Floyd Mayweather Jr., Al Haymon Named Most Powerful Boxing Personalities

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his manager Al Haymon have been included in a list of “Boxing’s 25 Most Powerful Figures” by fight sports expert Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports. The undefeated American boxer is the only active boxer among the top ten in the said list,and one of the only two— the other being Filipino Manny Pacquiao— in the entire selection.

Meanwhile, Haymon, who is Mayweather Jr’s manager, is tops among all the list, which is dominated by boxing promoters and boxing industry’s big bosses. HBO Sports president Ken Hershman is at no. 3 and vice president of programming Peter Nelson is at no. 9. Top Rank Promotions founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bob Arum is at no. 4 and their president Todd duBoef is at no. 7.

Others inside the top ten are the heads of different influential boxing outfits including Stephen Espinoza (executive vice president/general manager of Showtime Sports) at no. 5; Oscar De La Hoya (president of Golden Boy Promotions) at no. 6; and Tom Loeffler (managing director of K2 Promotions) at no. 9; and Kathy Duva (CEO of Main Events) at no. 10.

Mayweather and Haymon retained their no. 2 and no. 1 spots from last year's version of the Iole rankings of boxing's most powerful while Arum (previously at no. 9), Hershman (previously at no. 7) and De La Hoya (previously unranked) are the biggest gainers.

READ ALSO: Pacquiao Team Members In Back Channel Negotiations To Make Fight Against Mayweather Happen; Arum, Koncz Blocking Super Fight—Report

It’s no surprise that Haymon and Mayweather rank first and second in the list of boxing’s elite and influential figures. It is well-known that the pair has the power over the boxing world and which big money fights will most likely occur. Haymon, who studied economics and earned a master’s degree in business administration at Harvard University, have managed the careers of former boxers like Lamon Brewster, Paul Williams, Vernon Forrest and Vassiliy Jirov.

Aside from Mayweather Jr., his most popular client, he currently handles or have handled fighters like Danny Garcia, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Antonio Tarver, Andre Berto, Devon Alexander, Shawn Porter, Austin Trout, Jermain Taylor, Adrien Broner, Lucas Martin Matthysse and Amir Khan, among many others. Boxing wasn’t Haymon’s first acts in the managing business as he also previously handled the careers of musicians like s M. C. Hammer, New Edition, Whitney Houston and Mary J. Blige.

Mayweather’s influence in boxing is well-documented as well. Since turning pro in October 1996, the outspoken American has not lost a bout. The dominating run has been credited to his top-notch defensive skills which makes him one of, if not the best, counter punchers in the fight game. Mayweather Jr. owns the two highest earning boxing pay-per-view (PPV) buys in the history of the sport with both his bouts against Oscar De La Hoya on May 5, 2007 and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez” on Sept. 14, 2013 both gaining over two million PPV buys.

As powerful as the two boxing personalities are, both are criticised for failing to make one highly-in-demand super fight to happen— the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight. Recent reports have stated however that Mayweather is now willing to make the fight happen although there are still no contracts signed.

To contact the author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.au.com