What does Mayweather’s WWE appearance mean for boxing and Manny Pacquiao?

Now that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is scheduled to appear on the 8/24 edition of WWE RAW, what does this appearance mean for boxing and boxing’s biggest star Manny Pacquiao?
In my previous article, WWE officially announces Mayweather’s appearance to guest host RAW, I received a lot of feedback from boxing fans. More specifically, I received a lot of feedback from Manny Pacquiao fans.

Before I go any further, I’d like to take a second and give a shout out to all the Pacquiao fans at Pacland. There isn’t a group of fans on God’s green earth that’s more passionate, dedicated, and supporting than the Pacquiao fans. They’ve taken me from someone who only just appreciated Manny’s talents, to becoming a big fan who thinks he’s the greatest boxer in the sport today.

In some of the feedback I received, there were a few comments that really got these wheels turning in my head. They made me start thinking why Mayweather Jr. really needs to make this appearance on WWE RAW.


* Mayweather Jr. needs this appearance on WWE RAW to really hype up his fight.
* In fact, I can’t remember any recent Mayweather JR. fight that has received such little mainstream hype and coverage.
* Mayweather Jr. is arguably boxing’s second biggest name (behind Pacquiao of course) and the boxing chatter is surprisingly quiet.
* Mayweather Jr is all about the money and he needs to make this appearance on television to get a paycheck, since the PPV buy-rates and ticket sales are expected be low.



After realizing some of the key reasons why Mayweather Jr. needs to make this appearance, I started to ask myself how his appearance will affect boxing and the sport’s biggest star Manny Pacquiao.


* If the sport’s 2nd biggest star falls short of PPV expectations and ticket sales, then this will have a big impact on boxing.
o It will mean that boxing really only has one real box-office and PPV draw; and that’s Mann Pacquiao.
o It will also mean that boxing is in bigger trouble then originally thought; because boxing has already been suffering due to the huge success of MMA specifically the UFC.
* With less than thrilling numbers expected for the Mayweather Jr. fight, will boxing look at Pacquiao to be the savior and carry the sport into promising times?
o If so, will Pacquiao be around long enough to save the sport since he has recently talked about retirement, politics, and participated in other entertainment endeavors?
* If the PPV and ticket numbers, for Floyd’s upcoming fight, are thrilling because of his appearance on WWE, will this mean that more boxers should appear on WWE television to hype their fights?
o Could one of those boxer’s be Manny Pacquao? (read further)
* I have been waging a one-man campaign for Pacquiao to appear in the WWE.
o With Floyd making another appearance, and Lebron James being rumored to appear down the road, it only reinforces my reasoning why Pacquiao should appear on WWE RAW.

Ultimately, Floyd’s WWE appearance will be under scrutiny until the PPV and ticket numbers are released for his upcoming fight on September 19th. But it’s clear, boxing needs Floyd to be successful, increase the hype, and draw big numbers; Floyd needs the hype, big numbers, and money; and this all will affect the sport’s greatest star Manny Pacquiao.

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This article is the first part of a 2 part series detailing how Mayweather Jr's WWE RAW appearance will affect boxing, Pacquiao, and the WWE.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-13475-Pro-Wrestling-Examiner~y2009m8d18-What-does-Mayweathers-WWE-appearance-mean-for-boxing-and-Manny-Pacquiao