AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
The year 2007 will go down as a banner year for Floyd Mayweather Jr.
LAS VEGAS -- Before Floyd Mayweather Jr. emerged this year as a mainstream star, he would constantly tell anyone who would listen that the day was coming.
For years, he would say he was going to be a pay-per-view star.
That he would fill arenas.
That he would become big outside of boxing.
He made sure to remind the media of that again this week.
"In the past, I told you guys that certain things would happen," he said. "I think a lot of times people looked at me and said, 'Yeah, right. Whatever.' But I told you guys I would be the best in the sport one day. And I told you guys that I was going to become a mega superstar. I told you guys I would become an A-lister."
Guess what?
Mayweather was right.
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
It took hard work and sacrifice, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. has finally "arrived." A win on Saturday will take the "Pretty Boy" to even further heights.
He's had a gargantuan 2007, a year in which he has truly arrived. When it's over he will have earned more money in his field of play than just about any other athlete in the world -- an estimated $50 million -- for two fights. Sort of makes A-Rod's $27 million salary in 2007 look like chump change, doesn't it?
"To say it was a career year would be a trite way to describe it, that's how big a year he's had," said HBO PPV chief Mark Taffet, who has watched Mayweather grow from that precocious prospect with big dreams to champion to pound-for-pound king to star during Mayweather's 12-year pro career. "He's turned from the pound-for-pound king in the ring to one of the pound-for-pound kings outside the ring.
"The year that Floyd Mayweather has had in 2007 -- between the promotion that started back in January for his fight with Oscar [De La Hoya] and the fight itself, the exposure on '24/7' and the incredible audience for 'Dancing with the Stars,' plus endless fulfillment of media requests in urban markets and African-American media outlets -- is a big year not only for any boxer, but for most athletes if you look back over the past 10 years."
Mayweather's 2007 will culminate Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) when he defends the welterweight championship against England's Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand -- which sold out in 30 minutes and will do a gross gate of more than $10 million -- in one of the most anticipated fights in a year that has been filled with significant matchups.
But the fight, in which Mayweather is a clear favorite against the junior welterweight champion, is merely the last dance of a mammoth year that has been about more than just boxing for "Pretty Boy."
As he likes to say, the year was also about "raising awareness of the Mayweather brand" and having people involved in the "Mayweather experience."
He's sure done that.
&http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/#8226; After an exhausting five-month promotion, Mayweather's May 5 victory against De La Hoya shattered all boxing revenue records, including setting the all-time pay-per-view buy mark at 2.4 million.
&http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/#8226; Mayweather had a starring role in two editions of HBO's hit reality series "24/7." The first one in the spring followed the buildup to the De La Hoya fight and drew an astonishing 4.7 million viewers on average for each of the four episodes.
The second series, which concluded Thursday night, followed the buildup to the Hatton fight. The debut episode, the only one for which numbers were available, drew a healthy 2.6 million viewers, according to HBO.
&http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/#8226; Mayweather also drew massive mainstream recognition for his participation in the ABC hit reality series "Dancing with the Stars."
"'Dancing with the Stars' was truly an amazing show. It was the icing on the cake that was going to put the 'mega' in front of the superstar," Mayweather said.
Night after night, Mayweather was featured on entertainment programs such as "Entertainment Tonight" and "Extra." There were loads of talk show appearances and coverage in publications such as TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly.
In fact, when Mayweather walks to the ring Saturday, he will be accompanied by "Dancing with the Stars" winner and two-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves and fellow contestants Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton.
"'Dancing With the Stars' was such a great experience for me this year and now to have Helio, Mark and Wayne be a part of my real world makes it that much more meaningful," said Mayweather, who has become particularly friendly with Cuban to the point where Mayweather said they are doing business together.
That's good company for a fighter who hadn't even headlined his own PPV card until two years ago, when he faced Arturo Gatti, and was not a big ticket seller anywhere outside of his hometown in Grand Rapids, Mich.
"Floyd Mayweather chased a lot of people until they caught up with him," Taffet said. "He did it very effectively. For at least two years prior to the Gatti fight, I thought there were 20 Floyd Mayweathers because everywhere I went, I saw Floyd and he kept saying to me over and over again, 'I'm ready to fight on pay-per-view, I'm ready for the big stage, it's my turn, its my time.' Boy was he ready."
This year certainly has proved it.
"My year has been truly, truly great, a blessing," said Mayweather, who is quick to give a lot of credit to adviser Al Haymon and best friend and adviser Leonard Ellerbe. "I have the best team. Al is behind the scenes. He never wants to come out. He likes to lay in the back. Whatever him and Leonard say they're going to do, they do. They go to bat for me. 'Dancing with the Stars,' him and Leonard put that together, got me on all those talk shows. Probably after this fight, we'll do the Oprah show. It's just amazing the year I've had. Made a ton of money in the sport.
"The chemistry is amazing between Al and Leonard along with my big ideas. They bring them to life. I couldn't get that when I was with [former promoter] Bob Arum. They kept me kind of in a choke hold."
Ellerbe, who is with Mayweather daily, was named CEO of Mayweather's upstart Mayweather Promotions, which is co-promoting the Hatton fight along with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. But Ellerbe is also involved in all aspects of Mayweather's business endeavors, many of which have blossomed this year.
"We used the Oscar fight as a platform to be able to go off and do other things like 'Dancing with the Stars' and really be an A-lister," Ellerbe said. "And he's really, truly appreciative because everything is coming together. Everything is about timing. All the hard work and dedication is really paying off now."
One of the moves, controversial at the time, was the decision to buy out Arum's promotional contract for $750,000, which enabled Mayweather to get the fight with De La Hoya because, at the time, Arum and De La Hoya refused to do business with each other.
