"The saddest thing in life is wasted talent," a memorable line from the 1993 film, "A Bronx's Tale" was delivered by Robert DeNiro, playing the role of the father of a rambunctious youth, as he advises his son that one mistake can be a turning point. This past Tuesday, the decision in a New Mexico court room could be a turning point for Jon Jones, as he avoided potential jail time in exchange for a plea bargain and if he adheres to the terms of the deal, will also avoid a felony on his record. Obviously, Jones has the money to get himself a top notch legal team, which was probably the key to him staying out of jail and presumably getting back toward reestablishing his career.
However, the hit and run incident this past April was only the most serious, not the most recent in a string of controversies that have surrounded the young prodigy since he captured the UFC Light Heavyweight title in 2011. The traffic case that landed the former 205 LBS champion in court alleges that Jones ran a red light and hit another car, which injured a pregnant motorist. She suffered a broken wrist, but thankfully, the pregnancy was unharmed. Jones fled the scene before returning to his car to grab cash and then fled again, which an off duty police officer witnessed, allowing him to identify Jones as the suspect. Documentation identifying Jones and drug paraphernalia were found in the car, which prompted a warrant to be issued for him. Eventually, Jones turned himself into police and was subsequently stripped of the UFC Light Heavyweight title as well as dropped from sponsorship deals.
As I said, the car accident was only the most serious, not the most recent incident for the talented fighter. Less than a month after successfully defending the title against Rashad Evans in 2012, Jones crashed into a pole and was arrested for DUI. Just a few months later, an injury forced Dan Henderson to withdraw from a scheduled title fight and Chael Sonnen was chosen as a last minute replacement, but Jones declined the fight, which prompted the event to be cancelled. It's certainly ironic that Jones declined the fight when it was former champion, Shogun Rua accepting to fight Jones as a late minute replacement that gave him the title shot that led to him winning the championship. "Bones" Jones continued to defend the belt and it seems as though he developed a brash attitude as his accomplishments accumulated. In 2014, he made headlines again when screen shots of an Instagram post surfaced that showed Jones using offensive slurs towards fans, but he claimed his account was hacked. Later that year, during the promotional tour for UFC 178, Jones was involved in a brawl with challenger Daniel Cormier and it resulted in a fine from the Nevada State Athletic commission. Following a successful title defense against Corimer earlier this year, it was announced that Jones tested positive for cocaine during an out of competition test. Since he only failed the out of competition test, there was nothing to prevent him from fighting at UFC 182 and it makes the entire out of competition test seem pointless, but the UFC fined him $25,000 for violating the fighter conduct policy. After the failed test, Jones went to rehab and left the next day so it seems doubtful he got any real help there.
Obviously, there's a pattern here and it seems clear that Jon Jones is a classic case of fame inflating his ego. The once humble prospect has been replaced by an arrogant narcissist that assumes the rules don't apply to him. Jon Jones, the fighter that chased down a purse thief just hours before fighting for the Light Heavyweight title in 2011, fled the scene of an accident that injured someone in 2015. However, before the laundry list of legal problems and the series of events that soured many fans on him, "Bones" was considered by many to be potentially the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world and the heir to the throne as the UFC's next top star, previously held by former Middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. Ultimately, that's the most disappointing aspect of the whole situation, Jon Jones is without question one of the most talented fighters in the history of the sport and instead of proving his dominance as a fighter and setting records, he's spending some of the prime of his career in a court room because of his own dumb decisions. At 21-1, his only loss a DQ on a technicality from elbow strikes, Jones has the ability to build a legacy, but at this point, it could be argued that his mishaps outside of the cage have somewhat overshadowed his accomplishments in the sport. Hopefully, Jon Jones takes the court decision as an opportunity and he puts his athletic ability toward his career as a martial artist because he certainly has the skills to become a legend in the sport. It would be extremely disappointing if Jones doesn't realize the opportunity he has in mixed martial arts because the saddest thing in life really is wasted talent.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
The Return of Fedor Emelianenko
In 2007, a Yakuza scandal led to the demise of Pride Fighting Championship and thus the end of a decade of influential mixed martial arts events. There were rumblings of organized crime involvement as early as 2003 when the original president of the organization, Naoto Morishita committed suicide, rumored to motivated by his debts. Pride co-founder, Nobuyuki Sakakibara became the president of Dream Stage Entertainment, the promotional company for Pride FC and the organization flourished, setting an attendance record for the "Final Conflict" event later that year. Names such as Fedor, Crocop, Nogueira, and others were involved in epic battles that made them legends in the sport. Just a few years later, Japanese media reports of the Yakuza involvement prompted Pride's television deal to get dropped and the domino effect began towards the collapse of the company. Sakakibara saw the writing on the wall and a deal was in place to sell the organization to owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While it was initially planned to keep Pride open as its own entity, the Zuffa corporation's attempt to expand into Japan on a full time basis was met with political red tape and the Pride FC organization officially folded in October 2007.
