As expected, the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto didn’t exactly do that well as far as PPV sales are concerned especially if one compares it to the list of fights that the now 49-0 American boxer has had through his career.
According to ESPN, the Mayweather-Berto bout which was held last September 12 and expectedly dominated by Floyd Jr., could only produce pay-per-view buys in the vicinity of 400,000 to 550,000 buys. The numbers were the lowest figures for Mayweather in a decade.
"Being generous, it might hit 550,000 buys," one was quoted as saying in the report.
The September 12 joust was the weakest PPV performance since he was an HBO rookie back in 2005 and 2006 where he fought names like Arturo Gatti and Zab Judah.
Stephen Espinoza, the executive vice president and general manager for Showtime Sports did not dispute the 550,000 figures. He did however come up with an interesting insight.
"We know that a large chunk of the audience watches Floyd to see him lose," he said. "And for those people, the best chance of somebody beating Floyd was Manny Pacquiao. So once Floyd beat Manny, and beat him definitively, a lot of the intrigue was gone. If Manny couldn't beat him, nobody would beat him. So they didn't buy the fight. I also think we were suffering a little bit of a hangover over from May 2."
With the poor PPV numbers hardly coming as a surprise, there was someone else who took a shot at the low figures – UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Rousey isn’t exactly in good terms with Mayweather and the two have been at it for some time now. Mayweather went as far as saying that Rousey (and the UFC) are simply trying to use him to get some publicity.
"I'm not surprised," Rousey told TMZ.com. "A lot of people were pissed after that (Manny) Pacquiao fight. Fans aren't dumb."
For her part, Rousey will be taking the spotlight this coming November in Australia when she takes on Holly Holm at UFC 193 in Australia. The main event is expected to be another profitable payday for the UFC.
As far as Mayweather is concerned, it remains to be seen if this was the way he had wanted to exit. While he has achieved that unprecedented 49-0 record, not everyone is convinced that Floyd is 100 percent quitting the sport.
Currently in the air is a possible rematch with Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao despite the fact that both haven’t expressed interest (for now) for another showdown.
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