Billion dollars, perfection weighing on Mayweather?

Is the pressure of a potential billion-dollar fight and maintaining a perfect record starting to get to Floyd Mayweather Jr.?

This is the big question that could very well determine the outcome of his May 2 date with Manny Pacquiao. As Pacquiao himself has correctly pointed out, the pressure is on Mayweather, who was literally boxed into a corner by his boss at CBS and Showtime Les Moonves to make them some money as three of his last four fights with the entertainment conglomerate have lost them money. A fight with Pacquiao seemed to be the only viable option, and with some influence from Bob Arum, Mayweather had to make the fight happen by signing on the dotted line.

Are there signs that Mayweather is starting to feel his lack of choice in this matter may be too much? At their gigantic press announcement at the Nokia Theatre this week, Mayweather was unusually sober, not his usual glib self. He was respectful short of being deferential, to Pacquiao. And when they faced off, there were no theatrics on his part, no bragging, no taunting. It was even Freddie Roach who said they were going to “kick his ass”, to which there was very little response from The Money Team. And when the two fighters finally had the traditional staredown, Mayweather looked vacant, when they faced the crowd, he did not hold his fists up in the air, but had one finger which almost looked as if it was pointing at his opponent.

As always, media are on the lookout for possible dirty tricks from Floyd in the build-up to the megafight. He always has something up his sleeve. Now, it appears that his new tactic, directly or indirectly, is to hamper Pacquiao’s preparation as much as he can, or perhaps, the only way he can. At this level, one way to do that is to prevent the eight-time world champion from getting quality sparringmates.

Freddie Roach has accused Mayweather adviser Al Haymon of keeping potential Pacquiao sparring partners from training with the Filipino champion by offering the more money to stay at home. Who is Al Haymon? Haymon is a three-time Boxing Writers Association of America Manager of the Year, and has been called both “the most powerful man in boxing” and “a ghost” by websites like Bleacher Report. He was the one who negotiated Mayweather’s release from his contract with Top Rank Promotions almost a decade ago. Last week, he launched “Premier Boxing Champions” on NBC. The website reported, “According to a press release, PBC on NBC was the most watched boxing broadcast in 17 years, when Oscar De La Hoya’s Fight Night card on FOX totaled 5.9 million viewers in 1998. PBC averaged 3.4 million, and its viewership increased the longer the show went on, peaking at 4.2 million during the latter half of the main event.”

In February BoxingScene.com reported that “Having dates – big and small – is paramount to any company and as of now, Haymon is grabbing more than the lion’s share of them. Haymon’s company, Haymon Boxing, recently announced television deals with NBC and Spike TV, and the powerful manager/adviser has closed in on Telemundo...” Apparently, this Mayweather adviser is trying to repackage boxing, and has motivated HBO to develop more boxers and pack its schedule with more title fights in the next few months, building on the rising talent in the former Soviet Union, a departure from the usual USA-centered marketing strategies.

Haymon’s involvement may be a sign that Mayweather is worried. But should he be? To begin with, he got his way in a lot of respects. He will get the bigger purse (supposedly $120 million to Pacquiao’s $80 million). His name comes first in the billing on all the fight promotions, and he will enter the ring last as the supposed bigger draw. He even got to announce the signing of the contract on his own online app, and even made it appear as if he orchestrated the fast-tracking of the contract. Oh, and even the date is to his advantage. Since 2009, Pretty Boy Floyd has fought all his fights only on May or September, so even though his manager Oscar Dela Hoya has publicly said he would prefer more time to promote this fight (seriously), the date was cast in stone.

All of these point to one crucial point now: Mayweather has no excuse to lose to Pacquiao. Like a spoiled kid at Christmas, he got everything he wished for. With all the money involved, the numbers could collectively stack up to a billion dollars for everyone involved. The purses alone total $200 million. Then you add the portion of each fighter’s take from Showtime and HBO. Factor in pay-per-view and free-to-air TV rights around the world, mechandising, events connected with the fight, other ancillary income, sponsorships, site fees, and other revenues, and the number looks to be in the ballpark. The problem is that Floyd has built himself up as the one supposedly carrying this fight that he will have to outdo himself simply to satisfy all his own hype.

There is also that other matter off the perfect record which is now prematurely being staked against a high-quality opponent. Pacquiao, unlike several past Mayweather opponents, was not hand-picked for the American. Pacquiao has been the dominant fighter of his age, his two losses to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez notwithstanding. He was undefeated for six years, despite fighting bigger and bigger opponents like Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito. This has all built the perception that Pacquiao is the more courageous of the two protagonists, taking risks that Mayweather refuses to. No matter what Mayweather says about Pacquiao supposedly begging for this fight, the fact is the general public outside of the United States probably respects Pacquiao more than it does Mayweather.

Perhaps, in the days to come, Mayweather will feel the pressure even more, but that’s what boxing is all about, isolation with a dangerous opponent. The commercialization of the sport and questioned outcome of fights has damaged the sport’s reputation, and the involvement of casinos has taken it away from the mainstream fans who used to be able to watch it live for less money at venerated venues like Madison Square Garden. This fight will definitely make history commercially, and will be one of the most-anticipated events in contact sports in years. The comparisons to Ali-Frazier and Leonard-Hearns are not unfounded. But with all of that riding on him, Could Floyd be now telling himself “Be careful what you wish for”?

The next few weeks will reveal whatever cracks there may be in his demeanor.