The Mayweather vs Ortiz fight may be one of the most discussed fights today. Many boxing analysts believed that Victor does not have enough physical and mental strength to fight the best boxer in the world (next to Manny Pacquiao?). Ortiz's skills will not be enough for Mayweather.
As part of the promoting the fight, Richard Schaefer and Oscar dela Hoya always assures the fans that this will be the most entertaining boxing event in history. With the help of HBO in promoting the fight through the multi-awarded reality TV series, 24/7, among many others, the fight will surely be a "bang" in the boxing world.
"We have finalized our deal with HBO. We obviously had very intense negotiations," Schaefer told ESPN.com. "What we wanted to do is ensure that all the different Time Warner (HBO's parent company) assets will be in play one way or the other, including the Turner Broadcasting assets and the Time Inc. assets, which is their magazines."
Schaefer believes that HBO is motivated to be more aggressive in promoting a big-time event because they don't want to lose to their competitor, Showtime, which televised the Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley fight last May 7. That fight wound up doing about 1.3 million PPV buys, which many expected to turn out much higher because of the help of CBS.
If the Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather agreement came to a closure it could have been the biggest PPV event in boxing history. But since Manny will be fighting against Juan Manuel Marquez this November 12 and Floyd Mayweather will be fighting Victor Ortiz this September 17, the question will be, who between Manny and Floyd will have the higher PPV buys?
"We wanted to make sure all other assets that HBO has available will be fully utilized to support this fight and give it the widest possible exposure," Schaefer said in an interview with ESPN.com. "I am very happy that HBO Sports and HBO senior management were very open and that we had productive conversations, which fell on open ears. HBO seems very motivated and excited to show the world what they can do utilizing their vast array of assets."
Schaefer said Showtime was also interested in promoting the Ortiz vs Mayweather fight but a deal couldn' t be finalized.He also said that the title of the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Victor Ortiz will be "Star Power."
"Mayweather is the biggest star, and Victor Ortiz is one of the most powerful guys in the sport. He knocks everybody down," Schaefer said to ESPN.com. "You have a star fighting a guy with great power. You have a guy in Mayweather who attracts star power. You go to a Mayweather fight and it's a who's who showing up. It's 'Star Power.'"
