Mayweather: Top Rank “difficult”
When speaking with DJ Whoo Kid on Shade 45 recently Mayweather placed the blame on Bob Arum and his Top Rank Promotions for the fact no contract has been produced after all the negotiations that have gone on the past few weeks. “We’re trying, but it’s been extremely difficult dealing with Top Rank,” Mayweather said.
He also told DJ Whoo Kid that he wasn’t pointing fingers at Pacquiao, but did make it clear that he knows they are pointing fingers at him and doing what he considers playing games by suggesting he’s afraid to take his unbeaten record into a ring with Pacquiao. It was then that things got interesting, then that he revealed what may be the hold-up, and perhaps inadvertently revealed that he might indeed be the culprit.
“Hopefully we can make this fight happen but once again, we have to look at his pay-per-view numbers,” Mayweather said. “His last fight didn’t even do 300,000 homes. So let’s make this make sense. I mean, he did get knocked out not too long ago.
“No matter what you say, Floyd Mayweather is still winning,” he added. “When they take shots at Floyd Mayweather, he’s still winning. He’s still making hundreds of millions.”
Fight hold-up could be money
Those words seem to dispel the notion a money-split has been agreed to. Multiple sources going back more than a week suggested the money split has been settled as a 60-40 split in favour of Mayweather. But talking about pay-per-view numbers in the context of not being able to agree on a contract is the same as talking about money being the hold-up.
Given Mayweather is criticizing Pacquiao’s most recent numbers it suggests he wants more of the split than the Pac-Man is willing to give. But there are reasons to support mores a equitable split.
First, some put the PPV numbers for Pacquiao’s last fight at 400,000. And let’s not forget that the fight, against Chris Algieri, who boxing writer Anthony Riccobono correctly calls “a relative unknown” was in China, in a different time-zone.
It goes in the U.S. and the numbers go up considerably.
Mayweather may have forgotten that since his record 2.2 million PPV buys for his Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez fight, his own numbers have dropped dramatically. He’s had two fights since, both wins over Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand (where his last 10 fights have been) and neither made it to one million pay-per-view buys.
It is hard to believe Mayweather is afraid of Pacquiao, you might get to 15-0 in the fight game by ducking the best, but not to 47-0. That is not holding back Floyd Mayweather, it’s the money split and his need to be in charge, to be the man. Yes, he can generate more pay-per-views than Pacquiao, but Pacquiao brings a lot of buys with him, no question.
Many pundits believe a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout could hammer the old record and go over 3 million buys. Floyd Mayweather can’t get those kind of numbers by stepping into the ring and shadow boxing, or boxing with any fighter on this planet other than Manny Pacquiao. You can bet Bob Arum knows that.
It always about the money but someone has to back down or they’ll be no pay-per-view numbers – and no superfight.
