By Norm Frauenheim
LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather Jr. was an hour late Saturday for his own news conference. But a crowd stuck around, waiting for him to arrive anyway. It just goes to show that Mayweather can draw a crowd even if he’s fighting nobody.
Marcos Maidana is next on Mayweather’s rich Showtime card, May 3 in a pay-per-view bout at the MGM Grand. Maidana didn’t make it to the first formal news conference since he was picked to fight Mayweather instead of Amir Khan. Maidana stayed at home in Argentina to be with his pregnant wife.
“He did the right thing,’’ said Mayweather, who apologized for being late and blamed it on a late night at the
tables in the MGM Grand’s casino. “He’s supposed to stand by his wife.’’
Maidana’s understandable absence didn’t matter much anyway. It’s the Mayweather brand that accounts for the biggest numbers in boxing these days. The HBO audience for his victory over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007 is still the pay-per-record. His victory on Showtime over Canelo Alvarez in September set the revenue record.
“They used it to call it pay-per-view,’’ Mayweather said in a video promo for a fight dubbed The Moment. “Now, it’s May-per-view.’’
Some early odds indicate that Maidana will go the way of Robert Guerrero and Canelo, who was getting ready to fight Alfredo Angulo while Mayweather was holding court. Some off-shore odds-makers have favored the unbeaten Mayweather by as much as 10-1. That’s the kind of chance a nobody gets. Yet, Maidana’s heavy-handed power and his December upset of Adrien Broner, a Mayweather wannabe and friend, moved him to the head of the line, or least ahead of Khan.
“Marcos Maidana is young, strong, a great competitor and one I can’t overlook, because anything can happen,’’ Mayweather said, his promotional mouthpiece firmly in place.
By now, it’s no secret that Mayweather picks and carefully choose who he fights. Maidana was the choice in many social media polls. In his own poll, Khan was the choice. But he picked Maidana anyway. The decision, he said, was based mostly on each fighter’s last four fights. Maidana had earned his way onto the ticket; Khan had not.
But it’s clear that polls didn’t make the choice. Only Mayweather did. And does
“I’ve earned my stripes,’’ said Mayweather, who said he began sparring last week. “I earned the right to pick and choose who I fight.’’
Nobody at the MGM Grand had any complaints about that prerogative Saturday. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Mayweather’s promotional partner, said 14,700 tickets were gone within hours after they went on sale at 10 a.m. (PST). According to Schaefer, the early rush amounts to a live gate of more than $12 million. Tickets were still for sale. A crowd of about 16,000 for a gate of about $16 million is expected.
“Nobody is forced to watch,’’ Mayweather said.
But they do.
