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For weeks, I have heard the same question over and over: Why is it taking so long for the pay-per-view numbers for the Sept. 17 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Victor Ortiz fight to be released? Speculation is running rampant that the fight must have tanked and that Mayweather, Golden Boy and HBO are hiding the numbers to avoid embarrassing the fighter. That is simply not true. All along, those directly involved in the fight have told me repeatedly that the fight did very well -- in excess of 1 million buys and most likely around 1.2 million or so, which puts it right up there among the top few non-heavyweight PPVs of all time. You'd think that would be something they would want to brag about. And it is. However, HBO can't disclose numbers without consent from the promoter, Golden Boy. And Golden Boy won't disclose the numbers without the approval of Mayweather. From what I understand -- and this is something I thought about not long after the numbers began to take much longer than usual -- the reason for the delay is because Mayweather is finalizing a settlement with the IRS over his tax bill and wants Golden Boy to hold off. Once the tax deal is complete, only then will we hear numbers that will give Mayweather another massive (and taxable) windfall.
EDIT: oops, didn't see the other thread.
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