Boycott because neither fight is particularly interesting. Pacquiao completely dominated Cotto in November and I am not sure what would be different in a rematch. While Cotto now is trained by Steward, I don't think that is nearly enough to turn-around what was a completely one-sided affair. With Margarito, Shane Mosley completely dominated him on January 24, 2009 after he was caught allegedly trying to cheat by loading his gloves.
Self-serving because Pacquiao, Cotto, and Margarito are all Top Rank fighters and because, as Arum stated at the press conference, he does not want to give any other promoters a "free ride":
Bradley is fighting Saturday. Tim Bradley is a tremendous fighter and he’s a great young man. But the problem with a guy like Tim Bradley is that even though you and I know what a superb fighter he is, the public really doesn’t know. That’s why a lot of these promoters are shouting out names of very good fighters. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars building up our fighters and publicizing them so they are pay-per-view attractions. Losing money on a lot of events making them. The other promoters don’t really promote their fighters. They take money form HBO or Showtime or a little Indian casino and they think they’re doing the kid a big service. I’m not going to give them a free ride on the work we have done.
Paul Williams is a tremendous fighter – a great fighter. But he hasn’t been promoted correctly. He doesn’t have any following, can’t sell any tickets. Nobody is financing the pay-per-view fight. On a HBO fight – HBO pays the money. I’m the one that’s financing the pay-per-view and don’t want to give anyone a free ride.Kevin breaks down the the dynamics of Top Rank's closed-door policy in his article "Closed-door policy won’t benefit boxing," and concludes as follows:
Making an honest effort to make the best fights, regardless of who promotes them, is all that Arum’s many loyal, paying customers ask. That goes for all fights, not just Mayweather-Pacquiao.I agree with Kevin that the closed-door policy will not work for boxing. I also think that the UFC closed-door policy does work for the fans of the UFC.
Keeping everything in-house is better in the short term, but it doesn’t help grow the sport.
Arum’s overriding concern shouldn’t be about what is best for Top Rank, but rather what’s best for his customers and what’s best for boxing.
The healthier boxing gets, the better Top Rank will do. The UFC has a closed-door promotional policy, but mixed martial arts a relatively new sport that was created that way from the ground up. Boxing operates dramatically differently and there’s no changing it now.
In boxing, opening the doors, not closing them, is the best way to improve the sport’s health.
A healthier, more financially robust sport will benefit all.
I don't think there can be much dispute that the UFC closed-door model is good for the fans -- despite all the negative things people may say about Dana White and the UFC. With limited exception, the UFC puts on the fights that the fans want to see -- indeed, it can do so because it has the majority of the top fighters under contract.
With boxing, as is evidenced by a likely Pacquiao Cotto/Margarito fight, the fans will not get the fight they want, but will instead get what is probably going to be a profitable fight for a risk averse Top Rank, i.e. even if Pacquiao were to lose, which would kill any hope of a Pacquiao Mayweather fight, it would be to a Top Rank fighter fighter at least.
Because there are a number of promoters out there, including, Golden Boy, Don King, Top Rank, DiBella, Gary Shaw, Goosen Tutor, Sauerland, Mayweather Promotions etc., and new promoters seem to be popping up every day, no promoter has a stronghold on all of the talent and can't self-promote all of the fights the fans want to see like the UFC can.
That is why for boxing, tournaments like the Showtime Super Six, where more competitive championship fights are made across promotions, make sense and are the ticket for giving the fans the fights they want to see.
Hopefully, HBO, Top Rank, and/or whoever else intends to televise the next Pacquiao bout realizes this and puts together a fight that the fans want to see -- as opposed to one that may be beneficial to Top Rank's pockets in the short-term.
Fight Lawyer
