Former champions Shane Mosley (47-9-1, 39 KO’s) and Ricardo Mayorga (31-8-1, 25 KO’s) will settle the score once and for all on August 29th from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
However, the fight is set up to be the equivalent of a box-office bomb. Also on the same day, a highly-anticipated 12-round match between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares also takes place in nearby Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN.
Herein lies the problem: Mosley-Mayorga II is going to be a $49.95 PPV fight. How can you expect to make any revenue with this type of approach? There could be a decent crowd that attends, but television is where most of the progress is made – by introducing boxing to homes across America – and providing impeccable coverage to casual and hardcore fans alike who can’t make it out to the venue.
Over two weeks ago, Mosley told Tha Boxing Voice’s Fernando Pimentel that Al Haymon stole his spot at the Staples Center when he was just thinking about the idea.
“PBC actually went and stole my spot at the Staples Center because I was thinking about going to the Staples Center at first,” said Mosley.
Staples Center or not, Haymon still could have put Santa Cruz-Mares at The Forum, and the same problem would persist – not many people are that gullible to pay $49.95 for Mosley-Mayorga II over a highly-anticipated fight on free network television.
The best move Mosley can make is to move the fight forward or to hold the fight sooner. We know Haymon is not the type of guy to give his opponents a chance and in the business world, that’s just how it goes.
We’ve seen it happen before when big fights rival each other on the same evening – it affects the numbers significantly. However, it’s going to hurt Mosley much more than it’s going to hurt Haymon.
Also, Mosley-Mayorga II is going to be promoted a ton just to make a somewhat lucrative fight, and I think the pizza will be too undercooked on August 29th.