Last weekend during the Bellator Dynamite event that featured a co-promoted show with Glory Kick Boxing, similar to the Pride/K1 events, there were certainly reminders of Pride FC throughout the night. The popular Lenne Hardt brought her unique ring announcing style to the show and the legendary Sakuraba was shown in attendance. Amid speculation of some type of announcement about an event in Japan, it just seemed too coincidental and that proved to be the case. Prior to the main event, Sakakibara made an appearance to announce a working agreement with Bellator for a new promotion that he was launching in Japan and the inaugural event would be broadcast live on Spike TV on new year's eve. It was then revealed that the legendary Fedor Emelianenko has signed to fight in the main event of the historic show and there was a buzz among MMA fans about The Last Emperor's return to the sport. A live American broadcast of the Japanese tradition of the new year's eve show is great for the sport of MMA, but several questions still remain about the entire situation.
First, will Sakakibara be able to recreate Pride? The Pride Fighting Championship brand established itself as unique because of the different rules, production, and match ups than the UFC. Arguably, there was a time when Pride was the better organization, in terms of quality fights, but can that type of organization be promoted again in Japan? On the surface, the answer is no because Zuffa acquired the rights to the Pride name and video library when it purchased the company for a reported $60 million eight years ago, but will the draw of a Pride inspired organization get off the ground? In my opinion and this is more of a guess than anything, I would have to say that while the initial event could make a splash, I don't think there will be another resurgence of Pride FC in Japan. The main reason being it would be difficult to recapture the Pride environment because many of the stars that built the promotion are past their prime or retired. Another aspect to consider is, will the Japan public support Sakakibara's company after the Yakuza scandal? While his involvement wasn't ever completely clarified, the stain of the scandal could still be upon him and the downfall of Japan's top mixed martial arts company happened on his watch. Granted, time has passed, but it will be interesting to see the perception of his new venture, specifically on a long term basis. Keep in mind, the Dream promotion was supposed to revive the Pride style, but folded within a few years so success isn't guaranteed for Sakakibara in 2015. Regardless, it should be very interesting to see who is signed to fight for the event and at the very least, it provides a unique broadcast on Spike TV for MMA fans.
Regarded by many as the greatest MMA fighter of all time, Fedor Emelianenko originally announced his intention to return to MMA a few months ago and since then, there was much speculation about where he would sign. Truthfully, I assumed he would fight in Russia for a promotion that most people hadn't heard of against an opponent that less people had heard of so I was surprised when he appeared during the Bellator event. Many MMA fans are assuming the announcement to fight in Japan closes the door on Fedor fighting for the UFC, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. While it hasn't been confirmed, it's rumored that Fedor only signed a 1-2 fight deal with Sakakibara's promotion and if that's the case, a potential UFC deal could still be a possibility. In fact, the Japanese deal could be a way for Fedor to test the waters or be considered a tune up fight to determine if he could still be competitive with the level of UFC competition. That being said, I've always found it to be a conflict that Fedor's manager is also the president of M-1 Global and that if a UFC deal was put in place, Vadim Finkelchtein would essentially sign his top star to the competition. I'm just guessing here, but Fedor doesn't seem to be too concerned with compensation at this point in his career and his humble background probably allows him to security from the money he made during the prime of his career so I think Finkelchtein was more of an obstacle than anything in the Fedor/UFC negotiations from years previously. However, Finkelchtein is no longer Fedor's manager so it at least seems possible that some type of UFC deal could be done before he retires. Regardless of what happens in the future, it's great to see Fedor return to the sport and it will be interesting to see if the return leads to another run in his career.
