Headed by Sky Sports Box Office, Sky PPV is becoming big business in Great Britain – spearheaded by current heavyweight king Anthony Joshua.
Since the very first paid contest in the UK way back in 1966 when Muhammad Ali came to Highbury Stadium in England for a fight with Henry Cooper, fans have tuned in to see their favorite stars in action.
The biggest event on British soil happened when Anthony Joshua took over the top division by defeating Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017, a fight that drew over 1.5m buys on Sky Sports Box Office.
Joshua also holds the second spot after almost matching that total against Joseph Parker in 2018, whilst the only other offerings to break the 1 million barrier was held outside the UK.
Floyd Mayweather v Ricky Hatton was purchased by 1.15m households in 2007, whilst David Haye’s failed attempt to dethrone Klitschko in Germany four years later drew just a few less than that total.
(Photo: HBO)
During the 1990’s, Frank Bruno, Naseem Hamed and Lennox Lewis had their successes on the platform before Pay-Per-View struggled between 2002 and 2014 with the exception of Haye.
Tony Bellew jumped on board the Haye train successfully with his two attempts recently, whilst Mayweather had further impressive showings with Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor.
Kell Brook hasn’t been able to establish himself in his appearances without a huge name in the opposite corner, whilst the newest addition in Dillian Whyte did good numbers when headlining his own event with Parker this summer.
An ill-fated clash between Haye and Audley Harrison in 2010 did it’s best to cool things for a while, although the controversy between Carl Froch and George Groves brought the format back to the big time in 2014 and Sky Sports Box Office haven’t looked back since.
(Photo: Ed Mulholland)
Here’s the full list of Pay-Per-View figures:
(only including Sky Sports and Primetime (excluding Ali v Henry)
21 May 1966: Muhammad Ali vs. Henry Cooper II – 40,000
16 March 1996: Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II – 600,000
8 February 1997: Naseem Hamed vs. Tom Johnson – 650,000
28 June 1997: Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II – 550,000
13 March 1999: Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis – 400,000
29 January 2000: Mike Tyson vs. Julius Francis – 500,000
8 June 2002: Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson – 750,000
8 December 2007: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton – 1,150,000
18 July 2009: Amir Khan vs. Andreas Kotelnik – 100,000
7 November 2009: Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye – 469,000
3 April 2010: David Haye vs. John Ruiz – 177,000
24 April 2010: Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler – 50,000
18 September 2010: Kell Brook vs. Michael Jennings – 15,000
13 November 2010: David Haye vs. Audley Harrison – 223,000
11 December 2010: Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana – 164,000
Post-2010
16 April 2011: Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey – 200,000
21 May 2011: George Groves vs. James DeGale – 43,000
2 July 2011: Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye – 1,143,000
25 May 2013: Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler II – 32,000
23 November 2013: Carl Froch vs. George Groves – 47,000
31 May 2014: Carl Froch vs. George Groves II – 355,000
30 May 2015: Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin – 139,000
2 May 2015: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao – 876,000
28 November 2015: Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury – 545,000
12 December 2015: Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte – 420,000
27 February 2016: Carl Frampton vs. Scott Quigg – 304,000
9 April 2016: Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin – 500,000
25 June 2016: Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale – 512,000
10 September 2016: Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook – 500,000
10 December 2016: Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina – 450,000
4 March 2017: David Haye vs. Tony Bellew – 890,000
29 April 2017: Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko – 1,532,000
27 May 2017: Kell Brook vs. Errol Spence Jr. – 275,000
26 August 2017: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor – 874,000
28 October 2017 – Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam – 887,000
31 March 2018: Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker – 1,457,000
5 May 2018: David Haye vs. Tony Bellew II – 775,000
28 July 2018: Dillian Whyte vs. Joseph Parker – 474,000
Figures were taken from various media reports and sources, plus the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board.
Phil Jay is Editor of WBN. An Auxiliary member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay
