How does a boxer become a PPV star?

It's like being the cool guy in High School, or May's case the Bad guy.

-Have a fan-friendly style

-Whip every body's ass in incredible fashion

-Have a back story that strikes an emotional chord, preferably a rags to riches one.

-Keep it real, if you are from USA come out with USA flag, not the Mexican one, I don't give a rats ass where your mommy and daddy are from. DeLaHoya knew this, Margarito did not, neither do a bunch of journeyman Chicanos

-Good looks, Nice looking by your fans standard, DeLaHoya and Mayweather are good looking dudes, Manny is good looking by Philippine standards so it works there.

-Be either loved (Oscar) or hated (Money May) no okay, no "I'm on the fence" or "I am okay with him he seems nice." None of that ****, you have to invoke enough emotion or passion in some one to get them to go out of their way to spend money on you, whether to see you win or lose. They have to have strong feelings for you whether admiration, or contempt.



It's a popularity contest.

 

A combination of things but you gotta give the fans what they want, give one hell of a show, give it your all everytime in the ring (none of this crap with Pac taking it easy on Mosley in order to let him finish the fight!), fight more than once a year to keep the public interest and not retire rather than face the best (Mayweather)!!

Arrogance is not what you want when trying to achieve stardom no matter what sort of pantomime bad guy you are lol, even if you can back it up.

The big thing is you have star quality or you dont it cant be taught, it can be manufactured somewhat but you gotta have something to begin with.

 

Be a slick defensive wizard that everybody hates or a Filipino midget that is a bad karaoke singer! Works every time!

 

He(Dawson) did act like an ******* last time round.Could understand his frustration but any slim chance he ever had of becoming a popular PPV went down the john that night.
There isn't really anyone who has true crossover potential coming through once the current crop of top draws bow out.
Most of the more talented boxers have the personality of a rotting fish.

 

Pretty much this.

 

Had Dawson beaten Hopkins, people would be talking about him right now, but unfortunately the fight went sour so his stock went back down. But even before he fought Hopkins, he made a lot of stupid decisions, he was cherry-picking opponents. He avoided Diaconu for a while, he has yet to fight Cloud and some of the other European LHW champions. Oh and he lost to Pascal and he is constantly switching trainers. But even through all that he still gets media attention such as ESPN.

 

Losing to Pascal was the stupidist thing you could do. How the **** do you lose to Pascal? He gases after like 4 ****ing rounds. Old man hopkins beat him twice jesus.

 

Have a good promoter, fight in smart geographical locations, have a friendly fighting style,. The rest of what you guys said comes afterwards.

 

Be involved in big fights and win them.

Looking at Floyd, he built his popularity by being undefeated, his first big fight in terms of ppv was Gatti. That got publicity, from there on he became a good draw, drawing 300-400k. ODLH was a huge star, so with PBF being a good draw himself already, fighting a huge draw, it turned out to be a huge fight, he won and became recognized by the mainstream.

Pretty much the same happened with Pac. He built his popularity up by winning big fights against MAB/JMM/Morales, he became a good draw facing a great draw in DLH, it became a huge fight and after that he became a huge draw.

Cotto was in the same position, he is a good draw, had he beat Pac he would have been a huge draw now. He also lost to Margo in his "big" fight. Had he beat Margo first time, his stock would have risen very high, he would have been able to draw 500k by himself. When he then came to face Pac, that fight would have been huge and had he beaten the ppv draw then, he would be where Pac & PBF is now.

Hopkins didnt become popular because he wasnt a good draw to begin with, so thus when he beat Oscar, it was just some unknown guy beating Oscar.

When PBF/Pac beat DLH, these were popular guys already who had a big fanbase, thus the rest jumped on the bandwagon, Hopkins didnt have a bandwagon to begin with.

 

Nice breakdown

 

It's not brain surgery: An exciting style 'n thrilling knockouts. Mayweather's the exception to the rule, but think it's more to see him trounced than his artistry.

