The numbers are in on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto fight, at least as reported by HBO. Already some media are slobbering all over themselves as to the 1,250,000 buys in America, as if they contributed to it.
It boils down to how you interpret what you can verify
I say the September 19 Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight, based only on the numbers, is much more impressive.
If you’re Filipino don’t get your panties in a wad, as Pacquiao still needs to be marketed more in America even after participating in a number of HBO and HBO Pay-Per-View events.
Let’s go back just a couple of months ago to Mayweather vs. Marquez. The fight had been bad-mouthed since day one. It even was postponed from a summer date to a fall date because the casinos weren’t doing any business over the summer and the fight had yet to generate a buzz, let alone ticket sales.
But HBO believed in it and largely because of the star power of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
The Mayweather fight did 1.05 million buys compared to the 1.25 million of Pacquiao.
So it’s 200,000 less homes. Granted, that’s a ton where I come from. But it also cost half as much as Pacquiao vs. Cotto.
However, Mayweather hadn’t fought in almost two years. He fought an opponent, who was well-known, but was a 36 year-old opponent fighting two weight divisions above his norm and while he could urinate, he couldn’t talk much American smack.
And Ultimate Fighting Championship was countering with a UFC 103, which wasn’t much more than a glorified ESPN show, but it totaled 400,000 buys directly opposite Mayweather vs. Marquez.
Then, factor in September 19 was a major night of American college football, taking away even more, maybe millions of casual fans.
So how can the same people that bad-mouthed the Mayweather fight at 1.05 million buys say Pacquiao’s 1.25 million buys was so great and what boxing needs.
Even HBO is at a loss to explain how well the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight did.
So every time you criticize Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in public, it’s really taking money out of the hands of Manny Pacquiao.
