According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the May 4th showdown that saw Floyd Mayweather record a unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero did over 1 million Pay Per View Purchases
“We still don’t have complete numbers, but we’ve seen the dish numbers and some of the cable numbers to be comfortable saying we will definitely exceed 1 million buys,” said head of Showtime Sports Stephen Espinoza on Friday. “We can’t tell how much it will exceed 1 million, though. That’s going to be determined by the reporting [from cable systems] that will come in over the next few weeks.
“We are absolutely satisfied,” Espinoza said. “We are pleased with the result. From a financial perspective, we are completely satisfied. We consider it a success. From a programming and fight fan standpoint, we consider it to be a very successful event.
“Looking at the numbers, for Floyd do to a million buys, and conceivably more, when it was one of his lesser-known pay-per-view opponents in the last six or seven years, that is a testament to his drawing power. Would we have liked to match the Cotto numbers or the De La Hoya numbers? Absolutely. Was that realistic? No, not with an opponent not nearly as well-known as Cotto or De La Hoya.
“I would have loved to [do 1.5 million buys] but the more accurate fight to compare it to is Ortiz. I take nothing away from Guerrero. He was a game competitor. He fought hard and belongs in the top tier at 147 pounds, but from a pure business perspective, he is not particularly well known and [has] not been in huge, marquee fights. So we are happy with the results.”
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Espinoza said of getting a Mayweather-Alvarez fight finalized. “There’s a lot of negotiating left to do, but often the biggest hurdle is convincing one fighter or the other to take the fight. That hurdle has been cleared. I truly believe Mayweather wants Canelo and that Canelo wants Mayweather, and that’s half the battle.”
