May 10, 2007
IF IT WAS ABOUT WINNING NO ONE WOULD WATCH:
A real knockout: De La Hoya-Mayweather fight breaks records with 2.15 million buys and $120 million in revenue. (Larry Stewart and Lance Pugmire, May 10, 2007, LA Times)
And the new pay-per-view champion of the world is Oscar De La Hoya.A record 2.15 million buys for De La Hoya's split-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday night on HBO Pay-Per-View generated a record $120 million in revenue.
Those numbers, released Wednesday, pushed the totals for 18 pay-per-view fights involving De La Hoya to 12.6 million buys and $612 million in revenue, both record highs.
Also, no boxer has ever made as much off one fight.
Counting his share of the pay-per-view, live gate, closed-circuit showings and merchandising, De La Hoya's total purse, according to two sources, will exceed $50 million.
Mayweather's take is expected to be $20 million.
For all that, it was a mediocre bout because Mayweather doesn't realize it's supposed to be entertainment. His refusal to ever bring the action to his foe and the sort of cautious out-pointing strategy is deadly dull. There's no way he should get to take a champion's crown off of such a defensive performance. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 10, 2007 1:18 PM
I tried to post a very similar analysis the morning after the fight, but I kept getting redirected to some Yahoo error message. I had Mayweather winning 116-114, but he shouldn't be able to take a champion's belt with his tactics. The fight was interesting but lacked excitement. I wouldn't pay for the rematch. Mixed Martial Arts fighting is surging in popularity and Boxing is in trouble.
Posted by: Patrick H at May 10, 2007 1:59 PM