Floyd Mayweather Jr. - Why Doesn't Mayweather Fight The Best?

Floyd Mayweather Jr. - Why Doesn't Mayweather Fight The Best?

06.12.06 - By Mike Cassell: I CAN ALREADY HEAR THE PHRASE, “Floyd hater.” I cannot find too many writers that are more impressed with Floyd Mayweather Jr. than I am, but his speed and natural ability far exceed his hunger to fight the best competition, and that is his major flaw.

It is not a mistake, that Floyd Mayweather, and Oscar De La Hoya, were both promoted to super stardom by Top Rank. Bob Arum realizes that great matches make great fighters, period. The one point that Arum made at the post fight press conference on December 2, was that his fighters will fight anybody.

As Arum put it:

“We understand that boxing is in the doldrums, there are people that say that boxing is falling from popularity. I see it; you do not have to tell me that. Well, what do you do to bring them back? You have to get kids, to be in competitive fights, that mean something to people, and they know they are going to get an exciting evening. Like a few weeks ago with Pacquiao/ Morales, people were thrilled, because the guys came to fight. People know that Miguel Cotto, with a guy that’s in a fight, is going to be exciting. I do not care, who they are, where they are, or what they have to say, it is going to be an exciting fight, and that’s what people want to see. People do not want to see, Floyd Mayweather, fooling around with Baldomir. No matter how great a boxer, there are certain people; really most people want to see action, great competition. That is what a guy like Cotto brings, that’s what a guy like Margarito and Clottey brings. Maybe you say Margarito is not the best fighter in the world, he is slow, or whatever, but he absolutely comes to fight, and that is what people pay to see, a fight! Not a Goddamn exhibition, where they pose with each other, in the middle of the ring. Why do you think Gatti is so popular? He fights. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he losses, but he fights. They always see excitement, hey… Duran taught me that, Hagler taught me that, Sugar Ray taught me that, Hearns taught me that. I’ve been in this business over 40 years.”

I know it was borderline criminal, but someone asked him anyway, and I loved it.

Is Mayweather a protected fighter? Arum smiled, he knew that one was coming.

“Floyd is great boxer, and a talented boxer, but most people won’t pay a nickel to see him, because it’s not exciting. I promoted 35 of his fights, and only handfuls were exciting. You heard Cotto before, “he” is no bull shitter, and he will fight anybody. That’s the way it used to be!”

Do you think that is the major difference between Mayweather, and fighters like Margarito, Cotto, and Clottey? Arum leaned forward like a preacher on a pulpit, and exulted.

“YOU ARE CORRECT, YOU ARE CORRECT, YOU ARE CORRECT”. Because they (Mayweather / De La Hoya) are businessmen first, and they do not relish the combat style of boxing. De la Hoya picks his opponents in that way, because he is businessman first, and he does not like to mix it up, because he does not want to hurt his face. If he can get away with it, more power to him, he is not putting a gun to anyone’s head and stealing money. He had a promoter who knew how to promote him, and make him a superstar, through good matchmaking. Mayweather and De La Hoya, will be involved in the most talked about fight next year, and isn’t it interesting, that the company that developed them is TOP RANK, and the company developing Miguel Cotto and fighters like him is TOP RANK, it is not an accident. There is a way to develop fighters. Most promoters today, have not a clue. They think you take a kid, put him in with 35 tomato cans, you sell him to HBO, and roll the dice, and hope that they win, and that’s being a promoter.

When I first heard Arum saying the same kinds of things back in April, I thought it was sour grapes, mixed with truth. Today, I believe truer words were never spoken. There is one thing that Margarito, Cotto, Clottey, and Quintana, all have in common. They are all fighters; Floyd Mayweather could fight or could have tried to fight. He instead chooses a match with De La Hoya, which sounds good on paper, but will probably look bad in the ring. When the event is over, all the bank accounts are full, and all the rhetoric is distributed, everything Bob Arum pontificated will be more obvious than ever.

The best fighters in the world become the best fighters in the world, by fighting the best competition. Mayweather and De La hoya are both filthy rich and they can thank Bob Arum for that, but when it is all said and done, history will remember what they did in the ring, not the size of their portfolio, or their solid business deals. Meanwhile, as they pose, guys like Cotto fight. I think if Arum had his way, we would be watching De La Hoya / Cotto, Mayweather / Margarito and Mosley / Clottey on the same card. Now that is worth 49.95, plus tax.


