With less than two weeks left to go before undefeated pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather and WBA jr. middleweight champion Miguel Cotto face off inside the ring, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is extremely confident that the May 5th card will approach record-breaking pay-per-view numbers. In fact, Schaefer is so confident that he's taking bets that, at the very least, Mayweather vs. Cotto will be the biggest pay-per-view event since the 2007 blockbuster De La Hoya vs. Mayweather: The World Awaits event, which holds the record of 2.4 million pay-per-view buys.
"Well, you have two A sides fighting each other. This is not like one guy having to carry the fight, but it's two A sides fighting each other. That's why I'm being asked here, 'How many pay-per-views do you think it's going to do?' That's always like a crystal ball question, but one thing I can say, and I have no doubt about it, I'll take bets for that, this is going to be the biggest pay-per-view since De La Hoya/Mayweather," Schaefer proclaimed earlier today during the open workout held at the Mayweather Boxing Club. "Now, if it's going to break De La Hoya and Mayweather's record, I'm not going to predict that, but it's gonna be the biggest pay-per-view since then, no question about it."
According to Schaefer, the fact that Mayweather, the biggest pay-per-view draw in the sport, is facing Cotto, the third biggest draw, is already enough to make this card a resounding success. "In Miguel Cotto, you have an amazing fighter; a fighter which brings a large fan base, not only the Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Ricans here, fight fans in general, he has a very crowd-pleasing style, he comes off against a big win, a big performance against Antonio Margarito, so you have a big star with Miguel Cotto, a star who can carry his own pay-per-view," Schaefer explained. "Then in Floyd Mayweather, of course, you have the king, you have the pay-per-view king, you have the number one attraction in the sport, so it's one of those things where you add one and one together, it doesn't equal two, it doesn't equal three, it doesn't equal four, it doesn't equal five, it just equals millions of pay-per-views and millions of fans and the true excitement for this May 5th card."
What really puts this even over the top, however, is the fact that Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who Schaefer dubbed "the number one star from Mexico" (although I'm sure Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. would take exception to that), is facing the toughest test in his career when he steps into the ring with future Hall of Famer "Sugar" Shane Mosley. "Then you have another factor to this card, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez. Don't forget...the number one star from Mexico on the card as well fighting in his most dangerous fight against 'Sugar' Shane Mosley. Some people might say Mosley's done based on the performance of his last two fights. I think you're going to see a Mosley who's going to bring whatever he has left to the ring. Mosley's one of those fighters when he's counted out, that's when he performs the best," Schaefer added. "We've seen that when he was fighting Antonio Margarito a couple years ago. Nobody gave him a chance. Everybody said he was over the hill and he was done, and you see what he did, he turned back the clock, and he's going to try and do exactly the same with young, 21-year-old Canelo Alvarez. He's going to try to do the same and teach the young kid a lesson. A big night for boxing, a big night for fight fans, irrespective whether you're Puerto Rican, American, Mexican, or wherever you're coming from; clearly the biggest night of boxing again with Floyd Mayweather starring as it has become the Superbowl of boxing whenever Floyd Mayweather laces them up."
Will Schaefer be right? Will this card be the second biggest pay-per-view event in the history of the sport? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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