Last weekend during the Bellator Dynamite event that featured a co-promoted show with Glory Kick Boxing, similar to the Pride/K1 events, there were certainly reminders of Pride FC throughout the night. The popular Lenne Hardt brought her unique ring announcing style to the show and the legendary Sakuraba was shown in attendance. Amid speculation of some type of announcement about an event in Japan, it just seemed too coincidental and that proved to be the case. Prior to the main event, Sakakibara made an appearance to announce a working agreement with Bellator for a new promotion that he was launching in Japan and the inaugural event would be broadcast live on Spike TV on new year's eve. It was then revealed that the legendary Fedor Emelianenko has signed to fight in the main event of the historic show and there was a buzz among MMA fans about The Last Emperor's return to the sport. A live American broadcast of the Japanese tradition of the new year's eve show is great for the sport of MMA, but several questions still remain about the entire situation.
First, will Sakakibara be able to recreate Pride? The Pride Fighting Championship brand established itself as unique because of the different rules, production, and match ups than the UFC. Arguably, there was a time when Pride was the better organization, in terms of quality fights, but can that type of organization be promoted again in Japan? On the surface, the answer is no because Zuffa acquired the rights to the Pride name and video library when it purchased the company for a reported $60 million eight years ago, but will the draw of a Pride inspired organization get off the ground? In my opinion and this is more of a guess than anything, I would have to say that while the initial event could make a splash, I don't think there will be another resurgence of Pride FC in Japan. The main reason being it would be difficult to recapture the Pride environment because many of the stars that built the promotion are past their prime or retired. Another aspect to consider is, will the Japan public support Sakakibara's company after the Yakuza scandal? While his involvement wasn't ever completely clarified, the stain of the scandal could still be upon him and the downfall of Japan's top mixed martial arts company happened on his watch. Granted, time has passed, but it will be interesting to see the perception of his new venture, specifically on a long term basis. Keep in mind, the Dream promotion was supposed to revive the Pride style, but folded within a few years so success isn't guaranteed for Sakakibara in 2015. Regardless, it should be very interesting to see who is signed to fight for the event and at the very least, it provides a unique broadcast on Spike TV for MMA fans.
Regarded by many as the greatest MMA fighter of all time, Fedor Emelianenko originally announced his intention to return to MMA a few months ago and since then, there was much speculation about where he would sign. Truthfully, I assumed he would fight in Russia for a promotion that most people hadn't heard of against an opponent that less people had heard of so I was surprised when he appeared during the Bellator event. Many MMA fans are assuming the announcement to fight in Japan closes the door on Fedor fighting for the UFC, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. While it hasn't been confirmed, it's rumored that Fedor only signed a 1-2 fight deal with Sakakibara's promotion and if that's the case, a potential UFC deal could still be a possibility. In fact, the Japanese deal could be a way for Fedor to test the waters or be considered a tune up fight to determine if he could still be competitive with the level of UFC competition. That being said, I've always found it to be a conflict that Fedor's manager is also the president of M-1 Global and that if a UFC deal was put in place, Vadim Finkelchtein would essentially sign his top star to the competition. I'm just guessing here, but Fedor doesn't seem to be too concerned with compensation at this point in his career and his humble background probably allows him to security from the money he made during the prime of his career so I think Finkelchtein was more of an obstacle than anything in the Fedor/UFC negotiations from years previously. However, Finkelchtein is no longer Fedor's manager so it at least seems possible that some type of UFC deal could be done before he retires. Regardless of what happens in the future, it's great to see Fedor return to the sport and it will be interesting to see if the return leads to another run in his career.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Will Sting win the WWE title?
This Sunday at the Night of Champions pay-per-view, Seth Rollins will defend the WWE championship against Sting and it creates a very intriguing scenario, which will help boost subscriptions for the network, as another free month is offered to get as many fans to sign up as possible. The obvious question is, will Sting win the title to make history? The concern, especially for long time fans is, will this be another shot at WCW and Sting goes 0-2 in his WWE run, suggesting that WCW's franchise just isn't on the WWE level?
