Pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. made two announcements on Tuesday, one expected and another rather surprising one that will change the landscape of the boxing business.
The expected: Mayweather will return to the ring on May 4 -- one day short of a year since his last fight -- to defend his welterweight world title against interim titlist Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Mayweather will be fighting for the seventh consecutive time.
Since Mayweather first announced in December that he would fight on May 4, Guerrero was the leading candidate to get the fight.
The unexpected element of Mayweather's announcement: He is leaving HBO/Time Warner, his television home for virtually his entire career, to move to rival Showtime/CBS for the pay-per-view fight.
But Mayweather is not just going to Showtime PPV for one fight, like Manny Pacquiao did when Top Rank promoter Bob Arum took him from HBO to Showtime to face Shane Mosley in a 2011 pay-per-view fight. Arum ultimately brought Pacquiao back after HBO Sports' Ross Greenburg was forced to resign, in large part for losing Pacquiao to Showtime.
Ken Hershman, who left as head of Showtime Sports to replace Greenburg as HBO Sports president, wound up losing Mayweather long term.
Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs), the five-division champion who turns 36 on Sunday, signed a six-fight, 30-month deal with Showtime/CBS, effectively ending his career at HBO.
"Floyd has signed a record-breaking deal with Showtime PPV/CBS, and Floyd is ecstatic," Leonard Ellerbe, one of Mayweather's top advisers, told ESPN.com. "This historic deal reflects a global superstar who is head and shoulders above his peers. HBO, they made a great offer, but the Showtime PPV/CBS offer was substantially greater in every facet, from top to bottom.
Floyd Mayweather signs pay-per-view deal with Showtime/CBS, will fight Robert Guerrero on May 4 - ESPN
Cant say I blame him, they've been shytting on him at HBO.....
The expected: Mayweather will return to the ring on May 4 -- one day short of a year since his last fight -- to defend his welterweight world title against interim titlist Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Mayweather will be fighting for the seventh consecutive time.
Since Mayweather first announced in December that he would fight on May 4, Guerrero was the leading candidate to get the fight.
The unexpected element of Mayweather's announcement: He is leaving HBO/Time Warner, his television home for virtually his entire career, to move to rival Showtime/CBS for the pay-per-view fight.
But Mayweather is not just going to Showtime PPV for one fight, like Manny Pacquiao did when Top Rank promoter Bob Arum took him from HBO to Showtime to face Shane Mosley in a 2011 pay-per-view fight. Arum ultimately brought Pacquiao back after HBO Sports' Ross Greenburg was forced to resign, in large part for losing Pacquiao to Showtime.
Ken Hershman, who left as head of Showtime Sports to replace Greenburg as HBO Sports president, wound up losing Mayweather long term.
Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs), the five-division champion who turns 36 on Sunday, signed a six-fight, 30-month deal with Showtime/CBS, effectively ending his career at HBO.
"Floyd has signed a record-breaking deal with Showtime PPV/CBS, and Floyd is ecstatic," Leonard Ellerbe, one of Mayweather's top advisers, told ESPN.com. "This historic deal reflects a global superstar who is head and shoulders above his peers. HBO, they made a great offer, but the Showtime PPV/CBS offer was substantially greater in every facet, from top to bottom.
Floyd Mayweather signs pay-per-view deal with Showtime/CBS, will fight Robert Guerrero on May 4 - ESPN
Cant say I blame him, they've been shytting on him at HBO.....
