Ring Observer Boxing by Scoop Malinowski
By Scoop Malinowski
Losing in boxing can sometimes means winning. Let me explain.
The most famous example of a boxer losing a fight but then winning financially is probably the James J. Braddock vs Joe Louis world heavyweight title fight in 1937.
Braddock was the champion but he, his manager Joe Gould and just about every astute ring observer knew that he had no chance to beat the might Brown Bomber.
Check out this passage in the book “The Great Heavyweights” by Henry Cooper published by Chartwell Books in 1978:
“Braddock was managed by a clever character named Joe Gould. He knew that if he ever let James J. in the same ring as Joe Louis there was only going to be one loser. Or two, if you count Braddock’s manager as well. So Gould, who would have made the characters in charge of the United States gold reserves at Fort Knox look like financial novices, did a deal which gave Braddock a percentage of all the money Louis was going to make from title defenses in the event of beating James J. Joe’s subsequent ‘bum of the month’ campaign, then, could have delighted nobody more than Braddock. All that money coming in, without sticking your neck out, literally. On the night of 22 June, 1937, in Chicago, Joe knocked out Braddock in eight rounds and the title was his.”
Of course, Braddock and Gould earned a fortune from all of Joe Louis’s title defenses. It was smart business decision by Braddock and Gould – and one that surely has been repeated countless times by other clever boxing managers, who knew their guy was probably going to lose to the emerging cash cow/super champion.
We saw a similar situation when Oscar De La Hoya lost to Bernard Hopkins and then soon after signed Hopkins to become a partner and fighter with Golden Boy Promotions. So De La Hoya benefited large revenues by promoting Hopkins fights after losing to Hopkins.
The question now is would Mayweather consider the idea of reaching an agreement to possibly sign McGregor’s boxing fights to his company TMT in the event he were to lose to McGregor on August 26? Or could a deal already have been struck?
Is it possible that Mayweather could be interested in losing to McGregor in order to set up a future revenue stream based on future McGregor fights, just like Jimmy Braddock’s manager wisely arranged with the Joe Louis Team?
As most astute ring observers know by now, just about anything is possible in boxing.
Can you see it now… McGregor vs. Malignaggi in 2018, promoted by TMT televised by Showtime?