"We wouldn't have been in that position if we had still been in the contract with our former promoter," Ellerbe said. "So when he got out of that situation -- in his last three fights, including this fight [with Hatton] -- he's earned more money than he has in his whole career. Top Rank did a wonderful job building him but once he made the decision to move off and be in control of his own career, like any elite fighter should do at that point, then he really became a successful entrepreneur."
Besides the high-profile bouts and TV series, Ellerbe said there are many other things in the works for Mayweather. He said there have been two movie offers. "Major features," Ellerbe said.
There is also an equity stake in a new "stimulation beverage" called Fever, the launch of a Mayweather-themed boxing video game and a book about his life, all due in 2008.
Mayweather has also long had an interest in music and Haymon has been one of the nation's foremost concert promoters. Mayweather has partnered with him on tours involving star artists Beyonce and Chris Brown.
"We just did the Beyonce tour. Right now are doing the Chris Brown tour, co-promoting it," Ellerbe said. "I have a staff of people, entertainment people, that are right now in Detroit, a street team promoting the concert. So when he fights Saturday night, Floyd will be earning money in two different cities. He'll be earning money right here and we're promoting Chris Brown. We have a video game coming out next year and we have a book, his life story. So with all that combined with all he's doing is elevating his business enterprise, taking the Mayweather brand to a whole other level, trying to turn it into a Fortune 500 company."
But with so much outside-the-ring activity, it's hard not to wonder if it will take its toll when the bell rings Saturday night.
| Undefeated |
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TV lineup for the "Undefeated" HBO PPV on Saturday night (9 ET) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas:
&http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/#8226; Welterweights: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (38-0, 24 KOs) vs. Ricky Hatton (43-0, 31 KOs), 12 rounds, for Mayweather's title
&http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/#8226; Super middleweights: Jeff Lacy (22-1, 17 KOs) vs. Peter Manfredo Jr. (28-4, 13 KOs), 10 rounds
&http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/#8226; Junior featherweights: Daniel Ponce De Leon (33-1, 30 KOs) vs. Eduardo Escobedo (20-2, 14 KOs), 12 rounds, for Ponce De Leon's title
&http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/#8226; Lightweights: Edner Cherry (22-5-2, 10 KOs) vs. Wes Ferguson (17-2-1, 5 KOs), rematch, 10 rounds
-- Dan Rafael
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"He might be with the dancing thing wanting to endear himself to the public, he might be going down the celebrity route a little bit," Hatton said. "I think like in the first 'Rocky' movie when Rocky fought Apollo and I think his corner said to him, 'He thinks it's a fight, you think it's a show.' Maybe there is the sense of that but he's gotten to the top with dedication, so I have no doubt he's trained hard and as hard as ever, but I don't think he particularly thinks I'm as good as what I am."
Mayweather insists he is focused and ready for Hatton.
"It's not hard," Mayweather said of getting up for the fight. "Even if it was hard, I'm still gonna tell you it's not hard. I'm never overlooking no opponent. Never. I know this kid is going to come out and fight his heart out. It's just that he makes a lot of mistakes."
Said Ellerbe, "It's no problem for him getting up. Any time Floyd comes into a fight he's going to be prepared the best way he can. He's not going to cut no corners. That's one thing Floyd Mayweather isn't going to do."
But Ellerbe also admitted that Mayweather is tired. This will be his third bout in 13 months plus all of the other activities.
"After the [Carlos] Baldomir fight [in November 2006] me and Al were working trying to get the Oscar fight," Ellerbe said. "Shortly after the Oscar fight we went on a tour where he went and helped other athletes with their foundations, Alonzo Mourning, Allen Iverson. Floyd talked to all types of kids in various inner cities. He's never had a break from the Baldomir fight. He's worked constantly. It was good for him because he elevated his business enterprise and became a mainstream A-lister, and he worked very hard to get there. But after this fight I think he needs to take an extended break."
It sure has been a big turnaround from the days when Mayweather was vilified for declaring a multimillion dollar contract offer from HBO "slave wages" and wound up fighting before sparse crowds in nonboxing havens such as Fresno, Calif., San Francisco and Miami.
So what changed?
"Over the past year, Floyd has shown facets of himself that he's never shown so openly to the media and public before," Taffet said. "People are seeing now [on '24/7'] that Floyd Mayweather has an incredible love for his mother, that he has an incredible relationship with his uncle [and trainer] Roger, you see the kind of relationship he has with his kids. He's involved in a lot of charitable functions and it's almost like a diamond -- the more facets you add to it the more it shines and glows and increases in value, and that's what Floyd has done this year.
"He has given so much of himself that people now understand Floyd Mayweather the man, not just Floyd Mayweather the fighter. And there's a connection that exists between Floyd and the fans that takes it to another level. Floyd has clearly established himself as a force in the media, as a force in the African-American community and as a force outside the ring to boxing fans around world. That appeal has taken Floyd to where the sky is the limit and it's really only limited by Floyd's willingness and desire to keep up an incredibly arduous schedule."
Even De La Hoya, who has had his own huge years and isn't exactly Mayweather's biggest fan although they're in business together on this fight, admires what he's done in 2007.
"I can imagine how tired he must be with his training schedule, trying to fit in training and trying to fit in all the other stuff he's doing like 'Dancing with the Stars.' It will be very interesting to see if he has that same energy coming into the ring on fight night because we know Ricky Hatton will come with everything, nonstop from the first bell," De La Hoya said. "But it's a big year. It's the biggest year of his boxing career. And there's no sign of it stopping."
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.Source: ESPN.com
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