In hindsight, it's somewhat understandable that the WWE brass and performers weren't exactly thrilled or enthusiastic about bringing several WCW stars, many of whom were a part of the effort to put them out of business, onto the WWE scene in 2001. Even though many of WCW's top stars had guaranteed contracts from the Turner company and were going to stay home to collect them, it's almost unanimously thought that the WWE could have done more with the Invasion angle. Essentially, WCW was beaten into powder and made to look completely inferior, and if a former WCW star had any major success, it was after they were given a WWE created gimmick, most notably when Booker T was repackaged as King Booker during his main event run in 2006. Regardless of the somewhat understandable resentment of WCW after the Monday night wars, the general consensus is that it was the wrong decision to minimize many performers that could've had a better run in the WWE, but weren't given a chance to establish themselves on WWE TV. Mike Awesome is a prime example of a competitor that WWE could have pushed and developed into a well rounded talent with a fresh start after WCW gave him a goofy gimmick that halted the momentum he had as a monster in ECW. Reportedly, a time slot for WCW to remain its own product under WWE ownership, but after the train wreck of Buff Bagwell vs. Booker T on Raw, the spot was used for the "WWF Excess" show, which the WWE probably still doesn't know exactly what it was supposed to be. Hypothetically, if WCW was given it's own show until the main event stars were signed, it could've provided the platform for an invasion angle that was used to push the "super bowl of wrestling" angle that many fans were hoping to see after WCW was purchased, but as mentioned, WCW was squashed within a few months.
There's also a WWE spin on most of the documentaries released, including the Monday Night War series that was aired on the WWE Network and again, it downplayed most of WCW's success. The WWE narrative is that WCW was successful because the company "raided" stars that WWE created, but if you take a more objective look at it, there's more to it than former WCW president, Eric Bischoff using Ted Turner's check book to buy WWE stars. Hulk Hogan was the initial major Turner acquisition, but after the steroid scandal of the early 1990s, did Hogan really have a place in the WWE? Hulk got a fresh run in WCW and while his political power was one of the many reasons the promotion closed, it allowed him a heel run that wouldn't have worked in the WWE in 1996. Randy Savage was similar in that he didn't really have a place in the WWE in the early 90s and Vince McMahon actually wanted Savage retire from the ring, instead working as just a commentator. While Savage wasn't exactly in the prime of his career, he had another run in the Turner organization and proved he was still a solid in ring performer. It's well documented that the wrestling business was in a slump after the steroid scandal and one of the ways that Vince rebuilt the image of the company was to showcase a new generation of stars, including Bret Hart and Shawn Micheals so did WCW really raid the WWE roster or did the events of the 90s allow Eric Bischoff to sign free agents? Even Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who were top WWE stars at the time they left for WCW, were in somewhat cartoonish angles during their original WWE run. The Outsiders were more successful than Diesel and Razor Ramon would have been if they remained on the WWE roster, specifically because the NWO gave wrestling a boost. Another example of the WWE spin is that Bischoff took the luchadors from ECW, but international talent was booked in WCW prior to ECW's existence and WCW provided more of a platform for the lucha libre style. Granted, WCW didn't use the luchadors to their full potential, but that's one of the well known reasons, the promotion couldn't compete on a long term basis. The bottom line is, WCW didn't win the ratings war for a year and half because it raided other companies. They won the ratings war because they had a better show and the competition generated one of the boom periods of the wrestling industry.
Don't get me wrong, the Turner company made many mistakes and that's why it shut down, but the ridiculous mistakes that led to the demise of WCW could be seen without the WWE spin. Ted Turner owned the organization for twelve years and it was profitable for about two years so in the big picture, WCW had success and didn't know how to build on it. Goldberg was the only major star that was a homegrown WCW talent and despite an entire roster of young talent that could've been used to build the company, the politics of the company kept the aging talent in the main event scene. Once the WCW product became stale, the audience changed the channel and the WWE took the lead. Again, anyone that watches some of the Vince Russo booking of WCW knows that the product was inferior to the competition without the WWE trying to completely bury the entire organization. It should be noted that despite the goofy booking, there was a lot of solid talent on the WCW roster before the promotion folded so it doesn't make sense to bury the entire company. The point being, the WWE was a better company from a talent, business, and production aspect, but burying WCW could indirectly limit the revenue the brand could generate for DVDs etc.
