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Home » UK Pay Per View sales 1966 – 2022: Usyk vs AJ 2 set for Top 10

UK Pay Per View sales 1966 – 2022: Usyk vs AJ 2 set for Top 10

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Ahead of Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua 2, the event is on course to break into the all-time domestic Pay Per View Top 10.

Recently, PPV has been at the forefront of charging fans extra without providing most of the mega-fights needed to keep the sport fresh.

With the hit of the pandemic in 2020 and the lack of ability to stage PPV, many hoped it would ultimately change how the paid platform works.

The opposite happened. Now there are more PPVs than ever.

Too many cards with a lack of depth and poor headliners are turning away punters. And not to mention the elevated price year upon year.

The latest offering, Usyk vs Joshua 2, has initial estimates of over one million sales for Sky Sports Box Office. They need it to also to break even on their colossal layout.

In reality, they need Usyk vs Joshua 2 to hit upwards of 1.5 million.

Below, World Boxing News provides a complete list of UK Pay Per View sales for boxing events dating back to the days of Muhammad Ali in 1996.

UK Boxing Pay Per View 1966 to 2022

Sky Sports, BT, and Primetime [excluding Ali v Henry]

(Includes seven-day average sales, plus the week before and after)

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

2015 – 2020

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 – 1,592,000
29 April 2017: Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko – 1,631,000
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 – 1,832,000
5 May 2018: David Haye vs. Tony Bellew II – 775,000
28 July 2018: Dillian Whyte vs. Joseph Parker – 474,000
22 September 2018:  Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin – 1,247,000
10 November 2018: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew – 603,000
1 December 2018: Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury – 450,000
22 December 2018: Dillian Whyte vs. Dereck Chisora II – 438,000
1 June 2019: Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. – 403,000
20 July 2019: Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas – 286,000
31 August 2019: Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Luke Campbell – 205,000
26 October 2019: Josh Taylor vs. Regis Prograis – 176,000
7 December 2019: Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II – 1,575,000

Post-2020

22 February 2020: Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder II – Unreleased by BT Sport
22 August 2020: Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin (177,000 to 222,000 – unconfirmed)
31 October 2020 Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora Sky Box Office 1,059,000
12 December 2020 Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev Sky Box Office 948,000
27 March 2021 Alexander Povetkin vs. Dillian Whyte II Sky Box Office 197,000
1 May 2021 Dereck Chisora vs. Joseph Parker Sky Box Office 145,000 [310]
25 September 2021 Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk Sky Box Office 1,232,000
9 October 2021 Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III BT Sport Box Office 300,000

Anthony Joshua Joseph Parker
Lawrence Lustig

TOP 10 UK Boxing PPV

1 Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker – 1.832m
2 Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko – 1.631m
3 Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz 2 – 1.575m
4 David Haye vs Tony Bellew – 1.529m
5 Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin – 1.247m
6 Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk – 1.232m
7 Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye – 1.170m
8 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton – 1.150m
9 Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora Sky Box Office – 1.059m
10 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor – 1m

Pay Per View figures from various media reports and sources. Plus, the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board.

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