On Thursdays, the boxing world cuddles up with my sack as I unleash a fierce stream of gooey, salty truth to coat evildoers and blast away general boxing douchebaggery. In this week’s column, we have questions/comments regarding Top Rank/ESPN’s Tyson Fury deal and Floyd Mayweather’s continued villain role.
What is ESPN Doing?
It’s clear that Tyson Fury won't be going a 13th round with Wilder. He ran over to ESPN. For what? Pretty sneaky on Frank Warren’s behalf. He waited until the AJ v Miller fight was finalized then he took the TR deal. That deal obviously was in place for a long time. I really don’t know what ESPN is doing. They got some great fighters but no opponents to match them with. Fury doesn't even have a belt and ESPN doesn't even have a reputable HW to match him with. Wilder v Fury is a forgone conclusion for the foreseeable future. Just like Spence v Crawford and Lomachenko v Tank Davis... Looks like Breazeale or Whyte gets a crack at Wilder and hopefully AJ and Wilder can renegotiate in good faith this fall.
-- Nail Rahman
Hey Nail.
I’m writing a piece on this over at my other gig at Boxing.com, but, as I’m saying there, this is typical Bob Arum boxing tribalism BS. Arum’s ingratiating himself with the network to keep the checks rolling in, looking to make a quick score or two with the Fury name, all while cockblocking a rival promoter/manager/network. Boxing-ignorant ESPN execs are probably pretty happy right now with the signing of a top 3 heavyweight and, likely, a vague promise from Arum to lure Wilder over to ESPN for a PPV rematch. But the reality will set in soon enough that Fury will wither on the vine because, as you said, he has nobody of note to fight. Arum is already talking about putting off efforts to make the Wilder rematch and, so, that means the Fury fight options under the Top Rank/ESPN banner will be Kubrat Pulev and Oscar Rivas—and that’s about it. ESPN bought themselves an expensive toy in Fury, someone they can put on a poster and brag about on press releases, but that’s all. And as this Arum deal with ESPN progresses, I think we’ll see it become what previous mainstream TV deals eventually turned into under Arum’s control—a home for secondary fights and a series of showcase squashes for their stars while Arum talks up really big fights that fail to materialize.
Floyd Mayweather, “Villain”
You know sometimes I listen to Floyd Mayweather Jr. talk and I’m amazed at how much of an ego maniac the man is. No matter the press conference or interview Floyd will find a way to talk about Floyd just as diligently as he finds a way to win in the ring. I could write for days about Floyd’s sickening vanity, but I’m here to give my take on the Gucci incident. Does anyone believe that Floyd actually just so happened to be caught out front of the Gucci store in the midst of a Gucci boycott? I believe Floyd wanted that attention .... I think he needs that attention in case he ends up fighting again and unfortunately Floyd’s way of making crazy paydays is by trolling people to the point where they will pay money for the chance to see how defeat looks on his face.
--Trick
Hey Trick.
As I wrote in this past Monday’s Notes from the Boxing Underground column, whether by accident or by design, Mayweather came into a surefire money-making scheme by playing the bad guy in boxing—a sport where most everybody takes themselves way too seriously. For me, it’s 50-50 whether he was taken by surprise outside the Gucci store or if the whole “run in” with TMZ was staged. It doesn’t really matter though, because once he latched on to the controversy, he became “Money” and milked it for “bad guy” headline value.
All of this stuff really doesn’t matter a whole lot to me. Let the man be whoever he wants to be and spend his money however he likes. But, I do find it funny just how incensed pompous, self-important boxing fans and media get when he thumbs his nose at them.
Mayweather, Selling Pacquiao 2?
How else is Floyd gonna build up the Pacquiao rematch?
Pacquiao was unable to brutally KO Broner so at this point nobody believes a rematch would go any differently.
-- Beastsbounty
I don’t think this Gucci stuff was specifically designed to help push for a Pacquiao rematch, but I guess every bit of publicity keeps him in the headlines, keeps him firmly established as the bad guy, and would only help sell the fight should it happen. Chances are pretty decent that we DO see Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 at some point, but it might not be for a while.
Will the public still buy into a Mayweather-Pacquiao clash when both are in their mid-to-late 40s? My guess is “yes” and that, by that point, both fighters might really need the payday.
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