That is what creates the question about the chance that Sting wins the title at the pay-per-view and if he doesn't, what's the point of his WWE run? He did the job at Wrestlemania and if he loses again, what did he really accomplish in the WWE? I think Sting should win the title because it would be be a rare opportunity for wrestling history and it's one of the few things he hasn't done in his career. That being said, if Sting wins the title it should be a short run because of his age and he probably didn't sign to work many matches. Since his age, some might suggest that it wouldn't make sense for Sting to defeat the younger champion because Seth Rollins is at the prime of his career, but it's pro wrestling and if it's done right, it could work. Sting could win the title and Sheamus cashes in the money in the bank or it could build to a rematch with Rollins, which could get more mileage for the title run. Either way, it should be interesting to see what happens because the result of the title match will be another jab at WCW or there will be wrestling history.
In hindsight, it's somewhat understandable that the WWE brass and performers weren't exactly thrilled or enthusiastic about bringing several WCW stars, many of whom were a part of the effort to put them out of business, onto the WWE scene in 2001. Even though many of WCW's top stars had guaranteed contracts from the Turner company and were going to stay home to collect them, it's almost unanimously thought that the WWE could have done more with the Invasion angle. Essentially, WCW was beaten into powder and made to look completely inferior, and if a former WCW star had any major success, it was after they were given a WWE created gimmick, most notably when Booker T was repackaged as King Booker during his main event run in 2006. Regardless of the somewhat understandable resentment of WCW after the Monday night wars, the general consensus is that it was the wrong decision to minimize many performers that could've had a better run in the WWE, but weren't given a chance to establish themselves on WWE TV. Mike Awesome is a prime example of a competitor that WWE could have pushed and developed into a well rounded talent with a fresh start after WCW gave him a goofy gimmick that halted the momentum he had as a monster in ECW. Reportedly, a time slot for WCW to remain its own product under WWE ownership, but after the train wreck of Buff Bagwell vs. Booker T on Raw, the spot was used for the "WWF Excess" show, which the WWE probably still doesn't know exactly what it was supposed to be. Hypothetically, if WCW was given it's own show until the main event stars were signed, it could've provided the platform for an invasion angle that was used to push the "super bowl of wrestling" angle that many fans were hoping to see after WCW was purchased, but as mentioned, WCW was squashed within a few months.
There's also a WWE spin on most of the documentaries released, including the Monday Night War series that was aired on the WWE Network and again, it downplayed most of WCW's success. The WWE narrative is that WCW was successful because the company "raided" stars that WWE created, but if you take a more objective look at it, there's more to it than former WCW president, Eric Bischoff using Ted Turner's check book to buy WWE stars. Hulk Hogan was the initial major Turner acquisition, but after the steroid scandal of the early 1990s, did Hogan really have a place in the WWE? Hulk got a fresh run in WCW and while his political power was one of the many reasons the promotion closed, it allowed him a heel run that wouldn't have worked in the WWE in 1996. Randy Savage was similar in that he didn't really have a place in the WWE in the early 90s and Vince McMahon actually wanted Savage retire from the ring, instead working as just a commentator. While Savage wasn't exactly in the prime of his career, he had another run in the Turner organization and proved he was still a solid in ring performer. It's well documented that the wrestling business was in a slump after the steroid scandal and one of the ways that Vince rebuilt the image of the company was to showcase a new generation of stars, including Bret Hart and Shawn Micheals so did WCW really raid the WWE roster or did the events of the 90s allow Eric Bischoff to sign free agents? Even Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who were top WWE stars at the time they left for WCW, were in somewhat cartoonish angles during their original WWE run. The Outsiders were more successful than Diesel and Razor Ramon would have been if they remained on the WWE roster, specifically because the NWO gave wrestling a boost. Another example of the WWE spin is that Bischoff took the luchadors from ECW, but international talent was booked in WCW prior to ECW's existence and WCW provided more of a platform for the lucha libre style. Granted, WCW didn't use the luchadors to their full potential, but that's one of the well known reasons, the promotion couldn't compete on a long term basis. The bottom line is, WCW didn't win the ratings war for a year and half because it raided other companies. They won the ratings war because they had a better show and the competition generated one of the boom periods of the wrestling industry.
