During a recent press conference to promote the upcoming UFC 103 card at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on September 19, UFC President Dana White blasted Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s upcoming return against Juan Manuel Marquez that's being held on the same night. "Floyd is always trying to talk and pump himself. He talks about mixed martial arts because he feels threatened by mixed martial arts and, you know, what made Floyd Mayweather a pay-per-view star was Oscar De La Hoya. I don't know. I know Floyd can't sell tickets without Oscar, but what's happening here is boxing is doing it to you again. They're giving you the fight that you don't want. Nobody asked for this fight with Mayweather and...what's his name? What's his name? Nobody even knows. Nobody in this room even knows who Floyd's fighting. I should know; I'm a big boxing guy and I respect the guy that he's fighting. I know his name, but I can't think of it right now. But that's my point. Nobody gives a shit. Boxing is trying to sell you the fight that nobody cares about. People want to see Mayweather-Pacquiao, but they're not giving you that fight," White stated.
For the record, his name is Juan Manuel Marquez and although White, an admitted "boxing guy", may have momentarily forgotten, Marquez is the reigning lightweight champion of the world. With a record of 50 wins (37 coming by way of knockout), 4 losses and 1 draw, he holds victories over Juan Diaz, Joel Casamayor and Marco Antonio Barrera, to name a few. In fact, his last loss was a razor-thin split decision to current pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao, who he's fought twice now, earning a draw during their first encounter. Many fans consider Marquez to be one of the top 3 pound-for-pound boxers in the world, but of course, being a big "boxing guy", I'm sure White was already aware of that.
He does bring up a valid point about fans not asking for this fight, but then again, fans weren't asking for Pacquiao vs. Diaz, De La Hoya vs. Forbes or Cotto vs. Jennings either. All of those fights were considered to be tune-ups and, in boxing, tune-ups are considered the norm when a fighter is coming off a string of difficult matchups or a long layoff, as is the case with Mayweather, who admits he's using Marquez as a tune-up having last fought nearly two years ago. In fact, the UFC itself is no stranger to tune-up bouts, as I highly doubt fans were asking to see Rua vs. Coleman, Jackson vs. Jardine or Silva vs. ... what's his name ... oh yeah, Leites. In fact, I don't even think Leites is fighting for the UFC anymore. Not only were the fans not interested in him, but apparently, neither was the organization. Come to think of it, I don't think too many fans are clamoring for Ortiz vs. Coleman either, which is slated to co-headline UFC 106. Don't get me wrong, I understand the point that White is trying to make, but perhaps he shouldn't be a hypocrite about it. If they're bringing Vitor Belfort back to the UFC, I, along with a lot of other fans, would much rather see him fight Tito Ortiz, Anderson Silva or even Wanderlei Silva than to see him square off against Rich Franklin in the main event of UFC 103. Before he criticizes boxing's main event on September 19th, perhaps White should take a look at his own main event, which is probably more worthy of being televised for free on Spike.
White would continue to state his case for UFC 103 as he dug into the sport of boxing and continued to take verbal jabs at Mayweather. "And the other thing, in Floyd's commentary, Floyd goes out there and says, 'Oh, no mixed martial artist has ever done 250 million dollars in revenue. You want to see big money checks, I'll show you big money checks.' Becuase the fans keep doing it. Boxing keeps doing it to them. You show up to see Floyd Mayweather not fight. This guy will run around in circles. Everybody wants to know why the UFC is becoming so popular. It's because they're sick of boxers not fighting. You're going to pay whatever it is, 55 or 60 bucks, to see Floyd...basically, you get to see Dancing With The Stars again with Floyd Mayweather except you have to pay for it this time, okay. You gott pay 60 bucks to watch Floyd Mayweather in Dancing With The Stars again. On that same night, on that UFC card, you guys can all tune in and you can watch, not one fight, you guys can watch five great fights that night for 10 dollars less than what Floyd wants you to pay to see him run around in circles and lay on the ropes and move around and not fight," he added.
The fact that you can watch multiple fights at a cheaper price, albeit only $5 cheaper, is an excellent point that White brings to light, but whether or not those fights are good remains to be seen. On paper, the names involved in the matchups look great, but until they actually perform, any one of those fights could end up being just as boring as White seems to think Mayweather vs. Marquez will be. In his last two bouts, Rich Franklin hasn't exactly opened up a can of whoop-ass on anyone and his bout with Belfort could go the distance and be just as uneventful as his bout with Dan Henderson. Not to mention, thus far, boxing has only had one major pay-per-view event this year in Pacquiao vs. Hatton. Meanwhile, the UFC has already had nine pay-per-view events. Assuming you've purchased all nine of those events, you've already shelled out over $400 on the UFC and less than half of those events were even pay-per-view worthy.
Again, there is a great deal of truth to some of the comments that White has made as boxing does need to change the way they put together a pay-per-view card. However, that being said, every UFC event isn't the perfect model of what a pay-per-view card should be. Come September 19th, I, for one, will pass on UFC 103 to tune in and see what Mayweather has left to offer to the sport he walked away from nearly two years ago. Yes, admittedly, I'd would have much rather seen Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, but considering that Marquez gave Pacquiao all he could handle just one year ago, I don't mind watching Mayweather fight a "tune-up" against one of the top 3 boxers in the world. Personally, I'd much rather watch that fight than to see a UFC card featuring two fights involving fighters (Vitor Belfort and Frank Trigg) that the organization got rid of years ago. I love me some mixed martial arts, which is why I'll be watching the undercard of UFC 103 televised for free on Spike on September 19th, however, as far as the main event is concerned, I'll be paying for and watching boxing!
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