 

Exciting style

Media hype

Ethnic/geographical fanbase

Scalp a current PPV star



A combination of a couple of those should do the trick. Sometimes.

 

Several things

Have a great resume

rack up titles in several weights

P4p 1

fight other p4p's

have a personality or just a great style

cross over make yourself bigger than the sport or become a symbol

 

Few obvious points:

Win fights against good opponents.
Out of ring personality.
Crowd pleasing fighting style.

 

Too many factors as it ranges from star to star...

Hatton was a PPV star because British fighters usually have a large fanbase. He also had a pleasing style and was down to earth so his crowd felt like he wasn't "above" them. Couple that with a great record, some titles and a breakout win vs Kostya and you're golden.

DelaHoya wasn't a PPV star because he was "likeable". The mexican heritage is rich in the sport's history. However being Mexican American plays a part as he can relate and be understood by the American crowd as well. Being an olympian doesn't hurt. Also he was a young, good looking kid in this world of entertainment boy bands and celebrities. Not to mention he had a lot of talent (speed and pop) and coming off the heels of another great and was matched in BIG fights.

Tyson was a PPV star because of his dominance. Regardless of a weak era or not, he was dominant and exciting. His controversial life style, again in this world of the general public loving reality TV and the misery of celebrities, was also appealing that people wanted to tune in for the show. Also what helped was that the world hadn't had an exciting Heavyweight since Ali. So Tyson being such a young kid, built like a tank in boxing physiques, fast hands, great power, good chin and an aggressive style made his IN RING appeal that much more compelling.

Pacquiao is a PPV star because of what he represents coming from a country that is so poor. Like MAB and Morales, to come from a rough and poor background and "make it", is inspiring. So not only does he gain a following from his own people, his STORY makes him appealing to the American public. Couple that with the fact that he is dynamic and exciting in the ring. He loves to fight. Eventually, after growing bigger and bigger, his STORY grew as he joins the political scene to help his country. Beating the bigger DLH on PPV marketed as The Dream Match simply brings him to the forefront of being noticed beyond just the hardcore fans. Pacman out of the ring isn't the most compelling (unless you find a story to his singing before and after fights), but everything else works.

Mayweather is a PPV star for different reasons. He plays the villain, talks down his opponents like a villain, represents a lifestyle that certain people relate to or hate and knows it's all in good business. Being undefeated causes people to tune in to see the villain fall to whoever the hot fighter is for that night. One thing we know in boxing is that ONE punch can end it. ONE punch can take that 0 away. ONE punch can drop you from the P4P rankings and your career never the same again (ala Roy Jones Jr). That is enough to make you a star. Next is his boxing skills are appealing. To see him not take punishment and fight so comfortably while campaigning as a crossover star who fights for a living, but doesn't show up to talk shows with bruises and slurred speech. However add in the fact that he too benefited from the "beat DLH and you're a PPV star" in a way. I think he would have gotten to this point anyway, but DLH was a boost for Floyd, Mosley, Hopkins, Trinidad and Pacman. On top of his undeniable skill, it's like Floyd took a "Market Your Brand 101" class and passed with flying colors.


So you have British, Black American, Asian, Mexican, etc fighters all PPV stars for various reasons. It's not ONE thing. Not everyone had a DLH to beat. Not everyone had an undefeated record to hang onto. Not everyone had the most exciting fighting style. Not everyone had the most dynamic out of the ring personality. But someone also had a story, a "hook" that they and their promoters exploited, a heritage already rich that they played too, a star opponent to beat.

They come and go. A promoters job is not necessarily to "create" a hook, but to find a hook already there (DLH mexican-america hearthrob, Floyd undefeated and crafty villain, Hatton blue collar exciting mans man with a country following, Pacquiao lovable and generous exciting mexican assassin wrecking machine with a country following, Tyson the dynamic powerful and controversial next great hw) , make sure they're winning the right fights in front of the right people and EXPLOIT THE HECK OUT OF IT.