Bert Randolph Sugar: MMA is GTA with human bodies
Village Voice: Do you agree with what some are saying, that Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is potentially the most lucrative fight…
Village Voice: Do you agree with what some are saying, that Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is potentially the most lucrative fight in boxing history?
Bert Randoph Sugar: Yes, but you have to stress the word “potential” because I don’t think that fight will ever happen.
VV: Really? With maybe a possible $150 million gate at stake, you don’t think they’ll get together?
BRS: No. Mayweather’s got a lot of problems. One is his ego — it galls him to have to split 50-50 with Pacquiao. Second is the risk factor. I think Floyd is afraid.
VV: You think he’s physically afraid of Pacquiao?
BRS: No, not afraid of Pacquiao, but afraid of losing. Manny has an advantage there. He lost a couple of fights early in his career before he got a reputation of being invincible. He isn’t shattered by the idea of losing. But Mayweather has never lost, and is afraid of losing.
VV: With all the talk of mixed martial arts taking over from boxing, why, for all its popularity, hasn’t MMA produced a fight that can draw like Mayweather-Mosley?
BRS: Mixed martial arts hasn’t taken over from boxing, it’s taken over from wrestling.
VV: I take it you’re not a fan?
BRS: Of what? I call MMA a “Franken-sport.” It’s a made up sport stitched together from parts of others. Most of what I’ve seen is just bad boxing — the fighters can’t jab, and they’ve never seen a punch they could get out of the way of. It’s Grand Theft Auto with human bodies.