ESPN's Dan Rafael: MAYWEATHER-Cotto Will "Blow Away" Pacquiao-Bradley

Twitter Message: Dan Rafael ‏ @danrafaelespn I dont think there is any doubt that @FloydMayweather's monster 1.5M PPV vs Cotto will blow away what Pacquiao-Bradley will do next month. Expand Reply Retweeted Favorite Floyd Mayweather does $94M in PPV They don't call Floyd Mayweather Jr. "Money" for nothing. Mayweather's junior middleweight title victory against Miguel Cotto on HBO PPV last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas generated a whopping 1.5 million pay-per-view buys and $94 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue, HBO Sports announced Friday. The performance ranks as the second-highest grossing pay-per-view for a non-heavyweight fight in history. http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0505/box_g_mayweather_b7_600.jpg Floyd Mayweather Jr. celebrates after claiming Miguel Cotto's belt via unanimous decision. No. 1 all-time remains Mayweather's 2007 victory against Oscar De La Hoya, in which he also claimed a junior middleweight belt. That fight generated all-time records for any weight class with 2.46 million buys and $137 million in pay-per-view revenue. The 1.5 million figure for Mayweather-Cotto will grow once all of the numbers are accounted for, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who promoted the fight with Mayweather Promotions. "The 1.5 million number is actual reported numbers," Schaefer told ESPN.com. "The final number will definitely be bigger than what it is now." In nine HBO PPV main events, Mayweather has generated 9.6 million buys and $543 million in television revenue, according to HBO. Mayweather-Cotto moved past Mayweather's 2010 victory against Shane Mosley, which did 1.4 million buys and $78 million in revenue. Mayweather's knockout of Victor Ortiz in September sold 1.25 million subscriptions and generated $78.4 million. The higher revenue for the Ortiz fight is because the cost of the pay-per-view was higher. "Floyd Mayweather's numbers are getting bigger and bigger and this number shows you the kind of draw he is," Schaefer said. "He's a superstar and able to capture the interest of a large audience. He has broken out of the boxing following and now has a mainstream following that is unmatched in the sport. The numbers keep getting bigger and bigger." According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Mayweather-Cotto also had the ninth-biggest gate in state history, generating $12,000,150 from 14,612 tickets sold. HBO will replay Mayweather's decision victory against Cotto on Saturday night, along with junior middleweight titlist Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's decision win against Shane Mosley. http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7919965/floyd-mayweather-miguel-cotto-rakes-94m-ppv-sales

Comments (20)

That's a given. Cotto has a huge Puerto Rican following himself. Alvarez has a huge Mexican following. Mosley has some following. Plus May 5, always huge boxing Mexican holiday. Mayweather has some fans too. LOL. Bradley has none. Pacquiao will have to carry that whole PPV. Not sure who the undercards are, maybe Arce will bring in Mexicans. Then why didnt Manny take the bigger paying higher profile fight with his first choice of opponents Cotto , Cotto was willing ! Manny wanted him ! but hold up !! Cotto said NO CW and Manny took off looking for JWW Bradley , major DUCK on Mannys behalf !!

14y ago

Gino_Ros

they are both pretty close pac-jmm did 1.41 million, floyd-cotto 1.5, floyd isn't massively bigger like he claims. . Nobody believes that Pac-JMM did 1.41 Mn ppv buys. Can you please provide your most reputable source? Thank you.

14y ago

Gino_Ros

Sure it does. Tons of people paid to watch it in theaters, and if that wasn't an option many of them would have ordered it on PPV. MY BAD. I misunderstood. I thought you meant from the financial reporting standpoint. It seems you meant in terms of cannabilization.

14y ago

WESS

they are both pretty close pac-jmm did 1.41 million, floyd-cotto 1.5, floyd isn't massively bigger like he claims. however, obviously pac-bradley isn't going to do those types of numbers since bradley isn't known to anyone besides us boxing junkies, despite him being a very good fighter, so it will likely do 1.1 million, something like that. Floyd will have the upper hand at that point, so pac will have to take less money. I do like the top rank idea of 45/45 with the extra 10 going to the winner, but that wont happen so 55/45 in favor of floyd or 60/40 at worst. But floyd is going to have to agree to that and drop his guarantee talk. I still don't think they'll be able to make it but we'll see. Mayweather won't budge and Pac is talking about retirement (too). You think Pac/Bob will walk away with nothing? You know Floyd is going to say take it or leave it. Will Pac just retire and not take anything? I can't see it. Like I have said for a long time, Pac's last fight will be vs Floyd and Pac will take Floyd up on his offer as he won't have a choice let a lone the leverage to disagree anymore.

14y ago

DeadLikeMe

Really going into last year (or was Berto-Ortiz I in 2010?) I would say Berto/Ortiz/Alexander/Bradley were all equally known/unknown. Perhaps Berto for his then undefeated record and Bradley for going and beating Junior Witter in his own backyard might have made them slightly more known. But really how can someone argue that Bradley is an unknown without conceding that Ortiz was essentially equal in popularity.

