Boxing Claims Big Pay-Per-View Victory Over UFC 103

Days after the Floyd Mayweather Jr-Juan Manuel Marquez fight went head-to-head with UFC 103 on pay-per-view, Golden Boy Promotions is declaring that boxing scored a knockout victory over MMA, with four or five times as many buys as the UFC.

It's important to note that Mayweather-Marquez was the biggest boxing match of 2009, while UFC 103 wasn't close to the biggest MMA card of the year. And it's also important to note that pay-per-view buy rates are difficult to nail down.

But Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said that when all the numbers come in, he'll have an impressive buy rate to announce, likely over 1 million.

Ring Magazine quotes Schaefer:

"Through the roof," he said, referring to the numbers. "I'm hearing through the roof. I don't want to announce anything. When I announce it, I want to be able to fully stand behind it. It's big, very big. A lot of people didn't believe us. Maybe I've gained a little credibility with my predictions.

"Most importantly, I hope the world realizes when we release these numbers that Floyd Mayweather, love him or hate him, is today, without any question, no ifs, ands or buts, the No. 1 pay-per-view star in the world. No question about it."

Schaefer said Mayweather-Marquez did four or five times the numbers UFC 103 did, although a better question in measuring the relative pay-per-view strengths of the sports would be whether Mayweather-Marquez did better than UFC 100, which reportedly generated well over 1 million buys. When all the numbers come in, Mayweather-Marquez will likely fall short of UFC 100, but on Saturday night, it came out on top in a big way.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-24-2009 @ 11:30PM

Trogdor said...

Do you have any info from PPV providers to confirm this? It doesn't seem odd that the #1 boxing card of the year would beat the #12 or so MMA show, although the margin they're claiming seems high. But I'd been hearing that Mayweather had never produced above around 350k buys before. So not only would this be more than tripling his previous best, it would be tripling it against both decent PPV competition and free college football, with a show that would be replayed for free later.

Not that I've ever had any reason to doubt what a promoter says about anything, but unless the numbers are confirmed from a neutral source, I'd take them with a grain of salt.

9-25-2009 @ 12:12AM

lcnickell said...

mayweather never generated over 350k buys?

hsi fight with oscar is biggest ever- almost 2.5 MILLION

his fight with Hatton did over 1.75 mil WORLDWIDE- with over a million buys in the UK alone.

9-25-2009 @ 12:27AM

Yep, you're right. I totally forgot about his De La Hoya fight. I was thinking this article, which laments Mayweather's terrible drawing power when he's the headliner:

http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/09/18/weekends-biggest-fight-boxing-vs-mixed-martial-arts/

When he was in there with De La Hoya, they did big numbers. With anyone else, 3-400K. So this would still be huge over what he supposedly has done previously as the main attraction.

9-25-2009 @ 2:22AM

eckoking06 said...

To prvs post, yor facts on Floyds ppv numbers are wrong, vs Oscar they got the bigest ppv number ever

9-27-2009 @ 2:53PM

adam said...

HEY DANA ,,,,,well i ordered BOTH fights and only the mayweather fight worked on my cable box ,,, id like to say he is right about the ppv tally but he is NOT , i tried to purchase (ufc) just like i do every month when they have a ppv and it would not let me purchase it.it was saying there is a error, i called my provider and they said they were having problems ,,i asked a few other people and they said the same thing ,so that just tells me that my provider (cablevision) messed up and the tally is off,and god knows where else this happend,, ,the mayweather fight was great but i wanted to see somone get chocked or knocked out ,i have nothing bad to say about boxing but UFC is for real

9-25-2009 @ 12:15AM

RJ said...

You know these various sports promotions and Entertainment companies in Boxing, MMA and Wrestling throw out these PPV numbers less than a week after these events now, and it really can take months to get truly accurate PPV numbers calculated with Cable and Satellite Providers.

That's why you can't take these initial reports too seriously.
They have an idea but not accurate numbers.
Even this case is a perfect example.
The 1st report I saw for the boxing PPV was 800,000 then 1 million, and now it could be as high as 1.6 million.
That's a very broad range to say the least. Whatever the final numbers it exceeded expectations.
And it can't make Dana White a happy man.
Must be nice though to be sitting cage side at UFC 103 and order the boxing PPV on a monitor sitting right next to you as he did to watch what from what everyone has told me was a rather boring fight.
I guess you had to pick your poison though that night because I ordered 103 and was very disappointed I did, but I knew the Mayweather fight wasn't going to be anything special his fights rarely are.
I will be ordering the Pacquiao/Cotto fight in November though.

9-25-2009 @ 1:09AM

Dantheboof3640 said...

Boxing Claims Big Pay-Per-View Victory Over UFC 103

Now why would a boxer go over to UFC when they can make MILLIONS over getting a few hundred thousand (for top earners..if that) in mma? And why wouldn't MMA fighters switch to boxing? Simple. They never had what it takes to be one. When will these semi-retarded MMA Fan-boy's stop dry humping their Rampage blow up dolls and wetting their Big Boy Pull Up's over their hero Brock and the rest of the girls? NEWSFLASH: Quit choking the chicken over MMA. It's cutting off the circulation to your brains....lol...snicker...

