Floyd Mayweather Jr's majority decision victory over Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez was a pay-per-view success after PPV company Showtime announced the PPV revenue of $150 million, surpassing the previous record set by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
Mayweather lived up to his status as boxing's top pound-for-pound attraction with another record-breaking feat that could stay in the books for a long time. The Grand Rapids Native already collected guaranteed money worth $41.5 million, but Thursday's announcement only means he would receive the fattest paycheck of his career out of PPV buys.
De La Hoya vs. Mayweather was a gate and PPV blockbuster, racking up $18.4 million (17,000 tickets) and $136 million PPV revenue in 2007. However, Mayweather's latest showdown with a younger Mexican champion in Canelo brought in even bigger numbers
Nevada State Athletic Commission already released early Thursday the gate record of 'the One,' which reportedly racked up $20 million out of 16,146 tickets or average price of $1,240 per ticket.
"The SHOWTIME PPV presentation of THE ONE surpassed the previous record of $136 million generated by Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing event in 2007," Showtime announced on Thursday.
"Preliminary reports from distributors show pay-per-view buys projected to be 2.2 million. While not fully reported from all distributors, the total buys could challenge the existing record of 2.48 million pay-per-view buys set by De La Hoya vs. Mayweather. The initial report immediately following the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather event in 2007 was 2.15. THE ONE has already exceeded the previous #2 event, the infamous World Heavyweight Championship bout between Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II (1.95 million, 1997)," the company added in the press release.
Mayweather cruised to another clinical victory after hitting Canelo Alvarez with sharp jabs and multiple punch combination. Many boxing fans and expert scored it a shutout win for Mayweather, but one of three NSAC judges scored it a surprising 114-114.
C.J Ross, who also came up with a putrid scoring in Tim Bradley's split decision win over Manny Pacquiao last year, consequently stepped down from her post indefinitely in an effort to temper boxing fans' outcry.