The Las Vegas extravaganza, which fell short of expectations as a semi-injured Pacquiao went down on points to Mayweather with a whimper, totalled 4.6million Pay-Per-View buys when the final tally came in.
In contrast, Mayweather’s collision with UFC title holder Conor McGregor is reportedly some 200,000 purchases short of that figure following their bout in August.
Mayweather ended a two-year retirement to secure a 50th career victory over McGregor via stoppage as UFC boss Dana White’s prediction of 5m sales at between $89.95 and $99.95 (HD) failed to come to fruition.
The live gate, which was also hoped to be a record-breaker, already dropped some $16.5m dollars to ‘MayPac’, which made a whopping $72 million on fight night.
Despite not reaching expectations, Mayweather and McGregor are both likely to clear nine figures for the showdown, to add to their guaranteed purses of $100m and $30m respectively.
Ex-pound for pound king Mayweather’s total could exceed $300m, whilst McGregor may go as a high as half that before White takes his considerable cut of the profits.
(Credit: Esther Lin)
A rematch in the octagon had been talked bout pre-fight but has never really been a realistic expectation as both combatants enjoy the fruits of their labour.
McGregor immediately took his family on a lavish holiday, whilst Mayweather bought himself a new mansion in Los Angeles and even paid tribute to ‘The Notorious’ with a massive painting of the pair on display.
As Mayweather reiterates his retirement, McGregor is plotting a return to UFC and has several suitors to his lightweight crown.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, is still active and could give McGregor the opportunity to add more money to his bank balance should the two-weight UFC ruler fancy lacing up the boxing gloves again in 2018.
