Real action wasn’t in ring
Bout drew 4.4 million buys. Old mark: 2.5 million, Mayweather vs. De La Hoya, 2007.
The fight itself was a dud, but Mayweather vs. Pacquiao was a huge pay-per-view hit, with a record 4.4 million buys.
The Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2 shattered the record for boxing pay-per-view buys, with Showtime and HBO announcing Tuesday that 4.4 million people purchased the welterweight title unification bout.
Mayweather’s unanimous-decision triumph at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas generated more than $400 million in sales. With closed-circuit sales, a live gate of nearly $75 million and international broadcast fees figured in, the event created “well over” $500 million, according to a Showtime spokesman.
The previous record of 2.5 million buys was generated by the 2007 Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya bout, and Mayweather’s 2013 victory over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez established a record $150 million in pay-per-view sales.
Those records succumbed to an avalanche of sales that actually overwhelmed several national cable and satellite companies in the minutes before the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, delaying the start time.
The long-awaited showdown was generally panned by fans and experts. Mayweather’s victory, by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112, was a clear-cut showing by the winner; Pacquiao labored, and later reported he had suffered a right shoulder injury during an April 4 sparring session.
He said he aggravated the injury in the fourth round, and was reduced to seeking only a left-handed knockout punch that was never delivered as Mayweather improved his record to 48-0.
In a news release, it was noted the bout was “distributed in 175 countries worldwide.”
Also, the bout drew huge numbers on social media. For example, Facebook reported that 37 million unique users contributed more than 115 million interactions from the start of the event to 30 minutes following its completion, a record for a boxing event.