Floyd jumps to Showtime, to fight Guerrero in May

MANILA, Philippines — Since turning pro back in 1996, Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. has staged, promoted and showcased his talents on HBO.

You could say it’s a mutual relationship, with HBO having flexed its media muscle to bring Mayweather to superstardom – and in turn, Mayweather bringing the network back to mainstream popularity after the glory days of Boxing had passed.

In fact, Mayweather is the highest grossing athlete in all of sports and has been for years, whilst making HBO the highest earning network in conjunction.

Yet on May 4, 2013, Mayweather is scheduled to go head to head with the emergent Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1, 18 knockouts) of Gilroy, California on HBO’s longtime rival network, Showtime.

How could this have happened? Mr. HBO himself jumping ship right straight into the arms of another.

“Floyd made a business decision that is best for him and for his family” said Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe.

HBO took Mayweather for granted?

Ellerbe maintained that Mayweather had been extremely loyal to HBO, but implied that Floyd felt the network had been taking him for granted.

As such, Showtime’s offer may have been too good to pass up, it seems.

“This is an enormous deal and – and I want you to use all of these words – Showtime really, really, really, really stepped up in what they offered Floyd. The actual terms are confidential, but the deal offered, from top to bottom, was substantially better than what we received from HBO.”

“They made it clear without a doubt, that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is their guy and that they [Showtime] wanted to be in the Floyd Mayweather business,” said Ellerbe.

If you would recall, Manny Pacquiao made a similar business decision back when he fought Shane Mosley, also switching from HBO to Showtime.

In similar light, Showtime’s offer to Mayweather must have the brash American smiling from ear to ear.

“[Floyd] is skinning and grinning right now,” said Ellerbe.

Nothing personal

Ellerbe also iterated that Mayweather was highly appreciative of what the HBO organization had done for him for the past 17 years and the success he’s enjoyed over the years. This was a business decision after all, it’s nothing personal.

Explaining further, Ellerbe stated, “But I’ll liken this to a guy’s relationship with his lady. When you have been in a long term relationship with a young lady, you have to do the same things you did to get her, to keep her. You can’t take the relationship for granted.”

Ellerbe was obviously referring to Mayweather as the “lady” in that remark and I don’t know how much Floyd would appreciate that but it seems none of it really matters.

For Floyd Mayweather, things have and will always be about the Benjamins. – Rappler.com