Floyd Mayweather's boxing career could perhaps continue beyond his years with Showtime Boxing, as his confidante Al Haymon recently planted the seed of what could be a partnership between the pound-for-pound king and cable giant NBC Sports.
Haymon, dubbed as the most powerful man in boxing right now because of his association with Mayweather and his roster of top-notch boxers under his wing, reportedly made a winning bid to become the exclusive provider of boxing content to NBA Sports.
Kathy Duva, the president of the losing bidder Main Events, confirmed that Haymon and his group successfully won the bidding after putting a $20 million offer on the table.
"Kathy Duva, head of Main Events, told BoxingScene.com that Haymon & Co. is replacing her group as NBC Sports' provider of boxing. Haymon's reported $20 million offer outstrips Main Events' ability to provide content, Duva said," according to Sporting News.
Duva added that the latest move by Haymond could pave the way for NBC Sports to put boxing on primetime TV and form an over-the-top network that would revolutionize the sport.
"He's promised NBC that he's going to take his fighters off premium cable ... He's going to put Showtime and HBO out of the puzzle," Duva stressed.
"And he's going to do away with pay per view and create an over-the-top network. He's got the fighters and he's presumably got the money ... I pray he doesn't blow it, because if he does, we're not going back to (network TV for a while). If he's successful, all the networks will want boxing."
If things fall into place perfectly, analysts believed the much awaited showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr. could be aired not on NBC Sports - which is a big blow to Showtime, who shelled out a lot of money to capitalize on Mayweather's popularity and status as the best fighter in the world.
Money May is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision win over Marcos Maidana to retain his WBC welterweight and super welterweight title on Sept. 14 at Las Vegas, Nevada. Although his next fight is still in May, there already rumblings that Mayweather could finally face off with Pacquiao - a fight many thought would generate as much as $300M.
