What to make of this one? ESPN's Dan Rafael is reporting serious concern from Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer about Floyd Mayweather's hesitance in signing for a fight with Shane Mosley. The Mayweather-Mosley fight was announced as a certainty last Friday night and Shane Mosley has signed the contract. Mayweather, however, has yet to do so despite agreeing to everything in the deal.
This has Richard Schaefer worried. Schaefer told ESPN, "He still hasn't signed. I am so frustrated. I wanted both guys to go down to the Super Bowl in Miami to do some promotional stuff. I don't know what Floyd is waiting for. I have no clue. I have a signed contract from Shane on my desk. I have nothing from Floyd."
First, let me say that I have very little doubt that Floyd Mayweather will sign for the Mosley fight. In all likelihood these comments will spur his decision and the deal will be completed later this week. Floyd simply has no other option. Regardless of where you stand on the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations everyone was extremely disappointed with the outcome and both parties took a major hit. Mayweather, long criticized for his choice of opponents, seemed to take the majority of blame from the fans.
Still, a Mayweather-Mosley fight was seen as the next best option and a choice that every boxing fan wanted to see, if not quite as much as Mayweather-Pacquiao. If Mayweather were to pull out now it would be a public relations disaster he could never recover from. He simply has to sign the fight, there is no other way. Eventually Mayweather's advisors will force him to take the Mosley match even if he is reluctant. In truth, I see this as a power play. Roy Jones was famous for coming to press conferences late. He did it because he could, and that's probably why Mayweather is waiting.
But I think the more interesting take from this is Schaefer's open unhappiness with Mayweather. Floyd Mayweather is the prize of the Golden Boy stable and they have treated him as such up to this point. When Mayweather returned from a brief retirement they set him up with a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, another of their finest fighters. They delivered Marquez as a low risk comeback fight which could make big money and largely defended Floyd's interests over Marquez' when Mayweather missed weight for the fight.
In the negotiation process for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight Schaefer and Golden Boy were consistent and fierce defenders of Floyd Mayweather. They worked hard to plant stories in the press casting doubt on Pacquiao's achievements and painting Mayweather as a champion for reform. Part of this, of course, was Golden Boy's bitter dislike for Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, but Golden Boy went to war with Mayweather over the steroid issue and didn't make many friends.
Schaefer's public criticism of Mayweather indicates to me something I've suspected all along; There was deep internal debate within the Mayweather/Golden Boy camp about the negotiation process of Mayweather-Pacquiao. I think Schaefer's comments are an extension of the lingering anger over those failed negotiations.
Schaefer is a shrewd businessman, so it's rare to see him publicly question his own fighter. He says, "I don't know what it means. Obviously, we can't move forward with this promotion, including some important activities that were planned for this coming weekend, unless we have a signed deal."
Having lost the Pacquiao fight Schaefer is obviously frustrated with Mayweather. He was willing to bite his tongue when it was a matter of dismissing another promotion's fighter, but now that it's happening to his own team his frustration is shining through.
Floyd Mayweather thinks he is bigger than the sport. Frankly, he's right. He, along with Pacquiao, are the only fighters who can move mountains. Richard Schaefer is finding that being the CEO of the biggest promotional company in the sport isn't enough to move Mayweather. How the Golden Boy-Mayweather partnership progresses will be fascinating to follow from now on. I'm certain the Mosley fight will happen, but I think there is a rift of personality at the very least.
Maybe Schaefer feels a little more empathy for Bob Arum now.
Source: sportingnews.com
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