Mayweather signs deal with Showtime, fights May 4th

Floyd Mayweather has signed a six year fight agreement with Showtime/CBS which will begin with his recently announced fight May 4^th against Roberto Guerro.  The signing is a sign that the competition between Showtime and HBO has ramped up.

Mayweather and HBO had been longtime partners however the new agreement with Showtime suggests that the company is making inroads into HBO’s hold on boxing.  This past December, CBS held network fights for the first time in a great while to very good ratings.  It’s likely we’ll see CBS incorporated in some way with promoting Mayweather’s May 4^th fight.  Most likely, it will be similar to the Pacquiao-Mosley 360 Fight Camp which aired on Showtime and CBS.  Mayweather was synonymous with HBO’s 24/7 series.

The deal grants Mayweather the opportunity to fight up to six times in a 30 month span.   We will see how many fights Mayweather decides to do.  At 35, it’s not clear if Mayweather would complete the six fights in 30 months.  However, if the deal is tied to the number of fights he is in, we may see Mayweather ramp up the number of fights he takes per year.  Mayweather fought in only one bout last year – a May decision over Miguel Cotto.

Payout Perspective:

Manny Pacquiao moved to Showtime when he accepted a deal to fight Shane Mosley on the network’s PPV in 2011.  A part of the reason was the ability to be on network television.  Mayweather’s deal is much more as it’s likely he’ll end his boxing career with Showtime.  We shall see what that means for the bidding war between HBO and Showtime.  Certainly, HBO will want to retain Pacquiao.  Despite losing the last two fights, a 5^th fight with Marquez should draw interest and HBO should try its hardest to keep it on HBO.  However, if we are to look into the future., if there is any interest left in Mayweather-Pacquiao, it may mean that we see it on a Showtime PPV.

No further details of the deal have been released and it will be interesting to see what Showtime did to pull the biggest PPV draw in boxing to its stable.