Don't get me wrong, the Turner company made many mistakes and that's why it shut down, but the ridiculous mistakes that led to the demise of WCW could be seen without the WWE spin. Ted Turner owned the organization for twelve years and it was profitable for about two years so in the big picture, WCW had success and didn't know how to build on it. Goldberg was the only major star that was a homegrown WCW talent and despite an entire roster of young talent that could've been used to build the company, the politics of the company kept the aging talent in the main event scene. Once the WCW product became stale, the audience changed the channel and the WWE took the lead. Again, anyone that watches some of the Vince Russo booking of WCW knows that the product was inferior to the competition without the WWE trying to completely bury the entire organization. It should be noted that despite the goofy booking, there was a lot of solid talent on the WCW roster before the promotion folded so it doesn't make sense to bury the entire company. The point being, the WWE was a better company from a talent, business, and production aspect, but burying WCW could indirectly limit the revenue the brand could generate for DVDs etc.
That is what creates the question about the chance that Sting wins the title at the pay-per-view and if he doesn't, what's the point of his WWE run? He did the job at Wrestlemania and if he loses again, what did he really accomplish in the WWE? I think Sting should win the title because it would be be a rare opportunity for wrestling history and it's one of the few things he hasn't done in his career. That being said, if Sting wins the title it should be a short run because of his age and he probably didn't sign to work many matches. Since his age, some might suggest that it wouldn't make sense for Sting to defeat the younger champion because Seth Rollins is at the prime of his career, but it's pro wrestling and if it's done right, it could work. Sting could win the title and Sheamus cashes in the money in the bank or it could build to a rematch with Rollins, which could get more mileage for the title run. Either way, it should be interesting to see what happens because the result of the title match will be another jab at WCW or there will be wrestling history.
Friday, September 11, 2015
Floyd Mayweather vs. Andre Berto
This Saturday's Floyd Mayweather vs. Andre Berto event takes place at
the MGM in Las Vegas, NV and despite "Money" Mayweather's claims that
it's the last fight of his nearly two decade career, there's much
speculation it could be a flop at the box office. Mayweather, an
undefeated 48-0 during his stellar career, is regarded as the best
pound-for pound fighter in boxing today, but lackluster ticket sells
seem to suggest that most fans don't seem thrilled to spend their hard
earned dollars to see the conclusion of Floyd's career, and they
shouldn't.
After the colossal flop that Pacquiao-Mayweather earlier this year, you can't blame fans for the lack of enthusiasm to see another Floyd contest live and it should be interesting to see how the pay-per-view numbers are for the Berto fight with a $65 price tag. The controversy that followed the mega fight just four months ago, including the report that Manny knowingly fought with a torn rotator cuff, probably hasn't helped sell another Mayweather contest to the public either. As I said after the fight, anyone that was surprised that Floyd didn't try to push the pace against Manny clearly hasn't seen him fight before or are completely clueless about boxing. Floyd beat Manny using the traditional Mayweather style and the intrigue for the bout was to see if Pacquiao could pressure Floyd, and do damage in the process. Manny did neither and it allowed Mayweather to coast to a rather easy victory. The collateral damage of the less than great bout was seen almost immediately when a group of fans filed a lawsuit, claiming they had been mislead because Manny didn't disclose the injury, which he would be required to do with the Nevada state athletic commission. At this point, the lawsuit has yet to be resolved, but the damage from the Mayweather-Manny flop could be a factor in the lack of sales for the Berto fight.
Mayweather has stated in interviews in the past that he's particular when selecting opponents and that led to many fans to claim he ducks the best possible competition to ensure his record remains unblemished, which seems to be the case considering that Andre Berto isn't being given a chance by many betting lines. Granted, Berto is a solid pro, but this match up follows the pattern of Mayweather opponents such as Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz, and others that were no real threat to him. Essentially, the general public isn't going to pay to watch another glorified exhibition fight, which is why Mayweather's PPV numbers dropped prior to the Pacquiao fight. The bottom line is, fans thought they were exploited when they paid $100 to watch Floyd play it safe against Pacquiao and most won't risk spending the cash to see another Floyd sparring session.
But, what about the conclusion to one of the most decorated careers in boxing? Why hasn't that been enough to hype the audience into investing into this welterweight contest? The answer is simply, Floyd made a career of being the villain and he hasn't endeared himself to fans so there's not really the demand for a glorious farewell. In fact, it could be argued that much of Floyd's drawing power during the prime of his career was more that fans wanted to see him lose than anything, but it probably didn't make a difference to him because it was still money in his pocket. Reportedly, Show Time actually lost money on a few of the Mayweather fights, as the revenue generated didn't cover his guarantee for the bout so again there's few that would spend the cash to salute Floyd during his exit from the sport. Some fans might go as far as to say the sport as a whole might be better without Mayweather because the five domestic violence charges on his record bring negative publicity to the sport.
