By: William Holmes
For the past three weeks, Floyd Mayweather Jr., or as he prefers to be called Floyd Joy Mayweather, has been winning the PR war between himself and Manny Pacquiao. He was able to get his sentencing date pushed back so that he could fight in May. He called out Manny Pacquiao via twitter, and various media outlets ran with it and the public was led to believe that Floyd Joy Mayweather was finally willing to make the fight happen. Noted columnists such as ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Boxinginsider’s Hans Olson, and others started to blame Pacquiao, and more importantly, Bob Arum for not making the fight a reality. It appeared that the only sticking point on your side to having the fight made was the May 5th date.
The public was led to believe that all Pacquiao had to do was say he wanted the fight and it would be made. Pacquiao, through his official website and the Filipino press, has stated that he did want the fight. It was reported yesterday that Floyd Joy Mayweather went out of his way to call Pacquiao personally on the phone and plea with him to have the fight made. However, late last night, this email bombshell was dropped.
“He asked about a 50/50 split and I told him no that can’t happen, but what can happen is you can make more money fighting me than you have made in your whole career. I also let him know I’m in control on my side but he needs to get on the same page with his promoter so we can make this fight happen.”
-Floyd Joy Mayweather
This email was sent by Floyd Joy Mayweather to ESPN late last night. The public, boxing fans, and reporters know that in order for this fight to ever happen, both fighters have to agree to a 50/50 split. Floyd Joy Mayweather may feel he deserves a bigger share of the revenue than Pacquiao, but one only needs to look at the PPV buy rates for 2011 to see if anything less than a 50/50 split is warranted.
05/7/2011 Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley Pacquiao wins by UD (119–108, 120–108, 120–107) 1,300,000
09/17/2011 Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz Mayweather wins by TKO in the 4th round 1,250,000
11/13/2011 Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez Pacquiao wins by UD (115-113, 114-114, 116-112) 1,450,000
It appears Floyd Joy, that both of Pacquiao’s fights sold more than your fight in 2011. It appears that you are not as genuine in wanting this fight as you have led the public to believe.
Perhaps the public should stop calling you Floyd Joy as you requested, but start calling you Flo Jo, like the famous track star Florence Griffith-Joyner in the 1980’s. By refusing to agree to a 50/50 split you are signaling that you are running away from this fight.
