February’s exhibition clash between Floyd Mayweather and a YouTuber is no threat to the astounding Pay Per View record co-held by Manny Pacquiao.
That’s the view of World Boxing News, which sees the money-grab as merely an exercise in testing the PPV boundaries.
Gaining 4.6 million sales at $99.95 ($89.95 in standard definition) is impressive enough, but when you add the worldwide figure, it’s even more sublime.
Worldwide, Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao grossed upwards of $500 million after totals of over 5.7 million purchases tailed off in 2015.
If Mayweather believes he can beat that, then fair play to him. It won’t be at the same (or anywhere near the) level as the Pacquiao fight.
Floyd is already offering a discount for early buyers. Therefore, unless he puts the event out on par terms with ‘MayPac,’ there’s no way he could even state it’s a record-breaker.
Mayweather vs Pacquiao
Selling more than 5.7m or 4.6m in the United States will be a tall order in itself, but on lower terms won’t make it anything like a record.
Despite the odds against him, Mayweather is already in the process of drumming up colossal support.
“This is going to be a great night for the fans worldwide due to us bringing something special to them through sports and entertainment,” said Mayweather.
“I have never shied away from doing things differently throughout my career. This special exhibition is just another opportunity for me to do it again.”
In his official confirmation of the show, Mayweather’s team added that ‘the match-up could shatter pay-per-view records.’
Highly unlikely in our view. A place on the top ten is about the best it can hope for at present.
Should they drop the price, they could topple Sugar Ray Leonard’s third-place vs. Marvin Hagler in the worldwide stakes.
Getting anywhere near five million seems a reach, though.
TOP ALL-TIME WORLDWIDE PPV SALES (1980 – Today)
1 Mayweather vs Pacquiao – 5.77m
2 Mayweather vs. McGregor – 5.17m
3 Leonard vs. Hagler – 3.15m
4 Lewis vs. Tyson – 2.72m
5 Tyson vs. Holyfield II – 2.67m
6 Mayweather vs. De La Hoya – 2.45m
7 Mayweather vs. Hatton – 2.4m
8 Mayweather vs. Canelo – 2.2
9 Tyson vs. Bruno II – 2.06m
10 Holmes vs. Cooney 2m
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