PACQUIAO-MAYWEATHER SHATTERS ALL RECORDS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 13 May 2015
The ?Fight of the Century? between eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao and undefeated pound for pound No.1 Floyd Mayweather Jr has shattered all records in terms of pay per view buys and gross income and is expected to generate revenues of over $500 million.
The fight which took five years to finalize ended with Mayweather sealing his 48th victory in what many considered a much closer fight than what was reflected in the scorecards of the three judges, particularly Dave Moretti who had Mayweather the winner by an inexplicable 118-110 margin.
Even the unofficial punch stats of CompuBox which were heavily loaded in favor of Mayweather has been seriously questioned by a panel of boxing writers/analysts from Boxing News 24, a respected internet site which reviewed the fight tape at normal speed, in slo-motion and frame by frame and came up with vastly different numbers that translated into either a draw or a close victory for either Mayweather or Pacquiao, depending on how the extremely close rounds were scored.
The PPV numbers and the other details were announced by Showtime Networks Inc., a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and HBO. in conjunction with lead promoter, Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank Promotions of Bob Arum.
The figures clearly underscored the fact that Pacquiao was a major contributor to attracting fight fans since Mayweather?s previous big fights against popular opponents Oscar De La Hoya and Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez paled in comparison.
Initial reports from distributors indicate that the fight which was titled the ?Battle for Greatness? in the Philippines multi-network telecast by Solar Entertainment over ABS-CBN, GMA 7 and TV 5 generated more than 4.4 million buys in the United States alone which translated into over $400 million in revenue.
The pay per view buys in the US alone nearly doubled the previous record of 2.8 million buys in the Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya bout which Mayweather won by a split decision in 2007 and almost tripled the pay per view revenue in the US generated by Mayweather?s clash with popular young Mexican Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez in 2013 which Mayweather won by a majority decision.
The jam-packed MGM Grand Garden Arena?s ?live? gate receipts, international TV distribution, sponsorships, closed circuit and merchandise sales are expected to generate more than $500 in gross worldwide receipts.
The gate receipts added more than $71 million to the coffers which dramatically eclipsed the previous live gate record of $20 million for the Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight both for the sport of boxing and for the city of Las Vegas.
The fight also set the record for closed circuit admissions and revenue both in Las Vegas and in establishments, nationwide.
The event sold nearly 46,000 closed circuit admissions at MGM Resorts International properties in Las Vegas alone and was in addition available at more than 5,000 bars, restaurants and commercial establishments throughout the United States.
Distributed in 175 countries around the world the fight was available in essentially 75 percent of the world?s territories which set a revenue record for international distribution.
Even on social media the Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown drew incredible numbers with Facebook reporting 37 million people contributing more than 115 million interactions from the start of the event to 30 minutes after it was over which again set a record for a boxing event.
The May 2 fight included unprecedented marketing and cross-promotional support from distributors as well as record revenues from the event?s major sponsors.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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