By Ricardo Lois

The aftermath of Floyd Mayweather’s virtuoso performance against Henry Bruseles left some boxing figureheads wondering why "Pretty Boy" has failed to reach a higher level of popularity among the mainstream American public.

Prior to investigating any question, one should ask, "why are we looking into this situation?" In the case of Floyd Mayweather’s limited popularity, the answer is quite simple.

Boxing is a business.

Like any other business in a market-based economy, the goal of boxing power brokers is the maximization of profits. If H.B.O. or Top Rank Promotions finds themselves puzzled by Floyd’s lack of popularity, the root of the question is found in the economics of the situation.

The more popularity Floyd achieves, the more money he can make for himself, HBO, and Top Rank. If the public is interested in "Pretty Boy", HBO will draw in more viewers to their fight programming featuring the magnificent Mayweather and Top Rank gains more revenue from the asses in the seats of bouts.

Hip-Hop artists Whodini sum it up beautifully, "It all comes down to the money."

Why is Floyd’s popularity so limited? Why isn’t the public fighting over tickets to see his skilled brand of pugilism?

Mayweather is one of the most skilled boxers of his generation, if not the most skilled. His charisma and charm seemingly make him a shoe-in for mainstream success.

The problem with Floyd is quite simple and you don not need a doctoral degree is sociology from Harvard to figure to figure out his woes.

Mr. Mayweather is an American boxer weighing one hundred and forty pounds.

Pretty simple.

No, the situation has nothing to do with outside of the ring legal ills. If criminal records were an impedance to popularity and in turn economic viability the National Basketball Association would never have reached its current level of economic success.

Being an American, Mayweather lacks a constituency that is heavily interested in the sport of boxing. Americans, white and Black, abandoned boxing to the second tier of sporting endeavors years ago.

Americans own the biggest and most profitable promotional firms in the sport of boxing. Yet, when Don King and Bob Arum put together a profitable card, I would argue that one of two key elements is in place: either a reputable heavyweight is fighting or a Latino boxer is involved with the event.

If Floyd Mayweather, with his charisma and skills, were Mexican-American or a heavyweight, he would be a star guaranteed.

Americans who are not of Latino decent tend to park themselves in larger numbers at arenas, bars, and living rooms for fights that feature heavyweights; they have no interest in watching a masterful one hundred and forty pound man utterly dominate another man.

Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera can take themselves to hell and back as featherweights in some of the most exciting bouts of recent memory. The events are popular and thus an economic success due to the fact they are Mexican, plan and simple.

When Morales and Barrera clash on HBO pay per view, the majority demographic tuning in is comprised of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and individuals from other Latino ethnic groups.

Floyd Mayweather is not the only American fighter to have encountered the dilemma of being highly skilled with a limited following. During Shane Mosely’s peek as a boxer, he had trouble drawing fans into the stands and in front of televisions at home.

Unless Shane was fighting a Mexican-American by the name of Oscar De La Hoya, he did not attract a significant number of people into attendance or to watch at home.

Pernell Whitaker, for all the skill and talent he displayed, his most viewed and attended bouts were against a Puerto Rican, Felix Trinidad, and a Mexican, Julio Cesar Chavez.

Unfortunately in this current epoch of boxing, white and Black Americans are not clamoring to attend or watch the sport. The economic engine of boxing, fueled by popularity, is in the hands of Latinos and Latino-Americans.

It must be noted that not all Americans and Latino fans fall into these general statements. Of course pure boxing fans, the ones who surf the internet daily for any breaking news or information on the sport, will watch a fighter regardless of his ethnic or racial make-up.

As for the regular white or black guy or gal down at the local sports bar, unless Floyd gains seventy pounds and challenges Vitali Klitschko, their interest in him will remain limited. On the flipside, the average Latino or Latino American sipping on rum or tequila down at the bar has no interest in a small Black American fighter unless he is fighting Jose Luis Castillo or Miguel Cotto.

Regardless if Floyd draws in twenty thousand fans to an arena or twenty, there is no denying his tremendous skills and that is what matters to the remaining Americans, White, Black, or Latino who follow the wonderful human drama called boxing.