Big boxing matches surprise us by landing thumping lefts and rights with big names such as Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson, Muhammed Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Evander Holyfield, Felix Trinidad, Lennox Lewis and more. But, who really are the topnotchers among them in the pay-per-view (PPV) buys?
Rather, it’s tough to find a definitive top ten list qualifying for top boxing PPV buys of all-time. The Oscar ‘Golden Boy’ De La Hoya vs. Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather fight, nonetheless, still tops the list. And ‘Golden Boy’ still remains the boxing’s all-time highest grossing PPV attraction.
HBO reports list of top Pay-Per-View events in boxing’s history, to wit:
1. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, May 2007 – 2.4 million PPV buys: Mainly attributed to De La Hoya’s star power, the fight was televised on HBOPay-Per-View, with the cost to watch the fight at $55 in the U.S.
2. Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield (rematch), June 1997 – 1.99 million PPV buys: 1997 Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight championship ear-bite rematch was still a big draw. Even a potential trilogy could still give a shot at PPV buys.
3. Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis, June 2002 – 1.97 million PPV buys: The fight was shown as a joint collaboration between HBO and Showtime in the United States and on Sky Box Office in the United Kingdom. It was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating US$106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the USA, until it was surpassed by De La Hoya vs. Mayweather in 2007.
4. Mike Tyson vs Holyfield (1st match), November 1996 – 1.59 million PPV buys: Tyson vs Holyfield I, also billed as Finally, was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson on November 9, 1996 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The referee officiating the fight was Mitch Halpern. The bout was the first fight pitting the two boxers against each other and it would be followed up with a subsequent rematch.
5. Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley, August 1995 – 1.55 million PPV buys: The fight was Tyson’s first fight in 4 years, due to his prison sentence.
6. Captured by two matches:
a. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad, September 1999 – 1.4 million PPV buys:Trinidad reached his defining moment in the sport on Sept. 18, 1999. He got the man he had sought after for years, WBC welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya.
b. Evander Holyfield vs George Foreman, April 1991 – 1.4 million PPV buys: After winning a heavyweight crown from James “Buster” Douglas, who won it with a shocking win over Tyson, Holyfield won by unanimous decision over Foreman, a 42-year-old former champion.
c. Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez, November 12, 2011 – 1.4 PPV buys garnering much greater massive support from Latino boxing fans. The fight itself generated roughly $134.4 million dollars in domestic PPV revenue.
7. Mike Tyson vs. Frank Bruno, March 1996 – 1.37 million PPV buys: In a less anticipated rematch, Tyson regained the WBC crown stopping Bruno by a third-round knockout. Tyson won over Bruno by knockout in 1989 for the same title he lost to James Buster Douglas by knockout in round 10 in 1990.
8. Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley, May 7, 2011 – 1.3 million pay-per-view buys, generated more than $75 million in television revenue with about 700,000 buys coming via cable systems and about 600,000 coming from satellite services.
9. Captured by three matches:
a. Mayweather vs Ortiz, September 17, 2011 – 1.25 million pay-per-views and $78.44 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue. The revenue generated made Mayweather-Ortiz the third-highest grossing non-heavyweight fight in history after the Pacquiao-Marquez fight. “Although the buys equaled those of Manny Pacquiao’s 2008 fight with Oscar De La Hoya and virtually matched those of Pacquiao-Shane Mosley in May, Mayweather-Ortiz beat both in revenue generated because it sold for a higher price, $59.95 in standard definition and $69.95 in most markets for high definition.” ESPN
b. Pacquiao vs. De la Hoya, December 6, 2008 – 1.25 million PPV buys: At the height of world economic meltdown, Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao , also billed as The Dream Match, took place on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena , Las Vegas , Nevada , United States, and pulled out considerably high PPV buys. Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided not to continue with the fight before the start of the ninth round.
c. Pacquiao vs. Cotto, November 14, 2009 – 1.25 million PPV buys: The said bout generated 1.25 million buys, the highest performing boxing pay-per-view event in 2009. The figure includes 650,000 buys from cable homes and 600,000 from satellite and telco homes, which includes 110,000 buys from Puerto Rico, Cotto’s home state.
d. Mike Tyson vs. Razor Ruddock, June 1991 – 1.25 million PPV buys: The said event transpired as Mike Tyson’s third comeback after being defeated by way of knockout in round 10 from the hands of James Buster Douglas. Razor Ruddock, who fought Mike Tyson twice, was the Canadian heavyweight champion. He was known for inventing a powerful left hook called “THE SMASH”.
10. Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis (1st fight), March 1999 – 1.2 million PPV buys: Lennox Lewis knocked out Donovan Ruddock and captured the top one in the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings and eventually was declared WBC heavyweight champion. He rose to high ranks as the undisputed champion after defeating Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision in 1999 .
