Floyd Mayweather is confident when the final numbers are totaled weeks and even months from now, his Dec. 8 fight with Ricky Hatton will have attracted at least one million pay-per-view buys. By GEORGE WILLIS
Floyd Mayweather is confident when the final numbers are totaled weeks and even months from now, his Dec. 8 fight with Ricky Hatton will have attracted at least one million pay-per-view buys. HBO announced on Monday the fight generated 850,000 buys resulting in $47 million in pay-per-view revenue, a profitable total in itself.
It was the highest-grossing PPV fight that didnât feature Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield or Oscar De La Hoya. Pre-fight indicators suggested the WBC welterweight title fight between Mayweather, the pound-for-pound king, and the unbeaten Hatton from Manchester, England, might do one million buys, and Mayweather is confident it will live up to those expectations.
âWhen itâs all said and done weâre going to reach a million anyway because the numbers keep coming in,â said Mayweather, who scored a 10th-round knockout to retain the WBC welterweight title. â850,000 all day is a million homes. Youâre going to find the rest of those homes out there.â
Mayweatherâs May 5 showdown with De La Hoya attracted a record 2.4 million buys, meaning Mayweather has generated 3.2 million buys in back-to-back bouts, solidifying his nickname: Money.
âIâm the only fighter that ever did over 3 million in two fights with a $30 million gate,â Mayweather said. âNo other fighter has done that. Let them continue to tell you itâs the other guy. Donât believe that. You all know who it is. Mr. Controversy himself.
Mayweather-Hatton capped off a good year in boxing, evidenced by the record 4.8 million buys in 2007 reported by HBO PPV. Those buys earned a whopping $255 million in revenue. It breaks the 1990 record of 4 million buys and $200 million in revenue.
âMayweather-Hatton was one of boxingâs most memorable nights of the past decade and the perfect ending to a resurgent year for the sport,â said Mark Taffet, HBOâs Senior VP of Sports Operations and PPV.
Mayweather said he earned about $50 million for his two fights. âThatâs all Iâm going to tell you about,â he said with smile. âI could be more.â
Meanwhile, Hatton plans to fight once in the UK before challenging Pauli Malignaggi for the IBF junior welterweight title should Malignaggi successfully defend his crown against Herman Ngoudjo on Jan. 5 in Atlantic City. A potential Hatton-Malignaggi fight would be held at Madison Square Garden.