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People have been using Cotto's LOW HBO numbers as a reason that Mayweather SHOULDN'T fight Cotto. They were low, however people seem to forget that other sports were on at the time, not to mention FREE boxing on a rival channel.
And now they make it seem as if Mayweather is this HUGE drawing star, and Cotto has no name to speak of. It's just not true. Mayweather is the bigger star. Has more drawing power. I'm not arguing that. What I'm talking about is the fact that Cotto would add to a huge event.
IN terms of attendance, I don't think the comparison even needs to be made. Their common opponent with a name is Judah, and Mayweather/Judah had seats available the day OF the fight. Meanwhile, Cotto/Judah set records at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.
Baldomir/Mayweather had even less fans in attendance and had fans leaving towards the end of the fight. Hatton proved to be the draw at the gate, as his fans were far outnumbering Mayweathers. Even AFTER the fight. Furthermore, Hatton got more buys out of the PPV in the U.K. De La Hoya is De La Hoya, all that really needs to be said.
You can make the argument that Mayweather got Hatton AND Oscar their BIGGEST fights. And technically you'd be right. But, NOT because HE was fighting them. Because they were fighting him. There's a BIG difference. Numbers are numbers, but there's a difference.
When you look at the LOW TV numbers for Cotto/Gomez, you need to factor in some things. There was little to NO build-up for the fight. No countdown, no big promotion, no 24/7, no big name in the other corner and no hope for his opponent, and he still pulled in 2.1 million views. Calzaghe/Kessler pulled in similar numbers, and if you mean to tell me that Calzaghe isn't a draw, you're crazy. And That was Calzaghe's BIGGEST and BEST FOE. Cotto fought a fighter with no chance and a little buzz.
Mayweather was drawing in about 8,000 fans before his bigger fights started happening. Cotto sold out the garden with a virtual unknown in Paulie Malignaggi. I forget what that PPV did, but that one wasn't even involving HBO, and I remember the numbers were pretty respectable.
Let's take a look at the numbers of their last three fights.
Cotto/Judah, 225k+
Cotto/Gomez, 2.1M (cable rating)+
Cotto/Mosley, 400K+
Mayweather/De La Hoya, 2.4M+
Mayweather/Hatton, 800K+
Mayweather/Badlomir, 300K+
You look at those, and it looks like Mayweather is killing Cotto. But if you take off Hatton and De La Hoya (the TRUE draws in their respected fights) and you replace them with Judah(330K) and Gatti(340K), and it evens out. Take off the Gomez fight, due to no sales and replace it with someone even LESS known on a world level, like Malignaggi WAS at the time. He got 170K+ buys.
It would mean a difference of 155K. BIG ****IN' DEAL. This is NO EXCUSE for Mayweather to ignore Cotto. None at all.
And now they make it seem as if Mayweather is this HUGE drawing star, and Cotto has no name to speak of. It's just not true. Mayweather is the bigger star. Has more drawing power. I'm not arguing that. What I'm talking about is the fact that Cotto would add to a huge event.
IN terms of attendance, I don't think the comparison even needs to be made. Their common opponent with a name is Judah, and Mayweather/Judah had seats available the day OF the fight. Meanwhile, Cotto/Judah set records at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.
Baldomir/Mayweather had even less fans in attendance and had fans leaving towards the end of the fight. Hatton proved to be the draw at the gate, as his fans were far outnumbering Mayweathers. Even AFTER the fight. Furthermore, Hatton got more buys out of the PPV in the U.K. De La Hoya is De La Hoya, all that really needs to be said.
You can make the argument that Mayweather got Hatton AND Oscar their BIGGEST fights. And technically you'd be right. But, NOT because HE was fighting them. Because they were fighting him. There's a BIG difference. Numbers are numbers, but there's a difference.
When you look at the LOW TV numbers for Cotto/Gomez, you need to factor in some things. There was little to NO build-up for the fight. No countdown, no big promotion, no 24/7, no big name in the other corner and no hope for his opponent, and he still pulled in 2.1 million views. Calzaghe/Kessler pulled in similar numbers, and if you mean to tell me that Calzaghe isn't a draw, you're crazy. And That was Calzaghe's BIGGEST and BEST FOE. Cotto fought a fighter with no chance and a little buzz.
Mayweather was drawing in about 8,000 fans before his bigger fights started happening. Cotto sold out the garden with a virtual unknown in Paulie Malignaggi. I forget what that PPV did, but that one wasn't even involving HBO, and I remember the numbers were pretty respectable.
Let's take a look at the numbers of their last three fights.
Cotto/Judah, 225k+
Cotto/Gomez, 2.1M (cable rating)+
Cotto/Mosley, 400K+
Mayweather/De La Hoya, 2.4M+
Mayweather/Hatton, 800K+
Mayweather/Badlomir, 300K+
You look at those, and it looks like Mayweather is killing Cotto. But if you take off Hatton and De La Hoya (the TRUE draws in their respected fights) and you replace them with Judah(330K) and Gatti(340K), and it evens out. Take off the Gomez fight, due to no sales and replace it with someone even LESS known on a world level, like Malignaggi WAS at the time. He got 170K+ buys.
It would mean a difference of 155K. BIG ****IN' DEAL. This is NO EXCUSE for Mayweather to ignore Cotto. None at all.
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