those dudes are throwing leather at 160lbs now, and would likely make the drop to 154lbs to meet Mayweather.

Boxing doesn't work in quite the same way as pro wrestling or MMA when it comes to pulling in eyeballs and getting interest. There's a huge crossover in the fanbase between MMA and wrestling that you simply don't get with boxing.

Mayweather draws huge numbers in boxing because, like most other sports, the very best in the world is what draws. MMA is a weird anomaly in that respect, which is why it'll never really be taken seriously by the sporting world. it'll always be a fringe spectacle, a mere bawhair away from being WWE. 

Non-MMA fans aren't looking at Conor and thinking "man, this guy is legit. He could actually beat Floyd in a boxing match", they're thinking "wow, this guys a fucking racist maniac with his shit tattoos and fucked up ears. He's maybe gonna throw a knee or an elbow or something crazy! I gotta see!"

 

[Keith Houchen]

Apart from the racist bit, David, that's spot on.  Good post.

[David]

Just now, Keith Houchen said:

Apart from the racist bit, David, that's spot on.  Good post.

Yeah, I'm saying that the mainstream fans and boxing pundits see him as racist, not us. The sad truth is that he's been cast in a very negative light after his comments, rightly or wrongly.

Mayweather didn't do himself any favours either with his homophobic nonsense.

[Keith Houchen]

2 minutes ago, David said:

Mayweather didn't do himself any favours either with his homophobic nonsense.

Unfortunately, homophobia and misogyny tend to get dismissed in the real mans macho world of Boxing and MMA.

[GlennCullen]

Going back to Supremos 'throw the fight' post, I agree with the sentiment (i.e. bigger rematch, another big payday) but think McGregor throwing a kick and getting DQed would be a far more effective way of doing it. He'd have no problem talking his way around it. Ethically questionable? Absolutely. Probable? Nope. Possible? WIth the characters involved? I reckon so.

[Egg Shen]

2 hours ago, Supremo said:

You don't think the quality of the fight, and the reaction of the people who bought the fight, played any part? I remember it being almost universally hated at the time, cries for refunds, a million memes of Floyd being a, "chicken," who ran online. That fight definitely left a sour taste in people's mouths, regardless of whether it was their own fault for expecting something different, and without a someone as big a star as Conor I don't think Floyd would've done over a million buys again.

I just imagine Floyd not taking it seriously, maybe clowning like Anderson Silva against Weidman, then Conor clips him. It'd be the biggest story ever and the rematch would easily beat the first. Six or seven million buys wouldn't seem impossible. 

Yeh, the Berto fight tanked for several reasons, the bad taste left after the Pacquiao fight was a big part of it (Pacquiao's next fight against Tim Bradley also did badly). Judging by the crazy reaction to the Pacman fight, im interested to see how the reaction is to this if it turns out to be an absolute stinker. The internet may very well melt down.