It seems as though boxing scribes and fans alike, are in an uproar over the promotion of Pacquiao-Algieri. The funny thing about the complaints and rants is they are completely all over the spectrum.
Columnist are banging the drum of Bob Arum once again, using Mayweather’s name to up the ante of PPV sales. Which actually may be true, Pacquiao’s name is rarely spoken of leading up to a Mayweather event. I’ve read columns that state, Algieri was “given” the decision against Provodnikov because Top Rank had no further options on the Russian. Now, I’m not the one for conspiracy theories, I’ll leave that to the NBA, but Arum is salty when it comes to contract extensions.
Yet no one is writing about the most common thing amongst sports, it’s a business first. And the biggest thing in business is simple, invest as little as possible for a bigger profit. After investing, you than market the product for a certain audience, to maximize your earning potential.
Has anyone seen the new Kevin Durant shoe? Google them and see how ugly they are. However, Nike markets them toward a younger crowd, sending hapless parents to the stores, generating hundreds and thousands of sales, if not millions. When’s the last time Carmelo Anthony competed for an actual championship? Easy, never. Yet Jordan releases a new Melo shoe every year because the “Shoe Headz” allow a market for it.
On to my point– companies are no longer marketing the product, nor the athlete. They’re marketing towards an “audience” in a buying market. That’s why Algieri is being billed as a good looking, godly-physiqued fighter who just happened to slay Goliath in his previous bout.
Although boxing doesn’t have a season, they still run on a schedule. Promoters buy dates in advance, just like professional sports release the season schedule ahead of the season. Not every week do the best teams face other, and not every week does network cable show the best matched games. So why are we as boxing fans, upset that the best and biggest fights aren’t always made?
The only complaint there should about this bout is that it’s a PPV event. However, we’re to blame for creating this, we created the Pacquiao “monster” when hundreds of thousands bought the Clottey and Mosley PPV’s. And for those who will claim to “boycott” these mismatches, please save me the time of having to read your post-fight thoughts, because you shouldn’t have known what happened.
And finally, don’t sleep on Algieri. His skills and work ethic are legit, the film doesn’t lie. Pacquiao isn’t the fighter he once was, he hasn’t recorded a knockout in 5 years. Plus, Algieri just tamed the fighter everyone compared to Pac-man. Makes for a tantalizing match-up in my opinion, take it for what it’s worth.
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