World highest paid Athlete Floyd Mayweather Jr, in an interview recorded some time last year declared that he would never donate any of his wealth to Africa.
According to ThisAfrica the champion said that he would not donate to Africa because he believes Africa has not done anything for him or for his family. Although his statement might sound callous we would like to applaud him for airing his sentiments as they bear the undesirable element of truth behind them.
As the saying goes “charity begins at home ” – Floyd’s loaded remarks that he will only donate to himself and, his family should not be viewed only as egocentric but as a rude awakening for our beloved continent to scrutinize the curse of foreign aid. Maybe it would have been more palatable if he used his conviction as a rallying call for Africa to find ways to aid itself instead of being a basket case. As in the case of the awful Band Aid initiative, too many ‘celebrities’ are using Africa as a stepping stone to popularity as it is.
Saturday’s mega-fight was more than five years in the making, and issues with drug testing and a split of the purse, as well as bad blood between the promoters, prevented the bout from happening when the boxers were at their peaks. But while some fans might think that the fight happened a half-decade too late, Mayweather and Pacquiao benefited financially from making the public wait.
At least $300 million, and possibly more, will be split between Mayweather and Pacquiao. If they had fought in 2010, their combined purse would have totaled an estimated $150 million. Even with inflation, that’s equal to just $165 million in 2015.
“We had six years of teasing the public,” Arum told Bloomberg Business on the week of the fight. “You couldn’t buy the publicity.”
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