Comments Thread For: Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev PPV Show Barely Cracked 160K Buys

[BoxingFan85]

Damn! That's low.. I was hoping it'd hit double of that.. Ward-Kov 2 might tank further if the 1st did only this much..

[Jewish-Reptile]

"Casuals" aren't really excited about UFC. They're excited about Conor and to a lesser extent Ronda. Stars sell fights, whether it's Karate point fighting or UFC or boxing, people buy PPVs of stars. Casuals don't understand MMA at all, they don't have a clue nor give a **** about armbars or mount guard or wall strategies, or whatever. They just hear about this Irish dude talking smack and is in the media all the time, and so they are now into UFC more than boxing or whatever.

Truth is, these boxing fights aren't selling because these are fights between people with zero media profile. When was the last time Ward was on ESPN or who has ever heard of Kovalev? UFC is very good with building up hype..

Ok, how do these guys build profiles like Floyd did ? Do they at first have to appear on ppv then establish a brand of establish a brand and defeat a ppv star ?

[REMOVE SHARK 55]

Boxers these days don't do proper media runs and that's partially why they can't transcend the sport. Who was the last Boxer on Jimmy Kimmel or Conan?.

Road to Kovalev/Ward & Hey Harold can only take you so far.

[sicko]

Boxing is down right now because all Mayweather did was sht on fans and spread his horrible influence and Haymon kidnapped half the sport to put them duking-it-out in his backyard as everyone wonders where they've gone. Haymon and Floyd single-handedly ***ed the sport.

NOTHING to do with Mayweather or Haymon, Mayweather was just the last fighter that knew how to get the attention of Casuals, after him absolutely NOBODY ELSE has that ability which is why I think casuals have moved on from boxing here in the States

Nothing interesting about the sport anymore now that it is no more Mayweather vs Pacquiao debates which lets be honest was the SOLE REASON why people was even interested in boxing was the Mayweather vs Pacquiao debates. After that it is NOTHING interesting about the sport to Casuals!

[Jewish-Reptile]

But surely the promoter should be held accountable for the promotion. It's their job title ffs! The fighter just needs to fight, unless they self-promote like Mayweather did towards the end. Floyd really is an exceptional case and he went above and beyond the call of duty to keep his name out there. He must have spent as much energy promoting himself as he did on training

Anyway, I haven't heard anything about Kovalev and Ward ever turning down interviews, their promoters are simply not organising them on the right platforms or with enough regularity or drawing enough attention to the ones they do take

Kovalev is funnier than Floyd or Pac and Ward is more articulate than either of them. There was a really obvious Russian bogeyman vs. American golden boy narrative that could have been spun for this fight, but no one did

It falls on HBO to build the fight, they did a little and it came off ok to me. If 160k is the figure I don't believe it's all that bad, considering Canelo just did 300k, Canelo has a nation behind him what do these two have ? They can't tap the markets Canelo is able to tap and put them on the dates he fights on, these figures are realistic going forward for future fights.

Ward is never going to be Floyd, nobody is, neither Pac for the matter. UFC has grabbed the bull by the horns now, wait for a Mexi/American UFC star and they'll even acquire those Sept and May dates too.

[The Big Dunn]

Golovkin's problem is the same as everyone elses, no hyped opposition. Golovkin has actually done very well for a fighter who has been built on pure hype. Usually you need other fighters with a following to build guys up, that's how it's done. Two hyped fighters, the guy that wins moves up the ladder, if he beats another hyped fighter he gains some of that following also, that's how it works. You're gonna grow very slowly or not at all fighting the Willie Monroe's of the world.

This is why the sport is hurt and why it is especially Haymon's fault. He took the majority of the sports prospects and put them in obscure venues vs obscure opposition and when he 'tries' to bring his fighters out of obscurity it's after everyone has forgotten about them. Not to mention that the promotion these Haymon guys get is horrible even when he's trying.

All these guys Haymon has would be a lot bigger and the sport would be a lot healthier if they had stayed with the likes of GBP or any real promoter.

Every year I have my fingers crossed for PBC, I'm still waiting, Scheafer has returned so hopefully some things change.

I disagree with your 1st paragraph. He doesn't need to beat a hyped fighter, he needs to beat a good one. You can't just hype a guy with no skill or talent.

Haymon has no bearing on non Haymon fighters. Additionally, he is getting TV exposure for fighters who weren't ever getting any. The lack of exposure is why they are obscure. Hopefully, with more TV exposure, this gets addressed.

You seem to be focusing on PBC and Haymon for reasons I am not sure. Ward/Kov are not PBC guys, niether was GGG/Lemuix.

The sport is only as healthy as the top draw. There is a reason Chavez Sr. fought on Tyson undercards. GBP has Canelo, who fought alot on Floyd's undercards.

Once another charismatic crossover star appears I think the sport's health will be improved. The question is where do you get that guy?

[Cheek busting]

YIKES. I expected much better. This sucks - one of the best fights in the sport can't get decent viewership.

And yeah, if it's 170k buys then it's a huge financial loss for the promoters.

Only for Roc Nation...

They are responsible for paying Ward's share, and Main Events for Kovalev's share...

They split the PPV 50/50, so Kovalev's 2 million would be covered, with a little profit left for Main Events.. Well, actually, after the TV gets their cut, they likely broke even.


Roc Nation, however, ATE A HUGE LOSS! Lol guaranteeing Ward 5 million, WTF were they thinking?


Ward can't draw flies to shyte

[Wolfie*]

That is my concern, Is It Too Late? Did Casuals already turn the sport off already? Seems like it based on PPV Numbers and even Network Ratings

Hard to know. I think if it does rebound it needs an american heavyweight who is dominate and a KO artist ala Tyson to get it back to where it was at.

[-PBP-]

Boxing is down right now because all Mayweather did was sht on fans and spread his horrible influence and Haymon kidnapped half the sport to put them duking-it-out in his backyard as everyone wonders where they've gone. Haymon and Floyd single-handedly ***ed the sport.

Or the fact that outside of the ring these fighters are boring and nobody knows who they are

[12TRIBEsRiSe]

Lmaoooo what did u guys expect????????