“The Philadelphia Boxing Report”

[dun dun dun dun]

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

The one point that Arum made at the post fight press conference on December 2, was that his fighters will fight anybody.

Yet Arum recently conceded that there is a strong possibility Margarito will forfeit his WBO title belt in order to avoid facing Paul Williams prior to a Cotto fight in June.

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

“Floyd is great boxer, and a talented boxer, but most people won’t pay a nickel to see him, because it’s not exciting. I promoted 35 of his fights, and only handfuls were exciting. You heard Cotto before, “he” is no bull shitter, and he will fight anybody. That’s the way it used to be!”

Arum is just upset Floyd left him. And most people won't pay a nickel to see him fight? Floyd Mayweather alone almost equaled the PPV purchases of two superstars in Morales and Pacquiao. People pay to watch Mayweather's skill.

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

When I first heard Arum saying the same kinds of things back in April, I thought it was sour grapes, mixed with truth. Today, I believe truer words were never spoken. There is one thing that Margarito, Cotto, Clottey, and Quintana, all have in common. They are all fighters; Floyd Mayweather could fight or could have tried to fight. He instead chooses a match with De La Hoya, which sounds good on paper, but will probably look bad in the ring. When the event is over, all the bank accounts are full, and all the rhetoric is distributed, everything Bob Arum pontificated will be more obvious than ever.

This guy needs to shut the fuck up. Can you blame Floyd for taking a $10-20 million payday rather than fighting someone like Margarito for signficantly less? ANYONE, even those 4 fighters just listed would do the same thing. For a shot at Oscar, fighters don't give a shit about fighting the best opposition out there.

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

The best fighters in the world become the best fighters in the world, by fighting the best competition. Mayweather and De La hoya are both filthy rich and they can thank Bob Arum for that, but when it is all said and done, history will remember what they did in the ring, not the size of their portfolio, or their solid business deals. Meanwhile, as they pose, guys like Cotto fight. I think if Arum had his way, we would be watching De La Hoya / Cotto, Mayweather / Margarito and Mosley / Clottey on the same card. Now that is worth 49.95, plus tax.

Why pair up De La Hoya and Cotto along with Mayweather and Margarito? De La Hoya and Mayweather are clearly the two biggest names out there. If Arum wanted to make the most income possible, I doubt he'd be matching up those boxers.

Floyds fights at 130 and 135 =Exciting

Floyds fights at 140 and 147 = Sparring session. his only exciting fight was his demolishon of arturo gatti who tried to out box the boxer hahaah wtf shit was strange.

Stop living in the past guys stop it! floyd aint exciting anymore let it go if i were you guys i would be hurt...floyd spits on his fans if he cared about you guys he would put on a show...he has tghe FUCKING SKILLS everyone knows it but he doesnt use them to his full potential.

its di••••able.

[dun dun dun dun]

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

Floyds fights at 130 and 135 =Exciting

Floyds fights at 140 and 147 = Sparring session. his only exciting fight was his demolishon of arturo gatti who tried to out box the boxer hahaah wtf shit was strange.

Stop living in the past guys stop it! floyd aint exciting anymore let it go if i were you guys i would be hurt...floyd spits on his fans if he cared about you guys he would put on a show...he has tghe FUCKING SKILLS everyone knows it but he doesnt use them to his full potential.

its di••••able.

Why are you always bringing up excitement? Are you unable to fathom the fact that perhaps some fans want to see Mayweather display his skills? And yeah, he has the skills and he employs it masterfully. Hit and not be hit. It's called fucking boxing for a reason. If you want to see two guys swinging mindlessly at each other, go watch a bar fight or something.

And Floyd must be doing something right. His fights with Gatti and Judah weren't that exciting barring the 10th round in the fight with Judah, but somehow 300,000+ fans are still paying to watch Mayweather fight. Does that tell you something?

Originally Posted by dun dun dun dun

Why are you always bringing up excitement? Are you unable to fathom the fact that perhaps some fans want to see Mayweather display his skills? And yeah, he has the skills and he employs it masterfully. Hit and not be hit. It's called fucking boxing for a reason. If you want to see two guys swinging mindlessly at each other, go watch a bar fight or something.

