Cotto/Martinez underperforms, does 350,000 buys

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

When did PPV numbers become a big deal to boxing fans?

PPV numbers are very important because it dictates what fights will be made in the future.

Fights just don't get made without tons of money being invested. Doing only 350K is not a good sign for Cotto to be honest.

He was hoping to carry the PPV and didn't. I'm interested in seeing what Canelo can do, because if he has low numbers, it will show he's not a PPV star like most thought.

Lot's of pressure in his fight with Lara.

[KnockoutKings]

But but but the numbers are coming from arum!!! Its a lie!!! He never releases true numbers! Should have done like richard shafer and not report anything

[El Angel]

One Cotto fan saying 2 million for Cotto-Ginger equals all Cotto fans apparently.

[The Ninth Layer]

Not surprising unfortunately. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are big names among casual fans and are even known to non-boxing followers. Cotto and Martinez, not so much.

[mrpain81]

Cotto needs a dance partner when it comes to PPV.

People were extremely optimistic going into this PPV but Cotto was 1-2 coming in with his only win against Delvin Rodriguez. Martinez had also been pretty much invisible since his fight against Chavez jr. The fight against Murray got horrible ratings on HBO.

People forget that Cotto did about 200k buys against Mayorga who is an Angulo type name.

The gate was very good though over $4 million I think they said.

[baya]

yeah, this isn't so great for cotto when he and ginger get together at the negotiating table.

[CubanGuyNYC]

PPV numbers are very important because it dictates what fights will be made in the future.

Fights just don't get made without tons of money being invested. Doing only 350K is not a good sign for Cotto to be honest.

He was hoping to carry the PPV and didn't. I'm interested in seeing what Canelo can do, because if he has low numbers, it will show he's not a PPV star like most thought.

Lot's of pressure in his fight with Lara.

Interesting to think what made the numbers what they are. Cotto is high up on the boxing PPV pecking order. The undercard was weak, but Martinez was a big-name opponent (despite all the age and health concerns). If Miguel and Maravilla can't sell, it doesn't bode well for interest in the sport. Of course, as some people have pointed out, casual fans might be getting squeezed just a little too much.

I'm interested in the Canelo-Lara numbers myself now. The undercard already looks better than Cotto-Martinez, but the ultimate success of the card will depend on Alvarez.

[RetroSpeed05]

I think the only only fighters to come close to 500k or more is Floyd and Pac since there also well known by the casuals and the only 2 boxers large networks like espn talk about or have segments about.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Not surprising unfortunately. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are big names among casual fans and are even known to non-boxing followers. Cotto and Martinez, not so much.

Admittedly, not much can be drawn from one anecdote, but: I was watching the Showtime card this weekend with a female friend of mine. I would definitely regard her as someone who's in touch with pop culture and current events. When she remarked that "boxing hasn't been the same since Mike Tyson," I took the opportunity to ask her which current fighters she knew. She had "heard of" Mayweather, but didn't know who Pacquiao was.

Now, it's true that the same can be said about many other sports. Most people outside of serious fans haven't heard even of the stars. But no one pays money to watch baseball, football, soccer, etc., on TV. And even casual fans attend games to watch a team play, not necessarily an individual. Boxing has a hard way to go.

[The Ninth Layer]

Admittedly, not much can be drawn from one anecdote, but: I was watching the Showtime card this weekend with a female friend of mine. I would definitely regard her as someone who's in touch with pop culture and current events. When she remarked that "boxing hasn't been the same since Mike Tyson," I took the opportunity to ask her which current fighters she knew. She had "heard of" Mayweather, but didn't know who Pacquiao was.

Now, it's true that the same can be said about many other sports. Most people outside of serious fans haven't heard even of the stars. But no one pays money to watch baseball, football, soccer, etc., on TV. And even casual fans attend games to watch a team play, not necessarily an individual. Boxing has a hard way to go.

Yeah exactly. Sports teams get the benefit of representing a city and sometimes an entire state. I have connections to the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Lakers not even because I lived in Detroit or Los Angeles but because I lived near those places at some point. Fighters may be known for their hometowns but most guys, at least in the States, don't enjoy huge support from their fans. Even if they do, it doesn't translate to a national market. It's even worse for fighters who simply aren't from the States. No casual fan has much of a reason to care about whether Miguel Cotto becomes the first Puerto Rican to win anything; nobody cares about whether an Argentine fighter can defend his title.

Too many PPVs don't help. I'm guessing most casual fans would have spent their money on the Mayweather and Pacquaio shows if they had to pick just two. Hard to imagine one person shelling out ~$300 for Canelo, Pacquiao, Mayweather, Cotto, and then Canelo again.