Floyd Mayweather has yet to officially announce his opponent for his September 12th fight but one aspect seems to be finalized. There have been rumors that Floyd may fight on network television, CBS, but it is being reported that his 49th fight will be on Showtime PPV.
Floyd Mayweather’s opponent is still being worked out for Sep. 12th. However it’s a virtual lock to wind up on Showtime PPV, per sources.
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) July 25, 2015
Regardless of opponent, Floyd had the opportunity to bring boxing back to the mainstream and he shunned it for his guaranteed PPV money. It’s been decades since the most talented boxers fought on network television, which is a shame seeing as it was such a part of boxing’s popularity boom in the 60’s & 70’s. Boxing was something that families would plan their weekends around; it was the must watch event on television. Now fans are lucky if they can purchase 2 PPV fights a year and to be honest most hardcore fans stream the fights online to avoid the cost.
We’ve seen the music industry finally give in to the public shift and stream music for low prices. Gone are the days where everyone would buy albums and gone are the days where people buy every boxing PPV.
Al Haymon, Floyd’s advisor, has been the most forward thinker in terms of making boxing into a prominent national sport less of a bi-yearly spectacle. PBC boxing has opened the door for future stars to be seen by the masses and develop a core fan base, so why is it still taboo for veteran fighters to use that medium?
Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquiao and others aren’t pulling in PPV numbers like Floyd Mayweather and they could boost their popularity and brands by having a yearly network fight. They don’t do it though because no one has made it cool for them to do it. That’s where Mayweather can make an impact.
Mayweather would’ve made it cool for the best fighters in the world to give back to their fans, and gain new ones, by fighting on free television. I’m sure major brands would pay top dollar for 30 second advertising spots on a Mayweather fight and at the end of the day the revenue would rival what he saw from PPV buys. Instead Floyd played it safe and took the comfortable route. In the end it’s fitting because in the end that is what will be said to describe Floyd’s career.