Manny Pacquiao's historic, 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto, whom he dethroned as WBO welterweight champ for a record, seventh title in as many weight classes on Saturday night, has generated 1.25 million buys, according to official records released to FanHouse by Mark Taffet, HBO's senior vice president of pay per view.
Along with Floyd Mayweather's Sept. 19, unanimous decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, which resulted in 1.05 million buys, this year represents the first time HBO pay per view has ever recorded back-to-back fights exceeding a million buys, Taffet indicated in Friday's e-mail.
Pacquiao-Cotto also marks the first time since 1999 that two, pay per view boxing events have totaled more than a million purchases, joining Felix Trinidad's controversial decision over Oscar De La Hoya, and, Lennox Lewis' disputed draw with Evander Holyfield.
Noted boxing historian Bert Sugar believes that a clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao would rival Sugar Ray Leonard's comeback 14th-round knockout of Thomas Hearns in September 1981, when the victor trailed by four, three and two points, respectively, on the three judges' cards.
Calling it "today's Super Bowl of boxing," Sugar said the demand and scope of Mayweather-Pacquio "easily passes" Felix Trinidad's controversial September 1999, 12-round majority decision over Oscar De La Hoya, even as theirs was a clash of a Puerto Rican icon in Trinidad and a cross-over Mexican-American star in De La Hoya.
"[Mayweather-Pacquiao] has international appeal, particularly in Asia. And you've got HBO, which will be pumping it with their 24/7 series. It will be the fight of the century," said Sugar, who, as then-editor of Ring Magazine, named Leonard-Hearns "Fight Of The Year."
Floyd Mayweather was nowhere to be seen in the MGM Grand Hotel during the lead-up to this past Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto welterweight megafight. Nor could the undefeated, five-time champion and Las Vegas resident be found when Pacquiao made history by lifting from Cotto the WBO's 147-pound title belt.
But in the days since Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, stood in the ring before a packed MGM Grand Garden Arena and called out his name as the man he wanted to be Pacquiao's next opponent, Mayweather has gotten the message loud and clear.
Mayweather's name was even chanted by the crowd of more than 16,200, but he says that he just hasn't heard it from Pacquiao's own mouth.
LAS VEGAS -- The superlatives ran rampant during the aftermath of Manny Pacquiao's brilliantly violent beatdown of Miguel Cotto on Saturday night in an MGM Grand Garden Arena packed to its rafters with more than 16,200 fans.
Having witnessed the Filipino superstar's array of speed, athleticism and durability used to batter senseless the Puerto Rican warrior before their fight was stopped 55 seconds into the 12th round, promoter Bob Arum declared Pacquiao "the best fighter that I've ever seen -- and that includes Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard, and Marvin Hagler."
Ross Greenburg, head honcho of sports programming at HBO, told reporters it is time for Pacquiao to face his unbeaten, pound-for-pound rival, Floyd Mayweather, in a "Super Bowl" type of matchup whose modern-day significance would rival Ali-Joe Frazier.
LAS VEGAS -- When England's David Haye traveled to Nuremberg, Germany, for his Nov. 7 matchup with 7-foot, 316-pound, Nikolay Valuev, the 218-pounder did so with more support from his own countrymen than the man who is named "The Russian Giant" for his status as the largest champion in the history of boxing.
And when Haye broke his right hand in the second round of an eventual, 12-round majority decision, it was the deafening cheers of his fans that lifted him on the way to dethroning Valuev for the WBA championship.
LAS VEGAS -- Shane Mosley will fight Andre Berto, the 26-year-old WBC welterweight champion, on Jan. 30 at The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, a source familiar with the negotiations informed FanHouse on Thursday.
A deal for the matchup has been in the works for months, and it will be announced here on Saturday, the same day as WBO welterweight (147-pounds) champion, Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 knockouts) defends his crown against Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) at the MGM Grand Hotel.
Former world champion Winky Wright will return from an eight-month layoff when he enters the ring against Grady Brewer on Dec. 11 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.
A southpaw who will turn 38 on Nov. 26, Wright is coming off of consecutive losses by decision to Bernard Hopkins and Paul Williams in July 2007 and this past April, respectively.
Wright (51-5-1, 25 knockouts) owns victories over former world champs Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad, and fought to a disputed draw with former undisputed middleweight (160 pounds) champion Jermain Taylor.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
Abner Mares is a promising bantamweight with an impressive record of 19-0. Standing at just 5-foot-5, Mares packs a mean punch, and he proved it in the 2004 Olympics as an outstanding amateur.
In this FanHosue exclusive, we catch up with the young fighter and learn more about his past, his work-ethic and who people tell him he looks like.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
An eye injury kept two-time world champion Israel Vazquez out of the ring for 19 months. This Weekend in downtown Los Angeles, Vazquez made his comeback in a Hollywood fashion.
Vasquez went nose to nose with Angel Priolo (30-7) in a thrill of a fight that kept the fans on the edge of their seats. In this FanHouse exclusive we hear from Vazquez and Priolo along with Vazquez's Promoter Frank Espinosa.
Cheescake. That's about the worst thing Bernard Hopkins said he will ever put into his body.
"I'm not a vegetarian. I don't smoke, don't drink, I work out and I don't put caffeine in me. But I'll admit to eating a lot of cheesecake," said Hopkins, a 44-year-old whose professional boxing skills have long belied his age.
"Other than that, I haven't eaten that many sweets since I got out of prison" in 1988, said Hopkins. "We'll put the best gas in our car, but put the worst things in our body."
Hopkins will put his relative youth, experience and longevity on the line yet again on Dec. 2 in a 12-round light heavyweight (175 pounds) bout when he he takes on Enrique Ornelas at Temple University's Licouras Center in his hometown of Philadelphia.
Along with Floyd Mayweather's Sept. 19, unanimous decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, which resulted in 1.05 million buys, this year represents the first time HBO pay per view has ever recorded back-to-back fights exceeding a million buys, Taffet indicated in Friday's e-mail..jpg)
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Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to 
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to 
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