For his part, Andre Berto has a win-win situation, as nobody thinks he's going to win so either he loses and gets paid a lot of cash or he wins and sets himself up to make more money in his next fight. All the Floyd shenanigans aside, boxing has done a lot to rebuild itself over the past few years, specifically since mixed marital arts started gaining popularity and the sport of boxing has some tremendous fighters. Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev, Ruslan Provodnikov and others had some great performances in recent years. Odds are, Floyd Mayweather will get an easy win on Saturday and if it's actually his last fight, it will be the conclusion of a spectacular career, but not exactly a spectacular person. Instead of a respectful send off from the audience, the lack of buzz for Floyd Mayweather's exit from the sport will prove that he can buy many things, but not integrity.
After the colossal flop that Pacquiao-Mayweather earlier this year, you can't blame fans for the lack of enthusiasm to see another Floyd contest live and it should be interesting to see how the pay-per-view numbers are for the Berto fight with a $65 price tag. The controversy that followed the mega fight just four months ago, including the report that Manny knowingly fought with a torn rotator cuff, probably hasn't helped sell another Mayweather contest to the public either. As I said after the fight, anyone that was surprised that Floyd didn't try to push the pace against Manny clearly hasn't seen him fight before or are completely clueless about boxing. Floyd beat Manny using the traditional Mayweather style and the intrigue for the bout was to see if Pacquiao could pressure Floyd, and do damage in the process. Manny did neither and it allowed Mayweather to coast to a rather easy victory. The collateral damage of the less than great bout was seen almost immediately when a group of fans filed a lawsuit, claiming they had been mislead because Manny didn't disclose the injury, which he would be required to do with the Nevada state athletic commission. At this point, the lawsuit has yet to be resolved, but the damage from the Mayweather-Manny flop could be a factor in the lack of sales for the Berto fight.
Mayweather has stated in interviews in the past that he's particular when selecting opponents and that led to many fans to claim he ducks the best possible competition to ensure his record remains unblemished, which seems to be the case considering that Andre Berto isn't being given a chance by many betting lines. Granted, Berto is a solid pro, but this match up follows the pattern of Mayweather opponents such as Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz, and others that were no real threat to him. Essentially, the general public isn't going to pay to watch another glorified exhibition fight, which is why Mayweather's PPV numbers dropped prior to the Pacquiao fight. The bottom line is, fans thought they were exploited when they paid $100 to watch Floyd play it safe against Pacquiao and most won't risk spending the cash to see another Floyd sparring session.
But, what about the conclusion to one of the most decorated careers in boxing? Why hasn't that been enough to hype the audience into investing into this welterweight contest? The answer is simply, Floyd made a career of being the villain and he hasn't endeared himself to fans so there's not really the demand for a glorious farewell. In fact, it could be argued that much of Floyd's drawing power during the prime of his career was more that fans wanted to see him lose than anything, but it probably didn't make a difference to him because it was still money in his pocket. Reportedly, Show Time actually lost money on a few of the Mayweather fights, as the revenue generated didn't cover his guarantee for the bout so again there's few that would spend the cash to salute Floyd during his exit from the sport. Some fans might go as far as to say the sport as a whole might be better without Mayweather because the five domestic violence charges on his record bring negative publicity to the sport.
For his part, Andre Berto has a win-win situation, as nobody thinks he's going to win so either he loses and gets paid a lot of cash or he wins and sets himself up to make more money in his next fight. All the Floyd shenanigans aside, boxing has done a lot to rebuild itself over the past few years, specifically since mixed marital arts started gaining popularity and the sport of boxing has some tremendous fighters. Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev, Ruslan Provodnikov and others had some great performances in recent years. Odds are, Floyd Mayweather will get an easy win on Saturday and if it's actually his last fight, it will be the conclusion of a spectacular career, but not exactly a spectacular person. Instead of a respectful send off from the audience, the lack of buzz for Floyd Mayweather's exit from the sport will prove that he can buy many things, but not integrity.
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