By The Sandman: From 2009 onward, after Floyd Mayweather dominated Juan Manuel Marquez, mostly every boxer has opted to be a “free agent” and be their own “boss.”
Floyd Mayweather moved forward in his career after defeating Marquez and signed, as you all remember, a six-fight deal that was projected to earn Mayweather more than $200 million. As it turns out, Floyd Mayweather would earn nearly twice as much for just one bout with Manny Pacquiao.
In my own opinion, I never thought there would be another boxer in my lifetime that could surpass Mayweather’s earnings. At one point, before the Dmitry Bivol fight, Canelo Alvarez seemed almost to achieve that invincible aurora that might draw over half a billion in one night, but that has since faded.
My point is that being your own “Boss” has only worked out for one person. Guess who.
It’s surprising. In a day and age where a celebrity could generate interest simply by putting out a Tweet and appearing in live streams, no other fighter could achieve the commercial appeal to surpass Floyd Mayweather. Or maybe there is so much content out there that it drowns out mediocre attempts to be seen. You tell me.
But what I do know, or at least strongly believe, is that there should have been dozens of worldwide superstars that could generate large pay-per-view numbers.
For example, and I know most of you will disagree, how did Danny Garcia only end up headlining one pay-per-view event in his career? In my opinion, Danny Garcia was a highly marketable fighter with “urban” appeal, with a highly entertaining father, and had the most unprofessional knockouts to match it.
Instead, his career was used in an experiment to kill PPV, and one of the most anticipated fights, Garcia vs. Keith Thurman, occurred on free TV.
For the record, Danny Garcia hasn’t fought in years. But let me keep going.
Errol Spence didn’t quite achieve that “Mayweather” commercial appeal. Remember when Adrien Broner told Jay-Z to suck his nuts after RocNation offered Broner $40 million for five years? Gary Russell Jr, don’t get me started, he once promoted a fight by telling the public he didn’t need them, because he was already paid.
Fast forward to June 19th, 2024. Devin Haney, the self-touted “Boss,” recently complained that Matchroom didn’t bid for his fight. Devin, the “Boss,” was bent out of shape because another “Boss” wouldn’t slap down millions to bail him out and prop up Devin’s market value.
Floyd Mayweather is about the only example of a “Boss” in boxing where everything went right. Every fight after Floyd can be summed up as a failed attempt to be a boss.
If you are your own boss, like all bosses, you take your L’s just like you take your W’s. slow and easy.
Just like these managers and promoters tried to kill the PPV model but then turned around and lectured us on not “capping” your earnings by fighting on an app, I am going to make a controversial statement of my own. Fighters, do yourselves a favor, get you a promoter.
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