9-25-2009 @ 7:56AM

drfastiggi said...

The only people who compare MMA & boxing are boxing promoters and boxing fans. Usually with profanity and hostility. It's still early on in MMA evolution but I find it amazing that boxing fans don't realize how much more complex MMA is. In MMA you have to master at least 3 skills (if not more): Stand up fighting, wrestling & some sort of grappling. In boxing you have to master a limited version of stand up (no kicks knees or elbows). It is really obvious. Yet boxing fans just blind themselves to this simple logic. Any logical person would see that an MMA fighter would get his butt kicked boxing and a boxer would get beaten severely in an MMA match. Why are boxing people SO threatened by MMA. It makes no sense.

I have never met ANYONE who has taken the time to learn about both sports actually say that boxing is harder. There is no reasonable person who can watch MMA and not conclude that it takes a broader skill set to compete at top level MMA. There is no reasonable person who can watch boxing and not conclude that it isn't a more specialized & developed art of punching, stand up foot work and head/body movement.

What is so difficult to see about this? Why the obscenity and insults? They are 2 different sports. It is like comparing soccer and rugby. What pisses boxing fans off is the fact that in a "real fight" the boxer would get creamed. An appropriate anaology is, boxing is like a dentist that only works on the 2 front teeth. MMA fighters work on the whole mouth. Grow up! and stop insulting people you don't know on the internet you coward.

9-25-2009 @ 2:43PM

Eric said...

You're right about one thing ... boxers are motivated by the money & the money alone.

MMA fighters are just that - born fighters who love the sport and their fans. The large majority of boxers (ex:Mayweather, Jones, Hopkins) care absolutely nothing about their fans. They're a complete disgrace, and that's a large part of what's wrong with boxing.

9-25-2009 @ 2:00AM

neozoo said...

the mayweather fight was completely predictable and if you were stupid enough to pay for it than you got what you paid for.
if thats how you get enjoyment with your money, more power to you.
there was absolutely nothing compelling about this match up and who really cared about the undercard.
that is a prime example why the state of boxing blows.
unlike most mma cards, where most fans care about the undercard. that is why mma does better numbers year round. people come to see the whole show not just the main event.

although i have to admit the super mw tourny is something to look forward to. and is one of the few things boxing has done right in a long time.

9-25-2009 @ 8:13PM

sigmarick said...

First it ridiculous to compare Mayweather v Piss Drinker to UFC 103 ....That as the biggest card in the sports history and it is no where near the top twenty in all time pay per view numbers

Second a legitimate boxer would kill a top (fedor) MMA guy the gloves are too thin and unless he was taken down immediately the Boxer would like hurt even the best MMA has to offer.

Third it is off base for White to compare boxing with the UFC ....The UFC has more control over it product than any one promoter in Boxing ..If White had the same type of control over Boxing it would rival the NFL in this country...outside of Fedor White can pretty much make and match he wants ...Don King cant do that

9-26-2009 @ 12:36AM

Brian said...

it is funny that you guys talk so much trash about MMA it is the fastest growing sport in the world. I will put my entire paycheck that a MMA vs a Boxer in any weight class that the MMA fighter will win in the ring or the octagon. It has been done so man times in the past(only 3 times). the ufc has even asked boxers to step in the octagon and they stopped it real fast.Due to the fact that they do not want Boxers to look bad on tv roy jones mayweather hopkins. MMA fighters fight for the trill of the fight.Boxers now adays fight for the money. Boxing is on the back burner and better step aside for the new bad boy on the block.

9-27-2009 @ 11:31PM

dennyc22 said...

With the exception of 50 yr old ray mercer getting a flash KO over a 350 lb Tim Sylvia. I cant remember a single instance of a pure boxer defeating an elite level MMA fighter or K1 fighter. In fact even mercer after his Sylvia KO got embarassed by Remy Bonjasky in K1. I love both sports, but it seems to me that boxing has been in a precipitous decline since the late 80's, and MMA is the only combat sport that has had the opposite.

9-29-2009 @ 9:26PM

freddy said...

the big question last month was which sport generates more money and fans? mma fans were saying boxing is dead and that mma will take over the money intake on that night... lololol didnt happen.. boxing may be dead for some mma fans.. boxing will never die.. mma will fall before boxing does.... boxing is the number 1 fight sport. you talk about a mma fighter fighting a boxer? i agree in the octagon most mma fighters will def win.. lets put a pro mma fighter in the ring with a pro boxer.. of course the boxer wins.. cant really compare the 2 sports to each other. love your mma and we will love our boxing.. but know this i pro boxing match generates more income than 5 mma scheduals... dont get mad? its just the way it is right now. maybe? and this is a humongus maybe. the mma world will pass boxing in monies..

10-01-2009 @ 3:12PM

sammy said...

the biggest fight that can be made right now is mayweather vs paciou both fighters beat dela hoya and and think that fight will the fight of the decade

10-11-2009 @ 12:18AM

LIL TEE said...

people boxing/mma two different styles of fighting put a boxer in the octagon he will lose.put mma fighter in boxing ring he will probably get knockout.