HBO sent out a press
release today reporting that the May 5 pay-per-view headlined by Floyd Mayweather and
Miguel Cotto did
1.5 million buys, a very strong showing indeed but, it must be said, yet again
well short of the supposed "early indicators" that had this fight
"breaking all the records."
Mayweather defeated Cotto
in an entertaining main event last Saturday, winning a 12-round
decision in a fight that pretty much met its high-end expectation: Two great
fighters providing a competitive bout, rather than one-way traffic in a
wipeout, which has unfortunately become the norm for the major pay-per-view
events in boxing.
With its hefty price tag, the event generated $94 million
in pay-per-view revenue, second in non-heavyweight history only to Mayweather's
2007 win over Oscar De La Hoya, which pulled in $137 million. That fight is
still far and away the benchmark for everything: PPV buys, PPV revenue, gate
revenue.
