HBO Sports reported today that one million pay-per-view buys were generated from last Saturday’s welterweight fight between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight was promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions. The one million buy total represents the highest performing boxing pay-per-view event in 2009 and generated $52 million in pay-per-view revenue. The million buys include 525,000 from cable homes and 475,000 from satellite homes. It is only the fifth time in boxing pay-per-view history that a non-heavyweight event has attained the one million buy mark.
“Sept. 19 was an event that connected with sports fans across the country,” said Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View. “Floyd Mayweather has clearly reinforced his standing as a top attraction and fans are excited about his return to the sport.”On the same night, UFC 103 took place in Dallas and featured Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort. Mayweather and UFC President Dana White took shots at each other leading up to the events. The UFC does not disclose its pay-per-view buys, but UFC 103 is not expected to match the buys that HBO claims for Mayweather-Marquez.
Mayweather vs. Marquez will be replayed this Saturday, Sept. 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET/ 7:00 p.m. PT on HBO. The 12-round unanimous decision triumph by Mayweather will be paired with the live heavyweight title fight featuring Vitali Klitschko and Cristobal Arreola from Los Angeles