ESPN’s Dan Rafael has tweeted a couple details regarding a potential deal for the PPV mega bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
It is worth mentioning that Rafael did not reveal any sources and never mentioned where he got the info. However, the news is worthy because Rafael is regarded as one of the most prominent boxing writers in the business and regardless of your personal opinion on him, Rafael has time and again proven to be one of the deepest insiders plugged into the most privy information in the sport. There is no debate his pipeline runs deep and true.
Also, I can say that he is one of the safest writers when it comes to confirmed information. He rarely speculates and almost never buys into innuendos or speculation without substance. My point is his information always stems from legit sources, and he chooses to wait for confirmation opposed to quickly releasing shaky rumors. That said, his tweets revealed pretty significant aspects of the deal.
These were Rafael’s exact tweets:
“If #Mayweather-Pacquiao gets done PPV will be 3 bouts. Main event (Mayweather-Pacquiao) and Top Rank and Mayweather Promotions each make 1 fight of their choice.”
Soon after he tweeted, “Also if #MayweatherPacquiao gets done price of PPV will be greater than usual but I am told the exact price has not been set yet.”
I will operate under the assumption that A) the fight is done and B) this information is factual. There has long been speculation about the potentially inflated price of a Mayweather-Pacquiao PPV. Some knowledgeable insiders have suggested the price could get up to $100.
My issue is with the 3 televised fights that Rafael reports will be on the televised PPV.
I’m okay with it if they’re going to televise the preliminary undercard on FrontRow, Audience, or some sort of standard PPV preview channel, that way I can see the undercard on my big TV and not miss a beat. Plus, I’m sure the party will get started soon and having boxing in the background is just tradition, although we’re the weirdos that actually watch the deep undercard fights.
However, if the undercard is streamed or available on a non-network outlet or worse yet completely unavailable then I don’t think depriving us of an extra fight is fiscally responsible to the fans paying a higher PPV charge.
The word is today will be the day that Mayweather-Pacquiao will be announced, but as of now nothing has been announced.
I think it is a shame that we won’t get the opportunity to get an extra fight on the PPV telecast. We all know that the card will be spread thin anyway.
I’m not suggesting an extra fight is worth causing the kind of uproar that would prevent the fight because we all know any little thing could completely derail this fight. My only point is once again fighters and promoters are not catering to the hardcore fans, the ones that care about the undercard.
We all know how Bob Arum feels about PPV undercards, and I understand catering to the casual fan’s interests because it outweighs the boxing heads’ interests. It also takes away from two fighters with the potential for big exposure, and we all know that Mayweather Promotions fighters and Top Rank fighters could use every bit they can get at this point.
