The big surprise regarding the next fighter Floyd Mayweather will take on in the ring wasn’t the identity, Robert Guerrero, who was the first name to come up when Mayweather announced the dates of his 2013 fights, but for choosing Showtime as his PPV route to the masses.
Mayweather is the biggest attraction in the sports, and someone is probably going to get fired for letting Mayweather leave, not just for one fight, but for signing a six-fight deal with Showtime/CBS, who simply offered more money and more screen time, probably getting a chance to promote the fight through the NCAA tournament and the Final Four.
Guerrero will fight Mayweather on May 4, and will obviously earn the most money he’s ever earned for that one fight. Guerrero is the interim WBC Welterweight champion, coming off a very successful 2012, beating Selcuk Aydin for the vacant title in July and four months later beating Andre Berto to retain the title and position himself as a contender in the Floyd Mayweather sweepstakes. As expected, the Mayweather team didn’t really speak about Guerrero after the announcement, but mostly on how great and big of a draw Mayweather is.
Floyd has signed a record-breaking deal with Showtime PPV/CBS, and Floyd is ecstatic. This historic deal reflects a global superstar who is head and shoulders above his peers. HBO, they made a great offer, but the Showtime PPV/CBS offer was substantially greater in every facet, from top to bottom. Bottom line, HBO was outgunned. They came to a gun fight with a knife. At the end of the day, it’s business. Floyd has had a fantastic relationship over the last (16) years with HBO but he’s moving on.
He made the decision based on what was best for him and his family. Showtime/CBS really stepped up and made it crystal clear that they wanted Floyd Mayweather. This is a tremendous platform, and Floyd’s looking forward to putting his talents in front of a much larger worldwide audience. Floyd’s going to line all these guys up and he’s going to whup their asses one by one.
Showtime were just as happy to beat HBO for their prized boxing possession, just like they were able to draw Manny Pacquiao (for one fight) a few years ago, which led to a few heads being chopped off at HBO.
We put forth a very aggressive offer, and I know Floyd spent a lot of time with (adviser) Al Haymon poring over the details. Ultimately, I was able to bring a lot of the (Showtime and CBS) assets to the table, and with so many of our platforms stepping forward to support it, this was a deal he couldn’t refuse.
So this is a long term thing – one last shot from Mayweather to put all the doubts regarding his legacy behind him? Probably more of a way to make the most money he can before he retires for good. There’s the talk about Saul Alvarez being the next one after Guerrero, and Canelo will probably be fighting on the undercard to the Guerrero fight against Austin Trout, although that still hasn’t been officially confirmed.
For now, Golden Boy and Mayweather need to convince the world that Guerrero has a shot at beating him, so people will be interested, more than usual, in a fight that on the face of it, looks like an easy win for the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.