And Floyd must be doing something right. His fights with Gatti and Judah weren't that exciting barring the 10th round in the fight with Judah, but somehow 300,000+ fans are still paying to watch Mayweather fight. Does that tell you something?

floyds fight with gatti is how he shoudl finish all guys that level...that was complete ownage he should of done the same against baldo....floyd does a diservice to his fans by making an easy fight go too long.

he doenst throw combos as much anymore.

and ya Floyd is doing the right thing by promoting his fight on tv and radio shows....but if pacquiao went on jay leno, carson daily, mtv, bet, espn, and all the radio shows too and oscar was telling people this guy is exciting i bet you anything after his first ppv of doing that kinda pub work that floyd has been doing and knocking morales out people will pay to see him....pacmans style alone is fan friendly

if your a true boxing fan you would be happy for guys like pacquiao because boxing is dying slowly...and real slowly we are lacking the fighters of old who fought fights....like ray leonard, duran, hearns, hagler, ali, etc....

Floyd gots the skills but without excitement in boxing whats gonna attract people to it?

The last guy left is oscar dela hoya....when he retires who is the next superstar?

Jermain taylor??? back in the 80s Taylor would of been a house hold name not any more....thats how low a slump is in boxing.

And it seems UFC" is taking over....they are getting 600,000-770,000 ppv buys an event and they say the chuck vs tito rematch on dec 30 will gross close to 2 million ppv buys....

[~OMagic~]

Bob Arum is a fuckin goon... hes the same guy who hugged Foyds dick claiming hes the best fighter of the generation and when Floyd leaves Bob tries to verbally assault him.

[dun dun dun dun]

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

floyds fight with gatti is how he shoudl finish all guys that level...that was complete ownage he should of done the same against baldo....floyd does a diservice to his fans by making an easy fight go too long.

Baldomir has a chin of granite. Gatti doesn't. They're two distinctly different fighters.

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

if your a true boxing fan you would be happy for guys like pacquiao because boxing is dying slowly...and real slowly we are lacking the fighters of old who fought fights....like ray leonard, duran, hearns, hagler, ali, etc....

No, if you were a true boxing fan you would appreciate the skills the Mayweather employs in the ring. He brings the same "excitement" as Pernell Whitaker and Willie Pep.

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

Floyd gots the skills but without excitement in boxing whats gonna attract people to it?

Well, it only worked for... the only three PPVs Floyd has ever headlined. And certainly for the De La Hoya fight.

Originally Posted by dun dun dun dun

Baldomir has a chin of granite. Gatti doesn't. They're two distinctly different fighters.

No, if you were a true boxing fan you would appreciate the skills the Mayweather employs in the ring. He brings the same "excitement" as Pernell Whitaker and Willie Pep.

Well, it only worked for... the only three PPVs Floyd has ever headlined. And certainly for the De La Hoya fight.

Why did so many people boo and walk out of the Arena?

and how come floyd cannot sell out an arena?

he builds his fights off hype...and 300,000 for foriegners who get no publicity in the mainstream like morales and pacquiao is FAR MORE IMPRESSSIVE! compared to floyd who goes on tv and radio promoting his fights...but only gets 325,000 ppv...

and he is an american who has mainstream exposure.

hardcore boxing fans know who pacquioa and morales is and they showed there support...imagine if pacman fought on nbc or abc? more exposure.

people want to watch a fight not a peck and move session.

thats why sugar ray robinson is the greatest....dude had it all.

[the Prince]

arum is a snake

[dun dun dun dun]

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

Why did so many people boo and walk out of the Arena?

and how come floyd cannot sell out an arena?

he builds his fights off hype...and 300,000 for foriegners who get no publicity in the mainstream like morales and pacquiao is FAR MORE IMPRESSSIVE! compared to floyd who goes on tv and radio promoting his fights...but only gets 325,000 ppv...

and he is an american who has mainstream exposure.

hardcore boxing fans know who pacquioa and morales is and they showed there support...imagine if pacman fought on nbc or abc? more exposure.

people want to watch a fight not a peck and move session.

thats why sugar ray robinson is the greatest....dude had it all.

So many people? That's an extremely gross exaggeration. Were you there? Whose account are you taking this from? Maybe that would add some clarity to this matter. Floyd can't sell out an arena for the same reason why the Taylor/Winky fight had so many empty seats; the heavy charge on prices.

And again, you're still under the ignorant view that people pay their money to see solely excitement. Again, if that was the case, go watch something else. Boxing isn't for you.

[~OMagic~]

Vish you do realize that whem Pacquiao and Morales fought the majority of the crowd were peopl of there race.

So I can only assume that a majority of the PPV buys were from people of their race as well.


So to say "300,000 for those guys that arent American" is not a valid arguement.

