By Pepe Havok.
When Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired had made more money than any other fighter in boxing history and we wonder: How did he do it? Personally, I’m a Floyd fan because I think he might be the best defensive boxer of all time, and while that’s one of the reasons many people disliked him, his style proved to be flawless on 50 occasions.
As I reflected on the subject, I brainstormed and realized that he started his career with the understanding that the United States and Mexico are deeply involved in boxing. Mayweather knew how to take advantage of this and, even in his last stage as a boxer, he became a superstar and regular partner of the MGM Grand, and fought in the special days for Mexico (September 16 & May 5)
“Money” had an excellent team that helped him decide who he would fight with, he trumped the different styles of his rivals and came out victorious.
He two main assets for marketing were repeating that he defeated more than 20 World Champions and the fact that 50 fighters tried and 50 failed. ZERO fighters defeated him.
After Mayweather, the public, promoters and boxers paid more attention to the unbeaten records, and because of that, many of the best fights weren’t happening. Boxers do not want to lose the “almighty zero” for fear that this will mean lower purses and that, in the future, they will not be considered worthy of fighting against those who have a better position in the rankings. I do not agree with this dynamic.
Fans want to see entertaining fights, to see fighters who give it their all inside the ring; they don’t want to see them protecting their records from the big fights.
Good fighters should be recognized regardless of their losses. We all enjoyed watching Shawn Porter, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Miguel Berchelt, Delfine Persoon or Leo Santa Cruz, for example. I wish these characters would get more credit for their fights and that the fan understands that going undefeated does not mean the end of a career in this sport.
Finally, I applaud the Four Kings of the Super Flyweight division: Juan Francisco “Gallo” Estrada, Román “Chocolatito” González, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Carlos “Principe” Cuadras, as they have been willing to face the best on their division regardless of losses. Virtually every match between them has been nominated for Fight of the Year, so they have proven the value of a WBC championship and what their hearts are truly made of.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the “columnists” in the articles are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the WBC.
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