In the promotions business, print and broadcast media and even the Internet play a vital role in getting the message across to the target market.
Publicity, no matter how bad, is still publicity and it creates public awareness that is needed to sell the event to the specific segment of the market.
In the entertainment sector, celebrities create unpopular scenarios that keep fans aware of their upcoming films and once these celebrities get the fans attention, they start enlisting the best publicists in town to reverse the bad publicity created earlier.
This same scenario applies to boxing as Arum must have known, having been in the boxing promotions business for so long.
Mayweather, who is known for his expertise in promoting his own fights, knows that not everything he tells the fans is true. He does what he thinks is best to create public awareness for his upcoming fight including insulting and racial attacks on his opponent.
In boxing, hyping creates awareness for boxing fans who are the potential ticket buyers for the specific boxing event. It is a promotional tool that is necessary to assure the promoters of viable financial returns.
This has been practised for a long time dating, back to the days of Muhammad Ali when he would verbally attack his opponent as part of his strategy to hook the fans to his fights.
Fight fans do not understand why Mayweather’s camp continue to put the blame on Arum for issuing statements on the hurdles that have been achieved in the long-running fight negotiations.
Knowledgeable fans know that Arum is doing it to “keep the fire burning” or keep the fans on their toes in preparation for a massive selling binge that will follow right after Mayweather and Pacquiao sign the fight contract.
Revenue generating is the hardest part of a promoter’s job because it is the lifeblood of the event. Fighters won’t get paid if the event fails to make money. Likewise promoters won’t get back their investment if no one shows up to watch the fight.
It isn’t true that Arum is standing in the way of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, at least at this stage of negotiations when he had already given Mayweather the needed direct access to Pacquiao.
What Arum is doing at this time is just to keep the momentum that was created during the Maywether-Pacquiao first encounter at the NBA game between Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks a week ago.
Fight fans believe that everything has been set for the super fight to happen and the official announcement is forthcoming.