Originally Posted by ~OMagic~

Vish you do realize that whem Pacquiao and Morales fought the majority of the crowd were peopl of there race.

So I can only assume that a majority of the PPV buys were from people of their race as well.


So to say "300,000 for those guys that arent American" is not a valid arguement.

it is because floyd is an american who even has exposure on bet, radio shows, talk shows, news shows but he still only manged 300,000? come on man...and alot of the ppv buys for pacquiao morales was white and black boxing fans....lol its funny cause most of the black guys at my work like pacquiao more then mayweather.

in the arena yes it was mostly mexican and filipinos.

and to dun dun dun to tell me to watch something else man grow up dog...why are you guys so ignorant to the fact that floyd aint exciting to the mass public?

[dun dun dun dun]

Originally Posted by VishTaphney

and to dun dun dun to tell me to watch something else man grow up dog...why are you guys so ignorant to the fact that floyd aint exciting to the mass public?

Again, I'll ask you this for the 5,000th time. Why are you stressing excitement so much? The bottom line, regardless of exposure, is that Floyd Mayweather is a stronger attraction in the United States than Pacquiao and Morales.

I'll give Pacquiao his props, but maybe I find myself rooting against him all the time because nut-huggers such as yourself always build the man up to be some incredible super fighter. 95% of the threads you create involve something like:

"RANDOM GUY IN STREET SAYS MAYWEATHER IS BELOW PAC P4P"

"FLOYD MAYWEATHER: OVERRATED OR JUST SCARED?"

"PACMAN GOES TO THE RESTROOM: MORE TO FOLLOW"

I mean, come on. Every thread has something to do Floyd negatively and Pacquiao positively. I have never seen a bigger combination of a Floyd hater/Pacman nut-hugger.

[~OMagic~]

Vish you sound realy ridiculous...


Listen to this.

If the vast majority of the crowd was Mexicans and Philipinos... what makes you think that the demographics of the PPV buyers are gonna do a complete 360 and be mostly black and white people?!?!

Lol that shit is just pure stupidity.


Thats like saying.... hmm, 90% of the people eating at Cinco De Mayo mexican restaurant are Mexican... so most likely everyone calling to order for dilivery must be black and white


come on man

[~OMagic~]

And dun dun dun dun is correct, 90% of ur boxing threads have something to do with Floyd being portrayed Negatively.

what the fuck your the only nuthuggers here!

and dun dun dun so thats why you root against pacman because he has fans who like his style?

I dont give a shit about other fighters fans grow up dog...thats lame excuse to not like a fighter.

I dont care about floyds fans if i liked his style id praise him.

I dont like watching him because he pisses me off...he just pot shots all day its boring....I yell at the damn tv saying come on finish him throw some combos stop dancing come on floyd! dude pisses me off.

the only time i enjoyed him was when he fought gatti that was awesome ownage but gatti was dumb why did he try to box the boxer was beyond me.

and for the last time even if floyd is an attracting he aint much of an attraction! especially for being american...if floyds style was exciting and he was dropping dudes and fighting a fight like pacquiao or morales he would be making at least 500 thousand ppv buys.

if anyone is hating its you guys...magic going against pacman, and then saying oh i have a feeling morales gonna win? and then saying morales was washed up? come on dog your lame.

at least i knew floyd would work baldomir....the only time i went against floyd was on the zab judah fight....zab is inconsistent and has A.D.D or something.

I thought he would show up that night but he didnt.

[~OMagic~]

I not for one second was wanting Morales to win, go search the thread I made minutes before the fight.


I clearly said "Call me crazy but I think Morales will win tonight"


you see the whole CALL ME CRAZY part??

I was just betting against the field because everyone counted Erik out.


I have made ZERO threads negative towards Manny.

You have made countless negative threads towards Floyd

Originally Posted by ~OMagic~

I not for one second was wanting Morales to win, go search the thread I made minutes before the fight.


I clearly said "Call me crazy but I think Morales will win tonight"


you see the whole CALL ME CRAZY part??

I was just betting against the field because everyone counted Erik out.


I have made ZERO threads negative towards Manny.

You have made countless negative threads towards Floyd

well so you just went with erik cause they counted him out?

thats like me saying oh shit baldomir will win! be realistic.

now if it was a guy like valero vs pacquiao or joan guzman vs pacquiao that would be reasonable for you to go against pacquiao.

but you kept saying morales was washed up the gatti of the division thats why i really dont know why you would say oh im thinkin erik would win?