14y ago

Fetta

60/40 is the split I would accept. Look at the revenues (ppv+gate) for their fights. When you do the calc, it's pretty close to 60/40.I agree 60/40 is fair.

14y ago

noStylez

common sense, Cotto is a massive draw, Canelo is a massive draw and held on cinco de mayo

14y ago

WESS

Mayweather vs Ortiz = Pac vs Cotto/Hoya and soon to be Bradley. Who the fook is Ortiz???? idk man idk....

14y ago

LoadedWraps

Movie theatres have NOTHING to do with PPV. NOTHING. C'mon, my dude. Sure it does. Tons of people paid to watch it in theaters, and if that wasn't an option many of them would have ordered it on PPV. Did this guy just say Bradley is the third biggest draw in boxing? Lol...fvkk outta here with that. Also lol @ you seeing Bradley shirts let alone four people wearing them. So I was exaggerating, just let me hype the Manny/Bradley fight, will you?

14y ago

Gino_Ros

hook it up for me too :D I got you. Please pm me the day of the fight. I 'll hook you up.

14y ago

The_Gambler1981

Bradley is not third. Cotto is third. Bradley is fourth. :D Fourth when counting up from the bottom?

14y ago

Gino_Ros

Did this guy just say Bradley is the third biggest draw in boxing? Lol...fvkk outta here with that. Also lol @ you seeing Bradley shirts let alone four people wearing them. Bradley is not third. Cotto is third. Bradley is fourth. :D

14y ago

Khalid_X

What's the popular term for this? Trolling I believe? After Floyd and Manny, Bradley is easily the biggest name worldwide, in boxing. I have seen at least four casual/non-boxing fans will Bradley T-shirts on in the last day, and all I hear anywhere is talk about the fight on June 9th. Did this guy just say Bradley is the third biggest draw in boxing? Lol...fvkk outta here with that. Also lol @ you seeing Bradley shirts let alone four people wearing them.

14y ago

Gino_Ros

not to mention the "movie theater tickets" juking the crap out of the ppv stats. Movie theatres have NOTHING to do with PPV. NOTHING. C'mon, my dude.

14y ago

Gino_Ros

What do you think is a fair split? 60/40 is the split I would accept. Look at the revenues (ppv+gate) for their fights. When you do the calc, it's pretty close to 60/40.

14y ago

Gino_Ros

What I meant was what's in it for you personally? I thought my previous post was clear. You asked what's in it for the FANS. As a FAN, I follow the sport and want the biggest and best fights. I thought that would be clear.

14y ago

LoadedWraps

Of course it will as Bradley isn't even draw let alone a well know name in the sport of boxing (amongst casual fans) I like to see how many buys Mayweather vs Williams (in his prime) or any tough fight (that isn't a known name) sells. When you take tough fights, instead of worthless money fights (Pacquiao vs Mosley, Mayweather vs Cotto) then of course you take the risk of not selling a lot of ppvs. The money doesn't benefit me, so why would anyone care about ppv's when boxing fans should be more concerned with the top fighters facing the best fighters. Pacquiao vs Bradley respresents that........Mayweather vs Cotto doesn't (and was a blantant cherry pick). What's the popular term for this? Trolling I believe? After Floyd and Manny, Bradley is easily the biggest name worldwide, in boxing. I have seen at least four casual/non-boxing fans will Bradley T-shirts on in the last day, and all I hear anywhere is talk about the fight on June 9th.

14y ago

Gino_Ros

Manny wants 50/50 in exchange for random OST with no cutoff. ANy attempts by manny to negotiate random OST is out the window, especially with Petersen getting caught the way he did. Manny will probably end up with 30-40%. That is an excellent point. Manny's negotiating leverage around any type of testing is now eliminated, or at least dramatically reduced. He would get killed in the media for refusing OST with EVERY writer now saying improved testing is needed. So, with that piece gone, it just becomes about the numbers. 1.5 million buys, $94 million revenues, and $12 million gate hasn't hurt Floyd's negotiating position.

14y ago

The_Big_Dunn

Please refer to the negotiations between the fighters. Manny feels he deserves 50/50 despite consistently selling less. Floyd feels he deserves more than 50% because he consistently sells more. If this split issue can be resolved, the fight that fans want to see gets closer to being made. Manny wants 50/50 in exchange for random OST with no cutoff. ANy attempts by manny to negotiate random OST is out the window, especially with Petersen getting caught the way he did. Manny will probably end up with 30-40%.

14y ago

kraftzman

Please refer to the negotiations between the fighters. Manny feels he deserves 50/50 despite consistently selling less. Floyd feels he deserves more than 50% because he consistently sells more. If this split issue can be resolved, the fight that fans want to see gets closer to being made. What I meant was what's in it for you personally? I thought my previous post was clear.

14y ago