Of the many topics that current pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr likes to brag about, from his houses, trips, cars, planes, jewelry, money and women, Mayweather Jr did good on holding off the announcement of his next fight until he was good and ready. Earlier today Floyd Mayweather Jr announced to the world that the much expected fight between himself and one Manny Pacquiao is signed for Saturday, May 2nd, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In true Mayweather Jr fashion he is taking complete credit in making the fight that everybody wants to see.
The details of how the boxing world got to this event has been discussed, written about and commented until everybody was about to lose their lunch but now with the fight at least signed, we will begin to get all the juicy details of what was agreed to or not. The fight will be held in the welterweight limit of 147-pound for the WBC, WBO and WBA titles. The winner will be very near to being the undisputed champion in the division and would only need to go after IBF champion Kell Brook.
Winner just might to put yet another feather in his cap but that is moving ahead of ourselves.
Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank will be in charge of the event with Mayweather Promotions the lead promoter. According to an image leaked of the first page of the terms, Mayweather Promotions is the sole negotiator with the MGM Grand Arena and Mayweather Jr has the last word in any decisions a as long as Top Rank agrees for the most part.
No word yet on the price of the tickets or when they will go on sale but expect it will be soon. Rumor is that the least expensive one will be close to the five hundred mark and ringside will probably be around two-thousand dollars. Also expect for the Pay-Per-View price will be close to $100. The fight will be broadcast by both HBO who have a contract with Manny Pacquiao and Showtime who have Mayweather Jr.
Will this fight save boxing as many have claimed?
No, it won’t. Yes it will capture the imagination of even the most casual of fans. It is expected to have the same atmosphere as the super bowl. In fact, this fight might hurt the sport more than it can help. It will raise prices and if there is a controversial ending to the fight, it can only put yet another black eye on the sport which has had more than its share.
One thing the fight also does is shake up the sport. One that might have to make other plans is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. In the hope of taking back the traditional Mexican dates of May and September back, Alvarez, Golden Boy Promotions and De La Hoya said they would fight on that date against Cotto or Kirkland unless this fight was made.
Well it got made.
Now Alvarez must change his date to a week later to May 9th. Is Golden Boy Promotions going to bank on the fact that boxing fans will pay for two PPVs in a row? To spend $175 on boxing in eight days? They better hope so.
