HBO Sports reported that 1.5 million PPV buys were generated by the May 5 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto fight at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas. That number of buys resulted in a total of $94M in PPV revenue. Mayweather-Cotto becomes the second-highest grossing non-heavyweight PPV event in boxing history, trailing only the $137M generated by the Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight in '07 (HBO Sports). Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said that the 1.5 million figure “will grow once all of the numbers are accounted for.” Schaefer: "The 1.5 million number is actual reported numbers. The final number will definitely be bigger than what it is now." HBO reported in “nine HBO PPV main events, Mayweather has generated 9.6 million buys and $543 million in television revenue.” ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael noted Mayweather's knockout of Victor Ortiz in September “sold 1.25 million subscriptions and generated $78.4 million.” The higher revenue for the Ortiz fight is “because the cost of the pay-per-view was higher.” Schaefer: "Floyd Mayweather's numbers are getting bigger and bigger and this number shows you the kind of draw he is." He added, "He has broken out of the boxing following and now has a mainstream following that is unmatched in the sport. The numbers keep getting bigger and bigger" (ESPN.com, 5/11).
THE BEST THAT NEVER WAS? In N.Y., William Rhoden writes Mayweather for now is “just a guy who boxes well, who owns 29 cars and has made truckloads of money.” Boxing “needs a great moment, and Floyd Mayweather and to a lesser extent Manny Pacquiao are robbing the sport of the moment it desperately needs” by not staging a fight against each other. Rhoden writes Pacquiao “needs the fight with Mayweather, but Mayweather needs it more” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/14).
